A Classical Christmas

It's three days after boxing day today and the first one of this new blog of mine so I thought I'd mention something I had this year for Christmas.

When I was twelve I remember listening to a radio program that played short pieces of classical music in the early evening which tied in well with when we had a family evening meal when I was home or just after early evening when at boarding school and they played quiet a bit of Boccherini's music.

It wasn't just such staples as the G275 Minuet  but also his cello works and this Christmas I got the complete set of all twelve of his Cello Concertos that the budget cd label Naxos had put out from 1999 include the third volume that came out just two years ago.

Having played them today on my stereo, I have to say I really love these performances which just feel right, lively but not to 'wirey' and are very well recorded.

This disc of four of his Quartets including the infamous Minuet from Op 13/5 G275 is one disc I bought in the early days of compact disc when this labels pioneering use of PCM digital recording was more appreciated and their discs were more widely stocked at places like the local branch of Richer Sounds as well as mainstream record shops with decent classical stocks.

Christmas 2006

Happy Boxing day people.

As is normal for someone like me I still get children's presents and Mummy bought me this years Beano annual.

There's an old fashioned saying that goes "You can't have the one without the other"

So naturally that other staple annual of the comic I had as a child also was in with the presents which included socks, underwear and money for music, sweets and books.

Now doesn't that sound just like Xmas 1974 all over again?

Nausicaa-Of The Valley Of The Wind

This anime was the second animated feature by director Hayao Miyazaki and for it he chose to adapt his own best selling manga whose huge success in Japan help launch Studio Ghibi and this anime bears all the hallmarks that its output over the years  features in its successes, namely magical kingdoms, great characters and stunning animation.

The story is routed in the past, a thousand years ago after a big war where a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the few areas that remain populated.
The people of the Valley, lead by the courageous Princess Nausicaa are engaged in a constant battle with the Ohmu, a most powerful group of insects who are guarding a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth.

In the anime, we see Princess Nausicaa  and her brave companions working with the people of the Valley, striving to restore the bond between humanity and the earth.

One of the most important messages in it I feel is that as people we need to work alongside nature  for our own well-being.

Edited 2017 for blu ray pix.

The Beano: Pup Parade

The Beano always was a staple of my boyhood, being read by both boys and girls as it appealed unlike many to both and over the years a good number have either been merged into other comics or just gone completely.

We still have the Beano with us, a little altered from when I was younger with it moving from A5 newsprint exercise book size to a much bigger and glossy form.

Many of the original series run still and that includes Pup Parade which is based on the lives of the dogs of the Bash Street Kids.

This was a recent edition as drawn by Lew Stringer.

Amanda's New School

 This is a paperback I've had from my schooldays that I've always had a soft spot for although it is an update of the 1932 original Nesta's New School story.

The outline of the story is Amanda's wealthy adoptive mother dies, and she goes to live with her birth mother and her sister Alice. After a privileged childhood, she has to adjust to a middle class school as well as a new family.

This sort of theme is one I've always adored being less about midnight escapes and epic escapes than many school stories for girls and rather more on the character of the girls such as Amanda being of more practical import for children of either sex with things we have to overcome and adapting to changed circumstances.

Run, Tammy, Run!

As we get very much in that twilight period of late Fall toward Christmas my thoughts happen to be elsewhere not least with that business I talked about  two month ago as I'm working toward a phased return to duties that should see me formally hand over the reigns so I can leave the authority in dignified professional way even though how I had been treated by members that lead to this was anything but.

I keep thinking about my first love when it comes to school games, Rounders, as I'm slowly recovering as while with my disabilities being able to bat and run wasn't easy I enjoyed taking part, encouraged in it by people that were prepared to stand up for me.

I have now a PE skirt and top that I wear on warmer days although what I'd truly love to do is find a Rounders club where I could play not on league basis but just for the company and exercise.

That for a adult little like me is pure bliss!

Jackanory

 Tv played a part in my childhood and this was one show I loved.

Although this photograph is black and white it would of been taken around the late 1980′s, early 1990′s showing a group of Boys and Girls watching intently the story reading show Jackanory that run from 1965 through 1996 on BBC tv. 

The idea of spoken word show  on a visual medium may seem odd but well read stories with illustrations shown occasionally did hold the interest of children during that era not unlike story time at junior school and also promote the idea of reading for pleasure.

Alan Bennett appeared reading The House at Pooh Corner as did a good number of British actors and actresses three days a week on this BBC just before tea time show

Bernard Cribbins and friends read The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien on BBC Tv’s Jackanory 1979

A photo montage from various editions of Jackanory showing Kenneth Williams together with other actors and actresses reading on this much missed BBC tv show.

