Thank you to Molly for getting this up and running.

Thank you to the mods for getting the stories up in good time.

And thank you to the writers of StoriesSpace. Because a story comp with no stories would be a bit ... pointless? Plotless, maybe? 😀

Quote by verbal

I haven't read the story yet, but HEAVILY agree about writing about what you love (he said, having never written about baseball) (I do have a small but about my love of playing catch in the novel).

Hmm. So for me, that might be a symphonic metal band with a cellist and a fantastic Dutch lead singer on a fantasy quest. Though a D&D party comprised entirely of bards is likely a bit of a losing proposition. 🤣

Here's an example of a band with a cellist as a member. EGRES is a Finnish indie band that I discovered through a member on another site who is friends with the band's founder and whose sister was their original lead singer and lyricist. She had to move on to other things (including having a baby) so this live video features her successor Hanna Lahtinen on vocals.

One of the biggest surprises as I got deeper into the world of metal a few years ago, is just how popular cellos are in the metal scene.

There's Apocalyptica, a Finnish cello trio backed by a rhythm section who play both covers of classic metal (they are touring a Metallica tribute right now) and original songs.

There's Chinese-American cellist Tina Guo, who apparently got into metal in university and now guests with metal bands fairly regularly as well as doing her own shows at metal festivals. She was quite present and active at Wacken Open Air in Germany this past week.

And there's some bands out there that actually have cellists as session players or members.

So, for my latest story, I tell the tale of a cellist who is presented with a chance to do metal. She's a student, so fairly new, and the band is a local up and coming group. And the band's singer is a bit of a hottie, suggesting more than music might be involved in this tie-up.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/realistic-fiction/heavy-cello-love

Some music that kind of suggests where I am coming from with this cello and metal thing.

First up, a recent video from German band Lord of the Lost with Tina Guo joining on cello (and she actually uses her acoustic on this one).

From Wacken Open Air 2019, Tina joins Swedish history-themed power metal band Sabaton for one of their biggest songs. She's electrified on this one.

Apocalyptica live featuring the wonderful Dutch metal mezzo Simone Simons for their original song "Rise Again".

And finally, from this year's Wacken Open Air, Tina and Apocalyptica team up for a Metallica cover.

Quote by WriterGirl

Read it… and… although I liked your comp piece a lot, I LOVED this one, but happy you didn’t cut it down to size. You love metal so much, you should write more stories around it.

Well, this is my second in under a year (Scream Away The Silence from the Sound of Silence comp is the other). There might be more to come. We shall see. And some of my other stories have metal on the mental soundtrack I have for them (e.g. a couple of the Tana stories have Nightwish songs as "soundtrack" and the character of Tana was envisioned at one point as being played by their current lead singer).

So, as promised, I have finished my other possible comp entry (and extended it past the 1000 words as I felt it needed) and it is in the queue. Get ready for some "Heavy Cello Love".

Quote by gillianleeza
I cannot believe it is finally cooler here. It is in the seventies today.

Yeah, we are getting a break this weekend too. Hope it lasts. I am more than happy to have the temps stay below 30 and less humid.

Long hair, I think. More mess but so soft and pretty.

Spaniel or hound? (switching to the other popular pet animal)

Quote by Meagananne1986

Oh, sorry Molly. I thought it ended at the beginning of 1 August. My bad!

End has always been the end of the deadline here.

Quote by rolandlytle

Tina Guo celloist

Here she is in full metal mode, joining the Finnish metal cello group Apocalyptica for a Metallica cover (something Apocalyptica kind of specializes in, though they have some good original material, too). This was one of the first official videos released from Wacken Open Air this year, one of the world's largest metal/rock festivals and regarded as a "Mecca" for metalheads. Nice to see Tina at Wacken again. She actually opened the festival not too many years ago.

Tabby. I have never been that fond of Siamese for some reason.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Comp is ticking down to it inevitable conclusion. 16 is good for here but more are still welcome. Any last minute entries lurking in the weeds?

Quote by Meagananne1986

Congrats. We had ours lengthened and widened a few years back.

