Christmas 2022 style

This weeks issue is a synchro post looking at christmas and it doesn't matter how you spin it it's the same thing typed shortly after a traditional turkey roast Christmas lunch here with no guests.

One brother came on Boxing Day morning for a short period for coffee and chat.

You'll hear a bit more about this Big item in the present list but it is a extra bit to the 1980 to 1984 Now Yearbook series issues with tracks they didn't include which has proven to be  very successful form them showing a quality hits series is most popular.

I asked one S Claus for this as it rounds off that part and so have this the three lp set version that will tie in with the LP of Now Yearbook 80 and my other original compilations on records from the NOW and HITS series.

I had the Beano Annual that goes with both the Christmas Special comic and the Christmas edition of the regular comic with exclusive cartoon adventures from Minnie the Mix, Rubi, the Bash Street Kids and the like.

Everything is in the world children in 2022 live in which as the sole surviving comic of the generation we were brought up on makes sense as much as the ones we had had the technology and many of the attitudes towards children of our era.

Ultimately you need to see it reflect the world you are in.

That's a ritual that goes way back in time and single digit ages.

 

This was a delayed Record Store Day issue of a live concert from 1982 during the Rio tour for those of us alive at the time, the first time it came out on two slabs of gold coloured vinyl.

 I had these two Super Audio cds that originally were issued in 2000 and 2003 part of a series seeing the entire Steely Dan catalogue remastered and issued in audiophile vinyl and Super Audio cd form by Kansas based Analogue Productions.

I had a voucher from one aunt, some hand knitted woollen socks,a new diary to help keeping things organized, money from the 'rents and one brother although one present sent by mail hasn't arrived and one hopes isn't lost

Annual card edition 2022

 

We are wrapping things up here in time honoured style as things get rather busy with present swapping, looking out for deliveries from the likes of the "Swan", getting our own arrangements in order for Christmas Day and the like.

Thus social media and the like gets paused as they do eat up time which is more needed for Christmas and that also includes the time taken in writing up blogs here too.

With that I'll wish you all a very happy christmas and all the best for 2023.

Regards

Things that come back from past memories

Not that long to go before the day so in the incredible sub zero degrees temperatures apart from sleep in a woollen hat and gloves as I could feel myself almost shiverthouhhts go back to the past.

Way back in 1978 Saturday tea times had runs of The Pink Panther Show on BBC1 where the inspectors poor thinking often showed him outwitted by the criminal gangs and his Pinkness outfoxed his opponents.

Sometime these were the original sixties versions and at other time newer compilations with other characters series shown.

I just loved watching them. Still do.

Back in the day records were the main medium, a big concern was if the person you lent (never "loaned") a record to to listen would look after it from spilling things on it, knocking the tone arm and scratching it but I never had a person place it upon a radiator although you might have to remind some about keeping away from gas or coal fires as heat can cause significant warps that may not play well if at all.

There may be a record or two in eight nights time although I'm waiting on a few with the current industrial action delaying matters more than just this weather normally would.

There will be a pause after a out of sequence post on Monday until at least boxing day if not later that week.

Moving across advent

 Just another week before break up,eh?

That kind of reminds me of some of things I used to do like using the school stapler, paper from the stationery cupboard and photocopier for personal projects apart from time honoured pranks such as placing objects on the tops of doors.

We're moving along as the Christmas tree is up as is the estates own community tree decked with lights and we have the advent calendar up.

It's been jolly cold this week with temperatures below minus four, not that I'm exactly nesh, known for being out the cold with semi bared legs, just covering my head and hands as that's where you tend to lose the most heat in the winter, out in the woods watching the pigeons.

Unlike last year we do have heating so no waking up feeling half frozen but we don't heat the house a lot apart from the front room as a rule, just taking the chill off so its comfortable and you can always add a layer if needs be.

Publication over Christmas is something I always address on this blog given how long this has been running and after next Friday's post there will be a special one on Monday December 19th and then a pause until Boxing day which Monday the 26th.

Like most I'm home then, helping make Christmas so things always get busy just before the day so that's priority here not sat scrolling websites and typing stuff out.

Advent Catgut music

 

Funny start to the month with rather cool days and even the expectatation more in eastern England of snow showers and very low temperatures so it doesn't really feel like one season or another.

It's never the best time of year for me - too many traumatic personal memories - so don't be surprised if I go from various sites unexpectedly as stuff just comes over me in waves I'm afraid.

 While with the postal dispute still raging deliveries have been somewhat erratic, thinking at one point earlier in the week I may need to chase up a record, this interesting cd of violin solos played by the renowned violinist Rachel Podger came  out last month.

Personally I quite enjoy violin based music and am a sucker for a compilation of short works including transcriptions from organ or piano.

This which is a Super Audio cd with a regular layer is just fantastic to listen to.

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.