Envy: Zero

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This was written over one listen but there were quite a few restarts early on. I was struggling to get the first few seconds down and that probably would’ve been easier to do had I listened to the song a few times rather than once.

I wanted to write about “Zero” in some capacity as this morning I found out that its opening seconds aren’t silent. I listen to the album it’s from a fair bit; Usually in the morning as I find that it’s a pretty good driving album. I’ve also been listening to the song and said album for roughly eleven to thirteen years and so whilst surprised, it’s nice to hear something I wasn’t aware existed.

I’ll write more about “Zero” at some point when I talk about the whole album, but something I want to say right now is that the percussion is great here as it’s really steady and almost unmoving but also has this sense of swing and flow that makes it feel really smooth. That said, all the instrumentation on this song works well as a whole.

Anyway, I wasn’t sure as to what I was going to write when I started this and I don’t know if I did the song justice, but I feel as though there’s an idea if you’re familiar with the song.

Envy’s “Zero” is from All The Footprints You’ve Ever Left And The Fear Expecting Ahead.

I hope you enjoy.

—

An old electronic sound starts, then stops, replaced by a calm drone spreading out. Something initially distant moves above and something else drops. Shortly after percussion and guitar comes in. Percussion is steady and guitar plays with a slight tension. It then rages in parts and stops, then slowly builds into a raging once more. There’s a joy and celebration in it, but also an aggression and menace.

Another crash and something muted and muddy starts pushing up whilst continually getting smothered and buried. Atmosphere expands outward whilst the beat remains strong. The guitars are low and sounds form and dissipate. An echoing and the guitar builds to burst forward but before it can everything suddenly stops and the old electronic sound comes back and finishes as a low hum as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Akari Kaida: Opening the Gate

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

Four listens for this one.

I struggled a fair bit more than I thought I would. The song is short – it is pretty much just a brief introductory piece – but I thought I’d be able to get a fair bit out with ease. Instead it took me a while to capture the first few seconds. Once that was out of the way it became easier to write about what I was hearing, but only a little bit and not a lot.

Akari Kaida’s (海田 明里) “Opening the Gate” (“Opening　～扉開く～“) is from Breath of Fire III‘s soundtrack, Breath of Fire III: Original Soundtrack where it appears to be known as “Opening”. It also is found on Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box, a collection of the full soundtracks from Breath of Fire I through to V.

Breath of Fire III‘s soundtrack is interesting in its approach as it’s shaped more by jazz than what most other JRPG soundtracks from around the same time. Among other things, the approach helped give the game a certain appreciable feel.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Piano plays tender and perhaps with a little hesitancy. Underneath something softer and more vague follows. There is uncertainty as to consequences, but still a need to go ahead. Hesitancy turns to action and suddenly something rises.

A brief pause and sound becomes massive. Something cracks and rumbles as revelation takes hold. A journey begins and resolve guides through what may come, but rather than close on a definitive note the sounds quickly fade away, seemingly unable to reach conclusion as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tsukasa Saitoh: Ambiguity

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I’d not heard this song until last night but it was only a small snippet.
Decided I’d try having a go at writing about it due to the unfamiliarity.

The below is from one listen and I feel I got an idea of it across. Pretty vague, though still an idea. I think I was trying to interweave two things rather than focus on one and maybe that’s why. Who knows. I should, but I don’t.

Tsukasa Saitoh’s (齋藤 司) “Ambiguity” is from Armored Core Original Best Track, an album comprised of songs from Armored Core, Armored Core: Project Phantasma and Armored Core: Master of Arena. “Ambiguity” is also included on Armored Core Original Soundtrack 20th Anniversary Box, an album comprised (as far as I’m aware) of all the soundtracks for the Armored Core games released up to 2018.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A strike of beat and piano. something buzzes in the background whilst keys keep themselves spaced out, keeping the focus on the melancholy. The beat picks up and bounces, spreads and soon comes into a greater sense of fullness. Rhythm moves and underscores the mood whilst other sounds come and go in a pattern that builds a tenderness and fragility.

