A double helping of Art Garfunkel

Just after Easter here and after last weeks 'golly gosh Caro actually posted about cycling!!!' post, we're back on firmer territory albeit with a bit of a twist.

The last time I posted anything around Simon and Garfunkel was way back in April 2010 when after living with reissue lps and the odd tape I finally sorted out my recordings by them but that left the period after they split off.

Fast forward on to January 2018 and the small British company Vocalion announces it is to the release the first two Art Garfunkel albums recorded for Columbia/CBS in 1973 and 1975 which of itself wasn't so unusual as both got their UK cd debut in 1992 in the short lived Collectors Choice budget choice.

What was is that they were being issued on hybrid Super Audio cds like a few others I've commented on in the recent past on this blog that play on regular players and for improved quality on Super Audio cd players like my current one.

The twist being they included the original Quadraphonic four speaker surround sound mixes too that came out on SQ Quad record and Q8 discrete Quad 8 track tape for the first time ever.

This means those mixes much acclaimed are now available while tracks such as "Mary Was a Only Child", "I Shall Sing", "I Believe (when I fall in love it will be forever)", "Disney Girls" originally recorded by the Beach Boys and featuring BB member Bruce Johnston on this recording, "My Little Town", a Paul Simon Song where they duet and the British smash "I Only Have Eyes For You" have never sounded better being carefully remastered from the original mid 1970's analogue tapes.

If you lived through this period and liked more soothing performances you won't want to miss this as they sound the best ever in any format. Recommended especially as they're just £11.99 each delivered less than U.S. speciality companies charge.

Supporting the young sissy or cross dresser

Some topics do deserve tackled head on and that definitely includes handling the first signs of gender variance in children as approaches from the past including trying to beat it out what resembled physically a boy or rushing headlong into medical treatments and surgery make little sense.

It's bound to show up, a discarded item you wouldn't expect in their bedroom, female clothes of siblings looking disturbed even though you put them away very neatly or perhaps you walked in  and Tommy looked more like Tammy.

To ask how they are and if there is something they'd like to talk about and make clear they are not in any trouble.

Apart from discussing where and what you'll do to let them be themselves, make an offer of time to learn how to dress more like a girl and for you to dress them like you would any young girl in the family. 

Encourage and help get them into smooth silky dresses so they learn to love feeling nice as themselves and being pretty.

Work with them on developing a good play look, decent, fairly fuss free similar to what girls of their age are wearing.

Encourage them to get into short summery dresses and buy them a dolly they can learn to play with and care for.

Now you know Tommy is now Tammy, buy the gurl girls custumes for fancy dress parties and be prepared to push to let hur be included in the girls activities having spoken with the girls parents.

Aim to ensure the young sissy,cross dresser or possible transgendered child feels your love.

Spring days on foot

Officially we're in spring now so it's a bit warmer again which helps when it comes to getting out as ice and walking don't mix with me at all.

 Sometimes you just come across things when you happen to be out aided no doubt for more tuned into nature, rather less on techno and groan up things and that is where this nice picture comes in as just happening to be passing thinking to myself "This looks good", quickly framing it up old school style with twin finger actions.
At a more technical level I did stretch the lens out to 114mm (in 35mm film terms) to fill the frame better and soften the background a little and corrected the colour in Roxio but otherwise it is 'as is'.
Just obscured by the tree, there is a very famous North Staffordshire landmark that is the home of a certain running event and playing a central place in establishment of the form of Methodist Christian teaching known as "Primitive Methodism" which shaped much of our region. 

The Nordic Composers

Today on this months installment of the classical sacd round up seeing it had snowed this weekend, I look at two major Nordic composers.

Carl Nielsen was born on the Danish island of Funen on June 9th 1865, taking up music playing and attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music and is regarded as the pre-eminent composer of that country and died in 1931. His earlier works were inspired by Grieg and Brahms.

He wrote 6 symphonies all of which tended  to be around the half hour length  were written between 1892 and 1925 and have a number of common characteristics such as the prominence of the role of brass instruments  and unusual changes in tonality that have the effect of heightening the dramatic feel.

The London Symphony Orchestra recorded  between 2009 and 2011 all his symphonies on sacd and these were gathered up in this box set of three which also includes a audio only blue ray with high definition (192khz /24bit pcm) stereo and multichannel recordings for those who have blu ray home theatre systems.

Decapo records issued a most useful sacd of his violin , flute and clarinet concertos  with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed live at Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall New York that goes well with the Symphony box set.

A long term favourite composer of mine was the Norwegian Edvard Grieg and when it came to my cd based collection that was first started in September 1987 starting with Grieg's Peer Gynt in long extracts and disc of violin sonatas.

Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor and Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King). Edvard Grieg is to Norway what George Washington is to America and William Shakespeare to England: his country's most celebrated human icon.

Apart from taking a chunk of his music recorded to this format, I also wanted to expand the scope of my collection.

Around 2005/6 the Swedish company BIS Records issued four sacds covering a wide range of his music so I started with this one of the Peer Gynt Suite.

String music is something I like and the one above plus the one by another label of his String Quartets expands on my original collection and features the lovely Holberg Suite.

I did have a disc on DG of the Norewegian and Symphonic dances that I wished to replace.

I was looking for a good modern recording of the Symphony in C and found this well regarded one fairly cheaply used.

I never had a recording of Grieg's Cello Sonata and this sacd is very highly regarded that has works by Grainger and Nielsen too.

