365 days around the world of Joanne 2016 style

Usually around of now, I tend to look back at the year and forward to the upcoming year and to me chunks have appeared at times overshadowed by the deaths by many stars we grew up with of stage and screen that started with the death of David Bowie and ended with Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) who starred in the original Star Wars movie in Nineteen seventy-seven.
I know for a good number of us it has brought forward concerns about mortality-our own and that of others and of sort of legacy we might leave behind.
For me other people have always mattered so my focus has usually been more on leaving things for them better than they otherwise would be whither it's more an active step I take or just a matter of being around for them helping them work through some problem or other.
Cyberspace it has to be said has been a bit of a mixed experience for me, not that in getting on for nine years it hasn't been always appeared so with the pluses of Tumblr such as my BFF who I can now keep in really good touch with while sharing thoughts and ideas with each other, the many littles and middles I can share and reblog things with, it does has its negative sides such as conflicts around defining terms that are used then to define who can a friend and who cannot regardless of their posts and personal qualities.
And that's before groups start putting each others members on block lists that makes the playground of my school days sound almost grown up by comparison.
Eventually I found  a group who  felt comfortable with with rules that are fairly easy to follow so unless anything happens I'll stop with them in the new year.
The successor to Experience Project, Similar Worlds, is up and running with  some really great features but to be honest apart from feeling overrun at times with teens with a lack of any real 'common sense' and okay manners, I haven't used it much over than just a means of jotting down experiences, a bit like a dummy run for journal or proper blog entry.
In some ways I actually enjoyed more my experiences interacting on FA this last year with people be it on my journal or on others feeling more like a family to me enhanced for actually being with a few of them last year for having more depth although I'm very regressed usually on there. Anyway I can chat with Sammy easily from there!
That actually reminds me one thing I really want to do a bit more of is drawing with pencil and paper although with spacial distortion, dyspraxia and badly damaged hands through R.S.I. as I have been improving in the last few years and I'd like to do more art with my hands apart from my photography given it's an arts site.
Spending more time with people is something I enjoyed a lot last years especially as I'm getting better at dealing in real time with social situations, the "unwritten rules" and that  thanks to some guidance, feedback and reinforcement.  I do see more of the same perhaps with a  few different people this upcoming year.
I made a series of changes to my stereo over the year having had some *ahem* technical problems that have worked out extremely well for me, to the point I upgraded the stylus on the cartridge which brings lots more information from records I play which I bought a good number of this last year and some cds all of which were reviewed on here.
Music is both an art form I appreciate and a part of my age regression, taking me back not just in terms of specific era but also a gateway into little space  which is why it is blogged on here (and why the last bastion of a 'Big' blog was parked). Indeed I do have to remember on one site I am sharing space with grown ups, use groan up language and so on!
Following a series of changes in how my time was used I have been able to resume more reading which with my learning/developmental disabilities is more junior fiction than young adult so I got back in touch with some lovely people at a site devoted at a favourite author of mine and started to read more, reading with friends even at one site and talking about what we've read which is something I rather like.
I see myself doing quite a bit more reading not least with a few new books I had over Christmas  to read for pleasure writing about them on this blog which is something I'm getting much better at these days.
Here's to Twenty-seventeen!

Christmas Edition 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 messaging my Caregiver, BFF and 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's only available on download and we always had the Christmas Annual so getting that as a hardback with the stories of Gnasher, Dennis the Menace, 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.

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. I'll write a full review when I've read them .

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.

The Monday before Teh Day

After hugging each of  my dollies on Saturday, I am getting on with things connected with making Christmas happen to my family and friends so in lots of ways I'm winding down on the internet side of things because the real world needs come first.
What that breaks down to with this blog goes is after today there will be no more editions until after Christmas Day, which is a bank holiday over here then a pause until New Year because there are things that need to be done ready for New Years Day too.

To you, your families and close friends, Happy Christmas and I do wish you all the best for the New Year.
Until then, bye.
Hugs.

