I've probably raved about First to Eleven on here before. Incredibly talented Gen Z (except the bass player, their former music teacher, who is a millennial) cover band from Erie, Pennsylvania. The three young members (vocals, guitar, drums) also form the indie rock band Concrete Castles where they perform their own compositions. Anyhow, they release a new cover every week and this week it is "Life is a Highway", originally written and performed by Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane. Except they credit Rascal Flatts, who covered it for the movie Cars😕. In any case, F211's cover is solid and actually sounds a lot like Cochrane's original in the end.😋

Quote by verbal
Undiscovered species of dinosaur, Ape?

Yeah, probably. It'll just be a mashup of known ones. Mendallasaurus Imaginarius, eh.

Meal - Veal (which could be a meal)

Hot tub, I think.

Electric bike or electric scooter?

New Scamp? I'm in! Bring on the monkeys and other cute animals.

Good morning, animals, humans, and anything else lurking. Coffee is Tobermory Grotto. There's Irish Breakfast and Sunday Tea in the teapots. Cold beverages are refreshed.

I want a dinosaur in my next story (sorry, Sara, not a cute, friendly one) and I can't find one that fits my parameters, damn it. With so many new species over the past couple decades, you'd think there'd be something. I mean, I could pull a Jurassic Park and distort an existing species (the dilophosaurus and raptors in the original both have issues relative to reality) but I'd rather "keep it real".

I have a vision for a setting right now. A vast forested plain wracked by almost ceaseless storms. Rain in summer, snow in winter, but seemingly perpetually stormy. Why is it like this? Who would live there and why? What stories could I get out of this? Inquiring minds want to know.

Quote by verbal
DEAD PEOPLE’S BONES IN MY JAW,

Meat - Mean

Quote by gillianleeza
It is very quiet here. Not sure why.

Me, neither. Even in terms of stories, there's been only been a dozen since July and nothing over 1000 words since the Bear's last story on July 18. Only one story (again, the Bear) has cracked 100 views since the last comp. The forums have been quiet for a while, too, with only a handful of regulars posting and mostly in social and game threads.

Has me wondering about my writing plans. Is a 4000-5000 word story even going to fly on here anymore? Because that tends to be my minimum for any serious work. Even 2000 might be stretching from what I see.

Ape not happy but ape also not sure what to do. I already link to the site, at least my stories page, from most of my other forum sites and discuss both my writing and occasionally that of others on other sites. I'm off the big platforms, though, and only frequent other forum sites, most of them not terribly much bigger.

Anyhow, there's my rant du jour, I guess.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I'm fond of spaghetti Westerns.

Live in the city/burbs or live in the countryside?

So while have heard the name Gentle Giant before, I have never actually heard anything by this early prog band even though they are a contemporary of such classic early prog rock groups as Yes, Gabriel-era Genesis, etc. So I added their first couple albums to my library on Amazon Music. I quite like. Maybe not destined to be all-time favorites, but quite a good example of early prog, with a mix of rock with jazz (very jazzy sound at times, in fact), and classical elements. At times they resemble early Yes, at others they are more seventies Moody Blues, which just means, of course, that they were part of that early seventies scene with those groups.

Goat - Moat

Watch out, world! The Ape is loose! But don't worry, I won't climb the Empire State Building. Too scared of heights to climb that high. 😳

Good morning! Coffee is a Nicaraguan Dark Roast from Las Chicas. Teas are English Breakfast and Earl Grey. Cold beverages are refreshed.

Settling in with an English Breakfast and a couple hippos.

Godzilla, though I quite like both

Legendary (American Godzilla) or Toho (Japanese)?

Haven't actually seen Rosemary's Baby so The Exorcist. Great movie.

Gory, nasty horror or subtley disturbing horror?

(That's a word? Must look it up.)

Goul - Goal

(EDIT: Huh, so it is)

SS in general is kind of eerily quiet, isn't it?

Of course, jokes like that aren't going to help much. Glad this place is a cafe and not a comedy club.

Thanks for opening up, verbs. Not sure why I am scarce these days. Will be trying to remedy that now.

