We're finishing up a few odds and ends before our next major release. Our mighty Ops guys continue to slay spambots and balance load times on a highwire without a safety net (which is kind of tough dressed in full ninja gear). Down on solid ground, we're celebrating this week's virtual birthday party with a warm toast to pants. If you can rearrange the letters of your favorite city, state, and/or country (feel free to combine these elements) to spell one of Frank's favorite treats (e.g., pants, wire, paper, etc.), he'll send you over a can of whipped cream to top it all off (provided you return the empty can for his midnight snack)! And, with that, let the word scrambling commence!

Stuff you should know:

We're still working on the delayed/missing notifications issue. Sorry, we're frustrated too. We'll keep you posted. Last week, we became aware that a recently-implemented script was overwriting affiliate referral fees for some of our users. Once we confirmed this, our Ops team quickly removed the script. Please be aware that, while we may beta-test other affiliate scripts down the line, we will take greater measures to ensure that no existing user-referral arrangements are impacted in any way. While we plan to stick to a weekly news schedule, if we have a release in between regular newsletters, we'll post here to keep you informed. You can also check lj_releases for current release information.

To our paid users, we send squirrels in love!

If you have a paid or permanent account, you can send five free Squirrels in love vgifts through Monday, March 15th at 4pm, PST! You'll see both the free and the $0.99 squirrels displayed until they've scurried off to their new homes. Please send only one vgift at a time. In other words, you'll need to complete check-out and start a new order for each vgift you send. If you're not receiving vgifts (from friends and/or Frank), you may have disabled them. To enable vgifts, visit Edit profile (under Profile), scroll down to the bottom of the page, and select 'Do not disable' from the drop-down menu. Have fun!

Help is on the way!

We're pleased to announce the winner of our first charitable vgift poll, Doctors without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières, which provides critical medical care to under-served populations around the world. Priced at $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of the proceeds we raise from the sale of this vgift (we'll cover credit card fees). We invite you to start recommending nonprofits for our next fundraising drive at ljnewscontests. We'll take suggestions through the month and post a poll in the news during the first week of April to let you choose the recipient. We thank you, again, for your passion and generosity.

We've crowned a header

Congratulations to ohterlus for submitting the winning header, which will go live next week and keep us leafy through mid-April! You can submit designs for our next header contest at ljnewscontests now until March 31st. We'll post a poll in the news to let you decide which header will sit at the top of LiveJournal from mid-April to mid-May. All artistic interpretations are welcome. The winner will get a $25 LiveJournal gift certificate. All other contributors will receive $5 gift certificates. Our heartfelt appreciation for sharing your talent and creativity!

For this week's winning photo and more adventures with Frank & Meme, we'll catch you under the cut!

( Read more... )

Hey guys,
Just one thing to clarify from this article. Troy won't be joining us on tour. He is a full-on writing member of Seether now and is getting a chance to really bloom there. They are currently in the studio working on a new album as well. We will miss him on the road, but I'm very happy for him. He's a very kind and talented man who deserves to shine creatively.
Terry will be playing all of the guitar on our album, and when we get closer to tour we will figure out who will be the other live guitarist. Otherwise, the lineup is the same, with the addition of Will Hunt (Science).
By the way, it's very hard to describe what the new album will sound like as a whole, you're just going to have to hear it to really understand! It's definitely still Ev, or I wouldn't be calling it that. Its just ever evolving. I can't wait to hear it finished. I'm having a lot of fun right now, its good to be back doing what I love.

love,
Amy

Source: evanescencewebsite.com and evthreads

On Monday, February 22nd, Evanescence started recording their upcoming third album in New York with famed producer Steve Lillywhite. Singer Amy Lee tells Rolling Stone the new disc is going to be a mix of “sarcastic aggression” that will show a new side of the band — a distinct electro influence. “A lot of bands I’ve always been inspired by are just coming into play a little more,” says Lee, citing the future-shock sounds of Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Portishead, CSS, La Roux and MGMT. “There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t sound like Evanescence, but the heart of the band of still there. This is a really, really, rhythmically driven record. So there’s tons of drum-programming fused with live drums; drums we’re renting a day at a time, like Japanese taiko drums.”

Lee is co-writing the album with old friend and new collaborator Will Hunt, a producer, programmer and drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. The pair decided to start writing together after arranging “Sally’s Song,” Amy Lee’s addition to 2008’s Nightmare Revisited album and spent all of 2009 writing together in New York and Texas, crafting a handful of already-recorded electronic programming that will end up on the forthcoming record. “The sounds and influence he brings to the table — programming outer-space awesome sounds you can’t even recognize. I went through a phase where I didn’t know if it was solo time, or go write score music, or what,” says Lee. “And then once we wrote together, I realized this is totally Evanescence.”