We kept basically the same layout, just switched from brick to concrete. Easier to maintain and do snow clearing.

I am ... looking forward to visiting a rock festival in Germany (by livestream, not live) tomorrow morning.

Quote by Meagananne1986

Egad! My 'Contestant' badge shows 6 instead of the correct 3 competitions that I have entered and to make it even worse, the 'Competition' badge section shows FIVE, count them, FIVE (!) 'Summer Love' badges. Hopefully, one day, the techs will get everything tuned-up correctly so that the correct numbers and badges show for people.

Eek! I checked my badges and if I add up Contestant, Competition Runner-Up, Competition Top 10, and Competition Winner, it does match my competition badges so I think I am good. I notice the image for "New Year's Do Over" is MIA but I think that's been that way for a while and I've already reported it.

I assume the weird number on your Contestant badge is related to the proliferation of "Summer Love" badges so hopefully fixing that will fix both.

I've done both. For my current office, the answer is neither. Would need at least 3 buses to get here on our f-d up transit system and too far for bicycle commutes. However, I have done both in the past and certainly bike has its advantages and is more enjoyable. But in Southern Ontario, there's also winter and only certain very hardy cyclists brave that.

Cat or dog?

I never got into the Dead. Heard them back in the day, but their style never quite clicked with me.

Quote by verbal
Watching The Fall, and on our next to last episode. Gillian Anderson vs. a serial killer. She's perfect in this.

I loved her in the X-Files but have never got around to The Fall.

Hopefully watching a livestream concert on Saturday. My favourite singer is at one of the biggest metal festivals in Europe, if not the world, and her set is going to be on their livestream. She's done this festival at least three times as a band member but never solo.

I am ... going home to my new, improved driveway. Yay!!😊

I love it when two bands I love get together and produce something that is more than the sum of the parts. Lord of the Lost are a German dark rock/metal band who I came across when they represented Germany in Eurovision. Within Temptation are from The Netherlands and are one of the OGs of symphonic metal. This song brings them together to spectacular effect.

Sledding. Tubing always looks uncomfortable to me, esp. given my f-d up back.

Soft mattress or firm mattress (for sleeping, you pervs)?

Welp, I am caught up in the comp again. I think I might have my picks for the top 3. And no, I'm not one of them. We'll see though. I am generally terrible at picking comp slates. Two more days if anyone else wants to jump into the ring.

I came here to read stories and kick a$$ and I'm all out of stories. So how about some more stories? Because I'm actually kind of meek and not really into kicking butts. Two days left (assuming the deadline is end of day August 1). Anyone else?

I am ... feeling better than I expected after a meeting with a bunch of execs (including our group's CEO) today.

OMG, they've gone to the War of the Worlds well again. And they've added some weird new element about the aliens feeding on data???? The war machines look great, though.

I mean the novel is public domain and is the root of the whole alien invasion subgenre but it still seems a bit overdone and most recent versions have pulled in elements from other alien invasion movies to the point of losing H. G. Wells' original story and point. IOW, they might as well call them something else and just cite Wells as an influence. Oh well, so goes Hollywood. I suppose this means we'll get half a dozen more "adaptations" as happened when the Spielberg-Cruise version came out (which, to its credit, was actually a decent modernization of the original).

Snow skiing, but cross-country. Downhill would almost inevitably end in disaster for me.

Pie alone or pie a la mode?

Cookout. Unless I felt too tired, then restaurant as backup.

Buffet or a la carte?

Quote by verbal
I will try to write that cat scene though!

Do it! You know you can. Cats are fun to write for (says the guy who has cats as major characters in two of his last four stories).

Oh, I love Ping stories. They sometimes go way off the beaten path for this place, but they are usually amazing, imaginative pieces.

Depends where I am. In North America, I usually drive. Overseas, usually do a bus or other tour where someone else handles the driving.

Visit historic sites or nature preserves?

Welp, the title might raise some eyebrows but Ping is in the comp. Bracing for impact. Hopefully will have time to read it today. Any more? There's still time.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/romance/dcks-tts-swastkas

And good morning. Fresh pots of tea and coffee are on. And there's cookies.