Thursday ramblings

Tomorrow I'll be in town just to get a few things in ready for Christmas as that will be the focus of my activities so the likes of FA, tumblr and even old school blogging will begin to drop off as in truth they are only possible due to spare time and I have less of it this time of year.
I see this blogs posts  dropping to one a week and I may take a break completely from one Tumblr and cut back on the other which to an extent I have been doing this week as apart from the time it takes, inter community bickering and accusations just takes its toll on me emotionally as paradoxically it does judging from those who do it too.
The time is better spent on putting cards  and presents in groups  to take out with me visiting friends and family lifting spirits and spreading goodwill.
Incidentally, thank yoo Jennifer for de card that arrived Tuesday.

Opal Plumstead

This book originally came out in Hardback in the fall of 2014 and concerns the life of one Opal Plumstead aged 14 who got a scholarship to attend school planning to go on to university when she was older.
Alas her plans are shattered upon her father being sent to prison and so unable to take up the scholarship and having to get a a job at the Fairy Glen sweet factory to keep her family as was often the case in 1913. To start with she struggles with getting on the staff who think she's "stuck up" and snobby unlike them but she takes a shine to Mrs Roberts, the business owner introducing her to the Suffragette movement.
She also meets Morgan, the son and heir to the business who she feels she finally has a soul mate in but with war on the horizon bringing many forced changes it can only change Opal's life forever.
As a piece of historical fiction it helps to bring to life the lives and events of that whole era that lead to WW1 and in  its aftermath the widespread social  changes of Great Britain.

Winter Time

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.
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.

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 frontspiece 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, ophaned, 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 intregue 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.

The nom time of the year

Yes it's getting to that time of the year and guess what? I didn't have to get mine this year because Mommy bought it me!

 With the help of the Secret Life of Pets, I can count down the days toward Christmas while noming on small squares of milk chocolate.
Don't ask what Marmalade, the original "fat cat" may make of it!
In other news, our community Christmas Tree is up, ready for it's inaugural switching on and carol singing.

Chilling little style V - A change of colour and intergration

Sometimes it can seem with this life you can easily end up a load of clothes that don't slot into the non-littles world but with a bit of care you can find ways around of this.
First off and subject to some delays with the Royal Mail is a maroon sweatshirt with a rounded top which was available from a well know ebay school wear supplier even in 'adult' sizes although it is school wear and is clearly  branded on the tab inside as such.
It can easily be worn with black or beige pants or a slightly more adult skirt outside of being a part of uniform with no one being the wiser.

One reason for buying was I have a few sweatshirts in need of replacement and I do wish to merge my wardrobe.

This wine coloured pleated skirt has a similar story being also from a school wear supplier but isn't so far removed from what you may wear in some working environments being supplied by work wear companies for offices except where girls may of worn knee length socks, adults generally would wear hose (Brit speak: Tights) usually with plain blouse.
Putting the two together and adding the long socks either white or grey makes for a school/college uniform for when I'm at home or away with friends.

Sanriotown.com R.I.P?

It was with some shock to find on Friday last an activity that had been a part of my internet life for a long time just wasn't available outside of the other business talked about elsewhere and still isn't available as I type this.

For almost as long as this blog has been going, Sanriotown.com was the first port of call not just for The Game but also things such as the busy forum where by design discussions were never 18+ which suited me as most adult conversations go over my head and don't really fit in my life, offered wallpaper and screen-savers.
They also has something I just adored, a oh so kawaii email with customization of the domains for whatever sanriotown character you liked  which for me meant I had a me @hellokitty.com email address that linked directly to things such as ecards you could people at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas plus  cute stamps that you could apply to your emails too just as if they were actually letters sent between friends.
 On Friday I couldn't access the email account and found it was due to the Security Certificate being out of date but a week on it hasn't been changed. Many people had written on the forum about this, had even tried to email from other accounts the sites Service people only to get a auto responder and even the official twitter wasn't being replied to.
This morning in a email I accessed minutes ago they're saying it's due to a combination of system and server upgrades plus other other technical issues adding they don't have a estimated time for the work to be complete.
Looking around the signing up button was missing and people had been complaining you couldn't download the Game  from the site even but only from a independent download site that to me suggested this obviously was the last version developed in 2012.
I also noticed the number of the other features had been really trimmed back or missing.
All this was on top of last Decembers much publicized hacking of the sites database which impacted all of us.
The overall impression is that sanriotown.com and Hello Kitty Online is for all intents and purposes dead joining other sites we used such as experience project, friends reunited, beststuff and the GeoCities blogging platform in the internet graveyard.
  

