Underside Revealed

Same duck as the one I shared yesterday.

I think monochrome worked really well with this duck.
Probably just the right conditions for it to do so, which I guess means that was the definite.

Anyway, I really like this as the motion of the water contrasts with the duck kind of appearing really still. Obviously it’s in motion, but the water appears to be more so than the duck.

I think that the feathers on the underside of the wing also draw attention to themselves with ease.

This isn’t a dramatic photo; maybe it’s striking, but regardless I feel I did an alright job here.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1108: Today’s Spewing of the Words

I think I might do my best writing when I don’t wait until the afternoon to do anything.

I don’t think I have much to base this on, but the pressure of trying to get things done before I have to go somewhere doesn’t always help and maybe it is putting more pressure on me than is necessary. I need to think about pointless pressure and necessary pressure and perhaps sometimes both are neither and neither are both and one is the other and so on and so forth. I need to think about this more often and not keep on waiting until there is little time to waste.

I think that sometimes writing faster may be hindering me more than it is enabling and I haven’t thought about this enough and so I need to think about this more often. If I do think about this more often then perhaps I will finally get somewhere rather than go nowhere. Of course there are other things to consider but I’m not considering those other things at the present moment as right now I need to get this done then get onto the next thing then get onto the thing after that as I’ve piled on far more today than I should have and I can only blame myself, though I’d rather remain blameless if that is indeed even possible.

I think that I need to wield the responsibility that I wield with an iron gentleness and if I don’t do that, then whop am I to truly say that I have control of the writing that comes out of my hands? Am I really able to truly say that I have mastered anything at all?

Yes, I’m doing the throwing things against the wall thing but it’s not going to be like that all day. Maybe later it will again but there will be a period between everything where that won’t happen and finally some sensibility will come through and this will all make sense; well, maybe not this, but when I say “this”, I mean this period of time which will be present all the time but in a later state is what I am referring to at the present moment.

Now that that is out of the way I can look out my window and marvel at how the sky appears. It seems reflective and maybe glassy in a sense, but that could also be me projecting onto what it is that I see out there and that too is something to consider. The sky exists and it can personify things but it can only personify the things that people put upon it; otherwise it is just the sky and has no metaphorical or symbolic meaning, though maybe it does and I’m just saying things that I don’t completely understand.

There are plenty of possibilities and of course some of them I won’t consider, but some of them I will and that’s something that I should probably consider.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:13:58

I need to get back to writing in the morning again as the results of doing so seem to work out better.

Written at home.

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Within Ripples

Probably because the duck is creating them.

I think monochrome worked really well for this photo and I think that has a bit to do with the overall lighting. Also, it almost looks like the duck is sitting at a lower level of water which I think is neat.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week.
I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit.

A lot of what people are submitting will likely end up here.

I hope you enjoy.

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tricot: Jōdeki

I’m pretty sure I started this earlier this month.
Struggled a bit to get around to expanding and editing the writing, then last night sat down to make a good go of it and realised I may have a bit of brain fog from Covid.

Anyway, I forcibly mashed this into the shape of something that looks like a review. I feel this could’ve used more words but right now I’m just trying to get back into a position where I can work on things more thoroughly. There’s a backlog and I intend to catch up.

Most of my interview and review work now appears on Culture Eater.
My colleague and I set up a Patreon to further develop Culture Eater as a source of good quality arts coverage from both ourselves and our contributors.

We’re looking at what we can give to supporters as we don’t want to set up a one way relationship, so suggestions are welcome. Podcast Eater is one of the things we’ve got going.

Please consider supporting, or at least sharing the Patreon page with others. Please also check out what our wonderful contributors are contributing.

I hope you enjoy.

Early 2020 tricot released Makkuro (真っ黒). Then came 10 () and then toward the end of 2021 Jōdeki (上出来) saw release. Jōdeki sees tricot leaning more on a poppier sound whilst keeping a sense of cohesion throughout.

Jōdeki starts off with some interesting vocal effect. Soon tricot come in proper and a slow jam plays out. “I’ll Talk to You Soon” (“言い尽くすトークします間も無く“) is a fine enough opener; it has some range and is its own thing and eases into the listening experience. It probably isn’t the strongest song here but it works fine enough.

