Ape comes in rocking out to the new Metallica

Damn, they are banging hard again. Good album so far.

In other news, there's coffee in the coffee pot. Teas du jour are Assam and Russian Caravan. Iced tea and lemonade are chillin' in the fridge. Sodas are restocked. Oh, and there's hot water for other hot teas.

Later, alligators.

(PS. did the site colours change or is my vision getting worse again? 😒)

Quote by AnnaMayZing
Nightwish has just announced a new album for next year and no more touring.

Yeah, the no more touring part has caused some upset, but with Floor touring more and more in her solo work, maybe that will mollify at least some folks. And they said "indeterminate" which often means "until we feel like doing it again". And there is a short European tour happening in June, mostly close to home, including a concert in Kitee, Finland, hometown of the original band members.

That said, I'm more pissed than ever that I had to pass on seeing them in Toronto last year. First gig of the North American tour was in TO on my b-day. However, I had a medical appointment in town that day that was cancelled too late for me to get a ticket and make the trek.

Quote by verbal

So, I JUST pulled the trigger on buying my first Google Pixel. Older model, and refurbished, so cheap-ish, but I am SO PSYCHED to check out astrophotography mode.

I've heard good things about Pixels, esp. the camera. If I was buying a personal phone for myself, Pixel would be high on my list. I use Samsung mainly because it's what we standardized on for work.

Sorry I've been scarce. Was playing Tim "Tool Man" Taylor yesterday. Got the job done but I'm paying today.

Anna, did you hear the news? Floor is opening for Metallica. Not with Nightwish. Solo.

Someone twigged me to this on another site. Interesting punk spin on the Melanie hit "Brand New Key". The band is a husband and wife team on guitars and bass/vocals respectively plus a drummer.

Good morning. Wet one here. Oh well April showers bring May flowers and all that.

Coffee is on. Teapots have English Breakfast and Cream of Earl Grey. Hot water is there for other teas. Iced tea and lemonade are made and in the fridge.

Bit of a busy Saturday today including an eye checkup. Still, at least it's not work.

Some hot coffee is brewing. Red Rose and Earl Grey teas are steeped and in the pots. Iced tea, lemonade, and sodas are all in the fridge. Add'ins like lemon, sugar, and milk/cream are all checked and stocked.

Working on a story for another site (guess who) but I do have ideas for here.

Brrrrr. Quite chilly here this morning. Had to go out first thing to install our bike carrier on our SUV so wife can take her bike in for spring service.

However, the coffee is hot, as are the English Breakfast and Russian Caravan teas. There's hot water for other beverages and fresh pitchers of iced tea and lemonade.

Later.

6329 Let's enjoy a glass of wine!

Time for coffee, time for tea, lots to drink for you and me! (sung in an irritatingly chipper voice)

I've put on a pot of Costa Rican medium roast for the coffee crowd. There's English Breakfast and Wakoucha (Japanese Black Tea) in the teapots. Iced tea and lemonade are refreshed and I've checked stock on the condiments and sodas.

Have a nice one!

Just found this band through a Youtube recommendation. Not sure what it is that grabbed me about them. They aren't really my usual, even in my pre-metalhead days, but I am quite enjoying them.

Quote by Molly

Sorry, I missed this earlier. Would you raise a ticket on this?

Seems fine now. Having issues elsewhere but SS is behaving.

Coffee coffee toil and trouble

Cauldron boil and cauldron bubble

Yeah, that's going to be some right strong coffee. Tea is Russian Caravan and Scottish Breakfast. Hot water is ready for other hot beverages. Unsweet iced tea and lemonade are fresh and ready. Soda stock is check and replenished.

Good morning, inspirators!

Winter is officially over. Meaning my cars are now both running on all season tires and no more ice or snow is hence allowed. In fact, the weather here in Southwestern Ontario is downright summer-y.

My home Internet is down. Thank heaven for phones with hotspots. I think cable layers working on our street likely buggered it up but we won't have a tech on site until tomorrow to find out (this started c. 2pm yesterday). 😠

Quote by Molly

There have been a few things running in the background. Mine did it too a few times, but it seems to be doing just fine now.

Login seems better but 4 of the 5 images are broken on my desktop (but not on mobile, interestingly). I am using Edge on desktop so maybe that's somehow a factor???

Quote by verbal
I've been taking long wandering walks on these beautiful last few days, and I'm sure I have another one ahead of me today.

