Choo choo's Pt.2

Another place we visited a few times in the 1970's was the Vale of the Rheidol which is a steam train line running from the Welsh university town of Aberystwyth to the Devils Bridge some 12 miles downline.
I'm sure the engine we went on was called Owen Glendwr who I think was something of a hero to the Welsh fighting English occupation of their Country.

 The countryside in that part of Wales is very mountainous and really beautiful.

B is for berries

One nice thing about where we live is we live in the countryside with woodland so you sure notice the seasons and as we're well in the fall the berries are out on my trees so here'sa a little picture of them.

Hits!

Into October and the start of a new entry I'll add to over time.

The Hits Album otherwise know as The Hits was a series of albums in a similar vain to the Now series started in 1984 by CBS and WEA records in the UK that run to ten numbered editions, then had a few restarts and eventually fizzled out by the naughties.

Both CBS and Warner (WEA) had contributed tracks to the Now series but generally they didn't not include US acts possibly for contractual reasons and sought to capitalize on the UK markets fascination with compilations of chart hits by establishing their own series.

My brother bought a few of the earlier ones that I taped and to which the recordings have long gone and I bought Hits 8 and 9 myself at the time as there was very little overlap between them and the NOW series.The cassettes of the first three versions had the main artwork on a double case to the left and a list of artists feature toward the right as the lps used pictures that would not of worked scaled down.

What I am doing is slowly restoring some of those HITS albums I had on tape aiming to complete the series to HITS 9 making entries about each volume on this page as I go along.

HITS1. In part a Greatest Hits of 1984 but with other songs added like Alphaville's Big In Japan.

HITS2 . This two disc set is in some respects a Now4B as a number of tracks that came out on the Now Dance album at the same time in 12" versions appear here in their standard mixes with all the main chart hits added such as Close (To The Edit), I Want To Know What Love is, 1999, A New England and Since Yesterday amongst others.

HITS3 Hits from the tail end of 1985 including several number ones this always was one of the strongest ones in the series

HITS4 A selection of hits from early 1986 from the likes of the Bangles, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys (single mix of West End Girls) and The Damned

HITS5: Taking in the later half of '86 we're treated to such gems as You Can Call Me Al, Walk Like An Egyptian, Thorn In My Side, Anotherloverholeinyohead, Rage Hard and Julian Cope's classic World Shut Your Mouth

I have the single cd version too.

HITS6 Hits from spring of 1987 which I own the cd version of notable for the only cd with the single remix of Madonna's Isla Bonita and added the double lp.

HITS7 Less hit laden but with a good number of memorable songs like You Win Again, the counter part to NOW 10 and both were double cd issues.

This one covered chart hits in the second half of 1987 by Prince and Fleetwood Mac as well as being the first to come out on double compact disc which is what my brother bought and I later picked up a used copy.

HITS8 A selection of hits from the Summer of '88 when Acid House was all the rave which I own the cd version of

HITS9 Hits from the second half of 1988 and a counterfoil to NOW 13 with more big hits and also runs like Bros's Cat Among the Pigeons and A-ha's You Are The One which originally I bought on lp but now have the cd version.

Little Moreton Hall

There's this really important big house near where I live in Cheshire that I like to stroll along to and admire the construction as well as reading all about it's history.

It's one of the finest Tudor black and white houses in the whole of England. The first photographs I have of it were done on a Kodak Disc camera but they weren't too good having heaps of graininess.

Making that all important change

 

So Summer is very much out as we move toward the fall with all it's brilliant colours but my thoughts are elsewhere with all the changes I've been through and my past experiences and having been raised as a boy originally, one thing comes to mind:

Dresses and skirts are more comfortable than trousers

There, I said it. I honestly don’t believe that trousers are designed well for girls. In fact, they weren’t designed for us in the first place! Yes, you can of course purchase styles that claim to flatter, and they fit my more beanpole frame but are they comfortable and especially at certain times of the month was akin to wearing a corset some days. I thought we had left those behind in Victorian times, but alas - the restriction only slipped a few inches!

Short trousers are better from an airiness point of view if they are loose in the leg and I didn't mind them so much for things like play where you might not be quite modest but it doesn't alter this:

In dresses and skirts I have more freedom of movement, and the fabric doesn’t sit tightly against my skin, or cling where it shouldn’t. I’m finding my day to day tasks haven’t been affected wearing a dress or skirt, and I’m actually more comfortable around the house than I was before. No longer having to pull at waistbands, and bending is a breeze - not to mention (ahem) going to the bathroom.

I find myself paying more attention to other touches like wearing a pair of pretty panties that match them.

I am better off wearing skirts and dresses and I want you to encourage it in me.

Late vacation

For this week I've been away on vacation so here's a few images of Llandudno where I stayed.

Playing at making sandcastles using your bucket is so me.
While I was away, Mommy took me on the train to the top of the Great Orme.

This is Victoria Station where we joined the line waiting to get our tickets and get on board.

Here the train goes travelling for a part of the way  along track that has been embedded into the road surface. The tramcars are old with wooden panels and seats.

I visited a record store and bought myself some new lps and a few used cds for my collection.

I also got the classic Anime, Akira! cheaply on DVD having fond memories of seeing that on TV in the early 90's.It's a tour-de-force of action never letting up.

Gender stereotyping

 

It's September, a fresh month on this rapidly improving blog even though sometimes it seems a race against the internet connection going down given how unreliable it is.

Anyway toys and play were always a bit of an issue for some of us because people when I was younger and some still do today run  with gender based stereotypes so I didn't get some even though I had played with female cousins with them cos they felt I couldn't have them or somehow this puts their status as good parents in question for just going with what I prefer.

Equally others could never get more science or boisterous as they felt at one stroke their girls would cease to be ... girls which is stupid really.

Why shouldn't girls and boys have toys that they love playing rather than just what someone somewhere things is appropriate for their gender?