The rest of Jōdeki is generally more energetic and snappy. Many of the songs feel like the aim was to be fun and light than anything else; They also feel somewhat variable whilst remaining resolutely familiar. It’s as though tricot twist their influences around a little bit here, looking ahead through slicker and shinier packaging.

With each release it seems like tricot move toward streamlining. As such, despite variability Jōdeki‘s songs often sound pretty straightforward. There is some work in there that sounds knotty without coming off as complex;  rhythm comes forward and drives well, as does width and tonality, creating a rich melodic palette. Space is there when needed; taken away when not and the music is better off for it. The vocals follow suit and match the songs tastefully and everything just slots in nicely; Everything is more efficient, but often the songs seem more interested in getting and out than providing things to explore and absorb. The structures and overall fun feel could belie a depth that requires some digging. However, the songs don’t quite lend themselves well to such exploration.

That said, overall Jōdeki is alright; It’s fine. You’re not necessarily going to go wrong with this one. Sometimes tricot overreach and sometimes they underreach. Whilst everything works in that it slots in neatly, there are times of overplaying when space would work better, and some parts just kind of happen as though by habit. Some of this drags and some of this doesn’t. There are some really strong songs here; “Tissue” (“ティシュー“), “Walking” (“餌にもなれない”), “Super Summer” (“スーパーサマー”) and the title track stand out. Most of the rest sort of just slot in and do their thing. Often the the album feels overlong toward the end and in parts it comes off more singular than it does collaborative. Jōdeki is mostly enjoyable and it’s difficult to deny that tricot are passionate about releasing strong music, but, despite a solid performance, it feels like there are some growing pains.

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Cairina moschata

I just found out that this bird is a muscovy duck.
I saw it at the start of the month near Botany.

Probably could’ve done better with the light as this isn’t exactly a good photo, but at least it shows the muscovy duck as what it is: a muscovy duck.

The face I find particularly interesting, as well as the beak really as I’m pretty sure that before seeing this one (as well as another that was near it) I hadn’t seen a duck with these specific duck and beak features.

I hope you enjoy.

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Ryota Kozuka: Battle -eon-

Depending on how they carry themselves, songs with a good deal of length to them are easier to ramble about, I find. With that said, I think I was a bit stumped in some parts here. The writing here is fairly flat and so, whilst some things about the song are expressed, they’re not expressed well.

As a side note, I feel that before the song shifts to something more melodic, it really captures a sense of hostility and mercilessness, though perhaps it’s also more of an awareness at a cycle of hopelessness or something. Maybe it’s capturing something overwhelming and alien.

Ryota Kozuka’s (小塚良太) “Battle -eon-” is from the soundtrack for Shin Megami Tensei V, Shin Megami Tensei V Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

An unknown moves into view and around whilst a beat strikes relentlessly. It moves in and out of the background whilst the unknown continues moving and a great deal of tension and pressure build. Soon something softer moves in as the beat falls away and it seems as familiar as it does seem off. It fades, another sound pulses then disappears as the beat returns and fades as the previous two sounds briefly return.

Something seems to grind or wail whilst bass slowly fades in. Brief flashes of sounds returning and all seems to rush on by as it seems to remain static and always there, moving in and out.

Almost silence though that unknown keeps moving around, always remaining present, keeping things stark. Once more the beat returns and it keeps pummeling away. Something lingers at a distance and soon fades in, carrying more melody and less weight.

A new beat comes in and a mix of sounds express melancholy. Soon this shifts into something steadier and solidifies itself as less intense. A synthetic bass line shifts in tone as things that aren’t quite vocals move about.

Soon it shifts into a repeating grandeur that seems like a sense realisation. A sense of catharsis. A sense of acceptance of trial. Soon it seems to break open and pour out over itself; the bass low, muddy. The percussion takes on more space and the vocal-like sounds also lower, seemingly stuck.

