I blow hot and cold, mostly cold, on Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork. Not sure why, but she's just never appealed to me even if I find her work interesting.

However, this cover of Bjork's "Army of Me" by Brazilian singer Violet Orlandi at least has Violet's lovely alto voice and some interesting imagery going for it.

Three Musketeers, assuming they still make them. Have not seen one in a very long time (mercifully for my glucose levels).

Adopt a kitten or a grown cat?

Quote by DenimAngel
Ape did the marshmallow dealer agree to the terms of cookies?

Indeed he did. No arm-twisting required, though I had the Bear standing nearby in case it was. I mean, seriously, who's going to play hardball with a gorilla and a polar bear?😋

Quote by gillianleeza
This year, I am trying to simplify the menu. I spend so much time prepping and cooking that I don't get to enjoy having my family visit.

Yeah, I have noticed that the few times we've done family get togethers at our place. Though with my uncle being a retired chef, he often ends up in the kitchen helping so the person cooking at least gets to visit with him.

Quote by gillianleeza
Now, all the mosquitos need to die.

They seem to be more or less finished here. I walked through the woods near my place recently and was not molested by the bloodthirsty little beasts.

And a hearty GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING! to y'all. Coffee is Fire Roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Teas are English Breakfast and Earl Grey Cream. Wash the pitchers and put fresh iced tea and lemonade in them.

Writing what I hope will be a spooky horror piece for Hallowe'en. Going Lovecraftian on this one, though I am not sure whether I will make it officially Cthulhu Mythos or just evoke that atmosphere.

Up early. We travel for scenery and sightseeing, not to party.

Paint your face for Halloween or wear a mask?

Hey there, everybody! Long weekend here in the Great White North. Happy Thanksgiving to any and all Canucks reading this.

Coffee is PC Gourmet Medium Roast. We've got Canadian Breakfast and Vinyl Cafe teas. Latter is named for a famed Canadian radio and stage show whose host sadly left us several years ago. Iced tea and lemonade are ready, soda stock is checked.

Good morning! Got some President's Choice West Coast Dark in the coffee pot. Teas are English Breakfast and Earl Grey Cream. There's fresh iced tea and lemonade in the fridge and the pop is stock up. Marshmallow stock has arrived as has our supply of hot chocolate so we are ready for winter. We'll getting down to hot chocolate temps here on the weekend, it appears.

Sorry I haven't been writing much for here. Another site has kind of occupied my attention of late. Soon, I hope.

A new entry on my favourite new albums of 2023 is A Dark Euphony by Dutch alt/goth-metal band Blackbriar. Their lead singer Zora Cock has a beautiful voice that is quite different from a lot of the metal queens and the songwriting here is terrific.

Soup - Soap (something you hope isn't in your soup)

Spain. I adore paella alone even without getting into other Spanish dishes. And, to be honest, I found French cooking overrated when I went to Paris.

Travel alone with partner or join a group tour?

Quote by gillianleeza
The first one is good, and they go downhill steadily after that.

Jaws ranks as one of my all-time favourite movies, clunky shark sfx notwithstanding. The performances of the shark hunting trio are fantastic. The first sequel was kind of meh and rehashed a lot of plot beats from the original but at least Scheider was back as Brody. When the next one came out in 3D I gave up. Until Avatar, 3D was pretty much a gimmick to try to sell crap.

Good afternoon, folks.

Ocean, though I wouldn't mind trying a river cruise on the Danube someday (my wife isn't crazy about the idea, though)

Visit lots of ports or spend lots of time on the ship?

Coop - Coup

Quote by AnnaMayZing

I have just discovered that Within Temptation also has a new album release on 20th October 2023.

It is entitled Bleed Out.

There's a couple singles out now. Sounding like quite the album. Sharon and Robert (the married couple who do most of the writing and are the band's founders) went quite political on this one, with a lot of focus on Ukraine but Bleed Out is about women's rights.

"Wireless" was the first release.

Quote by verbal
The High Lonesome

Sounds like a Western? Or maybe s-f?

