Lyle Mays: Street Dreams Part 4

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen for this one.

Heard the song a few days ago, decided to write about it, as evidenced by the below.
I wasn’t sure what would come out. I know I didn’t have anything in mind when I started and also that I actively listened to less of the song than I realised. Still, I think that worked for the benefit of what I wrote.

Lyle Mays’ “Street Dreams” (the fourth part) is from Street Dreams.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A calm forms into view. Gentleness in the notes and there’s calm, there’s cool and there’s smoothness. Keys shimmer and echo off themselves as percussion rolls on around. Sounds akin to those perhaps of animals, perhaps of the nightlife perhaps of shifting shadows here and there as keys continue their angular shifts and echoes.

It’s all gentle and firm, and harsh with the edges sanded off. Woodwind or guitar here and there for a brief moment, moving on by, though maybe it’s being moved past. It disappears in the distance and is engulfed by sound as the concrete gives way to something less shaped by human, and therein lies a desire for beauty.

Rain falls and through the cracks grows desire as sound howls and stretches in quiet forms. It all moves with a looking forward and looking away and the concrete gives way; it peels back to reveal something of a sky in the urban nightlife, and all is structured and transforming.

All is amorphous and continually changes, and it all leaves distinct images that hold presence, and the walk down the street continues and the night holds, and gradually it gives way as the sounds fade out and the song ends.

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Imitation Rose

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a photo of a prop rose my partner has. I had an idea for a photo using it but it didn’t work so instead I took this, which I think turned out quite well. I could’ve done a bit better with controlling for shadow, but overall I think this is nice.

I hope you enjoy.

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Drummer in Motion

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken at a gig I recently photographed.
I was trying to capture Delta Sleep’s drummer’s motion and I think I did alright. There’s a sense of power and flow here, as well as precision and consistency.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-seventy-first Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Contrasts“.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Week 1 – Tina

Week 2 – Patti

Week 3 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 4 – Amy

Week 5 – John Steiner

Week 6 – Sofia Alves

Week 7 – Anne Sandler

Week 8 – Donna

Week 9 – Guest host

Amy is curating this one. The next is curated by John.

I recommend participating in the challenges as they provide a fun way to interpret theme. If not participating, then at least you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

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Frame Layering

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

With this photo I was just trying to create a sense of layering over distance.
I took this whilst I was with a friend in the city. I saw them taking something very similar, if not the exact same thing so I thought I’d give it a ago. I think it worked, though perhaps not as well as I’d have liked which gives me a good enough reason to reattempt. Then again, had it worked out exactly as I wanted I’d probably think about reattempting anyway.

I hope you enjoy.

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Oyster Head

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

Right now I’m rushing about as I need to head out to photograph a gig but need to get a few things done beforehand. Anyway, here’s a photo of oysters covering a part of a rock.

I hope you enjoy.

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Breaking Against the Sides

Posted on October 12, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken recently somewhere near Bondi, from what I can remember.
As with previous photos of this kind of scene I’ve taken, I was watching how the waves broke against the rocks and how the water moved over them, and I wanted to see if I could capture those in a way that showed it well. Not sure if I succeeded, but I like the result regardless.

I hope you enjoy.

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ACE: Sailing the Seas

Posted on October 12, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen for this one.

Went into this just wanting to write about the song. I think I focused more on mood than anything else and in parts it works. Not all, but some.

ACE’s “Sailing the Seas” is from the soundtrack for Xenoblade 3 aka Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Xenoblade 3 Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Gentle, yet firm the sounds fade in and soon something akin to a voice appears among it all as the sounds move in a sweeping manner. A strike of percussion and then it all blooms and flourishes and the sounds roll in motion, graceful and dramatic, and perhaps grandiose, but seemingly holding onto that gentleness.

There is calm and but there is a roughness; a toughness as everything flows on forward, congealing as one. Woodwind here and there as the sounds move along toward something. They move toward an openness; they express the vast, and some sounds move away when the vocals return, allowing them to lower into a sense of rest, or at least a counterpoint before they give way to strings and clean guitar, and it all moves with a grace and beauty, but there is weight. In this freeing moment of wonder there remains a focus. It remains serious and directed.

Still, the fantastic remains. There is wonderment here and, even when all grows quiet to allow for the vocals to return once more to bring things to another soft moment it remains wide-eyed and excited.

Soon the sounds stir once more and rise, and they rise and bring forth adventure and exploration, and freedom in that expanse, and they find their moment to hold on and, with one last percussive strike all draws to a close and the song ends.

