Fresh pots of coffee and tea are on. More cookies laid out. How's things? Air quality sucks where I am. Smoke from wildfires (surprised?) in Northwestern Ontario.
I have a new idea for the comp but I'm having trouble finding time to bash it out. The previous one, while I have a 1000 word version done, really screams for more detail (like, maybe 2000-3000 words) so might be something I put out after I get an entry in.
And since I was up in Haliburton in Ontario cottage country, we've got a stock of beans from Haliburton Coffee. Today, there's some of their Colombian Azalea medium roast brewed for the coffee crowd. For teas, I've got Cream of Earl Grey and Kenyan Tinderet. Washed the pitchers and made fresh lemonade and iced tea. Soda stock looks good. Here's cookies.
Good morning and back in my usual haunts. Too much driving over the past two days (8-9 hours total including pit stops) so nice to be sitting at my desk instead of the steering wheel.
No comp entry yet but ideas are dancing in my head. Something will happen eventually, I am sure.
Floor Jansen is doing a tour of European festivals this month and with her regular band Nightwish off the road, she got to give the debut live performance of one of the songs off their last album. It was a terrific song to start with and I thought from its release that is was very much a song that could work as a Floor solo piece. Hearing her actually do it with the wonderful band she's lined up to back her at these concerts was a treat. This is actually the second live performance, from Masters of Rock in the Czech Republic. The actual debut was the day before at Rockwave in Greece.
By the way, she's doing this tour with a broken bone in her foot. Kitchen accident, or so she said on . Doesn't seem to be slowing her down much but she's also gone onstage with the flu at least twice that I know of. Yeah, she's tough.
Oh, and the backup singer is bassist Jascha Offermans, who is fast becoming my favourite of her band. Solid on bass and a good enough singer to be able to back up one of the finest voices in rock.
Quote by Molly
I want to remind everyone that our story counter does not always show the correct count.
I've been using my word processor's count and just ignoring the glitchy counter on here. Never been a problem. Would be nice if the programmers fixed it (likely, they need to find a new code module to replace the one they are using) but it's hardly urgent.
Sorry there's no ape entry. With my evenings shot due to fatigue and my weekends continually getting sucked up with various other things, it's just not happening right now. I have ideas, though, so will probably be in at some point.
Quote by verbal
It's like, the characters decided to fall in love, regardless of what I wanted to write.
Characters going their own way, eh. Sometimes you get the best stories that way. 😊
Good morning. I am away right now, just an overnighter. Have a memorial to go to and it is far enough from home as to require an overnight stay. Will be heading home this afternoon (For the other Ontarian, I am in Lindsay).
Quote by JamesPBear
However, in retrospect, my biggest regret was not spending more time around Bar Harbor, Maine. It's a delightful part of the world, whereas the geography on the Nova Scotia side is much less interesting. Try to spend some time in Maine before taking the Cat if you can!
When we went that way, we drove through Maine, spent a night in the Bar Harbor area, then drove through NB and PEI before heading into NS and visiting Cape Breton. Our ultimate destination was Halifax, though, since Mrs. M was teaching at Dal then. But, yeah, that part of Maine is beautiful.
Quote by Meagananne1986
All three have caused me to reevaluate my own story and pause on its submission.
Which is why I usually wait until my own is at least well underway before reading others. 😉 Nothing gives me doubts about my own story faster than reading other entries.
Quote by rolandlytle
Remember that the AI we are using today is not, by definition, Artificial Intelligence. They are just very sophisticated programs.
Yeppers. We are still a long way from Skynet. Whether the US regulates AI or not almost doesn't matter. China is likely going to be the leader in AI eventually anyhow.
Chocolate.
On sundaes: A place I used to eat, I think it was the Canadian chain restaurant Swiss Chalet, used to have absolutely killer sundaes that were exactly what you describe. Haven't been there in years and with my diabetes, probably should steer clear of the sundaes even if I do go.
Comp entries: Agonize over them until the last second on the deadline or get them out as quick as possible?
New (to me, they've been kicking around for a few years now) symphonic metal band that came up in my recommendations the other day. Flowerleaf is originally from Brazil but has made Germany their home base for now. They have two albums out and, based on this new single, another must on the way. Great song, too. Lead singer Vivs Takahashi has a wonderful voice for this kind of music and is pretty good songwriter, too, based on what I have listened to so far.
Quote by verbal
Anyone remember Hale-Bopp?
Very well. The first comet I really saw. One evening, I was riding a bus from my place in Hamilton to my wife's place in London (this was during the time when we lived apart for career reasons) and got a great view of it out the window.
I've put on some Jamaican Blue Mountain Dark Roast for coffee. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Black Currant. Cold drinks all refreshed.
Temperature has improved here but it's still muggy. At least there's a breeze, which helps a bit.
No comp entry here, just stray thoughts that could become one.
Welcome to day two of Summer Love!! Not some new relationship I'm having, but the StoriesSpace comp that launched yesterday. I'm thinking about possible stories. How about you?
In other news, there's Tobermory Flowerpot Island coffee brewing. In the teapots, there's some David's Breakfast (named for the chain that sells it, not some dude named David) and Kenyan Tinderet. The latter is delish. If you thought all good coffee came from the Far East or India/Ceylon, it's worth a try. There's some nice stuff in Africa, too. Cold beverages are all looking good and will be needed. 31-33C with humidex potentially heading for the 40s here for both days of the weekend.
AI research has to happen. Regardless of what we think of things like ChatGPT and Gemini, AI is a powerful research tool. Already, Google's labs have vastly improved our ability to generate models of protein folding, critical for improving drugs and other biochemistry. Scientists are feeding large data sets into AI models to more quickly and efficiently analyze them. Basically, it's the old computer adage: "Garbage in, Garbage out". Used with a meaningful, useful dataset, AI can work wonders. Used with something like the Internet, which is a mixed bag with lots of meaningless, useless, and sometimes downright harmful data, it pukes out garbage. And research is how we are going to deal with it properly. Now, whether this bill actually helps with that research is another whole issue...
(and that's James the Bear you're responding to, by the way)
The other release burning up my buds this week is from another Finnish act with a Nightwish connection, the folk-prog-rock-whatever (it's bloody hard to classify) ensemble Auri. Auri is a trio consisting of Tuomas Holopainen (keys, songwriter), Troy Donockley (various other instruments, occasional vocals), and Johanna Kurkela (lead vocals). Tuomas and Troy are longtime bandmates in Nightwish, Tuomas and Johanna are a married couple. They are coming up to the release of their third studio LP and a major European tour.
Bearwood is an interesting project. Blues-inflected rock ensemble headed by guitarist (and a damn fine one) Marko Karhu. Vocalist is Finnish singer and bassist Marko Hietala, who I know from his time in Nightwish and more recently his solo career. Magnificent musician whether he's singing or playing or both (he just sings in Bearwood). The band has several singles out now but still no indication if an album is the ultimate goal here.
To rephrase a song by Stompin' Tom Connors:
It's Independence Day
Down America way
On the fourth day of July
Happy Fourth, my American neighbours!! Have a good one!!
There's Kicking Horse Happy Camper on for coffee. Bigelow's (American brand) Earl Grey and Raspberry Royale on for teas. Lots of sodas from both sides of the border along with pitchers of unsweet iced tea and lemonade for those needing a cold beverage. And in honour of both countries celebrating b-days this week, here's the cake.
