Advent 2023

While I'm wrapped up with fleecy top and bottoms with hot cocoa with the minus temperatures here waiting for the postman to call collect a parcel return as Amazon goofed up totally and being smartphone free return options as most now use QR codes at the collection point it kind of reminds you we have only so many days to go before Christmas.

Usually like most littles I countdown the days and traditionally that involves an Advent calendar with chocolate to be revealed as the days get fewer and fewer.

This years is a little different for being that of the arch nemesis of Christmas, the Grinch who as you'll remember tried to steal Christmas but included with this is a Happy Christmas greeting.

Perhaps the Grinch gets the point?

In Brownies you may make a "Reverse Advent Calendar" which focuses more on what you can give rather than what we may wish to receive or a wreath you could put on your front door.

Anyway get set to enjoy the countdown yourself!

The remaking of an old friend

On November 10th, as we were gearing up to Remembrance Day after the release of the "new" single Now And Then a week before two very different versions of albums we've known for all our leaves appeared in both vinyl record and compact disc.

Originally coming out in 1973 the Beatles 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 compilations known to a number of us as the RED and BLUE albums were either gateways into their music growing up in a post Beatles pop world or neat resumés for original fans.

What made them so essential was they took all the hit singles and added a good selection of notable tracks from their albums in chronological order capturing well the essence of the Beatles appeal and their musical development plus  added the lyrics for every song on the inner sleeves.

Short of putting them in a box with a glossy booklet wrapped up with ribbon they could not of been better so over fifty years they've always been around in a variety of formats from records, cassette and 8 track tapes to the compact disc and being given copies for many of us was a rite of passage musically.

One thing they cannot be ignored is however the stereo mixes especially of many of the songs on RED are rather primitive with vocals and backing at the far sides of the stereo image and nothing in the middle which doesn't work too well on headphones.

Compared with today there were only a handful at best of individual tracks to create a stereo mix from and in any event that just wasn't the main aim in how the recording session was done as in the early sixties especially mono was king with most recordings being played on mono portable record players apart from the more well to do grown ups who bought classical, show and film soundtracks who quickly brought into stereo sound.

Used initally in assembling the Get Back film and then in the new edition of Revolver last year using Artificial Intelligence so it would "learn" all the elements which then gives you lots of seperate tracks you can remix this has been applied to every song on RED for this edition.

Thus for the first time ever we get "true stereo" Love Me Do from the original singles version too and She Loves You which have only ever existed in mono.

Many of those irritating hole in middle vocals on one side mixes have been redone totally and even generally good stereo mixes like Ticket To Ride have the drive reduced in stereo album mixes restored that the original mono 45 had.

Yesterday's string quartet is now spread across both channels which as long term classical music fan I can say is how they appear.

In the main this works and especially well on the Rubber Soul tracks which bolds well for the much looked forward to remixed stereo version of that album easily the worst in stereo in the catalogue.

Observant eyes will have noticed there's more tracks on the rear cover - 34 not 26 - which allows for a better selection from albums as the beatles generally didn't have singles on albums unless they came out before or were tied in things like the films.

Overall it works well on compact disc as amazingly no cd ever had the album as originally issued with stereo track issued in mono and others in very poor echy laden remixes from the 80's.

I'm not tossing my vinyl original out but this is a great new envisioned version.

Remembrance thoughts

There are some things that are more constant core things with me and one is the aims, practise and ethics of scouting.

I enjoy a bonfire night as much as anyone but the other thing GirlGuiding is involved in around this time of year is Remembrance  which will be marked today with Armistice Day and in two days time on Remembrance Sunday.

Having taken part in Parades it has a bit of a sombre nature because we think about what men (and women) did both at home and on the battlefield to preserve the liberty, freedom and way of life we have and the sacrifice of lives given to have succeeded in it against great odds in WW2.

It is important for people, especially children to know about this so in guiding with the help of people such as the Royal British Legion, girls are taught about this as in a good number of schools they are too.

This years theme is Service which includes the services of all in scouting such as GirlGuiding not just in the services but at home helping on the home front and recognizes that in that service it isn't that people died but many more bear the scars of injury both physical and mental 

Here we see Brownies at the cenotaph as many will this weekend ,placing their wreath upon it as a symbol of our respect and appreciation of what those people, often young gave for us and our country.

We will remember our war dead.

A little spooky Barbie fun

Well did you enjoy your Halloween fellow sissies?

Was something more like this your idea of the costume to be wearing, classic black witch with hat to quite feminine.

Ken today is thankfully very much Barbies sissy plaything dressed in pastels, learning to enjoy being second to Her.

Did you ever feel like dressing him up in a dress or classic girls swimsuit, giving them a new more suited gurlish name like Kerry or Kimmie creating adventures that only you'd come up with cos secretly it was you who wanted in on them?

I'll bet you did -  I sure did!

Halloween

It's that time of the year again when things get spooky, some of us go to Halloween parties having fun  but it is also very much a time we become more visible too as a time when many don costumes of all sorts actually aids us blending in.

It's a time of less plain sissy dressing but really taking things out to the full most feminine  extent such as "playing" Alice or Dorothy in a simple plain blue or gingham dress and if you were challenged to it  wouldn't you just go weak at the knees and cave in to it?

Perhaps a lifestyle change is just what a closeted sissy needs in hur life?

You might like a number like that with sleeves, white hold up stockings and some pretty frilly panties on. 

We might just take a sissy gurl like me who can move between a more child-like little sissy and a more grown up adult sissy side and put me in a lockable pvc halloween dress and engage with the more sexual fetish side side.

With the first two dresses pushing me into wearing panties like these underneath them just might be the ticket.

Top it all off with a traditional fireworks display and halloween couldn't be more fun.