Stars must often sign autographs.

Cruise ship, though the idea of being a passenger on a cargo ship has its appeal.

CD or MP3?

Minimums are the low points.

Quote by AnnaMayZing
My sixteen-year-old granddaughter telling me about my childhood!

Those kids can be surprising sometimes, eh. We've had our differences with our son going back to his teens but he sent his mother a lovely message and flowers for her birthday so clearly we got something right.

Oo, cool. A mobile coffee bar. Did they have hot water for tea, too?

One of my team at work had C-19 recently but it doesn't seem to spreading here. I haven't gotten the new vax yet but maybe when I finally get around to my flu shot.

Had a fairly heavy snow overnight here. I shovelled somewhere between 20 and 30 cm off of my drive. Looks more like mid-January than mid-November. Supposed to be gone quickly, though. Temps start rising again tomorrow. Which is good. This is waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too early for Ontario.

I'm probably more dangerous to myself and bystanders than to any attacker so no. That said, if I lived in certain parts of the US ... that changes to a maybe.

WYE write a story about a real person with only a light gloss to hide their identity?

Lord of the Lost and Infected Rain hail from Germany and Moldova respectively. Both do eclectic, engaging mixes of metal styles and are led by solid lead singers/songwriters, Chris Harms for LotL and Lena Scissorhands for Infected Rain. So some wise, wise metalhead put the two together. A contender for my song of the year and one more reason why LotL's Opus Noir Vol. 2 is my most anticipated album for the remainder of 2025 (drops December 12). Vol. 1 came out in August and is already headed for my top 5 of the year.

Quote by verbal
Big wins all over the American political landscape yesterday. Maybe we have a chance.

Yeah, I've seen some fairly upbeat writing on US politics for once. I still think there's a long road ahead and a tough row to hoe (how's that for mixing metaphors, eh?). But the GOP melting down would probably be good news up here even if we have to wait until 2028 to see Trump's ugly backside. Right now, we have Conservatives and even some Liberals (supposedly our centrist party but they tend to swing like a pendulum and are leaning right under Carney) taking some inspiration from Trump's lot even if we are generally pissed off about his handling of cross-border relations.

If you're not up to hosting it, don't host. Ruffled feathers belong on turkeys, not humans, anyhow.

Good morning! Weather is going to suck for the rest of the week and into the weekend. Showers, rain, storms, you name it. Where was this when my grass was turning brown in August?

Coffee and tea are refreshed. Cold drinks look good. How's things?

There's herbal tea in the tea drawer if that helps. 😊

Good morning!! Wet and kind of miserable here at the moment.

Coffee for the week is Kicking Horse Grizzly Claw Dark Roast. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Yorkshire Gold. Pitchers are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Sodas stocked. Annual shipment of mini-marshmallows has arrived so we've got hot chocolate available now. And there's fresh baked goods for those needing a sugar fix who don't have leftover candy around.

Temperatures drop as winter approaches.

From Pacifica (see upthread), the final official video from their new album In Your Face. Bright alt-pop/rock from Argentina is not something I expected to have on my buds but I quite like this duo.

Good morning! Happy Halloween!!

And Halloween apparently ends at 8pm Eastern Time tonight, at least for Canadians. Something about bats, but that still sounds Halloween-y to me. 😉

Fresh coffee and tea are brewed. Pitcher of iced tea and lemonade are washed and filled. Soda stock looks good.

For munchies ... hey, what else. Trick or treat goodies, of course.

But there's date squares for those not looking for a candy fix.

Quote by verbal
It was part of the "Satanic panic" of the 80s, but I don't think it's too well known.

No, I haven't heard that one. My main experience with the whole nonsense was them going after Dungeons & Dragons since I was active in roleplaying from about 1977 to the early 90s. My church was liberal (relatively, I found out the limits of that when the denomination voted on ordaining gay ministers) so I had no issues but I heard some horror stories for sure. Maybe if I had been into metal in those days, I would have seen more of the music side but that came more recently.

Weird moment of the day. In 2020, I wrote Musings Of A Forgotten Deity for the 10th anniversary competition. And for the cover image, I found a nice pic of a ruined Greek temple overlooking the sea. Was just looking at it again and trying to remember if I even knew where it was taken. So I did a visual search. It's the Acropolis of Lindos on the island of Rhodes. I have now been there. Wish I had remembered. I might have tried to get a pic of my own from the same angle. Here's the photo I used. I'll get one of my photos of Lindos when I'm home tonight.

