Christmas 2016

There is a bit of annual tradition on this blog from its very start of doing a Christmas edition rather like as if we'd been around of each others houses and said "How  was Christmas with you?"

For me I was a bit late getting up as I had a migraine on Christmas Eve that was reluctant to  shift so I got dressed and came down for a light breakfast before opening my presents.

That's some of them stacked up so I wonder just what might possibly be inside of them?

The Beano was a staple comic of mine growing up even if today it is inevitably a bit different  being for todays boys and girls and we always had the Christmas Annual so getting that as a hardback with the stories of Gnasher, Dennis the Menace, Ball Boy, Roger The Dodger, Minnie the Minx and co really is a ritual I love.

 The Dandy suffered a bigger fate as it was discontinued outright but they do one off editions and a annual so I like to read new adventures of Korky the Kat and Desperate Dan of Cow Pie fame amongst others.

I love reading although with my learning disabilities I can't manage anything other than junior fiction and even then anything getting more above a reading age of 12 is hard going so Mommy bought me this First edition of the new Jacqueline  Wilson novel set in Victorian England.

She also bought me the last Historical novel she wrote in a series looking very much at life in  Great Britain from a child in hospital in the early nineteen-fifties that I'm very much looking forward to reading shortly.

I had this originally in Paperback but had been longing to find a copy with the original text in so my Brother gave me some money toward buying this used copy lacking its dust jacket as original hard backs are really quite rare and expensive.

I had some chocolate oranges, money and biscuits too from people that care about me.

Schubert dip

One thing I do a lot of especially if I haven't been good is play a lot of music as it is routed in childhood and has a very soothing regressive quality with me   and I have been playing these two sets a lot over this period I haven't been too good in myself.

Originally I had  a set of cds on Naxos bought bought several years back this classic set of performances.

Karl Bohm bring so much more out from the score it's unbelievable.

The Melos's performances are much better than the original cds I had and this set is more complete for good measure.
When I look at recordings what I look at is something that will hold up for several years rather than some new revolutionary account whose approach loses favour and the Melos I find is timeless.
I hadn't mentioned them here before and I thought this is a good opportunity to bring my entries up to date.

Christmas musings

Christmas bring back memories of past Christmas's such as the "wrong" presents from relatives who ignored what they know for sticking at what stereotypically boys wanted or the right presents that couldn't be mentioned and had to be hidden from visitors.

What I'd of given for having the sort of clothes and toys I'd like not just around but to had been photographed for the family album in as that feminine boy able to wear a dress around family.

I was always hyper affectionate, making a bee line to hug and stroke pets wanting to give and receive hugs but that was frowned on at the time.

I just adore animals.

Recentring

 

It's the start of the morning here so I thought I'd  make a bit of a start on this weeks entry working through the various things on my mind.

I think the first thing to say is I feel more vulnerable emotionally today than I have for a good many years between the feelings brought out from the previous week, the never ending inter communal supremely childish discourse on Tumblr losing a couple of followers, having a remove and I'm blocking you for being in the "wrong" community as defined by them order and having our age regression  questioned by an exclusive group of ...age regressors!

Toss in the English FA youth soccer investigation into abuse by a man who lived but 100 yards away from me from whose face I can still recall with a shudder and you get the picture,eh?

I just feel very much in need of a hair rustling and a hug, just to know everything will be okay and in fact I'll just colour and play with my stuffies I think cos that'll help recentre me to a point I feel good rather like the "Restore" point on a Windows computer helps when the software don't work right you restore the operating system to a earlier point where it does!

Looking out watching the snowfall during the Winter months was always a thing I loved doing the Winter months as the intensity of the bluey-white snow was just so intoxicating, as you saw it fall mounds that later on you would make into snowmen or have playful  snowball fights with.

That's what I really need now.

Sharing the magic of the season, learning to embrace it's possibilities when suitably attired (snow pants anyone?) the zest for a positive approach for life can be nurtured

That for me always was and is where age regression was at rather than anything really adult and why generally things had been running that much better for me over the last few years cos I worked more with what's right for me rather than performing an act of impersonating others and falling badly when the real life developmental issues plowed into reality, leaving me an emotional mess.

I may not be around some sites as much as had but I think this is really what I need is to switch off from all that adult negativity.

Remaking the Pink Floyd Collection

Recently Pink Floyd Records, the groups own label have started a new vinyl record campaign with newly cut versions of their albums.

