Bedminster Youth Club
Deathtrap Blankets Mousetrap Games
Another wild week in BS3, with swirling wind and rain and cold. Have you put the heating on yet or are you told to put on another jumper?
Here is genuine thing that we used to use to keep ourselves warm in the winter.
Cosy eh? I mean, this is a luxury US model but they were much the same. I remember having a little dial that poked out the side of the bed that you pushed around to change the level of burning that your legs received.
Parents pulsing pure electricity into the limbs of their children. Outrageous.
Things were very different in the 70s and 80s. I saw a debate on Twitter this week that was asking what you would call a concentrated fruit based drink that you added water to?
Cordial? Squash? Pop? Dilute?
Dilute? Dilute? That’s ridiculous. Then I found out that most people in Yorkshire and Liverpool call it dilute!!! Amazing. That’s what you do to it, not what it’s called!
Mind you, in parts of Scotland they call it “diluting juice” which is both quaint and hilarious.
I know this makes me seem like an ancient dinosaur but surely some things were better? Surely?
Didn’t we have the best board games? Of course we did! Check this beauty out. This was what I had always wanted for Christmas. I had waited months and the day finally arrived. But sadly no, I’d opened all my presents and it was not there. Then suddenly my Dad appeared and explained he had bought a special present (weird) just from him that me and my sister were to share (even weirder). I was excited beyond belief when I saw the box…could it be? But I would have to share it. The horror! Yes, yes it was! It was MOUSETRAP
— The greatest game ever to be made. You can keep your Fortnight (I know!) and you Call for Duty (Yes, I really know). This was what all youngsters needed in their life. A giant fiddly, annoying, messy, ridiculous and strange game that I loved for many years. You started by winding the handle (A) and then watched in awe as a scene of utter carnage unraveled before your young eyes. The boot kicks the ball down the rickety stairs and around the drainpipe. It knocks the pole that pushes the hand that tips another ball into a bath that falls onto a springboard that flips a small plastic diving man into a bucket, which should in theory activate the trap to wobble down onto the mouse (which by the way, was only there because you had rolled a dice that made it land there and someone else had rolled a dice that put their mouse on the Mousetrap space. Incredible. That picture is a very powerful memory trigger— I didn’t know I’d end up here. I can smell the plastic, hear the rubber band creak and the cage rattle. I’m back there!
And then as if my magic, I remember I’m in 2020 and noone is interested in stuff like this. This is a “retro” toy at best, an old piece of junk at worst. Who wants to see things roll and slap and bend and flick in almost impossible patterns, leading to a wild celebration as the last part of the assault course is complete, defying physics and logic and providing joy and celebration.
Kids these days aren’t interested in that? Are they? Really?
10 millions views says I’m wrong!
Have a great week. Hope you have some time to play and make contraptions.
See you soon,
Simon
