One Thousand Word Challenge 180: Walking Home

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

Today the car went in for a servicing that is greatly needed and so there was a bit of use of the things known as legs.

Caught the train from Chatswood to Croydon, although to be accurate it was two trains as I changed trains at Central. Then I walked from there.

It was an easy walk and one that I’ve done before, though I don’t think I’ve done the walk with Killing Joke in my ears before, not that that matters.

It was a walk that was easy and my thoughts were left to wander whilst I walked along, but instead of thinking openly about things I mostly embraced the song of which I was listening to, which was “Pilgrimage” on repeat.

“Pilgrimage” is a beautiful song from Killing Joke’s Democracy, an album that the band seem not much a fan of but it’s one that I like… or at least, I like some of the songs. Not their strongest and maybe not their weakest, it doesn’t represent the best of Killing Joke, but it has some good material, with the aforementioned song being one I find particularly moving.

I’m pretty sure that “Pilgrimage” is about going on a pilgrimage. Stunning insight there I know. Anyway, the protagonist of the song appears to express some sort of desire to get away from the world and environment that they find themselves in, likely due to some sort of inability to reconcile actions and attitudes in their surroundings with their beliefs. It has some spiritual allusions that work well with the song’s driving, atmospheric and “worldly”, expansive sound.

Why this song affects me the way it does is not something I think I can easily explain as I’m not too sure as to why. It’s certainly not the best song Killing Joke have done and it is probably difficult to argue that it’s the best song on Democracy, or even one of the best. I know that I’m a big sucker for melody so long as melody is done well, and I do also like a good chunk of Killing Joke’s work. “You’ll Never Get to Me” has brought me close to tears a few times due to really absorbing it at the right times of my life, and it still can be a moving listen, but “Pilgrimage” has something special about it.

Maybe it is the way that it feels like motion, or that it speaks to a strong desire of mine to just travel. It makes me think about the idea of journey as a means to reflect on the self and ruminate on what one knows and does not know. It makes me think about discovery and realisation in terms of the personal, as well as what one experiences and how that can change and reshape things.

“Pilgrimage” has a sense of sadness to it, but it also has a sense of gratitude. It has a bit going for it, though maybe I’m reading too much into the song; I cannot say right now as it is late and I’m just rambling. However, it is a song that works as journeying music and perhaps that is part of the reason why it has the name it has.

Anyway, the song took over my mood and I was once more allowing myself to be in the moment with it and it creates a certain sense and changes things, even for a moment. Of course there are other things to think about though whilst walking, but those weren’t there.

Sometimes I like to be alone and I just want to move and think about things. Sometimes I need to spend time thinking about who I am and what I am doing and all that stuff, but even though I get a good deal of time where doing so is an option, It’s not always the easiest thing to do. Sure, I could just get up any time and go for a long walk (or in some cases a long drive) but that’s not necessarily going to get me anywhere. Maybe it’d due to already spending a lot of time in my head. As I write all this out I’m still there, though I’m thinking more of the words that I’m churning out more than anything else. It’s also a bit different to being in motion and thinking.

Thinking abut this makes me think about the relationship between journeying and introspection. Maybe it has something to do with being farther away from the familiar that allows you to think more about yourself in a way that you cannot when you are surrounded by the familiar. Maybe there’s a sense of openness that allows thinking on the self to be more able to be done. Maybe that sort of thinking becomes easier when you are experiencing a form of place that allows you to be more fully aware of your insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

Maybe it’s just an association that’s easy to make. I don’t know and I don’t know if I’ll ever know. I don’t think I could ever claim to truly know anyway; I could probably only make some inferences and hope for the best, but that’s not something I’ll probably ever need to know or fully understand anyway. Besides which, my background is in marine science and not philosophy or psychology or whichever specialty it is that helps us better understand these things; Fully understanding this is not exactly what one would describe as my specialty.

I guess you could argue that my background is also in music and photography, but I’m about to digress so I won’t go down there.

I think I’ve said all that I can say about this, and perhaps I will think more about it tomorrow. I don’t know yet as tomorrow is yet to come, but it will eventually arrive. There may be no journeying tomorrow, but hopefully soon, if only to leave the familiar behind for a little while.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 23:21:82

Slow and ponderous, but maybe that’s a good thing.
Don’t know right now.

I feel I could’ve

As a side note, I wrote about “Pilgrimage” a while ago and it (along with some others) is part of what led me to doing the “writing about songs as they play” bits of rambling that I now do on a regular basis.

Written at home.

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

Mark Morgan: Dream Town

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

This is another one where I had an idea going. I was hoping for it to be interwoven rather than dominant, but alas.