Since verbs didn't check on the fridge, I've washed the pitchers and made fresh iced tea and lemonade. I hear it is still rather steamy in some parts, though here is definitely starting to feel rather Septemberish.

Now, on to trying to write something. My attempts at continuing Spirits of Tan Maldrin are flailing so will probably start with something less ambitious, maybe some short standalone pieces.

Fool - Foal

Oo, nice about your fig crop, Gil. We had a cherry tree at our old house in Hamilton, Ontario and had one really good season with it.

Good morning, gang!

I brewed some Tobermory Flowerpot Island for the coffee crowd, Teas are Assam and Sunday Tea. Since the hot weather still lingers for my Southern neighbours, I've replenished the iced tea and lemonade.

Later.

And my new favourite song of 2023 might just be "Lovesick" by Laufey. The melody of the chorus is one of those ones that just hooks you right in and has you singing along. The whole album is wonderful, by the way. Had it on in the car and on my walk today. It's all original material save for one standard: the marvelous "Misty" by Johnny Blake and Erroll Garner. There's even a solo piano number as an interlude in the middle, with Laufey showing off some serious chops on that instrument. Her guitar shows up a lot and even her cello appears once or twice (she played cello with the Iceland Symphony at 15, returning a couple years ago to record her first live album).

Gen Z jazz singer Laufey is becoming one of my big discoveries of 2023. She comes armed with a wonderful voice perfect for soft jazz, the ability to play at least three instruments that I know of (guitar, piano, cello), and some terrific songwriting to boot. Her sophomore album drops tomorrow.

Besides her musical skills, Laufey is also quite good a self-promotion on social media. This song from the new album was teased on Tik Tok for a while before this video came out.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Oh man. I think I picked my glasses a little too well.

I made a post elsewhere a few months ago about wanting to try on Drew’s glasses - only to find out that my new glasses are almost an exact replica of his. 


Needless to say, I’m delighted to feel so close to him when I wear them.

Hmm. That's something I never did in my glasses wearing days. Compare my glasses to those of glasses-wearing celebs. Interesting connection you've made with Drew.

Another crazy day in my crazy life. Trying to revamp an integration between two systems at work and crap just keeps breaking. I think I have the final issue figured out. I think. Tomorrow I'll know for sure.

Writing is happening but not for here. I am starting to think the Tana sequel is done like dinner. Nothing is really hanging together for it. Might even take Shadows of Tan Maldrin offline for a bit while I decide what to do with it. It needs a followup and I just don't know where to go with it.

Quote by verbal
Happy Labor Day all!

And to you. See my post in the Upcoming Movies thread, amigo. You'll love it.

Paging verbal. This looks absolutely awesome and amazing. Trailer for Godzilla Minus One, the new Toho Godzilla, is up.

Not a parrothead myself but did enjoy Buffett's music. Sad to see him gone.

Been quiet around here, but in case anyone does drop by, I will clean things up and get a pot of Grotto coffee from Tobermory going. Just did one pot of tea, an Earl Grey Cream. Washed up the pitchers and put both iced tea and lemonade in the fridge. Hot around here (I just cut the grass and am sweating like crazy) and I imagine that I am not the only one seeking a cold beverage.

Some Buffett (a greatest hits compilation) to enjoy while you sip your beverage.

Yep, the monthly themed calls issue is out and that's an actual quote from one of the markets, called (surprise!) Crab Tales. Given that the crab form has actually evolved multiple times in the history of the Earth (not all modern "crabs" are actually "crabs" in strict taxonomic sense, just in appearance), could be a fun one to write.

Other themes on offer? Bears in the big hairy gay male sense, cats, the future of rodents (called Rattus Futura), tarot cards, and so much more. Heavy on spec fic (fantasy, s-f, horror) as usual but there's some other stuff, too.

https://authorspublish.com/47-themed-submission-calls-for-september-2023/

He's getting more distinguished and handsome with age, eh.

Nice, if a bit cool here. Supposed to be last hurrah of summer this weekend though. We shall see.

Coffee is on. Picked an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe in a medium roast. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Russian Caravan. Cold drinks are refreshed.

I have gone from absolutely flying along in my writing to blocked. Might need to move on to something else for a while just to clear the block.

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Hoot - Boot