This suited me as I had over the years lost a number of my Pink Floyd lps so here's a little about my collection.

Meddle released in late 1971 was an example of an album with a main work spread over one side and shorter pieces on the other.

My copy is a original Canadian one I bought from a friend.

My older brother had a copy of Obscured By Clouds from 1972 which broke the Pink Floyd on American FM stereo radio and I recently bought this 1978 copy and cleaned it using the clean I wrote about.

Dark Side of The Moon is the 1973 multi-platinum selling album, home of the track Money, often played at hifi shows that came with stickers and two posters.

My late 80's copy got it's jacket clawed so I bought this 2016 new copy which sounds just great.

Wish You Were Here from 1975 was an album I borrowed a lot, and is really about how the music business exploits musicians and I bought this for the first time on vinyl a month ago in this 2016 edition.

Animals, the 1977 album looks at conformity, small town small mindedness and how societys values are shaped by those who run it.

I did have this on record in the early 80's but lthat went so I bought this newly cut version that came out last month.

The Wall was a massive seller looking at the effects of losing a father during WW2, the way some schools abused any child who had a genuine spirit, how playing in a band location to location for months on end takes its toll on the mental well-being of stars.

This is the first vinyl copy I have owned and is this years newly mastered version which sounds most vivid.

The "Barney" Mysteries

The old adage "You can't but a good book down would seem to apply around these parts of late  as some more new to me books by Enid Blyton arrived recently.

These copies are actually editions from the very early nineteen-seventies where while still in hardback form they have been cheapened by printing the frontispiece and spine direct to the jacket and missing off the rear of what would of been the back of the paper dust jacket the original hardbacks had.

 There are six novels in this series of mystery adventures that feature Rodger and Diana Lynton and their cousin Peter, orphaned, who goes under the name "Subby" in the series and his dog Laddie who are also joined by Barney an motherless circus boy who has been on a quest to find his absent father and who has a money called Miranda.

The "Barney Mysteries" is the title these usually are grouped under although some use "R Mysteries" with the "R" coming from the R in the names of all the titles.
The children visit sleepy villages and seaside towns that it transpires are riddled with intrigue and it's that they look into.

One of the strengths of this series is the stories are full of atmosphere and good humour, the strong characterization making for much more depth  than most of her work and more sophisticated language that made it the only series Enid herself recommended just for those of eleven years and upward being very suitable for boys like me.

Away day schooling

 It's a bit of a while since I wrote anything around the re-creation of schooling a form of words I'm now a bit more for as "school based role play" for me implies in part I am role playing the child at school and with me this whole whole thing is more like I have that child running 24/7 in me.

Effectively you've created a school with all the things I recall of my education that I just attend.

One of the things I did involved having a math  lesson taught to me by a person being  a teacher doing what was called "chalk and talk" where they would talk away but write important concepts and any questions on the chalkboard for you to do.

For my part I was dressed in a traditional black tunic (Brit speak: "Gymslip") with tie and school socks as they prefer me in feminine boy attire at a equally traditional wooden desk with a  hole for in, grooves for your pens and a lift up slightly sloped lid that before flat "Go-Pak" stacking school furniture such as tables became popular you had together with matching wooden chairs with an S shape bottom.

Like most I was taught metric units as my home country went metric during this period  although for somethings imperial never went away like road distances and part of this lesson covered an introduction to Imperial weights and measures that I had to sit and write down from the chalkboard including the questions set on each unit.

This covered ounces, pounds, stones, hundred-weights  and tones when it came to Mass, inches, feet, yards, cubits, chains and miles in linear measurement.

I also had set some multiplication and division work too that I had to copy, answering all the questions.

The work from the point of view of presentation, neatness of writing and showing of workings out was examined in addition to marking the answers to questions set and my attitude toward studying.

My work was then written on in red pen.

Overall I hadn't done too badly but I had made a few mistakes down to not being as careful as I should of been as when asked to show how I got the answer where I had made mistakes, I did get it right first time so it wasn't a question of not knowing or comprehending.

Because it was that and nothing to do with my actual learning limitations which are NEVER a reason to, I was instructed to bend over the desk at each unit where this had occurred to be spanked either by hand with a slipper or for one which was more around not paying sufficient attention to the work, the tawse.

