The Best Bat In the School

 Last week I have been reading a book in the St Brides/Maudsley series by Dorita Fairlie Bruce I started earlier on but with a twist.

This isn't a regular 'series' book so much as a compilation of a series of short stories originally published for various Girls Own publications such as yearly annuals she wrote and one which is more of a long short novel which is the main feature  and all involve the characters of we met in the St Brides boarding school  and Maudsley day school although there is sufficient information to make sense of the story if you hadn't.

The main feature, The Best Bat in the School, is set at Maudsley with Nancy, Phyllis, Lois, Charity and the gang and how measures the school adopted to deal with a severe outbreak of Scarlet Fever in the district-placing restrictions on the school girls movements lead  to resent and a girl disobeying them.

The focus of the story is on the cricket match between Maudsley and Larkiston which I'll be honest and say is not a game I have a clue about and the role Lois and Charity have as the girls in charge of making the teams selection.

The issue is Lois saw a girl who go to the theatre breaching the restrictions and feels by putting their own enjoyment over others respect for school rules should be dropped.

What unfolds is the lesson set out by the authoress  around  how a misunderstanding (which girl and why) leads to a condemnation of that particular girl unjustly, how that impacts on the relationships of all the girls bring various people under suspicion and puts into jeopardy the schools honour in the competition which with interventions by Charity working out the actual situation, they do win. 

It is I feel having read it, a very important lesson well told in  this story

Victoria Vixtrix is set at St Brides around a girl who badly needs to win a scholarship to go to University to complete her education when her family are through no fault of their own facing poverty.

We meet again Winifred Arrowsmith, disabled wheelchair user to use modern terms as I was for part of my childhood, crippled by polio, showing clear signs that the more regular, less pitied interaction has developed  into one more sympathetic, just one of the girls

A strength I feel of her work is both her clear understanding of social disadvantage such as poverty, the impact of illness and disability on family welfare and the emphasis on moral education which may perhaps to some today seem a little old-fashioned but one I wholly subscribe to so we better serve ourselves and others.

There is more to us than physical and intellectual abilities and needs. 

The Pinafore dress

The first thing to say in this entry is when looking more at what a sissy gurl such as myself would of sooner worn at school the traditional pinafore dress would of been it.

At one time it would of applied to girls regardless of age but in state schools from the nineteen seventies onwards it was replaced  for seniors by the longer skirt and these days by female cut trousers too so it is seen more as a junior or combined primary school item.

It tended to hang around in private and many a prep school for a lot longer.

Most you see today are not the traditional squared boxed sort but usually scooped at the neck and often with zips rather than the traditional buttons on the shoulder.

Part of the reason it was popular is it is practical giving you good arm movement lacking the restrictions of fully armed garments and good circulation for hot sunny days while being easy to put on.

In view of the shortage of the traditional sort I had Albert Prendergast send me their black traditional one with the length reduced considerably from what seniors would of been expected to that nearer to the old junior version  fitting just above the knee  to show skin between it and my white long socks.

I did get the matching black belt and it has a side pocket.

It's a very good replacement for one I tried which I liked but was a bit small on me and it seems few are in my size from the regular schoolwear suppliers.

It also makes us look more junior  which is a plus in age regressive/dysphoric terms bringing into line mental image and the physical while having pockets which are rare on skirts.

As a jane girl you always wear gym knickers under your dress keeping you boy bits out of harms way and comfortable.
 

Love and understanding in littlespace

 

Reading the commentary box of a adult little comic recently showed some discussion around how as an adult and your caregiver is important.

When a person sets out in their little/middle age regressed to build not so much on being emotionally that person playing but in the return of those structures and relating patterns that more mirror those of child to Parent such as a "Caregiver/little" there can be a difference between your sense of needing and wanting it as that little and being ready emotionally for the 'rolling back' when it comes to having that final say and certain of facets such as what you may be doing or how you are to to present yourself in their company.

This is something that the Caregiver needs to be aware of, talking through respecting limits even if over time they may change not seeing this as a automatic disrespect issue between little and Caregiver and treated accordingly

This is something in a less structured matter of fact way is talked through  between those adults in my life who assume Caregiver roles and myself all the time so they know my limits and I am clear on what we have agreed on.

When in their company I am very much that little/middle and this is my relating style personified not least when there is any question as to my conduct to the as Caregiver(s) very much their 'child' to whom all this happens not just because it is the authentic me but because they love me so much that they enable that side to present and be acted on by them as that child.

As that 'child' they look after me with all those expectations and rules that I stand attentively  deferring to them as my adult authorities as they scold and spank me as they feel appropriate.

Sometimes it is hard for some to understand that actually that allowing me that space to be and present as little/middle me and this other side are connected but actually they are.

Their scolding and spanking me is a reflection their love for me, that they know I can do better and need to be corrected to move me on, the very same love that allows me to be little me.

