The Year of the boy, part three

 We are approaching years end on this blog so I'd normally write something about how the year had been and how I'd see that following the tradition set just in 2019 after Christmas of 2018 following my arrival at asb.org and in April at Tumblr.

We might as well get one major impact on the year out of the way and say for me as with many of us the restrictions that came in mid March because of the Covid 19 pandemic emergency had an impact from not just everyday such as having to wear masks on the bus and shops but in meeting with others as staying overnight and even during daytime indoors was subject to severe restrictions.

It was most fortunate that I did manage to get away to the Lake District here I was able to just be little me with friends as we played, scouted, went trainspotting and even rode on a steam railway.

It was being in the loco sheds surround by men and boys, the females having wondered off, that I realized towards the end of the week actually I just loved rugged masculine pursuits and places, feeling very much that this was my place.

Those adventures, overcoming fears set of my response to the health emergency spending time in the countryside, being physical active in all weathers enjoying nature and becoming much stronger and alert  as the year went on.

I spend all year being ALB/ASB in grey shorts and turnover socks, to the point that I even attended my Uncles funeral in uniform minus badges and the like just accepted by family for being little me.

Littleness far from being a liability proved to be a great way to cope with the stresses and strains just focussing on what I'd of done as an actual bio-kid avoiding nonstop speculation, anxiety issues and update mania, keeping me grounded.

Men kept me grounded to treating me more as their own son, enquiring how I was and checking my understanding of what to do (and what not to).

It was the year too when I become more little, my short trousers after the trio to lakes got shorter in the leg as I discovered the joy of wearing 'proper' short trousers of the inside leg proportions I grew up with I know usually wear three or four inch inside leg lined shorts which do make me feel very smol.

I now enjoy wearing them much shorter for being closer to how I see me and my legs being  less encased, enjoying scrambling on my knees just before Christmas in temperatures of just 4 degrees c.

I watched children's tv and reading comics, taking out subscriptions to a few such as The Phoenix enjoying them which was something I'd never outgrown looking forward to the plop of them coming through the letter box just as I did when I was officially young.

ASB came back on an invite only basis and I was invited, participating within the group and on my own forum we've had quite a bit of activity talking about past childhoods, uniforms and the like which showed there was a need for a site that allowed that given the iffy nature of Misterpoll availability and facilities like no messaging.

While covid presently means plans to get away in the early part of next year are off, I am looking to getting out and about as an adult little boy in my uniform with others later on.

The one thing I would say was the year will be very much one of the boy who came out in the community as a LB during lockdown, finding acceptance and being cared for enjoying being who I am, having fun.

It will involve more time exploring, playing and just being little.

I'm just a boy.

This Boys Christmas

It's nearly another year in the history of this blog and as today is Christmas day like last year we are having synchronized entries on the blogs ready cooked like our turkey is ready for lunch with my parents and my presents are with them.

The one thing is they are all connected very much to my little side, the side that remains very much a boy and to be truthful Christmas for me is a boys affair - mine.

They have been opened across the morning and I've just got around to posting a bit about them as with the present pandemic we're not expecting any visitors for drinks and snacks.

This year I had the vintage Legoland set 653 which makes an ambulance helicopter to go with new and old lego sets I've had for the last two Christmas's.

As well, I had the vintage Legoland 691 rescue helicopter kit both of which were issued in 1974 and were things I would of had then and indeed I did have lego then bought me.

These two helicopters expand the playability of my lego by adding kits that I can play with from my own era.

Unexpectedly I got this  monster type 10717 set of mainly bricks from Daddy with 1,500 pieces inside which will add a lot more to my legos.

Back in 1974 I did have an Action Man, actually I had a handful of action men with many accessories such as uniforms, vehicles, weaponry and equipment that I loved to play with and I have talked about on the blog a few times.

They were sadly casualties of casting away to relatives children when my parents felt at fifteen I no longer wanted them which wasn't true cos I was still playing with them.

Recently a limited edition range of new "classic" Action Man figures were issued and this year for christmas I actually have a new one to treasure.

As many of you know, this boy is passionate about footie and so in something that was affected very much by Covid, I had the Match annual looking at this last year in the game in the UK across Europe and the classic football annual now published by Nationwide full of facts and figures for the current season.

Rupert the Bear is celebrating his 100th birthday this year so I had this most useful calendar

plus...

The 100th anniversary Rupert annual with classic stories from Nutwood to read across the year.

 

The Dandy is no longer published today weekly as it was when I was first young but D C Thomson do publish a Summer Special and a Annual with some newly drawn stories from the cartoon strips I loved as a boy.