This needless to say did hurt persisting for some time but to be honest, it is what lead to it that really is more the problem: I don't take the care I could to produce work that limitations aside I am actually capable of, that reflect my abilities rather than my disabilities.

In that sense what might in the past of been called "school based role playing" has real benefits in helping to change because it identifies in real-life situations those attitudes and behaviours that need correcting and delivers the lessons that in all honesty people who were less centred around the dis in my disabilities excusing me and more on abilities and training me to use them properly in same way my peers were really should of done.

For me then this bit of the weekend away was really beneficial.

Think pink

 

The Pink Panther was a childhood favourite of mine both in the Cartoons made during the sixties that I saw as a child and also the Peter  Blake directed movies staring Peter Sellers as the hapless inspector on the case.

I collected a lot of merchandise as a child such as plushies, notepads, toys and calendars and bought Pink Panther themed bubble bath so you could say it was an obsession of mine. 

The fascination with pink or plushies didn't end at the Pink Panther they went into Hello Kitty, pink dresses and panties as while the seventies turned into the eighties I explored my sissiness.

Malory Towers revisited

After all the excitement of last weekend out I'm writing what in some ways is a continuation piece from a 2011 entry of mine that kind of gives you an idea of just how long I've been blogging.

When I wrote way back in more or less exactly five years ago about Malory Towers, the  six part series of novels by Enid Blyton, I remarked about a couple of things I had noticed since originally encountering them in childhood.

One was about the illustrations which I feel is relevant not least in the Country I presently reside in because for a school based series, you see, you may well have personally even worn, the uniforms many schools have so have a mental image of what a school boy or in this case a school girl generally looks like. 

The tendency for cartoonish illustrations in particular used on the  first decade of this centuries editions of this series  particularly made them look cheap and detached them from their era.

I'd never of bought them as a boy cos I wanted something that looked presentable and clearly hooked me into the story.

I saw the paperbacks with those images and bought at the time a nicer looking set of softbacks from 2004 that served me well until something else came very much to light.

Like with a good number of her books, the text had been altered with no clear indication and so I did pick up a 1987 omnibus edition of the first four novels published by W H Smith but printed by Methuen Children's books under license.

I didn't actually realize Dean's who were an imprint of Methuen's  did a complete  set in the form of two hardback books until very recently and given these were from the early 1990's was a bit concerned about those troublesome alterations and updates.

The first volume not so imaginatively titled Malory Towers came out in 1991, a year later than the separate six volumes issued in their Rewards series with more modernish but generally tasteful front covers.

I did check the text over as in the first novel, First Term at Malory Towers, there are clear references both to Darrel's behaviour that are toned down in modern editions and the threat to spank with a hairbrush common enough when first published but removed completely in newer editions. 

That was big shock I found moving to the 2004 set to that incomplete omnibus late 80's edition because it does alter the feel of those schoolgirls in a boarding school, like I was, and makes the adults responses more understandable.

This 1991 set surprisingly uses the same text as if they had used the same typesetting as that and had carried it over to the 1990 Rewards too and keeps a good number of the original black and white illustrated plates by Jenny Chapple.

While the cover looks slightly too contemporary to my eyes, the advantage of having the second volume over the 1987 is in part less weight for having just three novel per volume compared to four and again it uses a less modern so-called politically correct text.

My suspicion are that actually these three in one omnibus editions and the 1990 separate ones are just repackaged editions of the versions Methuen  had out during the 1980's with newer covers for sale by certain book sellers who specialized in discounted hardback books aimed at adults buying for children.

 Now that is the original hardback dust jacket from Third Year at Malory Towers which I feel sums up the feel of playing sports together at an all girls school wearing era specific uniform.

While to be honest I'd sooner they had used front covers more in that style for these two three in one omnibus editions, they do make for a good way to get relatively recent pre-political correct text versions often been found for just a few pounds each in good condition.

They do match my St Clares and The Naughtiest Girl Dean's omnibus editions being from the same era with their vanilla coloured spines.

I was very glad to spot these just before I went away.

A Wizzard entry

One of the shining stars of my boyhood was Roy Wood, Founder of The Move, Co-founder with Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra and who had a separate career  as both lead singer of Wizzard and a solo one.

Wizzard's tv performances on Supersonic and Top of the Pop's were amongst the most colourful of that era as we tuned into to see them as well as Slade, the Sweet, Mud, Gary Glitter, Suzy Quatro and many many others.

