Tag: reading

*The Week That Was – 21st May 1984

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Record of the week: Confessions of Sin – Confession, Self Abuse – Loose, PCH – (This is not) Call The Cops
Record of the month – Subhumans LP, Confessions of Sin (live)

21st May 1984
Was going to start The Scar last night but started it today instead. Read half of it then watched film – which was ok. Had a bath. Then went to Houldey’s. They were setting up their new suite. Came back. Rang Paul. Talked for a while. Found out Zoe rang, said she’d ring again tomorrow. Watched Hill Street Blues. Read some more then went to sleep.

22nd May 1984
Decided not to go to school. When I woke up I started reading book. Finished it at 4 o’clock. It was a good book. Haven’t been doing anything otherwise. Went to Houldey’s. Found out Kathryn will go out with me when she’s finished with whoever. Zoe rang and apologised for Saturday. Dunno what else I did. Drew In Execlsis on my wall. Went to sleep.

23rd May 1984
Woke up early for some reason. Jez came round at about 10. Jim came at 10.30. Drew things on wall. Decided to do some PCH. Went to Houldey’s. Only Beki was there. I came back and got some sugar. Took our tape back and played it. Came back and did some more PCH. Came in. Jim and Jez went. I went to Houdley’s. Went to get some petrol. Came back. Came back. Went to Jez’s. Had a shit game of snooker. JC was there – cunt. Went to Ben’s. Went to a barn (?) on my bike. Came back. Spurs won UEFA Cup on penalties. Film was shit.

24th May 1984
Woke up about 10.30. Took dog. Went to Wimborne. Saw Liz eh. Got haircut. Bought some paints and gel. Came back. Went to Houldey’s. Had a chat with Beki. Came back. Wrote some of book. Didn’t do fuck all. Went to Jez’s. We went to Ben’s, spent ages trying to find him. He was with Harrison. Recorded tape to tape – stuff for Crass. We left at 10. I got back at 10.30. Dunno what I did but it must’ve been good.

25th May 1984
Woke up. Got letter from Zoe. Photos returned – so I decided to take them back to Bernice. Went to Wimborne – she weren’t home. Went round town. Saw a few old faces but not Bernice. Went to Jim’s. They’d just left to go to Poole. Left photos at Jim’s. Came home. Went to Jez’s to get money he owed me. Went to Houldey’s. Good news. Kathryn will go out with me. I think I was supposed to ring her but I’m not sure. Came home. Rang Paul and Andy. There’s a gig tomorrow at the squat but I can’t go. Went to sleep.

26th May 1984
Woke up. Watched TV. Was going to go to Wimborne but couldn’t be fucked – too wet. Got petrol and paper. Finished another book – Tarotown. Watched England V Scotland (1-1). Started Beast on my wall. Went to Houdley’s, no one there apart from Mr. H. Came back. Started painting the Beast’s head. Finished at about 11.20 – looks fuckin’s superb. Pissed off cos I can’t get Kathryn’s phone number. Watched film – Harry In Your Pocket – good.

27th May 1984
Woke up 12.10. Did fuck all. Had a bath. (?) went to get cat for Lorna. Stewart gave my mum a fiver – I had £2. Ben came over. His mum took us to Jim’s. Jum’s old man took us down to Winton. Pissed around for an hour. Got tickets off Andy. Cinema was a pit. Takano – ok. COF – fuckin’ brilliant. Self Abuse – brilliant. Got chucked out of a pub. Mum collected us. Took Jim back. Ben stayed the night.

*The Week That Was – 6th February 1984

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Record of the week: DOA – Bloodied But Unbowed

6th February 1984
Knackered. Physics was alright. Maths was totally shit. Lunchtime was boring. I was depressed by now. Social Studies made it worse. As did H.E. Bus home was alright. Hill Street Blues was good – cheer me up. Chucked Andy out of the group.

7th February 1984
R.E. – no teacher. P.S.C.E. – Jim’s shit. Maths – shit. B. Studies – shit. English – good, right piss around. P.E. – basketball – quite a laugh. Told Simon about Andy – no practice Sunday. Grange Hill was good. Went out on bike, down the road and round about. Looks like a good film on later ‘Visions of Death’. Football on instead.