This years annual which I had is shown with Desperate Dan carrying the weight of the Dandy.

Annuals were always a big thing with me and apart from the Dandy's I also had the Beano's but the modern Beano is of necessity different to suit today's children and that world so I didn't have this years but the Christmas 68 page Special edition which is enough to give me that feel of Christmas in Beanotown on top of the regular comic I get.

Some of the best of the past years Beano and Dandy cartoon strips is to be found in this years "Classic" Beano and The Dandy themed special compilations, this year devoted to the late Dudley D Watkins.

With the Beano, outside of the original annuals of the period I was first young, they take me back me to those days for being clearly set in the era so to read this years is to feel I was reading those comics and annuals all over again.

I did get this 1977 edition which I'm sure I had at the time, just into my teens, that'll take me back into that time when I played Mull Of Kintyre all Christmas.

Scouting is covered on another blog in much more detail but this year I did have a most useful hardback book.

Let's say Scouting and all it means has been at the core of much of my life this year and it'll be of great use to me.

Finally I did a record that only recently was issued which contains many of the hits I can remember from original boyhood Christmas's including Merry Xmas Everybody, the number 1 Christmas hit of 1973

A Selection Box, not quite the classic packaging but pretty much the sort of thing I had back then.

I'll write something up after boxing day looking back over the year, what it has meant to me but until then I hope you've had a great enjoyable Christmas and wish you all a happy new year.

From one boy to another

 

This is it, the week us boys and girls too have been waiting for all year where we find if we've drawn the short straw on being on the good or bad boy list and so I'll be busy with family this week and our next edition will be the Christmas Day special.

Until then I'll wish you a very Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Crackerjack returns!

Covid had many effects on things in our lives but Series One in the revamped Crackerjack! was a victim of it with filming delayed for what would be a second series following its widespread praise in being just sufficiently updated for today's children but keeping the core of what the show great as children are children what era you're in.

Series two resumed on Friday December 11th at 6pm on CBBC with the Christmas special which was really funny with Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt from BBC's breakfast time taking part in the show presented by Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes.

I laughed my socks off as Naga got the gunge and remembered quite a bit of the Crackajack players story on on  the "Watch it" section which is a test of observation and recall.

Naturally I watched this show from a young boy and so I remember Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart who also presented Junior Choice on Radio One at the time.

That's so nineteen seventies!

Mr. Leo Sayer on the show in the mid nineteen seventies.

A photo for an anniversary show in the eighties

Here in the UK we love a Annual, a yearly round up of a show, magazine or series and during that era you may well of had one with your selection box and toys.

The Nineteen Eighties when I was getting out of official childhood but still was in nearly every way saw me watching the show just the same as I had ten years before and so Stu Francis is a face I fondly remember presenting it.

Ooo I could just crush a grape!

All that AND "Wee Jimmy" from tv's The Crankies, it was a riot and a possible influence in remaining looking as a little boy.

As with Blue Peter there has been "behind the scenes" books published over the years.

The next edition in series 2 of the remake will be screened in the new year.

Putting music onto cards and players

If you are familiar with the idea of playing your own music on a smartphone or a dedicated music player rather than either downloading it or streaming you may need to use something to copy your cds with.

Generally you use a suite of varying bits to select those items you want to copy, an interface that allows for metadata such as artist, track titles and artwork to be found from various databases and written into each file and any folder connected to it.

It also has a interface that allows various codecs, the means the music on the cd is to be written in such as way a player will reproduce it included.

Some may offer the ability to convert one such encoded set of files to another format too.

Going way back to 2008 I have used Illustrate's dbpoweramp, which is such a suite to perform these duties because it works extremely well and it features what is arguably the best encoder for Mp3, Lame, always in it's latest version.

You can do a trial before buying it outright.

When you are copying, the interface looks like that with the top half showing the track information and the bottom portion, the settings for the type of encoding, file name structure and the chosen album art such as the cd's cover.

I had last updated it in 2015 but since then a number of the original databases it uses have ceased to provide it making it harder to use effectively with just one left so I decided to update it.

Illustrate, the programs maker have a very nice scheme where if you enter your old license number when you bought it, they will give you a discount  around a third off the new version on a like for like basis so I got mine on a five machine domestic use license.

Apart from fixing that problem of a shortage of information from databases, it also saw all the codecs to write the files with being installed directly whereas before you had to download a number of them.

It uses the latest version of Lame 3.100.1 for Mp3 which does sound very good apart from having popular lossless codecs such as Flac (Free Lossless Audio Codec) increasingly accepted on equipment installed.

