Clop - Clip

Serendipity - Typographical

Terrance - Ezekiel

And a Sirenia original that came out with the album on Friday.

Trivia: Emmanuelle has been lead singer since 2016 but prior to that she sang as part of the band's chorus for over a decade.

Listening to the new album 1977 by Sirenia last night. The band is currently a duo (Norwegian multi-instrumentalist Morten Veland and French mezzo Emmanuelle Zoldan) with two other musicians who join them for live performances. This is a cover of a song that I quite liked back when it came out from Tanita Tikaram and it's a heck of a good cover, too. The shipboard footage is from the band's appearance on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise in January.

Coffee is on for those so inclined. It's a Brazilian dark roast. Teas are Assam and Lemon black teas. There's fresh pitchers of unsweet iced tea and lemonade in the fridge. Pop supply is checked and restocked, as are the various condiments and add-ons.

New weekend, new story. Yep, I am on to my fourth comp idea. This one seems like it might stick. Bit of kaiju, bit of horror, bit of dark fantasy, maybe even a pinch of Lovecraft. Yeah, might go serious weird. And I'm destroying Toronto which is always good for lulz, at least if you're not from Toronto (we Canadians tend to pick on our largest city for some reason).

Plop - Poop

Altogether - ergot (Hi, Elizabeth!)

Here comes coffee

Here comes tea

Lots of caffeine for you and me.

(No, that's the beginning of my entry for a future poetry comp. Well, unless the theme is making people's eyes open. 😀)

There's also the usual cold beverages but I haven't got a poem for them, yet. Stand by, though. (watches room clear out)

Quote by Molly

We have the latest version of the Cover Editor and we are asking a few of you to please try it out via this link and let us know how it works. Thanks to those of you that do.

https://www.storiesspace.com/cover-editor

First run, it looks pretty good. Finicky at times but I expect that of a web app unless I'm on an absolutely crystal clear connection. I'll play more tonight. Will save me some time spent in Paint 3D for sure. 😊

Quote by verbal
Mets lost again. Tonight we try to avoid being swept by the lowly Cubs.

😋

Quote by Molly

We have our first story:

Swindonbloke: https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/fantasy/wiglaf-the-greatest-hero-of-them-all-2

Ape scurries in and scrambles to put things on

Coffee pot is full of ... oh crap, grabbed verbal's Costco stuff. Oh well. He likes it, at least. Teas are Red Rose and Earl Grey. Iced tea and lemonade are chillin'.

Wrestling a bit with how my comp story should end but will probably just start writing and see where it wants to go. I have enough figured out to get started.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

The first solo single from Dianne van Giersbergen of Ex-Libris and previously Xandria.

After the Storm

And a damn fine one, too. Will be interesting to see where she goes with her solo album but this song is a good sign.

Not much to say about the late Tina Turner that hasn't already been said elsewhere by others. This song, recently covered by Ghost, was part of her eighties revival and also tied to her role as the antagonist in Beyond Thunderdome, the third Mad Max movie. RIP, Tina.

Hey, monsters don't need to be scary. They usually are, but they don't need to be. Think Shrek. Think Beauty & the Beast.

(says the guy who's targeting dark fantasy as the genre for his current idea)

Quote by verbal
Finished the tadpole story and I think I like it now. I also finished a story about a sinister form of Creeping Phlox. It's pretty weird.

Eager anticipating the third movie in the universe, Tadpole vs Phlox. Coming in 2024!

Quote by verbal
And exactly three cookies please.

One of my team at work is from the Dominican Republic and went down to visit family recently. Came back with these absolutely to die for coconut ball cookie things. I try to keep myself to 2-3 per day but it is not easy.

Loan - Koan

Good morning!

There's some Nicaraguan medium roast waiting for the coffee crowd. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Cream of Earl Grey. Iced tea and lemonade are ready if you're craving something more chill.

resurgence - centralize

Quote by verbal
Crazy smoke from you Canadians in Colorado yesterday and today.

The Alberta crowd I know on the Canadian site I admin have been complaining, esp. ones with health issues. One woman basically shuts herself with extra air filtration on. Here in the East, it's pretty quiet. The problem is mostly in Alberta and parts of BC.

Teabag - Agriculture

Idiom - omelette

Floe - Aloe

We missed our son's grad, but so did he. He got sick the day before we were headed up and was worried it might be C-19 so didn't go. Fortunately caught us in time for us to change plans.

Scarfs a mortarboard to have with some English Breakfast tea.

Email. Faster, more reliable, and with my arthritic fingers, writing is even more of a chore than it used to be and if I am going to type it anyhow, might as well use email.

Email or PM on social media?

What happens when you crossbreed symphonic metal with black metal? Apparently, Norwegian band Dimmu Borgir (who, oddly, take their name from a place in Iceland), who are described as "symphonic black metal".

You know, if someone had told me even 5 years ago that I would be listening to and enjoying something like this, I'd have said they were nuts. Something seems to have really changed in my musical inclinations.

Quote by verbal
Anyone sick of me talking a out this dumb tadpole story has got to realize it's worse having to work on the damn thing every day.

Someday it will grow up into a big, happy frog story.😋

Good morning. I might finally have a comp story worked out. Not one of the old ideas I was looking at but something new. Dark fantasy, I would say, but maybe with a touch of humour. We'll see what happens as I write.

There's some Jamaican Blue Mountain in the coffee pot. Teas are English Breakfast and something new, a masala chai. Iced tea and lemonade are in the fridge. Sodas are stocked up.

Have a good one and, as always, later alligators.

Still pancakes available if you want 'em. With real Canadian maple syrup even.

And to drink with those, we have some nice Costa Rican dark roast coffee. For the tea crowd, there's Earl Grey and Red Rose. Cold drinks are freshened up in the fridge.

Had another idea for the comp during a period of wakefulness last night. Outlined it this morning and I am less than enthused, but I have an inkling of an ending unlike some other options. One of my old ideas has gone back to the Under Review folder. I would need to cut out a plot element that I think I want to keep for it to go here.

Nothing but sun for the coming week. Going to be summer-y by the end of May, too, it looks like. Does that make me happy? A little, I guess. Might be too hot by next weekend though. Might have to finally switch from furnace to AC.

There's a nice pot of Ethiopian coffee waiting. I've also put out pots of Scottish Breakfast and Lemon teas. Fresh unsweet iced tea and lemonade are in the fridge.

And it's a pancake Sunday.