The writing here is pretty lacking I feel. I think there’s something here but I don’t capitalise enough on it and so a rather vague and uneven presentation of a song.

Mark Morgan’s “Dream Town” is from Fallout 2‘s soundtrack, Fallout 2: The Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Bright and shining, and a little relaxed. Something relatively idyllic appears and there is a sense of peace and calm, but there is trouble. Sounds stretch and shine and present a fragility whilst strings stir underneath and come and go.

There is a prettiness and it almost seems like something otherworldly, but it is firmly rooted in reality. People go about their days trying to make ends meet and build a community that works together, but the sky shines so bright and the sun beats down with a sense of relentlessness.

The ideal fights to stay strong and strong it stays, for despite the trouble there is hard work toward strengthening the community, but a sadness and slight hope underscores it all, even as the song ends.

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

Mark Morgan: City of the Dead

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I was trying to stick mostly to imagery here and… I didn’t really do well.
I think I captured a sense of the vague which doesn’t quite capture this bit of music, but it certainly is impressionistic when removed from its context.

Mark Morgan’s “City of the Dead” is from Fallout‘s soundtrack, Fallout: The Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A sudden thrust and something rises in a distance. A rumble, a rattle and the rising returns. It is almost as though there is a buzzing in the air; There is a heaviness that draws out as tension looms in shadows.

It is as busy as it is quiet and sounds hang in the air whilst other move on past. They hang in the air and seem unable to move whilst others seem to stretch and contort from one point to another.

There is a space but it is almost not there. It exists but a sense of oppression pushes on forward, but soon much seems to drop out. Another pause and soon a rush and a rumble return before stopping as the song ends.

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

Nighttime Pathway

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

A few weeks ago I was taking some photos around Botany, such as the one below.

I think I was trying to play around with space, or more a sense of isolation. Not entirely sure, but I do know that I was trying to capture this specific framing and look when I took this photo, so in a sense I succeeded.

It took a few tries to get this shot due to reasons I won’t get into, and I think that next time I’m this area I should be able to do a better job, but for now I’m mostly content with the result.

I like the framing and sense of isolation. It’s almost as though this path and a few lights exist and little else. There is only one way to follow and it is the path, but which direction is a difficult choice as there’s no seeing what lies beyond.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-second Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.
The theme for this one is “Minimalism/Maximalism“.

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

Week 1 – Patti

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 3 – Amy

Week 4 – Tina

This year three people have joined the Lens-Artists team:

John Steiner of Journeys with Johnbo

Sofia Alves of  Photographias

Anne Sandler of Slow Shutter Speed

As such the above hosting order is likely to change.

This one is curated by Sofia. The next one is curated by Anne.

I recommend participating in the challenges. They’re enjoyable and allow room for interpretation of the theme without straying too far. If you don’t participate, then I recommend that you at least check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Masashi Hamauzu: The Archylte Steppe

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

When I started doing this one I thought I’d have an easy go with rambling on.
In now having just done the writing I feel that that was not quite the case.

I think I stumbled a bit as I had a bit of an idea of how I wanted to go about writing about this song, but it didn’t quite carry forward.

Masashi Hamauzu’s (浜渦 正志) “The Archylte Steppe” (“アルカキルティ大平原”) is from Final Fantasy XIII‘s soundtrack, Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack.

I think I spend too much time writing about music from The Final Fantasy series.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Strings rise and fall, draw out and move over hills as part of a vast expanse. Soon a beat comes in and gently sounds intermingle and flow onward. The air is fresh and the breeze is gentle, and a sense of coolness carries through.

Soon a slight shift. Strings draw out more and slowly rise further up whilst the beat too peels back a little. Brass in the background, almost widening the melody.

Soon a return to the main section. Something additional follows along and a sense of being there in this place with company comes over. There’s a sense of the free, the slow, and yet the pushing and determined.

The beat peels back once more and once more sounds rise. Steady and slowly and with a grace, but with something sitting in the back of the mind.

A pause and the strings flow and caress. Something akin to keys that had been dotting away continues on. It remains gentle. Brass rises in the background, seemingly distant and yet entirely clear, it stops as the beat comes back in.

Soon a return to the main melody, but the sounds fade as the song ends.

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

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1110: Who Really Knows?

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I should probably do that thing that involves complaining about the cold, but I think that can wait.

I feel energised in a way that I haven’t felt since the last time I felt this energised which wasn’t that long ago. I feel like I can take on this desk and I feel like I can take on my job.

I feel like it would be a bit better if it wasn’t overcast outside, but you take the good with anything else that isn’t considered good at certain points of the day based on certain mindsets and all that other stuff.

