* sneaks a couple cookies out from under verbal's nose *
Put almost 13 km on my bike this afternoon. In 47 min. Average speed was about 16km/h but there's a couple hills that I coasted down so that's probably a bit high due to the gravity assist.
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Crazy old ape
Quote by verbal
20 days to get a comp entry in, right? Sigh. I promise to read all of them, but not before I get an idea - I almost slole Larry's by accident!
I thought we were down to 2 weeks or so. Will check.
EDIT: Announcement says July 23 so 13 days left. I actually thought it was 2 weeks from Monday for some reason, but it is actually 2 weeks yesterday.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Rumple_deWriter
And in conclusion, a serious call for, HELP!. Anybody know what a 'Grammarly Integrator' is and what it's supposed to do? Any 'HELP!' would be most depreciated, honest.
I don't use Grammarly but the name suggests it is a component that ties (integrates) Grammarly with other apps or something like that. That's just my IT guy experience talking, though. A Google search just turned up info on Grammarly's integration with MS Office and various browsers.
Crazy old ape
Wow. I might have a comp story. Wrote out the one that has been dancing in my head. It's just long enough and, I think, pretty darn good. Putting it aside to stew for a bit.
Question: How many f-bombs does it take to push a story from PG-13 to R on here? The language is a bit salty due to the background of the main character.
Question: How many f-bombs does it take to push a story from PG-13 to R on here? The language is a bit salty due to the background of the main character.
Crazy old ape
Cooler and wetter here the next bit. Which I will take.
Cleaned out the drawer where I keep my keys and wallet and stuff along with some miscellaneous supplies like twist ties and elastics. Took everything out, wiped down the drawer, tossed out stuff. Looks neater and less junky now.
I have an idea that might just work for the comp and it is all written in my head. Let's see how this goes.
Coffee is on, kettle is boiling. What's on your radar?
Cleaned out the drawer where I keep my keys and wallet and stuff along with some miscellaneous supplies like twist ties and elastics. Took everything out, wiped down the drawer, tossed out stuff. Looks neater and less junky now.
I have an idea that might just work for the comp and it is all written in my head. Let's see how this goes.
Coffee is on, kettle is boiling. What's on your radar?
Crazy old ape
Quote by Survivor
Big blue herons are there often. At the state park lake some 10 minutes away there are seasonal pelicans and seagulls.
We have blue herons around here but don't see them often. Pelicans don't get this far North, I don't think. I have never heard of them being in Ontario, even on the Great Lakes. Love watching them dive for fish when I am vacationing in the Caribbean, though.
Mosquitoes are not big in Ontario, but still a bloody (pun sort of intended) nuisance. I barely feel them but my wife and son get welts the size of dimes if they get bitten. We have been in rain forests on various trips and I am so glad we don't live in/near one. Too many of the little brutes.
I shall join Roland in a green tea. Hmmm. A lion and a bear look good (subtle joke there for some of us).
Crazy old ape
Quote by henrietta_fielding
Scott, we have seagulls and crows with similar thuggish attitudes. Especially if you have any food!
We don't seem to have a lot of gulls (herring gulls are the ones we see in Ontario not being on the sea) here for some reason. At least I don't see huge flocks of them like I did in my birthplace about an hour down the highway. Just individuals now and then. Ducks and geese are the common water/shore birds here. Ducks I am fine with. It's the geese that are a pain.
Anyhow, TGIF. Coffee and kettle are on for those what need 'em.
Later, alligators.
Crazy old ape
Quote by verbal
Pro tip: as horrible as they are, it's nearly impossible to make a flock of robot geese scary.
You've obviously never been in Gibbons Park on a summer afternoon. It's like a street gang with bills and webbed feet. Sounds goofy until they are all around you. And if one of the males gets pissed at you ... yeah, scary.
Crazy old ape
Which really goes back to my point about using the comment to say WHY you marked the story down. That's the useful information for me as a writer.
Good evening. Kettle is on for an evening green tea. I survived a rather grey wet day and lack of sleep to come out well and happy on the other side. No comp entry yet, just three ideas in varying states of disarray. But the weekend looms so there's still hope.
Settling in with tea and cookies for a quiet wind down after work.
Good evening. Kettle is on for an evening green tea. I survived a rather grey wet day and lack of sleep to come out well and happy on the other side. No comp entry yet, just three ideas in varying states of disarray. But the weekend looms so there's still hope.