Bass comes in and follows a simple melody. The sounds come together like pieces to build more on the atmosphere and even though the beat shuffles it remains steady and strong. All work together to further mood and be as a whole and that melancholy remains. It remains and stays steady, even as the beat drops away; even as other sounds drop away. Soon it is bass, buzzing, keys and strings; Most drop away and strings reach out one last time as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1117: Avoiding Symbolism

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

The sun is out and construction is going on and I’m sitting here doing the thigs that I usually do, but at least the keyboard feels a little better than usual. Maybe it is due to using a full keyboard rather than a keyboard that does not have all the keys that I use, though I’m not making use of them most of the time anyway so that doesn’t really matter.

I think that I’m thinking about this too much already and I should just try and get on with things. Need to get moving before my hands start feeling like they’re freezing over, but that is a lot of work and I’m lazy so instead of doing anything I think I’ll do nothing.

Maybe I’ll think of some sort of idyllic scenery. Maybe that will get me somewhere and that will get me something in some location of my imagining, but I don’t have high hopes right now as I’m not feeling motivated enough to dream grandiose. Maybe I should try and feel motivated, but that would require effort and effort is something I am too lazy to engage with at this current moment so instead of effort there will be none. There will be none and I will keep on floating by in a lazy manner.

Maybe I can float on by whilst riding a bed made of roses. There probably is some symbolism there but that is not something that I want to entertain right now. This needs to be as devoid of all references to any form or hinting of symbolism as possible and so I will not think of symbolism or what can be read as symbolism as there are other things to worry about and all that other stuff that I like to write.

Maybe in saying that the whole thing is rife with symbolism and refusing to address the symbolism is also symbolic and so all I’m doing is disappearing into a whirlpool of symbolism and the only way out is to address the whole thing as that will mean that I am accepting the symbolism and facing it, therefore allowing myself to grow as a person and move on from whatever tragedy holds me back, which is probably a good thing or something. I think.

Maybe it’s a bad thing but sometimes you just go with the flow and sometimes said flow leads to a whirlpool where you finally have to face up to things that are seen as symbolic and so I need to do that in order to become a better person, but right now I just want to be lazy and not think about things but obligation keeps raining down upon me and so I need to engage with that and that always takes time and now I’m just whinging about something that isn’t even that important in the grand scheme of things, so I guess I’ll just do something and then after doing something I’ll do something else.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:35:99

Just put in the title and realised that that could make for some rather silly fiction so maybe that will be what I next write about. Would probably turn out better than this.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yasunori Mitsuda: To Far Away Times

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I don’t know what I was going for here.
I feel as though I got stuck and tried to get down whatever I could. I think I should have considered cohesion a bit more, but I didn’t and now this. That said, I feel that had I focused I would’ve gotten something more consistent down.

Yasunori Mitsuda’s (光田 康典) “To Far Away Times” (“遥かなる時の彼方へ”) is from Chrono Trigger‘s soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Sound Version.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A sense of victory and hope emerges as a steady beat, bass and arpeggio move together. Strings fill in space; soon piano joins in and the strings underscore the melody the keys are layering. The keys pull back and woodwind takes over and moves forward with all the feeling of hope realised as conclusion.

The sounds keep moving and follow and pull back and join in as memories of the journey come into view whilst the new journey moves across a vast sky. Soon space comes in as sounds descend almost gently.

A sense of pause and a clock ticks away whilst a reverence for time comes forward. Mystery is found and a light shines through a shaded area, and an acceptance for the desire and determination to live a life despite the mystery and challenges holds fast.

The sounds shimmer and move and suddenly are swept away, and silence.

A music box plays a gentle theme that speaks to familiarity, and perhaps it is. It finds itself at the end of a story, closing things off for this point in time as whilst a new journey lies ahead, that is for another time. Eventually it fades away as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1116: Across an Open Plain

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

Stretched across an open plain lies a vast expanse of complete nothingness, or at least, that is how it feels. Sometimes a long drive in expansive areas feels like a drive through nothingness. All these fields and idyllic scenery and nothing to see or appreciate, for it is as detailed as it is formless and featureless; or at least, on some drives it appears that way, for it is not always.

