Masami Ueda: Shinshu Plains

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was written over one listen, but I had to restart the song a few times due to issues with getting my footing. Oh well.

Not sure what I went for and this really is brief for what the song is. I could’ve drawn out imagery more, but that didn’t happen.

Masami Ueda’s (上田雅美) “Shinshu Plains” (“神州平原 其の“) is from Ōkami Original Soundtrack, the soundtrack for Ōkami. It’s also technically two songs: “Shinshu Plains I” & “Shinshu Plains II”, with the second adding in more Japanese instrumentation whilst keeping the same melodic patterns.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Strings stir and beckon in a sense of liveliness. There’s an energy, but it still remains peaceful. Percussion rolls, opening the way for woodwind to float upon a breeze and build on the rhythm. Brass and more strings create a sensation of rolling hills and open space as all seems to flow effortlessly. It builds into something grand and warm, and almost celebratory.

A shift and the instruments draw out and start rising. The beat has paused in a way, but it soon resumes as instruments punctuate and emphasise before returning to the main rhythm with a sense of triumph. Fuller still, though now with another shift into something with more splendour. The instruments draw out, but then the song returns to its first main section.

Here the journey is reinforced and the wonder of discovery remains. Once more the instrumentation rises and once more the song builds on itself, dramatic and triumphant. However, now more percussion comes in, pounding and driving away and almost taking over the other instrumentation. However, it is not aggressive. New strings find themselves playing along what already was there, adding context and reshaping the music whilst keeping it as it was. There’s more of a sense of joy, more discovery, and all seems emphasised as it seems to coalesce into something singular and expressive.

The instruments journey over the rolling hills and through the open space, moving forward with an easy flow whilst creating shapes and forms. It finds the space it needs and never becomes too dramatic. It is always fitting and it keeps its warranted liveliness all the way to the song’s end.

 

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One Thousand Word Challenge 131: No Ideas

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Alright, so I’ve set out to do a bit more writing than usual this morning and perhaps that means that this will take some sort of shape that leads to something a little better than usual. Unfortunately it probably won’t, but there is hope and I cling to that sometimes.

I think about how so much of what I write is personal in some manner and, quite frankly, that’s not something that I’m fond of. Maybe it’s not personal in an obvious manner, though maybe it is obvious; I don’t know and I don’t care to think about that at the moment. I didn’t intend to start this ramble in this manner. I was hoping for some fiction, but instead, once more, this is what comes forward and maybe that does mean that I’m low on ideas and I need to stop and take a break for a while, but for the time being that break is not going to happen. When it does, it’ll likely be a permanent stop, but for now that is not what is happening and I will persist with my refusal to stop.

Still, there is no denying that perhaps that has had some major downsides and I really am stretching myself thin. There is no denying that I’ve gone too far and really do need to take a break and then maybe come back and rethink this whole thing and approach things from a different angle. Maybe I’ve gone too far, but it is too early to tell and therefore I’m going to do my best to not think about the thing, which is probably also the wrong approach to take, but right now it feels like the right thing to do and so therefore it is what I am going to do… for the time being.

So with that being said, now I need to think about the rest of this. I don’t want to write something I’ve written before, but I repeat myself so often that there probably is no point in worrying about that either. I need to focus my energy elsewhere and then look at other things and all that other stuff. I need to find a way to break through the wall that I built and don’t break through.

Already repeating myself, but this is all repetition upon repetition and it all loops around and through itself, spiraling into a singular point and leaving little out there that is outside of what it is that I do, therefore leaving me despairing (maybe) at my complete and utter refusal to push outside the thing that I am doing, which is not much.

Still it is a form of creation and creating can be good. Creating can lead to many things out there and there is plenty of interesting stuff. Not saying that what I do is interesting; just saying that creation can lead to interesting things. Such is the way of things that are created through the act of creating.

Then again, is the act of creating really creative?

Yes.

So anyway, I sit here and I’m thinking about what it is that I can do. There are some ideas, but they will be forgotten at some stage due to some strange refusal to act upon them, and sometimes that is okay. That’s not the worst thing to have to deal with. There are worse things out there. This is okay. This is fine. With that said, I should probably start filing them away and start using them. Start working with them and see where it leads. Maybe they will lead to some sort of burst of creativity. Maybe they won’t. Maybe they will lead to both and I will be able to celebrate the act of creating once more. That would be fun. That would be nice.