Team sports

One sport I liked at school was Netball which is traditionally associated with girls and girls only schools.

I am quite capable of playing Netball too and here the team are going on with the ball under pursuit.

Go,go, go!

The team pose for a picture.

In a good number of Primary aka combined infant and junior schools a mixed sex team is often fielded in competitions.

Boys normally wear a t shirt and shorts a bit above the knee although I prefer to wear a games skirt or skort myself being a feminine boy as would the girls all of us wearing bibs with our respective positions marked on it.

 Ready to throw the ball!
That's a great picture and is how I'd rather be dressed playing netball.

I love ball games running around as part of a team.

Sissy gurl footwear

 

Back in the day, gurls like me wore leather sandals to school only moving to shoes when we became much older and most were made in England rather than imported as they are today.

The T Bar fastening wasn't too difficult for me to do by myself in the way that laces that had to be threaded and tied in bow were and remain apart from liking girls T bar shoes which I could fasten all by myself.

Gurls like me belong in them with either girls socks or tights.

All Saints Day

All Saints Day 2006

All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows' Day or Hallowmas) is the day after All Hallows' Eve (Halloween). It is a feast day celebrated on November 1st by Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

It is an opportunity for followers to remember all saints and martyrs throughout Christian history. As part of this day of obligation, followers are required to attend church and try not to do any servile work.

Remembering saints and martyrs and dedicating a specific day to them each year has been a Christian tradition since the 4th century AD, but until 609AD when Pope Boniface IV designated May 13th to remember all martyrs was there a designated day.

Over 200 years later, in 837AD, Pope Gregory IV extended the festival to remember all the saints and set November 1st as the date.

All Souls' Day directly follows All Saints' Day and is an opportunity for Anglicans and Roman Catholics to commemorate the faithful departed.

Today many take part in Halloween events which may include things like parties to which a dress like this would be ideal for this gurl.

Corrine Bailey Rae says "Put Your Records On" with O'Jays

I've had this cd for a fair while since its release in  February following the lead off single Like A Star came out in special four track edition last October which ignited a lot of interest in the musical press and caught my ears as someone who unapologetically  prefers soul music coming from a more traditional direction rather than what sounds more like watered down hip-hop with harmonies on top we've been having since the nineties.

This Yorkshire singer has a most amazing voice.

What really did for it for me was the second single Put Your Records On released at the same time as the album itself that just that vibe right down which lead to the album peaking at #2 in the UK albums chart and amazingly #4 in the US.

Trouble Sleeping was released over here as a single in May.

The OJays have a long history but it wasn't until Gambol and Huff - the producers - sign them to their Philadelphia International label in the early 1970's that they broke big and it was around that era that I first got to hear of them being played on the metropolitan radio stations managing to make a big enough antenna for my radio to pull these stations.

Strangely enough one source of hearing them was the journey to school as one of the drivers who took me always had their stuff plus a shed full of other acts on that label playing out of his car stereo.

Several things hit you of which the first was the production being sparse allowing the musicianship to rise and the vocals to come through clearly.

The second was the arrangements with a strong jazz influence and finally them words - the O'Jays famously had had 'a message in our music' talking about the state of society - family breakdown, integrity, backstabbers, racism, the importance of love and so on in what in other respects was a cynical no future era. In the O'Jay's world you could rise above what maybe holding you down.

I was late into getting anything buy the O'Jay's on compact disc and the first title I did get was "Collectors Items" originally released on lp in 1977 which is a collection of special mixes of their earlier songs. 

Shortly afterwards in the States a number of their early albums got issued by Sony legacy but these were very hard to find and in fact I've only just completed my set with the Backstabbers, Ship Ahoy and Survival studio albums plus the Live In London album issued in 1974.

In late 1998 it was announced that WestSide were to re-issue all their post 1976 albums in the UK the following year and in that period I bought each issue as soon as it came out.

They came in the form of either 2 albums on a single cd or three on 2 cds with one album kind of split between the discs which wasn't ideal but they had very good notes about what was happening with the band, all the singles issued with their 'b' sides and so on.

There were all re-released by Edsel in 2004 in the much better 2 album on one cd format.

