Hitoshi Sakimoto: Destiny

One listen, and with this one I don’t know what was going on. I’m pretty familiar with the game and so I ended up channeling where I remember this piece of music being used, though I strongly suspect I was remembering incorrectly.

Hitoshi Sakimoto’s (崎元 仁) “Destiny” (“宿命”) is from  the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was composed predominantly by Hitoshi Sakimoto, and features contributions from Hayato Matsuo (松尾 早人), Masaharu Iwata (岩田 匡治) and Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫).

As a side note, this song reminds me a lot of the Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter soundtrack, which Hitoshi Sakimoto also composed.

I hope you enjoy.

A dramatic moment held on the steps of strings. The weight of expectation is something to now shake off. Realisation and acceptance come forward and reveal themselves, for doubt allowed for thought. Allowed for questioning and coming to accept that there are other ways to walk forward, and in a way it is comforting.

Knowing that someone isn’t going to lose themselves; that there are things greater than tunneling down into one thing helps bolster resolve to see things through, and it isn’t seen alone. It is seen with others, and so one path is walked away from whilst another is now followed as the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Hitoshi Sakimoto: The Salikawood

One listen.

Trying to describe what was happening with the instruments was what my mind decided was the way to go here, and in a way I think it helped. Had I written more freely, I think I wouldn’t have written anything at all.

Hitoshi Sakimoto’s (崎元 仁) “The Salkiawood” (“サリカ樹林”) is from  the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was composed predominantly by Hitoshi Sakimoto, and features contributions from Hayato Matsuo (松尾 早人), Masaharu Iwata (岩田 匡治) and Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫).

I hope you enjoy.

Sounds flow through a spacious, deep area, and some wonder blooms forward as various areas lay themselves out and spread away. Keys take centre stage for a moment, settling and scattering and bunching up. Then more sound comes in, building some tension, finding paths then blooms and flourishes in a dramatic display, before returning to the start.

And so the space frames itself once more, and great moods find themselves spread thick. Textures and tones rise and curl around and bloom out once more, finding the rises and falls and the moment to punctuate and emphasise. It’s almost a breath of air, or at least a moment of respite before going back in as the sounds fade away and the song ends.

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Hitoshi Sakimoto: Time for a Rest

One listen.

I tried to dig more into a way that the song conveys a sense of rest. I think my mind was telling me that I need to rest more than anything, however.

Hitoshi Sakimoto’s (崎元 仁) “Time for a Rest” (“安息の時”) is from  the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was composed predominantly by Hitoshi Sakimoto, and features contributions from Hayato Matsuo (松尾 早人), Masaharu Iwata (岩田 匡治) and Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫).

I hope you enjoy.

Gentle sounds create a comfort and a sense of relaxation. Not complete relaxation – there’s still some danger among the sounds – but enough to know that there’s safety. And relaxation fully takes over, a deep exhaling leads to limbs softening and muscles easing up.

Rest comes in small doses, though it always feels long enough, and always at necessary spots. It keeps things going, gives time to regroup thoughts and work out the journey ahead. It keeps things going at a steady pace, and it does wonders, even as the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Hayato Matsuo: Seeking Power

One listen, and this one was a bit of a struggle to do. I decided to go more for a really vague narrative than anything else which helped. Still, I wasn’t able to switch off enough and that comes through.

Hayato Matsuo’s (松尾 早人) “Seeking Power” (“求めし力”) is from  the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack was composed predominantly by Hitoshi Sakimoto (崎元 仁), and features contributions from Hayato Matsuo, Masaharu Iwata (岩田 匡治) and Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫).

I hope you enjoy.

Pressing atmosphere whilst asking heavy questions. Sounds move with tension; with terseness. Steady, slowly, unfurling, revealing more of a situation. Of what drives questions and pushes them further and further. Of moving to the next steps.

There’s some hesitancy. Some self-pushback. Uncertainty in whether this is the right thing and through it realisation comes. That realisation can serve well, but before it can be realised the sounds return to where they began.

Rising and falling in a pressured space. Arguments, reasoning… words back and forth. Questions about how to go ahead. How to move forward. What comes at the cost of achieving goals if those goals refuse to consider options. And on it continues as the sounds fade away and the song ends.

 

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Exit Sign

Thought I’d shared this one already, but I haven’t from what I can tell.

I don’t know why I thought capturing this sign at this angle would be a good idea. I like the result, but it’s an odd photo.

I hope you enjoy.

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Willebrant: Rivulet

One listen, and this was an easy and challenging one.

I went right in and let everything come forward. I like the idea of a rivulet being seen as a small thing, but it can be so much more and I think that’s part of what came through. If I were to work on this more I’m sure I could get that across well enough.

Willebrant’s “Rivulet” is from Stony.

I hope you enjoy.

A story carries itself along the water and in deepened sounds. Sounds that carry a depth of field to them, that show distance and closeness, and along the water as it flows pathways of wimpled currents. Long hums draw slow and grow and shrink and motion and movement begets the passage of time. All is frozen in one contained moment, and all is changing.

Looking back and lingering through reshaping memories of moments unchanging, and joys that were once had can be had again. All calls out to what was and what will be, and through this all moments connect. All is continuous as one moving body, and all is marked with transition to the next stage.