What if there actually are no ideas and I’ve just deluded myself into thinking that there are ideas that I’ve had? Maybe that is why they see no use and therefore they will continue to see no use. They become forgotten due to not having existed in the first place at all and my spiraling downward and inward continues without the abatement that I only crave some of the time, due to not really thinking about it often, or even regularly.

Then again, perhaps I do think about it regularly.

There is no telling sometimes, which can depend on how in the moment I am in at any given moment. Right now it’s not that much, but perhaps later I’ll be more firmly entrenched in the moment and then that will lead to other things that will then lead to other things, though perhaps instead of anything at all there will be nothing and I’ll just be daydreaming among a series of clouds that do not exist as singular clouds; at least, in terms of visible appearance as it’s a rather overcast day today and soon it should rain which means there will be rain and somehow that can be inspiring.

A series of disconnected thoughts can of course lead to something that forms a leaping pattern among them and so this should not be excluded from serious thought. There are other things to exclude, but really I’m just throwing things together at the moment in the hopes that it all comes together and forms something that makes some semblance of sense, but I don’t know if I’ve got that in me at the moment as soon I start work and I need to focus on that more than this, but I really don’t and so I will keep on going on about what whatever it is that I am going on about at the moment.

Maybe I won’t and instead I’ll just find something else to talk about and then that will reveal itself in a form that I am more comfortable with, but I do need to sit down and think about what this is for a while, I think.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 12:11:61

This was a bit more together than some of my recent stuff, but it’s still a heaping mess.
Mostly flows well though.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 986: Unsurprisingly, Even More Rambling

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

And so it begins. The word count is working and so I need to take advantage of the situation. I need to make the most of the time that I currently have so that when I cannot do so later, I worry less about what it is that I am trying to not worry about, which is not doing enough, though some would say that enough is plenty and I’m worrying about the wrong thing. However, I won’t get into that at the moment as right now I am racing against myself.

I’m not trying to get under the minute count of four this morning; I’m just trying to create something meaningless and also trying to make sure that it comes off as meaningless. I need to make sure so that I can get other things done, or something.

Not sure as to what I am going on about here, but I think the idea might be coming across in some manner that makes sure that it is as felt as it is heard. However, there is no hearing these words unless you hear them through some manner of hearing them being said, or something. I don’t know as to where I am going with this, but I do know that my typing is speeding up a little at the moment and hopefully that means there will be the making up of lost time.

However, there is no time lost at the end of the day as every moment is felt, even if it is not felt. Every bit of time spent existing is time spent well. Of course there is a bit more nuance to the whole thing and I need to acknowledge that, but I would rather play with basic things at the moment. I don’t want to dive into meaning; I just want to drive forward and see what it is that comes forward.

I don’t want to play with language but I do know that I want to write more and all of that other stuff. Need to make sure that I’m not stretching myself thin, however; don’t want to see Stupidity Hole reach its end and then be too worn out to feel like writing after. That would be a bit of a waste, though maybe it would be a good thing also. Not sure and don’t want to think about that at the moment. What I do want to do is keep on doing this for the time being, then move to the next thing and see what happens with the next thing, which might just see some more creation.

Then again, maybe there will be no creation at all at the end of all of this and I shall not lift a single finger toward anything that resembles the act of creating in what I would claim as an artistic endeavour. That all said though, I’m just rambling and I need to get to the next thing before it gets away from me.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:48:05

There was a lengthy pause whilst writing this.
Didn’t pay off in any way, but sometimes that’s what happens.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 985: Still Trying

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Alright, starting this one a bit late, but sometimes that is the way things go. Sometimes things aren’t on time and sometimes things aren’t on at the time that you want them to be in and that’s okay, if I am to be honest. However, who is it that I am trying to be honest with at the moment? Is it me? Is it someone else?

Am I just kidding myself?

This is the introduction and I am still trying to get an introduction rolling here. I’m not sure if that is the best approach, but it is the approach of which I am taking and I am hoping that this approach pays off in the long run, though this only runs short and so I should probably just move on. I should try and move through a litany of subjects and see where it gets me, but that is not something that I want to do today. I also don’t want to think about glass and how it’s a clear thing as maybe then I will be provided with a  window to my soul and that thing does not need to be looked upon during a day such as the day that is today.

Maybe tomorrow.

