Temperatures drop as winter approaches.

From Pacifica (see upthread), the final official video from their new album In Your Face. Bright alt-pop/rock from Argentina is not something I expected to have on my buds but I quite like this duo.

Good morning! Happy Halloween!!

And Halloween apparently ends at 8pm Eastern Time tonight, at least for Canadians. Something about bats, but that still sounds Halloween-y to me. 😉

Fresh coffee and tea are brewed. Pitcher of iced tea and lemonade are washed and filled. Soda stock looks good.

For munchies ... hey, what else. Trick or treat goodies, of course.

But there's date squares for those not looking for a candy fix.

Quote by verbal
It was part of the "Satanic panic" of the 80s, but I don't think it's too well known.

No, I haven't heard that one. My main experience with the whole nonsense was them going after Dungeons & Dragons since I was active in roleplaying from about 1977 to the early 90s. My church was liberal (relatively, I found out the limits of that when the denomination voted on ordaining gay ministers) so I had no issues but I heard some horror stories for sure. Maybe if I had been into metal in those days, I would have seen more of the music side but that came more recently.

Weird moment of the day. In 2020, I wrote Musings Of A Forgotten Deity for the 10th anniversary competition. And for the cover image, I found a nice pic of a ruined Greek temple overlooking the sea. Was just looking at it again and trying to remember if I even knew where it was taken. So I did a visual search. It's the Acropolis of Lindos on the island of Rhodes. I have now been there. Wish I had remembered. I might have tried to get a pic of my own from the same angle. Here's the photo I used. I'll get one of my photos of Lindos when I'm home tonight.

Quote by verbal
Finally finding my way through the witches spell on cassette tape story.

So a 70s-90s witch? 😀 You need to do a sequel where the spell is an MP3. 😉🤣

Hi, Gil. Sorry to hear that life is still kicking you in the ass. Sending good vibes. Take care.

And good morning, all. Hot coffee and tea are refreshed and there's fresh iced tea and lemonade in the fridge.

Have a good one!

Wow, what a game last night. 18 innings. Sadly, the Jays are now down 2-1 in the series. Game 4 goes tonight, assuming anyone is able to get out of bed to play.

Coffee and tea are refreshed and here's some new goodies. Hope all are well.

Early in her career, Dutch metal vocalist Floor Jansen studied opera among other styles of singing as she sought to develop her own style and learn how to be a better singer. And she does use that training from time to time in Nightwish, though not as much as she did in her early days.

This past weekend, on a charity special of the Dutch TV show Beste Zangers, Floor teamed with Dutch operatic mezzo Maria Fiselier for a performance of "Because We Believe", co-written and originally performed by Italian tenor Andrea Boccelli (you might recall him singing it at the 2006 Torino Winter Games). And that opera training was very much in evidence, with the performance ending on a belt that brings the house down.

Authors Publish for this week highlights magazines taking fiction longer than 7000 words (so none of the that wussy flash and micro stuff). Most still cap out around the same level as here, so 10K or so. It's real mix in terms of style/genre so look it over and see if anything you have on the go fits somewhere.

» 30 Magazines Accepting Longer Fiction

I'm not really a "hugger" but definitely tell people nice things.

WYE take up a new hobby that you previously knew nothing about?

Wavelength helps define electromagnetic spectrum.

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.