In 1985 I bought this The Best of Roy Wood on cassette as it had most of those hits from 1970 upto 1974 such as California Man, Angel Fingers, My Baby Jive, Forever and the 1973 crimbo smash I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday  but recently replaced it with a record copy.

More Girls Fiction for the Sissy Gurl

I've been reading a few books this week of which I think I'll review this.

This lesser known author wrote Jill At Hazelmere in nineteen sixty-four and Jill Investigates both borrowing from the Girl comic strip series Wendy and Jinx school based adventures where both are Forth Formers.
It's the very sort of book I love and actually it's the first time I've owned a copy - mine's from nineteen sixty-six  although I'm sure saw a copy at boarding school in the Seventies

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Sadly the Girls Comic site which had extracts from many British girls comics including Girl that was published between nineteen fifty-one and nineteen sixty-four has disappeared as has the middlescommonroom.com site where mainly older  junior fiction was discussed.

Trying to find a G.O* or mainly G.O discussion board where such staples of the junior fiction I read back then is proving difficult.

*G.O = Girls Only, the very girl centric type of novel or comic writing usually about schools, horses and princesses that feminine gurls like me just adore.

The Secret Seven and the missing words

One of things I have made a bit of a start on is getting replacement hard back copies of my Secret Seven books that I originally wrote a bit about on here a few years ago with the bulk of them being modern edition but with good original illustrations and the other five being 1970's paperback ones.

 This series is for me a link of that nine through thirteen period where  having moved from the first 'proper' reading books I had from around  six with Mr Twiddle, I was looking for something a bit more 'grown up', a bit challenging both by the style of writing and also use of a wider vocabulary and that of older children.

It's an adventure series of a group of children who meet up having adventures while trying to solve mysteries and in it we see their personalities such as a somewhat bossy Peter, club leader.

In many ways it touches on that sense of longing to be long to a group, a circle which as a child of that age  you sure felt and in the series we see Susie, one of more quick thinking children kept out, perhaps more that she might undermine Peter than anything else.
They have a scottie dog called Scamper who rather like George's dog Timmy in the Famous Five plays a big role, big enough to be counted as a member even!

Actually it is the similarities that invite comparison between both of Enid Blyton's adventure series usually to the the detriment of the Secret Seven in which two later stories do clearly reference Famous Five books almost as if she was saying "If you read this, please consider reading the Famous Five!" but that's negate the point which is this is a self contained series aimed at younger children or children with a lower reading age which was probably why I got them given my reading issues when I did.

The series was started in nineteen forty-nine  and concluded in nineteen sixty-three and like the Famous Five editions later copies were subject not just to things such as changes in currency but also in dress where the girls generally wear pinafores rather as I do now but these were again changed for jeans or shorts and the boys wore jeans unlike boys even in the early to mid nineteen-seventies in school who wore tailored hard wearing lined shorts.

The text also was altered in recent copies to 'reflect' modern social ideas so where in the second novel, Secret Seven Adventure, Peter says to Jack as he is being scolded for allowing his sister Suzie to have his  Secret Seven badge she should be smacked for it and a grown up says to the children  the girl at the circus should be spanked for her constant fibbing, that is removed.

Given it was written in nineteen-fifty that would of happened and I can well recall when I did something like that in the nineteen seventies I and my peers sure  were smacked or spanked firmly.

It's small details like that, the references to things in 'shillings' that set the backdrop of this adventure as are things like the circus acts a child of that era saw, regardless of our own views on that today and why apart from the feel of having the hard back I'm slowly building up a collection of them hopefully all with dust jackets, to read and enjoy as I did back then.

Chores for Little Gurls

Today I thought I would give some thought to things a little or middle either in relationship or living with someone even on occasional basis can be encouraged to do for themselves

Own area

Making own bed

Getting clothes out for the next day

Hanging up own clothes neatly after wearing/washing

Making sure worn clothes are available for washing

Keeping own spaces tidy

Helping in the home 

Fixing own breakfast

Setting tables with cutlery, mats, glasses and cold refreshing drink

Clearing away and washing up afterward

Tidying away in other spaces after you

Helping with vacuuming

Feeding pets

Sometimes it can be easy to drift into a pattern where other people may not expect you to do (or be able to do)  these things which doesn't help you either with trying be more responsible and independent and may in a low key nagging way begin to undermine a relationship.

