King Henry VIII Grammar School

Hi Johnnie, Well, I followed the link to Wikipedia, in order to to discover more about Godel's Theorem. Most weird, because it looked like a normal Wikipedia page but it had all these strange names on it. Peano arithmetic, Tarski's undefinablity theorem, Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, Gentzens consistency proof, Truskei's tree theorem. The only one I recognised was the Paris-Hilton principle. Then I realised it was Paris-Harrington, which was a bit of a let down. By the end, those three pints of beer at the bottom of your post were looking mighty inviting! It is a shame I didn't beat Godel to it, in the exposure of limitations in Mathematical Logic. If I had, it would have been forever known as 'Inkers' Blot'. When you wrote "So they ARE and ARE NOT, both at the same time", I thought "Schrodinger's Cat! Both alive and dead at the same time! How is that possibe?" Immediately, a joke about Latin Lessons came to mind, but 'the mark' was getting perilously close! Credit to you for grappling with these paradoxes whilst still at school.

"A farmer goes to market and sells his goose for a farthing." That was good. It could have been worse. He might have sold it for a ha'porth.

Okay, a little bit of 'Trivial Pursuit' in order to get you in training for Boxing Day high jinks. Question One: Were the text books supplied in a greyish-coloured wrapper, with the Henrys logo on the front, beneath which was space for the present possessor to write their name and form, so that you would see which pupils had borrowed it before you? Question Two: This is a little bit trickier. You remember when you threw your edition of "White Fang" at your arch-enemy and fractured the spine so that pages started falling out, how long did it take you to sneakily exchange your copy with that of the boy sitting next to you? (Note for concerned readers: Question Two is a joke, for the purposes of light relief whilst you are trying to ascertain which of the blasted Xmas Tree lights is responsible for the entire bunch malfunctioning).

Found it!! And it is always the last one you check. Doesn't matter which end you start at. Question Three: Can anyone recall any of the novels were we given to read prior to 'O' Level year? All I've got is "Lord Of The Flies" and "The Red Badge Of Courage". Incidentally, as a bibliophile, I sincerely do hope that no one did anything other than read their books. I treat all of them - owned or borrowed from the library - with the utmost care. For example, I can assure you that I possess and have read the paperback edition of "War And Peace" and am proud to say that people see it on my shelves and comment "It looks like it has never been opened".

Pity not all the teachers set a good example to us - I refer to my earlier post which details how Jack Wrench, in a fit of pique, once ripped a boy's RI textbook to bits in front of the class, finally stamping on it.

I seem to remember one called "The Gun" possibly by by C.S. Forester.

Thanks, bohica I checked out the Wikipedia precis, to see if I would have a 'light bulb moment', but as you might suspect from my Xmas tree light debacle, I'm not having much success with them at the moment. It was by Forester and it definitely looks like the type of novel they would have given us to read. You know, a historical romance. Boy finds gun. Boy uses gun. I did read other well-known novels by Forester but can't say that I remember this one. You don't happen to recall reading "Animal Farm" at school, by any chance? I think I might have done, but the recollection is very vague. I'm not sure that this delving back into the school past is assisting my psychological well-being. The cat is definitely the authority figure in my household and I've noticed that I am now standing up straight every time it comes into the room.

Definitely didn't read Animal Farm at school, that came a little later. I seem to remember another book, "Take A Girl Like You" (Amis I think) which garnered more than a few laughs when old Jenkins read out who was reading what.

I seem to remember having to read "Twelfth Night" - I'm afraid I didn't 'get' Shakespeare then, and still don't to this day The only other book title I recall from KHVIII is "From Ur to Rome" - not a lot of fun there, either

I read 'Animal Farm' while I was at school but that was through me wanting to read it having seen the film on a Friday evening after school in the junior school hall when there was a film club run by Dave Cooper I think. I also read '1984' during my time at school, again because I wanted to. The film club didn't seem to last long, or I lost interest in it. Sometimes it was in the main hall and at others in the junior school hall. It was late 1970 and early 1971. The films I remember seeing were 'A Hard Day's Night' which was the first one and it seemed strange to me even at that early age that they showed it since the school was most certainly anti pop music. Also 'The Dambusters', 'Animal Farm' and 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' which I can't rewatch to this day as I found it very strange and a load of b******s really. I'm talking about the David Hemmings one. I am sure there were others that I can't remember. The only books I remember having to read were 'The Shadow Line' and the 'Narcissus' one by Conrad, the play 'St Joan' by George Bernard Shaw and a collection of Browning's poetry for my Eng Lit 'O' Level.

Hi bohica, Re "Take A Girl Like You" by Kingsley Amis. That was quite a surprise! To me, it was the equivalent of walking into the school dining room on a Monday, expecting Splodge as usual, and being told that, like it or not, you were getting Lobster Thermidor. Or something. I've never eaten Lobster Thermidor, nor have I read "Take A Girl Like You". Having seen the synopsis, I am wondering what the teacher said was the message of the story. I have a few ideas, generally involving the virtue of abstemiousness. I am sure that sound counsel was gratefully embraced by the pupils. But it was definitely different from the usual fare. Described as a 'comic tale' in Wikipedia. There must have been a change of heart at the school - of which I was unaware - because every time I went into an English lesson and started to read my comic, the teacher tore it up and stamped on it.

Hello Midland Red, "From Ur To Rome" by Kathleen M. Gadd. No Wikipedia page, but Amazon.com says it is from 'History Series for Grammar Schools, Book 1, 1947. Currently unavailable.' Sorry to disappoint you! I had to do "Twelfth Night" for 'O' Level. That same year, a production of it was being performed at Stratford and, out of the goodness of his heart, my father took me to see it. I was expecting to suffer mightily, but it wasn't that bad. I am ashamed to say that on a few occasions I actually laughed. The role of Viola was played by Judi Dench and I am led to understand that she has closely followed my career as 'member of an audience' ever since.

Hi Bags, When you wrote that you found "The Charge Of The Light Brigade" to be a load of bananas, are you alluding to the film - or the charge itself?! (Kidding) The impression that I got from the movie was that the huge blunder was caused by petty rivalries amongst very senior ranks, farcical errors in communication and colossal stupidity. And they showed this at the school? Hmm. Of course, when I viewed it, I just could not helped but be moved by the immense courage of the cavalry and their determination to follow orders, come what may. Ah! Now I see why it made the list. It is decades since I saw it. It was one of those films where you keep hoping that they will 'get on with it'. All the faffing about that went on prior to the Charge, but which was actually pivotal to the plot. I just wanted to see galloping horses, drawn sabres and mock explosions. It had some cartoon segments in it, I believe. That worked with "Mary Poppins", but here, not so well. I haven't researched your books as yet. Again, none that I recall reading at school.

It was a movie very much of it's time, the 60s. Bits of strange cartoons and so forth. As you say all you really want in any sort of war movie is lots of action, but you do need some plot to give some kind of reason as to why what is happening is happening, as it were. The reason for the charge was basically down to massive amounts of miscommunication and the foolhardy actions of the senior officers in charge. There has been loads written about it, much more than I can possibly go into here. As an epic war film of that 19th century period I much prefer 'Waterloo'. That charge of the Scot's Greys is a thing of terrible beauty.

Sorry to intrude you lads, but it's a wonder Zulu hasn't been mentioned, it's been repeated on the TV often enough and does have some historical interest. Not to mention the jeep that was said to have got into the picture at one stage and for which I have searched but never caught sight of! War and Peace, a great topic of conversation when I was at school having rather watched the movie than having to read it all. As for Shakespeare I had nightmares over him and I can imagine boys dressing as females for their stage plays.