Tuesday 17 February 2009

this tun of treasure


Sport, sport, masculine sport
Equips a young man for society
Yes, sport turns out a jolly good sort
It's an odd boy who doesn't like sport

The Bonzos there, spoofing that 'redemptive power of sport' thing. I'm very much with the Bonzos on that one, in case there was any doubt on the matter. Though Richard has persuaded me that it is possible to like and play sport without being a boorish thug (although of course those qualities would not necessarily disqualify one...).

Speaking of Richard, he has posted up the thing he wrote about hiking through the Holy Land, so here is a link to it in case you missed it.

The French do not play cricket, which is probably why they lose wars (except for the ones they've won, which don't count). So I have to buy cricket balls from a Very Nice Cricket Shop in Bristol, and send them to him. And cricket balls are very photogenic, aren't they?

Here's a timely piece from the Rover and Wizard, about the exploits of Bill Samson, the Wolf of Kabul, and his trusty sidekick Chung, whose weapon of choice is a cricket bat, or clicky-ba, as he calls it. Enjoy.

Not for nothing was Bill Samson known as the Wolf of Kabul, and his gleaming knives as his fangs. Finally the Afghans turned and fled, terror-stricken, clicky-ba chopping down any who were a little late in turning. Even then the hillman was not satisfied, and made to go after them, roaring like a mad beast. Bill Samson caught him by the arm and heaved him back, knocking some of the fight out of him. “My lord,” said Chung, looking at the heaps of dead and dying, “this is a very terrible thing. I am all sadness. Truly clicky-ba turned in my hand, and I knew not what it did. I swear I did not intend to kill. My lord, I killed at least fifteen, and I am humbly sorry!”


9 comments:

  1. "two dauntless men were famed, even among the brave, for their bravery" You can't get braver than that.

    I dislike cricket. It takes over Radio 4 and I haven't had my evening fix of The Archers for nearly two weeks. I hope that Richard's Radio 4 reception is bad, though I expect he listens on his laptop.

    The French not winning any wars fits nicely with my lesson today, my retired teacher and I are still reading 1066 and all that. (The Americans have just come to the end of thir History - not long after the Boston tea party) We go off on lots of tangents.

    The cricket balls are photogenic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the crown on the top ball - lucky Richard to be getting such a set.

    Strangely Jim and I were discussing old comics and he mentioned that his brother used to get The Rover... for the football (not something Jim was interested in, not then and not now... thank goodness!)

    Which comic(s) did you read?

    (I seem to recall Whizzer and Chips... being the main one in our house with Eagle and Diana the runners up)

    ReplyDelete
  3. There is some truly interesting writing in that tale, isn't there? I'm trying to get a picture of the writer in my mind. He wasn't the shiniest apple in the barrel, I'm thinking.
    The favoured way of enjoying cricket among those of my acquaintance who enjoy cricket, was to watch it on telly with the sound turned off and R4 on for the commentary. I liked listening to it from a distance, as I did something else; one of the distant sounds of summer, like ice cream van chimes or swallows twittering.
    I would say I wondered what the French make of the British view of history, but as the British are apparently known in the Channel ports as "les fuck-offs", I have an idea. I presume that the French version of history is equivalently Gallocentric?

    I used to get a comic called Ranger, Caroline; I fondly remember the plans for making a flying paper model of Concorde, and a strip called "Britons never never never shall be slaves", which was actually Asterix the Gaul, with the main characters called Doric, Peric and Son of Boadicea (the big one who fell in the cauldron). My brother got Valiant, with characters like Captain Hurricane, and lots of biffing the Hun. I read it slightly guiltily. I remember Whizzer and Chips too; there was a lot of stuff about it I felt uncomfortable with, like the characters' habit of saying "Yuk!Yuk!" to express amusement. Maybe it was part of the developing 70s zeitgeist. I was happier with the Beano and inherited Eagle annuals. And Girl annuals when available, but they were a bit of a pale imitation of Eagle.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I didn't graduate to the Beano until I went to university! And then only to become a member of the Denis the Menace fan club ... I really can't recall why now... though as at least one person has said they thought Teasel looked a lot like Gnasher I may have been more influenced than I think...

    I don't remember Ranger or Valiant so maybe they just didn't make it into our house...

    Funny what one does remember about these things... I can't recall "Yuk, Yuk" at all!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was raised on Beano, Dandy, TV 21, Diana, Jackie and then 19. my uncle is only 5 years older than me so I got all the Superman, Green Lantern, Batman comics too which I loved.

    I have the first Girl Annual (1952) open in front of me. There was still rationing then. Everyone went to bording school (so it seems)and there were features on 'Our Gracie' Collecting can be fun!' 'Do you want to be an Air Hostess?' Not to mention ponies and ballet dancers.....

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was raised on whatever was 4 for a penny at the church fete. Ancient (then) copies of Look and Learn, June and Schoolfriend amongst others. I definitely remember Valiant, though Ranger doesn't ring a bell.

    I remember having Mirabelle and Valentine hidden around the house when I was about 13, then my dad found them and went ballistic! They'd seem tame stuff to a 13 year old today. Strike that. They'd seem tame to a dad today!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I used to buy the London Sunday papers when they arrived here midweek in a better time, along with Scotland on Sunday and envied you all not only your "real news" papers, but their comics as well. People in the auto plant thought it odd when they ran across me with a "foreign" newspaper spread out reading it...'til they saw me reading the "Collected Works of Shakespeare", "Don Quixote", or Russian poetry, lol.

    alan

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really liked the work of Leo Baxendale, Caroline; I found his Willy the Kid books later, and really loved the anarchy which was possibly even more anarchic than the Bash Street Kids...

    Ranger folded and was incorporated into Look and Learn, Liz; I got L&L from then, but the Eddicational aspect of it was a bit underwhelming. Never encountered Mirabelle or Valentine; step-sister got Jackie, which did nothing for me really.
    If you got Scotland on Sunday, Alan, does that mean that you know Oor Wullie and The Broons? -I earned a little local celebrity, and not all in a good way, when I turned up for my first engine room watch with a copy of Dickens in my back pocket...

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete