Fairy Tail, Naruto & Angel Beats

Fairy Tale is an anime set in the magical kingdom of Fiore and in many ways is an old school shone anime from it's slapstick comedy, silliness, dungeons and dragons style fantasies around a group of wizards in an elite unit The Fairy Tail Guild to earn a crust or two. Think Slayers and you won't be far off.

We have topless male wizards, blondes, happy the talking cat and hot headed fire users such as Natsu who we learn was raised as a baby by a fire breathing dragon!

The main character focus is Lucy who forms bonds creating a group of reliable friends to assist her in her missions so there is a Naruto style Teamwork ethic running through the episodes.

So far in there's over 100 episodes made,  we have part 1 (episodes 1 thru 12) now with part 2 to follow on May 27th and I'd expect them all to trickle out over the next few years.

I've been following the Naruto Shippuden anime series for a good while now and here's an update:

Volume 8

The starting off point for this editon is the end of volume 7 where having defeated the Akatsuki member Kakuzu with his new jutsu, the Rasen Shuriken, Naruto discovers the moves worrying side effects. 

In order to learn a less dangerous technique Naruto trains with Jiraiya to perform a move combining his abilities with one of his summoned frogs. 

Whilst all this is taking place, Orochimaru is beginning to move once more and Kakashi is assigned to lead a team to discover his hideout but come up against a ninja with a powerful and unique technique.

Bonds: Bonds is the latest release to date of the full length movie tie in releases this time centring around the Invasion of the Sky Ninja.

A group of mysterious flying ninja have arrived from overseas to launch a sudden attack against the Hidden Leaf Village, leaving behind a wake of destruction. 

The group is revealed to be the "Sky Ninja" from the Land of Sky, a nation thought to have been destroyed by the Hidden Leaf Village long ago. 

To save their village, Naruto and his friends set out to stop this new threat. During the course of the mission, Naruto crosses paths with Sasuke, his friend who has parted ways from the Leaf Village not realizing he is only wanted for his body parts.

The end of the movie sees Narutu and Sasuke reunite, it seems some bonds may be unbreakable.

I had this about a month back as it came out in the States earlier which is why the cover is slightly different to the one shown on some sites which is listed to come out UK June 25th, I thought I'd write about it.

Produced by Clamp that brought us such series as Clannad, Diamond Daydreams, Lucky Star and a host of much loved fan favourites, the series embodies the same high production values.

We kick off with Otonashi appearing on the school grounds confused, without any memory of where and how he got there, he encounters a girl called Yuri who's gun aimed at 'Angel' he immediately springs into action not realizing he's dead, and in limbo.

In a quick attempt to deal with the situation he has found himself in, he joins a group of students who are fighting against God and 'Angel' called 'Afterlife Battlefront'.

Otonashi's school is populated by what fellow students describe as NPCs, that's to say students created to populate the school but don't possess a soul or anything.

When you break it down this anime is more a slice of life centred one, but it is also very tragic in that each and every character in this series has a story to tell about how they died, and why they are there. 

All the characters have issues to deal with and this is where this anime really scores.

While initially you notice all the comedy and action scenes, there is also a 'rock' band called Girls Dead Monster, who perform extremely well too adding interest to this anime.

Although some of the stories in Angels Beats! are quite sad I really enjoyed watching it.

Philadelphia International and me

Philadelphia International Records to give it  its full title has always been a part of my life ever since I just I turned 8 years old and as regular readers know I wrote an entry a good year or so back on the O'Jays on of this labels most famous acts.

If you haven't read it just click on the 'music' topic index and you'll find it in that search.
First of though earlier this year a special 4 cd box set was issued entitled "Philadelphia International Classics - the Tom Moulton remixes". 

Tom Moulton was a DJ who understood earlier than many the importance of the longer discotheque mix extending the 'groove' for dancing and sometimes simplifying the sound just for that audience by taking off special effects.