It also is the case that within reason, people shouldn't try to do that too, even if you  as a little or middle have a disability or two regardless of like a  number of folk  you may not of had to do much if any of these things in past yourself.

The Rolling Stones in Mono

Many years ago I wrote a substantial entry around the longstanding British rock band, the Rolling Stones and my recordings by them and on September 30th, a 15 cd box set of their recordings was issued.

Basically the box set covers what I'd call the Decca or the London Years where from 1963 through 1970, they recorded for Decca records of Great Britain but with a twist as this set only comprises of individual albums of studio recordings that were issued in monophonic sound.

Unlike the Beatles to whom only about five recordings were only available in mono and to whom there are mono and stereo sets of everything except the last two studio albums, it's fair to say most of the pre 1966 Rolling Stones songs are only in mono and they appeared as recent as 2002 in generally good remastered cds and a few records from the same sources.

It's also important to note a good number of those 1964/5 tracks that were only mixed in stereo such as 2120 South Michigan Avenue were simply 'folded in' for the mono editions so you're not hearing different outside of the sound all now coming from the centre of your speakers on these discs.

This means there is quite a bit of duplication between those cd  issues and these new cds.

The discs are fitted so you remove from from the top with what I'd regard as a silly magnetic catch and at the front there is a booklet with a short write up of the the groups history and pictures.

It tells you nothing about the recording history of the groups albums such as the dates, studios used when originally issued and catalogue numbers or even which albums are featured that I feel is quite an oversight.

 The albums appear in mini lp form which I favour but lack some of the individual touches such as 'fold backs' on the UK titles, period mock inner sleeves and in the instance of Let It Bleed, the poster that was included in all copies of the album. At cost the Japanese issue features all of that and more!

The European edition has see through plastic inner sleeves and plastic resealable outside sleeve jackets to protect them. This inexplicably was been missed of the North American edition which has the discs spine face down in the box so they can easily get scratched where at least the European has them slotted with the spines to the left hand side of the box.

Like most sixties groups their UK and US discographies difference greatly but unlike that of the beatles they were compiled by the bands own producer for US consumption leading of itself to duplication.

To simplify, it includes the following US titles also released back in Canada on London records:
12x5, The Rolling Stones, Now, Out Of Our Heads, December's Children (and everybody's), Aftermath and Flowers plus all of the UK titles.

This means that for the first time since 1995 their first UK album is actually available here in the UK in it's original form and for the first time outside Japan, the second album is finally issued on cd, something as a person who chose back home to collect the UK versions I'm delighted about.

That's the first UK album - note unlike the Beatles in 1964 it wasn't deemed necessary have the bands name on it - where next to it the London 12x5 album of July 1964 that did!

Talking of sleeves for some inexplicable reason 1968's Beggars Banquet album which only has one special mono mix on it of - Sympathy For The Devil - uses the 1984 'toilet' cover rather than the R.S.V.P. scripted one originals had.

The band may of wanted that at the time as the cover but it wasn't what was issued so in many ways it just jars with whole notion being a facsimile of the original lp issue.

The inclusion of the American edition on London of 1966's milestone Aftermath album seems odd given they removed two other US editions and that only what is seen from a  UK vantage point of the inclusion of Paint it, black, a 1966 single and opening track is only what separates it from the UK edition as just ten of the UK versions fourteen were used with no differences in versions.

I say that because they compiled a special compilation album called Stray Cats for this set that houses other mono only tracks such as 45's or tracks from UK extended play releases not on these albums where there is space for it and where it would make more sense to have included it next to it's 'b' side. 

A number of tracks were re-transferred and others had some processing done in 2002 for initial super audio cd release removed and these do actually sound better as in more 'open' and analogue sounding.

Outside of that and the reappearance of the first two UK albums, the main plus of this set is getting the dedicated mono mixes unavailable since the late 1960's of their Aftermath, Between The Buttons and Their Satanic  Majesties Request albums that suffered from that extreme left, right so-called 'stereo' popular back then and in any event was often less of a priority than the more commonplace in the home mono.

The amount of time spent varied where separate mixes were made made in four hours or less in stereo compared to days on the mono with less care about how loud any one part of mix was in stereo compared to the mono.

Personally I feel those mono mixes offer more of a sense of the performance everyone including the bands own members wanted us to hear and be judged on, sounding better balanced to my ears.