Settling in with tea and cookies for a quiet wind down after work.
Crazy old ape
Quote by verbal
This one has robotic geese. Really.
How much worse than the real thing can they possibly be? (Unpatriotic Canadian aside: Canada Geese are the more horrible nuisance animals alive.)
Quote by AnnaMayZing
Anyway, moving on. Not many competition entries yet. I have just posted mine... watch out for it.
And it is up on the front page right now!
No progress here but I am trying. Just too busy with work in the day and too tired in the evening. Will take a shot this weekend.
Kettle is on for my evening green tea. Anyone else need hot water?
*eyes cookie jars*
I think butterscotch crunch sounds delectable.
Crazy old ape
Quote by verbal
I still have read no comp entries, and still have no idea of my own. Or rather, I've discarded the first two ideas.
Fear not. I've dumped two ideas as well. Now trying out a third. While still trying to salvage the first. There's a good story there and it is on theme, just having trouble with removing an element that no longer belongs but my brain still wants (keeping it and doing everything I want with it will likely blow through the 5000 word limit).
Good afternoon. Work is over so dropping by my favorite coffee house to tea and cookies.
Ping, if you're having sexy dreams about your bike, probably need to either get out more or get more. Not sure which. (and I'll leave it there since this is the clean site)
Crazy old ape
Quote by Ping
Buddy, scoring systems have been debated for many years, here and there. It is generally viewed as being flawed and imperfect. It must be noted that there is NO perfect system. There are many reasons as to why, and these can be discussed in more detail if desired. Bottom line: Nothing is gained by scoring anyone’s story or poem less than a fiver. But one risks unnecessarily pissing people off by scoring anything less. It’s just not worth it.
Know what? I'll happily take a 3 or 4 IF there's a comment explaining what is wrong. A current story elsewhere has picked up some 3s and 4s but there's no comments really saying anything critical so I don't know why, and that's what pisses me off. But, as I have already argued elsewhere, most people treat the current system as a "Reaction" system rather than a scoring system so maybe that's where it should go. You could have Like, Love, HaHa (for funny stories), Sad (for tragic or otherwise sad stories), Wow (for really, really good stories or stories that cause amazement and wonder). Maybe others. Those just come to mind based on the reactions we use for posts on Wondercafe2.
Quote by Ping
If you want to relay your thoughts - negative or constructive - do so in a PM. Most writers, as fickle as most are, prefer that. Egos are a delicate thing.
Oh, yeah. Rump in particular has left me some good PMs on my stories over the years. Less so recently, which maybe means I am improving or just that he's given up on me.
Crazy old ape
Quote by AnnaMayZing
I agree with Ping, by the way. There is nothing more annoying than receiving a score of less than five without it being accompanied by a comment to explain why.
I have no objection to whatever score is left, but surely common courtesy dictates that some kind of constructive criticism should at least give the writer something to work with and improve upon.
Really, I am unhappy with any score with no comment. A score alone tells me nothing. And I like to hear the positive ones, too. Sometimes tells me what I'm doing right and can leave well enough alone or suggests something I should be doing more often. At the same time, I feel a bit pushy if I turn on the "must leave comment with score" option and I know some people will just not score if they know I am doing that.
Crazy old ape
Quote by yurigagarin
Now that's what I call a breakfast spread. Nice job. Coffee and kettle are on for the usual accompanying hot beverages.
Nice weather again today, though starting to get hot. Got a bike ride in yesterday and shall try for another today.
Turfed my entry last night. It wasn't progressing and a c-section isn't an option with a story. Fortunately, I have a plan B starting to take shape.
(GIF courtesy of Swear Trek, @SwearTrek on most social media platforms)
Crazy old ape
Quote by rolandlytle
I can not believe the heatwave through Canada. It got so hot a village burnt to the ground. That is some weird dung.
Climate change is going to make this all the more common. British Columbia is full of wildfires now after that heat wave since the weather out there has been dry, too. I know someone who lives in Kelowna (in the BC interior) and he's had one close call already since moving out there.
Crazy old ape
Quote by rolandlytle
I am glad to see a Pluto planet cookie. I have never accepted that Pluto is only a 'minor' planet.