Earning your Sport Adventure badge

Brownies, the young adventurers, embark on exciting journeys during their time with Girlguiding. One of the thrilling adventures they can undertake is the Brownie Sport Adventure Badge. 🌟

To earn this badge, Brownies participate in a sport adventure activity that involves equipment, a game, and rules. Whether it’s fencing, axe throwing, or another exhilarating sport, the key is to step outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves. 🤺🪓

Here are some questions to determine if they’ve had a true sport adventure:

Did the activity take you beyond their usual routine or comfort zone?

Was it a new experience for you?

Did you explore a new place?

Did you discover something new about yourself?

If they answer yes to at least three of these questions, you’ve achieved the Brownie Sport Adventure Badge! 🏅

Scouting and Me

The one organization I'd love to have joined when I was a chronological child would of been the Brownies, the younger side of Girl Scouting but it was never to be. In fact my folks never enrolled me to any part of the World-wide Scouting movement which was a pity for although I have disabilities it wouldn't of been hard for them to accommodated me (and I'm sure if asked nicely they'd of been happy too).

This is the Brownie uniform I'd of been proud to have worn, learning more about self-reliance, serving others and improving my poor confidence at the time.

Taking the promise, one I'd of been happy to made in 1972 as I had no problem uphold the principals and pledging my allegiance.

Here's a 70's vintage uniform with  badges but can you see that oh so  1970's smiley face yellow badge. I used to have loads of them then! 

Smartly dressed I would learn how to be a useful citizen, giving of my best, being the very best I can be.

Given what I now understand of my gender issues as a sissy gurl one might think I'd of wanted to of been a Brownie although I had no issue with the Cub program.

I made the commitment in 2018 to follow the program and principals of the Brownies exploring, learning new things and having fun and have never looked back.

Channelling the essence of being a Brownie in day to day life, having a a uniform with the range of variations to suit needs we have today, that's very much me and I love it.

*Updated 2018*

Adding to my classical cd collection

One of my interests crosses over to a means of relaxing and indeed regression and that is music, specifically classical music and as I approach the twentieth anniversary of our first cd player there's two discs I bought recently.

While I have long term plans for my collection, the music of Brahms has figured, not so much as Mozart or Beethoven and whatever may come of my discs of his symphonies at some point, his piano music interests me more for now not least in piano lead chamber music.

These two discs recorded in 1971 and 1980 respectively and carefully remastered from analogue tape are amongst the very best of these core chamber music works and in the case of the Quartet often borrowed on cassette form from the local library that they are a part of my past musical experience that makes now owning them in cd form a joy for the performances have staying power.

Thoughts for Winter

 

This time of year has this habit of reminding me of what I always was and am unable to do such as ice skating cos I am unstable on me feet, not that I hold anything against those that can as after all there are things I can do that others cannot.

A bit of it is undeniably the whole feel as you twirl around in skaters dress so elegantly as I live the feel of twirling dresses and skirts, given my gender past that's hardly surprising as what we had to wear never gave you anything comparable although shorts are better than dresses for serious hiking which I did enjoy a lot growing up.

Why shouldn't I be dressed in pretty skirts that look fantastic when I twirl with some nice tights on?

Emulating a younger mode of dress is very appropriate for a little sissy gurl like me and a warm long sleeved top makes since in the winter months.

The Dorm and I

It's true I have a somewhat relaxed approach when it comes to some daily routines compared to others and this might be connected with being more child-like.

To me the Dorm is central because for a good period of my school life that was my "Home base" where I did my homework and slept under the rules of the school and the house master enforcing them.

To a very large extent I learned to live by somebody else's rules, finding the spaces that gave me liberty between them with the dorm being inspected.

Given some of the stuff at home at that time I felt very secure and safe in what today some might see as a rather austere regimented system.

.

Back then there was little chance of living as the sissy I was in school dressed as I preferred although girls did when we could get away with it dress me up in uniform and practise make up and perfume so I am glad some things are starting to change for today's youngsters.

The Beatles Capitol Albums sets

I remember when I first got this as it was a Christmas present in 2004 from my folks.
Capitol Albums Volume One was a box set containing four original US albums complete with a booklet and were given first class mastering by Ted Jensen. Each disc contains the stereo and mono version of each album in individual cardboard sleeves.

Meet the albums:

Meet The Beatles!


The Beatles' Second Album


Something New


Beatles '65.

Link: Amazon.com: The Capitol Albums Vol. 1: Music: The Beatles

Meet The Beatles is With (or for Canadians Beatlemania with...) The Beatles for Americans featuring All My Loving, I Wanna Be Your Man and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Second Album features the only instance of Thank You Girl in stereo and exclusive US stereo mixes of I Call Your Name and Long Tall Sally.
Something New features many of the songs from the UK album A Hard Day's Night but for contractual reasons at the time does not include A Hard Day's Night and Can't Buy Me Love that can be found in stereo on the 1962-1966 (Red) compilation.
Beatles '65 can be regarded in many ways as the Beatles For Sale album for North Americans taking in I'm A Loser, Honey Don't, I'll Follow The Sun and I Feel Fine.

