Likes an that

We'd be normally away this week but for reasons that's not happening this time so we're looking at other things rather packing cases like really what are you about as this girl as not everyone is the same even some might think you *ought* to tick their boxes.

Really I'm not in with the more uber-frilly sort for a number of reasons that include practicality as a person like me who struggles with dressing and isn't very stable doesn't need something with lots of buttons, tie-up fastenings and so pouffed out skirts and dresses I may catch myself in them, falling over.

I'd need help with things like that which isn't really what other peoples breaks are for by a long shot. 

 

 

It's not that I don't like dolls in their frilly outfits, bows and a bit of pink and objects that more decorative than functional and currently I'm colouring in Barbie but I like being out of doors more and that's not the environment that lends itself to frilly stuff not least on walks when you'd easily get tangled up and no I'm not really into classic "little girl dresses" even you might get me into some a bit frillier than what you'd normally expect.

 

I've been dusting off some classic 80's albums by Haircut 100 and Nick Heyward in the cd racks and this one featuring a reproduction of a postcard of Lake Louise, On. is one from 2017 I liked rather a lot and they're on tape.

 

Well one started off as a tape originally and two were taped back in the mid 1980's on an early hifi set up I had. I just love songs and singing.
 

July round up

Cooler weather most certainly suits me better that's a fact and one era I like to get out to is Hassall Green which isn't so far away  along the canal which is fairly busy at this time of year making their way from the Midlands to Runcorn and beyond in the North.

Fortunately apart from being on the Salt Line, the local bus does pass near it which helps as walking along the main road to Sandbach large portions without any kind of pathway isn't for the fainthearted.
 

There's been a few records in replacing a number that went AWL many years ago which have been cleaned sleeved and played. 

 In other news Hacker T Dogg will be joining the Blue Peter team as presenter number 44 from September 5th according to Friday's reveal on the show before it takes a summer break although activities have been posted on the Fan Club page for people to have a go at during that period before the new style show resumes.

Hot changes ahead

 

Phew it's been a very hot weekend with my head feeling rather like it's been baked despite keeping in the shade and drinking a lot of fluids as really when you run hot like me you really don't do warm although as I type this, the Steak pie is in the oven.

I also can see something going out to the junk pile as a 2019 Chromebook is having major dns and remembering  connections issues as it drops out of sites that you elect to stay logged into and lose connection.

I suppose you can look at that as a incentive to rationalize the machines as there are limits to just how many you really do need around and just transfer over to memory sticks the pictures linked to each internal account as they are the only things that matter as thanks to Google passwords and log in stuff is shared across different machines via the Google Account.

For lap usage I prefer the track pad rather than trying to balance machine on lp with mouse and mat somewhere within arms reach to do things as much as with Windows machines Mouse can be less likely to overshoot.

At least my renewed cds do sound great through the system apart from looking just fantastic in their replica sleeves.

Revisiting things

 

It's warming up again but not as bad as it was last Monday, that was something else so thoughts were looking at a few things I'd started over the decades and completing them not least with my cds as having made some changes to  the stereo over the last year or so I'm re-listening to a number and hearing a few things I hadn't noticed before on things like Lyin' Eyes from the DCC Gold version of Eagles - Their Greatest Hits.

I am finishing off a series of Beatles related titles that got paused just before Covid and decided a several decades kind of a version of a much lp would really benefit from a copy in not just better quality artwork but on better plastic material to stamp out the disc from.

2016's Live At The Hollywood Bowl wouldn't win any awards for the front cover, worse than the original tickets and tiny photo of the venue on beige background but was remixed to reduce the at times excessive audience screams that could almost obscure the bands performance.

This newer version feels better for higher quality card and even having a proper inner sleeve to protect the disc as cardboard soon marks discs when you take them out unless your very careful and pinch the slot open first.

"Tell me what you really want"

It feels warm already as here on saturday I'm typing this weeks blog up after an week trying to figure out how much of the old routines still applies and those which may need to change which isn't help be contradictory tales hours later.

To be quite honest I really feel like a break a totally swap over of roles to something more limiting but where I can just play and where possible help out a bit totally out of adult roles rather than being deluged with no holds bar medical stuff from dawn to dusk.

Just being more "carefree", playing games and that really the thing and we'll have to see if there's a hope of anything later this year or next remotely like that given how things are going on the communication or lack of front.

Fortunately I have comics which help to keep your spirits up.

This year isn't shaping up well and we're only just over a half way through.

The future of dedicated forums

It's been a long, rather hot week at least here having needed to be out during the week following the Grumps return at the start of last weekend as you notice it being heavy laden with things to carry around and from the bus stop to home.

There has been some discussion of and the state of  "clean" sfw sites for  adults who seem themselves adult but girls and boys on the inside specifically the little girl site Girltalk and I do feel the need to talk about some of that.

I think most of us are aware the social media world today is very different than it was around the two thousands and early twenty ten's when many of us started to explore more of what this thing in us was all about and that today the use of Facebook, Instagram, reddit and Discord is more popular than traditional structures one reason sites like Roses, UK Angels have gone and sites like Pdq never got resurrected.

The other is that we're a niche that isn't always appreciated in the wider trans community that focuses more on adult presentation "passing" rather than with classic little girl dresses, gingham pinafores and short tails and a intentional younger than your years look.

We like to present as people we feel we are on the inside.