The morning has started and already the position of which I find myself in is one where I don’t know as to what it is that I am going on about, but I still try and I still persist. I keep on searching for whatever it is that I am searching for and I shall not stop, for there are many things of which are out there that require searching for and I am one of those people who will keep on searching and maybe come across one of those things. However, they’re scattered all over the place and I don’t know as to where I should start searching for the things that are yet to be found.

There is every possibility that I’m also doing this far too early in the morning, though perhaps it is only far too early at this particular moment. On a different day this could be far too late into the day to be searching.

Maybe there is no good time to search for things and I am just drawing this out in the hopes that everything reveals itself in a neat and tidy manner and I can get to the end of this writing with little trouble.

I think that perhaps I am overthinking this and I should try and under-think again, but the way that the light shines off parts of the residency that is outside the window of my bedroom is interesting in how it creates contrasts of light and shade, but that is not something I what to spend too much time thinking about at the moment. Need to think about other things and need to navigate some channels that lead to oceans, but right now I might just have some rest instead.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:36:38

This was a bit of a fun bit of writing to write.

All there is for me to say on this one.

Written at home.

 

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Circular Design

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Originally I wasn’t going to do anything with this photo. I tried to capture this bit of fence in a certain way and didn’t quite pull it off.

Works well in monochrome, however.

There’s a bit of a bleakness with this one that I like. Maybe it’s to do with the light contrast. Maybe it’s to do with the this bit of design being framed by what feels like rigid structure. Maybe it’s the visible damage some of the fence.

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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Mineral: Unfinished

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

I’ve been meaning to write about “Unfinished” for a few days now but haven’t gotten around to doing so due to procrastination.

I stuck to trying to describe the song and its progression. Kind of did so. Probably could’ve done better, but I did this over one listen, which doesn’t mean I couldn’t have done better.

Mineral’s “Unfinished” is from EndSerenading.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Gentle guitar moves with a tenderness that seems to imply some sort of bittersweet sensation. Slow, ringing, then it shifts, adding more notes whilst another guitar joins. There is movement; there is a sense of prettiness.

For a brief period a singular guitar rings out simply, only for the other to return and guide into a new frame. Bass plays simple, as does percussion. Guitar rings out and there’s a sense of driving.

Guitar builds up a bit and suddenly there’s a bit more of a jaggedness in the song’s structure. Vocals come in, drawing out words; instruments are livelier. There’s an expansiveness, a dryness. Rather open. A greater intensity. However, this lasts only as long as necessary and then a new section appears.

The instruments pull back and there’s more gentleness once more. The energy hasn’t quite been abandoned but reshaped as more of the mood builds in potency.

Words return and the song releases and it all hits. The guitar doesn’t quite rage, and yet it does. Percussion plays loud and hard, and bass keeps on driving forward. The vocals call out in a climactic thrust, pushing the emotion forward and letting it out. However, before the song truly gets far too massive, everything pulls back and the song returns to that gentle guitar, playing out its last few notes as the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 984: Tired Rambling

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

The stopwatch starts and I take off as I am trying to get this done soon. I need to get some rest tonight as there was little rest last night, but at the same time I’m going to try and cram a fair bit into this bit of writing. Not sure if it will work or not, but it will, but it might be slower than I would hope. Such is the way of things and such is the way of my doing this bit of writing, or something.

There are other things that I would very much like to take care of at the moment, but rest is required and so instead I do this bit of cramming. I write about it as I do it as that somehow makes it better… somehow.

Music is relaxing and perhaps that is the way it should be at the moment. Really, I should be resting now, but I am stubborn and stubbornness is something that I cling to in the hopes that it will turn into something that I can grapple and wield and use in a way that does not see use too often. Not sure as to how I would go about this, but I would find a way, unless I didn’t, in which case, I wouldn’t. Still, it’s that kind of thinking that drives things to where they may need to be driven (assuming they need to be driven at all, of course), and it is that kind of thinking that guides my hands across the keys of which I strike in order to create the words, and then you get the rest of the idea and I’ll just keep on going with whatever it is that I am trying to go on with.

There’s a strong sense of aimlessness here, and perhaps that is okay. Perhaps it is okay to feel aimless in the face of obligation, but at the same time perhaps I don’t want to feel that way. There are other ways of which I’d much rather feel, but perhaps aimlessness is all okay right now. Not writing anything in particular and just wandering across the keys and meandering across the words leads to its own sense of identity, or something that makes me sound more profound than I actually am.