Ditto here in Ontario. Should last until Sunday, it appears from the forecast.

To the hot beverages verbs got going (thanks, man) I have refreshed the lemonade and iced tea (unsweet, there's lemon and sugar available if you need 'em) in the fridge.

Writing is very haphazard right now. Got stuff going but just not having the energy or motivation to stick to it. Trying, though.

Have there been any updates recently (like the past week or so)? I am having problems with the "Remember Me" switch on login not working again (I will try dumping cache since that sometimes fixes this) and the images for the Top Categories on the home page are broken. Just wondering if something borked something. And if it is just me or if these are happening to others.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

Deceiver of Fools - Within Temptation and the Metropole Orchestra

From Black Symphony, I guess? Love that performance.

I was listening to a contemporary of theirs on my walk today. My Winter Storm was Tarja Turunen's second solo album after she parted ways with Nightwish. This song also made its way on to her "best of" compilation last year.

Good morning! Sunny here and warming up as we move through the Easter weekend.

Coffee is hot and in the pot. There's Red Rose and Lemon tea. Hot water is on for other teas or hot chocolate. Sodas, lemonade, and iced tea await you in the fridge.

And look what the bunny left. 😊

Hey, look who's hanging out in my backyard. Anyone for chocolate eggs?

So I've started a new story about my priestly adventure party, this one moving the action far from the part of the world where I started into an older Southern region that draws heavily on Mesopotamia and Egypt. So the story opens in a city called Al'risa where the ancient emperors are buried in tombs around the city, which itself was created to house the workers, priests, etc. needed for the funerary and tomb industry. I am trying to make it a bit strange and exotic relative to the Iron Age and later European sheen of the Tana stories and the first story about the new characters.

I think Anna? posted about Natalia Tsarikova upthread a while ago. She's a Russian soprano who trained in Italy and now resides in Finland. Excellent voice. She is probably best known for covers of bands like Nightwish but this is an original song by Finnish songwriter Juha Alanampa who also produced.

Depends on the cake. For what we usually call "cake" here, fork. Too soft and loose for fingers. But for something like a fruitcake that's more dense and bread-like, fingers are preferred.

Walk or bike for exercise?

Oddly, for one not really actively Christian, The Gospels. I am a leader on a discussion forum called Bible Passage of the Week on another site and we've been doing stories related to Easter and Holy Week recently.

Ape wanders in. Ape sees brownies. Ape starts swiping.😊

Good morning, all. Here's some nice hot java to go with those brownies. Tea, too, Assam and English Breakfast.

I've put both lemonade and iced tea in the fridge. Help yourselves.

Bright and sunny here and looking good for the whole weekend.

Good morning! Ape here. Worked until 10pm last night (grumble). Oh well, last day of work before a long weekend.

Coffee is a Blue Mountain from Jamaica. For teas we have English Breakfast and Wakoucha (Japanese red/black). Hot water is one for other hot bevvies. Iced tea is in the fridge for those in need of something cool. Restocked the sodas, too.

Shun

It's morning! Good morning!

Wet here. Rain, chance of thunderstorms.

Coffee is ready, as are pots of Earl Grey and Red Rose tea. Hot water is ready. There's fresh lemonade in the fridge.

Later, alligators.

Even as I work on my fantasy tales, I am meditating on doing some space s-f. There's a whole bunch of different world-building questions with that genre. Like,

Is there faster-than-light travel? (the answer to this one affects the answer to the rest, since if there is no FTL, travel is confined to one system unless another system is quite close by)

Are civilizations common or rare?

Are there multiple civilizations, an overarching galactic "Federation" or "Empire", individual systems?

Are the aliens "alien" or just humans with pointy ears and extra bumps on their heads?

Is there lots of unknown space so that exploring that space is important (Star Trek) or is it a well-settled, well-traveled galaxy where conflicts, politics, etc. are more important (Star Wars)?

Probably more, but that's a start.

Quote by verbal
saying goodbye to Talia, who will be leaving tomorrow for a little while.

Been there, done that. But I had a kid to look after, too, when she was travelling for her academic conferences and such.

Quote by verbal
Mets lost last night, and lost first place to the Braves.

Oh well, Sara will be happy, at least.

Quote by JamesPBear
It's not your deodorant

You're assuming gorillas use deodorant. 😲😉