That was 2009

I usually take a bit of a look at the last twelve months on this blog from its inconception in 2006 looking at the things that came up, and sometimes the things that came down.

I continued to explore things around being an adult little boy, looked back at aspects of my schoolboy past and how that ties to other interests such as music, reading and the arts.

For instance music lovers have been treated to some great limited edition re-issues from MoFi and Audio Fidelity taking in artists such as The Cars, The Band, Rod Stewart and Joe Walsh etc.
On the other hand the AF issue of the Pretenders first album was a mess and that was even admitted by the Mastering Engineer responsible!!!

Apple/Capitol-EMI came up trumps in September with their stereo AND mono re-mastered Beatles albums exceeding all expectations for sound quality and packaging. Full review in September's 2009 entries here.

Also EMI made a great start on the Duran Duran deluxe re-masters starting with Rio  and are scheduled to issue S/T and Seven and the Ragged Tiger on March 15 restoring never before available on cd material to the catalogue even adding valuable DVD's too.

Some great anime sets were issued last year such as Moon Phase.
We were cordially invited to indulge at the Ouran High School Host Club where all 26 episodes were issued in two sets at a discounted price in a move that helped to keep piracy under control.
Crunchyroll having gotten legit on the internet streaming side got better with exciting titles like K-On! and Skip Beat and expanded the Asian Drama collection. They even made a start on J-Rock! Princess Nisa kept us entertained at the 'Weird Person" CR group too.

Amazon helped too with getting a DVD player that could be made to play 'all regions' and it was easy to order stuff from the States where the local distributor here hadn't gotten a license plus NEO never had a less than essential issue with loads of well written features on anime/manga and J Life.

UK television became multichannel as default as more areas include mine went digital only but the amount of anime shown dropped . We even lost the Anime Network on satellite so we are dependent on online streaming that brings issues of regional licensing/lock outs very much to the fore.

I found a lot of real friends who were around where a group of people tried to shut me down earlier in the year.
They didn't count on my strength with YOUR support to come back stronger than ever with this blog radically improved or stop me posting on site either!

And finally we've made a new decade, the 2010's so enjoy.

Regards, Chris.

Christmas 2009

So it happens to be Christmas, for this boy my favourite time of year outside of summer hols so what do we have?

Well, I'm LB which I'm sure you may of noticed if you read this blog which basically means it's a similar christmas to when I was officially a boy so first off I have the Beano annual just like I had bck then.

While it's changed a little to take in what boys and girls now are looking for and what given Dennis the Menace has a tv series tv can accept, it's still recognizable and a barrel of fun with quizzes and activities apart from the cartoons.

The Dandy seemed for a period unsure of where it really was but of late has gone back to a more traditional take on itself and the annual takes in old favourites like Desperate Dan and Korky the cat and adds newer things such as Bananaman.

I went out for lunch with my mummy and daddy so we could just spend time together and not in the kitchen.

I had some money to put toward some cds and dvds  and new pair of gloves.

Seasons greetings 2009

This time of year because this boy is busy just before Christmas seeing relatives and the like we usually pause until around just after.

I just love vintage cars and liked this.

As we're entering a new Decade here's a few bits:

Countdown - notable albums of the 2000's
Duffy - Rockferry
Corrine Bailey-Rae S/T
Supergrass - Life on other planets
Rush - Snakes and arrows
Duran Duran - Astronaut
Joss Stone - The soul sessions
Norah Jones - Never too late
Sandi Thom - Smile it confuses people
Lisa Stansfield - The moment
Beverley Knight - Affirmation

Single most significant political event:
Destruction of the Twin Towers, New York 9/11/01.

Everything changed after then.

This is a favourite seasonal song of mine from the mid 1970's when we used to gather around the tv looking at what would be the seasonal hit of the year.

Lonely This Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

Grave of the Fireflies

Coming up to christmas so I have been adding to my collection of full length Studio Ghibi anime movies.

This, possibly the bleakest anime Studio Ghibi have put out is based on an semi-autobiographical novel by Akyluki Nosaka tells the story of two Japanese children Seita aged 14 and his four year old sister Setsuko struggling to survive in war torn Japan with daily American bombing raids and napalm being dropped.

Their mother was killed on a raid on air raid shelter while their father, enrolled in the Japanese Navy remains unknown, they are left to fend for themselves as best they can and even a brief period being looked after by an elderly aunt who is very cold and distant proves no salvation, they set up home in an abandoned air raid shelter.

