Beano Summer Special 2026

Last week was badd...very bad for the super hot drying up conditions we endured as we went over 30 degrees and felt by Thursday night really off so Friday's cooler temperatures, fresh breeze and even some thunder was welcome.

And that was Spring!

Now this month we enter Summer officially where you might it expect it to be warm, where in the past we looked to Summer Vacations and no school for seven or so weeks before we got crazy, stomping our feet saying "I'm bored!" 

Okay, you could play with your Chromebook, Tablet or Smartphone all day which isn't that good for for other reasons, run about like crazy playing weird games which is what I did with mates or read a comic or book.

That's where summer special comic editions with more pages came in coupled with puzzle books that remain big with modern children.

While the world of children's comics and magazines has changed a lot in forty odd years - and not necessarily for the better - The Beano Summer Special, today styled as a Summer Activity Special remains available and is out...NOW!

This years plot revolves around the notion the Beanotown children think they’ve bagged the perfect getaway, a dream holiday to a seaside caravan park in Beanotown-on-Sea. 

However this is Beanotown so of course nothing is what it seems! Their hoped for R & R (rest and recreation) turns out to be more like run-down and rotten - and the weirdness doesn’t stop there. Something fishy is happening both at the seaside and back home… and the kids are determined to uncover the truth!

Packed with mysteries, mayhem, jokes and puzzles it takes you back to those times even if the world is very much the modern one with enough to keep you occupied indoors or out and doesn't require a connection nor recharging.

With this weeks weather recharging is what I need!

I loved rope climbing and exploring.

Teenbeat: Rediscovering...The Osmonds

Phew! What a scorcher,eh?

Definitely weather for thinner tops and skirts here as I'm melting in the heat, windows wide open with a glass of milk at my side.

Seeing it was the bank holiday I played a double lp I haven't touched in good few years although the contents are well known to me, going back to my early childhood and the records I heard on the radio.

They were the records, over two paws worth issued by the Utah, United States family group The Osmonds in their various permutations, whole group, solo and duos and this Greatest Hits set from 1977 has them all from One Bad Apple sounding more like the Jackson Five, the hard rock Crazy Horses and the perfect timeless pop of Love Me For a Reason a favourite from '74.

It also captured Jimmy's take on the music hall composition Long Haired Lover from Liverpool but for me more critically Marie Osmonds Paper Roses and Morningside of the Mountain, highlight her gifts in country music which I was rather exposed to and Donny's solo recordings like The Twelve of Never and Puppy Love.

It came well packaged with lots of pictures and even more on the paper inner sleeves so it was certainly well put together in the way some of these packages aren't.

It got a clean up and played for the memories, a useful appendage to the 1972,3 and 4 Now Yearbook Records.
 

A lost local station

Areas have quite a bit history and one village in this conurbation certainly is one that within living memory had coal mines although later on people transferred to mines in nearby Biddulph or Holditch, near Newcastle Under Lyme.

Coal had to got out to where it was needed - the vast potteries and steelworks of our region - so the North Staffordshire Railway Company built a spur for it where it was on the "Loop Line" an overground local train network covering most of the area  to which many of us feel ought to be reinstated given the appalling peak hour road traffic here.

The line was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 9 October 1848 but the station at Mow Cop did not open until the beginning of January 1849 and closed in 1964 under the "Beeching Cuts together with Scholar Green station.

It was immortalised that year in the song Slow Train by Flanders and Swann.

Until 2002 the signal box pictured while not in use was still "in situ" but is now preserved privately within the former industrial village.

The trains still go past it from Stoke Station just outside the city in Stoke itself through Congleton on towards Manchester in the North of England.

Rather like here, bits of our industrial past can - just - be spotted while ours is literally beneath ground with dramatic subsidence in spots.

Updating the nows - Now Yearbook 1972

While the polly tictions continue argue stuff out this Monday we're going back to the time I was in single digits and you found the radio listening to songs.

That to an extent is what's driven buying the Now Yearbook series, hearing your favourites from the past that bring back memories from the times.

Back then I had a home made stereo record player and am radio that I'd play my 45's and Top Of The Pop's cover versions albums on in an era that if you bought a Ronco 24 hits one instead even to my junior ears it didn't sound good.

