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 very similar to Miss Green's.

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.

August bank holiday weekend edition

This weekend over here is what is August Bank Holiday, traditionally the week or two before you returned to school where people may spend a day or so at the seaside or be on a late summer vacation taking in fresh air and sun.

So hardly any surprise  my thoughts are elsewhere as type todays extra post, the second but last of the month where I talked about being away, and what I and this blog is about  taking in the odd interest.
I am reading another book in a series I bought earlier on the year to which I'll post some thoughts on later I think as children's literature especially Girls Own plays a part within my regression and so is on this blog.
There have been continuing developments on and around Tumblr that I do wish to address of which the first is my number of followers has increased considerably across this period which was hardly solicited and is considerably  more than the period around last year where I was around one community when much of the current parting of the ways in age regression started.
While I take no satisfaction from it, I think the fact I have been able not only to equal but exceed what it was at that point shows the way in which both I age regress and am respectful of other peoples limits within theirs has a respect that transcends labels and what certain communities would have you believe.
It is less about the label, it's really more about your own standards and respect for the boundaries  of other individuals who share in age regression although I am grateful for the opportunity given by my community for the opportunity to make a fresh start based on principles that both match and also respect mine.
Unfortunately one community on the other side of Tumblr Age Regression (the Age Regression League) have decided any individual who doesn't belong to a community cannot interact with its members. Yes really Teenietots really have done it, not only saying some community's cannot which whatever I may think of their basis I do respect if it troubles them, but actually say any individual who isn't in a community automatically cannot either even though one reason some people prefer this is to avoid the very discourse between communities!
To me that seems very very mean. 
 

Teenbeat XXVII-The return of the Piano Man

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.

Previous posts:
Part one - The Piano Man and Turnstiles
Part two - 52nd Street, Glass Houses and The Nylon Curtain 
Part three - An Innocent Man 
Part four - Songs In The Attic 
Part five - Streetlight Serenade

Upgrading my stereo

It's been a while since I posted anything major  around how I enjoy one of my big interests, music, since the last addition was replacing the Turntable a couple of years back to improve the sound of my records and getting a quite remarkable amplifier to take that sound loud enough to fill the room when driving my loud speakers.
It may seen an odd topic to post on a middles blog but as music and what I have heard it from has been an interest from around the age of nine getting involved across actual childhood in building up stereo systems it's a valid part of age regressed life for me.
I have three main sources of recorded music, records which was what I grew up with, compact discs that after a brief period with pre-recorded cassettes I moved to in the mid 1980's and downloads increasingly lossless and so-called high definition better than cd ones at that.
The last cd player was a 1994 model by Rotel which was a high quality model bought as a stop gap when it's predecessor had a sudden death in April of 2013 but I had been hankering for something better for a while and I spotted this reconditioned and warranted that appealed.
Enter the Marantz SA 7003 

It's a compact disc player with a difference: it plays the physical form of high definition recordings known as Super Audio Compact Discs (sacd) of which I had a good number as mine had a layer for regular cd players and the super audio cd layer that I have bought over the years for the excellence of their regular cd layer sound.
The main benefit of such recordings isn't that the highest notes are more extended although they can be, it's that because the use more smaller samples of analogue sound when it reassembles it it is that much more accurate and smoother.
 

It has a few sockets on the back you need to wire up and being a very quality piece of equipment these are gold plated having the line outputs to couple to your amplifier, digital outputs for either digital recorders or external conversion of its digits to sound and a twin pin IEC ("kettle") socket for the mains lead.
That was fun as one wasn't included and  didn't have a spare at hand, so being only familiar with 'figure of eight' and three pin IEC ones I wasn't sure I needed to order a special lead up but as it happens you can use a three pin lead on a device with the IEC socket in two pin form.

One big improvement on many players is the draw that holds the disc is not floppy plastic like some cheap computer dvd drive but is solid and is designed to reduce vibration when it spins the disc. The case is also well made with plenty of metal.
The internal electrics use good quality components Cirrus digital to analogue convertors and high quality modules for taking the sound and sending that through the outputs. 
Originally this player had a suggested retail price of just over £600 being seen as a middle market model within Marantz's range offering something from the more expensive range for those who could afford something better than a basic regular player.
Having had this  for a few days on both super audio cd and regular discs the improvements in disc transport and conversion of those digits to sound is certainly amongst the best I've ever heard, sounding more life-like.

