Quote by verbal
If there's a heath emergency the US will be driving without headlights.

Not just the US. The CDC and NIH have historically been important contributors to health action and research globally. Now that Trump is undermining them and pulling out of WHO, I am praying there's no global health emergencies for at least another decade. Even once Trump goes, it will take years to rebuild what he and Kennedy are tearing down. That's assuming the GOP come to their senses and throw off the MAGA influence at some point.

Parasite (Korean, hence the lettering on the poster)

And if the name Guy Lombardo is not familiar, he is probably best known as the band leader who popularized singing "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve. His big band was known as the Royal Canadians.

Laufey released her new album nearly a week ago, then followed with a bonus track on Sunday. The album is all original Laufey songs, but the bonus is her arrangement of an old "standard" originally recorded by Canadian band leader (from the city where I live, in fact) Guy Lombardo's orchestra in the forties. It was written by Lombardo's brother Carmen and John Jacob Loeb. Lovely song and Laufey's reading is pretty by the book. When you compare it to some of her originals, you really see how she is influenced by this music while also bringing it to Gen Z in a format that Swifties and other contemporary music fans can digest.

One cool thing with Laufey is that she includes guitar chords in her lyric videos. She's self-taught on guitar herself (her formal training is cello and piano) so I guess it is kind of her gift to others learning that way.

Whoa, quiet in here. I know why Cora is absent but where's everyone else?

(cleans up the place, including removing old, stale goodies)

Anyhow, I'll brew some Fire-Roasted Saint Drogo coffee. In the teapots we got Scottish Breakfast and Earl Grey. Pitchers are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked up.

There's still some ice cream sandwiches in the freezer and a plate of assorted Cora baked goods that seem to still be edible. I'll add a plate of the usual brownies to augment that.

Long weekend approaching in these here parts. No big plans but we shall see when we get there.

Miscellaneous thoughts haunt my brain.

Not a strong swimmer, so probably a lake.

Wine or beer to end the day?

Boxes can hold many things.

Drive these days because cycling to my office would be long and dangerous in spots. But I have biked in the past when my office was more accessible.

The weather is getting colder, do you pile on blankets or switch to a comforter/duvet?

Vibes to both you and Rose, Cora. We'll be thinking about you.

Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin

Zombie - The Cranberries

Relaxing would help my back.

Real, for sure. AI could be a nice tool for editing photos but I would rather have a real photo to start with.

Work from home or head to the office?

Quote by WriterGirl
They stopped in Halifax and mainly explored the boardwalk. Saint John port has been her fav! She went to the sea caves yesterday.

Saint John is a nice area. Haven't spent a ton of time there but have passed through a couple times. I nearly became a Haligonian. Had I found work down there so my wife could have remained at Dalhousie, we could have ended up there. I'm kind of glad we landed back here, though. That region has had its struggles. Right now, it's another part of Canada having wildfire problems. Nova Scotia basically closed all their provincial parks to try to minimize risk of more fires starting.

And the dancing gorilla bops into the cafe. Whoa, we needs some coffee and tea.

Brewin' up some Deathwish Dark Roast coffee.

For teas, how's about some David's Breakfast and Buddha's Blend.

Washed up the pitchers for some fresh lemonade and iced tea (unsweet, of course).

Lots of goodies still around. I think there's some of the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer, too.

Been having a bit of a rough ride recently. Bout of depression yesterday morning, then a bad backache. Still stiff today, but it's better. No idea what I did but it does feel like an injury.

So, needless to say, nothing serious happening in the writing department. Got a long weekend coming but also got yard work that's been neglected so not sure how much time I'll have even then. And my vacation looms a month from today, which will take me away from any opportunity to write for two and a bit weeks. OTOH, it's a tour of Greece and the Aegean so maybe inspiration will be had.

For every artist who makes in big in any genre of popular music, there's plenty of very talented artists toiling away out of the spotlight and under the radar. Which is too bad. Half the time, their as good as or better than the big names and just haven't caught a break. Harley Olivia of Toronto, Ontario is one of those. Great metal/rock vocalist who quit a career as a flight attendant to pursue music but is very much still a local artist. So I'm going to post her on a few sites of my acquaintance. This is one of her originals in a performance from Gussapolooza in Cookstown, Ontario (I know where it is but have never been there, just zipped by on highway 400).

(A) Nightmare on Elm Street

Low

Taylor Momsen first came to public attention as an actress in movies and TV, appearing on Gossip Girl among others. However, she was singing as early as her appearance in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), when she was seven years old. In 2012, she gave up acting to focus on singing. At that point, she had already been lead singer of The Pretty Reckless for three years. TPR is a solid hard rock band in the vein of Halestorm, with whom they have toured. Perhaps most notably, they got the nod to open for AC/DC on the Power Up tour last year. The band dropped this new single this week.

Quote by verbal
I'd love to see a fjord, Ape. I didn't realize Canada had them.

Saguenay is an odd duck being where it is (Eastern Quebec off the mouth of the St. Lawrence). I think there's some further East and North (Labrador, Newfoundland). Might be some in Northern BC as you get up closer to Alaska but not sure. The West Coast of Norway and Alaska seem to be the places to really see them.

Quote by WriterGirl
My twin is up on the eastern part of Canada on her port stop today. I can’t wait to see the pics!

I always find it interesting that we get cruises coming to Canada. Maybe because my wife lived in Halifax (the most popular one) for a couple years early in her academic career, I don't see it as all that special. Nice, but not port stop material. But, as I said, that might just be the product of having spent a fair bit of time there at one point.

Now, we did encounter cruisers in Saguenay Fjord in Quebec. That's probably more what I see would see as cruise stop material. Southernmost fjord in the northern hemisphere, large park with lots of hiking and sightseeing options. Sailing up the fjord to Chicoutimi would be spectacular.

Swedish melodeath band Arch Enemy released their album Blood Dynasty back in the spring, but dropped a new video today. The song is one of my favourites from the album, heavy as hell but also featuring a melodic, clean-sung chorus.

Better

Words are units of meaning.

Love Actually

Speech. I don't really have the memory capacity anymore (I speak from talking points so pages are kind of irrelevant).

Race the clock or race other people?

Nice day here. Sun is out, not too hot, I'm feeling myself again (which really points to the weather as the culprit).

As of now, I have been married for 32 years. Wow. Should have a few more to go, too. Was not a big ceremony, but it was nice, meaningful one.

(scarfs an ice cream sandwich)

Yawn

Glances around, sees Cora is gone, takes LAST