I finally took the bait and started reading Saga last night. I've been hearing good buzz about it for years but have never plunged in. It's an ongoing comic series since 2012 (but with a hiatus from 2018 to 2022) about a mismatched couple from warring societies on the run from both their nations with their newborn in tow (who also narrates as an adult, giving the whole thing a bit of a flashback feel). Every bit as good as I heard. Good pair of lead characters, some humourous touches in spite of the general darkness of the setting (basically a galaxy in perpetual war with lots of nasty people around), interesting supporting cast including some seriously weird aliens. Even has magic which is why I class it as fantasy rather than s-f, even though it has lots of s-f elements. There's a compendium edition covering the entire period (54 issues) prior to the hiatus which is what I am reading now, then the ongoing comics get compiled into graphic novels every so many issues so I'll use those to catch up once I've finished the compendium. Authors are Brian K. Vaughan (writer) and Fiona Staples (Artist)

Brow - Crow

I've been hearing about Finnish metallers Battle Beast for a while now, but finally partook. Excellent band. Lead singer Noora Louhimo belts, shouts, and screams with the best of them.

Quote by verbal
Damned Thing

Possible title? 😉 I mean, it's not original (Ambrose Bierce wrote one called "That Damned Thing") but you could do much worse. 😋

So I awoke up at 2am, used the loo, and then barely slept after that. Feel like (censored) today. Don't even want to consume copious amounts of caffeine because that might disrupt me tonight.

Crew - Brew

Tempting as it is given the new Trek shows, I don't have Paramount+. Might get there eventually.

And Gil, sounds fine on the cold drinks. Just find they don't go down as fast when things get cooler.

Good morning! Coffee is brewing and there's tea in the teapots. Cold drinks are refreshed.

See you around.

Depends what I am doing. For reading a book or even magazine (we have e-subs to a couple magazines), tablet. For writing, surfing, etc., laptop. Really, I should probably be trying a convertible or "Pro" tablet with a keyboard base but they're a bit pricey.

Listen to music while writing or just quiet?

Elyse, the only person who could go on Price Is Right, win big, and be disappointed because her prize wasn't Drew. 🤣 I should tune it in someday when I'm working from home just to see what it is like with him. Except I don't have any access to regular TV right now due to cutting the cord. 😊

Chow - Chew (Yep, I know chows. They probably chew things, too. 😊)

Quote by verbal
Woke up early for frikk mowers and weed walkers.

Yeesh, what time do people start in your neck of the woods. Other than traffic and the odd contractor starting work, I rarely hear much before 9 or so here. Or is that early for you?

New week is here! Happy Monday!

Coffee is brewing. For today, we have Presidents Choice West Coast Dark Roast. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Black Currant. Not sure cold beverages are needed anymore, but I'll keep them up for one more week and then probably break out the hot chocolate come October.

See ya'

Quote by DenimAngel
Spooky cookies start Oct 1

Good afternoon. Been busy. Went out for a midday dinner then a boatload of shopping. Are Costcos as bad on Saturday elsewhere as around here? Just getting parking was starting to look like needle in a haystack territory. And the scariest thing in Costco was not the Halloween decorations. It was ... duh duh duh ... the Christmas decorations. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sun, as long as it is not too hot.

Swimming pool or head for a lake/ocean beach?

Show - Dhow (seriously, it's a type of boat)

Quote by verbal
Spooky season is upon us!

One more week, man. Halloween is October for me.

Quote by verbal
the End of Watch trilogy

I have no idea what this is. That's how out of the loop I am with King.

EDIT: Ah, booksellers and the publisher call it the Bill Hodges trilogy. That's what confused me.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

I was very sad to hear of his passing while I was away. Although The Last Farewell was his most noteworthy hit, and one of my favourites, he was also well known for his amazing whistling. Here, he accompanies the late, great Des O'Connor (in the UK at least) with The Skye Boat Song.

For some reason, the Roger Whittaker collection I was listening to had that recording greyed out on Amazon Music. Apparently they don't have Canadian rights for it or something? Because that's a lovely version of the song. Too many current versions use the Bear McCreary Outlander version as a starting point rather than the original folk song.

And some new metal from today. Dianne van Giersbergen has been teasing the second single from her upcoming first solo album for a few days and now it is out. Almost a bit over the top as symphonic metal goes but with her powerful soprano, it works. Some nice guitar work from Timo Somers, who has played in a number of bands over the years.

Good morning! I'll get to your new poem in a bit, Drew ... er ... JustAnotherSapphic. Your avatar confused me for a moment.😉

There's some Costa Rican dark roast brewing in the coffee pot. Teas are Darjeeling and Russian Caravan. Fresh pitchers of lemonade and iced tea are out.

How goes the battle, folks?

And some more cafe-suitable music from the lovely voice of Laufey, who is quite accomplished on several instruments as well as being an amazing singer.