Tole - Told

Love Is In The Air

Z (yes, really)

New music from Dutch metal mezzo Simone Simons today. Her first solo album is due in August. For this track, she has some familiar faces in tow. Mark Jansen, her bandmate in the band Epica since 2002, contributes some harsh vocals and the whole band joins a bunch of other Dutch metalheads to form a chorus for the R.E.D. Crowd Chant. Multitalented Dutch musician Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One) once again provides the music for Simone's lyrics and produces.

Jotun - In Flames

Thanks, Verbs. I do agree on the consistency. Chapter I is pretty set, but I can keep that in mind as I work on the next few. Other opinions still welcome, of course.

And good morning. First really nice day in a while. Not too hot, not too humid, no rain or flooding. So I'm actually using my other home office, aka the deck, today.

Coffee is a dark roast from Lavazza. Teas are Assam and Mukujima Sencha (Japanese green). Cold drinks for those still battling heat are iced tea, lemonade, and an assortment of sodas, all waiting for you in our perpetually cold fridge.

Have a nice one, folks! Later.

Lake - Cake

Beautifully, the butterfly flutters about.

Heathers

Rocket Man - Elton John

Quote by Cora
Another famous soundtrack he composed was, "King Kong" (2005).

And he did a bang-up job on that one. While I still prefer the 1933 original, the 2005 is a fantastic movie in its own right. Certainly humanizes Kong nicely and has some pretty good acting. Better than most monster movies anyhow.

Swedish guitarist and singer Tommy Johansson is very good at both. He spent a few years in the band Sabaton but is back doing his own projects now and a new track for his band Majestica dropped today. He also does weekly covers on his YouTube channel, though I understand that he is taking a break in August.

Glad it's your election and not mine. Our boy is having his problems but anything happening up here pales by comparison with your shitshow. Have fun.

Sorry I wasn't in to prep this morning. Will do better tomorrow. Hopefully.

Question: How long should chapters be? I mean, I am working on this new fantasy story that is going to be long so I am looking at doing it in chapters. It's the first time I have started out with that as the intent so I am not sure how to approach it. First chapter is c. 3200 words. Second and third are in flux for plot reasons right now but are clocking in a bit shorter, 2000-3000 words.

I am sure the correct answer is going to be something vague like "as long as they need to be" but thought I would try.

Close Encounter of the Third Kind

Day of Wine and Rose

6630 (worked in the yard, now I'm dirty)

Lane - Late

Saxophonist plays a sweet solo.

I sometimes have one in mind as the "look" for a character so I guess yes. Don't cast my stories much these days, though, partly because I don't watch many movies and TVs so I am not that familiar with a lot of current stars beyond their names.

WYE cast yourself as the protagonist in one of your stories?

Power of Love (take your choice of the much-covered Jennifer Rush song or the Huey Lewis & the News song)

(not many animals begin with U though, so we'll forgive you this time 😊)

Vampire Bat

(Woo hoo! B-movie giant spiders!!!)

From Here to Eternity

Good morning!! Threatening sky on the way to the office this morning but nothing substantial yet. Chance of shower with a risk of thunderstorms throughout the day, though.

Coffee is a Jamaican Blue Mountain medium roast.

Teas are English Breakfast and Lemon.

Iced tea and lemonade are ready in the fridge along with an assortment of sodas.

Have a good one!!

Probably posted this when it came out but it's been close to a couple years and I just heard it this morning on my Spotify "Energize My Day" playlist. It's Avantasia, the ongoing project of German singer/guitarist Tobias Sammets, here featuring Floor Jansen joining Tobias on vocals.

Actually watched a good piece on the Ben G Thomas channel I mentioned above, looking at the current state of knowledge about the infamous otodus megalodon shark. Bottom line is that, absent finding a more complete fossil, much remains up in the air about it. For instance, we know it was the biggest predatory fish, and one of the biggest predators, of all time but exactly how big remains up for debate, with estimates ranging from 14-15m in some studies to 20m or more in others..

Burger, even if I do like both.

Hot dog or sausage on a bun?

The site was rather slow for a while late this morning and this afternoon. Then I had an error from Cloudflare saying the host was not responding. A back end problem, I take it, since other sites were fine? Things seem good now.

Might. I was a fan of the spy-fi (Bond, etc.) action genre for a time in my teens and twenties so something in that vein is a possibility. Also enjoy pulp-y action like Indiana Jones.

WYE adapt a story of yours for other media (comic, TV, movie)?

Night Moves - Bob Seger

Quote by gillianleeza
I tried to watch some of Shark Week's programming, but I think they've covered it all in past years, and some shows are just silly.

The science YouTuber Ben G Thomas counterprograms his own "Shark Week" which is wall-to-wall actual science about sharks and his stuff is often quite interesting. This year he finished with a half hour video on deep sea sharks and their adaptations to life in the deepest parts of the ocean. Ben's a UK university student in paleontology whose mother is an ecologist. His channel started while he was still a teen and now features three hosts (him, his buddy Doug, and a young woman named Emily who joined them more recently). He also helped his mother start her channel.

Quote by Molly
we have another comp coming in a few weeks!

We are under a heat warning, too. Just had a very, very heavy storm roll through. Now has calmed a bit still pouring rain and there's some lightning and thunder about.

Good morning and welcome to Inspirations!!

For inspiration today, we've got Deathwish Dark Roast coffee, Earl Grey and Darjeeling teas. In the fridge, for those seeking to beat the hit, there's pitchers of iced tea and lemonade and a nice assortment of sodas.

Given the weather, stay cool and stay dry as appropriate!