You just toggle the settings before "ripping" to set which you want to use and for lossy codecs like Aac and Mp3 the settings for the sound quality

It does have a media player built into it although I use WinAmp which is quite old for Mp3's as it's very easy to use with a equalizer  built in and doesn't try to be anything other than just a media player.

I've been "whipping the Llamas ass" since 2003! (It's in joke for anyone around at that time in computer audio based on a legendary promotional meme)

For any Lossless files and Video I use VLC

I put those files on cards grouped by type of music for playing on a dedicated player such as my Fiio X3 Mark ii (pictured  with the micro sd card slot on the right side of the unit and the Fiio X3 Mark i I had from 2013 pictured below.

They both have coaxial digital outputs for external digital to analogue convertors and a proper line output to couple to an amplifier in a hifi component system or as I do a dedicated high quality headphone amplifier.

A little more Queen

It may seem a little odd but it still seems like 29 year ago when last Tuesday (November 24) I was thinking about the death of Freddie Mercury, the flamboyant, camp but utter brilliant front man of the rock group Queen.

As I remarked on a music site a few weeks back, there had been rumours regarding his health for a period before those final last words issued a day before he died, for me it really was more this that posed the question.

It was a lovely cat waistcoat but he just looked gaunt to me, something inside just said "You know something isn't just right, Chris?".

By way of a tribute I thought I'd add a few words about what was the last album issued while he was alive, Queen Greatest Hits II.

Issued on October 26, 1991, it was the second attempt at rounding up those hits that were not on 1981's Greatest Hits, the first being an album of non album B sides issued with 12 lp box set in 1985.

This new volume covers the period from 1981 to 1991's Innuendo album charting the Funk Rock era of which the only song from that funk rock based Hot Space album, much dismissed even by the band featured is the classy collaboration with David Bowie that is Under Pressure.

The comeback album, 1984's The Works and their first since signing to Capitol Records in the States, is represented by Radio Ga Ga, I Want To Break Free both with memorable videos and the axe laden Hammer To Fall.

Queen pulled off the stunt of being the best act Live Aid doing a greatest hits set in 1985 which was followed by One Vision and the A Kind Of Magic album that spurned A Kind of Magic and the poignant Who Wants To Live Forever? that was followed by a memorable tour.

1989 saw Queen issue on May 22nd The Miracle with its clutch of singles such as I Want It All and Breakthru with the railway video filmed on the Nene Valley.

The last studio album was the almost return to the heady days of Sheer Heart Attack that was Innuendo issued in 1991 with more classic rock into the mix featuring Headlong and Innuendo, fine rock singles.

The single issued to promote this came originally from that album, Show Must Go On, and that takes us back to the start of this post as that video's use of past clips with no fresh images of Freddie was sadly another clue that all was not well.

This copy is the 2016 re-issue that was remastered and cut using half speed mastering which improved on the original thin sound and has a much better printed sleeve so it feels like something you'd be proud to own.

Innuendo issued in February 1991 although originally planned to be issued late 1990, did have issues on cd, cassette and lp forms but because of issues with side lengths the song order was altered and four songs have lp specific edits.

I own the original lp which was not a big seller as most queen fans were of the demographic that had embraced the compact disc, rebuying the catalogue as it was reissued on cd in October and November of 1986.

It was cut using Direct Metal Mastering that did enable good bass and a decent level despite the side length which for that different experience I enjoy playing the original lp version.

It was reissued on lp in 2015 in its full length form as a double.

Thanksgiving 2020

After last weeks musical post, for some of you there was an important event you marked Tuesday November 26th that is marked regardless of what else may be going on in your country.

I think actually here in the UK we're kind of remiss on not having a day of thanksgiving simply because for us as a people, society and nation-state we do have reason to be thankful for what is done for us be it by friends, your family or those in public employ who educate, look after and protect us not least in these pandemic days.

Through them all we are helped on way throughout each year dealing with challenges in our lives such as lack and for some of us, ill health and disabilities that go beyond what people have to do.

Let us be thankful for all those who make our lives that much the better.

Happy thanksgiving folks!

A little Queen

This week I am looking at a couple of vinyl records I have .

Queen Greatest Hits (never "Queen's") originally came out in late October of 1981 in the UK on record (EMI EMTV 30) and pre-recorded cassette and was an instant massive seller timed perfectly for the Christmas trade.

It took an all killer, no filler approach to it's track selection missing off a few minor hits so unlike some "greatest hits" albums, there is no padding at all.