My spanked bottom is an  a sign of that that we all should be glad of.

Classical Music on sacd

Today we're starting a new series of reviews following installing the Super Audio cd player and you might think I'd just have regular cds but as it happened I already had a few with that higher quality layer present.

When it comes to older pop and rock titles actually I have a good number because they were issued by companies that specialize in making the best possible sounding editions and many of theirs are of the sort that have a layer for super audio cd players and another for regular cd players so buying them is like buying those dual dvd and blu ray editions in that they allow you to move over from the original format to a better quality one at your convenience .

Until a few months back I had only a few classical music Super Audio cds, usually buying the High Definition Naxos downloads as they don't make sacd's instead and playing them over my stereo (on a high quality portable player) but I was keen to start a basic small collection on sacd  by favourite composers not least cos there just is something in holding a disc in your hand.

I do openly admit to enjoying classical music and had music appreciation classes at my boarding school and one composer I do like is Ravel.

This double sacd recorded in 1994 is quite valuable for having a wide selection of his works such as the Mother Goose Suite and Bolero on it, exceptionally well performed by the late Pierre Boulez and the Berlin Philharmonic in both stereo and also surround sound for those who have player that can output it. The reproduction is simply outstanding.

An enterprising company has lead the way releasing classical super audio cd's is Pentatone Records which as the name suggests are interested a lot in surround sound discs too as the sacd format often allows space for both stereo and multichannel versions.

They have been doing for a period reissues of recordings from the 1970's and early 1980's  from the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon catalogues in this form and it is fair to say I loved the recordings usually on Deutsche Grammophon made by the Boston Symphony Orchestra during that era often having the record or cassette versions.

 While I make no bones about my preferred version on cd of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring being the Claudio Abbado recording conducting the London Symphony Orchestra coupled with a good version of the Firebird suite, this recording from 1972 has an opulence that is lacking in that cd with fuller sounding transfer of the analogue tapes.

The rendition of the "King of the Stars" which is the second piece (I'm used to the French titles but am using English to aid accessibility) is exquisite in its choral moments sang by the Men's chorus of  the New England Conservatory choir.  It replicates the original lp but like most of their discs can be had for around £9 to £10 is good value for money.

In 1974, Seija Ozawa recorded a four lp set of the entire Ravel orchestral output, later issued as a three and then a budget two long playing cd set which doesn't quite equal the sound on record in 1993, but Pentatone have issued a new stereo/quadrophonic transfer of just over one and half lps worth of that original set sounding much more fuller and open that takes in Le tombeau de Couperin, Menuet antique and Valse nobels et sentimentale which runs to about 76 minutes.

As a fan of the originals-they were my introduction to Ravel as a child- these sound just fantastic in their new Super Audio cd form.

I also got a disc performed by the Boston Symphony Chamber Players of three Debussy's Sonata's which was the first Quadraphonic (four channel surround sound) recording Deutsche Grammophon made which remains a first class performance.

 I was very taken with this work by Berlioz around the age of 12 and 13 which my therapist discussed with me while I was under him at the time and so finding a really good version that matches a need for 'hifi' (wide difference between loud and soft sounds, good reproduction of low and high frequencies) and the ability on the part of the performers to summon up the darkness of the Witches Sabbath with its shrieking torment of the artist in death has been a life long challenge having gotten through many a version.

This recording from 1974 was a favourite of mine but the cd versions sounded muddy until Pentatone mastered this direct from the original tapes and managed to restore the very wide dynamic range and inner clarity that easily makes this the best overall bet with its rich atmospheric feel.

Whisper of the heart and a box!

This is a title in the Studio Ghibi Catalogue originally released in 1995 I had very briefly as I had a lot of pausing issues on the original 2006 dvd that proved most frustrating so unfortunately it had to go.

In essence this is a coming of age story around junior high student Shizuku Tsukishima, who is quite popular, has a real talent for writing which can be seen in her new lyrics for the John Denver song Take Me Home,Country Roads which is to be performed for her junior high graduation. She's also a very avid reader taking book upon book out of the library that is just switching from paper card booking systems to a computerized one. 

The change saddens her because she likes to see who took out the book previously and notices a boy called Seiji Amasawa has taken out many of those she reads.

Taking the train to the library one day she notices a ginger lone cat sitting next to her who leads her off onto an adventure introducing her to an antique shop who we later learn is owned by the boys grandfather and although things are awkward between them at first in time, it becomes obvious they are in love with each other and both have self doubts about their talents, Seija with his violin making and playing abilities and Shizuku with her writing whose preoccupation with appears to override her need to get good grades to go the a good high school to complete her education.

Spotting in the antique shop a cat statue of The Baron and its story, this inspires her to work very hard for hours per day writing a story that promises to show Seiji's grandfather first and this leads to her exploring her hopes and fears set out in her book Whisper Of The Heart.

