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On 3/17/2020 at 6:18 PM, Requiem said:

in response to Coronavirus, Castle Requiem has closed the castle gates and raised the drawbridge. All nubile and buxom wenches have been brought into the enclosure for their own safety and my own gratification. 

 

If they're locked in your castle, COVID-19  is the least of their concerns. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/4/2020 at 7:23 AM, FatherAlabaster said:

We got a washer and dryer a couple of days ago. This is either the first or second time in my adult life that I've lived somewhere with laundry facilities. It's slowly sinking in that I might not ever have a reason to go back to a laundromat, which is a pretty amazing feeling.

That sounds awesome.

Enjoy the freedom and independence. 

Sipping white wine here and listening to the last couple of Kreator albums which are amazing. I've been missing out! 

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I've finally started to get back into the groove of writing up some music material. The collection I'm working on atm is my first serious, laser-focused endeavor from end to end and it has challenged me to grow rapidly in various aspects, from my compositional abilities to my mixing and mastering. It has also helped me grow to have a new level of appreciation for the bass guitar in the metal context. This is a pretty wild venture, so I have borrowed a page from one of my most influential figures, Alexander Scriabin, and tried employing the simple trick of placing some of the notes just a tad bit north or south from the center. It's a brilliant effect that made me love his style, because it made me feel like I was seeing new colours I had never seen before. It was new, and it felt so vivid and dangerous. I've found that putting the bass guitar on that role has a similar effect, and I hope to twist and distort even finer melodies as I progress through this EP.

I hope to finish it by the end of this year. I like the numbers. 2020. Those symbols are just so perfect! ?

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  • 3 weeks later...

On a day off today which has been a rarity mid-week for a while.  Planning on some garden work involving taking a decorative pond up after rats burrowed under it.  Peppermint Oil shifted the rats but now the ground around the pond is unstable so needs filling in again.  Might also demolish a shed at the bottom of the garden that has seen better days.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/30/2020 at 5:10 PM, MacabreEternal said:

On a day off today which has been a rarity mid-week for a while.  Planning on some garden work involving taking a decorative pond up after rats burrowed under it.  Peppermint Oil shifted the rats but now the ground around the pond is unstable so needs filling in again.  Might also demolish a shed at the bottom of the garden that has seen better days.

We've got a couple of rats (at least) probably lurking within the bowels of Castle Requiem.

One or two of them run along the top of a fence, and occasionally we see them, the bold little fukkers. The other night I ran outside after one of them. I ran down the side of the chateau along the fence line, couldn't see it, and boom, it ran right past my head. I fair near shat myself. 

I've cunningly planted poison, but they still roam today, unaffected, imperious, triumphant. But I'll get them yet. They haven't seen the last of Count Requiem. You mark my words. Oh yes, their time will come. 

 

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Bank holiday weekend in lockdown (or not depending on how much of a bell end you are flouting the minor changes the government has made) and yesterday was mowing the lawn after hedgerow trimming.  Also deliver the mother in law back home after 3 weeks of her staying (still don't understand why she had to come and risk COVID-19 in the house) and the whole house is more relaxed.

One week into a detox of sorts (I am only drinking virgin's blood for the forseeable future) and have just been outside throwing some dumbells around on the decking, trying to unlock 20 year old me some 20 years after he packed up and left on an endless world tour it seems.  Healthier diet this week has made me marginally more cheery (haven't killed anyone since Tuesday) so look out for Happy Macca on the forum!

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On 5/19/2020 at 11:20 PM, Requiem said:

We've got a couple of rats (at least) probably lurking within the bowels of Castle Requiem.

One or two of them run along the top of a fence, and occasionally we see them, the bold little fukkers. The other night I ran outside after one of them. I ran down the side of the chateau along the fence line, couldn't see it, and boom, it ran right past my head. I fair near shat myself. 

I've cunningly planted poison, but they still roam today, unaffected, imperious, triumphant. But I'll get them yet. They haven't seen the last of Count Requiem. You mark my words. Oh yes, their time will come. 

 

 I'll lend you a cat.

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I had a huge garden job last weekend, and while my legs are still suffering due to the lactic acid that came from them being basically immobile for most of my adult life, the front grounds of Castle R actually look pretty good for a change. 

