Chock-A-Block was a computer-themed educational TV show for young children that was shown on the BBC in 1981. What I still love about it is that it’s an early example of retrocomputing nostalgia, depicting a room-sized magnetic-tape mainframe to youngsters who owned their own ZX81s.
Chock-A-Block was surreal and a bit druggy, like a lot of British kids’ TV. It uttered strangely satisfying noises when its strangely satisfying buttons are pressed and strangely satisfying media are inserted. This show is to blame for my love of computers, but also for my love of the strange relationship we have with old technology, and also my love of being high.
The ROCKABLOCK is a perfectly haunted wedding of “psychedlic computers” and “weird English country fayre”:
Just think how much Apple’s Cover Flow would be improved if it made farting noises when you selected a bad song or video.