That is really the main focus of this anime rather less than the romance between her and Seiji, looking at what it is she wishes to do in her professional life, and indeed the new lyrics to Take Me Home Country Road, is not only about the personal road upon she is set but expresses a nostalgia for the rapidly disappearing rural landscapes of Japan.

I really enjoyed watching this full length anime for its themes and where The Baron 's sequences inspired Studio Ghibi to make The Cat Returns in 2002.

If you were rather observant you may of noticed something on the top of the first picture that hasn't been on any of the anime entries here before.

 

Er yes two words "Blu Ray" cos after the end of the VHS era circa 2000, we had a dvd player where most of my anime titles were first bought on and I bought my last dvd player April 28th 2014 which was a Toshiba that played discs from anywhere in the world.

Since then a number of things happened such as our main tv got bigger (32 inches) and the market has stabilized somewhat with disc prices coming down so I acquired a Panasonic Blu Ray player.

Mine though has been ahem modified  so the dvd playback is multi-regional which as as well as just over half my dvd's are North American releases while the blu ray section is just Region B (GB and Ireland, Europe and Australasia)

 

It also has RCA sockets for audio output and even composite video which is seriously retro apart from HDMI, the modern does everything including handshake digital standard.

Its reproduction of the anime was extremely good with loads of definition and sharpness on the newer television.

Two different things

There is no great way of putting this but one thing around being the way you are as a adult little gurls is the way people confuse us with "sexual crossdressers" and indeed how those places utterly misrepresent our boyby sex but feminine gender often in really bad way.

We like our biological identity as males, we have no need or wish for any surgery to remove our boy parts cos actually we quite like having them around as much as we may not see ourselves as anything other than either a sissy gurl or gender fluid when it comes to specific gender.

We ARE boys in terms of sex  but we have a strong sense of the feminine in us that present day culture never mind that a good number of us were brought up in regards as being unbecoming to being a "real boy" and so ostracizes us when were are not verbally or physically abused.

We have no gender dysphoria at all as we accept our sissy gurl/jane girl ways.

I loved playing footy as a boy, hung out with a good number and was happy enough to do that but my problem was when I wanted to do stuff or dress more like girls did such as wearing a skirt or a dress or to play girls games.

The boys didn't want that and the girls would not let you join in at least in public so while you might play girls games with a sister or cousin in your home an that cos you just had to by order of The Grown Ups, that wasn't so in the playground or at play dates.

That ability to be and express my feminine side as that child was all I ever wanted and that's what this blog is all about.

I am Feminine little who accepts hur sissy gurl side.

Call me Sissy.

Billy Joel's Greatest Hits

The last time in the evergreen "teenbeat" series of posts I looked at the hugely respected singer-songwriter Billy Joel was in August Second, Twenty-fifteen with the specialist re-issue of his Streetlight Serenade album in part five of a series of posts around his music.

In September second Nineteen eighty-five, the first compilation of his many hits was issued on record, tape plus slightly later as it was CBS/Columbia on compact disc as they were late getting into cd and it was well conceived.

First off this it was planned as double lp and double play tape because it would of been hard to have fitted every single hit into a single album even though on the first issue they used mainly singles edits which was changed with the Nineteen ninety-eight remaster to album versions.

By this point the album was only available on tape possibly MiniDisc and cd and with these formats disc or tape side lengths are less of an issue than lp record sides.

They also had the sense to program it chronologically, so you saw how he developed  from Cold Spring Harbour to An Innocent Man lyrically and stylistically rounded it off with a series of special recordings just for the album.

 Over the last few years the specialist cd and record company Mobile Fidelity Sound Laboratory of Illinois, U.S.A., have been re-issuing his recordings from the original master tapes rather than copies using high quality equipment to get the very best sound of his best loved albums on record and also on Super Audio CD and after quite a delay from advertising their intentions to tackle this compilation finally it emerged late July Twenty-seventeen. 

Inside the slipcase the disc itself is sandwiched in a Mini lp gatefold sleeve that my plushies are reading!

Also in the slipcase comes a song book with all the words to featured songs in order of appearance on high quality paper which is a lovely touch and one that was unexpected by many of us who buy these discs.

The disc features the singles mix of Tell Her About It, You're Only Human (Second Wind),The Night Is Still Young issued as singles in nineteen eighty-five and a version with re-recorded sax of New York State Of Mind.

The remastering which is unique was done by Shawn R Britton and is exceptional for the depth and atmosphere he's managed to get from those recordings  making this version of the classic double album most worthwhile.

 
Technically this is a hybrid Super Audio cd (sacd) with a thin top layer for playing in super audio cd players like my new one for improved fidelity and a second layer for regular cd reproduction or copying to a portable music player and so is 99.9% compatible with all players.