Getting distracted at the moment and perhaps that is a sign that I should rest sooner rather than later. I think I said earlier that I should just rest now, but I want to finish this and I want to finish a few other things. I want to rest a lot, however, and perhaps that will mean that this stops before I finish it off, but then if I did that, could I really feel satisfied with what it was that I wrote? Could I really find solace in something that is as incomplete as it is complete? Does this even matter anymore?

The answer is likely to be “no”. Maybe it’s also “yes”.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:00:14

I’m really tired at the moment. A little surprised that there’s any coherency in this.

Written at home.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 130: Morning Beckons Ramble

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

The morning beckons the listening to things that one would not normally listen to, though that’s a bit of a lie, though maybe it isn’t. It depends on perspective and all those other things, but that is something that I am not going to get into at this particular point in time. You see, this is the preamble ramble and I’m just churning out the words in a specific order so as to create the suggestion of something grand and formed with a certain leanness, but with all being said at the end of this bit of writing all will be revealed to be illusory and it’s all just a heaping pile of wasted potential piled upon more wasted potential. However, the hope at the end of it is that you don’t end up wondering what you just read. Whether that comes to fruition or not is another story, but that’s neither here nor there.

So with that out of the way I need to get into the true introduction, for this was just a falsehood. It sort of is an introduction, but it’s the introduction to the introduction.

Correction: the preamble ramble was the introduction to the introduction.

So the true introduction is meant to be this paragraph. It was meant to be the previous paragraph but I had to stop as I realised that I made a slight error in my writing, but maybe that error will pay off down the track. There is no telling as of yet as I have not thought that far ahead, or thought at all about what it is that I’m writing. Somehow that makes it all more fun, but fun is not what I am looking for at this particular moment. What I am looking for lies further within and it will be explored with all the tenacity of someone who is not really doing any exploration at all. Maybe therefore the lack of exploration is in some way an exploration, though without providing more reasoning and justification, it is difficult to say that that is indeed the case, though maybe it isn’t. However, I will remain firm on my claim, but only due to not being able to back down so far into a bit of writing. Cannot back down now as if I do, something something and need to keep up appearances. Sunk cost and all that.

So now that all of that is out of the way, this is the part where I saw “Now that that is out of the way” and get into the real content of the thing that I am writing. However, there is no content other than a vagrant display of the joy of writing in a rather joyless manner. This works on many levels, though it doesn’t really, but JI get to pretend that it does as it means the work becomes deeper than it actually is; something of which I am fine with but ultimately won’t make much use of; at least, not intentionally. I think that perhaps in saying this I need to bear in mind that there are plenty of ways to go about doing the things that I currently am doing, and it is up to me to take advantage of those things and see how they turn out and twist them around and then make sure that it all becomes a reflection of the reality of the world that was not to be, or something.

I think that I’m underthinking a little too much and further firmly entrenching bad habits here. Sometimes that is the way that things might be, but it doesn’t have to be that way. What I could do is start twisting this around and see how it reflects other things, but then if I do that, who am I to say that somehow I won’t revert and fall back on the things that I am trying to shake off? Who is to say that this will go anywhere? What is it that I am actually trying to do here, other than something stated earlier? Is there anything to say at all that I can say in a way that makes it reach out with the poignancy that would be required? Could I say something that will make people think about what it is that I would hope they would think about?

Is there any chance of inspiration in this bit of writing?

There always is, of course, but that doesn’t mean that there will be anything inspiring to get from this. There is a good chance that there won’t be, but in saying that I do have to admit that I’m not sure as to what I am going on about, and to be hones that’s fine. There are other things out there that are worth being concerned about. I stopped caring if this writing was going to be good a long time ago and I doubt that I will start caring soon, and perhaps that is the lesson to gain from what it is that I am saying here. Perhaps that is what needs to be understood.

It is okay to not do things well. That’s not a bad thing. It’s okay to get better at things to, but you don’t need to be good at something in order to enjoy doing it. You also need to make sure that you aren’t harming others, but that’s something else to cover on another day in the future that is far off into the future. Right now it’s about enjoying the things you aren’t necessarily good at, or maybe it’s about implying what I just wrote.

There is a possibility that this says far more than I would ever anticipate, but I’m also not going to get into that as right now I need to look at wrapping this up and moving onto something else as soon the need for earning money commences, so with these last few words, this writing shall end here.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 12:10:51

So I was going to get this up shortly after writing it, but then there were connection issues, so now it is an afternoon share.