 He got involved with the label doing these remixes for the funk act Peoples Choice and the song "Do iI any Way you Wanna" from 1974 and in 1977 Philadelphia International issued a lp long deleted of some of his remixes of them and other artists.

This set has all those tracks plus some brand new remixes including that great early 80's song "Nights Over Egypt" by the Jones Girls done in the same style (no added echo, synthesized drums) extended and remixed from the session masters for really good quality.

If you love 12" remixes you'd love this set on England's Harmless  records (HURTXCD 112).

Another act I liked around this time was The Intruders who had several hits such as Cowboys to Girls, Love Is Like A Baseball Game, (win, place or show) She's A Winner and I'll Always Love My Mama and i had for a long time the cd version of 1973 "Super Hits" compilation of theirs.

I was able to find a copy of the 1996 "Cowboy to Girls-the best of" which has a lot more songs on it which was part of Sony's Blues & Soul legacy series which was really well mastered a lot more detailed compare to that older disc

Finally back to those O'Jay's.
Prior to them signing to this label they were signed to another - Neptune- and issued an lp called "In Philadelphia" back in 1969 which had been out of print for absolutely ages.
In truth this is mainly cover versions of popular songs of that era however it's the arrangements that clearly show what was to come on that classic album "Backstabbers" famous for "Love train" and "992 Arguments" that remain a gem.

It was briefly issued in 1994 in the states on cd but even that can be hard to find so, as resourceful as ever, I found a copy in Germany cheaply and pay for it to be shipped over, completing at long last my O'Jay's collection on cd.

Malory Towers

 

This is I'm informed the original dust jacket-the thick paper covers hard backed books come with this volume in the Malory Towers series came with, a series like much of Enid Blyton's books I read as a child and certainly in boarding school which was most appropriate when you sit and think about it.

It resonated strongly with me and I'd of loved to have been in such a school during the era it was written and fortunately my copies haven't had the references to school discipline removed as that was a part of that experience as it was with my own schooling.

Colouring

We're looking at colouring today

Colouring is an activity most children do from an early age when you take a drawing with the outline image in printed usually in black and colour in between the lines.

Colouring can be helpful in improving your hand to eye co-ordination as you learn to colour in tiny areas neatly.

It's also quite useful in encouraging you to exercise your own imagination, by choosing what areas to colour in whatever colour you prefer although for some subjects  you may prefer to follow the examples such as drawings of Disney Princesses and other more feminine themes.

It came to me a few days back in part through an ongoing conversation and also while listening to a podcast, that I did very little colouring when I was younger and by the time I'd reached nine it was deemed to be 'childish' although I did draw in colour trees and houses cause that was called 'drawing' which was said to be 'okay' for me to do.

Colouring is in my opinion one of the easiest ways of getting into a younger headspace especially if you live away from any local  littles community because you can do it pretty much anywhere making very little demands on apartment space.

You'll need a supply of coloured pencils (mine are Hello Kitty ones for extra cute appeal), an eraser to remove mistakes, and colouring books that you'll find most news stores stock so you can get out of your chair and go buy it in person as after all it is for you!.

I tend to keep mine by the computer as a stress relief tool when the interwebs go wonky but generally after changing to my littles clothes, I either lay on my front on the floor or across my Hello Kitty festooned bed with the book and pencil case out in front of me. You could if you wished, sat at a desk to do this too as if you were in a play group or school setting.

I find it very relaxing just lying there colouring completely free  from any groan up stuff that may be about affecting my head.

Liszt and Chopin

From boyhood I always had a love of piano music, listening to live performances often taped and acquiring the odd record.

I've always loved the Polish composer Chopin from a very early age having records of his music but during a period where classical music migrated to the cd, I lost many of mine only getting around to replacing a recording of his Piano Concertos.

Late last year DG issued a special box set marking the 70th birthday of the Italian pianist Maurzio Pollini featuring all his solo recordings of Chopin's piano works (477 990-8) housing 9 cds as originally issued of the Etudes, Preludes, Polonaises, Scherzos, Nocturnes as well as the Second and Third piano sonatas complete with reproduction card covers and a inset.