8th February 1984
H.E. – made some bread. Physics – did a mock practical – quite good. Spent 80p on sweets. R.E. was ok. English was ok. B. Studies was boring. Maths was shit. Went out on my ped again. Didn’t do much else really at all at all at all at all at all….

9th February 1984
Art – Ok. P.E. – slaughtered Chesh at badminton. Social Studies – not bad. Business Studies – cut my thumb on a typewriter. English – ok. Fuck all to do at home at the moment. Reading Paul’s fanzine at the mo’. Ped just ran out of petrol or something.

10th February 1984
Did my English exam today – don’t think I did too well. English was a laugh. About 30 of us got caught smoking today. Burdet was lippy to Brooke and has got to see Crud. H.E. – boring. Maths – shit. Played football at lunch – good laugh. Art was ok. Business Studies was ok. Physics was alright. Jim’s decided to go vegetarian. Quite an eventful day so far. Watching telly now – well, there’s not much else to do.

11th February 1984
Got up at 8.15. Went to Poole. Saw Burd. Saw Lisa, Justin etc. Got some vivisection posters. Bought DOA LP. Met Paul around 3.20 and didn’t do much. Went to Arts Centre with Fish, Gilly and Paul. Quite a laugh. Came back home – played records, watched telly. Watched the horror movie – was fuckin’ shit. Talked til about 2.30.

12th February 1984
Woke up 10.30. Played records. Played darts and cards with Paul. Didn’t do a lot. Took dog for a walk. Took Paul back to Wareham. Not a lot on telly tonight. Read book most of the night. Couldn’t stay up for Sgt Bilko.

*The Week That Was – 2nd January 1984

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Records of the week: Violators – Live Fast Die Young, Red Alert – We’ve Got The Power, Plastmatics – New Hope For The Wretched

2nd January 1984
Group meeting at Justin’s – everyone got on alright I think. Me and Baldie had to get bus back to Wimborne cos Simon didn’t know he was supposed to take me back. It’s pissing down at the moment. Waiting for something exciting to happen.

30th Apr 2023 – Baldie was Gareth Balderson. I’d forgotten that he was in Simon’s year at school and a friend of his. In a few year’s time, he would be someone I would score hash off and he introduced me to the wonders of listening to Gong whilst stoned. Simon Bradbury was a couple of years older than Justin and me and was a loveable skinhead despite looking mean but I guess that is part of their fashion.

3rd January 1984
Cat’s feeling a bit lonely at the moment. I think I’ll cheer him up later. Grange Hill has started again. Been reading most of the day. Midnight Cowboy is on tonight. We’re in the middle of a power cut at the moment. I’ve just finished reading The Dark as well – ironic. Started Time Enough For Love.

4th January 1984
Apparently the cat has had an accident – he’s got a bad tail. Cat’s been looking pretty bad all day. Just finishing letter to Zoe at the mo’. Something happened today but I can’t remember what. Should have a practice on Sunday.

5th January 1984
There’s not a lot happening at the moment. I’m about to watch CHiPs. Justin doesn’t seem to know about a practice but wants everyone to come over. Andy wants to practice but wants to see the Subhumans on Saturday night in Andover. I might go with him.

6th January 1984
Got a new mattress today – thank god. Justin reckons there is no practice so it looks like it’ll have to be next Sunday. Should be able to go and see Subhumans now it Andy’s going. Not a lot else has been happening (as last Friday)

7th January 1984
Went to Poole in the afternoon again. Met Simon and Justin – had a laugh. Got back and found out Andy had called about the Subhumans. So, I couldn’t go. Found out there’s a gig on the 21st. Youth Brigade LP has come but didn’t buy it. Rosemary’s Baby and Don’t Go To Sleep were on – good.

8th January 1984
Got up 12. Reading most of the time. Went out and climbed trees. The Goodies was on. Andy called and said sorry but it wasn’t any good according to him. Been playing darts as well. Getting bored watching James Bond at the moment.

*The Week That Was – 26th December 1983

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Records of the week: Minor Threat – Out of Step, MDC – Multi Death Corporations, Social Distortion – Mommy’s Little Monster

26th December 1983
Woke up 8 – Couldn’t sleep. Feeling terrible – bad gut. Watching Bugs Bunny at the moment. Going to Lorna’s soon. Nice relaxing day. Sharon, Ken, Mungo and Kim were there as well. Got slightly tipsy – so to speak.