Rolling Stones on CD

This really is a kind of a follow on from the Rolling Stones in Mono cd entry from October where I talk a little about some of the other recordings on cd by them I have.
I'll ignore anything that is duplicated with that box set as they are off the shelf and in a storage box and start by saying the first main set of  "Decca era"cds by them I bought were the 2002 sacd playable on regular players to ones which came in a digi-pak packaging.

12x5 -six of the 12 songs here are in stereo as they were only mixed to stereo.
Rolling Stones, Now - Heart of Stone  and two others in stereo
December's Children - Look What You've Done in stereo

Between The Buttons (UK) - whole UK version of the album in stereo. The original cd version was US version missing two tracks.
Flowers - whole album in stereo
Beggars Banquet - whole album in stereo
Hot Rocks - has a number of singles in stereo including Paint It, Black
More Hot Rocks - I Just Can't Be Satisfied and Child Of The Moon in stereo
The London Years - complete UK/US mainly mono  singles set with extensive notes.
The original European cd series from the 1980's wasn't one I collected in full but a good number remain preferable or tie in different areas compared to the 2002's.

Aftermath - The whole album in wide stereo with no overuse of noise suppression issued in 1985
Flowers - Has the 'correct' full stereo Ruby Tuesday mix and sounds more open.
Their Satanic Majesties Request - Whole album in stereo
Let It Bleed - Whole album in stereo.Trades extreme low notes of the 2002 for openness
Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out - a overdubbed by enjoyable set of concerts from New York's Madison Square Gardens in late November 1969.

Rolled Gold Plus:

This was a short-lived November 2007 expanded  two cd reissue of the groundbreaking 1975 double lp presenting in near complete chronological order hit sides of their 45's plus notable album tracks that is more satisfying as a listen than the Hot Rocks sets. The album art is a mess, the sleeve notes are very centred on the 90's but this is a extremely intelligently compiled compilation.

The Rolling Stones Records era (1971 - to date)
Unlike the Decca era these recordings are owned by the Rolling Stones themselves who lease it to labels over fixed terms and on cd this has covered Columbia/CBS (1986-1992), Virgin (1994-2007) and currently Polydor/UMG (2009 onward).
In general I find the more open sound and better contrast between sound on the Columbia discs preferable to either the Virgins and many feel the 2009/10 issue are too constantly loud.
Sticky Fingers
Exile On Main Street
Hot Stuff
Love You Live -  double album of Concerts recorded in Paris 1976/7 and Toronto 1976.

The cd used a double cd try of twice the thickness of a single which was normal until the mid 1990's.
Some Girls - with altered single tone album cover showing models compared to first issue colour cuts withdrawn after complaints from depicted persons.

Emotional Rescue
Tattoo You
Rewind - 1984 compilation reissued in 1987 covering hits from 1971-1984 issued to coincide with video anthology of the same title. This has a slightly different track list compared to the 1984 UK lp/tape.
Steel Wheels
While not perfect I feel these two of the 1994 Virgin remastered series have greater clarity and more 'snap'.
Goats Head Soup
It's Only Rock and Roll
Jump Start - 1993 Virgin compilation covering 1971 thru 1989.
Made In The Shade - 1975 ten track compilation from the first four 70's albums.
Sucking In The 70's -1981 compilation with remixes and unissued versions
Way back in the earliest days of cd, EMI had the European license and issued two titles before that changed in the mid 80's.
Undercover - 1985 made in Japan issue of the 1983 studio album.

