Silly Brits -- pop culture ?

[Bolter]

See now I understand British Bulldog just as Cameo described, although we played leg over (trip over) Bulldog on Tarmac, which was always fun. The fastest kid always won

But Block? Im at a loss.

[undescriptive]

likewise, no idea here....

mind you coming from the middle of nowhere (wisbech) and now living near to Loo'un (as the locals call it, Luton to the rest of the world ) what would I know....

we used to play bulldog... however, Stingball was much better.....

wet tennis-ball thrown @ high velocity from about 10 yards away.... usually played during summer when you were wearing a T-shirt and shorts!

[Eric Cartman]

Found this:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeremy_condliffe/folks10.htm

But that still doesn't tell me what the heck Block is.

[Jonneh]

It can't possibly be british if the players don't all go 'OI!' and 'You bloody wanker!' at every possible interval!

Oh TV and Movies, what CAN'T you teach me?

[SCpoloRicker]

It can't possibly be british if the players don't all go 'OI!' and 'You bloody wanker!' at every possible interval!

Oh TV and Movies, what CAN'T you teach me?

Well, my Dad's MG tends to have trails of electrical parts following it everywhere it goes, so at least we've got some things right

[MarkM]

Found this:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeremy_condliffe/folks10.htm

But that still doesn't tell me what the heck Block is.

Well it isn't Red Rover and that link is a description of the game Block and mentions it so you did find it

It is a little heavy going that link but in very basic terms Block or Tin Can Tommy (that was listed in the link too )
Effectively it is Hide and Seek but with the object of one person who stands on the "Block" and the other players have to reach the "Block" unseen...if seen the person on the Block has to touch the Block and call out "Block I see (insert name) hiding behind the whatever". If you are from another part of the country then Tin Can Tommy is the call used and the person running in kicks the can...if this happens then the player on his/her own is still in and the game starts again. I am sure I could think of a few more but for now this one got you thinking hard enough...oh and judging by the link the game isn't played in Canada so sorry Canadians you could have played but I thought due to the british links you would have known so the thread would have died too quickly.

So to all you doubters see I wasn't making it up

[Eatem Alive]

we just call it "kick the can"

[Bolter]

yea played that as a child, but it wasnt called Block or TCT.......come to think of it, Im not sure what it was called.

Any Americans ever play Conkers? Or hold a Conker tournament? This event is saturated with tradition

[MarkM]

So Adam you having a brain fart then?

Reading through I remembered an addition to the Bulldog "rules" if you got tagged you became a chaser as well.

As for Conkers I don't know, some americans will know and fewer still will have played due to what areas the trees grow in. Vinegar and Ovens never seemed to work for me. Best policy I found was to collect and hide away until next year assuming they didn't rot Oh and never play where Stringsies or Stampsies was allowed...and only did you add to your score by actual games won not taking the defeated persons score, that was just plain silly. Did you prefer cheesecutters or what?

[xXHavokXx]

No conkers here, my favorite games as a kid were:

Dodgeball
Football
Soccer
Baseball
Smear the ***** ( And the PC version: Murderball)


What is conker?

[MarkM]

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/conkers.html

The explaination of Strings or Stringsies is wrong in that link...it means if if you get a tangle you can yank the string smashing your opponent..stamp..stampsies is correct.

[SCpoloRicker]

I remember reading about Conkers in a children's book. Kid's toy soldiers come alive... can't place the name.

[Bolter]

lol @ Mark yeah man stampsies hahahahaha

and you get kids walking around with a mangled conker proclaiming "mines a 20-er" and other kids exclaiming "ooooooh!"

[MarkM]

lol @ Mark yeah man stampsies hahahahaha

and you get kids walking around with a mangled conker proclaiming "mines a 20-er" and other kids exclaiming "ooooooh!"

Brought back some memories eh?

[Eatem Alive]

lol @ Mark yeah man stampsies hahahahaha

and you get kids walking around with a mangled conker proclaiming "mines a 20-er" and other kids exclaiming "ooooooh!"

does that mean your conker has broken 20 other conkers?