27th December 1983
Woke up 9. Listening to Minor Threat and Social Distortion – not done much really. Got a box to put my LPs in. Been thinking mostly – about this and that. Finished reading The Fog – good.

28th December 1983
Carrie’s on tonight. Met Muz down at Gaunts – bought some fags. Not been doing much again. Reading my Naff Guide. Eddie Waring is ill. Rupert and Sue came over – they gave me some talc.

Eddie Waring

29th December 1983
Went to Poole with Mum. Can’t go to see Zoe – no busses. Got photocopying of the group done. Bought 3 books – Psychlone, The Satanist and Time Enough For Love. Zoe called – had to explain I couldn’t see her. Anarchy in the UK isn’t No. 1 in the Festive 50. (Blue Monday). Started reading The Dark.

30th December 1983
Not much happening today. Watching Battlestar Galactica at the moment. Got a pair of slippers – at last. Trying to arrange meeting – should be on Monday at Justin’s. Cat’s here at the moment. There’s nothing else to fill this space up.

31st December 1983
Went in the afternoon to Poole. Put another £2 on the Youth Brigade LP. Saw the Frantix EP £2.49. Doesn’t look much but it’s probably good. Got a bottle of Merrydown which I’m slurping now. Theatre of Blood is on tonight – it’s good.

1st January 1984
Cat slept with me last night. I got a bit drunk last night. Woke up at 12 again. Went out on the common for a laugh. Was reading most of the day. Not a lot else happened. Had a game of poker with Mum, Granny and Grandad.

The Week That Was – 16th December 1979

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Record of the week: M – Moonlight and Muzak
Highest entry: Elvis Presley

22nd Sep 2022 – Ploughing through adding these entries for 1979 has taken much longer than expected. As my enthusiasm for keeping a diary in 1979, so did my enthusiasm for finishing these off! There’s also little information contained within for me to comment on.

I don’t even remember this M song now. I think it was a disappointment after the fanaticism I had for Pop Muzik.

16th December 1979
REALLY
2p 1p

17th December 1979
YOU
2p

18th December 1979
KNOW
3p 1p

19th December 1979
End of school
2p 104p*

20th December 1979
1. Pink Floyd
2. Abba
3.
4.
Matthew was ill
102p*

21st December 1979
Feel sick
Ipswich 3-1 Spurs
100p*

22nd December 1979
We played yesterday
Yesterday read 80 pages of Trillions and I got Star Trek
2p 98p*

22nd Sep 2022 – ‘We’ being Ipswich, not my school team. Getting Star Trek, I’m not sure what that was, a game, a toy, magazine or book? I was into the 60s/70s Star Trek series but never got into the later versions. I was all about Kirk, Spock, Uhuru and the…er…Scottish guy!

Trillions was one of the very few books that I read when I was in school. Something about it grabbed me and I knew that it was possible for me to read and enjoy it. Perhaps I just never came across the books that I needed to inspire me to read more.

Trillions were hard, bright, tiny things which suddenly arrived, millions and millions and millions of them, one windy day in a village called Harbourtown…..No one could explain them, much less why they had suddenly arrived. Were they a blessing, as their beauty suggested, or a deadly, inexplicable threat?

from Goodreads.com

The Week That Was – 14th January 1979

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

14th January 1979
Going to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind

14th Oct 2021 – This would have been at the Tivoli in town (Wimborne Minster) and a very special event for an 11-year-old living out in the sticks. The movie really provoked my imagination – not so much about the alien visitors but how crazy the humans became. This and the War of the Worlds soundtrack really got me going, thinking about space and the universe though it wasn’t long until what was happening on earth overrode everything.

15th January 1979
Cleaning out the stream
Forgot
Don’t know

14th Oct 2021 – The woods opposite my house were a few children’s playground though for me it became a big part of my imagination and life. I familiarised myself with every corner, nook and cranny of the woods, sometimes even expanding over into overgrown backyards that backed onto it. It was divided up into several sections depending on clearings, paths, tracks and type of trees. There were three main entrances and a stream ran through the middle in a miniature valley (a ditch!).