Many of these performances are among the very best of chopin's works but because a manufacturing error that a number of the discs unplayable, I returned it but bought used the individual original discs adding the super audio cd version of Polonaises from 1976.

This recording may not quite match the sonics of the very best of today's but the playing by Pollini ably backed by the Philharmonia Orchestra of London in this 1960 recording remains the standard to judge accounts of the First Piano Concerto by.

For a long time my favourite on record, this was remastered and reissued in 2016 by Warner Japan who currently own the rights to EMI's Classical catalogue on the Super Audio cd format with  a cd layer so it plays on all machines although sacd machines will get the most from it.

They even restored the original period artwork which I adored.

At the same time I spotted a 5 cd set of Liszt's solo piano works going cheap by the Hungarian Georges Cziffra on EMI (648351 2) recorded from the late 1950's thru 1985.

His talent lay in finding what inspired Liszt and playing it back - some said he was the reincarnation of him - and although he adds a few touches of his own compared to some more modern  recordings, he keeps you riveted to the Hungarian Rhapsodies and other featured works  from start to finish.

I did have a few of this performances originally on lp so it was nice to be acquainted with them again.
At the same time I ordered Liszt: Piano concertos 1 &2 plus two other works to round off the collection that I managed to fit into the box set in effect turning it into Czaffra plays Lizst set.
EMI Encore 7243 574736 2 0
Orchestra de Paris conducted by  Georgy Cziffra Jr with Georges Czaffra on piano
Electrifying performances from 1971/2.

The mature Tammy is real.

This life precedes the blog which itself has been going for large chunk of time I really began to explore more how being a Sissy really is from the inside for me, Tammy in all its various elements because we are more than sum of all our parts as much as we are not just one.

Because one may be the dominant form at that moment and for me it is more the Little Sissy Gurl does not mean I  don't have a more adolescent or even young adult set set of needs that, in an appropriate setting will come out.

We have always seen ourselves as been feminine so in time worked on our presentations, expanded our range of interests as we rejected the stereotypes we were pushed into when people thought we were boys but in reality were were more like girls but different.

We found girls who were interested in what made us different , who saw how we hated how we were so spent time working on our appearances, applying perfume and make up enjoying it, nay just letting them fem us up.

In the beginning it was more about getting that mismatch between how society saw us, how in heads we saw ourselves and how we acted socially bright more into line so we felt good about ourselves so we had a look and knew how to act as that gurl in girl spaces.

We increasingly took our clues from girls as we grew up or at least as much as some of us could as they grew up from playing with our dollies to exploring dressing ourselves up but as you get to that stage growing up there's a component of you that comes out that connects with all of that.

Tammy was and is no different as indeed are most girls who move into womanhood.

At first it seems so repulsive, that being that playful little gurl playing with hur dollies, colouring, hugging hur teddy enjoying physical games has now moved into having sexual desires that you feel the need to satisfy.

You dress sexually, you wear make up to attract real boys and men have sex with you because you want what you never could give a girl but as a sissy gurl your gender was ALWAYS connected to your sexuality as it would emerge.

Like most girls, sissy gurl you also wanted to let him take you panties down and take their advances.

You tried to deny it, even stopped for periods being that gurl but you really couldn't be anything else.

Thing is you have choices about when and on any one day if you want to act on those sexual desires so as more common I'm being more my non sexual little self I can enjoy that without feeling unclean or people taking advantage of being that way.

When I don't or my head is more in adult mode I can be as sexually playful as I feel, craving sexual relief just like all the other "sissy sluts". Miss D was correct to identify that two years ago.

If you're in a relationship and that includes more adult thoughts, there is nothing wrong or shameful in dreaming about sex and what you can offer to meet your own needs.

After all many a woman balances being a worker, a housekeeper, a mother with keeping her man happy enjoying great sex.

As a gurl, so can Tammy and like Girls too on hur terms

Tammy is a Sissy Slut and there's nothing wrong with it.