Help Needed

I need to make a decision, tomorrow night I am playing with the LGSO for An Evening of Movies and Musicals, one of my colleagues in the orchestra reckoned that this was going to be "as camp as Christmas" and maybe just as Glam.   This means that I have a decision to make, what to wear we have been asked to wear all black and look smart.   Not for the first time I am reminded how much easier it is for the men, just put on a back shirt and a DJ and there you are.   I don't think that a full evening dress would be appropriate and one of my LBDs is a little too little for the time of year, so I am left with three choices.


 This is quite slinky little sleeveless number with a nice high neck, being sleeveless I think it will need the jacket tomorrow


The next one is longer with nice puff sleeves and a bow at the back, it's a sort of jersey material and feels lovely, not quite such a show stopper though.


The last one is more of a "proper" dress made from a broadcloth with a proper neckline and a zip up the back, again being sleeveless it will require a jacket, and the combination does feel rather glamorous.

I'm sure that in the greater scheme of things what I wear does not really matter much as virtually no body will see me anyway.   However I do need to make a decision before 9:00 a.m. tomorrow as we have a band call at 11:00.

Please let me know what you think, then if I get it wrong I can always share the blame around a bit!

P.S. this was the other potential choice, but I'm not sure that it will work with a jacket

Happy Back Friday

Here in the UK we don't do thanksgiving, we do give thanks, those of us who are Christians do it daily, no what I mean is we do not have a special day on which to give thanks, we do not celebrate a particular occasion when thanks were especially due. Since in a large part it was managing to get away from us for a whole year that was being celebrated that is not entirely surprising.

We are beginning to celebrate Halloween in the US manner, and there is a growing awareness of Thanksgiving, but I was a little dismayed this morning to hear on the radio that retailers were being encouraged to have "Black Friday Sales"    Personally I have more than enough to cope with already with all the "retail opportunities" offered by Christmas, I don't need any more.

On a more cultural note it seems a shame to me that more and more the American culture seems to be becoming more dominant, I enjoy the differences between Nations, and indeed regions.   The down side of the "Global Village" is that all the real Villages, Towns and indeed even Nations are getting increasingly similar.   We find the same store fronts on every High Street, the same companies providing our services, the same restaurant feeding us, and the same companies selling us our coffee. While I am sure that this may push up quality and keep down prices I like the independent local store, the local character, accent and food.

Viva la difference

Busy, Busy, Busy.

I seem to have so much going on at the moment that I have barely a moment to catch my breath and pause for thought.   This last weekend I worked on Saturday before playing in a performance with the local Brass Band, then on the Sunday there was a 5 hour orchestra rehearsal.   As well as my usual work commitments I have concerts coming up on this Saturday and Sunday, then on the 14th and 15th, the 20th and then carols on the 21st and 22nd this also means lots of rehearsals I also have to fit in a haircut on Saturday a visit to the osteopath my support group Christmas dinner and leading a couple of home group meetings.   In theory I should be looking forward too Christmas if only for a rest.

In actuality I can't say I a looking forward too it this year.   It is often said that Christmas is a time for families and this year I will not be able to spend Christmas itself with any of my family.   All y friends have family that they will be spending the day with so it is looking like it will be a day in front of the tele possibly with a bottle of brandy.   In the mean time though I do have looks to look forward to.

On Sunday the LGSO will be playing in a performance of music from the Movies and Musicals at the Apollo Victoria, not sure that is really quite "my thing" but the soloists a great the choir spot on and of course the orchestra is always fun.   It has been observed that as an orchestra this will be the "Campest" thing that we have ever done.   This makes me realise that even after nearly a year in this orchestra I still don't fully understand all the culture, and especially "Camp".   I may not understand camp but I do understand glamour and I fully intend to do my bit in that department.   Nothing too OTT just a LBD heels and a bit of sparkle.

Before all that though I do need to find some time to go shopping to get some new tights and play a load of Christmas music in Biggin Hill, a bit different!

Weapons of music distruction

It's not because I nothing has been happening that I've not been around much recently, rather it's because I've been very busy with one thing and another.   Lots going on on the music front not so much that is directly trans related, although watch out ladies, Paula's got a new dress for the CTG Christmas Dinner.

In the mean time I just felt I had to share this, especially for my friends Chris and Sue

Photo finish

Sorry, I've not been around on the old interweb for a couple of days, what can I say I do have a life outside of the web as well.   Sometimes it's not such a great life at others it can be wonderful and I have had a little of both very recently.   Thursday morning I woke up to the sound of rain drumming against my bedroom window, just from the sound of it I knew that I would not be working that day, adding that to my already pretty low mood, I ended up not even managing to get out of bed till the afternoon.   I managed to get up and out in the afternoon and started to feel a bit better in time to go to my daughters school for a parents evening.

By total contrast Friday broke bright and I managed to get a great deal done ~ I always feel better if I can get outdoors for at least some of the day ~ if I can get started I will generally be OK but sometimes the problem lies in getting started.   Recognising this I have booked appointments for every morning next week, knowing that someone is waiting for me should get me going.   Friday evening I went up to town to visit the National Portrait Gallery.  