The inclusion of a completely folded  from stereo into mono Let It Bleed album, an album that is one of their very best ever is puzzling as while it was issued briefly in 1969 in this form in the UK, it was soon gone and sounds no different than playing a current version on cd with the mono button engaged.

I'd of issued the stereo version with a period cd logo in mini lp form in stereo complete with replica dedicated inner sleeve and poster as a bonus as that would be of more value, making the set a good mainly mono way into the 1960's Rolling Stones recordings.

To summarize, the box set performs a valuable function in presenting the whole of the studio recordings of the Rolling Stones in mono in single spot very well transferred although the execution on the artwork and some choices on the contents could of been better given more thought and general attention to detail.

The grey short trousers and I

There are two forms of presenting for me and today we'll take a look at the more traditional one.

Ever since "knickerbockers" aka plus fours went for children in the early 1900's short trousers for boys came in although the length did and continues to vary.

Branded as in logo prominently displayed casual wear is a something that came in around the 1980's usually from a sportswear direction with only the Sweatshirt which was American not so what we wore was basically tailored except for t shirts which were strictly casual.

Our play clothes were more or less our worn school or sunday best repurposed seen as potentially expendable.

In my era 99.9 % of boys would of been seen in grey short trousers at school and only white or khaki coming in for leisure or scouts and the move even in juniors toward long trousers seemed a way off.

These were stereotypically what we wore some like these Medium Grey, others Charcoal and unlike those marked at schoolboys today they were short with two or three inch inside legs common while in the 1940's and 50's they'd been a fair bit longer.

They were lined unlike some today and had pockets and to be honest I did feel pretty comfortable in them.

Although this isn't technically a good picture, this taken in the early 1980's at a prep school was pretty much how a junior me looked being raised as a boy and yes we had a good deal of thigh on display.

Today I do wear short trousers some of time not least because when "playing" or exploring they are more practical less likely to get caught in things, catch wind and cause your skirt to rise exposing your underwear and that.

They do help in managing my age dysphoria in making me look more how I am on the inside still a junior child and were not an issue although I do like to wear skirts much of the time getting pretty antsy if I can't.

I can wear them in more feminine ways too if I wish.

The bigger thing in being a adult little gurl is following my interests as that sissy and Tom Boys are just the same in reverse.

The return of the original Famous Five

This edition is part of a restoration theme I touched on in part to getting back in touch with some people I was close to a few years who may have some different reasons for their interest than I but is a place where I can discuss that side of reading that for me is rooted as much part with my past and present child-like sense of being as much as a love of reading, my difficulties with reading aside.

Enid Blyton was as no doubt for many of us in the British Commonwealth the author we were introduced by schools and parents keen for us to reading something other than comics and preferable to the big threat of our era, the TV in the corner which was feared for turning us into passive unthinking consumers.

She wrote for all ages although there was a age-range guide for each series so we'd start with something like Noddy or Mr Twiddle which I loved and move through to a series like Malory Towers and the Famous Five to the very top end Junior Fiction and the cusp of Young Adult Fiction and adult fiction often tied to what we studied for English Literature around our mid teens.

I'm revisiting the Famous Five series after talking about them in 2012 mainly because of they way chunks of the situations around the lives of George, Dick, Julian, Anne and Timmy the dog have been altered dramatically that they no long ring true even if the basics of the plot remain.

What I'm in process of doing is replacing these somewhat altered versions with originals from the 1950 and 60's in hardback form.

Although much of the adventure and the sense of being young are universal across each era's children inevitably it is set in the past with it starting in 1942 and ending in 1963 so as amazing as it may sound one thing is they used a different currency and with it a different sense the value of things. 

This was one of the first things to be changed following the UK adopting decimalization in 1971 was references to money and strangely enough the decision by one paperback publisher to put all the children in Jeans even though that wasn't what was worn back then  plus ignores a common theme in the novels which is how 'George' rejects femininity as expressed in dresses and ribbons in preference to the shorts of boys and boyish pursuits.

At a stroke a big part of her gender role rebellion is diminished by removing the contrast to that societies norms.

My start point in revisiting the series begins where I first met them in chronological childhood  and that's with the first three novels that were put in an omnibus edition which to be honest is how most likely I'd of been given these novels and so I got a 1964 copy of "The Famous Five Big Book".

That contains the very first story Five on a Treasure Island that sets very much the scene introducing us not just to the Island and the children but also to their families and the social order within it, not least that the adults are the Authority Figures and that the children are spanked (and expect to be) which was the norm back then.