Record One opens with an all-time favourite, ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ by John Lennon, The Plastic Ono Band, Yoko Ono & The Harlem Community Choir – and it leads an opening run of classics including Rod Stewart’s #1 ‘You Wear It Well’, Don McLean with ‘American Pie’, ‘A Horse With No Name’ from America and a song by the same name ‘America’ from Simon & Garfunkel, released as a single in 1972 to promote the duo’s ‘Greatest Hits’ collection. More legendary U.S. artists follow including Harry Nilsson with his #1 ‘Without You’, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney & Wings with their first Top 10 hit ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’.

Flipping over to Side Two for ‘Baby I’m-A Want You’ from Bread, ‘Anticipation’ from Carly Simon and Neil Diamond with one of his signature tracks, U.S. #1, and the title of recent biopic ‘Song Sung Blue’. Gilbert O’Sullivan enjoyed his first chart-topper with ‘Clair’ while Colin Blunstone hit with ‘Say You Don’t Mind’ and Cat Stevens scored a Top 10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic with ‘Morning Has Broken. A good ten before ‘Thriller’, Michael Jackson had his first solo hit with ‘Got To Be There’, and is followed by timeless songs from Labi Siffre with ‘It Must Be Love’ and Johnny Nash who enjoyed a massive hit with ‘I Can See Clearly Now’.

1972 saw Glam Rock become hugely popular, and Record Two kicks off at the rock end of glam with Alice Cooper and the anthemic #1 ‘School’s Out’, and followed by the superb art-rock of Roxy Music on their debut ‘Virginia Plain’ – and Mott The Hoople with the David Bowie written and produced ‘All The Young Dudes’ hitting the Top 3. 

Ahead of their biggest commercial year in ’73, Sweet scored their third Top 5 hit with ‘Wig Wam Bam’ and Slade follow with the second of two #1’s in 1972, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’. 

Elton John had a huge year and Top 5 smash ‘Crocodile Rock’ is featured next alongside the Moog classic  chart-topper ‘Son Of My Father’ by Chicory Tip and co-written by Giorgio Moroder before rounding off the side, Jeff Beck had a hit with the re-released ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ 

Flipping to Side Two, we are celebrating a great year for soul music on the charts with The Stylistics leading an incredible run of classics with ‘Betcha By Golly Wow’ ahead of ‘Lean On Me’ from Bill Withers, Love Unlimited’s sublime ‘Walkin’ In The Rain With The One I Love’ and ‘Family Affair’ a huge hit and a massively-influential track from Sly & The Family Stone

The O’Jays announced their ‘70s Philadelphia International era with ‘Back Stabbers’ and The Supremes and Michael Jackson  as Motown remained popular also feature along with pop gems from Melanie with ‘Brand New Key’ and the massive selling ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing’ a #1 from The New Seekers.

Record Three is packed with huge hits and launches with one of Elton John’s signature songs, the #2, ‘Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long Long Time)’. Rod Stewart provided the stunning vocal on Python Lee Jackson’s ‘In A Broken Dream’ and Slade’s other #1 in ’72 ‘Take Me Bak ‘Ome’ is next, alongside the debut hit from Electric Light Orchestra, ‘10538 Overture’, which reached #9 and became the first of 13 Top 10 smashes they would enjoy in the ‘70s – and the huge ‘Silver Machine’ from Hawkwind featuring a pre-Motörhead Lemmy Kilminster on lead vocals. 

The side finishes with ‘Lady Eleanor’ from Lindisfarne and ‘Burning Love’ a UK and US Top 10 hit for Elvis Presley… 

Side Two, concludes this 3 lp set with 72’s easy listening and pure pop classics - opening in style with Shirley Bassey and her second ‘Bond’ theme ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ ahead of Andy Williams’ ‘Speak Softly Love’ – the theme from the year’s biggest film ‘The Godfather’. 

‘The Way Of Love’ from Cher comes ahead of joyful pop nuggets from Sammy Davis Jr and Tony Christie with ‘(Is This The Way To) Amarillo’ reaching #18 in 1972 but hitting #1 33 years later! Up next, Paul Simon with his Top 5 hit ‘Mother And Child Reunion’, a #2 debut hit for Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show with ‘Sylvia’s Mother’ and Don McLean makes a second appearance with his #1 ‘Vincent’. 

The set ends on an instrumental that closes this collection and 1972’s biggest selling single: Based on the arrangement of the previous year’s hit for Judy Collins, The Pipes and Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards celebrated a huge selling version – featuring a bagpipe solo – of ‘Amazing Grace’.

As someone who lives Pipe Bands, I loved it at the time.