Until the recent remasters this was the only means of getting the earlier material in Stereo and it is hard to beat the two volumes of the box set, The Capitol Albums Volumes One and Two for the spread. Even now following the UK series of remasters (9/2009) the sets hold up for the different recorded versions and indeed some even feel the transfer of the program on A Hard Day's Night (stereo) isn't quite as good as Something New.

Fast forward to the Spring of 2006 and Volume Two came out containing these albums:

Beatles VI


Help! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack


The Early Beatles


Rubber Soul:

Amazon.com: The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 (Longbox): Music: The Beatles

Starting with The Early Years, this comprises of 11 of the 14 tracks from the UK Please Please Me album some tracks such as Twist and Shout were rebalanced compared to the UK versions.

The track I Saw Her Standing There being the 'B' side of the (US) single I Want To Hold Your Hand is on Meet The Beatles. Misery and There's A Place were not issued on a Capitol album in the US until 1980's Rarities.

Beatles VI is a fine selection draw from the Beatles For Sale and Help sessions taking in the #1 smash 45 Eight Days A Week, Dizzy Miss Lizzie and the Buddy Holly cover Words Of Love.

Help! Is actually the Soundtrack album with the seven film songs plus Ken Thorne's instrumentals featured in the film.

The current UK CD of this title was extensively re-mixed by George Martin OBE and has digital echo as well where this issue is his original 1965 mix which most of us grew up with.

Rubber Soul:

This was the first album issued in the US to bear the same title as it's UK counterpart but is different in that It kicks of with I've Just Seen A Face and also features It's Only Love which came out in the UK on the Help! Album.

The US version has more of a folk-rock feel to it and is actually preferred in some circles to the UK for that.

As with Help the UK current CD was remixed but this goes back to the original mixes and from that point of view is valuable even if you keep your UK CD for Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, What Goes On and If I Needed Someone as they were not issued on the US version.

September returns or Going Back

Tis the time the great going back starts in earnest after seven weeks of the hols as you go through your stuff sorting out what needs to be replaced and your folks, normally your Mum start doing the same with your uniform where you may end up having to try on new trousers.

Thus this time feels just like it did being taken to the shops to get your uniform and school equipment from the days in juniors when I wore short trousers rather like this.

I have been very unwell for a period in connection with my role in a local authority for a period now and I have what is called 'Leave of absence' which means I need not attend any meetings although I will be kept up to date with anything important which given my role is  the next most important after the Clerk obviously does matter.

Put very simply I am going through a nervous breakdown, throwing things, walking pensively for ages ready to explode or bursting in tears crying for ages not just at home but at work who are trying to help me. I simply cannot cope with what I have been left to do, working all hours even losing part of my vacation to council business doing things others want but won't do themselves.

I feel I have hit the end of the road at least in so far as anything beyond work and family responsibility goes and more over it seems to me at least this attempt at trying to be more of a public grown up figure when in all honesty I'm more childlike.

Back then I knew very much who I was, what I was to do with support which to be frank I don't get anymore although I need it and there was a clear cut break between school time and free time.

While talking by email with the clerk, I decided to take a step backwards from now on and outside of work I'm going draw up a timetable like I had at school and ensure time outside of it won't be spent chained to the telephone and computer.

I have also decided to put together a school type uniform to wear with a grey junior skirt option when I'm not working, being at home as the kind of structure, routines and discipline of that era is what I badly need and this with more support from my folks is what I do need.

I just cannot cope with full on adult life.

Final preparations and card games

This time of year certain British stores tend to be busy such as BHS, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and that very British institution, the school uniform shop  because after next week Autumn term starts at most schools and this brings with it last minute uniform replacements and checking everything fits.

We always had are skirt lengths measured so they were not too short as that would break school rules and reflect badly upon our folks. It may of seemed awkward but I'm they cared to ensure we were decent and properly presentable. 

Well when I was young I loved playing cards either with my school friends in the Dorm or when at my Nans usually if Mom was busy away someplace for the day or so that she tended to be such as at weekends.

We played shape games  using Snap and similar games or games like Top Trumps where you have facts on the reverse and you trade information around subjects like travel, cars or sports such as Soccer.