More recent editions remove that completely and attempt to suggest a more negotiated form of parenting that simply wasn't the case and what the children  who read the stories originally would not of recognized because the lives of Julian, George, Anne and Dick where very much like theirs in that way!

Some of the copies I have do have their original dust jackets, some of which are like this - a little the worse for wear although I used transparent tape to repair a few tears on this one - that are enjoyable to look at although because so many got lost or badly damaged copies with them tend to at a premium regardless of the actual condition of the book itself.

For me then while I love the dust jackets, it's the original text and the illustrations by Elaine Soper that have never been surpassed that are the reasons why I'm replacing the other set and enjoying re-reading the stories as they were originally written as I identified with them as that child.

I don't appreciate having my memories messed with.

Keeping your records clean

As anyone who reads this blog knows music is a big thing with me not least having a actual record collection so I thought I'd post something connected with it.

Anyone who has records know like a cd,  they can get a bit dirty but while you only normally tell if a cd is dirty if say it skips, with a record you may hear crackles or a rustling sound even if it looks clean because while surface may be, the groove the music is stored in, isn't.

So it isn't long before you start looking at how to clean it, often scratching ones head as you see anything that looks like a automobile windscreen wiper to big machines costing several hundred pounds being offered that proper to do it

I have tried many ways to do it, sometimes mixing my own cleaning mixture up but there's a simple kit that just does it and it's inexpensive cos you provide the elbow grease!
The Vinyl Revival cleaning kit available on Amazon and Ebay provides all you actually need in simple box.

You get two spray bottles available in different quantities one being the active cleaning solution that you spray on to the disc and wipe on, the other is a spray to rinse that off taking the dirt and dust away together with any trace of the cleaner, wiping it dry.
Between two to four sprays of each work out fine.

The cleaner doesn't contain any alcohol so doesn't dry or risk damaging through frequent use your records vinyl.

It comes with two cloths, although you buy spares easily, the green one is for putting your record on and the blue one has even thinner micropores for spreading the cleaner and applying after rising it off.

I find this very effective, using it to cure the rustling noise between tracks on my recently acquired Abandoned Luncheonette lp from the early nineteen-seventies leaving sounding quieter than some new records!

Elton John on vinyl

A good few years back, going back the last dying days of my original laptop I did post something about my collection of Elton John cds and his "To Be Continued..." box set of 1990 of which my copy is Canadian.

During a period in the late 1980's through early 90's much of my original vinyl and tape collection of his got converted into cds some of which are specialty gold re-masters of better than regular cd quality.

Feeling the need as I got back into vinyl for some of this prolific singer/songwriters output in that form, I decided to add a couple of well chosen compilations.

My original copy of this the 1974 Greatest Hits album was the MCA edition that had a different track selection but it was an album much played growing up and to which I have the DCC gold remaster that over twenty years on still stands out.

What's on it ten essential tracks including such vignettes as Crocodile Rock, Candle in the Wind and plaintive Border Song.

I got the original 1974 UK lp which sounds like he's almost in your room singing.

 That compilation was followed up three years later by another that because he had just switch labels required some cross-label licensing that has caused issues with the US cd edition since to the point I remade the selection digitally.

The strength of this compilation was it housed on lp form a number of non album 45's such as Pinball Wizard, Philadelphia Freedom and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and his Rocket Records duet Don't Go Breaking My Heart with Kiki Dee which was a British #1.

I decided to get the UK version as it sounded better and between both volumes of Greatest Hits I was only missing one song, Levon, and that didn't matter so much.

If one was to pick a single album of Elton's that you could say was his greatest achievement musically, then it would be the 1973 double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road which breaks very well into four suites of songs.

It was the home of Candle In The Wind, Saturday's Alright For Fighting, Bennie & The Jets and the title track although for me nothing surpasses the opening Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.

My copy is the 1976 Japanese reissue that kept the tri-fold jacket in thick card with inserts and rice paper inners to cuddle the mint super quiet vinyl.

Issued in 1987 only for a brief period on Geffen Records in the States and Canada, this third volume of greatest hits covers the very late 70's to 1987 taking in such hits as I'm Still Standing, I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues  and Wrap Her Up.

The circle progresses

This is being written in the inbetweeness of what will be a busy weekend here not least with a annual trip out to the seaside and a Nan's birthday which we remember.