We had a tree company come around and remove about 5 large and deadish trees, including two out the front. So it's looking a bit healthier. I also got up on this precarious ladders-with-plank contraption and painstakingly trimmed that huge hedge that you can see behind True Belief (lord and king) and me in the photos thread. After I struggled with that for a few hours, we decided to hire the actually tree pruners who came along the next week and cut the hedge down another metre, rendering the hedge excellent and my efforts from a few days earlier completely obsolete. Still, I got some exercise. 

More interestingly, the Countess of Eternal Eroticism has fled to her parents' beach house with our two vampire children, foolishly leaving me alone in the Castle for the long weekend (Queen's Birthday - hail Her Majesty, long may she reign over us and her dominions), intoxicated, energised and with a sinister sparkle in my immoral eyes. 

Bring your daughter to the slaughter. 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Metal Injection just ran a little piece about Gorguts finally starting work on the follow-up to "Pleiades' Dust" and I am psyched. Really hoping the same lineup comes back for the next recording.

I've been working on my own new music since April and I'm almost done, so that's a good feeling... It's weird and painful doing vocals again after taking a couple years off. Gets easier as I work back up to it, but recording them just sucks no matter what.

Also, we're supposed to be taking a trip down south to see my parents in a couple weeks. I'm really excited about that, but also nervous about health risks, despite all the precautions we've taken. I haven't seen them in a couple years and nobody's getting any younger... 

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13 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Metal Injection just ran a little piece about Gorguts finally starting work on the follow-up to "Pleiades' Dust" and I am psyched. Really hoping the same lineup comes back for the next recording.

I've been working on my own new music since April and I'm almost done, so that's a good feeling... It's weird and painful doing vocals again after taking a couple years off. Gets easier as I work back up to it, but recording them just sucks no matter what.

Also, we're supposed to be taking a trip down south to see my parents in a couple weeks. I'm really excited about that, but also nervous about health risks, despite all the precautions we've taken. I haven't seen them in a couple years and nobody's getting any younger... 

New Gorguts???  Fucking hell, that's made my day.

Looking forward to hearing some new stuff from you.  Is it Black Harvest stuff?

Hear you on the parents front.  Seeing mine face to face this week for my birthday and we are hoping the weather holds to maintain social distancing outside in the garden.

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50 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

New Gorguts???  Fucking hell, that's made my day.

Looking forward to hearing some new stuff from you.  Is it Black Harvest stuff?

Hear you on the parents front.  Seeing mine face to face this week for my birthday and we are hoping the weather holds to maintain social distancing outside in the garden.

Apparently Luc has been busy with other things in life while those energetic young kids he hired pursued their other music projects over the past couple of years. I think I can sympathize.

It will be Black Harvest, yeah. I'm excited. Being shut in without anything on the schedule finally gave me the chance. One more song to do lyrics and vocals for!

Our visit will be strange. It's a 13+ hour drive and it'll be the first time visiting at their new place out in the country. At least it'll be a welcome change of pace after being home with my son for the past several months. I'm not entirely sure how we'll handle distancing while staying with them for a few days. Nowhere else nearby to stay and I don't think we could swing a hotel for a week anyway. Hopefully we can spend a lot of time outside. How have your folks been holding up?

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38 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Apparently Luc has been busy with other things in life while those energetic young kids he hired pursued their other music projects over the past couple of years. I think I can sympathize.

It will be Black Harvest, yeah. I'm excited. Being shut in without anything on the schedule finally gave me the chance. One more song to do lyrics and vocals for!

Our visit will be strange. It's a 13+ hour drive and it'll be the first time visiting at their new place out in the country. At least it'll be a welcome change of pace after being home with my son for the past several months. I'm not entirely sure how we'll handle distancing while staying with them for a few days. Nowhere else nearby to stay and I don't think we could swing a hotel for a week anyway. Hopefully we can spend a lot of time outside. How have your folks been holding up?

They went into lockdown earlier than the official date from Government due to my Dad's condition.  They have kept busy setting up a vegetable patch and painting fencing plus doing the same over at my Gran's when they can.  They lost a close friend (non-covid) during lockdown so sadly their own time out was a funeral of all things - and a socially distanced one at that.

They have over the past couple of weeks wound up going to the garden centre for 07:30 to get more plants/seeds safely so are slowly but safely trying to get out a little more.

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7 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

They went into lockdown earlier than the official date from Government due to my Dad's condition.  They have kept busy setting up a vegetable patch and painting fencing plus doing the same over at my Gran's when they can.  They lost a close friend (non-covid) during lockdown so sadly their own time out was a funeral of all things - and a socially distanced one at that.

