Friday 15 May 2009

My So-Called Early Life

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), when the 1980s were in their infancy and I was barely out of mine, the 9-year-old me kept a diary. Written in an, erm, minimalistic style, I pretty much invented Twittering here, albeit three decades early. (note to self: sue Twitter at earliest opportunity for half-inching my idea!)

Here are some of the early entries, anyway. I hope you like them!

Friday 28th December

Watched Jack and the Beanstalk in funny version. Starred Gene Kelly

Monday 31st December

In the night ITV had some of the best programmes I've ever seen on ITV

Sunday 6th January

Had some more good proggrammes on television

Monday 7th January

Question Of Sport starts a new series. I got this diary


(The England Under-10 two-a-side football squad limber up for their next game. Left to right: Ernest Correspondent, Adrian Phillips)


Tuesday 8th January

Went back to school after Chistmas holiday. Saw Grange Hill new series. Arsenal 2 Cardiff 1.

Thursday 10th January

NOUT happened. I've got to play golf on Sat or Sun

Friday 11th January

Daley Thompson won the Superstars

Saturday 12th January

NOUT HAPPENED (AGAIN)

Monday 14th January

Got my pen nicked

Friday 18th January

Got football card album

Monday 24th January

Played footer for school B team. We won 3-1. I scored

Saturday 26th January

Got new pen. Arsenal 2 Brighton 0. Liverpool 2 Notts Forest 0 Dalglish, McDermott (pen)

Monday 28th January

Found my lost pen

Tuesday 29th January

No football training at school

Thursday 31st January

Didn't feel very well. 275 football cards.

Friday 1st February

Didn't go to school cause I didn't feel well. 287 cards.

Friday 8th February

Southend signed Keith Mercer from Watford. Fee £80,000

Sunday 10th February

went down club with Adrian

Tuesday 12th February

went to Angus's for tea. Millwall 1 Southend 2.

Thursday 14th February

St Valentines Day

Friday 15th February

Breaking up from school. Rochdale 0 Port Vale 2

Stay awake tuned for more exciting excerpts from the diary of an frank child at some point in the future (possibly)!

Yazoo - Nobody's Diary mp3

12 comments:

davyh said...

I cannot help but feel that a deeply compelling thread has herein begun.

Millie said...

A good name for your pre-dated version of Twitter ...Piffle..??

:)

Kippers said...

I like it, MG! If only I'd thought of patenting my Piffle at the time (or, indeed, had any concept of what a patent was).

Davy: I managed to keep the diary up for most of the year (the entries dry up in mid-November), so yes, I can probably squeeze a few more similarly thrill-a-minute entries out of this one! ;)

ally. said...

i can't wait to find out what happens to the new pen. will it be lost? has it been been put away for best now that the old pen has been found? who nicked the other pen ? it's a thrill a minute
x

Kippers said...

I can't remember now whether the old pen really was nicked or if I'd just misplaced it. I suspect it would've been the latter though!

dickvandyke said...

What a find! Who needs Samuel Pepys when you've got this diamond? It speaks pretty much for all of us.

Is that Keegan and Brooking in the picture? Feel the roar - of the red, white n blue.

Kippers said...

'ello everybody Pepys!

Oh I'll really have to do a blog about our brave boys' 1982 smash one of these days! This time we'll get it right indeed. (At least we will until Kev & Trev recover from injury just in time to come off the bench for the crucial game against Spain and KK puts an easy, glancing header wide that would have sent us through to the next round, had it gone in. Bah.)

Also, remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-JtHe3hGUs&feature=related

I'd heard of it but had never actually heard the song till now. I must say I'm impressed by the way he gets through the whole song without once moving his lips. Gottle a gear!

Kippers said...

Actually let's tidy that YouTube link up a bit, shall we? There's lovely.

dickvandyke said...

"Thursday 31st January
Didn't feel very well. 275 football cards.

Friday 1st February
Didn't go to school cause I didn't feel well. 287 cards."

Mr Kippers .. Can you explain how you came about the procurement of a further 12 football cards whilst ill and off school?

Members of the Jury, I put it to you, that you that Kippers was not in fact 'poorly' - but a slovenly workshy fop, merely weedling your way out of Double Science with the rampant Leggy Hargreaves.


Poor King Kev - more career ups and downs than a whore's drawers.
Hero or villain? Genius footballer or 'workmanlike 100 percenter'? Top Of The Pops or Top Of The Clots? Superstar or Superperm? Scunthorpe or San Siro?

I'd love it. Love it ... if there were more around like him these days in the game.

Kippers said...

Have to echo those sentiments about King Kev. He never seemed quite the same after that rant and Newcastle's subsequent Asprilla-ing away of their title chances that time. The exuberance seemed to drain out of him like so much air from a punctured football.

Ahh, now I probably played the sympathy card there and ended up getting a couple of packs of cards (they were actually Panini stickers, historical accuracy fans!) bought for me by a parent as a way to cheer me up in my ailing, possibly terminal state.

The stuff about being a slovenly workshy fop is bang on by the way!

dickvandyke said...

Takes 1 to know 1, our kid!

Had chewing gum stopped being placed in a pack of football cards by this juncture? And if so, why?

That flat sweet pink strip offered a small consolation should the cards reveal 3 or 4 'gots' of the Steve Ogrizovic/Remi Moses/Peter Withe ilk. They were tricky to swap and unlikely to attract trade for an elusive gold Cobblers crest.

Kippers said...

Yes, the age of the chewing gum in the packs had gone by that time, more's the pity.

Got... got... need.

I'll swap your Peter Withe for a Dave Swindlehurst and a Mickey Droy!