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.

Mostly streaming these days. We only have one CD player in the house now so any CDs I buy are just to support the artist. And I mostly listen on walks or in the car, which has Android Auto, so having the music on my phone is more convenient.

Real fireplace (i.e. wood) or gas?

While I was away, we lost John Lodge of the Moody Blues at 82. That leaves vocalist-guitarist Justin Hayward as the only remaining member of the "classic" 1966-1978 lineup of the band (the original 1964-65 lineup are all deceased since last year when keyboardist Mike Pinder died).

Here's a couple performances by John from his post-Moodies solo career.

First up is a cover of what may be the Moodies greatest, certainly most famous, song. Vocalist is Jon Davison of Yes, who is married to Lodge's daughter.

And from a year ago, one of John's final releases, done after he had a stroke early in the year. It's a bit of a family effort with John's wife joining their son-in-law Davison on backing vocals and Emily Davison, John's daughter/Jon's wife, helping with the video. Jon Davison and John Lodge co-produced.

Finally, one of the many Moody Blues songs that John wrote or co-wrote. One of the things I love about the band is that all members took part in the writing and at least three shared lead vocals (John, Justin, and Ray Thomas).

Justin Hayward is, by the way, still active and touring at 79. No new recordings in a while, but his voice still sounds pretty good from videos I've seen and he remains a fine guitarist as well.

Good good morning!! Decent weather here but I'm nursing a bit of a cold or something. Sleep is still not back to normal, too.

We've got some Special Dark from Hasbeans, local here in London, Ontario, for coffee. For teas, there's Canadian Breakfast (black) and Lemon Kick (herbal). Pitchers are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked. Here's brownies (no special ingredients) and cookies if you're down for a sugar fix.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Y'all probably heard on the other end but my boyfriend and I celebrated one year on September 1.

Congratulations. Glad it seems to be working out.

Quote by verbal

Anyone else here protesting on No Kings Day this Saturday? Anyone wearing an inflatable frog costume?

No (I already have a king and he's so fucking bland, no one would bother to protest him). Will be sending vibes to those of you who are, though. Your so-called President is an ass.

Good morning! Still jet lagged and have been up for almost an hour already.

Coffee and tea are prepped. Goodies are refreshed. And here's a pie. Probably left over from someone's Thankgiving dinner.

I mostly read e-books these days. With arthritis in my hands, big thick blocks of paper aren't the easiest thing to handle anymore.

Listen to an album or listen to a mixtape/playlist?

Quote by verbal
Still wrestling with the stupid mask story. I fear it's gonna end up like my haunted MRI story - hours spent writing, no finished story.

If it makes you feel better, I have a whole folder of those on my hard drive. I call it "Under Review" to make me think I might actually do something with them someday. 😜

Mine is partly fenced in. No fencing or gates at the front (which would change if I had a pool or dog).

Write a bunch of short stories or a novel?

Been reading After 1177 by Eric Cline on my trip, not that I had much time for reading. It's the sequel to his book 1177: The Year Civilization Collapsed.

In the first book, Cline analysed the world of the late Bronze Age and the factors leading to the "Bronze Age Collapse" when several societies of that time unravelled in fairly short order. Familiar ones might be the Mycenean Greeks and Hittites. Even some big powers like Egypt and Assyria took a hit.

With this book, he picks up the story in the wake of the collapse, looking at which societies survived, which ones actually prospered, and at some new ones that appeared in place of those that went down (e.g. the Hebrew kingdoms of Judah and Israel in Canaan).

Good followup to a terrific book. One thing Cline is doing is drawing possible parallels to the modern worlds and looking in general at what makes a society resilient and able to resist major changes (e.g. the impacts of climate change). Apparently there's a third book in progress that will take things up to the familiar classical world of Greece and Rome.

Good day, y'all. Refreshed the coffee and tea. Goodie stock is looking fine as are the cold drinks.

Got my cleaning done (we left just before a weekend so it's been almost three weeks) and contemplating what writing project to pick up now that we are getting settled in after our trip.

Depends on the bush and where it is. For instance, the yews under our front window need a haircut at least once a season or they block the casement window (not that we open that one much).

Gas mower or electric?

While the big names like Macmillan and Penguin get a lot of the headlines and eyeballs, there's a raft of smaller presses, often very specialized, to look at as possible markets. Here's a list of 22 from Authors Publish.

https://authorspublish.com/22-terrific-small-presses-open-to-direct-submissions/

One that caught my eye is the Canadian imprint Annick Press, noted for being one of our top publishers of children's literature. Their marquee author is children's author Robert Munsch (Paperbag Princess, Love You Forever), who signed with them back when Annick ran out of the publisher's basement.

Not on DVD or in a theater, but I finally saw Godzilla Minus One. Oh wow, did they ever stick the landing on this one. An intense, moving personal drama about a kamikaze pilot who backed out of his mission and has serious PTSD combined with a dark tale of Godzilla terrorizing a late forties Japan that is still recovering from the bombings and other events of the war's end. And all done so, so well. It landed the Oscar for VFX but the writing and acting are top notch, too.

