K-on

I was very fortunate to get the this recently released DVD of this acclaimed series that had only been show in Japan in 2009 that I had watched via streaming.

K-On!'s story revolves around four Japanese high school girls who join their school's light music club to try to save it from being abolished. However, there are the only members of the club, and at first Yui Hirasawa has no experience of playing or reading music. Eventually, she learns how to be an excellent player of the guitar. The rest of the club helps her to buy a guitar, and they perform at the school festival. As well a cd of music from the series was issued to great sucess in Japan.

Main Characters:



Yui Hirasawa -Pictured above,A first year high school student, she plays a Les Gibson Heritage Cherry Sunburst electric guitar as well as being a vocalist for the group. Although when recruited she felt it was easy as she'd be playing the castanets but the group feels different! She is said to have perfect pitch but is known to forget lyrics in mid flow a symptom of her inability to concentrate on more than one thing at once!
Ritsu Tainaka: Drummer of the group and President of the Light Music club
Mio Akiyama: Shy left handed Bass Guitarist who while being a 'straight A's student can't handle macabre story telling. She is a friend of Ritsu.
Tsumugi Kotobuki: Keyboard player. a wealthy girl with a gentle and sweet personality she had been taking piano lessons from age 4 and won many piano contests.
Azusa Nakano: Guitarist. In same year and class as Ui, she is a self-proclaimed novice guitarist who has been playing the guitar since she was in the fourth grade. Her parents are working in a jazz band.Personality wise she's not comfortable with the socializing and cosplay aspects of the light music club.

Perfect!

This post wasn't planned - shock horror - but while looking at some stuff I saw this image and thought to myself "Wow! I really have to use it".

You see it's an idealized  one of the childhood I'd of loved to had  just stepping out into the world and what I love about is the costume with the circular skirt portion of the dress all  puffed out, the school like blue ribboned straw boater hat and that umbrella. The dress is a close match to that of one of my dolls too.If you're anything like me you'll just go all weak at the knees looking at it.

James Taylor

Way back in time in my early childhood there was guy I didn't know much about but to which I heard this record 'You've Got A Friend' which I think was the first 45 I ever bought myself and so begun a love affair with some of his singles.

Because it was the early 70's I had no albums by him and so many decades after the event, I'm building up a small collection of his albums for the first time on cd a number of which are from labels specializing in higher than average sound quality.

James was born in Boston, M.A. on March 12th 1948 moving to The South in his childhood, learning to Cello and the guitar by 1960.

In 1967 following episodes of depression he moved to London, England making contact with Peter Asher the A&R man of Apple records - the company founded by no less than The Beatles - and was signed on the strengths of his demonstration recordings. Whilst there he wrote Caroline on my mind and released an album James Taylor on Apple which was remastered in 2010.

In October 1969 He signed a new contract with Warner Brothers and with help from Songstress Carole King released the album Sweet Baby James in February 1970 with the hits single 'Fire and Rain'.

This album is held to be a masterpiece of folk rock winning many wards over the years.

In April1971 he issued Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon that featured the single by him I first heard with backing vocals by Joni Mitchell that went top ten even in England.My current copy  is the Audio Fidelity high quality version in April 2012 although I did have the stock European issue from the 1980's

The concept album One Man Dog was issued in November 1972 with the lead off single Don't let Me Be Lonely Tonight' but this only reached #18 on the US charts which was a sign the album wasn't selling well.

Much the same followed Walking Man issued June 1974 which only sold 300,000 copies in the States with the title track issued on 45 missing the hot 100. These first four Warner albums are out on Audio Fidelity as is Gorilla his 1975 album issued in 2013, however another label Mobile Fidelity (Mofi) of Chicago Ill. are tackling the later ones such as the acclaimed 'comeback' album JT from 1977 album, Flag and Dad Loves His Work from 1981.