Because of concerns around privacy, trolling and the like we've always had this dilemma between keeping away prying eyes from posts and how we attract the attention of like minded persons who may not know we exist and from  that join in.

There are sites that on paper may appear to accommodate more the adult kid but are more aligned to various things commonly seen as kink, not that I'm kink shaming, and for many of us that takes out of that carefree playful place of the adult child.

It also without criticism of peoples personal circumstances and impact of real life events, been one where moderation and a sense of leading from the front has taken a back seat while the one of kind theme of the site just doesn't easily lend itself to regular software updates which can easily cause blackouts.

To me IF we want a site then it isn't simply a question of taking on the mantle of running what we have, we need to establish what the needs of a site today is perhaps having a site for all adult kids and not just those who are or identify as girls but keeping the overall ethos and for us to promote its use.

At the moment far too much is getting lost in never ending streams of comments that easily discussed at length and explored that are often hard to follow (I struggle with it personally) and is arguably to detriment of GT even if the idea of a "back up" as we had in the days of Yahoo Groups should the main site go down has merit.

Now Yearbook Vault 1981

Welcome back to THE VAULT, the bolt on of the New Yearbook series that mixes singles that failed to trouble the top 30 but were really interesting with American hits that didn't do much over here in the U.K. and we're doing this vinyl style.

Part of that's a channelling of those tracks on our Ronco or KTel  albums that sandwiched between the surefire hits they added maybe thinking they'd do better than they did and anyway sometimes they interested us more  and part is music meant mainly vinyl for us back then.

Old rituals bring back memories. 

 It's three lps in one sleeve so as it's a bit thin be careful as it will soon crease or rip but at least the discs are polylined so they're well protected.

 

Time to open this bad boy up!

A year away from their Top 40 debut, record one opens with Simple Minds with ‘Sweat In Bullet’ from their ‘Sons And Fascination’ album and followed by Spandau Ballet with ‘Paint Me Down’ from their second album ‘Diamond’. Heaven 17 are up next with their debut single ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, alongside the debut from Eurythmics ‘Never Gonna Cry Again’. 

John Foxx released ‘Europe After The Rain’ as the lead single from ‘The Garden’, and Gary Numan reunited with his former band members, now called Dramatis on the superb ‘Love Needs No Disguise’. Closing the side, Altered Images feature with their debut ‘Dead Pop Stars’, along with the 1978 debut ‘Young Parisians’ from Adam & The Ants – re-released to become a hit in 1981. Flip the LP over to celebrate some of ‘81’s best soul and disco featuring Rick James, Sister Sledge and Chaka Khan, ahead of funk-pop genre melding from Freeez, Shakatak and Level 42 before this first disc closes with reggae artist Sheila Hylton who made the Top 40 with her cover of The Police track ‘The Bed’s Too Big Without You’.

Bruce Springsteen starts record two with the title track from his #2 album ‘The River’ which gave him his first UK Top 40 single, and John Mellencamp – who would have to wait another year for his UK chart debut – with ‘Ain’t Even Done With The Night’, his first Top 20 hit in the US. REO Speedwagon are up next with a track, ‘In Your Letter’ from the years’ biggest-selling album in America Hi Infidelity and a big seller here), and Billy Joel released a live version of ‘Say Goodbye To Hollywood’, giving him a Top 20 hit there. Great singles from Elton John and Joan Armatrading lead to the side finishing with The Alan Parsons Project and another US hit, ‘Time’.

Side B opens with the Pretenders from their second album, and a single ‘Louie Louie’ that got a US, but not a UK release. Pat Benatar led into her ‘Precious Time’ album with ‘Fire And Ice’, and Generation X released ‘Dancing With Myself’, a track that lead singer Billy Idol would revisit in his solo releases. Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, and Dexys Midnight Runners all feature ahead of Joe Jackson covering the jazz/blues/swing standard ‘Jumpin’ Jive’, and The Manhattan Transfer – who had a huge US hit with their cover of doo-wop classic ‘Boy From New York City’, which closes the second record.

Record 3 opens with an brilliant run of alt-pop: The Creatures - Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie from Siouxsie And The Banshees - released their debut ‘Mad Eyed Screamer’ along with ‘Primary’, the single from The Cure’s ‘Faith’ album, New Order with ‘Procession’, plus The Psychedelic Furs with ‘Dumb Waiters’. The Clash released the non-album single ‘This Is Radio Clash’, and reggae and new-wave fusion from Scritti Politti with the sublime ‘The “Sweetest Girl” to which we were to more of in later years. The side closes with two chart regulars The Undertones and Squeeze with ‘It’s Going To Happen’ and ‘Is That Love?’ and the final side kicks off with Debbie Harry, as 1981 saw her release her first solo album ‘KooKoo’, and from it here the second single ‘The Jam Was Moving’. Donna Summer released ‘Cold Love’ from her ‘The Wanderer’,( her first for Warners), and Commodores feature with ‘Lady (You Bring Me Up)’. Steve Winwood follows on with ‘While You See A Chance’, and the final three begin with Journey and their rock ballad ‘Who’s Crying Now’, Rush with the epic ‘Tom Sawyer’, and closing the collection, Meat Loaf with the lead single from his album ‘Dead Ringer For Love’, ‘I’m Gonna Love Her For Both Of Us’.

This selection works well bring  a mixture of memories to many of us especially those of us with more ecliptic tastes while sounding more fuller than those old K Tel and Ronco discs did back then.