This is a great set, the equal of four of those Dolly Bird covered Top Of The Pops albums with the original hits this time, that as you lower the arm brings everything all back.

Seeing things in 3D with a Bear

In a week where things happened that I genuinely wasn't expecting - almost a hell freezes over moment - invoking past memories thoughts did go back to the things you'd you'd play with when it wasn't too sunny and you'd had your fill of television in its poster paint NTSC form.

This was really the sort of thing I'd get out, a bit less faff than a slide projector - back then I bought colour slides of places I'd visited - and actually I do own this one.

It's a 3D viewer with images stored, seven stereo pairs per disc and just in time for some classic 70's tv so this was Paddington themed and came with three reels with that marmalade loving bears adventures.

There were similar things available such as this three disc set of The Wombles - sadly with no Womble music - with the discs in the book telling the stories like trying to repair a discarded television which is what I tried to do aged ten. I'm still alive!

Then I think all of us of a certain bone age remember 101 Dalmations and there was three reel highlights set and recently I picked up a reprint from 1978 of the 1966 classic BatMan series which I recall watching intently.

End of month thoughts

It's been a warm week with quite a bit of sun out which has meant the layers have been well off and windows opened for longer than the hour or so it takes to clear stale air from the room as it hides in corners.

In lots of ways it is great to feel fresh air around you, you do feel more alive, able to do more as much as hay fever does trouble me at this time of year and I love to see the cherry blossoms out plus the daisies in the garden.

Unlike some we've not replaced with concrete or dead to wildlife artificial grass so actually we had Cabbage Butterflies out yesterday which is a bit earlier than usual and some bees thankfully away from the washing line.

So much so really the perils of social media - the one who managed to make the first "Ignore" list did it big style - with unrelated and irrelevant aggressive rants with cuss words might as well navigated by just keeping away from those types.

Me-ow.

Outdoors away from screens is better.

Putting You and Us together.

Against the odds we did actually make a post last week although it took a while to rest the fingers as I was having involuntary shaking which cut into sleep a bit but the main thing I wished to talk about was about just standing away from anyone else and being you.

Everybody last week was different, they have different lives, they present differently with a refreshing lack of an attempt to push any one form associated with any sub genre just getting on with getting on focused on what we all loved and had come for.

Party.

The Banner was Easter and the Easter Bunny, how you see yourself and any terms took a definite back seat  - even managing to avoid too much of a certain World Leader butting in however much he gets under many peoples skins - and that fractionism, is what has over the years bugged me.

We should be capable of just getting along whatever you call yourself.

I may not be uber frilly but you discount my girl/gurlish sides at your peril as they're there just show different and these days we all take from the big stock of interests what we find is us and you may still be working around that.

Things like this did interest me but back when I first had one colour schemes were a bit limited and Hello Kitty wasn't offered on Viewmaster Reels and the ones with character shaped fronts weren't about.

I mean you couldn't even stare at cute denim Hello Kitty dresses as they weren't around and well even if I might of won that battle, I still needed pockets to keep stuff in while you're playing and they didn't exist as somebody somewhere thinks pockets are a boys thing.

That's crazy!

Sometimes girls who love being themselves opt for things that are practical and let's keep on being the girls we feel we are rather than any one take.

Horizontal hold

 

That's very much how I'm feeling right now having returned, had a bit to eat and dropped off overnight, a bit achy and rather late in getting up as I was a bit shattered really.

I did find six mini eggs in the egg hunt that was pretty good going dodging shower and gained an additional egg  apart from enjoying the quizzes Saturday evening  and the games went well with our team with two of us with walking aids won!

There were some comics and a cd awaiting me.

An Easter Post

Easter Monday? It is today but wasn't when I got around to typing this post out between things like listening to boom radio who mark Easter with a vote in Chart of listeners all time favourites so the Roberts Rambler radio is on and loaded with batteries in case we lose power with this storm they're all talking about.

That's another reason to get this this done as while the Chromebook has batteries, the router doesn't!

We've had a few Easter cards this year and the plushies have been up to their usual tricks hiding stuff but I spotted this!!!!

Ooo Err, a duo of likes - chocolate and unicorns all wrapped in one tasty package while I watch a view a few youtube videos from the likes of TechMoan and Stu's nostalgic tv centric channel before playing the odd record as we've like several hundred lps here.

You just grab a few and play!!!!

Anyway Happy Easter folks!

