So, I’ve been a bit quiet lately. No twitch streams, no new stories, and no posts on either this blog or my socials. That’s because I have been on an adventure for the last two and a half weeks. For the last year or so I’ve been saving and planning to travel to Europe to see Ayreon’s 01011001 album performed live. Since the show was in Tilburg, Netherlands, and I live in Australia, I decided to make a big holiday around it. After all, I’m not going to be able to go back to Europe for a long time. At some point my Dad wanted to join me, and I gotta say, spending this time with my Dad made the trip really special.

So first, a bit about the trip. Not a long bit, because I know people aren’t here for travel stuff. Also, I’m gonna do an art dump once I finish off my last sketch from my Adventure Book, both here and on Mastodon, where it is easier to add Alt Text, so I’ll talk more then if anyone is interested. If you do want to see more of my travel photos and drawings, I do have an Instagram account where I mostly post photos and sketches. Anyway, sharing the sketch I made after visiting Jules Verne’s house in Amiens for now, and I’ll share more about the adventure later. And also, I’ll probably end up going on a Jules Verne binge soon.

Jules Verne is not the only SF encounter I had on my adventure. Those who have been reading for a while will have heard me talk about Ayreon before. Ayreon is a rock opera/progressive metal project by Dutch Composer, musician and all-round musical genius Arjen Anthony Lucassan. Most albums in the Ayreon discography follow the story of humanity’s interactions with an alien race called the Forever. The album played in Tilburg this month was 01011001, the story about how the Forever became so dependent on machines that they lost their ability to feel emotion. They then end up seeding Earth to create humanity so they could live through us and feel our emotions. Their later attempts to guide our social development don’t go so well though.

Musically, 01 is one of the most complex albums I have ever heard, featuring seventeen vocalists and a range of synthesizers, strings and woodwind instruments and guitars. The fact that it was played live at all is an incredible feat. Throwing in all the lasers and pyro and other stage effects, and just how much love the whole crowd has for this music, and we get one truly transcendent experience. As soon as Comatose started, with Damien Wilson and Anneke van Giersbergen singing… I really felt my heart doing stuff. Not that I wasn’t already pumped after hearing Age of Shadows/We Are Forever live. Every version of that song is amazing, but I may have a new favourite version. And don’t get me started on Beneath the Waves. I’ve always loved Hansi Kürsch singing the ‘face the facts…’ part of that song. Had that refrain as a ringtone back in the days when ringtones were a thing, so being there live at that moment… beautiful. And that was after the laser show at the start of the song. Also, they played The Day That the World Breaks Down as the encore. As I heard the intro and the howling wind, I could not believe that this thirteen minute epic was getting performed live after three and a half hours of show. Unbelievable. You could hear the shock of the whole crowd. The whole experience was well worth the trip.

If you are interested in metal, or prog, then checking out Ayreon is a no brainer. Though even if you aren’t, go check it out. My Dad isn’t into metal, but he really liked the Ayreon songs I played for him and wants to hear more. He was also shocked when he saw the crowd gathered at Tilburg for the concert, noting that “There’s no age range. The appeal is universal.” Something I was reminded of when Arjen confirmed that tickets for the show had been bought in over sixty countries.

Anyways, go check out Ayreon. If you like Science Fiction and music, you need to listen to 01011001.

Stream it, or even better, buy it on Bandcamp. I’m old enough that I feel the need to have my music on harddrives and USB sticks that I can listen to offline, so I really like Bandcamp.

Now that I’ve gushed about the last few weeks, let’s talk about my plans for the next few weeks. You know, the things you all actually follow this blog for. I am going to be busy, though some of that work will go unnoticed for a while, or possibly forever. I received a few story rejections while I was out. Some form notes, and some personal. There are also a few open periods coming up in some magazines I would love to appear in (hello Uncanny) so I’m going to be polishing up stories and sending them back out to the slush piles.

My other plan for the coming weeks is to merge my two social media personas. Maybe not the Instagram yet, but my game related stuff under Trilobytes could be merged with what I do over here. Talking about science fiction while playing Zelda is quite fun, and I’m sure having a weekly twitch hang out could be entertaining even for fans who aren’t gamers. The big question is what to make as my main social? I’d been thinking of merging my two ‘ex-twitter’ accounts, but to be honest I’m not that interested in growing my presence on that platform any more. I’m gonna start posting more over at Mastodon, and I encourage anyone who has a Mastodon account to say hi to me over there. I also do have a Facebook page, though it is only used for major updates.

As for my gaming, I mostly play Ocarina of Time Randomizer. At the moment there is a Scrubs Tournament aimed at beginner players going on. I’m not going to join at this point, as I’ll be too busy catching up on writing projects I missed while gone (plus skill issues lol) but it is a goal of mine to one day be good enough to play competitively. Though to avoid getting ‘over-Zeldaed’, I may play something different while Scrubs is on, and am open to viewer suggetions.

So in summery, art and gaming stuff is happening in the immediate future. Though I am working of more stories, and have not forgotten about The World of Green and Black.

Talk to you all again soon.

~ Jayde