 In 1996 I bought a recording by the Manchester pianist Ronan O Hora of Griegs Piano Concerto coupled with the Lyric pieces performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Tring which the Penguin cd guide gave a rosette award to.
I was able to track down the 2005 Membran sacd issue of this recording .

To say the front cover is generic is an understatement but it sounds good so I switched the front cover over to the original one which is much nicer.

Thoughts on getting along

 

Really the simplest of looks can be the most effective such as a plain tank top with a white blouse a little above the knee tartan pleated skirt and plain thick grey socks.

I am a feminine little sissy gurl who belongs in skirts.

I wasn't too great this week with a migraine which isn't too uncommon sadly.

It wouldn't be me in the midst of all that to be thinking of other things, I mean it's so funny but sometimes I'm more together when it comes to thinking ideas up when I'm  like that than any other time.

One is how many times we hear of people who do something a little outside of the mainstream such as follow a dress style and wear it, have aspects of our lives that others may not be so keen on such as your gender identity, sexuality and being a little and so on who struggle to have people they feel they can be open with as friends. And this in age of forums, emails and social media.

Sometimes it may be that the individual has difficulties forming and holding down personal relationships which may not be helped if others are way too quick to judge elementary mistakes but life if you appear not to be able to learn from them can be hard.

Sometimes groups have very much a "My way is the only highway" approach, setting very exacting positions people are at least to go along with if not openly endorse which at times is so ironical being in mind the reason for  existence of some groups is the very excludedness those people felt from others they project themselves.

To  me it seems in order to progress we need to be open to difference, able to tolerate difference and understand  the expression of differing views often leads to more informed thoughts and decisions.

If we find understanding something hard - and it genuinely can be -  we need to be prepared to  work with someone who will explain it and engage with them changing what we are doing if it isn't helping us.

We also need to learn to hold hands more with the people who can helps us explore and grow as people which may include learning more about some of things that unite us but may not be part of other peoples lives.

If you're a little/middle you need to find those spaces you can let this side of you out openly without the distractions of regular adult stuff going on.

Birthday:

I went out for midday lunch with family to celebrate to a local public house that does home made cooking with big chunky carrots and home prepared roast potatoes so I opted for a Turkey roast with cranberry sauce. Apple sauce never did that much for me to be honest.

I followed that up with home made Apple Pie and vanilla ice cream which was really scrumptious having lots of flavour and texture. I don't like mushy apple flavoured filling in fruit pies.

I had birthday wishes from the site that's the home of 'George' and the Famous Five and other Enid Blyton favourites and some forums including GT, the IK chat room and the classical music thread of a music site who put up with my regressive side pretty well.

That ties into having by way of presents four classical music discs one of which will be featured in a review next week, some money and a W H Smiths voucher I used toward this book when I went into town on Thursday. 

Just being younger than my years me

As we enter a new month and approach a significant date I thought I'd post something around what it means to me.

This time of year reminds me so much of the largely unchanged way that I am no different in many ways around the ages of these children and even the fuzzy warm lack of focus of it might as well be a metaphor for both how I am and the prism I see things through.

Any of them could of been me and I could been in it as a little gurl in a school skirt and certain respects more mentally sharper and alert too.

Our world compared to todays was a good deal simpler for just reading, playing and watching tv more often than not together and communication was mainly face to face by phone with parental approval so we'd sure know about it if anyone had been mean.

We read comics, often joining fan clubs whose paraphernalia come through the mail and talked about them during school recess  and in many ways that remains what I loved and within reason love to do even now cos in my head I'm still the same.

 In the recent snowy weather my first instinct remains to gather up snow to have snowball fights and to make snowmen. This year even the outdoor model railway village got snowed in!!!

 I'm in so many ways the same as I was when I was legally younger.

Braving the elements

By the time I get around to posting this we *may* have snow thanks to a pressure system from Siberia, Russia according to forecasters so part of this week was taken up with taking precautions because I do take some tablets that I find help in managing my conditions so I needed to go into town to get them.

Although it is a bit controversial I do find Omega 3 typically found in fish oils helps in a couple of important ways with me the first being I find it helps my brain to be mentally sharper and less of a fuzzy haze than it is when I don't take them and the other being they do help control the side effects of my badly damaged tendons keeping inflammation lower without the issues I had with non-steroids anti inflammatories  like Voltarol which caused damage to my stomach lining.

So It kinda matters to get them in while I can.

As well, I am making progress in walking having managed Sunday morning to walk a good eighth of a mile more than could a few months back which is quite an improvement on how I have been a for good number of years and that despite a full cooked breakfast.

Weekend meals I think probably are bigger in terms of calories compared with those during the week so I may at some point need to look at how to size them down a fraction as I'm convinced  I honestly don't need the cooked breakfast and full evening meal on Sundays.

I stood still and  saw a Blue Tit land on  a branch very close to me which was really nice to see while out in brilliant orange glow of the Winter Sun even if it was just 1 degree C and so I was very well wrapped up with gloves and scarf on.

Tuesday brought snow to this part of the Midlands so wrapped up well I did walk a bit cos a part of what I'm trying to do is to unlearn some of the 'bad' lessons from the past one of which is because I did hurt myself during the Winter snow season of allowing a fear of what happened to paralyze me from going out and to allow it to justify inactivity even I need to be active because it makes me feel alive and healthy.

Being outside really helps me.