Although the weather has been lousy for most of the week I do get out rather than living life behind a screen, interacting with people and that means at the very least I get to go to the general store and newsagent quite a bit.
I had been looking for a while at comics and magazines aimed for children are both displayed and also the kinds of content because in the time I've been on this planet things have changed, something prompted a little by last weeks post.
This kind of display should be familiar to most Britishers, usually a few levels high with the children's magazines toward the bottom in a dedicated sub section, titles battle it out for supremacy especially as when here one or more is stack just above the other, limiting exposure of the cover.
One of the first things you'll notice is the cover mounted usually plastic gifts and because of the whole comic or magazine is then covered in plastic.
The first thing to say is those mounts make the display harder fit in the racks and this makes it harder to be seen by children who contrary to popular opinion aren't super tall.
The other is the return rates for most as they're sold on "sale or return" is quite high no less than 35% and often higher then them means the plastic gifts need to be recycled or otherwise disposed of as ultimately at children's homes they also do so it isn't really helping the environment.
Often publishers have a different idea of the age range they are catering for and for example when I scanned through Nat Geographic Kids this Saturday, there wasn't anything that would really appeal to a child of nine or older - the last years of Junior School to thirteen plus as while animals featured it was more quiz and simple fact centred as if they expected that age group to pay for and read the 'adult' National Geographic magazine.
As with some other magazines around say Soccer there wasn't a lot that might stretch a child's reading ability and vocabulary in the that in the past adventure comics would promoting understanding of ideas and rules.
It just seems to me there doesn't appear to anything that filled the void left by the celebratory and Tv centred Look In of the nineteen-seventies and eighties where intelligent well written pieces around topics can be found mixed in with fun for those over eight but not wanting an adult publication.
I'm still a bit rough as it were but actually were at about the nine hundreth post on this blog which goes back rather a long time looking at past childhoods, age regression, being an adult little girl and all the things that go in this crazy life.
Everything starts from somewhere and that somewhere included little rituals like reading comics such as the Beano every Wednesday and in a sea of changes that has seen many comics go and changed reading habits that's still a constant.
Most of us could relate to the world of the Bash Street Kids even if mirroring real life over the decades that's changed too and I adored Minnie The Minx.
Today reading for kids goes into such things like this magazine for junior fans of Jacqueline Wilson's popular mainly girlcentric stories as well as National Geographic for Kids and with some regret children's celebratory magazines which just seem very frothy and sugary, lacking substance.
To me this life is about doing, following things living a more regressed child-like life so sometimes there's things about activities, being away from adult things we may need to engage with.
This can include nature as in exploring your surroundings, taking an interest in different species and varieties of animals and habitats as well as man made things such as historic events and buildings.
The act of doing these things adds to our store of experiences that builds up our character and makes memories that can be backed up photographs and writing which is the measure of this regressed alg life rather than a preoccupation with dress.
Dress is great, dress is something I do like in the context taking in uniform but it isn't the life, that's what happens when you're in it.
Britishers might remember (and they're probably on YouTube apart from dvd) the Mr Benn cartoons where he changed his outfit and had an adventure. Well the thing that was interesting was that adventure, that by casting off those clothes he cast away what held him back from being that person having the adventure.
What holds us back often is us.
Regression for me is therapeutic doing that which is enjoyable, comforting and operating within my own limitations rather than feeling pressured to go beyond, into things I can cannot see or find too frustrating to attempt to keep up with.
That's really what blog is about so while you might see a book or a music review the enjoyment of it is a part of that life being the context it happens in.
Things will be a bit different this week for a variety of reasons one being actually I'm not well being on hot drinks, throat pastels and the like as I have a bit of soar throat and cold.
The other is while all this is going on my Broadband is being upgrade to "Superfast Fibre" by my provider for free which should give me a speed of on average 67mbps which is just over two-thirds as fast as my current speed.
Part of that is done electronically, throwing a switch to send my internet via the service but to fully use it I need to change my modem and router combination for a new all in one faster hub which even if I'd been well would of been taxing so I'm kind of dependent on someone doing it when it suits them.
That means I may not around this weekend gone to write this blog and other things like Storytime at FA so I'll have to occupy myself with comic and music until I'm back up ready to change the Wifi name and password across laptop and chromebook.
Yesterday was rather wet so I didn't get around to taking any pictures which was my intention and indeed I was lucky to spot a moment where I could slot in a walk in the drizzle but while doing so I did see a few things that came to me.
I've always had a fascination with snails and I saw rather a lot of them not just in gardens as you would expect but actually on the curb and pavement where they had paused so I had to be careful not to accidentally break the shells which is easy to do.
While aesthetically I don't like slugs I do find them fascinating to watch making their moves taking in their food stuffs on a well lubricated trail.
Also Orson, the literary cat was hanging about wanting food and shelter having been out overnight looking a little bedraggled from the wind and rain that woke me about 5 am on Sunday morning.
We had quite a lot of thunder and lightning too which isn't my idea of fun.
There is little denying we are moving toward Fall, where there nutkins start to gather up nuts and acorns to store and the birds in my garden start eating the berries like there's no tomorrow round the back and near to where I often walk.
With the present political mess going on I find getting out and away from it all helps.
Something I did pick up recently was this three cd set of albums by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes who were one of the leading Philly Soul bands of the 1970's as it had a couple of albums I lacked plus some alternate mixes.
Lead vocalist Teddy Pendergast, left the group in 1975 and his career was one I followed having all his solo albums so this set nicely completes a set of his recordings for me.
Today actually marks the tenth anniversary of issuing of "The Beatles Remastered" and specifically the day in which I had my "The Beatles in Mono" box set, quite possibly the most expensive musical purchase I made (so far!)
Given it's being written on this blog and not the one the original piece was written, put simply in general the cds issued in 1987/8 were widely criticized for being poor sounding being rushed and for not having the sort of presentation fitting for the most important musical act of the twentieth century.
Specifically the catalogue of albums as issued then ignored the fact that mono versions both sounded different having radically different mixes and were more overseen by the Beatles themselves being more complete whereas the the stereo versions were rushed and done by studio engineers alone.
The clamour for those versions had lead to a short lived mono reissue series in 1981 but by 1987 when the first cds were issued all that was ignored.
This time around it was decided to issue all those mono albums as a set and the remastered stereo versions either in a set or individually.
That tied in well with another idea well executed which was each album would be packaged as a miniature lp with outer plus inner sleeves that matched the original lp issues and in the case of the white album the posters too.
As you can see from the photograph above they all fit snugly in one box with a booklet explaining their history.
That whole package sold itself to me as only thing I really wanted outside of the new stereo cds of Abbey Road, Let It Be and the Past Masters set that rounded up stray singles and tracks otherwise not to be found within the original studio lps.
This set is something that is treasured as an object of art, played often for the music contained with it and easily was the best couple of hundred pounds I ever spent.
This week has been a bit busy with getting some basic ideas for an upcoming event sorted out, finishing off some redone MiniDiscs and out doing various things for folks so I did a bit a check through my stuff.
I mean how many of us know our sock draws intimately when I noticed a few of mine were rather bobbled and even had worn bits around the heels and that so I needed to replace several pairs.
No, this isn't featuring a record review although there's a Mars Bar going if you get one hidden somewhere here but these are new long socks in grey featuring bows cos I'm a Neko!
Bows also happen to be very pretty too as well as super smol and are vailable from regular children's and schoolwear suppliers cos I'm small really.
I also have a new coat too which is as well given we can have rain or snow from late Fall through Winter.
The good news is the all the old socks get turned into textile fibres that can be use to make new things.
