Class Reunion

Ah, I'm full of well-being today. We've arranged a bit of a school reunion. Only a bit as there's likely only to be three of us but we may perchance admit a bit of table space if any other old geezers of the old gang want to join in! Leave a comment here or email me if anyone does happen to see this drivel...er...blog...

Jackie, Alex and I are meeting up in Rochdale next week on Wednesday (Boss, if you're reading this I will put in a request for leave, honest...)

All the rest of the crowd are a bit far-flung. Jan's fairly close but is going hiking up and down mountains - sheesh, if you just want to prove to yourself that you're as old as the rest of us then it's easier to sit and natter and realise how much has changed since 1971!

So, anyway, Alex having agreed a time sent an email mentioning "High Noon" and it got me thinking about something or other, which came more-or-less to a focus when reading an article about chess in the movies (huh? no I don't know either - it's the way my brain works these days...)

They show chess as it's the only way to show a character is brainy apparently. What a load of cods - I used to just thrash in with a bit trying to annihilate the pieces of my opponent. Preferably by lifting mine to shoulder height and then swooping it down making an aeroplane noise...

The other strategy game we used to play (yes, I knew if I wrote for long enough there'd be a link!) was Risk, which was an army game about conquering the world. In the early 1970s the entire family would gather to play and Alex would join in if we happened to be at my house.

There were some strange rules I remember - whoever was knocked out first was labelled the punkah-waller and had to go and brew up for everyone else. Much better game than chess - at least there was writing on the board so you could tell if it was the right way up...