Post 700

This blog seems very much to have been going for an eternity from the earliest days of literally grabbing all the material on a really old computer, typing at home and while for once we had some spare time at work over a few weeks, the works one too(!!!) which was a bit quicker.
Rather like me, it's been evolving over all that time as I began to try to understand what  made me, well me, how the more child-like side slotted in with the bits that deal with the adult world because with me this is less playing a role I can just click my fingers and be out of so much that it comes out of me from The Child Within.
It's seen me interact initially with people online in various forums and sometimes going through forums as I realized they were not really for me to getting to know people face to face, spending time with them for several days at a time.
In that time with support I have been working on some of my difficulties such as Math and English finding time to study, reading either by myself or  sometimes a shared book learning to discuss it with others.
As well, this time has seen me become more confident as this adult little/middle girl as I started to get that whole life working better with additional support and structures routed very much in meeting the child-like needs I have properly so I'm well grounded, learning to do more and be more responsible.
I have been tidying up this blog a little, correcting odd mistakes, changing the odd image while preparing a couple of new entries ready for the next hundred  editions.
At the more techy side only 49% of you use Windows with Chrome followed by Firefox being your preferred browsers showing just how far we've moved from the early days of blogging.
Here's to the enduring success of The World of Joanne_chan.

Fall 2016

Slowly waking up here after the overnight rain.
This time of the year give or take a few weeks is one of my personal favourites not least for the rich colours that vary by the hours, something living here I really appreciate being able to literally just stroll on over to the woods and fields.

Around of this time of year  I often see the local grey squirrels leaping across the trees branch by branch carefully balancing , going across the road and into our gardens burying their Winter store.
I find it really keeps my spirits up.

Malory Towers revisited

After all the excitement of last week and writing up all the adventures on Monday 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 child 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 hard back 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.
Original entry: Malory Towers

GHS Halloween and Bonfire Party 2016

Introduction
If anyone wondered where I might of been  over the last few days it was because I was away with friends over a three day period and it is usual for me to be off line during the period so  get the break away from the cyber world and deal exclusively with the real one.
After arriving and changing into my tunic, as it was the start of the weekend I had a math lesson covering measurement using imperial measurement which wasn't something I had when I went to school and in a country that commonly uses them being brought up on Metric, I am confused by them so we covered inches and and yards, pounds, ounces, stones and hundred weights. I also did some multiplication and division.I wasn't as attentive as might of been which was picked up upon!

I also did some cake making  too, which is a bit of first for me even if  it was a ready bought cake mix, cracking open and stirring  the egg in,ladling the egged mixture in the cases before putting in the oven for fifteen minutes. Miracle of miracles they actually rose!!!
 I made the icing although some landed where it shouldn't like on  the grown up in charge of me and then  spooned it onto the risen cakes before applying  the decorative stickers made from icing.
We were going to have cottage pie for tea and as it's 2016 I was to help out so I helped chop onions (that made me cry), potatoes for mashing ,dice carrots and cabbage while the grown up sealed the mince beef adding the onions before taking that adding to the carrots and cabbage with gravy  to cook putting the now mashed potatoes on top. The grown up put it in the oven so it all cooked.
It tasted really well and was the first time I had something I made a substantial contribution toward making.
On the Saturday morning, I got up, wished up any outstanding dishes and fixed some breakfast before setting down at the desk to do some more Frozen colouring while we waited for the others to arrive. I also showed them my English study guide I work with.
Upon their arrival we had home beefburgers made from local ingredients and served in tasty white bread buns.
Thankfully the weather held up well so were able to hold our Willy Wonka themed treasure hunt with clues from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book and movies outside in a big garden looking for clues and finding lots and lots of Wonka Bars! I won three of them!
By that point we went inside so while the bonfire people were talking, four of us including my best friend on an other site made Pumpkin Lanterns from the pumpkins she and an other had provided together with some child-safe tools.
Making one is a bit messy, which may be a part of why we like it  and this is the one I made.