When walking my grandparents’ dog – a job I mostly enjoyed – I would navigate through the grassy entrance to the woods, through the small paths amongst the bracken, to the main clearing where another path formed into a big circle you could walk, run or ride a bike around and beyond this down into the ditch where the stream was attempting to flow from right to left as I approached it. With the melting snow feeding it there was lots of water and so much debris would be picked up and block progress so that it flooded over the sides onto the banks and paths. I made it my mission to clear it, a little bit every day. I thought myself the owner of this stream and woe betide anyone who tried to reverse my hard work and block it again.

It took me many weeks to clear through halfway and later in the year, as seasons changed, there would be fresh challenges ahead. In my wellington boots, I kicked at the bottom of the stream to clear rocks away, pulled at entangled bushes on the bank, removed fallen branches until one day, about three-quarters of the way through I came to a small bend and beyond was the next objective to clear. The banks were steeper here and the tree cover dense so it was impossible to see the bottom. I bravely took a step forward feeling confident I would find the safety of the stream bed.

Alas, I was too careless and, as my foot plunged deeper, the icy water flowed over the top of my left boot and filled it full of water. Fuck! Stupid stream! I got out, emptied my boot and trudged home, cold and damp footed.

I went back of course but opted to start at the other end of the stream and work my way back to the cavernous depth that brought me despair. Having done this however, I found that the stream could only be accessed so far until it was blocked by a big hedge – and what was over that hedge made me extremely curious for further investigations.

16th January 1979
Same as yesterday
Forgot
Don’t know

14th Oct 2021 – I called my friend, Jason White, who lived on a farm down the end of the lane that ran alongside our house. You had to walk through his farm to get to the bottom of the field where Horton Tower was and where we used to climb up the crumbling brickwork inside to get to the windows from where you could also jump out. This was a teenage tradition for everyone locally and some kids even made it up to the second level but I was never brave enough to try.

Anyway, I called him…..actually, I probably didn’t even call him, I would’ve gone to his house and seen if he wanted to ‘come out to play’? I was proud of my stream cleaning success and wanted to show him. When we got there though he didn’t seem impressed at all which was disappointing. He was, however, curious about what was on the other side of that hedge.

Egging each other on, we climbed up a tree and along a branch that hung over into this forbidden territory. We dropped down onto a path that seemed to curve round in either direction. Whilst the path looked well enough used, the overgrowth on either side was so high it was difficult to predict what was around each corner. As I was thinking about this, Jason began to tell stories of the owner laying animal traps and walking around with a shotgun ready to shoot people who trespassed there. So it was in trepidation we snooped around as far as we could until we scared ourselves too much and jumped over/through another hedge and into an adjoining field.

Curiosity was well piqued by now and I ventured back a few more times, both alone or with a friend, until one day the owner walked right to us and asked what I was doing. I mumbled about just wondering and wandering what this area was and he told me to get out the way I came and not to come back. I don’t think I ever did.

There seemed to be nothing of interest in this enclosed wooded area, which, of course, made it even more tempting to investigate further but the threatening look of the owner was enough to keep me away.

I returned to the woods many years later and whilst some parts are the same, others have either changed or they no longer fit with memories. I’ll always be tempted to go back and look again (even though it’s on the other side of the world) but I’ve learned that memories are sometimes better left to themselves.

17th January 1979
Found out that ID and the Blockheads isn’t No. 1

14th Oct 2021 – Although I have no diary for 1978 I can see that music was taking on a more important role in my life throughout 1979. From football and cars at the beginning of the year to the charts and punk rock by the end. Critical times and enough to drive my mother mad.

18th January 1979
Painted WODs today
Painted them white
Interesting this article isn’t it!

14th Oct 2021 – Wall of Death? Wheels of Death? What’s the ‘s’ on the end? It seems I was also conscious of writing this diary for a reason, talking to a future self.

19th January 1979
Given new set book The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
BLURP

14th Oct 2021 – I struggled with reading books during these years, especially if they were school-assigned books. Who wants to read what they’re told!? I do believe I did complete reading this book though. Something about a lion, a witch and a wardrobe, I bet!

20th January 1979
Finished some homework
Ipswich 3-1 Wolves
HEYY!

14th Oct 2021 – Weird that I would comment on finishing homework. I guess I was proud of this achievement.