I think that I can get this done with gusto and vigour but I don’t know if I will. There’s just so much and I keep going around in circles. I never get to the centre but it always seems like I will. I’d like to believe that I will, but there’s just so much to squeeze out and there’s no stopping all of that and so on and so forth.

Maybe the issues is that I keep circling within the circle when instead I could just make a beeline for the centre, but then what? What would I do? Where would I go from there? Would there be any point? Perhaps I would discover something new and finally realise something, but what would be the point of all of that without enough knowledge gained beforehand? Sure, it’s good and all to finally reach a goal and finally get what one wants (assuming I even want something out of this, of course), but there’s no gain if you don’t understand what it is that you’ve reached, or have no idea as to how to make use of it.

Of course this depends on the circumstance as sometimes the beeline does enable you to then go into the next stage. There are other things as well, but in this particular instance that is not what I’m looking to explore, though I doubt I really am looking to explore anything. There is little, if anything to explore, but I will keep on going on with what it is that I’m going on with and so we’ll just see what happens.

I will keep on doing the circling and in that circling I will keep moving toward the centre. The closer I get, the more I will hope I know and understand and then I hope that once I reach the centre I will be able to make use of what it is that is in the centre, assuming there is even any use at all. Maybe I will not know, but that might be okay as I’d have gained a lot during the journey, so… yeah.

Then again, maybe I should just leave the whole thing entirely and go find another thing to circle around and slowly work toward the centre. Maybe it will provide all that I seek and then some, but then again, maybe it won’t.

Who really knows?

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:41:37

I think I did kind of okay with this one. I teased out most of something, got a bit stuck and then kept going but… ehhhh.

Written at home.

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

Leaving Water

Posted on June 4, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

A photo I took of a black swan leaving water to look for food… I think.

I feel this would have worked better taken at a lower position.
I’ve made the swan look smaller than it is, I think.

I like how the water contrasts with the steps here. Whilst the water has ripples, its surface seems so much smoother than the steps which appear rough.

I hope you enjoy.

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

One Thousand Word Challenge 179: Cold in the Morning

Posted on June 4, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

It’s cold and it’s the morning but I feel okay. Going to see how quickly I can get this done but I imagine that I’ll slow down at some point and then I’ll think more about what I’m writing and let the whole stream thing happen and the writing will then be more organic.

It’s a nice day outside, I’m inside and I’m writing this and it comes to you in the form of words written in a format that allows for visual perception and understanding. Signals translate things to an understandable state and all that other stuff, but I just keep on going and mash out the words as quickly as I can.

It’s a bit cold and it’s warming up and it is nice. It is a nice day and I like that it already feels nice. There’s some relaxing music playing and I’m just mashing this out and soon I will need to get into the meat of things as it also is a work day so soon I must get into handling obligation and responsibility and then hope the rest of the day just flows on by. Maybe it will and maybe it won’t, but what will happen is that I will sit here and appreciate the sunlight for a little bit longer.

Hopefully it is not too cold and I get to warm up a bit.

I think that the tree outside my window is starting to grow leaves again and that will create a nice patch of shade. It has been a bit leafless as of late as apparently the tree does not like too much rain; something we’ve been receiving an abundance of. Today is sunny and it seems that the rain has let up for the time being so I hope things stay that way, if only for a short period of time.

We probably need more rain but we need more in inland areas that are struggling from drought and subsequent dryness.

We need a lot of things.

I don’t know how effective the rainfall we’ve received has been in terms of providing relief from drought, but I do know that a lot of it seems to have been coastal thus far, and whilst that is sort of a good thing, it’s also a bit bad. Sure, dams are more full now and some places are looking greener, but there also has come a lot of damage and a lot of pain.

I should clarify that it’s not good that a lot of the rain seems to have mostly been coastal, but rather that it is good that coastal areas have received a lot of rain. that said, we’ve certainly received too much rain in coastal areas and so subsequent damage has caused a lot of problems for a lot of people.

There are still people trying to recover from the bushfires we had a few years ago and the rainfall we’ve had certainly has not helped there.

When our recent federal election happened, I imagine that a lot of people let out a sigh of relief when they saw the result, but there still is a lot of work that needs to be done. I’m not saying that the new leading party isn’t doing enough; I’m saying that, even though early actions seem promising, we still need to see a lot more. There still is relief aid required for people affected by bushfires and floods and so the sooner they receive help, the better. The sooner we help them out the sooner they can be in a stronger position to live a better life and the sooner they will get there.

I don’t really know what else to say about this. There are a lot of issues that need to be dealt with and it can be difficult to work out which one first, but I feel that people who have been neglected need to be helped sooner rather than later.

I also feel pretty strongly about setting up some heavy protection against damaging the environment, as well as some heavy and enforceable penalties against those that continue to actively do so.

