Unleash the Archers are a band from British Columbia here in Canada. They play power metal and their lead singer, Brittany Hayes (stage name is Brittany Slayes) packs a great set of pipes. New single just came out with the album, Phantoma, to follow in May. Intriguingly, the video seems to be the first part of a story that, I presume, will continue through the other singles from this album.

Quote by Cora
learn ecclesiastical Latin (there's also classical Latin)

Yeah, I learned classical Latin (my undergrad is Classical Studies) but I have had the odd opportunity to compare to ecclesiastical Latin and the Vulgate (the dialect used in the Latin Bible).

Quote by Cora
The Mass I attend is said in Latin.

Interesting. I remember that Joseph Campbell, the American mythologist, was actually an advocate for the Latin mass. He felt it created a stronger sense of entering the spiritual world and being apart from the temporal or something like that.

Quote by Cora
The Carthusians are an order of French Monks and their names are unknown, except for Denis who lived long ago.

Never heard of them. Something to look into. Good that you are tackling something on the heavy side in your spiritual practice. Challenging ourselves, or being challenged, is part of the spiritual journey.

Yay, king cake. Never actually been in NOLA for Mardi Gras, but maybe someday. Last year we were a couple weeks too early, largely because everyone jacks up their prices during Mardi Gras.

Quote by Cora
I hope SS, including this thread, livens up soon. Readership is and has been down far too long,

It's been a trend for a while. There seems to be very little interest here. We sometimes get a bit of a "rush" during a comp but it dies down quickly once the results are out. And, sadly, it's a bit of a negative feedback loop. People see that there is little activity so don't stay which means there is little activity...

But I am here, even if I come and go at times. Now if only I could shake this writer's block. It's fairly common for me this time of year. Winter blahs or something. I write stuff but just can't keep my interest up.

Quiet in here. I posted some power metal over in "What music are you listening to?" Maybe that will wake things up.

Putting on a pot of Colombian dark roast coffee along with pots of Earl Grey and Sencha (Japanese green tea).

Not much of a literary nature happening in my life right now. Keep trying, though.

Ape like.😊

Hyrax

Flamingo

Wish - With

Day is when sun shines.

Been there, done that, never again (it was in Boy Scouts, so we're talking like 45 or so years ago).

WYE travel a long distance just to see a favourite musician/band?

Sparkling, preferably with a squirt of lime or lemon.

Sweet or Unsweet iced tea?

Quote by etairay

Fernando - ABBA

I did "F" already. 😋

Gentle On My Mind - Glen Campbell

What We Do In The Shadows

Quote by etairay

Hey hey hello everybody!

Hey hey hello back at ya. How's life?

And since Cora has got the hot bevvies going, I'll just take a Red Rose and veg in the corner.

Fire and Ice - Ad Infinitum (main band of Melissa Bonny, one of my current favourite singers)

Quote by verbal

Don’t be dissing Tay Tay!

I think you quoted the wrong part of my post (memory issues? 😀).

Taylor does nothing for me. Lord knows, I've tried. I've listened to two or three of her albums, watched some of her videos. But she just strikes me as rather ordinary, mainstream pop music, hardly the earth-shattering genius you might expect of someone who gets that kind of attention.

Now, she is an amazing business woman and I certainly respect her for that. The whole sidestepping the fight over her masters by simply re-recording the albums thing was f-ing brilliant.

But her music? I can take it or leave it.

Quote by Mendalla
except maybe the halftime show, though I'm still not clear on who it is this year

It's Usher. I'm meh on him so probably take a pass. At least it isn't a certain badly overexposed singer with the initials T.S. Though she might actually get more airtime on TV than Usher does. 🙄😋

Quote by verbal
My memory can be shaky

Mine has always been shaky, at least for actually remembering "to do" items and dates and such. I'm good with facts and ideas, just not what I am supposed to do next week.

Cat. I'm very much a cat person.

Paper book or e-book?

The hum of my office's crappy HVAC.

Tomorrow Never Dies

Quote by Cora
After listening to the song I can clearly see how this song was a major inspiration for Lord of the Rings

It's actually the other way around. J. R. R. Tolkien's original novels inspired the song.

Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds

Dingo

rash - Mash

Good vibes for recovery to both Jim and Cora.

Good morning. Nice day here, esp. given that it is mid-February when we are often buried under a foot or two of the white stuff. Forecasting a high of 14C and only a 30% chance of showers now (was higher earlier in the week).

Putting on some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee for the coffee crowd. Scottish Breakfast and Cream of Earl Grey for the tea drinkers. Washed and refilled the pitchers of unsweet iced tea and lemonade in the fridge. Hot chocolate and marshmallow stocks are looking good.

I hear there's some kind of sporting event this weekend. Something about expensive commercials and a musical show with a football game squeezed in somewhere. 😋 My Super Bowl party will consist of watching just about anything other than the Super Bowl (except maybe the halftime show, though I'm still not clear on who it is this year).

Have a good one, folks!

Yeah, but Michael Phelps is not exactly a normal human swimmer. He's probably the closest we have to a real-life Aquaman.

No, I wouldn't do something like that. Would rather just observe sharks in the wild. Amazing animals.

WYE participate in an archaeological dig that called for volunteers to help?

Apparently chimps and gorillas don't get along terribly well, but i am hardly a typical gorilla and am a fan of Jane Goodall, so yes.

WYE cook a new dish for the first time for company?

Quote by redwriter
any female under 50 is a dolly-bird

Hm. So my daughter-in-law (24) is a "dolly-bird"? I think I'll keep that bit of intel to myself.😇

Coffee is on. A nice dark roast from Nicaragua. Teas are English Breakfast and Raspberry Royale.

Nothing much doing. Our temp is supposed to hit 10C today, which is apparently approaching record territory for February. Feels more like April, to be sure.

Base - Case

(Hm. Somehow I missed Y up there. Oh well, next go round)

Bowhead Whale

Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin

Zeppelin is not generally considered metal per se but is ancestral to it and highly influential in metal circles. And one of the things metal picked up from them is a fascination with fantasy. This song is full of allusions to Lord of the Rings, which remains popular theme material in metal and rock to this day.