Sometimes the drive through these areas would see something idyllic as idyllic and much more details and life would come forward and a sense of something akin to wonderment would take over, and so it was that this expansive landscape would be seen as something to enjoy and something that was as vast and open as it appeared.

At other times it would be recognised not as something positive, but something that almost felt as though it was pressing in and containing. It would feel like some sort of entrapment as all it could remind of is a life not desired but still one that one was contained within, and this pressing and pushing down would be eternal; some people leaned into it and embraced it and found it to be something that was theirs; others would escape and do their best to not return, and some would remain due to various reason and potentially cultivate resentment and bitterness toward their situation.

Regardless, the open plain was always there and there were plenty of roads that would lead away from where it was. It was something that would be passed on by by most and it would remain an interesting blip that would fade from memory, for there were other things to see and to them this space meant nothing. It was not their experience and they’d seen plenty similar. They had no sense of attachment or no meaning related to the scenery here, but elsewhere it could be different.

At the end of the day it was all just space being used and it was as variable as it was static. It could mean everything and it could mean nothing, and in meaning something the meaning could vary for so many. So much could be attached to one place which could make it no different from any other place out there, and perhaps there was some sort of beauty in that. Perhaps.

Perhaps it was just another place that shared certain properties with other places, even if the appearance was different. Perhaps it was just another landscape full of openness that ultimately meant nothing at all; at least outside of experiencing it in some manner. If someone wasn’t thinking about it or seeing it, then it may as well have not existed to that person. If thinking about it then perhaps it existed, but only briefly.

Even so, it always existed and it would likely always represent something to someone, even if it was just another vast expanse of nothingness on a long drive to nowhere in particular.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 12:03:62

This took longer than I expected and I think it was due to overthinking what I was doing.
I think I was trying to get across a sense of place and location but I got too heavy into meaning when there are so many other things to explore.

Written at home.

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One Thousand Word Challenge 184: Cold and Long Day

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

It is cold and it is a long day, but it is about to become a productive one. Not worth writing about as it doesn’t really happen until it happens, but sometimes you start writing with something that is pointless to state because you’ve nothing else coming to you and you need to buy some time until you find that which it is that is going to be what the subject at hand is. Maybe it’ll be a little thread revealing itself among all of these words, but once it does I will pounce. Until then it’s just all pointless things that need to be written because I feel they need to be written rather than their actual needing to be written.

I think that in saying all of that I’ll be able to get something forward and hopefully among all of this pointlessness there is something that could be seen as worthwhile. Hopefully something comes forward that the reader can grab onto and in their grabbing onto something that they find meaning within that allows some sort of connection in what is hopefully a positive and affirmative way, then something has been done and I’ve done something for someone, even if there was no intention there to do that at all.

Sometimes I wonder what the intention of all of this writing is, or if there even is an intention beyond something that is on a personal level. Sometimes I don’t wonder and I keep on going and in doing that I’m weaving a web of crap, but it is my own web of crap and that’s something that… well, a lot of people can take away from me, but that is something that I don’t want to think about right now. What I want to think about is something positive. I want to think positive and see positive change and all of that stuff, but perhaps it also is not the time for that kind of stuff. Perhaps what the time is right now is the time to take it easy and not worry so much, but I don’t know if it is; I just know that I’m here and I’m crapping on about things once more.

There are some places that I’d like to be at this present moment but due to money am unable to go to, but that’s okay. That is alright. It could be worse. I’ve still got a roof over my head and I’m doing something that I want to do, even if it is a bit aimless. I’ll be going to those places sooner rather than later (I hope) and I’ll be at those places and form new experiences, some of which will be built upon old experiences. It can be good to revisit places you’ve been to many a time as you may understand things in a different way and all that other junk. Sometimes it isn’t good to revisit places though and you don’t always get to choose when it is and is not good, but that’s life.