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Facial Motion Test

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

With this photo I was trying to create a smooth blur through turning my face. It didn’t work out as I’d hoped; instead I ended up with something where I wasn’t still enough in my body and not slow enough in my head and neck. I think the effect is interesting, however.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week. Participating is pretty straightforward and something I recommend. If you do, then include the tag “monochrome-madness” in your post. If not participating, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography as well as what other people submit.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1311: Uncertainty of This Light

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

And so it is not quite early morning on another day bit it is an earlier start than most days. There is some traffic outside but it’s not in the jam state of traffic and so it’s not quite edible, and that’s okay. It’s kind of quiet in here and that also is okay. Today needs to be a productive day and it will be a productive day, for I am now moving into a state of productivity.

Light rains down through the clouds and it seems brighter that way and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s better to say that it’s more harsh. More striking. In a sense, kind of unbearable as it carries a sense of unpleasantness. It’s not the light that I want but it’s the light I’ll have to deal with for the time being if I am to get anything done that involves going outside and not staying inside.

Maybe this light is actually a bad light. Maybe it is an evil light and it presents an ominous foreboding that must be heeded, but may very well not be. If so, then that is a concern and it is one that must be addressed somehow. However, in the event of going outside and being affected by the light, how would I go about warning others? I have no idea as to what the effect will be and I don’t know if I would be able to engage in the act of reversing said effect.

What if there is more than one? What if it changes many a thing and then I am in a state of being unable to do anything?

What if it’s beneficial somehow?

These are questions that I can only answer in one way, unless I see other people outside and directly in the light, but that could take a while and a while is not what I have. There are only so many hours of daylight in the day and so therefore I need to hope that someone outside walks through the small space of viewing that I have. If not, then all is lost and I shall never know. I’ll also be in a position where there will be uncertainty of this light returning, and what if it returns whilst I’m outside already? Then what? Can I escape? Is its impact instantaneous, or gradual? I don’t know.

Perhaps it is time for me to be courageous and head outside myself. Maybe I need to be the one who discovers the impacts in a direct manner. Perhaps I should not be a spectator, but rather a participant. Sometimes it is better to take the plunge than hope others do so. Of course, if I do that and the impacts are negative then I will report them if I can, and if beneficial then I will also report them.

As I’m writing this some blue in the sky is now coming through, and perhaps all will be fine, but for how long?

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:21:17

I’m glad I veered away from writing about what the day was going to be, or what I was doing in the particular moment as I prefer to write about the fantastic. Well, I prefer to write about whatever feels like is coming forward and I guess I felt more inclined to write about the fantastic today.

Written at home.

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Seascapes of the Interior: Symbiont Step

Posted on October 10, 2023 by Stupidity Hole

One listen for this one.

I queued up this song a while ago as I really wanted to write about it, but I kept putting it off. Today I forced myself to write about it and I think that was a good thing to do as I think most of this turned out okay.

There is a bit of disconnect in places and I feel there’s a sense of hesitancy throughout, but I covered the song pretty well.

Seascapes of the Interior’s “Symbiont Step” is from “All safe, all well”.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A hum appears in a thin spread, but it expands. It pushes out from a line, revealing more sound; Revealing a greater range than first implied. What is there seems distant and vague. It’s almost as though a memory coming into form, or perhaps it is an idea coming into full view.

Sounds stretch and soon they seem to dip for a moment, then come back, thin once more. Pressed into a moment and stretching forward.

Keys enter into the space and they move around, examining the space and reaching out. The hum disappears and the keys linger for a moment. Then percussion, bass and guitar come in and they all move slowly together. Fragments of the hum appear here and there, though maybe it is the memory of it appearing in the sound.

More guitar comes in and seemingly moves with another stringed instrument, drawing out and elongating emotion and expressing a sense, perhaps, of beauty. Eventually the piano grows in detail, carrying across through range as strings also elongate, seemingly following pulses. Percussion has been changing shape too, and gradually it all moves toward a differing melodic pattern, but then it mostly stops.

The keys linger and disappear and background sound starts to rise; it comes forward. It is the thin spread from before, but it is different. Something akin to voice can be heard within it, and guitar marks points here and there and the hum grows louder, or at least seems to grow. It seems to rescind too, and it fades away, and the keys return.

The keys seem to stumble with a precision, and they search and look around and seemingly dance for a brief moment before they are rejoined by the percussion, bass and guitar. It is gentle and soon they find a rest. However, the rest lasts only for a brief moment and soon the sounds unleash.

Perhaps it would be more fare to say that the guitar unleashes and the others do become more energetic, but they keep things buoyed. They retain a calm and a peace. Those other strings return and move alongside it all, and soon everything seems to hit that right note, leaving the keys to go on. Everything keeps marking moments as the keys continue on, and they are calmly loud moments, and then it all dissipates and leaves a nakedness.

It is an innocence and it is in a vast idyllic scene. Strings draw on out, moving along the horizon and around the space and that innocence seems to smile. It’s all pleasant, and the sounds continue on gently before once more coming to rest, or at least most do as the keys continue on with something underscoring, and suddenly it all stops and the song ends.

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