Handling illness

 

As I type this apart from having to wait until the battery in the Chromebook charged back up as I kind of drained it earlier in the day, it's the season of the great wind up as the grump attempts to move the clocks all a hour ahead as British Summer Time (B.S.T.) starts Sunday.

I just alter my watches as the chromebook looks after itself and given I can't tell the time, I've always used other ways when out of knowing what the time is.

I was reading on one site a piece regarding how an individual who volunteers for free their time was approached on the way to work with the message that "words were said against them" as they'd missed some training sessions due to severe illness and being told everyone else just plows on regardless as they have to be responsible.

Well few can deny that obviously if you take a role you need to understand that others are counting on you performing it but a situation where people are doing tasks that include being responsible for others when being so ill as to be physically sick is the working definition of an unsafe working environment that puts everyone at risk.

That way of handling such issues is also distinctly unprofessional as an individual should be invited to discuss  any aspect of their role including any health issues and support should be explored rather the subject of whispering campaigns by others.

Understandably the individual has now resigned so they have to find someone else and finding volunteers isn't that easy.

Given I had issues with some for having periods of ill health and taken calls from ironically people in Mental Health charities about lack of support, denial of breaks and the like it doesn't surprise me and the generally negative and condescending approaches people take towards people with disabilities either.

Ableism is rife in my experience.

1977 and all that Part II

I hadn't been too great this weekend - even the grump noticed which is rare - with ptsd issues so we're playing catch up from the great unopened to trying to get things done that just weren't.

Now that's not so dissimilar to how it was with me as a child and certainly in 1977 when it was more the mountains of school work to catch up on as they were more into that than your well-being  so I opened a super audio cd set of Tchaikovsky Symphonies that came out this week and am playing a few as this is typed.

As now and with a fairly rudimentary hifi made of what could be got and fired up, with some super tuning up too, I did read a bit around it in 1977 and this was a popular magazine with me not least for the record reviews beyond the great Penguin Guides for classical recordings.

If you could "save a bob" or two by finding a excellent mid or budget price recording back then building up a basic library of standard works by diligent research then I did

This it had to be said was my favourite, a mixture of news, technical and practical features and aspects of getting good sound, reviews and lively readers letters and a variety of records reviewed with attention to sound quality.

Back then we did believe in graphs and published test results which became a dirty word in some circles with some types believing they didn't matter a jolt.

I don't think they're the final word but they are useful not least in understanding where something may not be performing as good as it should.

Audio to me is as much an art as a science and they will always be trade offs.

In time I soon got a great system going.

1977 and all that

Parts of my feelings around certain times are complicated by the distance between where people of expected my own interests to had been and where in reality they were be they about gender issues or age dysphoria.

1977 as far as the birth certificate went put me in as a teenager but that felt like a distant country to me with its own ideas about what you'd do, what you might like and your peers were in that other land.

 

Scratch the surface and you'll be interested to hear scouting was the kind of thing I liked, learning new skills, being outdoors, being together as unenlightened as that era was to my gender feelings or able to find ways of accommodating my disabilities.  

It was the Silver Jubilee back then so I was presented with a special mug at school when we had special events such as a garden party with games and in Guides and for that matter Scouts you had badges you wore.

It was a very big deal back then and many held street parties.

I did have comics and back then you had loads of choice and I had the Beano and Dandy and while I'd of sooner had Tammy I did find girls who'd loan copies to me although with attitudes back then you had to be discrete with it.

The common like musically was Abba as while my tastes were moving toward people like Elvis Costello and the New Wave from the pure pop of my tweens it was so well arranged, written, produced and performed I shared in that like reading magazines, buying records and having posters.

1977 wasn't a bad year with me.

Birthday

 

Some days seem as if it's just a continuation of the other really, little really separates it from the other and others stand more for being like that as much as times aren't as they were either domestically or in the wider world involving current affairs presently.

One day late last week was different for being my birthday, less "getting older" more getting more polished as we go around the sun one more time which was marked at EB with birthday wishes from the members of that great fiction site and a couple of persons at GT who did remember.

My BFF remembered and sent me an e-card, then she never forgets and we do have rather a lot in common both with interests and this other life.

I did a couple of cd sets that looked at that point where things moved from the late 1950's when rock and roll seemed to drop out of favour with relatively tame singers and groups to the period modern music exploded and all the social conventions just changed.

It's not that I don't have some compilations on cd overing this period but this is a broader collection from many labels as licensing tracks can be difficult,

This set has notes on each track helping to place them in context although I generally prefer year by year sets and takes us from the last months of 1959 to the end of 1962 when things were going to change rapidly.