Playing the game at Jo's

Recently when I posted my last entry I kind of noticed two new followers, something that doesn't happen so often so welcome to one of the longest running active middle/littles blogs on the interwebs.
The focus on the life lived and one in your own way you can make for yourself as that person is one of things that makes this blog what it is although naturally this blog is very much middle/little girl centred.
In other words it's not a fantasy, the blog of one who may dream of a life but to whom it always remains so but is grounded in reality.
Thus it's not just the things I like to play with such as my dollies nor is about just what I wear or would wish to but it includes the very things that were a part of it so I may mention events, events that did form a part of currency of actual childhood at that time such as changes of Leaders and Monarchs, major events that we all watch and talk about.
Those things were and are still a part of the glue to holds us together that we have feelings we share just as much as we did when we played games or otherwise interacted with one another.
No, the thing that's not here is stuff for Big People such as political discourse, sexual content, violence (unless it affected children) and so on.
On a typical schoolday, we often talked about the former like if some leader had changed or about sports personalities as we played sports although like with dancing  most of mine were disability sports and wheelchair ones at that  too so it's hardly surprising that today in my age regressed life that when playing games like at the Sports Day picture at the top of this entry I'd do that but leave the other stuff at the door and this blog is the same.
For me, age regression is just about being me and when I sit typing this that's where each and every entry is coming from.

Summer Littles Camp 2017

 (Picture credits: UK Forestry Commission)

As mentioned on last Monday's blog, I was away for six days on what is called a 'littles' camp although I'm more a middle and it had more of a mainly  female flavour although little and middles boys aren't stopped from attending.
Put simply they are get togethers of littles and middles plus caregivers/partners where we enjoy doing more child-like age regressed things together.
For me attending requires travelling to one of our groups members setting out on the Friday while one bus was one time, the connecting service to our rail station went AWL so I got drenched in the rain for a half hour and then needed to use my cellphone on the bus to let the person I know I'd be on the next train down which as ever is a London Midland service.
The train only takes just over a half hour with two stops before I met with them as finished off some shopping while it rained making our way to the parking lot and driving down to their spacious house.
Wearing my red sweater and green pleated skirt I did some colouring until it was time to eat for which we had had pork chops, boiled cabbage and mashed potatoes with a glass of ginger beer watching some television before getting to bed ready for Saturdays drive down.
On the Saturday we set off around ten having had cereals and tea with myself in my black pinafore dress with its "Junior Prefect" badge affixed, red and white striped tie and grey socks sat in the front passenger seat as we navigated around Dudley and Oldbury stopping at zebra crossings for people crossing the road. This was necessary due to extensive work on the road network around Birmingham that weekend before heading toward St Neots and Cambridge making quick route alterations to avoid delays so we arrived at the large property in East Anglia for two in the afternoon ready for the fun and games meeting the two people who did the booking.
Open opening the door, a series of big paw prints seemed to around the door as the theme of the event was the Gruffalo stories by Julia Donaldson and apart from unpacking our stuff with help, I helped with setting up the chalkboard where the program would be put.
I fixed myself a cup of tea, ate a oatmeal bar and got on with a bit of colouring between meeting and greeting the other people as they arrived and taking some pictures.
Most of the group upon arrival ordered and collected various foods from a well regarded Indian takeaway to eat for an evening meal but the person who took and who looks after me had decided to make something ourselves.
Yes that was a plural cos it Twenty-seventeen and actually I'm expected to do things I am capable of so I peeled the potatoes and fetched the pans, filling them.
There was a mysterious gift that I believe was from a relative newcomer that was a small gruffalo backpack outside so thanks for that.
Soon enough Saturday moved around to Sunday where I did help a lot setting up for breakfast before the morning's activities began which was Arts and Craft where I made a gruffalo themed place mat in the form of a Fox back by card for extra rigidility with my name on it and did some gruffalo themed colouring although felt crafts were an option.
Miss Green presented a most agreeable selection of salad based Black Country fayre to which having lived here in the North-west Midlands for a good while I was most familiar with complete with beef dripping cooked British Chips for our midday meal.
The afternoon was a traditional British school style sports day for which I was in my yellow vest top, green PE skirt and white socks.
I took part in the bean-bag relay, rockets for softies and the sack race which was very much the final event for me as fell hard to the ground impacting the lower third of back  needing help to get up and being shaken up with it apart from suffering bad back pain with bruising.
There was archery and few other events but I was pretty much out of it by that point with people especially Caroline keeping an eye on me and also it meant I needed to rest so she and Kelly set the table for the evening meal which was my 'chore' so this is a good a point as any to thank them specifically and everyone else for their concern for my welfare.
Curly made a scrumptious beef stew with dumplings (potatoes were an option too but  I passed on that feeling off) and a meringue with a fruit topping which was very enjoyable.
Jillian laid on in the evening a general knowledge quiz which was entertaining and enjoyable too that Karla and Caroline won.
Miss Green concluded the evening by reading in the easy for some of us to follow black country accent the first Gruffalo story.