Minus One is a standalone, not related to any other Godzilla movies but there's a post-credit stinger that leaves the door open for a sequel if Toho wants to go there. I think this movie stands very well on its own and would be quite happy to see it remain a standalone.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

Some time ago, I posted here, a young lady, just thirteen years old, called Patricia Janečková. She was singing a beautiful piece from Once Upon a Time in the West. I was absolutely shaken to the core to discover that she had passed away at the very young age of just twenty-five years.

R.I.P Patricia.

Yeah, I came across her not long ago (maybe on your recommendation?) and was quite saddened when I realized she was no longer with us. Lovely voice and great musical talent.

I've been catching up on music that came out during my travels (I'm just back from Greece) and there's a lot. Here's a couple.

Chrissy Costanza is the very talented lead singer of Against The Current but released her solo debut last year. This new solo track is from a forthcoming deluxe edition of that album. I'm a bit cynical about this whole business of releasing deluxe editions soon after the original release, but if it gets us songs like this, I'll bite my tongue and enjoy.

And from a rather darker end of the musical spectrum, we have German industrial-goth-metal band Lord Of The Lost. Lush, dark sound and some fantastic writing. Lead singer, writer, and band founder Chris Harms has a unique vocal sound that is perfect for the tone of the band's music. This is from the forthcoming Opus Noir Vol. II (Vol. I came out a couple months ago, Vol. II is due in December).

Ape walks in and looks around. After a satisfied grunt, ape gives the place a good cleaning, then puts on a fresh pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain dark roast along with a couple teapots of Assam Organic and Yorkshire Gold. He checks the fridge and gives the pitchers a good wash before making fresh iced tea and lemonade. From the back room, he pulls out some cases of pop and reloads.

καλησπέρα (kallispera), which is "good afternoon" to us English speaking folks. Hope you all had a good time while I was off enjoying Greece (the country, not the musical, which would be "enjoying Grease"). I am back and rather devoid of writing ideas, though I hope to get back to my long piece soon.

Here's some good in case you're a mite peckish.

I'm mostly a red person. I have had wine both with meals and just as a drink. Had some nice Greek wines while over there the past couple weeks.

Rake the leaves or leave them where they fall to rot?

Wine. Not much of a beer fan. Had a few glasses of the local stuff in Greece. Also some ouzo but that's another story.

Phone cam or actual camera?

(and has this place always supported animated avatars or is that new?)

Done both, enjoy both, but having a guide definitely helps, esp. in a country where you don't speak the lingo (e.g. my current trip to Greece). OTOH, being on your own gives you a lot more flexibility.

Tour one country in depth or do a "grand tour" of a continent or region?

Single. I have a hard enough time by myself without having to coordinate with another. 🤪

On a trip: See the sights or shop and eat/drink?

Quote by gillianleeza
if Congress can't get its act together, I am going to lose my healthcare

Vibes. The whole thing seems insane to those of us North of the border. Can't remember this ever happening and not sure it could. Wish the Washington crowd could have more empathy for those like you who are impacted.

Hello from Athens. Boarding my Aegean cruise in a few hours. My next post will likely be from somewhere out there like Rhodes or Crete.

Καλησπέρα. That would be "Good Evening" in Greek. Meeting my tour group for dinner in a few minutes but thought I would pop in to see what's up. Eating lots of gyros, moussaka, souvlaki etc. Seeing lots of ancient cool stuff. In Olympia tonight. No foot races or pagan rites to Zeus involved.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I'm not dead, I promise. I just forgot this exists oops.

Hello, stranger. Hope all is well with you.

Later, alligators. Have a good one and take care.

Good morning! I shall be leaving for my vacation this evening but thought I would pop in and do a big pot of dark roast Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. For teas, there's English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Pitchers are washed and topped up with fresh lemonade and unsweetened iced tea. And there's goodies. I have arranged daily delivery from the bakery. They will also refresh the coffee and tea.

One of my favourite songs of last year was "Lanternlight", a powerful, emotional ballad that was the closer for Nightwish's album Yesterwynde. It featured Floor Jansen's powerful voice with just piano and strings behind her. With the band off the road indefinitely, it's been unclear when we would get to hear it live. Last night, at the first concert of her Strijdlust solo tour of the Netherlands (her home country), Floor delivered, giving a beautiful solo performance of "Lanternlight" accompanied by a live string trio and her solo keyboardist.

Quote by verbal
Anyway. I wrote a thing about Moby Dick, which I read this summer. It’s on the front page is anyone is interested. Don’t worry, it’s hardly literary criticism. Just my two cents.

I liked it and I haven't even read Moby Dick, just know the basics from various past encounters. Should get around to it but Melville has never really had much appeal for me for some reason. For my trip reading, not that I'll have much time for reading, I will likely pack along the Iliad and Odyssey, given my destination. Must see what translations my library has available. My editions are the old Penguin ones by E. V. Rieu and the English is a bit antiquated even for my time. Good translations, though.