u/CLWggg

This old Mars bar had a best before date of 1991, so it's representative of the late 1980s size.

Don't get me wrong. I've always admired Tori's music, ever since I first heard Crucify more than 30 years ago. In fact, I've listened to Crucify and Cornflake Girl regularly over the decades. I've dipped into her albums and enjoyed them, but I've never thought of them as life-changing. Not until I listened to In Times of Dragons.

Someone happened to mention her in conversation a few months ago, and I thought to myself: "Ah yes, I saw on Instagram that she'd just released a new album. I'll give it a listen." So I did.

Wow.

It's no exaggeration to say that it instantly became one of my favourite albums of all time. I was hooked right from the opening crashing piano chords of Shush. I streamed the whole album multiple times, all the way through, for days and days. I soon felt guilty that I was getting so much from it without her earning more than a fraction of a penny from my streaming, so I bought the double CD.

Although with most of my favourite albums there are one or two tracks that I might skip when re-listening, that's not been the case with ITOD. And that's with 17 tracks. On any other album I might skip over Fanny Faudrey and dismiss it as a novelty track, but it just works here. It almost feels like a timely intermission amid all the intense emotion.

I've seen long-term fans here mention that they're sad about what time has done to her voice, and I can certainly hear the difference compared to her earlier tracks. But 60-something-year-old Tori's voice is like a whole new huskier, more nuanced voice. It's just incredible, and it does something to me.

I played piano from a fairly young age, up to the age of around 18, because I was 'forced' to attend piano lessons. Haven't touched the piano since. But it does mean that I can appreciate piano-playing genius. And then to combine that with her songwriting and her voice? How is that humanly possible?

One of my other favourite albums of this year is Robyn's Sexistential. I adore Robyn. But at nine tracks and less than half an hour long, I feel she could have given us more after an eight-year wait. Compare that with ITOD. How has Tori managed to produce something of such impressive length – and consistently incredible musicianship – while still leaving me wanting more when 23 Peaks draws to a close? In fact, there's something about the way the album ends that means I still find myself half expecting a bonus track to play after 30 seconds of silence.

I almost feel like I've missed out on 30+ years of loyal listening, but if I'd been so onboard from the start, I can't help feeling that ITOD wouldn't have hit me quite as hard as it has. I wish I could thank her for what she's given me with this incredible piece of work. And I'm a bit gutted that I missed the UK dates at the start of her tour.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g397rl4nzo

… this one looks like both options in one!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/91055331

“Not Mayo Or Tartar Sauce: Would You Try A Filet-O-Fish Belgian-Style?”

https://www.tastingtable.com/2206101/filet-o-fish-belgium-mcfish-not-mayo-tartar-sauce/

Following on from the earlier post featuring a "cursor in fireplace" photo (https://www.reddit.com/r/SpottedonRightmove/comments/1ul9a58/professional_photograpy/), I've also found this listing from the same EA. I didn't think their photography could get any worse. I was wrong.

The Starbucks app shows a Starbucks branch on the main concourse plus a Starbucks kiosk somewhere in the station. Is the kiosk actually the separate counter integrated into the back of the concourse branch but accessed beyond the ticket barriers, or is there a separate kiosk branch somewhere in the station? Thanks in advance!