When it comes to my own there are elements leave me feeling like why are we doing this? 

Some of that lies in mess that is my family, always at war with each other over the silliness of things, petty one upmanship and rank disrespect never mind just refuse to speak to folk for months at a time. 

Indeed often if you'd of said what did I want for a Birthday my honest answer would be a 'Proper family' to belong to and no wonder I feel closer to my age play family. 

It's not that I'm opposed to the idea of working with what  is, god knows you just have to at times, and not making a bad situation worse by tossing a whole of easy to throw in attitude to the mix it just makes things feel...hollow. 

Mum always say I'm the one that can be counted on to think more about what needs to happen, what would make a difference and just do it so I'm happy to take her for lunch and she understands marking the wedding anniversary in the view of events I grew up around is something I can't cheat on emotionally so won't happen. 

Part of the reason I cope with much of this mess is actually the people who filled the gaps, providing guidance, an understanding ear and much needed help in developing some self-discipline and usually around  this time I'm reminded of how much I have to be grateful for in that way. 

This year unlike years in the past I do feel I am moving in the right direction, becoming a little more mature than I have been which to tell you the truth has been so embarrassing for those years so I'd like to thank every one who's helped me. 

Here's to Mums and the all the people who are helping me move on.

Hall and Oates

One thing here I do talk about is about music and what is termed "Blue-eyed soul", soul as performed by 'white' people is something I've always liked as much as I find categorizing music by race of  its artists and performers disagreeable as a blind friend of mine said once "How'd you tell by listening anyway?" and like Jay Kay of funksters Jamiroiquai put it when questioned why he should perform in a black style got pretty angry, I object strongly to being racially stereotyped too.

Getting back to the subject, one of most popular and  best artists in this genre for much of the 70's and 80's were Hall and Oates who originate from Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania  and like much of my music collection what were my  lp records and tapes by them became shiny new compact discs.

As I'm getting back to playing more vinyl for enjoyment, I was looking for a good compilation covering those essential singles as Sara Smile, Private Eyes, I Can't Go For That and Out Of Touch and a few minor hits.

One obvious starting point was 1983's Rock 'n' Soul Part 1 but that's short at 47 odd minutes and features a live recording of Wait For Me rather than the single.
This set coming on originally on cd seemed to fit the bill and as issued on double lp by RCA Legacy this year was available new quite cheaply so I bought that.

 This covers everything including the Say It Isn't So and Adult Education  45's from Rock 'n' Soul part 1 and three 45's from 1984's Big Bam Boom album.
This new European pressed lp sounds really good and is very quiet.

 For licensing reasons that compilation album has nothing from their short early 70's period on Atlantic records not least the hit 45 She's Gone so to fill the gap I picked up used the original UK lp version of 1974's Abandoned Luncheonette album that mixes more country influences with then then prevalent PhillySoul as in She's Gone which sold well on reissue in 1976

l did get on super audio cd also playable on regular players Rock and Soul Part 1 which does sound much better than the original cd ever did and transferred it to my Fiio music player.

More Tom Petty

The last time I mentioned TP was in 2014 with the Hypnotic Eye album although I have a lot of Tom Petty's albums on cd.

 This album originally came out in 1993 remaining a favourite of many although though their have been other compilations such as Playback box set and 2000's Anthology: Through The Years and it recently (July 2016) came out on double vinyl.

More accurately for people living  my side of the Atlantic, it's a re-issue as there was a very limited vinyl release for Europe and the UK and that edition is like much early 90's vinyl very expensive when you see a copy.

The strength of this set is its brevity containing only the 45's and two new recordings such as Mary Jane's 2nd Dance and that the running order makes for a highly enjoyable play starting with such early tracks as American Girl running through such gems as I Need To Know, Refugee, Don't Come Around Here No More and I Won't Back Down with a lack of anything resembling padding so in just over 68 minutes the case for Tom Petty is made convincingly in song and arrangements.

The four side splits are chosen well so you get the opportunity changing them to reflect on what you have heard and in non technical terms the sound and pressing quality of this European lp set is really high with the grooves cut by Chris Bell.

 Before the Heartbreakers were formed, there were a group of guys who played with Tom Petty In Gainsville, Florida and that band was reformed for an album in 2007 and this, Mudcrutch2, is their new offering also bought on vinyl issued May 20th with shared song writing between the band and Tom.