Quote by verbal
Finally finding my way through the witches spell on cassette tape story.

So a 70s-90s witch? 😀 You need to do a sequel where the spell is an MP3. 😉🤣

Hi, Gil. Sorry to hear that life is still kicking you in the ass. Sending good vibes. Take care.

And good morning, all. Hot coffee and tea are refreshed and there's fresh iced tea and lemonade in the fridge.

Have a good one!

Wow, what a game last night. 18 innings. Sadly, the Jays are now down 2-1 in the series. Game 4 goes tonight, assuming anyone is able to get out of bed to play.

Coffee and tea are refreshed and here's some new goodies. Hope all are well.

Early in her career, Dutch metal vocalist Floor Jansen studied opera among other styles of singing as she sought to develop her own style and learn how to be a better singer. And she does use that training from time to time in Nightwish, though not as much as she did in her early days.

This past weekend, on a charity special of the Dutch TV show Beste Zangers, Floor teamed with Dutch operatic mezzo Maria Fiselier for a performance of "Because We Believe", co-written and originally performed by Italian tenor Andrea Boccelli (you might recall him singing it at the 2006 Torino Winter Games). And that opera training was very much in evidence, with the performance ending on a belt that brings the house down.

Authors Publish for this week highlights magazines taking fiction longer than 7000 words (so none of the that wussy flash and micro stuff). Most still cap out around the same level as here, so 10K or so. It's real mix in terms of style/genre so look it over and see if anything you have on the go fits somewhere.

» 30 Magazines Accepting Longer Fiction

I'm not really a "hugger" but definitely tell people nice things.

WYE take up a new hobby that you previously knew nothing about?

Wavelength helps define electromagnetic spectrum.

While Nightwish is best known for heavy, dramatic symphonic metal, they have done some nice ballad-y material over the years. Most recent example is "Lanternlight" from the 2024 album Yesterwynde (see upthread for current lead singer Floor Jansen's solo live performance) but there's good examples from throughout the band's history. Here, Russian-born, Finland-based soprano Natalia Sarsgard covers "Swanheart" from Oceanborn, the band's 3rd LP, in a performance in Kitee, Finland. Kitee is significant here because it is the hometown of the original Nightwish band members and is where the band started and is still based. There's even a Nightwish exhibit in the town.

Good morning, star shine. (stops singing before someone calls the police)

How's things today? Fresh coffee and tea are made. Munchies still looking good. Ditto cold beverages in the fridge.

I have been doing some writing and it's starting to flow again. Alas, it won't be for here but I'll get something for this site going soon, too.

Jay and Dodgers are back at it tonight. 1-1. Jays need a win here.

Been enjoying this young band from Argentina recently. Pacifica consists of guitarist Ines Adam and bassist Martina Nintzel, who share vocals. Other positions are currently filled with session players.

I would love to go electric but when I was buying a couple years ago, I didn't feel the time was right yet. We're coming due to replace our family car (a compact SUV) so maybe that one will be an EV or PHEV.

SUV or sedan?

Yeah, I've been neglecting SS a bit. Sorry for that. Just not settling back in well after my vacation. It's been two weeks now so hopefully I'm getting things back together. Got s**t going down at work, too, that has me wondering why I am even still there given that pre-pandemic, I actively discussed retirement at 60 with my boss.

Writing? Nothing at the moment but not for lack of thinking and trying. Maybe soon. Lots of ideas but just don't seem to have the time or motivation right now.

Oh, for the baseball fans...

OKAY...(okay)...BLUE JAYS...(blue jays)...LET'S ... PLAY ... BALL!!!

An ape walks in to a cafe...

Wow, this place looks dead. Good thing Halloween is coming, the night when the dead return to haunt the living...

(Busily sets about cleaning the place)

Okay, that's better.

Now, for coffee, here some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from Fire-Roasted. For teas, let's go with a fine Organic Assam and some Yorkshire Gold. Washed the pitchers and put in some fresh iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked up, too.

For goodies, here's date squares and cookies plus some ape-made pancakes with real Canadian maple syrup.

Dang, it's gotten quiet around here again. Plated fresh brownies and cookies, refreshed the coffee and tea.

Between jet lag and a mild cold, haven't really mustered much energy for writing post-vacation. My sleep is getting back to normal, though, so maybe in the coming week. The question then becomes what to write. I dashed off a micro for another site but nothing else is really coming to me right now.