Not "minor planet", "dwarf planet" is the term. It refers to the size, not the status. And it actually meant several other bodies being "promoted" to dwarf planet status. In fact, one (Eris) is almost as big as Pluto and has a higher mass, so if Pluto is a planet, shouldn't it be, too? Rather than having to reclassify a bunch of small bodies as planets, astronomers opted to redo their classification scheme. I was a bit pissed at the time, but as we find more and more of these bodies, it actually makes a fair bit of sense to split planets into different categories. We already did it to some degree with "gas giants" (Jupiter) vs. "rocky planets" (Earth).
Enough astronomy. More tea, please.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Ping
Anyone catch the COPA Quarterfinal between Chile and Brazil?
I haven't been paying much attention to footie of late. Went through a period where I did watch some of the big games at the Euro, World, etc. but haven't really even been following them of late. Ditto tennis, though I have a co-worker who is heavily into the sport who keeps me up to date.
Crazy old ape
Quiet in here today. Everyone must be getting the same terrific weather I am or something. Supposed to get hot again tomorrow and Monday, though. Probably the remnants of the Western heat wave finally reaching us or something.
Hmm. Should probably put on a fresh pot of joe. It's been a few hours since Rump made the last one. And the kettle is on for tea and such.
Stalling a bit on my comp entry. Just not coming together the way I would like. Just letting it stew for now. Got weeding and stuff to do anyhow.
Hmm. Should probably put on a fresh pot of joe. It's been a few hours since Rump made the last one. And the kettle is on for tea and such.
Stalling a bit on my comp entry. Just not coming together the way I would like. Just letting it stew for now. Got weeding and stuff to do anyhow.
It's one of those entertainment licenses that has limitations. Crazy old ape
I'll have Pluto and Neptune with a green tea.
Weather held out here, though there have been showers in the area. Worked outside for a while but retreated when it started to look threatening.
Finally read the fine print and noticed the liquor license only allows wine and beer to be served and only on weekends and holidays (whatever holiday you happen to be celebrating, so next one is July 4, which also happens to fall on a weekend). That should be enough to keep us from being too bar-like. I'll keep the fridge locked during the week.
Weather held out here, though there have been showers in the area. Worked outside for a while but retreated when it started to look threatening.
Finally read the fine print and noticed the liquor license only allows wine and beer to be served and only on weekends and holidays (whatever holiday you happen to be celebrating, so next one is July 4, which also happens to fall on a weekend). That should be enough to keep us from being too bar-like. I'll keep the fridge locked during the week.
Crazy old ape
Quote by Survivor
My mother's mother (my Meme) was an emigrant from Quebec into Vermont. She was born in a small village named Arthabaska near Victoriaville. Most of her family came to the States either shortly before or during the first world war. They wanted nothing to do with the fighting in Europe and France. The Beauschesnes had skedaddled from France over a century before that.
We have strong ancestral ties to Canada. At one point my Meme and Pepe lived on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. My mother's family did get around. She was born in Massachusetts and married my father down in Arkansas.
Having some coffee now. This is still a coffeehouse, I believe. I do have some questions about how we seem to be turning into a bar. I will just say I want all of the members here on Storiesspace to be welcome here. That includes the 16 and 17-year-olds that are allowed to join the site. I am not mistaken about that, am I authorities?
It seems to be a lovely day. I am hoping the rain has finally passed us by.
We wouldn't be the first coffee shop to have a license, you know. Fairly common in Europe for cafes to serve wine, at least. And as far as I can see, the only alcohol here is that bottle of Jameson's that Ping smuggled in, to which a couple others made references. So I think we are good for now. Prefer to keep it dry, of course, but I'm not going to go screaming to the mods for the odd tipple here and there.
And, honestly, I'll be surprised if we see any 16 and 17 year olds here any time soon. There's a whole thread on the Xenforo Community board (the forum software I was going to use in my plan to keep the site going) about how forums seem to be fading, and one of the frequently cited factors is that millennials and later simply do not seem to be interested in forums. You need to be on Discord or Reddit to get those.
Crazy old ape
Quote by rolandlytle
Cheers, fellow Spacers.
Liz is recovering well. Her physical therapist's first visit was today.
Happy Canada Day! I was born so near to Canada that I feel like Canada is part of me.
.
A bit further North and you'd be Acadian.
I've been through Maine once en route to the Maritimes. It is actually just as fast to cut through the Northeastern US as to go up through Quebec if you going there from Southwestern Ontario. Cross at the Niagara frontier, take the NY State Thruway across NY, then up through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Once in Maine, you cross back into Canada and, wham, Maritimes. Nice day here but I am working. Might rain later (60% chance of showers in the afternoon).