Upon Monday morning after breakfast we had some more arts and crafts so I opted to draw a picture of a friendly monster rabbit, make a Jack o' lantern and colour a picture although others did more crafts stuff and we all submitted our monster based pictures into a competition with Alice winning first  prizing and second and third respectively going to Daisy and Sammy.
Karla and Caroline  had put together a amazing gruffalo themed lunch with table settings to match with sandwich rolls, sausage rolls , pork pies, chicken legs and much salad. To top it they even made gruffalo themed cupcakes. Mouthwatering!
As it was going to soon Sally, Kelly and Suzy's birthdays signed cards were presented and birthday cakes bought to share.
After a period to let all that wonderful food go down, in the afternoon the Gruffalo Games started with a gruffalo version of the British childhood game British Bulldog, a gruffalo item hunt, placing the wart on the gruffalo competition and a couple of rounds of pass the parcel which I did win a prize in and from a lucky draw of prizes I got the Gruffalo dvd.
A number of us got balloons that made a loud squeal when having been blown up the air was released which resulted in a few of us definitely acting like kids.
Our  evening meal was a Gruffalo BBQ where hamburgers, hots dogs, marinated spicy chicken cheeses and the like were on offer and the meats cooked on an actual bbq before being kept in an oven while everything was finished and as the weather was very good , we had this outdoors.
Tuesday morning was a more chilled time where a number of us went outside and played croquet, took photographs as it was quite sunny plus seeing Andi had a stash of Bubble Wands went around running with trails of bubbles following us with Sammy and  I chasing around each other with them in a most child-like way.

Later on Curly put on a dress up session were we could put on different costumes, and maybe some face paint and just pretend to be some character or other which I'm sure many of us recall doing during our actual childhoods.
Lunch was ably provided by Becky who did spicy chicken fajitas with a salad but Miss Green and myself made Oxtail soup as that was more us before resting a short while.
The highlight of the afternoon was the gruffalo themed Treasure Hunt  that was held mainly outdoors by Alice although we did had come come in due to a brief shower, something much forecast for entire time but lucky didn't really materialize. This involved looking for clues that led to others. Afterward we had Owl Icecream served in cornets that was very yummy.
Our evening meal was fish and chips with the odd personal exception like a large chicken Jillian consumed, which we had phone in our orders for earlier on and to which a driver and assistance set out by car to collect and cakes and to which I'd set the table.
In the evening as our brief shower had left we sat outside by the picnic tables where I run the music quiz with twenty-two questions with four teams to work through the printed questions covering music from the nineteen-seventies to today.
The Not a Clues won with thirteen points winning the prizes of a Jacqueline Wilson colouring book (a fine colouring book i.m.h.o) and matching top quality colouring pencils.
After a short break, Daisy, an accomplished guitarist, performed a set songs drawn from the Lindisfarne and Dire Straits songbooks and a magical version of the Pink Floyd song Wish You Were Here which was very well received.
Wednesday soon came around so after individually we'd done our own packing, which if your like me you tend to a do a bit per day we got breakfast and systematically went around tidying up everywhere, sweeping up with the help of "Henry" the sweeper checking nothing was left behind  before packing our cars ready to leave.
I helped Miss Green with our packing as we had things like the sports equipment to transport before we left just after half past ten and arrived within three hours back in South Staffordshire.
Between unpacking which at one point did leave me thinking where did I put my trusty circa 2009 Canon camera we had some left over cakes from Camp and tea.
For tea Miss Green went to a nearby village and bought fish and chips with cakes from the local Co-op store which we had before watching C.I.S and a program about the making of sweets over the centuries on the television before bedtime.
I was up at seven to do the final bit of packing by which time it had started to shower so after a cereal breakfast and tea Miss Green left to go into town and drop me off by the rail station where upon I caught the 09:54 service to our big rail station where seeing it was still showing I got into a six seater black taxi to make my way to my house for just past eleven o' clock.

I would to thank every one who both attended and contributed something to making our time away fun starting with Karla and Caroline who as organizers came up with the Gruffalo theme  carrying it through with their own contributions when it came to catering, events such as the arts and crafts and Grufallo games. Your contribution was amazing.
I'd like to thank Curly, Miss Green, Becky, Daisy and Suzy with assorted helpers for your contribution with providing a midday and evening meal and Jillian with Sally-Jane for ordering and fetching the fish and chips without which they would be many empty tummies.
We don't presently have external caterers and I would support looking more into it so people don't need to pull away from little activities they enjoy to 'big up' for food.
I'll also thank the many activity makers who laid on events such as Mr. Paul with Karla for the disco and the folks who put on games, quizzes, art sessions or performed cos having a busy varied program really helps us bring out or little (or middle) side and engage with it.
My personal thanks to Miss Green for her hospitality at GHS and looking out for me throughout the whole time cos I do have real life needs in that respect.

If doing something like this appeals it need not be on a really big scale, you could have a day or two as a 'sleepover' as a group of two or three in a flat or house putting together a few activities to share although you may feel the need to check if you have a good sense of seclusion if you wish to play very much little (such as with pacifiers etc) out of doors.