Ladybird By Design

"The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there"

That quote is actually the opening line to L.P Hartley's classic 1953 novel, 'The Go-Between'. If that statement was true back then, it is still equally as relevant today, if not more so.

This was brought home to me on Friday when I was lucky enough to attend a preview for the 'Ladybird By Design' exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. The exhibition, which started yesterday and runs until 10th May, is a celebration of 100 years of Ladybird books.

For anyone of a certain age, the mere mention of Ladybird books will usually transport you back to your childhood. If you were a child, or even a parent, between the late 1950's and the early 1980's you will probably have vivid memories of reading at least some of the 600+ titles that have been produced by Ladybird during their 100 years. These books have been read and treasured throughout those 100 years, but those years mentioned above were certainly their heyday.

While the books themselves will bring back childhood memories, it is the artwork and illustrations, that were specially commissioned for the books, that will really take you back to that bygone age.

Whichever series of Ladybird books those illustrations come from, be it People At Work, Shopping With Mother, Aventures From History, How It Works etc etc, the sheer quality and attention to detail of the artwork springs out at you from the page.

The exhibition itself houses over 200 examples of the original artwork that graced those books. These are the actual illustrations that went into the finished books and they come complete with the artists annotations and notes. This is the first time that such an extensive collection of these artworks has ever been collected and displayed together.

For more about the history of Ladybird books and to see many of the images used in the exhibition, it is well worth watching this offiical video. Included in this video is Lawrence Zeegan, who has written the 'Ladybird By Design' book which accompanies this exhibition.


Ladybird By Design from De La Warr Pavilion on Vimeo.

I was fortunate enough to be able to walk around the complete exhibition alone and while doing so I found myself scribbling down notes about certain aspects that jumped out at me, or struck me at the time. I'll share some of those here:

These Ladybird books are a time capsule that show a bygone age, albeit a sanitised version.
Since the late 1950's the world has gone through some huge changes, especially with regard to technology, work, class and social order.
We live in a completely different world today, but at least we have a record of those days. These books and their illustrations provide us with what is almost a mini social history of Britain. The vibrancy of the colours and the attention to detail in the artworks really bring that home.

This is a world where the family shop on the high street is still king, before the rise of big supermarkets. A pre Internet, mysterious world, where international travel was a dream, or an aspiration, rather than an regular occurrence and the British Empire is still clinging on in some far flung corners of the globe.
A fast changing, but exciting, world where space travel and nuclear power are the future and computers still fill a whole room. An innocent world, where families left their front doors unlocked and where babies were left in prams outside of those small shops.
A non PC world, where everybody knew their place.
It is also a disappearing world. Many of the trades and jobs portrayed no longer exist and have been replaced by technology, or have been 'outsourced'.

I suppose the question many who lived through those past decades may inevitably ask themselves, especially after walking around these galleries, is "was the world a better place then?"
I've no doubt that some of the grandparents taking their own grandchildren to Ladybird By Design may well think so, but I'm not so sure. After all, this is a view of the world through rose tinted eyes, with not a hair out of place.

The past is indeed a foreign country and they do do things a bit differently there. But like even the best holiday, it is nice to return home afterwards to what is familiar to you.

But don't take my word for it, go and see Ladybird By Design for yourself, you won't regret it.

eBooks, Kindle And Me.

I have been meaning to talk about this topic for a while now & was reminded to do so by a tv program i watched last night.
If you get the chance, it is well worth viewing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01871m9/Imagine_Winter_2011_Books_The_L...

Compromise?

Would you?
Movies, books, bands & music.

Here's a link to the website i mentioned: http://readit1st.com/

I've just found out that the website was started by a fellow YouTuber & here's his video explaining it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI9dqg_f_TI

AudioBoo - It's Good To Read.

Freedom To Read.

Books, libraries, the Internet & learning.
And it's all free.

Support your local library. You never know when you might need it, or want it.

A beach vlog.

Book: John Peel - The Olivetti Chronicles:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olivetti-Chro...

AudioBoo - No Going Back.

A beach boo.

A Tipping Point For eReaders?

Some thoughts on recent devolpments in the world of books, reading & the rise of the eReader.

I Want More.

I have just finished reading The Last Mad Surge Of Youth by Mark Hodkinson. I seem to be on a bit of a reading spree at the moment. It's a fictional account of a rock band from the north of England & especially about the bands singer & songwriter, John Barrett.
Being a big music fan, i must admit i'm a bit of a sucker for novels like this.
Not too long ago i read another, fairly similar, rock music novel, Powder by Kevin Sampson. This one was about a young band from Liverpool.

What is it about young bands from the north of England that attract novelists anyway? Anyone would think that no bands from south of Watford ever get a look in, when it comes to success.
Personally, i think it's all tied up with the idea of lads from a "real" working class background making good. Once again, it makes you wonder if the perception is that nobody from south of Watford is working class. But, maybe that's a topic for another blog, at a later date?