Crazy old ape
Thanks, Sara! I could use some fuel for my own comp writing. It is slow but steady today.
And verbs, taking one cat to the vet was a nightmare, let alone multiple felines. And the dog was another thing entirely. He seemed to know the moment we put him in the car that's where we were going (which was weird because we took him lots of places in the car).
And verbs, taking one cat to the vet was a nightmare, let alone multiple felines. And the dog was another thing entirely. He seemed to know the moment we put him in the car that's where we were going (which was weird because we took him lots of places in the car).
Crazy old ape
Quote by verbal
How have I not seen this? I'm actually pretty ignorant of the anime flavors of Godzilla, other than Shin Godzilla. I'll jump into this.
It's brand new. Just dropped last month, I think, though they were promo'ing it for a while before. One thing I didn't mention in that post but that might interest you: Jet Jaguar is back, first as a piloted mecha, then as a robot.
And Shin Godzilla is live action, not anime. Also, it's the best Godzilla movie since the 1954 Gojira (though the 2014 Legendary has its merits, too) but that's another conversation.
Crazy old ape
I noticed that Blacula is coming up for a remake. It was a vampire movie that came out of the blaxploitation scene in Hollywood in the seventies. Could be interesting if the update the plot (a black monarch from Africa is vampirized by Dracula centuries ago, then resurfaces in Harlem in the seventies). I can see it being for vampires what Black Panther was for superheroes if they do it right.
With the success of the Legendary Godzilla and Kong movies, perhaps someone should try to get Hollywood rights for Gamera. Gamera is not part of the "Godzilla-verse" but is a rival series from another Japanese studio. However, Legendary getting the rights to do a Hollywood remake of Gamera could open the door to Godzilla and Gamera finally meeting on screen (other than in fan-made videos on Youtube), assuming both Japanese rights holders were amenable.
With the success of the Legendary Godzilla and Kong movies, perhaps someone should try to get Hollywood rights for Gamera. Gamera is not part of the "Godzilla-verse" but is a rival series from another Japanese studio. However, Legendary getting the rights to do a Hollywood remake of Gamera could open the door to Godzilla and Gamera finally meeting on screen (other than in fan-made videos on Youtube), assuming both Japanese rights holders were amenable.
Crazy old ape
Wife and I watched The Big Short recently. Pretty good, though an interest in recent history and financial markets helps considerably. I found it odd that Michael Burry, played by Christian Bale, seemed underused vs. Steve Carrell as Mark Baum. OTOH, Carrell gave the standout performance of the movie IMHO so that's not altogether a bad thing. The little sketches with celebs explaining WTF was going on were a bit odd, but no more so than the other fourth wall breaking that was going on (mostly by Ryan Gosling as Deutsche Bank manager Jared Vennett, who is based on a real person but that person asked to have their name changed for the movie).
FYI, I watched it on Netflix but I think it was leaving Netflix, at least in Canada, at the end of June.
FYI, I watched it on Netflix but I think it was leaving Netflix, at least in Canada, at the end of June.
Crazy old ape
Working my way through Godzilla Singular Point on Netflix. It's an anime that seriously reimagines the whole Japanese monsterverse. Rodan, in particular, gets a major makeover, becoming a species of large pterosaur instead of single giant bird (no spoiler there, this comes out right in the first episode). Huge flocks of them attack major cities all over the planet. I am generally enjoying it, though there is an odd amount of expository material building up a weird science origin for the monsters. The art work is a big strange, with the humans being rather typical cartoonish anime figures while the monsters, especially the rodans, are more artistically drawn. And there's nice little Easter eggs here and there for anime and kaiju fans (e.g. the look of a Mcguffin in this series is modelled on the Oxygen Destroyer from the Godzilla movies).
Crazy old ape
Got a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge for those needing something cool. Like me. Did a nice bike ride this morning. 54 minutes. Not sure of distance since I just used a stopwatch app, not a fitness tracker. I need a new fitness tracker since Strava, the one I used in the past, pissed me off by moving some free features to premium.
Nice day in general, but there's a lurking 40% probability of precipitation this afternoon (hence doing my ride in the morning).
Made some headway on a comp entry this morning. Not much, but it's in motion.
Nice day in general, but there's a lurking 40% probability of precipitation this afternoon (hence doing my ride in the morning).
Made some headway on a comp entry this morning. Not much, but it's in motion.