Wheel alignment

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Definitely the last embarrassing photos

Well, Sonja and Bob in particular have come to the party regarding their old photos, so I'll throw in a handful more to finish off my contribution then it's back to the much safer world of motorcycles!  Bob, my Agfa Snapscan 1212 scanner must be close to 10 years old and works just fine, no software problems at all *grin*

We start off in 1963 when I was 16.  The standard school photo taken in the library at the local technical grammar school in the UK.  Passed (to the complete surprise of everyone including me) all my national "O" level exams and my maternal grandparents must have been especially surprised and thankful as they kickstarted (sorry about the pun) my motorcycle ownership with a present in the shape of a Suzuki 50!!  It was certainly better than going everywhere by bicycle, even if it did only have 5 horsepower.

 Oh dear.....


My other great love as a teenager was building model aircraft of all types. Here we are in 1965 (I think) with a glider.  Forty-five years later, I can still remember that it had a black fuselage and yellow lifting surfaces, even if I can't remember what I had for dinner last night :-).


Lousy clothing choice - a lifetime problem!

The following photo was taken in 1968.  Heavily influenced by the Mods (on scooters) and Rockers (on bikes) era in the UK where the opposing sides would regularly meet in the coastal town of Brighton to kick the living daylights out of each other.  Being a devout, practising coward; I avoided the antisocial stuff. Besides, our next door neighbour's son was a Mod and he was a cool guy!

White silk scarf, waxed cotton jacket, fur-lined flying boots - what a jerk


A very special day in 1972 in the county of Kent, UK.  Hair a bit long, but otherwise tidy.  Mother-in-Law definitely DID NOT approve of a dark brown suit with flared trousers and a cream shirt.  Never heard the end of it. The other person in the photo totally eclipses me of course.

A very proud moment

Fast forward 20 years to 1992.  Big hair and big glasses and a silk trouser suit were apparently the "in thing" for females. Why oh why did I have a crew cut?  Probably as an embarrassment to our kids!

Hmmmm..... one of us looks ok......

Still with an excruciating crew cut, this photo was taken in 1996 when on secondment to our parent company, International Paper in the Southern USA.  Judging by the "Do not Feed Alligators" sign, the relaxed pose was a very fleeting one! Certainly wouldn't trust the colleague taking the photo to give me any warning!

Absolutely no intention of donating a limb to the local 'gators!


That's it folks - laugh all you like!

14 comments:

  1. Another enlightening look into your past Geoff. I must admit I think the 'James Dean" look on the Trumpy is a classic.

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  2. Geoff:

    We are so alike. I also got interested in RC cars and electric planes. I still have my Astroflight helicopter. I also had a crewcut and a Belstaff waxed cotton riding jacket purchased new in the 70's .

    I remember those flared pants. Do you still have yours ? I have a polyester one around somewhere

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

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  3. Roger:
    I hope you are suitably enlightened then :-). However, I think your tongue was well-planted in your cheek! All the "real" Rockers had that hairstyle!

    Bob:
    We must be Doppelgangers! I have just seen a tiny battery-powered R/C helicopter on the Geek Toys website. It also carries a camera. I am very tempted.....

    Flared pants. Yes, still have some. We went to a "Woodstock" themed birthday party 18 months ago. A fair bit of the period clothing we wore came from the back of our wardrobes :-(

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  4. Well done!!.....and here I was thinking that the person in photo #3 actually was James Dean, (not some imposter :))

    ...and I must admit that I only laughed a little! these remind me of photos of my parents...

    Cheers!

    have a great day Geoff!

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  5. Anthony: your first comment will get you anywhere and your second will have me coming after you with a stick, hehe!

    You too mate!

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  6. Nice pics. James Dean is a pale copy compared to you in your '68 look. Be still my heart, what a cool looking... um... Triumph.

    I remember my mom also had the 'hair explosion' plus the mega glasses around that time. Did Jenny allow you to post this picture?

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  7. Oh haha Sonja!

    Have you heard the phrase "'tis better to ask for forgiveness than permission"? I think it's rather appropriate in this instance. Guess that neatly answers your question ;-).

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  8. OH, Geoff . . .

    You really are a (James Dean) Rebel

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

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  9. SNAP!
    My first suit ws brown too (with falred trousers) and I made model aeroplanes.

    But you have to join me on facebook to see that stuff....

    N

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  10. Bob:
    Rebel without a clue, most likely.

    Nikos:
    I have a photo with me holding a control line team racer. Nothing remarkable about that you might say, except that I'm wearing a leopard print tee shirt. That photo will NEVER see light of day on Facebook or anywhere else come to that!

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  11. My model planes never stayed in a recognisable form long enough to be caught on film!

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  12. We all have these photos from the past. Now we kind of laugh at ourselves. We think we've changed for the better today. Twenty years from now we'll laugh at photos from today. Keeps life interesting.

    A belated warm wish and shared joy that you are back riding again!

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  13. irondad:
    This is very true - as we get older, we don't care who laughs. Wonder if we'll ever repeat the crazy fashions of the 60's and 70's?

    Thanks for the good wishes - got a decent ride planned for tomorrow. It was going to be today but it's raining. First rain for a month; desperately needed but the roads will be really greasy.

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  14. Another nice set of photos, Geoff. As I look at the photos and read your writing it brings back memories. Life was sure more simple "back in the day". Great photo of your wedding day!

    Glad your getting to ride and your weather is warm.

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