For a period this brings a sense of peace and solitude as they enjoy watching the fireflies keeping them company, the increasingly worsening situation with its food rationing , Seita finds it an increasing struggle to feed himself and Setsuko to keep them both alive.

Motown anthologies

As part of my building a music collection, I've sometimes you have to choose between buying whole individual albums and buying recordings that only hits such as compilations either because of economics (albums may be very expensive if out of print) or many of their hit recordings were not on the albums.

For many Motown artists from the 60's, albums were a secondary consideration to the 45's typically containing a couple of hits, their reverse sides and then 8 cover versions so in many ways the compilation if chosen with care makes more sense.

This is a trade advertisement for one of a series released around 1973 and 1974, a 33 track retrospective by Marvin Gaye starting with his hit 45 Stubborn Kind of Fellow from 1963 to his then last studio album Let's Get It On featuring his duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross. Like the ad, my copy is the UK edition.

I also have the Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder and Junior Walker and the All Stars volumes although I don't own the Diana Ross & the Supremes (have both UK volumes of "Greatest Hits" instead), Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and Temptations volumes also issued at the time.

 Junior Walker's Anthology is desert island material for me being very distinctive borrowing a lot from jazz.

That one wasn't out for long as Stevie Wonder didn't care much for it issuing Looking Back on November 30th 1977 instead although I feel it's the best selection of his pre Talking book output.It wasn't issued in the UK but imported especially for that market in its three lp plus booklet form.

Also in the series is the Temptations one covering from The Way You Do The Things You Do to 1972's All Directions album.

My copy is the US edition. I also own the 1973 1990 album in a UK pressing STMA 8006

This was issued in late 1973 but not officially part of the Anthology series although in many respects being a double album with all the Four Tops hits up to 1972 on it it almost certainly should be.
Apart from find good stereo recordings, each set has a full colour insert with background capsule, essay and exclusive pictures.

I have the two UK single lps of Diana Ross and the Supremes Greatest Hits as issued in 1968 and 1970 that have most of the tracks featured in the 1974 Anthology set as well as the 1974 'new' Supremes Greatest Hits covering the Ross less recordings from 1970 thru 1973 such as Up The Ladder  To Roof, Nathan Jones, Floy Joy and Bad Weather.

Tsubasa Reservior Chronicles

I bought this 6 dvd set that includes all twenty-six episodes of the first season the `Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle' anime a while back but - as ever - have only just gotten around to opening it!

The series follows Sakura and Syaoran as they search for Sakura's memories which have been scattered across numerous parallel worlds in the form of feathers. Joining them on their journey are the warrior Kurogane, the mage Fai, or Fye, together with magical ball of fluff Mokona.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle's is highly enjoyable anime series that has some nice characters and an interesting plot. Regarding the English dub it is relatively good and the soundtrack is beautiful. The series does have a brief crossover with `xxxHolic', which was nice, and it is just a sad that the `xxxHolic' anime didn't follow suit.

Clamp fans will recognize Syaoran and Sakura from Cardcaptors (Disc three has the story of their childhood past) and indeed some might suggest this is a more shonen take on that story but whilst there is some truth in it this goes deeper into the characters.

Highly recommended

Here's a nice picture with Fai, Kurogane, Syaroan and Sakura from this CLAMP series

Water and I

Last week we were looking more at a kind of Return To School

One thing I did do at my high school was learn to sail with the support of the local sailing club and there instructors which wasn't something my folks had even considered me capable of in what unfortunately is a common way with the parents of disabled children.

I also went on rowing boats learning to row myself not that it was the easiest thing for me but by that point I had built up more muscle strength got a bit more of angle on co-ordination than I had but a few years earlier.

Going back to school?

A return to boyhood can me a return to some kind of formal learning.

It might be that you are undertaking studying at an institution like a college that has work you complete at home, or "Distance Learning" course you work on and then book an appointment for marking and feedback.

Another very viable option is to work through the many study packs produced for actual schools which provide the source material, questions set and an answer book with explanations that cover Mathamatics, both English subjects, Geography, History and the Sciences at home.

These are the kinds of study aids that are often available for parents to buy but can easily be used for actual learning by LB's (and LG's).

At which point space permitting getting a traditional desk with the lid to keep books, exercise books and a chair may also help as not only do sloped desks help with posture it helps to bring back more of the feel of learning you had as a boy.