It is cold and my hands are cold but they are warming up and as they warm up I look outside. In a few hours I will be going on a lengthy walk so as to be able to hear an album in full before I start writing about it as sometimes I find it easier to walk and listen to an album if I need to write about it rather than sitting here in front of a screen. Probably due to being able to focus more on the music due to doing less or having less that is instantly familiar around me or something; I don’t know how these things work; they just seem to work that way some of the time.

Some of the time I think that I’m not doing what I should most of the time and so I try to push on forward, but sometimes it is really hard to do so. Sometimes I think too much about being a shitty person and taking too long to learn from hurting people and how that shittiness was in conflict with what I believed, but you try to do better. You try to learn and you try to do what you think is the right thing because it is the right thing you do and you believe in what you believe. Really we shouldn’t be treating people like shit.

We shouldn’t be treating the environment like shit; I feel that that is more pressing and important, but that doesn’t mean we then start ignoring people and leaving them behind. Everyone is important, and education and empathy are really important and even though those are long and sometimes slow and trying processes, I feel that they are the best things to offer to people in order to help them be in a better position to help themselves, the greater communities and the environment overall. We probably live well above our means which probably helps cloud our judgement which helps us ignore things we do that are shitty and so a bit of self-reflection and willingness to be better can go a long way. Many of us could probably live a little less comfortably and still be really comfortable, but that seems to be a hard sell for a lot of people.

Right now I’m feeling a little comfortable, but I feel that has a lot to do with my ability to watch the clouds outside as they float on by. They are small clouds and they are gathered together and they keep on going. They’re moving fast and smoothly and they slowly paint the sky white. I imagine they will soon start painting the sky gray and that’s fine, but right now it’s nice as it’s just peaceful and a bit of peace is sometimes nice. It can help with a few things but that might be a ramble for another day, but I’m not going to worry about that.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 15:36:87

The good thing is that this came easy.
There were some pauses, but overall this was an easy write.
That said, I feel that this is more a series of collected thoughts that have some relation but perhaps not enough. Maybe that’s a good thing; maybe bad, but it exists and I’ve shared it, so yeah.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Among Floating Plants

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This one is probably not a good photo, but I like how there’s almost a kind of pattern within the plants but it’s disturbed by a duck just being there.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Miyoko Kobayashi: Further into the Wide World

Posted on June 19, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This one was a bit of a challenge and took roughly three listens.
Roughly rather than actually as it was two listens but what I have is a form of the song that is extended for some reason and so it is three listens of the song at its proper length so… yeah.

This was a challenge for me to do as I was having trouble finding my footing. That said, I think I’ve captured an idea of the song; it’s not exactly a firm capturing, but it does get across some of it in a rather vague manner.

Miyoko Kobayashi’s (小林 美代子) “Further into the Wide World” (“さらなる広い世界へ“) is from Terranigma Creative Soundtracks (天地創造 クリエイティヴサウンドトラックス). It’s a soundtrack that covers some of the compositions from Terranigma.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A dawning approaches as sounds draw near. Low and becoming more prominent, and preparing for a continuing journey. Soon strings move and glide above a landscape that is quiet and gradually filling and becoming busier. Space remains, but the sounds move to take up some more.

Another sound takes the lead in a moment of solitude and wondering. It crests and glides and finds a moment to pull away. The weight of responsibility retains its firmness and before it can slow the sounds push out and become wider and the grandness of the landscape is there in all of its beauty. It is dramatic and apparent and wonderful to look upon, and so the weight remains but does not prevent and so the journey continues as the song ends.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Accessing Ruins Dream

Posted on June 19, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

There was some sort of catastrophic event. Something like a meteor shower and everything was getting destroyed. It may not have been but the end result was a large swathe of destruction. Many urban areas were destroyed and what was left was much rubble, though some fragments of buildings were still standing.

Many people were looking to get back to their homes to see if anything was salvageable, but in order to access what remained they had to pay. Otherwise they were not allowed to access their ruins.

I thought this was a horrible idea and realised that this is what was going to happen as the catastrophic event was yet to occur. Then I thought about it some more and thought that it was unlikely to happen, but was well aware that it could happen.

Then I woke up.

Posted in Dreams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment