Ah, I have got myself into a little chronological muddle. This post (and the next post in this series) is from 1978 and so should have come before the last post from 1979. Oh well, I'm sure you'll forgive me...

This picture might look a bit strange so I’ll explain as best I can. The picture was taken during a birthday party at my house. It would have been my 7th birthday. Check out the lovely patterned curtains, and the general overpowering presence of the colour brown in the furniture and carpet. Brown was big in the 70’s!

I’m sitting on the far end of the couch, wearing the green safari outfit which I just loved (this wasn’t a fancy dress costume by the way). The dapper looking gentleman on my left was my neighbour and still my good friend Tony Lancaster He doesn’t wear the tie so much these days. The next guy has faded from my memory and if I had to come up with a name I might say ‘Christopher Powell’ but I have very little faith in that. He must have been at my primary school but I don’t think he was still around for my middle school years. Next to him is Mark Freeman who lived a few doors down the road from me. He had also made an effort to smarten up for the party, well at least he had shiny brown shoes on. The face on the end of the picture is Kevin Seabright...I think. We were best buddies for quite a few years and used to both be hugely into Star Wars (well wasn’t everyone back then?).

My mum, and Tony and Mark’s parents still all live in the same houses on the same street. So some things haven’t changed much over the last 32 years, though thankfully, the decor has. Given that I’m now living in a different country, it seems strange that all these parents have lived in the same houses (let alone the same town) for so long.

The strange facial expressions that we all seem to be adopting in the picture is because there was, off to the right of the picture, a magician! It was unbelievably cool to have my very own magician perform for me at my party. I think he was getting us all to blow at something that he was holding. I could be completely wrong, he may have just asked us to make silly faces for his own amusement.

Every seven year old should have a magician perform at a birthday party. You’re at the age where it is easy to be astounded by relatively simple acts of magic. I was very into magic for the next 10 years or so of my life, probably because of this birthday party