I inherited real Mechano and used to save up money to buy expansion sets which I still have:). Never did get to Set 10

Balaclava is a town in Crimea.

Its a typo

And I'm not certain anyone knows if stars are infinite, probably depends on…

Now she really does think it was the tooth fairy, and how do I tell her!

Well, you don't, obviously. I hate it when adults try to ambush kids' fantastic belief systems. I've taught with people who'll read a book to the kids ( and remember this is 3-5 year…

I thought that the Chinese count like Maori. i.e. to say 11 you say "ten and one", to say 342 you say "three hundreds and four tens and two".
but I don't speak Chinese, anyone?

Correct, without the "and". Also, pointy -finger stuff!

Isn't it the French that use base 60?

Only briefly. So, seventy-nine is sixty-nineteen, but then eighty-five is four twenties and five. I think they just make shit up, honestly.

I thought that the Chinese count like Maori. i.e. to say 11 you say "ten and one", to say 342 you say "three hundreds and four tens and two".

but I don't speak Chinese, anyone?

It was worse than that, it was 'ninety eight, ninety-nine, glockenspiel, glockenspiel-and-one... six glockenspiel and forty-two..."

Actaully that much MUCH better! If he just threw in "glockenspiel" instead of 99 he wasn't doing any critical thinking about how numbers "work".

When you think about it "hundred" is just a nonsense…

But as a kid who consistently mispronounced words I'd read but never heard- and suffering some embarrassment for this- I wonder how his classmates reacted when he said "ninety-eight, glockenspiel, one hundred."

It was worse than that, it was 'ninety eight, ninety-nine, glockenspiel, glockenspiel-and-one... six glockenspiel and forty-two..."

But we…

told my three year old the other day that the Mr Whippy van only plays the music when he's run out of ice cream.

70's Small town NZ had no such Mr Whippy problem. My parents frequently tell the story about buying ice-cream cones for my big sister from the…

"granny... it only takes one person to make a difference"
"how's that honey?"
"i'm going to sponsor a child"

this is a 4 year old who watches too much tv.

the other daughter,…

Heeey, good idea! thanks for that Paul

you can just completely make stuff up, and their little faces kind've crunch up with effort

I told my three year old the other day that the Mr Whippy van only plays the music when he's run out of ice cream. Then I felt really guilty...

And to hark back…

He already has a reasonable level of suspicion of us, though,…

So much so that he moved the cookies and milk to the side of the fireplace so that Santa didn't trip over them when he came down our (tiny flue) chimney. It's important that Santa leaves crumbs on the plate, as evidence that he's been.

Milk and cookies? Pah!!

In…

My partner once had an arguement with her Primary School teacher who used "the number of grains of sand on the beach" as an example of infinite. My partner kept saying "it's not infinite, it's just a big number!". She's got a 1st Class honours degree in maths now.

I…

Singstar! A heinous machine (we have one too). Great for keeping swags of young girls (especially) at birthday parties occupied though.

Actually, they should release singstar albums – as in discs devoted to single artists. I could see Singstar Elvis going down big in some adult…

Oh dear. There goes the last magical Christmas.

But you must be over the moon that your daughter has a smart questioning mind. That's the best thing to have.

I also once…

Deborah, I was chastened to discover that I was in fact involved in the purchase of one of the gifts and had entirely forgotten. There was a PS2 with Singstar up for auction at the…

and many more.

David, when you have a moment, let us know what your responsible half got for your eight year oild.

Now she really does think it was the tooth fairy, and how do I tell her!

I finally got fed up with the Easter bunny stories (I'm sure there was no huge Easter bunny hype when I was a child), and told the girls that there was no Easter bunny,…

yes exactly, it's amazing how sometimes with kids you can almost see the effort of the cogs whirring around.

would that be the Duncan Garner that actually thought George Bush was complimenting him on his dress sense?

In our house, we prefer the sitting chair.

Is there any another kind?

That's one of the interesting things about children. You can tell them virtually anything, and they will believe you. Including that unless they are smacked, their souls will be in peril.

In our house, we prefer the sitting chair.

Is there any another kind?

I/S: she thinks "there should be a law that tells grownups they can't smack kids."

Also, Lynley came up with the name: it was the Junior Engineering Set.…

"Don't throw me into the briar patch, Brer Fox", anyone?

In our house, we prefer the sitting chair. Children who have misbehaved are required to…

Are you some sort of commie? Don't you know that there's a clear bright line between "good" smacking and "bad" smacking, and that parents who practice "good" smacking never, ever lose the plot and veer into "bad" smacking? Why, they're practically different species.

Duncan Garner on TV3 just called John…

(heh heh I said "abreast".)

And why haven't nomads come back into fashion?, along with black puffy nylon bomber jackets?

Strangely, I just got myself a black puffy nylon bomber jacket the other day; a fiver from the sallies. As much to do with my nostalgic fetish for NZ manufacturing as anything else. No heat…

Though mine did have a vinyl thing that domed up over the joint where the handlebars meet the frame. It had a very cool…

sigh... where were you emma, old friend.

a raleigh-20 riding gf would have been just my cup of tea.