An Education

I felt inspired after last nights chat to talk a little about about my education with all the usual cravats about internet postings when it comes to online security.
The first school I went to was in a Country district in a really old building Victorian no doubt set up when the powers that be decided we all needed a bit of an education  with formally separate girls and boys  doors that we had to line up by at the start of day, during recesses and depart through in the afternoons.
It was made from brick, had outdoor toilets and a big playground that we'd mark up for hopscotch plus a field for games.
Classrooms would no doubt shock some today and have others calling for their retention as they were locked very much in the era of the building, with one for each year group.
At the front of each classroom near a window stood a old big wooden desk where you teacher sat with a clear view of the entire class and half a view to the classroom door where the Head Teacher would look through from time to time which was a pretty powerful incentive to be good.
The rest of the room had shelves for reference type books for our year as we didn't have a proper school library then but the biggest difference compared with schools shortly after I left was with the seating arrangements.
The classroom had rows of separate wooden desks (like the picture above) with lids that lifted up to get your exercise books out, a compartment for your writing equipment and an inkwell. Yes really an inkwell cos in year 4 and above you were expected to write in cursive writing in ink, refilling your pen as you went along.
We also were taught written and spoken French from a very early age which is very useful.
I think ours were made from polished and varnished pine as were the chairs.
You had a fixed table position in alternating girl, boy fashion which I suppose was really to encourage the boys to pay attention but in my case lead to much whispering!
Anyone not paying attention would be called out and if you persisted then you'd be punished in class or sent to the Head Teacher returning with a red face and more than just hurt pride.
Although I had bullying issues there, I liked the school a lot not least for what seemed like endless games of rounders but I transferred to another school building  so I had to learn all about where everything was all over again!
This new school was well brand spanking new with bigger grounds and a library so I had to learn the Dewey classification system and how to book out books I wanted to read and it also had its own kitchen which my old school didn't have (they bought in meals to warm up and serve in a community hall instead).
The first major difference was we didn't have form classrooms, but area - they called them Home Bays - that we'd start out from moving to different parts of the building for science for instance and that this school was open plan. I think part of idea was to encourage to go do stuff for ourselves and earn the respect for being able to do it without as was the case at my first school being stood over all day.
They had these half hexagonal tables that we did work on that were supposed to help with group work but we just kept giggling between ourselves most of time, especially when like my friend and I we'd forgotten our PE kit so we were meant to be doing extra classwork with another teacher popping in to keep an eye on us!!!
The noise at times was problem so much so that everyone had to reminded to talk quietly and the younger ones got screens put in to keep their screaming out of our ears as we struggled with long division (and I still do)!
We did a lot of music, recorder groups, plus playing with triangles, Xylophones, drums, glockenspiels and so on as either performances or in all school year assemblies. The assemblies at my first school were much instructions, worship and public admonishment sessions all in one.
Usually in the late mornings our year teacher would do a storytime for us reading books like Emil and the Detectives aloud and we'd talk about the adventures as a group work.
It was a good school but I felt it lacked some structure that could lead some astray as much it was nice to feel trusted going about your independent learning.

Music from the past

Do you know something?

I had this craze for a pop group that was more than just a liking, it was a obsession at the time where I had to have, watch and generally speaking experience everything connected with them taking chunks of my time and dare I say it my allowance.

It also had a certain social cache helping me make friends as we exchange gossip, played their records and worked on our scrapbooks together during the day and in the Dorm.

Now the thing is I've still got those records the very ones I had back then when I had my very first stereo phonograph that also had a built in AM radio to hear the pop shows featuring singles chart countdowns and the new records played by the DJ's.

Although compared to my current stereo that phonograph was primitive and the record deck played the discs with a bit more playing force than you'd use today, those discs by the Bay City Rollers play extremely well which I suppose has something to do with the care I took of them back then.

I got today a new to me copy of original hit single from late 1973 called Saturday Night in a picture sleeve that was made in what was West Germany.

In North America a re-recorded version was issued in late 1975 and this became the no.1 hit  in the States in January 1976. 

The version I got didn't have Leslie on Vocals which the version on the UK Rollin' and North American self titled album did but the original vocalist Nobby Clarke together with it's UK b side Hey! C.B.

Here's the cover:

Here's the 1976 Annual from the UK I had back then that needless to say got read from cover to cover hundreds of times including at school.

Storytime pt.2

Well we all know about me and reading from the last entry being very much rooted around my inner core self so I don't need to go over that again but I have been reading another book by the same authoress as the last one.
Called Little Darlings, Jacqueline Wilson tells the story of two very different girls both struggling with what passes for family life in very different surroundings.
Destiny is very much down at heels living on the better part of a rough social housing estate with a mother in debt working in three part time jobs trying to makes meet.
Sunset is in some respects the spoilt well off girl living in gated world with assistants and security people who can have whatever she asks Daddy a vain aging rockstar for.
Mom is a young woman to whom Daddy has left a few others over the years but the fight a lot with Daddy running off.
Sunset hates the phony posh schoolkids she sees every day who are into just expressing themselves and longs for some structure in her childhood and an end to just being an appendage to a celebratory make believe life.
But these two girls have more in common than either of them thought as they are in fact sisters with Destiny being the offspring of a short lived relationship with dad Danny who denies her very existence to keep up the whole rock star happy families image!

What I like about it is the gritty well drawn picture of what is the reality for some, split families,  well drawn characters that reference contemporary pop culture (for good or ill) and the spirit that leads the girls into a friendship that bridges the divide.