A lot of waffling aimlessly here.

Written at home.

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Goes Under Trees

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Today has been rather long, so instead of much here is a little bit.

This is a photo of a path I used to regularly cycle down when I worked in St Leonards.
Bit of a moody photo for a path (and a bit blown out too), but I like it, mostly because it’s just a rather average photo.

I hope you enjoy.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 129: Obligation Preparation

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Early morning and all that junk, but there are other things that I should be covering at the moment. However, those things shall not be covered at the moment and so I shall worry about those at another time. For now, it is all about the writing, as well as how much writing I can get done before the need for obligation to be satisfied takes over everything and prevents me from doing any more.

It’ll be a long battle really and that battle will persist through the ages. There will need to be some sort of drama and during that drama there will need to be some sort of preparation.

Still, obligation will inevitably win out at some stage as you can’t postpone that forever. Maybe you can try, but eventually it will catch up with you. Therefore there might be two levels of preparation.

The first will involve preparation for success. There always needs to be this, even if it is something that cannot succeed. The reason as to why there needs to be this is to waste time, and wasting time is time wasted in the process of wasting time. Therefore, it needs to be done. Anyway, there might be some sort of success. Even though it is impossible, there still remains a chance and that chance must be grabbed by the horns and held down, or something. However, none of that will happen and therefore this will be a pure exercise in wasting time.

Maybe the time won’t be wasted and there will be some learning about things that hadn’t been learned about beforehand, or something. Maybe there will be realisations, though I guess that falls under learning.

Maybe there will be things that mean that the chances of not succeeding don’t exist and instead the chance of success is real and therefore there will be success of some sort and then that will be that and I’ll be able to go from there and branch out and look for something else to work on and none of the second set of preparation will be required, thus catapulting me into the stratosphere of success that I never knew existed, leading to more things that will come my way as I come to them and then I’ll be able to take it from there and go wherever I please for I will have more time than I ever thought I would have, which I guess would be pretty neat, all things considered.

So anyway, the second preparation is the preparation for failure. Of course this is what is expected as the inevitable is what will happen, even though there may be a chance that it doesn’t despite it being the thing that will indeed happen. However, even if it is failure that is expected, there still needs to be preparation, for there needs to be aftermath that comes along that will need to be reckoned with, and I reckon that will take a lot of time to work around. It may not, but my hopes are not as high as I would like and so it is something that will require the art of deftness and preparedness to handle in order to get to the end of it in one piece and try to make a full recovery from whatever it is that needs to be recovered from. Of course, all things considered, everything might work out okay and then I’ll walk off as though mothing had happened. Of course this is something that is possible. However, I cannot count on that being the happening of things and therefore I need to make sure that all is ready so that, when it all does happen and the failure kicks in, I’ll be able to keep on going however it is that I need to keep going, assuming that I want to keep going at all, of course.

The question in these situations seems to always fall on the process of working out how to go about something like this. The answer falls onto the not knowing, but figuring it out somehow. There are plenty of things out there that can be figured out and this is but one of them, and perhaps I will be able to do it, but I feel the only way to do that is through the act of getting the thing done and working it out along the way. Sure, I could just start pre-planning and working it out before doing anything, but that requires effort and effort cannot be spared when times to act mindlessly are called for.

Well, maybe it is not called for, but I still want to act mindlessly and then work to undo the pointless preparation I’ve done to have pure, distilled preparation ready to go when it comes to being prepared. Maybe I could overshoot the whole thing, but perhaps that is a risk that needs to be taken in this time of duress that involves preparation for some sort of thing that I don’t even know anymore, but sometimes that is the way that things go and sometimes that is  just what you do in order to get on with what it is.

Oh, now I remember; it’s the obligations that I cannot postpone indefinitely, for there is a need to address them at some stage and that stage is coming sooner rather than later, so really I should probably stop doing this and then get on with it, then come back to this when I am ready to take this on again, but perhaps there will be a little bit more procrastination. Maybe there will be no getting ready at all and then I will be blindsided by the thing that I knew was coming, and whose fault is that anyway? Certainly not mine, let me tell you. I will point the finger elsewhere and I will be satisfied with the result of that, but really I’ll just not and instead face the obligations.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 11:00:97

A fast writing time, but a lot of waffling.

Written at home.

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