Having finished them off, the Tea Lights were put in them and taken outside.
As well, connected with the Willly Wonka theme we had kits to make our own chocolate although you did need grown up help with melting the chocolate and putting it into the mould so I made this bunny rabbit shaped one from milk chocolate. Sammy made a chocolate Shark.

We also played with play-doh making things and cutting out shapes which was fun.
After this we went outdoors having put coats and warmer attire on to observe at a safe distance our bonfire that had been made in the late afternoon laughing as it roared like a lion with an orangey glow.
After that we moved a bit further back as our fireworks we safely lit by Andi which included Catherine Wheels and rockets oohing and awwing as they lit up the night sky in brilliant colours and shapes.
After all that excitement we had a freestyle buffet to which everybody had contributed something including my cakes with some of us in our jim-jams as it was a little late eating in the front room with the coal fire going. Paul had found some  Ham in beer which was intriguing as although I had heard of it -it's Belgium- I've never tasted before and Andi's blancmange based trifle which was really lovely
We were all a bit late getting up with all the excitement of the previous day, stretching our backs and flexing the paws as we got a light breakfast. I had on my green pleated school skirt which Jennifer approved of.
We went for a bit of a walk the local canal observing the wildlife and the spectacular colours of the Fall and even a narrow boat in a flight of locks until we came to a public house that most over here does do food which was where we going to have lunch together before we left.
The one thing that struck me upon be escorted to the tables we'd booked was the relatively high number of reservations which suggested an air of confidence among locals and that passing trade while important wasn't their main thing.
After getting a class of orange, I ordered a turkey roast with trimmings with the vegetables coming separately to be shared between us  that was well cooked but not dry which matters not least with the turkey itself and the stuffing. For a desert I opted for the fudge cake which was a really large portion served with a drizzled sauce and ice cream which was very yummy.

We made our way back and it wasn't long before a group of us needed to get to the local rail station to take the train home so Andi kindly drove us there before she made her way back being more local.
I only had a short wait for the London Midland service to Liverpool that calls at Cheshire's biggest rail station to come on just slightly late on the platform (2b  not 2 3/4qtrs!) making my way into the disabled carriage area. I arrived at Crewe and with some assistance from Virgin station staff dealing with the ticket barrier went out of the concourse to the taxi rank where I got a cab back home.

To conclude this bit of a report it was interesting weekend  learning new things even if I do need supervision with them and an enjoyable one for being with friends that all contributed *something* to having fun together well away from the groan up world. I'd like to thank Andi for safely lightening the fireworks that were so much fun to watch which is important in addition taking three of us back home.

Introducing Sara

I don't know about you, but I find nature quite fascinating although it requires a certain amount of patience to spot certain creatures and then to make out exactly what they are doing which makes living very close to a wood ideal.

Well she wasn't quite one of them,eh? That said her nemesis often can be spotted around our garden dining out on slugs and left over cat meat although my last cat used to try batting them as if was a game of baseball!
This plushies is a Kimbearley's Originals being numbered  and was distributed by A&A Plush Inc of California and is called "Sara-Ann" that I've had for a while and usually lives to my compact discs on a shelf.

In another world

This could of been me so easily in actual childhood, sat in class with textbook open upon the wooden desk staring into space, daydreaming which it had to be said wasn't something your teacher way back then was very partial too and most still aren't.
Actually as much is it seen settings such as school as a attention or discipline issue, a lot of research has shown that's it not time wasted so much as time and skills at problem solving and using your imagination that can benefit people.
Of course we can all think of just dreaming up an imaginary world which for some may well be preferable to their only too real one, but that imagination can be channelled into drawing and writing fiction.
Perhaps that's why it doesn't surprise me a good number of those writers and artists tended to fall foul of the school authorities. 

More G.O * fiction

I've been busy removing the modern re-written Famous Five and Secret Seven editions ready to go to a charity as they're in good condition but the text is so altered the original art is out of sync with the altered text!
With the Secret Seven's so far I have the first ten plus the three that came after it so in time they'll all be in hard back original texts.