It was fun!

Recently I got some new cards to replace those I lost from my youth trough thinks like Mom's saying you don't need 'em anymore or cos I was ill and Mom was concerned in case they had Germs on them.

As you'll see there's a common theme running through them yes that cat Hello Kitty and her friends as I'm sure if Nan were alive she'd of bought these to play with me loving cute stuff like me.

First pictured is the Hello Kitty Travels top trumps set that can join my 'vintage' Top trumps sets and then some ordinary cards made by Waddington's that have Kitty on around by the hearts, ace of diamonds etc. Last one is the HK twist on the British classic Whot!

Looking back to go forward

Scouting always appealed and when it was I first started to have what in hindsight were regressive signs in my mid teens it was that apart from discovering my shorts of two years earlier were hidden at the back of the draw, it also was my younger brothers no longer worn Cub uniform that I located and upon finding it still fitted when I could would wear it on my own I did.

I liked feeling like that cub but really I always felt more of a gurl so while I may of endured being a cub what I so wanted was actually being hur spiritual home, the Brownies who today look more like this.

A gurl belongs in the feminine side of the movement.

The whole ethos is something I strongly identify with not just then but now.

Late Summer Hols 2006

I went away this week and by way of souvenir, here is a picture of where I stayed.

 As you can tell it was very sunny indeed with all the flower in full bloom in the guesthouse gardens which is something I enjoyed waking up and rushing downstairs to sit out in in the morning. 

I normally have my green camera bag with me with the Minolta X500 and XD7 with me plus a few lenses. These days I have digital cd-roms made of the films for blogging when sending my films back for processing.

I went on the Welsh Highland Railway  with spectacular views of Snowdon.

I'd always pack some short sleeved  t shirts and games skirts to put over my trunks as well as hardier clothing for walking and something more formal for evening dinner with fellow guests.

I also take a couple of skirts with me too

Nick Heyward

Hi fans,

I thought I'd set up a page dedicated to the great and badly under appreciated English singer-songwriter Nick Heywood.
Nick hales from Kent, England was the original lead vocalist of Haircut 100.

The group comprised of Nick, Les Nemes (Bass),Graham Jones (Guitar), Memphis Blair Cunningham (Drums), Phil Smith (Sax) and Mark Fox (Percussion).

The group become known not only for their new wave style but for their preppie outfits.
In 1981, the group released the single Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) which reached No4 in the UK charts, followed up with Love Plus One which reached No3 in January of 1982.

Early in this year they released the 80's classic album Pelican West, which peaked at No2 and remained on chart for 34 weeks.

They released two more singles in 1982, Fantastic Day and Nobody's Fool both reached no9 in the UK charts.

At was shortly after the release of Nobody's Fool that Nick decided to leave the group for a solo career.
Haircut One Hundred

Nick Hayward solo career.

In contrast to the style of Haircut 100, Nicks solo music quickly revealed a more mature adult style which was evident from his first solo single, Whistle Down The Wind, which reached no13 in the UK charts.

The follow up single, Take That Situation, proved to be his biggest selling to date and reached No 11 and stayed on the UK charts for 10 weeks.

He issued the classic North of A Miracle album in the fall of 1983 which was successful reaching no 10 in the UK charts but this was to be his only charting UK album.

The final single from this album, Blue Hat For a Blue Day was his last UK top 20 hit.

He issued the singles Warning Sign and Love All Day which peaked at numbers 25 and 31 respectively in 1984.

In 1986 the album Postcards From Home as issued and the tracks Over The Weekend and Goodbye Yesterday were issued as singles but like all his singles released to 1988, they failed to chart.

1988 saw him releasing an album with Warner/Reprise, I Love You Avenue which featured the single You're My World, which is currently very hard to find.

The singles Kite and He Doesn't Love You Like I Do saw him return to the UK singles chart but neither record made the top 40 although they were featured on the album From Monday To Sunday released in 1993 for Epic records.

He attempted a return in 1995 with the track The World which get as far as No47 and Rollerblade (from the Epic album Tangled) in 1996 which got as far as No37.

By 1998 he'd signed to Creation records, the label Brit Poppers of Oasis and The Boo Radleys issuing the album, The Apple Bed.

Unfortunately not withstanding the quality of his 1990's albums they all failed to chart.

Here's a thread from Steve Hoffman Forums where we discussed the man Nick Heyward and Haircut One Hundred - SH Forums

Like many artists today he has his own website where he discusses his life presently and his music.
I would recommend it to all.
See www.myspace.com/nicholasheyward