The Second volume came out a week or so ago that covers a shorter period - 1963 and 1964 where that bug name group from Liverpool came from just strong support in the North-west of England to international stars and on the back of that many UK groups had great success in the United States that had been largely insulated from transatlantic trends. 

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones are not represent due to licensing issues but many british acts such as Herman's Hermits, Animals, Searchers and the Kinks are as are american acts whose appeal still held such as Elvis Presley and american surf acts whose novelty status got them some UK attention such as Jan and Dean and the Surfaris and acts that were to become massive in a years time such as the Beach Boys.

Bond movies started in 1962 and the songs from them are represented within these sets such as Goldfinger and Motown, a cult interest in the UK around 1960-63 became more popular by 1964 scoring well on the charts as much as in the main british acts dominated that era and in time Tamla_Motown the UK imprint of Motown was established in early 1965.

Spring cleaning

Rather crazy weekend with ahem "events" taking place in the Middle East as I type this as much as I prefer not have deal with everything the alleged groan ups are responsible for not least as they do affect children, often fatally.

Apart from trying to deal with the excesses of Amazon's packaging that makes filling the mixed recycling bin a challenge most fortnights requiring massive amounts of compress to get it all in, one thing I have been doing is removing a few things like box sets that have either been superseded by new and better sets or simply of artists I have lost that degree of interest in.

Sometimes you find with changing your stereo the set you had doesn't sound that good and that was certainly the case with one Abba and Bruce Springsteen set that for all the packaging just didn't sound right to my ears.

Then obviously you do get new things - events in a few days time will most likely bring some - and you do have to find ways of storing them so you reduce things that just aren't used and maybe no longer matter that much to you.

Usually they go to things like children's charities like Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, a national centre for very ill children where it'll do some good.

 

Relaxing revelations

 

Last week was a bit messed up in a number of ways so we're catching up and at the same time trying to relax a bit so I did play a couple of records one being a Bay City Rollers album from the days I had lots of clippings, posters and scarfs of theirs.

Given my super audio cd player spends over 80% of its time playing regular cds I recently changed the external digital to analogue converter that takes the noughts and ones from the transport in the player to improve on its sound.

I've had cd since 1986 so not surprisingly some my cds go back a long time and some have had a number of cd releases so how would you know what's worth keeping as we tend to remember how something sounded but not necessarily take account of what we heard it on.

This variant of the first Duran Duran album was from 1985 to the early 1990's the international cd release of the album which saw To The Shore removed and the 1983 single Is There Something I Should Know? added as track five (and last track on side one on the US/Japan lp) 

In 1993 a version that restored To The Shore was issued in Europe with a newer mastering issued but to my ears it seemed to lack "attack" and subsequent issued in 2003 and 2010 worse.

The usual criticism of that first cd issue was that sounded bright and that 1983 single was mastered a bit louder than the rest of the album and I can remembering how it sounded on my original Toshiba player.

Putting it in the super audio cd and playing from the new external digital to analogue convertor was a revelation as it didn't sound bright, there was an obvious bass line and Simon Le Bon's vocals had great presence.

I even heard clear soundstaging!

Actually I had to pinch myself that I wasn't hearing a record playing it was that good correcting that level issue while playing it.

Actually this was a really good sounding cd ONCE you corrected the level mismatch and took advantage of the advances in digital technology.

Now it won't sort a bad cd out but it certainly will bring out everything that the disc has and that for generations we assumed it never had.

Looks toward Spring

While one thaws out after a cold start to the weekend when I got a bit colder than desirable with lips turning blue due to bitterly cold strong winds thoughts turn to looks and completing them.

Plaid skirts have always been a favourite of mine  ones like these with just a bit of detail such as bows but nothing too fussy or hard for me to put on by myself are just the thing.

Heels it must be said may be so so feminine but with my wobbliness not realistic as I'd be flying all over the place!

One approach especially in winter months would be thick white tights giving much of the look you want but less "suffering for fashion" at this time of year but for spring onwards I just love the freedom of just below the knee plain white socks that are still warmish with just a touch of the kitten.

You can't take that out of me.

Classical Music sacd round up 22

Ironic when we've improved regular cd replay for not just ye olde cds from the 80's but modern cds when the numbers of super audio cds has dropped we have three box sets of them!