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.
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.

The Secret Seven and the missing words

Seeing my Caregiver is away but otherwise contactable this week  I really better be good  and get on with things here.
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.
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.

Original entry:
Original 2012 Secret Seven entry

Teen Beat XXV - The Rolling Stones in Mono

First off in this strange age of social media I've gained an extra follower on the blog itself so thank you as I launch the twenty-fifth edition of "Teenbeat".
Many years ago when I had an active 'Big' blog 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 (for us North Americans), 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 kinda 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 kinda 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.

My Adventures Part Two by Marmalade

I had quite an adventure on Thursday that I'd like to tell you all about.
You see the day had began rather early on when that Grumpy came down at just before Six in the morning to let me out cos I sleep in the front room at night with my mice and Joanne's stuffies.
I had some beef in jelly for breakfast with a bit of water before I was let out for the Tom Cat Clubs morning session through the front door.
I started on my way turning left along the sidewalk as I was being observed but then they went back to bed.
I came back about a quarter past six that night with everybody saying "Where have you been?" as I climbed into the window frame looking rather sheepishly at Joanne and everyone else just as they were about to have their tea.
I somehow got stuck in house like theirs but guess what? It wasn't and with the turn of a key that was it, unable to get out and worse still missing out on the ham and chicken until the house people came and opened the door. I was really scared!!!
I rush for it being dead hungry like and that's where I came on Joanne's window
Joanne had hobbled about our estate looking for me but being inside a house there was no way she'd ever of found me as did the others.
I'm glad to be back home now.

What is a Girl?

I noticed more by accident the other week, something I talked about several years back was being discussed at a site with links back here so thought I'd write something about about it here a few years on.
Being a girl is...being how her feels in you, as it comes out of your own feelings as expressed by you in dress, interests and play.
In so far as being an adult little girl goes, it doesn't matter if you're in a relationship or not, if you have a sexual side in your life or the extent to which you are able to let this side of your life out at home or around your local area.
Being either transgendered or gender fluid/variant and of any and no sexuality does not make a  difference  to being and your ability to let the adult little girl you feel out so long as ...you feel Her in you.
There is no one model you have to confirm to.
You may prefer to dress more like a younger child or 'Baby' , a young child which may be dresses, dungerees or shorts or more Middlish looking Tween or young teen.
You might do more party or school type attire if that's you (I like sitting behind a desk in school attire doing exercises) depending on circumstances such as the ability to spend time with a few others.
You may have a Caregiver in your life.
It really doesn't matter as little girl you is...You.
Some people do find their younger side may have a different gender presentation to their "Big" which may seem odd (and kinda threw me a few years back to be honest) but actually it's okay.
If that's you then please come presenting as that  Little Girl for the period - a little consistency during play helps - bring something with you and you know we'll share teddies, dollies and play even if your "Big" presents as male.
Those of us who aren't super frilly won't kill you if your presentation  goes out that way.
The only thing we aren't so keen on is people who take being a female, especially a little girl and project an overriding sexual side to it (We appreciate Adults often have a sexual side but that stay's in the bedroom and never at little girl playtime!).
It was my experiences elsewhere with "sissies" who tended to push a very full on sexual side linking femininity with subservience, ritual humiliation, who also by clearly linking being a girl as an insult, insulted our sense of being,  co-opting part of our identity for that whole "humiliated as a girl" thing rather than them being a girl if frankly they rather liked it even in short doses or enjoying their maleness if that was them, that troubled me.

The return of the original Famous Five

This edition, composed on the JoBook is part of a restoration theme I touched on on Friday being linked 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.

Links:
Famous Five 21 book set (Joanne is reading for pleasure)

Teenbeat XXIIII - Elton 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 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.

Probably his best album overall is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and this is my 1976 Japanese reissue which has the same sort of tri-fold sleeve as the UK original, inserts and is in immaculate condition.