Probably being introduced to the works of Robert Heinlein by a scruffy-looking bf who used to wear out the soles of his nomads because his cobbled-together bicycle had no brakes.

But…

I used to Turtle Wax it (which I must do to my car someday)

Please think of the turtles!

Che your webmarshal must be shielding you from crimes against fashion.

Isn't that Trevor and Pete?

and Steve.

a raleigh-20 riding gf would have been just my cup of tea.

I think I can see what was holding you back Che – girls are nothing like cups of tea.

Isn't that Trevor and Pete?

And, yes, it must have been Sue's Raleigh 20 – apologies for the implication that it might have been your (rather feminine) cycle of choice that I inherited.

And why haven't nomads come back…

I remember getting my first bike. A red "Panther" BMX (it was the 80s).

Yes! Mine (about '79/'80): red Panther w/ gold hardware (incl. V-bar) and yellow snakebellies and grips. Kick-brake, of course! Probably the coolest thing I've ever owned.

Re: shoes. What was the name of those ones with…

shudder... here they are, still alive... Trek
Nomad

can you believe that webmarshal just stopped me going to riddley's site?

exactly what kind fo footwear were you showing us?

a raleigh-20 riding gf would have been just my cup of tea.

i had nomads. brown. grubby. no shirt tucked in. on a bike made of stolen parts.

none of this made me any less of an awkward geek.

being het was worthless because girls don't like geeks.

Sounds just like one of my high school boyfriends.

Emma, you reacted against the…

Or was that somewhere else?

treks also resembled suede.

i had nomads. brown. grubby. no shirt tucked in. on a bike made of stolen parts.

none of this made me any less of an awkward geek.

being het was worthless because girls don't like geeks. being gay was worse. most…

One of them was flat, broad across the top, ugly and worn by rough kids.

One of them had a ridge down the middle of the upper, looked a bit classier, and was worn by better kids.

Both of them had a gluey-rubber sole that lasted a year…

Emma, i think it was the Choppers that made your brothers naughty, thus necessitating their smacking. the sombre Raliegh 20 on the other hand clearly made you a good child. it's all in The Book.

OTOH, my brothers did all turn out to be straight Christians, two things I failed…

Don't you know that there's a clear bright line between "good" smacking and "bad" smacking

I'm getting tired of those who lecture us that we smack dogs to train them & it does them more good than harm.

I could post the link, but y'all know where I mean.

No-one (who…

yeah, i had a Dutch friend who used to find it funny that dairies here sold 'Hot Pies' (Mao mimi = Du pies).

a clear bright line

clear as rich and poor

Didn't Lincoln make a toy called The Screaming Me me which was used as a name by an Auckland band?

That was the Screaming Meemees. Is Simon Grigg in the house?

BTW, Maori folks were known to be highly amused to hear tell of a group called the "Screaming Mimis"…

They've never been smacked and I was never smacked as…

Had it till last year actually, when I donated it to the salvation army.

but I'm fairly sure (unless my memory fails me) that I got Andrew's old Raleigh 20 instead .......

I don't think I had a raleigh 20, maybe Sue did?

I had an old Healing I think, or similar, later pimped with a cheap banana seat & apehangers. The epitome of cool.

but most memorable present? plastic model of a lancaster bomber. built that sonabitch and had…

I wanted a Chopper, but I'm fairly sure (unless my memory fails me) that I got Andrew's old Raleigh 20 instead .......

nice post David. bata bullets were cool, but they used to stink-up pretty quick after a few weeks' solid wearing.

Hadyn i like the story about the hiding the bike by saying it was for someone else then taking a year…

you'd have to take out the flag.

but... with what will she drape herself, a la pauline hanson?

david's daughter in no way resembles that lunatic hanson

Children have been pretty silent over s59

Wasn't there a photo of some cute kids opposing the bill on the front page of the DomPost :)

i'm sure they could be assembled by a dedicated team of toy-makers here in wellington for.... oh.... $119.99? (+gst and p/h).

Hooning around in Bata Bullets saying words backwards was, er, trendy.

Unless you're a musician, in which case its evidence of Satanism.

Would it be rude to ask what her opinion of the law is?

She's never been smacked, and she believes you should never smack kids. I'm not sure that she's formulated a clear position on what role the State might take in that : ) I can see what she…

you will need.

1x New Zealand flag, large.
1x megaphone, to trumpet freedom (optional: may be substituted with trumpet to trumpet freedom)
1x anti-terrorist fridge magnet. should identify at least three types of known terrorist hats.
1x banner stating "freedom ain't free"
1x…

She doesn't watch the TV news as much as I did at her age, although her child's bat antennae can pick up a news item about the smacking debate from four rooms away, and she will scamper to the source to hear more.

Would it be rude to ask what…

We've got a dusty Humdinger set under a bed somewhere, ready for when kids visit...

What i really wanted was a Johnny 7 gun. Ah... those less enlightened times. I could've aided Napoleon & Ilya…