The spread of nature holds itself vast and consuming. All is relaxed. All is pleasant by the water. Nature continues doing what it does and within that all sounds change and echo out. Some don’t echo at all. Bright hums draw long, and they disappear. Everything comes to a stop and the song ends.

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Willebrant: tea tree

One listen and one where I just went in. I felt I stumbled really early on and then everything flowed. Had little issue in writing this which is good. It does cover the song well.

I was hoping for a specific form of imagery to come forward and it didn’t happen that way, but that’s fine. I don’t want this kind of writing to be what I want to come forward, if that makes sense.

Willebrant’s “tea tree” is from Stony.

I hope you enjoy.

Framed with the sounds of nature once more and a peaceful instrument rings out. It seems to curve, or bend, and it plays gently in a striking way. It picks its notes carefully among all the sound of nature, and it something starts humming. Something grows and changes shape and seems to slowly move upward.

Relaxation rings out in curls and curves, and it really is time to take it easy. To reflect and relax, and to find the joy among a small space that stretches far beyond what can be seen. Calm, almost serene. Tranquil until the instruments fade into nature, which eventually fades away and the song ends.

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Willebrant: Stony Bridge

One Listen.

I was thinking about what a stony bridge could be and I was thinking of a regular bridge at first. Eventually that moved to thinking about rock that can function as a bridge. Now that I think a bout it, it could reflect some sort of cold, hardened connection, or a connection that is hard to break. It could mean a lot of things.

I’m not sure as to how well that represents what I wrote, but I’m happy with the result.

Willebrant’s “Stony Bridge” is from Stony.

I hope you enjoy.

Building, coming into focus. A flow and a cool breeze, and seemingly high up, but also down load. Bright, continuing, stretching off, stretching into a distance. Could be long, could be short. And it continues on, continues going, over water, over wind, through nature, through sound.

A crossing of sorts, something providing support. Providing convenience, providing ease. Providing another way to view surroundings through the act of traversal, and it seems to hold time and age through eons. It is as constructed as it is natural, and around it movement flows. Around and underneath it movement continues on.

It knows years, and it knows ages, and it knows lives, and it remains as the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Walkway Over Light

I took this photo at Sydney Olympic Park a good few months back at the Brickpit Ring Walk. I was interested in capturing the shadow of the walkway and I think I did well in doing so. It’s a fragment of a larger object but all you get is the fragment, which is just a shadow that suggests rather than states.

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-eighty-seventh Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Shadowed“.

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

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Egídio

Ritva

Beth

This one is curated by John. The next one is curated by Leya.

I recommend joining the community and participating in the challenges. They’re pretty straightforward, allow room for interpretation, and provide a good way to think about photography in general. If not, however, then at the very least you should check out what others submit to the challenges.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1567: Slow Day

There’s something really nice about just sitting here, writing whilst my partner writes. It’s a slow day. A still day. We’ve done very little, but we’ve talked and talking is good. And it’s a nice day. A pleasant day.

Originally our plan was to head into the city. It was predicted to rain all day so the city would have been empty. This would have been great as we’d have it all to ourselves, or at least a good chunk of it. Would have been great for photography. Alas, the weather cleared. There no longer was reason to go to the city.

Well there’s plenty of reason, but the reason here was lacking. It was not what we wanted. Instead we spent the day at home and we’ve been sitting here, trying to no procrastinate but instead procrastinating, and now we are writing. I am writing; they are writing. This is all writing process, and this is great. This is a nice way to be about things as we can just take it easy. Relax, you know. Those sorts of things.

There’s something small and boring about this. Something nice and relaxed, and I like it. I like that we are able to relax in this particular moment. I like that we can have a slow day, because a boring day can be a nice day. It’s not what we planned. It’s still nice.

I find it nice as I spent so much of my life stressing about things. Frequently in a state that involves the distress of the conscious. Of pressure on the body. Right now… I’m mostly okay. I am breathing. I am relaxing. I am enjoying the time that I have, and I know I need to do more of that because I don’t do it anywhere near as much as I should.

I’m wondering to myself about the reflection 0n this table. I’m wondering about the spread of shadow upon a roof I can see. I see tiles and they seem layered over the tiles on other roofs. There are patterns and layers, and gradually this room is darkening. And it’s all so mundane and boring and wonderful at the same time. All this stuff.

I just feel easy and tired and… yeah. Just a good time. A nice time. A pleasant time. And I  feel myself growing incredibly tired, and that’s okay too because it means I am actually relaxed.

The trees sway as wind passes around them, and birds make their sounds before they fly about. The room grows old and tired, too, and two of us are trying to work out their thoughts. Two of us are trying to work out what to say before words are put into being, and there’s no pressure. We are creating, sure, but there is no pressure to succeed or exceed. We’re just getting the things done that we want to get done, and we’re taking it easy, and the day is nearly over, and it’s nice.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:48:04

I started off writing pretty quickly. Slowed down a bit, but that’s okay. I don’t mind here.

Am I happy with this bit of writing? Not sure. I like what I’ve written, but the way I’ve written it… Oh well.

Written at home.

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