This copy is actually a new copy to me which was issued in 2016 which addressed one issue in its vinyl form which is the playing time and resultant groove was very long, 29 minutes and 10 seconds on the first side with an overall just under an hour crammed onto two sides.

It is hard to fit that much music in without losing low notes and being so quiet any imperfections become readily apparent. Actually the ideal length per side is about 18 and under 24 minutes. 

For this edition it has been split into two discs and four sides keeping the same track order which means it sounds better and for this edition uses thicker 180 gram vinyl whereas the original was rather flimsy.

Songs like "Bo' Rhap", We Will Rock You and Somebody To Love have become iconic over the decades, stuff some of us knew as this period coexisted with our education and indeed my original copy was bought in the Sixth Form.

As we all know we lost the flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury in December  of 1991 from Aids related complications and a number  of projects from that spectacular tribute concert in 1992 to unreleased live recordings were done. 

Made In Heaven was the last real Queen album issued in November 1995, made from recordings that had Freddie's vocals already on them and in effect the remaining threesome,  May,Deacon and Taylor flew in their contributions as if he'd taken a break from the sessions.

It was issued on cassette, cd which by then was the biggest format and both black and a very limited olive white vinyl which is my own copy bought from the local HMV record store with three posters featuring the singles You Don't Fool Me and Made In Heaven.

That edition is much sought after and commands a high price used.

I don't have a lot of Queen albums on vinyl as I rebought my records and pre-recorded cassettes around 1986/7 for the then new cd issues but one I do have is their third album, Sheer Heart Attack which was released in November 1974 on EMI Records in the UK.

To me this one of Queen's studio albums that shows all the different elements of the group and each members own contribution not least Brian May's 30's style Bring Back Leroy Brown performed on ukulele George Formby style.

The album is the home of the massive #2 November 1974 hit, Killer Queen and the minor hit from early 1975 Now I'm Here.

My copy is from the early 1980's by which point oen change was the addition of a barcode on the rear for EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) stock control systems that were coming into stores not leats those that carried "live stock" where the title was picked up by the costumer, taken to the counter, scanned and put in a carrier bag.

Traditional stores stored the records behind the counter seperate in their inners with just the lp jacket out for browsing.

The actual lp changed from a tan coloured lable with "EMI" in Bold red vertically on the left to a cream colour with a small boxed "EMI" logo mirroring many eighties discs that didn't have picture labels they issued.

More Action Man

Action Man was always a part of my life, something outside of Lego I always played with day in day out as a boy to the point I have made a few posts here and on another blog around it in the past.

Although Action Man was quintessentially English, something that mattered to boys of my era when the only "doll" for boys was G.I. Joe who was as all american as you could get, this did not mean the the "doll" had to be British (as in a Member of the British Armed Services) because we did recreate battle scenes.

Thus you have "Action Man" dressed up as a WW2 German Soldier here with his Iron Cross, gun and hat and accessories to go with it such as patrol cars and tanks so one of us would play the German's and naturally one or more would be the Brits re-imagining a battle.

For anyone not of that era you have to understand our parents lived through WW2 as children and our Uncles often had fought for our Country and Freedom so WW2 was a part of  background and figured in boys play a lot.

Of the many accessories coveted by boys for their Action Man dolls the Field Radio Set was one of the biggest and one I owned myself.

Designed to look like a WW2 field radio it was designed to emit messages by pressing the button at the front which operated a battery mini record player.

The messages came on different coloured discs that you pushed onto a spindle, each colour having a different set and then a needle read it sending to a plastic horn rather like an old fashioned horned gramophone.

I did barter a few things to get some extra discs from it from my boy school chums.

Action Man had some cool stuff like a Rocket Launcher with plastic shells it would fire fairly realistically as you fought another boy with his Action Man.

I just loved playing war games with boys.

Staying warm in autumn

This weekend has seen much wind and rain which can be enough to send some people running back to the central heating but in this life and it's past origins this isn't the case although it would be daft to get yourself soaked to the skin for nothing.

Back then, we seemed to have it sorted with having long thick winter coats that we wore with our scarves and gloves even if it wasn't so cool for a boy to seen wearing them unless they were absolutely essential.

Thus it didn't matter that then we always wore shorts because our thick coats and proper thick woollen socks kept us warm

We'd be out playing regardless including at this time of year Conkers to our hearts content or building a bonfire.

We're coming up to Remembrance day where normally boys lay wreaths either in Scouting (see the Scouting blog where there's more on that) or at some schools such as at this Prep School where the year 8's (around 12 1/2 to 13 1/2 year olds) are taking part in the service.

I also got my ASB badge this week for my jersey so yeah, I'm kind of officially an asb!