Dramatic and melancholic soon return and the idea of form is more standard. All seems linear and the weight of pressure is not quite there. There is a sense of importance, but it has almost been brushed aside. A steady, standard beat returns and plays out whilst the bass once more continues its shifting tone. Once more the percussion picks up and the vocals seem to lash out at precise places and seemingly all of this is moving to something else entirely.

Once more it returns to sense of catharsis and acceptance and sounds stretch and glide along the beat, and once more things spill out upon themselves, and once more the dramatic returns, though it almost seems muffled at first. However, it gets through, though it starts to fade away and the song ends.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 178: Should Write About the Environment

The morning  is here, though it has been here for a few hours now.

It is cold and it is windy and I am protected from the wind by being inside. I try to stay warm and it’s not the easiest thing to do, but I try.

I’m thinking about whatever it is that I’m currently writing and I’m not sure if I really am thinking about what I am writing. I know that I think I’m thinking about thinking but I don’t know if that counts for anything. I know I’m not necessarily writing about writing and maybe that is something that I should spend more time writing about, but now I’m considering the ocean and the impact that we have on it and maybe I should write more about that.

Maybe I should write more about what I learned during the doing of my degree. Maybe that would get more things across. I know that I’d like to spend more time writing about the marine environment, but I’m not sure as to what I could add to the conversation at this stage.

I do know that I want to work with the marine environment but jobs are few and far between here; well, jobs that I can do, and lacking the money to move makes it a bit more difficult to go elsewhere for a job, but sometimes that’s the way things go, and so I continue to write here, though soon the end of this blog will arrive, though how soon is soon is yet to be determined.

Maybe it will continue on for a while longer if I commit to writing about the marine environment. Regardless, it is something that we need to spend more time considering.

A lot of the ocean is changing faster than perhaps it should and that’s something we need to spend more time thinking about. We need to think about how our actions affect things more often and we need to work toward diminishing the impact of our actions. We need to work on holding larger organisations to task for their responsibility and complete disregard for the consequences of their actions too. There are a lot of things to think about, but I’m a firm believer in affirmative action for positive change. I’m also a firm believer that many of us can live far below our perceived standard and still be quite comfortable, but that’s a conversation for another time as I want to talk about the ocean.

The ocean has awesome power and should be greatly respected. It provides so much to us and yet it seems to be treated poorly time and time again. Sure, there are quite a few people that show respect for the ocean, but perhaps there are not enough of us that do so. We can be complicit in a whole range of issues without even realising and yet, when provided information regarding this, we seem to recoil and pretend we aren’t, or accept and keep on going as so many issues are fine to discuss when they’re not perceived as being at home.

I know I’m making some large generalisations here.

Through various processes we get a fair bit of oxygen from the ocean, as well as a fair bit of food, but over time we may stretch these things very thin and make it much more difficult to live due to what is going into the ocean, for the ocean takes in a lot and all the stuff that it does take in ends up having some pretty nasty consequences.

We don’t always think about those consequences because, well, why would we have to? Why would we have to when there are other things to worry about, much as getting to work on time or meeting up with people or renovating a house? And sure, those things hold some importance, but are they as important as making sure that the environment doesn’t become something we perceive as hostile?

A coastal hazard is only a hazard when natural processes are in a position to interact with human presence; otherwise it’s business as usual. Where we build and what we do can have significant impact in exacerbating the frequency and risk of coastal hazards, but all that nature is doing is doing what nature has always done, though perhaps in what we’d consider an intensified state, and so if we persist in doing what we’ve always done, we need to look at how we’re going to go about it whilst seeing how our impacts can be beneficial to the whole, but even so we’re going to have to cut back on things.

We also need to move away from plastics and certain other materials in forms that create far more risk to the ocean (and environments as a whole, really) as everything that ends up in the ocean that shouldn’t be there (well, most things) is leading to more problems.

I think about having had to grow up and come into adulthood through all the pressures that have added more and more and sometimes I despair. I believe in the inherent potential for all of us to be better and treat the world as a whole in a much healthier manner; I really do, but I also feel heavy sense of hopelessness about the whole thing. I want to think that we’ll turn things around sooner rather than alter, and I want to believe that we’ll hold large organisations to task and we’ll get things turned around. I want to believe that we’ll do so much better than we are now and we’ll be more aware of the impact of our actions, but I can’t help but feel that it’ll all be done far later than it should and so… yeah.