Thus we have a new numbered sacd round up and all the discs are hybrid so they have a cd layer for regular players apart from the sacd layer for compatible players.

Jacqueline de Pré was a sensational cello player whose career was sadly cut down by illness but not before making some of the greatest recordings during the 1960's for Emi/Angel that were compiled in 2025 in newly transferred high definition masterings for super audio cd.

SACD 1

1-4 ELGAR Cello Concerto in E minor

5-9 DELIUS Cello Concerto

London Symphony Orchestra · Sir John Barbirolli (1-4)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra · Sir Malcolm Sargent (5-9)

Recorded: 19.VIII.1965, Kingsway Hall, London (1-4); 12 & 14.I.1965, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London (5-9)

(p) 1965, Remastered (P) 2020 (1-4) & 2022 (5-9) Parlophone Records Limited

SACD 2

1-3 SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A minor

4-6 DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B minor

7 DVOŘÁK Silent Woods

New Philharmonia Orchestra (1-3), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (4-7) · Daniel

Barenboim

Recorded: 8-9.IV & 11.V.1968, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London (1-3); 11.XI.1970, Medinah Temple, Chicago

(4-7)

(p) 1969/2022 (1-3) & 1971/2022 (4-7) Parlophone Records Limited

SACD 3

1-3 HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major

4-6 BOCCHERINI Cello Concerto No. 9 in B-flat major

7-9 HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 2 in D major

English Chamber Orchestra · Daniel Barenboim (1-6)

London Symphony Orchestra · Sir John Barbirolli (7-9)

Recorded: 17 (1-3) & 24 (4-6) IV.1967, 13.XII.1967 (7-9), No. 1 Studio, Abbb

Her husband, Daniel Barenboim, was an international renown pianist and this cycle of Beethoven's Piano Concertos.

While several years back we bought the Sir Colin Davis Nielsen Symphonies set, this set of recordings done in analogue tape in the sixties does include overtures and Concertos not present in that modern set so is of value.

The conductor John Wilson has given us much in recent years  but this recording by the Sinfonia of London of Walton's Cello Concerto is a highlight for me from 2024

His 2025 account with Charlie Lovell-Jones of the Violin Concerto is highly enjoyable.

While there was an issue in 2018, this remastered edition that came out last year takes Mozart's Piano  Concertos 20, 21, 25 and 27 in excellent mid 1970's recordings by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado with Friedrich Gulda on piano and puts all four of the recordings on two hybrid super audio cds in a slim case.

Relaxing

After  last weeks slightly more tech centred post during what was a very windy week with quite a bit of tidying up needing to be done in the front garden and dealing with a bad case of lower paw cramp a day ago thoughts are elsewhere.

The way you might relax after and recovering from all that can vary from immersing yourself in something more child-like such as watching your favourite children's tv shows either original or new episodes to reading comics.

I did get this years first issue of one magazine whose subscription seemed to mysteriously cut out after finding how to resubscribe and a discount code  to save around 20% of a years subscription but given it has a mixture of stories, facts and quiz's that'd well worth it.

A good soak tm can be quite relaxing with bubble bath or bath bombs by the likes of Lush although I've never heard of having snack in the bath but never use electrical things by the bath - if they fall in you'll get electricity in you and that's fatal plus  please be careful with scent candles as it is easy to start a fire if they fall or the flame otherwise catches something.

I did put a couple of new to me organ cds on which also was also relaxing.

Tuning in

After a week that had some forum drama and odd triggering post it was really more necessary to put grown up business of that disgrace, Donald J Trump, to one side and settle for some imagination based play rather than the purely role playing sort to reset somewhat.

One thing I do miss from modern portable devices is the built in FM Radio.

Now FM is hardly new, did look in the 2010's to be at risk of extinction between DAB and Internet based radio offering more choices even if in absolute terms the quality isn't always as good although the quality of what is sent out isn't what it was beyond stations such as BBC Radio 3.

You don't find Dab tuners in them probably with that not being popular in the Far East or Asia.

This one, while a bit awkward in the menu department and lacking any means of turning on gapless playback does have a okay but could be more sensitive FM radio with a virtual tuning dial you use the << and >> buttons to tune and up to six presets.

The finish is surprisingly good for something that sells for around £50 though and so is handy where a more expensive player might get lost or perhaps for a younger use who doesn't appreciate having to use a Android based user interface to play something.

I just put some compilations on a spare sd card - and shockingly it will take up to 256gb ones - as a spare take anywhere device.