The Thriller in the Rain

It's an odd week, getting close to Advent but not really feeling that much like it probably with both the generally downbeat feelings post covid and with everything else going on such as War in Ukraine, the controversy around the World Cup and the continuous trickling reports on the Cost of Living crisis.

It also has rained rather a lot this week that impacted on my abilities to spend time outside often coupled with strong winds so I've been busy reading books and comics when not on forums as a number of things have come out tied in with the Christmas book and record sales campaigns before years end.

This was an important one which in its record form was what caused the great cutting from digital controversy at Mobile Fidelity in July cos the copied the master tape at a super high resolution from the label that owns it and then made adjustments using analogue equipment to cut the record.

It's forty years old and I feel remains one of the best records of that era with an exceptional recording.

Way back in that era I had copies of that and Michael Jacksons other albums on cassette tied in with playing on my radio cassette recorder and "Walkman" except mine was a Aiwa but they went by the late 90's as I embraced the MiniDisc.

With my only surviving MiniDisc recorders being portables and having a home cassette deck back again since 2016 I've remade a couple including Thriller using that Super Audio cd version which sounds fantastic even on ordinary players backed with Off The Wall, his 1979 Epic solo debut from the European first issue with original mixes.

The last copies from the mid to late 80's were done on these cassettes which were very classy looking and technically more reliable than late TDK SA's.

I redid my own custom edit of his Bad album of 1987 again from the original European cd (Japanese pressed) as several tracks later on got remixes inserted by taking out one weaker track the 48 minutes got reduced to just over 45.

I then added a few tracks from his 1975 Forever Michael album including the UK number one single One Day In Your Life and the 1973 missing at the time recordings but completed in 1984 Farewell My Summer Love album as I liked his work at Motown from the Hello World box set of 2010. 

They came out well so that bit of revisiting the past paid off.

Colaterial damage in the Ukrainian war

This week we return to why pausing this blog usually fails - rapid grown up post inspirations that don't fit the other blog - rather than what I'd much prefer to writing about.

It was reported late Tuesday that two people were killed when a couple of missiles landed at a farm in Poland.

This was about 3 miles from the border with Ukraine that itself had received over 80 missiles falling on its towns and cities destroying or damaging buildings including homes fired by Russia.

Much of the initial discussion around this incident in Poland centred more around whose rocket it was, something hard to reach a clear conclusion on given both Ukraine and Russia do have some identical missiles and that missiles can go way off target.

This conflict added more to the emotional feel as we marked Remembrance on Sunday.

Current thinking suggests it may be more likely to be Ukrainian fired from an anti missile unit but in a way it really doesn't matter that much as the issue is more one of was it deliberate or not as that if it had been Russian fired would of been a major issue for NATO.

It is a reminder that this conflict started by Russia can easily spill over to other countries in the same way Moldova has reported power losses following attacks on Ukraine's electricity systems probably because of being interconnected.

Ukraine had every right to stop rockets landing where they cause harm but Russia alone is responsible for the attacks and how they are impacting other countries.

The rocket attacks need to stop as are causing harm to all.

Remembrance weekend edition

 After two entries that went into current affairs

 

I enjoy a bonfire night as much as anyone but the other thing GirlGuiding is involved in around this time of year is Remembrance  which will be marked today with Armistice Day and in two days time on Remembrance Sunday.

Having taken part in Parades it has a bit of a sombre nature because we think about what men (and women) did both at home and on the battlefield to preserve the liberty, freedom and way of life we have and the sacrifice of lives given to have succeeded in it against great odds in WW2.

It is important for people, especially children to know about this so in guiding with the help of people such as the Royal British Legion, girls are taught about this as in a good number of schools they are too.

 

Here we see Guides and Brownies going to the cenotaph as many will this weekend placing their wreath upon it as a symbol of our respect and appreciation of what those people, often young gave for us and our country.

We will remember our war dead.

Of tax and climate action

 

While I wait for the chaos around the about bloomin' time changing of a tap downstairs to subside - and why is it you want to go just when there's no chance to flush? - I'm just looking at some of the important stuff that needs doing.

We know on the 17th the Annual Autumn statement needs to be published by the Chancellor which I am sure will feature some tax rises to claw back the money lost by the Albatruss in her short period apart from the black hole in the reserves that existed at that point when she and her chancellor tried to borrow a massive amount to secure tax cuts with no clear plan to pay it back.

It's quite probable a sort of tax on energy firms profits might feature even if not perhaps in name given both the need for revenue and the fairly widespread feeling they are profiteering from peoples misery.

The other side of it is that some support for people and business who are struggling with the step rises in energy, food and fuel is likely to be needed over and above that that has been done so far.

Mortgage and Rent rises too are causing a lot of concern not least because failure to keep up with does leave to loss of a place to live fairly rapidly.

It was a surprise to see that outside King Charles III's special event to be held prior to COP27, the climate change conference, Mr Sunak decided to actually attend it given he'd previously indicated he felt there was more important domestic business he needed to do.

Could it of been being out staged by ex Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying he was going lead to this? Possible as was the criticism both from people such as the Green Party you might expect but also from some of his own back bench Members of Parliament whose voters are interested in Climate Change and what globally we can do about it.

A lot of store was placed on last years COP26 in Glasgow but there has being much backtracking from commitments because of both the energy issues with alternative and renewable energies not quite filling the gap left by nuclear and fossil fuels when it comes to making electricity.

The other is of course the weaponization of energy with Russia turning off the gas to continental Europe which has raised prices for all and the War itself Russia is engaged in against Ukraine.

I must admit I'm wary of big conference events such as COP not least because it seems to me little is achieved that justifies the time, effort and yes even energy used when many of the Worlds biggest polluters who prioritize short term growth over keeping with sustainable year on year reductions in C02, "air miles" and the like.

It's like you want to talk green and really not do much beyond changing the window dressing and yet climate change and its impact on our only planet is very real.

I do wonder if Mr Sunak's first though might of had some merit?