I wanted to see the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait of The Year exhibition and was not disappointed.    I went with my daughter and we were both really impressed with some of the photos, but not necessarily the same ones, or indeed the prize winners.   In the age of digital photography anyone can take lots and lots of pictures and simply by the number taken there should be some decent ones, exhibitions like this one show that there is still a place for the skilled creative trained professional.

I would love to share some of the pictures with you all, but copyright restrictions quite rightly apply so I can only recommend you go and see the exhibition for yourselves, if you can't follow the link above and you can see most of the on the National Portrait Gallery web site.

Just to make my point I have put up a couple of pictures, a selfy and a professional portrait by Justin David, I'm sure you can tell which is which.

#Yomepongounaminifaldayque

"I wear a miniskirt - so what?"

"A Colombian nightclub owner has suggested a woman allegedly raped outside his club may have invited the attack by wearing a miniskirt.

Andres Jaramillo has since apologised for his remarks, but not before women's rights groups took to social media to vent their fury.

They asked supporters to post pictures of themselves in miniskirts under the umbrella hashtag "#Yomepongounaminifaldayque" - "I wear a miniskirt - so what?" 

From the BBC web site

This is a serious protest against unacceptable views, it seems unfair that this is not bigger news.   Nobody should be subject to crime - of whatever type - just because of how they choose to dress.   I had t work at my admin the other day because of teh weather so I decided to show my support while I worked.

A little bit of Donahue

Over at the "Condo" Cyrsti has posted an old Donahue video with group of Cross Dressers the subject of questions, of course being British I didn't get a chance to see this at the time but it is interesting to see how much some things have changed, and in other ways how little.    Public attitudes are now a lot more liberal and accepting (in my experience) but understanding is still very limited.    I know when I come out there is often an immediate assumption that is related to sexuality, or that it is a lifestyle choice.   We need these public affirmations to help people understand who we are.

Now by modern standards the quality of the film is very poor, but it did take me a while to realise that two of these women were not cross dressers, but one a wife and anther a Doctor there as an "expert", maybe part of my confusion was down to the rather "over the top" styles of the day.   This is well worth watching, even if some of the comments and the constant use of the male pronouns will grate a bit, there are a few comments that are most affirming.

Maybe it's time that we did something like this here in the UK, I've just been watching loose women, do you think they'd have me on a a guest?

One thing that struck me as remaining very much the same was assertion that being out, being honest with myself about this has taken away the guilt.

Tuba carols at St Pauls

You have to have very keen eyes t spot me in this one, but I was there.   Anyone know when this year's event is going to be?

I Got It Wrong

Men Behaving Badly

Something you will rarely see in the main line press, yes I have an errata to admit to,, very silly mistake really but still all such things are best admitted to and corrected.   Yesterday I mentioned an event I went and called it "Men Behaving Badly" to should have read "Men Behaving Boldly" this does of course totally change the meaning.

Treading Boldly

Feeling a little Blue

"I woke up this morning feeling rather blue, it's not all that surprising I'm an ancient Briton you see."   There is a special Tufty Badge surprise winners present for anyone who gets that one!

I actually woke up not feeling very good, on a friend's sofa coughing with the cold I've caught and feeling the twin effects of too much booze and an unwise curry.   Having said all that it was a good night, the second one in succession.   Friday night I went up to the South Bank with my daughter and enjoyed an evening looking around at the different stalls in the Christmas Market and having dinner at Wagamama's.   These outings with my daughter are very much the highlight of my week, and this one was extra fun.   We liked what we saw so much that we will be going back in a couple of weeks to buy our Christmas presents, I will confess there were some earrings I rather fancy for myself as well, but I do need to exercise some self control.

Yesterday was a much odder day, I spent most of it at our Church at an all day Men's Conference, called "Men Behaving Badly", at ties I did feel a little out of place, but the one comment I will relate to you here is one from one of our leaders who said The Church has been trying to turn us men into Women" I just thought to myself "Well in my case I wish they would try a it harder".   However it was a good day, in principle I am slightly against the idea of splitting up across the gender divide, I feel that we should just be people, or in the case of the Church Christians.   However from my unique view point ~ I have attended both a men's and a women's conference, not because of my gender confusion, no but because a couple of years ago we had no women who could operate our sound desk, so I was appointed an honorary woman for the day and sat in on all the sessions ~ I have noticed that both the men and the women will talk more freely about some really important stuff when they are away from the "other side"

After this "Conference" I popped over to see my friend B, and as I have already observed we over indulged a bit, this was never our intention, it was just that "as they say" one thing led to another.   We had just intended to have a couple of quick pints but we when we got to the pub we found that they were having a "Cocktail" evening, so after our couple of pints we reacquainted ourselves with Kir Royal, and after a few of those I stood no chance of driving home so I ended up with a take away curry and a night on the sofa.