There are a lot of things I think and putting them in really simple terms is probably not the best thing to do as these require some deeper digging, but I feel that for now that will be enough.

So I sit here and I enjoy the sun a little bit. It’s still cold but it is getting warmer and that is a nice thing for now. Might not be later, but for now it is nice as it means that I operate that little bit quicker than I was earlier.

I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to mash out a lot of words quickly and I was right about that, but I do feel that I should’ve given it a better go. Writing at the speed that I currently am writing at is fine and all, but it is not what I wanted to do. Oh well. Such is life and all that other stuff. I’m still writing and I’m getting things across and if I can get them across in a way that makes sense, then I feel that I’ve achieved something at the very least. Sure, it’s a small thing but you can get big things from small things and so… yeah.

I think I need to rebuild on these challenges as I’ve gone too far into “trying to write as quickly as possible” and as such I’m not getting as much of the stream-of-consciousness writing out. I need to slow down a bit more and then get back up to speed once things are better balanced, but there are other things to worry about out there and so I should work on doing what I can with those other things.

For now though it’s a work day and so I’ve got to do the work I’ve got to do for the day.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 13:14:69

Wrote this this morning and then didn’t do anything.
Ended up being a busier day than I had expected.

I feel that there are some things here quite worth talking about but overall not sticking to one thing and exploring it further harmed the writing.

Written at home.

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

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1109: Did the Thing Again

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

I did the thing again.

Yesterday I was going to write about a walk I went on that involved taking photos. It was just going to cover that and some thoughts and feelings about the thing but I didn’t have the energy in me to do so.

Today I thought I’d get on top of things and get things out of the way and then tonight would be smooth sailing. I guess I was wrong on that, but I’m here now and in being here I can get this done. Maybe I will write about the walk.

It was a walk to capture some clouds during the sunset and that’s all there is to say, really.

I think that sometimes I get ideas that I think will work and then in execution they don’t, but that’s not really different from the norm. I’m sure that a lot of people think the same and so I don’t know as to why I mentioned it as though it is some unique trait. I imagine it would be more unique to have ideas that always work out, but that’s neither here nor there. I think I should be thinking about other things.

Sometimes I sit here and I wonder as to why I keep sitting here. I wonder as to why I don’t go and find another job and I wonder as to what it is that keeps me glued to this seat. Other than being able to work from home, it is of course due to not quite being completely healthy again. Such is the way of things sometimes but you roll with the punches and you do the best you can where you can.

I think sometimes I don’t do the best I can, but I try. I try to be a better person and I try to get on with things and that isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but you still try. You make a go of it and you get on with it and you get yourself in a better position. You then try to help others where you can and work toward building a stronger and more accepting community, as well as a better environment overall. That’s what I’d like to believe anyway.

I think in saying all of that I should be worrying about other things at this particular moment. There is stuff to do and soon I will be in bed. Once there it is all over for the time of rest will be at hand, but of course that will not last for tomorrow comes along and then when the tomorrow is here, more things will happen in a particular order that allows something else to happen and you get the idea.

Sometimes you just have to ramble about things and so you ramble away. You don’t always have to, but sometimes you have to, but perhaps in the rambling something is revealed, but not always, but does that even matter right now?

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:57:98

Just a ramble.
Nothing good here but I like that it feels small.

Written at home.

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

Hiroki Kikuta: Breezin

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s another that I’d been meaning to ramble on about for a bit.

I wasn’t sure as to what I was going for here. I was hoping for more visual-type writing and that came trough more toward the end but I don’t think I did the best of jobs of conveying that. Had I gone for more minimal writing I think that I would’ve captured the song really well.

Hiroki Kikuta’s (菊田 裕樹) “Breezin” (“ブリージン”) is from Seiken Densetsu 3 Original Sound Version, the soundtrack for Seiken Densetsu 3.

I hope you enjoy.

—

In a quiet space an instrument plays away, but it is soon joined by something else. Slowly they move through, carrying a fragility. There is a desolation of sorts but from this a small hope grows. Keys join in and echo around the melody, but soon that opening instrument is alone once more.

And soon it is joined by that something else, albeit a little lower. It moves along and continues a sense of support. That opening instrument moves lower and that support continues its playing, for hope, as small as it is, springs eternal.

All pulls away and keys return whilst something hovers underneath and fades in and out. It does not last and the opening instrument returns once more. Once more other sounds come and go, and that open, quiet space remains. However, hope springs eternal and even though fragile, the will and determination to continue remains.

All seems asleep and soon all must wake and rise, but perhaps it is not the right time. However, the winds carry whispers that reach the ears and hearts and so the resolve to not give in remains and spreads.

Eventually things most move and continue on, and so soon sounds fade as the song ends.

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