For me I do study because of my remedial education needs that exist in real life but by bringing in the who LB side including uniform restores me to a setting I am at one with.

A Winter Wonderland

This time of year is always associated to me  with sledging, snowball fights and making snow men which is what I did when I was younger.

I actually damaged my right shoulder and upper arm in my teens when after coming in from a dinner break snowball fight I came into the classroom near a radiator  that melted the snow on my shoes. This lead to me slipping!

I still have the irresistible urge to throw snowballs at people and to help kids making their snowmen.

Ponyo

This week i am talking about the much anticipated Studio Ghilbi movie Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea.

Unfortunately for those of us living in the UK Optimum Asia the UK distributor, isn't showing the theatrical release until February 12 2010 so the DVD/Blue Ray won't be out before then at least.

Of course as we're in 2009 not 1989 this doesn't mean we can't get to see it as having been shown in the Spring in Japan followed by Summer for North America - with Disney 'English' dub - the DVD and Blue Rays are out in East Asia already.

Pictured above is the two dvd edition issued June 7th 2010 in the UK which I own.

Let me start by saying it's very much a children's story with a good heart about acceptance of people for who and what they are are.
The animation is well up to Hayao Mayazaki's excellent standards being well drawn not being upon effects adding to the spoken narration.
I'd give this 9 out 10 as really enjoyed it.

Plot outline:
The plot centres on a fish-girl who lives in an aquarium in her father's underwater castle with numerous smaller sisters. 

When her father takes her and her siblings on an outing in his four-flippered submarine, she is driven by a desire to see even more of the world and swims away. She ends up stranded on the shore of a small fishing town, and is rescued by a boy named Sosuke. After taking a great liking to her, Sosuke names her Ponyo and promises to protect her forever.

Meanwhile, her father, Fujimoto, is looking for his daughter, upset that she ran away and believes the humans kidnapped her. He calls his wave spirits to return Ponyo to him. Sosuke is heartbroken by this, and goes home with his mother, Lisa (or "Risa" in some translations), who tries to cheer him up, but to no avail. Ponyo and her father have a confrontation, where Ponyo refuses to let her father call her "Brunhilda". 

She declares her name to be Ponyo, and voices her desire to become human because she has started to fall in love with Sosuke. Her father silences her with difficulty and goes to summon Ponyo's mother.

Meanwhile, Ponyo, with the help of her sisters, breaks away from her father, and uses his magic to make herself human. This causes an imbalance in the world, which in turn results in a huge storm. Riding on the waves of the storm, Ponyo goes back to visit Sosuke. Lisa, Sosuke, and Ponyo stay the night at Sosuke's house, hoping the storm will be over, whereupon Lisa leaves the house to check up on the residents of the nursing home where she works.

Granmamare, Ponyo's mother, arrives at Fujimoto's submarine. Fujimoto notices the moon has come out of its orbit and the satellites are falling like shooting stars. Granmamare declares that if Sosuke can pass a test, Ponyo can live as a human and the world order will be restored. If he fails, Ponyo will turn into sea foam.

Sosuke and Ponyo wake up to find that most of the land around where the house has been covered by the ocean.

Lisa has not returned home yet, so with the help of Ponyo's magic, they make Sosuke's toy boat life-size and set out to find Lisa. While travelling they see ancient extinct fish swimming, such as the Gogonasus and Licosus. After landing and finding Lisa's empty car, Ponyo and Sosuke go through a tunnel. 

There Ponyo loses her human form and resumes the form of a fish. Sosuke and Ponyo are taken by Fujimoto into the ocean and down to the protected nursing home where they're reunited with Lisa and meet Granmamare, both of whom had just had a long private conversation.

Granmamare asks Sosuke if he can love Ponyo even if she is a fish or human. Sosuke replies that he "loves all the Ponyos".

Granmamare then allows Ponyo to become human once Ponyo kisses Sosuke on the surface. The film ends with Ponyo jumping up and kissing Sosuke, turning while still in the air into a little girl.

Aww. That was cute!

The UK DVD comes out July 8th 2010 and I hope to get a copy.

An American tale

Following on from the last entry, I replaced my VHS tapes of Steve Spielberg's An American Tale series with the double pack 2 DVD sets. I have felt for along while this series starting from the mid 80's was well animated with a good storyline running through it

Watership Down

I recently replaced my ancient VHS tape of this by the DVD that has a making of featurette.
If you never read the novel by Richard Adams it is based upon it about a warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leaving their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.

This was a film I watched in 1979 while away with my brothers as a teen boy and while sad  in parts hugely enjoyed.

Although the animation as befits something getting on for 30 odd years is a little dated it is marvellous drawn at rabbit level.

Modern school shorts for LB's

Banner "Essex" shorts with the more contemporary longer leg style compared to those I grew up with. 

They feature a belt loop, front pleats and an elasticated back for a better fit and are made from a 65% polyester 35% viscose mix.

The urge to Wrestle

We wrestled each other sometimes in the gym sometimes on the carpet at home, sometimes for prizes but often for fun.

We loved it feeling alive for letting all that energy and aggression out safely, respecting each other for putting up a good fight.

God I so loved it.

The Magic of Autumn, 2009

As a Little Boy I always looked forward to the fall being that magical period  of transition from the late summer through to the onset of winter with it's bright crisp colours, leaves making pretty carpet like paths in the woods and forests.

It was time like most others where the seasons dictated what we would be doing in school in terms of lessons and games played in PE and also our own boyhood playground games of which conkers was one of mine.

My inner child feels all warm inside thinking of the fun we had and actually as you'll see some later in the chronological years love it still.

Conkers is an age old playground favourite, so if you harbour nostalgic memories of fast and furious conker competitions from your youth, then get yourself down to the conker championships and see whether you can beat the best. 

There are often different age categories to compete in, from the under fives to adults, and the winner of each receives a prize.

Here the berries are out ready for the birds and Mr Nutkins when he comes on over from the woodlands nearby

It's that time of your and I just adore those colours!

Dancing on the valentine

Yes, it was 25 years ago that I bought this VHS EP video of Duran Duran performing three songs from the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album that had come out at the end of 1983 in time for Christmas that year.

This was video, issued by Picture Music International/EMI, was one of first to be done in stereo very much in the infancy of home video and being priced at the more affordable ends appealed to teen boys (and girls) such as myself who could watch them whenever we wanted in an era without YouTube.

I still have my original copy in excellent condition.

Steam trains

Always loved trains as a boy, especially the Steam Locomotives and here's 34090, SIR EUSTACE MISSENDEN coming in built during WW2.

That's one I'd love to have seen first hand.

The Beatles in Mono

Finally after 22 years they are here released on "Number Nine" that's to say 9/9/09 which is why this post isn't published on a Monday.

I bought that Beatles in Mono box pictured above - the best part of GBP 199.98 - because it seemed to the only box of the two (there was a Stereo Box) that offered anything really essential and not otherwise available.

To start with the cds are all mono - the way many in the 1960's first heard them - and also the priority for mixing the separate tracks together by the record studios as most people bought mono records back then. 

Often the stereo versions had much less time spent on them so bits of the original mono mix just didn't make it into the stereo.
Most of these have been unavailable since the early 1980's (and then for a very limited time).

Then there's the packaging.

These cds have all been made in Japan with what is called a 'mini lp' form. That's to say they are made to resemble a miniature lp record sleeve using high quality card reproducing exactly the front and rear covers of the originals. 

There are replica inner sleeves with the designs used for each lp with the actual cd in a mylar wallet to keep it from getting scratched.

The individual cds have original period Parlophone, Capitol and Apple label designs featured for the centre labels of the lps.

The whole cd is then packed in archive quality acid free resealable see through envelope to protect it.























The box has been carefully designed to store the discs with a slide in disc storage compartment to make getting them out to play easy.

The Discs:
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help! *
Rubber Soul *
Revolver
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles (Also known as the "White Album" )
Mono Masters - a compilation of singles and EP tracks issued in mono that were not on any UK studio album which includes the prepared but unissued mono mixes of the Yellow Submarine film songs which one album I have no need to get.

* = These have the original stereo versions also on the same disc NOT the remixes done for cd.
The transfer to cd is extremely good - something that was a problem with the original cds issued in 1987.

Stereo cds:
I mentioned the stereo box earlier on but all that gave you was a box and a DVD of mini interviews so I topped up with these three seperate titles as they were only issued in stereo.

Abbey Road
Let It Be
Past Masters - a compilation of mainly stereo mixes of tracks issued on 45's and EP's that didn't make the UK studio albums

The sound on these discs are much better than the previous (1987/8) editions with greater presence and low bass. This is help me renew my appreciation of John, Paul,George and Ringo.

Bank Holiday Post

The Dodgem's of the 1950's in London, England had the same kewl vibe as the real ones on the street.

I loved playing on the Dodgems as a boy every holiday.

Get The Knack

There was a time in the late 70's when bursting on to the scene they really were  'IT'.

Brash with catchy Power Pop possessed of the catchy but sexist lyric where would we be without Good Girls Don't, Frustrated, It's You, Baby Talks Dirty and My Sharona?

Well I fell under their spell in 79/80 as I was looking for guitar based pop music at the time loving much of the 60's music, so bought the 45's have the albums on cassette, 8 track and vinyl but this a UK cd on BGO - catalogue number BGOCD 248 - is the best of the lot sounding like you're in the studio with them.

Growing Up IS optional

Sometimes people argue about how children today are turning out.
One school of thought thinks they are getting all cossetted trapped in perpetual childhood unable to basic things for themselves whilst others still say they're too advanced and so fail to see the dangers coming lacking the experience  older peers had.

However is our model right?

 There are expectations put on children to perform to ever more difficult targets, especially in the school environment when you look at  the way  western societies mentor and tutor them.
I'd guess we all can sure remember hearing these phrases from parents and teachers:
"You're a big boy now, not a baby"
"Act your age"
"Grow Up!"

In order to stay in favour with our mentors and peers as children we are put under pressure to change; to "grow up". This is mostly because the duties of parents in maintaining a stable home are at odds with the basic needs of free play and casual living as a child.

Can anyone think of child who never said  "I hate school"? It's not an environment conducive to natural and happy growth for the most part. There are tears and tantrums on those initial separations from parents, problems with large group integration especially at high school, and there's always an undertone of not meeting the expectations of a teacher, or fitting in with peers, none of whom would give the same level of emotional support as a close family member. 

When you need support, most your parents that you look to for support are simply not there, you don't get that contact again till the last school bell of the day.The system we have currently  is one that evolved following the destruction of older co-operative ways communities lived prior to the industrial revolution.

From such an alienating environment  we go into defensive mode (mood) putting up barriers, instead of letting our uninhibited joy flow out to touch others with happiness and playfulness.

This becomes especially so in the financially driven world of commerce, and by extension formal employment.

Essentially, the model we have is not ideal although it may be the best we have right now for the absolute numbers it needs to serve but if one was to issue a report on it you'd say "can do better". 

You have to recognize the fact that schools are not there for the benefit of the individual child, but to mould societies into pliable employable tax paying citizens for those with the power.

Now you might say what has this to do with our heading "Growing up IS optional"?

Simply that is encourages the attitudes deemed desirable for those who rise to the top which for the most part are ruthless. aggressive, self centred, and only focused on that which pays. Caring, accepting responsibility for others well-being and behaving in co-operative ways are viewed with cynicism at best and outright ridicule.

If the so-called lessons of growing up are indeed ruthlessness, aggression  and only being concerned with your needs, then while we're getting older (chronological speaking) this being Grown Up is one we can opt out of because it doesn't fulfill our needs.

Is it not surprising therefore it's  that's one of many reasons free thinkers like those of us who are LB are persecuted for having the courage to be different and to think differently?

Clannad with Clamp Collective

The best way of describing this series is it's a semi-fantasy romantic comedy drama. It is lovely show and it'll make you cry like nobodies business.The story is about the attempt to revive the Drama Club at Tomoya and Nagisa's high school. The anime is based on the popular game visual novel.

The main female characters have their own arcs, Fuuko, Kotomi, Ryou/Kyou, Tomoyo and of course, Nagisa. Its a bitter sweet story in that since only one girl can get the guy, and they all (bar Fuuko) like Tomoya.

As the year goes by the two leading characters begin to realize that real life is more complex than any stage play as new friends and rivals make everything more complicated.A strange visitor with a unexpected message enters to change Kotomi's life forever.

The second half afterstory outlining the 20 years in the life of Nagisa and Tomoya after graduation is available on DVD.

Added 10/30/11

I bought Afterstory but discovered my edition wasn't properly licensed as well as squeezing 12 episodes onto a single layer dvd which resulted in poor picture quality. I have replaced both the Clannad Collection and the Clannad After story with the UK region 2 issues.

Clamp in Wonderland.

