Amazingly, ABBA has only just released their first ever Christmas song and video.

What's coming through your buds and/or speakers this holiday season? Doesn't have to be Christmas, either. Music celebrating Solstice, Hanukkah, and whatever else welcome, too.

Dang it is quiet here today. Anyhow, I put on both coffee and Red Rose tea just in case someone saunters by. There's hot water, too, for other teas and hot beverages.

Made a big oops today. Was doing a project to move my stories to another cloud drive since my Google Drive was getting full due to us storing backups of family videos and photos on it. And while doing so, I accidentally perma-deleted the zip file that I downloaded from Google Drive that had ALL my SS stories in it including some unpublished drafts. 😢

Recovered my old stuff easily enough. I had a zip with everything up to the end of 2020 in it (the text files you could download in batch from the old Stories Space) and figured out how to get copies of the 2021 stories (printed them to PDF using the MS Print to PDF driver).

Doesn't help with my drafts, though. I had already done a hard pruning and only kept two (an idea for another story in the world of The Goddess Dances and the beginnings of a sequel to The Healer's Secret) but the parts that were written were pretty good IMHO.

Did Alan ever do any audiobooks? I suspect he would be great narrator.

From a solo gig, and upcoming solo concert video, by Nightwish lead singer Floor Jansen. Terrific new arrangement of a Nightwish classic. More suited to her solo style but still with lots of energy.

Good morning henrietta and all. Thanks to those who have read my new story (see sig). And if you haven't, remember that it is a ghost story. Lights on is mandatory unless you like getting spooky little shivers.

Coffee is on and the tea du jour in the teapot is a new one. Illam is a black tea from Nepal, described as similar to Darjeeling from neighbouring India. And there is hot water ready for other teas and hot chocolate.

Quote by verbal
I'm building a really crazy conspiracy theory involving Ring doorbells scanning people's brains surreptitiously.

You mean they don't do that now? 😲

Just read my first review of Spielberg's take on West Side Story. I was skeptical, both because Robert Wise's film version is so iconic and Spielberg has (a) never done a musical and (b) been off his game a bit of late. However, Barry Hertz, the Globe & Mail's movie columnist, gave it a fairly good review. I love the music (by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim) and the story is classic (a loose adaptation of Romeo & Juliet) so maybe I'll give it a whirl. I have not watched a Spielberg movie in quite a while.

Oh, and the wonderful Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar for her part in the original, has a supporting role so they at least had the class to acknowledge their predecessor.

In a pinch, Chris Rock but not really a fan of either.

Indie drama or tentpole feature?

Goooooood morning, Stories Space!!!

Coffee is hot in the pot. Tea du jour is Kenyan Tinderet. Hot water is ready for other beverages or ramen.

The story that I entered in Ghost Orchid Press' competition is up here now, having been rejected by them. Give it a read and see what you think.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/an-encounter-in-the-woods-by-night

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.😋

Glances around to make sure James isn't looking, then takes a polar bear

And here it is ... https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/an-encounter-in-the-woods-by-night

I put my money on Santa (no, I haven't read it). Now Santa vs. Vampires might be a tougher fight. 😜

Good morning. Booked my cataract surgery for January. Yay, no more blurry left eye (assuming all goes well).

Coffee is brewing and there's Irish Breakfast in the pot. Hot water urn is full for those wanting other teas or hot chocolate. Still lots of Beatles cookies.

Quote by redwriter

.'Here, There and Everywhere' was our favourite track after we learned that the Beatles were not just "another one beat pop group".

Not sure I have a "favorite" Beatles song, but there's a pretty long list of ones I like. That one is on it. I'm a bit of a George fan, so While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something are pretty high on my list, too.

Quote by DenimAngel
Where is the cookie bandits

Apparently, they aren't Beatles fans. Well, except Verbs and I.

Quote by redwriter

Yes, looking forward to reading what Ghost Orchid Press have lost out on.

I don't know if you've seen it but I think you'll admire Girlwriter's latest work 'The Ghostwriter'. It is well-worth a look.

It's on my to-read "pile" but at 8200 words, I haven't found time yet. WriterGirl is definitely a talent to watch around here.

I think I walked past the brownstone where he lived when I visited NY about 11 years after his death but not sure I even thought of it at the time. My mind was more on opera on that trip (we went to a performance of Don Giovanni at the Met).

As mentioned in another thread, i didn't make the cut in the Ghost Orchid Press comp but, dang, 200+ entries. Wow. Having an extra tea and a peace sign cookie to commiserate/celebrate. Story will show up here eventually.

First the bad news: I didn't make the short list that's going to the editor who is judging the comp.

Then the good news: 200+ FREAKING ENTRIES! That's got to be the biggest comp I have ever entered. So I can't really complain about not making the cut.