The album is also the band’s first with veteran producer Steve Lillywhite, who’s produced for the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band and, most notably, worked on eight U2 albums. Lillywhite, who approached the band, is co-producing the album with Hunt, and has been working with them since day one. “He’s not the kind of producer that would leave during the day and then come back to see what we’re doing,” says Lee of Lillywhite. “He’s part of the team, a big part of the team.”

This is Evanescence’s first record since 2006’s platinum The Open Door. In the time off, Lee got married and started taking harp lessons — and she assures that the plucky fruits of her labor will definitely appear on the LP. As for the rest of the band, guitarist Terry Balsamo and bassist Tim McCord are back on board; Dave Campbell will once again handle string arrangements; and live guitarist Troy McLawhorn is tentative depending on his schedule with his band Seether. Hunt will be doing most of the drumming, but Lee doesn’t rule out an appearance by Evanescence’s last live drummer — coincidentally also named Will Hunt. “This is going to be really hard to get across without people getting confused because they have the same exact name,” says Lee. “But we’re actually doing a two-drummer thing for the next tour. Basically Thing 1 and Thing 2 — we’re gonna have figure out some kind of plan for just knowing who’s who.”

As for the change in direction, Lee says it’s more of an aesthetic homecoming. “I’m just at a place where I know who I am,” says Lee. “I’m not trying to prove anything this time. Last time I had a lot of weight on my shoulders. This time I’m just having fun with music.”

Source:Rolling Stone and Evanescencewebsite.com

After much anticipation, Evanescence front woman, Amy Lee confirmed today that Evanescence is in fact going into the studio this week to work on their third studio album with Grammy Award Winning producer Steve Lillywhite. The band’s new album is scheduled for a late Fall 2010 release date.

“I can’t explain how excited I am to make this record,” said Amy Lee. “Over the past year and a half these songs have become the center of my life, and I can't wait to hear what they grow into in the studio. I think our sound is evolving into something that will surprise people, in a very good way. I feel, as always, that growth can be an incredible, limitless thing if you let it. I never want to make the same album twice.”

from Evanescence's myspace blog

and another amy tweet: http://twitter.com/AmyLeeEV/status/9845473456

So... I've never done anything like this before so please be kind!! :) *iz a noob* I also couldn't decide on what theme to go with, and since RL's not so hot right now and I welcomed the distraction there's 3 different headers to choose from... Enjoy!! *fingers crossed*

( Right this way... )

♥ Angie

ljgenie
Do you have a burning question that requires extraordinary insight and diplomacy? You've come to the right place. No matter if you're having trouble with a boundary-less roommate, a back-stabbing coworker, or an unresponsive agent representing your debut novel, simply post your detailed query, and magical help is on the way.

booju_mooju
For parents and parents-to-be, little questions, like whether to use cloth or disposable diapers or the going rate of allowance for high schoolers, can inspire lively debate. If you have a parenting dilemma that warrants discussion, bring it! From baby food to video gaming, you can meet, and gain wisdom from, other folks who are tackling the same issues. And, if you're a teen, first-hand insight is especially welcome.

ontdcreepy
A relatively new spin-off of the ever-popular ohnotheydidnt, this community found its inspiration in the under-representation of creepy posts. If you're a fan of urban legends, paranormal activities, and eerily disturbing images, you've found a new hang-out. Posts range from personal stories to odd pictures that highlight supernatural or unexplained phenomena. Be forewarned: It's weirdly addictive.

I didn't put the LJ logo on it, because I figured LJ would do it themselves for whatever entry that won. I don't expect mine to, but I don't care. I entered for fun. (:

( Here's my entry. )

Greetings from Moldova!
The first day of spring in our country - is always a holiday!
( Celebration of Spring in Moldova )

I did post this, but I went to edit the post and accidentally deleted it. These things happen. So I'm posting it again.

( Frank enjoys spring )

Just a quick one to help get the ball rolling.  Fairly sure changing the logo to another color isn't allowed though.  I can always change it later.

( Read more... )

My entry into the March Header Contest. I went with a Mardi Gras Theme( Click to View )

When I think of March I think of the beginning of spring

Header Here

The post in news said submit entries here. Here's my entry.

( click to view )

When I think of the month of March I think of everything that is green. The grass begins to grow, clovers begin to appear and the world seems alive once again! I made this design to show the liveliness of the world around us and remind everyone that winter is behind us and spring is ahead! Please click the LJ-cut to view my complete entry:

( Under here: )