Various characters from the Clamp collectives manga and anime series gathered together

Down at the water's edge

One of the things I loved to do as a child as to look at boats seeing the different shapes, colours and functions of things and chatting with the owners. 
Luckily I never had an accident and fell in which is what happened to my brother!
He got a spanking for it.

You may not be so much at the waters edge looking in as much as actually in it paddling your canoe or kayak.

Indeed I went sailing as a teenage boy and thoroughly enjoyed it.

A message from the operations centre

It may be 2009 but even if in my workplace the rooms I see people in have small laptop computers for looking things up for them, I'm sat here with an old school base unit, the one I've had since October 2006, a keyboard, mouse and 15 inch CRT monitor.

I do have some things such as plushies and that in the back office plus from time to time I play with children while dealing with their parents but this is where I do my age regressing in apart from my bedroom.

My computer is downstairs to help avoid any issues with overuse at night when obviously you're meant to be sleeping  and also to reduce clutter in it.

Since the issues that lead to my nervous breakdown a few years ago, outside of work I've been stepping back from full on adulthood and tend to wear more boyish clothing when regressed and playing.

For a Boy

Every little boy has his plushie even if back in the day we did not call them that that typically came from Aunts although naturally there is no reason an Uncle couldn't buy you one as for that matter could your dad.

Thing is most of us don't want unicorns or things really saturated in pink  cos they're not just comforters but things that we play with often with other boys.

This blue Dinosaur plushie really is the right sort of thing for a boy and as an LB, there's no eartly reason for me not to have one.

The Boy and His Teddy

It's a basic truism, that a child and it's teddy bear cannot be separated no matter what and if anything happens to  it it is like a death in the family.


My own Little Boy side is very much alive and kicking having a strong bond with my own teddy bears that I treasure. This image means a lot to me because it illustrates something quite important, the notion of the teddy bear as your 'real' friend and the boy shown hugging him are about to start on an adventure like no other.

I like many name my teddy bears in age-old  ceremony that binds us together and still frequently hug them, telling them all my secrets - the good as well as the bad in the knowledge they're safe.
Don't ever lose the magic!

The beatles'Second Album

This must of been one of the first studio albums by the Beatles I bought.

It was March 1979 if I remember correctly bought on my birthday from a local record shop that sadly is no longer trading in an instant.

The label was a Green Apple which suggests it might of been old stock as the later ones such as my current copy are Purple with the Capitol dome logo.

I still get a buzz from hearing Thank You Girl in stereo.

Kiki's Delivery Service

At the instigation of a online friend from a forum I recently bought this title in the acclaimed Studio Ghibi collection.

Adapted by Hayao Miyazaki from the Japanese childrens book by Eiko Kadono, it is about Kiki - a thirteen-year-old witch, and daughter of a witch - who is eager to leave home and spend a year working away from home. Her only talent is flying on her broomstick, but she sets off with her black cat JiJi) and finds a big city by the sea that she decides to live in.

She makes a deal with the bread store owner to work for her board in store that soon transforms into a courier service delivering anything from pies to pets. In this activity she -a polite, cheerful if naive child - encounters the rudeness and spoilt behaviour of others especially of a girl of her own age.

She encounters a boy on a bicycle who becomes her friend but undergoes a crisis of confidence losing her ability to fly. Only by looking into herself can she regains her abilities saving the boy from a Zeppelin flight that goes disastrously wrong.

What I liked about was the attention to detail in the drawings coupled with the message of triumph over adversity it presents.

Sports Day

One essential ritual of my school life was the annual Summer school Sports day where like it or not you were entered into the various sporting competitions for your school year group and house (cos we had operated a 'House' system).

There were  a number of them that stick in my mind and this is one of them.

That's the Egg and Spoon race that every junior school I went to always had  with the point being to fast walk with the egg balanced on a spoon not dropping or breaking, a feat that require much co-ordination the likes of which I never had!

Often there would be running races along a predetermined distance  with the first to reach the winning post getting a prize. Okay I could kinda run but staying in lane was hard going!

The other  common race was the Sack Race where you'd stand up wearing a sack over your PE kit holding the edges and have to run with the itchy material not tripping up over yourself which usually happened.

Usually some teacher or helper had the first aid kit at hand!

Although I was rubbish at it, I enjoyed taking part although we'd have to walk to the local park where it was held and was the 'Mascot' for our House.