And the last bit of good news: Their loss is StoriesSpace's gain. I'll submit it later today.😇

Quote by Welshdreamer42
2021 has not been a productive year for me.

I have done okay this year writing-wise. Probably about the same as 2020. In the end, having a fulltime job makes it hard to really commit to writing. Retirement will probably see me doing it more seriously, much as Verbal has been doing, but I am not 100% sure when that will be yet.

I remember hearing the news, even if I really didn't know much about the Beatles beyond them being a famous British rock band and having heard a few of their songs (I was fifteen at the time, and they had broken up when I was in kindergarten). I think I had seen Yellow Submarine at some point, too. Sad how he went and one wonders how much more great music he still had in him. Double Fantasy, his last studio release, is one of my favorite of his solo works.

I'll take a Yellow Submarine and a Rubber Soul with my afternoon tea, I think.

Quote by Ping
Forgot to mention, I tried Good Omens. Love both male leads. And the concept. But I couldn’t even get through the first episode. It was hyped as a great show. I went in with maybe too high of expectations. I’ve not given up on it, but I just can’t now.

Do you read either Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett, who wrote the novel together (and Gaiman was writer and showrunner on the series)? I adore Gaiman's work and have some familiarity with Pratchett, including the original Good Omens novel. Probably being a fan of one or both helps.

We have an Instant Pot and mostly use it as a pressure cooker (it's multifunction). Works well. We still have an old style manual pressure cooker in the basement, too, but haven't used it in eons.

Quote by Ping
Snow is mocking me again.

Out there's tooz eh. Had to shovel for the first time this season. If Mrs. M hadn't had to go shopping, probably could have let it go. Warmer temps and showers expected tomorrow.

Nice dress. Reminds me of my wife's (which was actually my mother's with some retooling). You must have made quite a couple

Thanks for the warning, Ping. I've been eyeing it now that I have Prime. Good Omens and The Wheel of Time are ahead of it, though.

Quote by magnificent1rascal

My choice would be Tom Hiddleston. If The Saint was Moore’s Bond audition, The Night Manager was Hiddleston’s, and he nailed it. He checks all the boxes for Bond.

He is certainly one of the obvious choices, but that's precisely why he might get bypassed. Craig was not the obvious choice at the time he was cast, but clearly fit the direction Eon and MGM wanted to go. So an obvious choice like Cavill or Hiddleston just might not be what they are after. But I would certainly love to see him get a go at the part.

Quote by redwriter
Yet despite all that it still showed twelve large orange blooms.

Wow. Roses are long since done here. I have a big one growing by my deck (so we can see it from the kitchen) and I gave it a fall pruning maybe three weeks ago.

I heard a bit about the storm on another board I'm on that is predominantly UK members. Sounds terrible. We occasionally get wind storms here in winter but not often. I can think of one since I've been living here that might be comparable.

Refilling the coffee and putting another pot of tea on. Quiet Saturday around here. Joined a new board. I think I'm like the third member. It's a spirituality board, somewhat similar to the one I run.

Well, the weekend is here. For some of us work is over for a couple days. For others, it's time to recover from turkey, football, and shopping binges.

Inspirations is here for all your recovery needs. Fresh coffee in the coffeepot, Red Rose in the teapot, and hot water with a selection of teas and hot chocolate. There's goodies aplenty, too. Just check upthread for the current menu.

So, what's up in your world? We are having our first real taste of winter here.

We just had takeout from the hot counter at our Chinese grocery last night (it's on my way home so easy to pick up). Lemon chicken, General Tso chicken, with Udon noodles. And tonight we're having their salt and pepper fried fish.

And apparently, Rege-Jean Page of Bridgerton is being talked about a lot. Kind of fits. A hot, up and coming star in his thirties would probably be a good choice for 007. However, he has also been cast as Simon Templar in a reboot of The Saint (the role that more or less was Roger Moore's audition for Bond) so if that goes franchise, then maybe he's spoken for. Or maybe he will follow in Moore's footsteps.

And saw this story on my MSN news page today and thought of this thread. Weirdest casting idea: The Rock. Yep, Dwayne Johnson as 007. Definitely would put it into the campy, Roger Moore era style, I suspect, but does he really need another action franchise since he's in F&F? And a neat bit of trivia: Johnson's grandfather had a bit part in You Only Live Twice.

MGM Has Begun the Search for the Next James Bond (movieweb.com)

Hope all the Americans had a good Thanksgiving and aren't going to burn themselves binge-shopping today. 😇

Coffee is brewing, tea is steeping (Irish Breakfast today), and hot water is ready for hot chocolate, tea, or even ramen.

Poultry cosplay sounds fun as long as it doesn't go too far. Someone cosplaying a plucked turkey laying on a plate would be a bit ... yeah. 😨