The Night Mail

[Danemouth]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Going t'other way, Pepper Pig got criticised* in Australia for an episode with a friendly spider....

 

One of the things that you don't see in Modern Britain are the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Admittedly the violence (frying pans to the head, etc), racist themes and so on would be difficult to get past the schedulers, even with "trigger" warnings. But Bugs Bunny, Wyle E Coyote and Roadrunner and other former staples are conspicuous by their absence too. 

 

There have been toned down "lite" versions produced in recent years, but the animation styles and stories are cr@p.

 

It'd be nice to see the originals as late night specials on BBC Four...

 

* The episode was probably dropped...

 

 

 

You didn't mention my favourite - Popeye 😁

 

Dave

[PMP]

2 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

Considering that there are people out there who think that Thomas The Tank Engine and Wilbert Awdry’s books whence it came are racialist, nothing really surprises me when it comes to things being removed from public access.

 

I won’t go any further into that can of worms (or encourage others to) for obvious reasons.

 

Dave

I have in my possession an Awdry book (4th edition), where the N word is used and clearly in a derogatory sense. The book initially published in 1951 and my edition 1954. It’s very interesting as he was of the same generation as my parents, whom would AFAIK never have used such a term, and never did in my presence/memory. That he used the term, and it was published over four editions of the book without change, being generous, shows an uncaring attitude at best. At the time obviously the UK was seeing significant early windrush generation immigration.
The really surprising element for me was that the publisher chose to print, rather than alter the words which could have been done without losing the story line. A reality check regarding ‘different times’.

[Oldddudders]

8 minutes ago, PMP said:

A reality check regarding ‘different times’.

And a man of the cloth, no less......

[Happy Hippo]

For those of a less nervous disposition, the Grey Squirrel that has been digging holes in our lawn and generally doing over the veg beds, has now  been moved on to pastures green.

 

Ironically, I was on the phone to my old shooting mentor, discussing a problem with one of my other rifles, when the villain made an appearance, directly in front of a target which I had just used for checking the zero of a carbine I'd not used in a while.

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[Tony_S]

12 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

has now  been moved on to pastures green.

Is that the same farm that peoples pets go and live on?

Edited October 12, 2023 by Tony_S

[Hroth]

Is it now an ex-squirrel?

 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, PMP said:

wdry book (4th edition), where the N word is used and clearly in a derogatory sense. The book initially published in 1951 and my edition 1954.

Our edition was published in 1992 and had the word replaced with “soot”. I looked it up and the text was altered in 1972.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Tony_S
Spelling

[Happy Hippo]

44 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Is that the same farm that peoples pets go and live on?

Yes

25 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Is it now an ex-squirrel?

 

Well, it's not responding to shouts of 'get off the grass'!

[polybear]

Bear likes squiwells.......😢

[Tony_S]

1 minute ago, polybear said:

Bear likes squiwells.......😢

With a side portion of salmon and seasonal berries…

[polybear]

22 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

With a side portion of salmon and seasonal berries…

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..............................

[Northmoor]

25 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear likes squiwells.......😢

"Rats with good PR", my Dad calls them.

[MrWolf]

Tree rats. If they didn't have the fluffy tail people wouldn't think that they were cute.

[SM42]

I once did similar to a bumble bee. 

 

Well it did  fly across my field of view out of the cover of the low house background just after I called  for the target on the skeet range  

 

Andy

 

[Tony_S]

15 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Tree rats. If they didn't have the fluffy tail people wouldn't think that they were cute.

Our rats Norah and Smudge were very cute…

[jamie92208]

9 hours ago, Tony_S said:

This one looks like the offspring of a signal box and air raid shelter..

http://derby-signalling.org.uk/NK/FJgf.jpg

Morton Crossing at Fiskerton Junction

I built one for Long Preston and have a photo somewhere.  IIRC the Midland never built a weatherproof ground frame so used their standard tumbler frame for signaboxes and then built a little shed rou d the frame.  I'll look out the photo.

 

Jamie

[Winslow Boy]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

With a side portion of salmon and seasonal berries…

Of course not. It'll be curly fries with squirrel fricasa.

[Willie Whizz]

3 hours ago, PMP said:

I have in my possession an Awdry book (4th edition), where the N word is used and clearly in a derogatory sense. The book initially published in 1951 and my edition 1954. It’s very interesting as he was of the same generation as my parents, whom would AFAIK never have used such a term, and never did in my presence/memory. That he used the term, and it was published over four editions of the book without change, being generous, shows an uncaring attitude at best. At the time obviously the UK was seeing significant early windrush generation immigration.
The really surprising element for me was that the publisher chose to print, rather than alter the words which could have been done without losing the story line. A reality check regarding ‘different times’.

Indeed. It doesn’t at all make it ”right” but the association between very dark colour (eg a ‘white’ person with a case of heavy sunburn) and the n-word was commonplace in my youth - and to try to be fair to that generation my recollection is it was not deliberately chosen and meant to be racially offensive by most users, however a listener might have perceived it; just ‘descriptive’. 
 

As you say, ‘different times’ and nobody with any sense would do it today; we have learned better. But it is always wise to be cautious applying today’s standards to yesterday’s norms; who knows what words and behaviours we regard as commonplace today that our own great-grandchildren will regard as heinous …?

[br2975]

On 11/10/2023 at 08:35, Oldddudders said:

Coming back to Luton Airport and discovering your car is a write-off must be pretty sickening. 

 

EDIT It might jut be a lithium battery event that caused it. This remains an imperfect technology.

.

The fire service are reporting the cause of the conflagration was diesel powered car.

[Tony_S]

22 minutes ago, Willie Whizz said:

who knows what words and behaviours we regard as commonplace today that our own great-grandchildren will regard as heinous …?

By then the dominant species will probably be squirrels.

[Hroth]

18 minutes ago, br2975 said:

.

The fire service are reporting the cause of the conflagration was diesel powered car.

 

I believe that it may have been a faulty DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) overheating whilst regenerating.

 

[Winslow Boy]

58 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

By then the dominant species will probably be squirrels.

I believe that it's predicted that if the inevitable- plague, nuclear war, pannier sorry zombie apocalypse occurred then cock roaches would survive to repopulate the place.

 

Cheery thought that isn't it.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Winslow Boy

[MrWolf]

46 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

I believe that it may have been a faulty DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) overheating whilst regenerating.

 

 

Awful things. My friend's van / MPV goes into a DPF cleaning cycle and ditches all of the collected muck in one go, along with a good quantity of unburned diesel vapour, strong enough to make your eyes sting whilst you're riding in it.

 

I'll stick with sixty year old motors thanks.

[Tony_S]

27 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I believe that it's predicted that if the inevitable- plague, nuclear war, pannier sorry zombie apocalypse occurred then cock roaches would survive to repopulate the place.

 

Cheery thought that isn't it.

I read something years ago that following a major nuclear war the only survivors wouid be the Swiss (due to survival precautions) and cockroaches (radiation resistance)