
Lynette enquired this week;
"What do you think of the above suggestion for our 1zaac motto?"
Here at 1zaac we are awaiting Miss Austin's reply. What do you think, readers?
1Z Alumni & Affiliated Contemporaries (1ZAAC) proudly present the years 1967-1974 at Cannock Grammar School, Staffordshire, England. Read on if you’d like to recall the Summer of Love, Space Oddities, wet-look bikinis, apnea snogging, teenage explorations, power cuts, Life on a Mars Bar, Clockwork Oranges, cross-cultural trainee sperm donors, and bus journeys upstairs with the smokers on the Number 17... Or if you just fancy a bit of a giggle.

Lynette enquired this week;
"What do you think of the above suggestion for our 1zaac motto?"
Here at 1zaac we are awaiting Miss Austin's reply. What do you think, readers?
Here at 1zaac we received a note from Carol in South Carolina today;
"Ah jes leurve that cute lil'ol automobile in the cerise story. What is that thang?"
Well, Carol, it's called a 2CV. It has four doors and two cylinders. And you'll be seeing more of them in Episode 4, Lyon, France, Easter 1971.
While you're waiting, we think that a smart Southern Belle lady like yourself can probably guess which country the above photo was taken in?
Look out, too, for a new 1zaac "triple C" initiative: The Clever Crapcar Commission.
Do you own a Crapcar, or have you ever owned one? Do you have any motoring adventure stories to relate from the sixties, up to the modern day, illustrating the good times to be had in Crapcars?
The Commission will consider any non-libellous content for publication.

...or Hummingbird Hawkmoth.
1zaac affiliates Daniel and Sarah visited Sainte Cécile last week, and spotted this summer visitor doing the nectar rounds in the lavender.
photo courtesy flickr
Kathy & John painstakingly de-stoned the fruit, before preparing a coulis for the ice-cream.
We went for a picnic at the romanesque church at Mesnard.
The 13th-century wall-paintings were re-discovered in 1950, after the de-consecrated church had been used as a barn for almost 100 years... John did a "Don't Look Now" tribute pose...(1zaac film buff committee comment; a very scary film, released during our last year in the Sixth Form...) 

1zaac eye candy; Judy, Debbie AND the post-war council houses of West Chadsmoor.
Welcome to the Magical Mystery Tour, Debbie. Yes, blame the 1zaac editorial dept for omitting the smouldering brunette from the 1971 Cannock Grammar School playing fields pic. (Scholars & Amazons story, infra)
The Council Planner was obviously having a bad hair day; he left a tree.
Salutations amicales de la part des Zeddeurs et Zeddeuses.
Tixall Bridge, near Stafford, UK. Sunrise in May.

Here at 1zaac we present, with affection, an offering from our most senior member.
Just click on the play button.
If you do not feel better after viewing, if your heart is not warmed and your spirits not raised, you should delete this blog from your favourites.
Carpe Video
AB



Être et Avoir
DVD Nicolas PHILIBERT (2002)
(Review abridged/translated from Amazon French website by 1zaac intercultural dept)
A village primary school in deepest Auvergne; one of those mixed classrooms where children from nursery class to top juniors are taught in the same group; a teacher whose attentiveness and patience are matched only by his passion for teaching...Here are the main ingredients of this modest documentary masterpiece from Nicolas Philibert.
Gently following the rhythm of the seasons (sumptuous landscapes, changing from snow to spring flowers, illustrating the passage of time), and that of smallholder farmers working the land (a number of sequences show the hardships of small-farm life), the film-maker follows step by step, for six months the thirteen pupils taught by Monsieur Lopez on the eve of his retirement.
Philibert explores the childrens' doubts, their difficulties, their hardships and their enthusiasm in the face of traditional school subjects. (This is a very "French" context. Ed)
Most of all, he highlights the true values in life: patience, perseverence, humility, developing a taste for effort, co-operation and teamwork, respect for others, resolution of conflict...
As the scenes of the film unfold, depicting everyday classroom life, we are taken to the very heart of the little school, as if drawn into a family circle. Explosions of joy and unbridled laughter, brought about by the natural behaviour of its children, are thrown into contrast with the occasional deeply moving passage, such as one where a pupil confides to M. Lopez his concern and emotion about his father's recently diagnosed serious illness.
The viewer becomes intimately involved in this splendid, refreshing film. He or she will be reminded of the happy, unworried and carefree moments of their own primary school days.
It is as enriching as it is entertaining.
5 stars from 1zaac. Un trésor, tout simplement.
AB