They have over the past couple of weeks wound up going to the garden centre for 07:30 to get more plants/seeds safely so are slowly but safely trying to get out a little more.

Good to hear your father is staying active. I hope they're in good spirits. Funerals suck no matter what but I can only imagine they start hitting closer to home the older one gets... My parents have been doing a lot of gardening as well - their new place is a 3.5 acre farm in need of a lot of rehabilitation, and they've done a bunch of planting and learning about how to deal with the weird soil requirements there. It's a project they both enjoy, which is awesome. Apparently my mom hurt herself trying to learn how to use the tractor though.

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29 minutes ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Good to hear your father is staying active. I hope they're in good spirits. Funerals suck no matter what but I can only imagine they start hitting closer to home the older one gets... My parents have been doing a lot of gardening as well - their new place is a 3.5 acre farm in need of a lot of rehabilitation, and they've done a bunch of planting and learning about how to deal with the weird soil requirements there. It's a project they both enjoy, which is awesome. Apparently my mom hurt herself trying to learn how to use the tractor though.

I don't know where they get the energy from to be honest, 3.5 acres is a fair size for anyone to go at and maintain.  My mum just can't sit still at all, she always has to be doing stuff (she's a former gym instructor though).  My dad is better staying active usually and struggles a lot with being able to keep still when seated or lay down.  Lack of sleep is still their biggest problem.

Once the wedding is done (now moved to next year) I need to start looking at what I can put together to pay for any future carer needs for him as he's only going to get worse and state care is usually quite poorly funded and resourced.  I am fortunate that my company provides private healthcare and I will look into what I can pay to extend that coverage to a family member if the option exists.  Although one of the unfortunate issues we have from COVID is that we are soon to go down to a single income household with the fiancee losing her job so not sure how long she is going to be out of work.

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On 6/30/2020 at 8:57 AM, FatherAlabaster said:

 

Also, we're supposed to be taking a trip down south to see my parents in a couple weeks. I'm really excited about that, but also nervous about health risks, despite all the precautions we've taken. I haven't seen them in a couple years and nobody's getting any younger... 

You haven't seen your parents in a couple of years? Wow, that's tough. Nearly as tough as a 13 hour car trip with a child...! 

My father turns 70 tomorrow so we're heading down to see him and mum (2.5 hours in the car). Three nights is our (my) patience limit there though, then we're getting out of Dodge... Looks like I'll have a few nights to myself next week, which I'm also looking forward to. 

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13 minutes ago, Requiem said:

You haven't seen your parents in a couple of years? Wow, that's tough. Nearly as tough as a 13 hour car trip with a child...! 

My father turns 70 tomorrow so we're heading down to see him and mum (2.5 hours in the car). Three nights is our (my) patience limit there though, then we're getting out of Dodge... Looks like I'll have a few nights to myself next week, which I'm also looking forward to. 

I really wish I could see them more frequently, but none of us have the freedom or money to make the trip very often. I'd like to say we'll just make up for it later, but who knows. It's honestly sad and frustrating for me. I wish we lived closer together. Not looking forward to that car trip at all!

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I'm home alone once more while the family are down the coast at the beach house. Ah, feel the peace and quiet. Look down the hall. No one. Look upstairs. Empty. What's that, you want to blast black metal throughout the house with no consequences. Go ahead! 

Actually, I've decided to make a  grand showing down there at the beach house for a couple of nights later in the week, but for now it's a metal holocaust tonight in Castle Requiem. It's out of control. 

Tomorrow is a more refined steak dinner with the immortal king @True Belief. Hail the great man. 

 

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Well, today's a good day to follow on from my last posts - I just sent my recording off to be mastered and we've officially postponed our trip down South. I was looking forward to seeing my parents and checking out their new place, but we all feel like it's not worth the risks right now. It's a bummer. Currently sitting in front of the AC trying not to melt.

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10 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Well, today's a good day to follow on from my last posts - I just sent my recording off to be mastered and we've officially postponed our trip down South. I was looking forward to seeing my parents and checking out their new place, but we all feel like it's not worth the risks right now. It's a bummer. Currently sitting in front of the AC trying not to melt.

Probably for the best like you say.  This will all blow over eventually and you can enjoy a hopefully less stressful visit in the future.

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