Previous posts:
Rocket Man Part One
Rocket Man Part Two

Socializing and behaviour

Sometimes where you're thinking about how in any given situation we react around each other whither or not it's at home, at work or even say online in a forum it's as well to remember contrary what is often asserted, not everybody involved is in state of permanent fully realized maturity.
While to me and a good number of my closest friends we know we are not and fully see the child within come out in good ways and sometimes not so good ways such as getting stroppy or otherwise appearing rude because as littles this is what we know it what we also see is others who may not identify as we do but exhibiting similar behaviour.
Sometimes it helps if you visualize in such situation say men who might may appear to be so disgusted by the notion of being swept away by emotions as boys in their short pants they feel the need to act up to push away your emotionally driven drama seeing it as a weakness rather than engaging with it working through it to a resolution.
They're repelling something they can't cope with and that to them threatens their rumbustious sense of being, bringing to the surface their 'must hide' insecurities.
It isn't just men who may act like that so might anxious and insecure women and that can aid us in understanding them.
I think when you do see that, it can lead you to toward having a more tolerant view of obnoxious behaviour because we can now see they are still growing and developing feeling able to let more as much as we and they need to work on them.
Sometimes it appears to me, that's the problem, we see people as being "mature" we impose standards on them that they are bound to fail at when they like us are a work in progress in need of appropriate guidance and correction.

JoBook

With quite a bit of activity since Friday, you may of wondered what might  of been going on here but on Friday I noted there seemed to be a flash sale on at Amazon and something got me interested
I had been talking about about technology in a less point scoring way with my BFF who uses her smartphone a lot and well as most of you know I don't use one them having a regular long lasting cellphone and a portable music player for sound, preferring to be switched off when I'm out.
I had seen and have sometimes contemplated owning a tablet but aren't very co-ordinated so swiping might be an issue and I prefer a keyboard as much as just being able to turn it on and do something appeals.
There have been a few attempts to mix small form computers with a  keyboard from  Netbooks around 2008 to about 2011, optional keyboards for tablets to so called 2 in 1 'transformer' tablets with snap off detachable keyboards.

This was on offer for five blue notes and free shipping.
It is what is called a Chromebook which in a lot of ways are a cross between the functions of a Tablet but with a keyboard and thanks to working remotely by the internet can do things like basic editing of pictures, handle documents and emails as well as use internet sites such as Facebook.
The thing they don't do is play massive games, use the iTunes store or copy music from cd but to be honest most of us use our computers through browsers 90% of the time.
You do things like writing documents using apps just like a tablet or smart phone but you get a bigger screen which is more suited to watching say a movie online.
This happens because it uses a form of Linux running through the Chrome browser to control its functions and that runs very quickly  on a less powerful processor, making the battery last around 14 hours maximum and not get too hot to touch.
This Lenovo N22 is really intended for Junior and Junior high schoolers used often in education which kind of clinched it for because it is simple to use and robust matching my needs so you could say it's the perfect JoBook.
The screen is a unspectacular 1366 x 768 but common on small laptops being an improvement on the 1080 x 600 of my older notebook which helps using most site layouts showing more without using the cursor which has a lovely bold black pointer.
There wasn't much to do upon opening it beyond confirming it had a UK layout keyboard and that I speak English, you just log onto your network (and the Wifi is really fast) and enter you Google Account which if you've use things like GMail, Blogger and GooglePlus you'll have anyway and you're away.
I manually imported my bookmarks from Pale Moon to Chrome (and you only can use Chrome as a browser on it).
It has 2 USB 3.0 sockets, a HDMI connector  for a monitor, a headphone jack and SD Card holder because as supplied it only has 32gb but you can add up to 64gb and then  there's cloud storage too.
Google Chrome looks after updating itself for you without the seven hundredth update keeping you up all night and shockingly can be used after 10 seconds and switches off after about 3 seconds which makes it ideal for checking your emails or social media accounts.
For what I want it for, it's ideal.

Cleaning time

Funny kind of a day yesterday with lots of showers  and intermittent sun so I didn't get outdoors which wasn't my idea of fun at all but there was something I decided to do outside of a bit of colouring.
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!