All i can say is that i can highly recommend both books. Especially if you like your music. Both are well written, are easy to read & pretty authentic. Well, as far as i can tell that is.
And that really brings me to the whole point of this blog.

I've come away from both books & others before them, wanting to hear the music that was talked about in the book. Now, obviously, that is not possible, as they are works of fiction. But, it is a little bit frustrating, nevertheless. Throughout the book, you have been buying into these peoples lives & you can almost hear the music in your head, as you read.
I guess that this must be a very good indication of how well written the story is & how much you've immersed youself into that story too. But, it also made me wonder if i'm alone in this?
I very much doubt it. But, it would be good to know anyway.

Now, without giving the story away of "The last mad surge of youth". The ending left a few unanswered questions. Well, it did for me anyway.
And that made me think about another aspect of all of this.
For as much as i want to hear the music that these, fictional, bands produced. I also want to know what happened after the author put down his pen, or walked away from the keyboard.
Once again, this is highly unlikely to happen & for obvious reasons too.

But, that thought, about wanting to know what happened next, can be transferred to just about any novel you've read. Or, indeed, to just about any movie you've ever watched too. Hence the need for all those sequels that you've seen, or read. Well, some of them anyway.  I'm not counting the sequels that were just pure money making exercises. And let's be honest, we've all seen far too many of them recently, haven't we?

However many pages a novel may have, or no matter how long a movie may be. We, usually, come away wondering what happened next.
There are, of course, exceptions to this. I'm not expecting a sequel to Thelma & Louise, or Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid any time soon. But, i expect you get the general idea?

Maybe it would be better if we just went back to the days of fairy tales, where all the stories seemed to end with the words "And they all lived happily ever after"? That would solve a lot of the problems wouldn't it?

So, am i alone in this?
Have you ever wanted to hear the music of a fictional band, or artist? Or, have you ever wanted to know what happened to that fictional character that you've just invested all that time reading about?
Or, is it just a case of me wanting more for my money than is actually reasonable?

Now, what shall i read next?

(And, yes, i do realise that there were some TV sequels to the Butch Cassidy movie. But, that just seems to prove my point about a money making exercise)

Books & Reading.

How do you read

Victims Of Choice?

Strange Days Indeed.

Well, these past few weeks have been rather strange ones for me.

As some of you may be aware, my father died on Sunday January 17th.
This was not a huge shock, as he was very nearly 93 years old & had been in hospital right over the Christmas & New Year period. But, regardless of how well you think you are prepared for what we did see as quite possibly, the inevitable, the shock when that end comes, is still a little hard to take.

As i said in a recent YouTube video that i made, one of a series, the hardest thing to take is the sudden realisation that you will never see that person again. I still can't quite believe it & probably won't for a while to come yet. My mother, who has coped remarkably well so far, still has days when she fully expects him to come home from the hospital.

The word i would use to describe how i've felt over these past two weeks, is surreal. It's almost as if you are walking around in a slight daze.
I have not been overly affected by what has happened, which has surprised me a little. But i have still felt rather weird, especially at certain times.
Maybe the full effect has not hit me yet? This may be the case, as the funeral is not until this Wednesday. That will be a strange day indeed.

But, the main reason for writing this blog was not to concentrate on all of those negative things that, inevitably, come about because of a parents death. But, rather to accentuate the positive things that have come out of it.

For one, this has made me do some re-evaluating about my own life. It has certainly made me realise, even more than i did before, that life needs to be lived & it needs to be lived now.
I have always been someone who has said yes to opportunities that have come my way. But, now i wonder if i should be the one trying to create even more opportunities for myself?
Time will tell, i suppose, if these thoughts will ever lead to anything. But, if you don't have those thoughts in the first place, nothing will ever change will it?

Another aspect, has been the way that my fathers death has made us all revisit his life & realise just what a full & interesting life he actually led.
I've heard stories about my father that i had never heard before. One in particular that sticks in my mind was about the evening, in the 1960's, when he played the piano in a pub & was bought several drinks of appreciation by Brian Epstein, The Beatles manager. How cool is that?

My mother has also learnt a lot about his earlier life.
Because of my own interest in family history, i got my father to write down & tell me about his early life, especially about his service in World War 2. My mother had never heard many of these stories.
My father lived through The Blitz, in London. He was also at the Battle of El Alamein, in North Africa & was in London during the VE Day celebrations at the end of WW2.
As i said, an interesting life.

So, all of this has helped me to re-evaluate what my father meant to me.
One of the main things, i feel, is the influence that he has had on my own life. Right from the physical attributes, i am the same height, build & wear the same size shoes as he did for example.
There are also such influences as his love of music, reading & a general inquisitive ineterst in the world around him.
All of these things, i have inherited from him. I am very grateful for all of them.

So, as i said. There are even some positive aspects to come out of even the worst times.

We all know that we are influenced by parents. But, sometimes it takes an event like this to remind us of just how much of an influence they have.
And if, like me, you have children of your own. It makes you realise what kind of influence you will, inevitably, have on your own children.