I don’t know what else there is to say, really. I just hope things get better, I hope we protect more of the ocean, we and stop relying so much on convenience and luxury.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 16:16:92

So I mashed this out a bit earlier and then procrastinated.

I think I could’ve worked on being a bit more informative here as this mostly comes off as messy rambling, I feel. The concerns come through but they don’t come through effectively.

Written at home.

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Men I Trust: Organon

I’d been meaning to ramble about this song for a few days and now I have.
I stuck mostly to description and I think that worked as the song went by much faster than I had anticipated so I wasn’t putting myself in a position where I’d be thinking too much about what I was writing.

Men I Trust’s “Organon” is from Untourable Album.

I hope you enjoy.

Muted sounds come into view with a gradual quickness. Seemingly haunting and disembodied, but still there. Soon the percussion comes in, as do vocals and the sounds follow in a sort of muffled warbling. Something seems odd and vague but there remains a clarity.

The vocals rise above as the sounds pull back. They are brief wisps holding a gentle breeze inside an afternoon room. Something then follows as a bit more comes in and builds on the melody. Something off, warping slightly and not at all.

A final moment is reached and played upon and stretched out. The vocals return and claim something as the sounds fade out. Something descends and soon also fades out, and the song ends.

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The Chase

Last week I was at Sydney Olympic Park and I saw the below scene.
I think it’s nice to be able to see from above due to the differing perspective. The same amount of power and action is in the movement, but its appearance can hold more space and almost look like a different kind of water spread.

This is my submission into the two hundred-and-first Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.
The theme for this one is “Three of a Kind“.

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 Leya. The next one is curated by Sofia and her theme has been announced in advance. It will be either “Minimalism/Maximalism”, “Flamboyant, Plain” or ”More Is More” as far as I’m aware. I imagine it’ll be one of those but there’s plenty of time to play around with all three themes.

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.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1107: Searching for an Album

I have spent far too much time today looking for an album and it has felt much like a wild goose chase, but perhaps even sillier.

All I know is a description of the album cover and a vague idea of what the album may sound like, but beyond that there’s nothing. I’m not going to say more than that as it’s not exactly a safe album cover, but suffice to say what was described to me has me interested in seeing it due to how contemptible it may appear.

Anyway, this search has been going on since last night and it has consumed a fair bit of time and I don’t know as to why I’ve dedicated so much time to it, but I have and now I’m here and I need to cram a whole lot into very little, and that’s my own fault really. Such is life and all that.

It has been consuming and I have been obsessed and I’ve let it take over my life for this short period of time. Now I wonder if I will be sinking more time into it later. I don’t know if I will, but I cannot discount the possibility. I cannot ignore the chance that I will allow obsession come over me once more and consume more hours and perhaps that is not a good thing. However, there is always a silver lining; well, maybe not always, but in this instance there is and so I will now get into that silver lining.

Throughout this whole search I’ve come across artists I’ve not listened to and now they are on one of the many lists of things to check out that I have, and that’s a good thing, I think. I think it’s good as it means more possibilities to branch out and hear more stuff. It hopefully means gaining a better understanding of how music can work for some people. I might get an insight into their processes of creation.

Also just the experience of hearing new music is a good one, I think. Even if I hear stuff and I don’t like it, I still get to experience it and all the above stuff.

So it’s not all bad. It is frustrating and tedious but the search is also rewarding. Even if I don’t find out what the album I’m looking for is called this whole search has been quite successful and so… yeah; no losses here.

That’s a great thing about music; it’s so easy to find these days. Sure, there’s a lot of wading you need to do, but you still discover things. It’s easier to understand why you might not like something or not find it good, and the reverse is true. It’s easier to become knowledgeable in certain genres and styles and that’s a good thing.

That all said, some of the things I’ve seen during my search, I’m quite happy to have not seen, but sometimes the good comes with bad.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:56:55

Once more I slowed down and once more I feel that it was beneficial to the writing.
Still not good writing but I get things across with better clarity.

Written at home.

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