Sunday 8 January 2017

October's Conway Hall talk - 'Constructing the Future Past ...'

Myself, John Grindrod and Tim Dunn gave a talk in October 2016 at the Conway Hall.  The talk, chaired by Samira Ahmed, had a long and complicated title but was about ideas of modernism and the future in the 'golden age' of Ladybird Books.

It was recorded by The Conway Hall and the video has now been released.  Here it is:


If you couldn't make the evening, hope you find it interesting.

Sunday 1 January 2017

The Ladybird Caption contest: a review of past winners

As we're at that time of the year for looking back, it seemed a good time to share with you (or remind you) of some of the past winners of my Ladybird caption contest.
@distracteddan
This contest takes place every two months on Twitter - the first Saturday of the month.  After I post the pictures, the Twitterati suggest captions and vote for the best answers.The next contest will take place next Saturday 7th Jan - so it's also a timely reminder for those of you who are good with captions (which I most certainly am not).  Just one big rule: all entries must be clean and unlikely to cause offense.

Below: some of my picks from the gallery of glory.  If I have missed out your entry - apologies; I don't keep great records so my selection here is a bit random.  If I have wrongly ascribed winners, please let me know and I will make changes.

Most successful entries are gloriously daft:

@funknittedhats

@maidbloke

@gardener_the

@IanMcDougall1

@teardropxmode66
@No1Gruff
@Stevedarstardly


@LittleRedHen
Sorry - I've lost track of whose entry this was.  Let me know if it was yours


@mitchsteve


@gawuffy

I usually put up two pictures in each contest - and occasionally someone finds a way to caption them both in one go:


Some entries were were more topical:

@JonathanLHoward
@Mildthing99


@cornwallchar


And who could forget this entry, shortly after press 'revelations' about the university activities of David Cameron:



Well done to all  not just the winners (I'm full of admiration - just can't do it myself) but to all who entered or voted.  I look forward to more great entries in the months to come.
Happy New Year