A Poem About Being Sideways

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

So right now I’m taking an ear antibiotic due to reasons.
Spend a good few hours with my head tilted, or at least lying sideways whilst I wait for the antibiotic to settle. It’s annoying, but not something I can’t cope with.

Anyway, that was the inspiration behind this scribbling of words.
It’s a mess of a poem. It’s worse than usual.

I hope you enjoy.

—

At first all seemed level
All made some sense
Then it all tilted
It all went awry
And whilst it all appears on the level
The sensation of angle tells me otherwise

It all feels off
But soon it will end
And begin once more
Later on
For all of this occurs in waves
And yet all still feels unaligned

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One Thousand Word Challenge 128: Doing the Thing

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

There’s this thing that I am listening to right now and I thought I wouldn’t listen to it ever. It’s… interesting. Not sure if it is good. However, that does not matter right now. What matters is that the day of work is over and I am doing the thing. Well, now I am doing the thing. There still are other things that need to be done, of course, but right now it is the thing that is being done and doing it is what I will do, unless I do something else, in which case that will then be the thing that I will then do, as the things done are done and then I do the things and they get done and so on and so forth until the end of the day, but perhaps I am overthinking this and need to go back to square one.

Maybe I should instead go to rhombus four. That might prove to be a more prudent and fruitful endeavour and therefore there will be more things done by going there and following that path which could lead to something else and then there might be some hopping leading to more things where there will be the exploration of other things and eventually when a network will reveal itself as something that can be networked, I will find myself at the end of it all and wonder as to what it was all about. Still, perhaps I should just focus on this and that and then look to where the sun leads and follow the illuminated path.

Perhaps there are a lot of things that I should do and I should work out as to how I am going to go about doing them, but right now I am stretching out and doing the thing. The thing that needs to be done is that which requires some sort of attention in the present and it is something of which requires being done, and being done is how it will go down, but perhaps it will not and I am merely leading myself on into a state of being misled, and whose fault is that anyway? Sure, I can point at myself and accept the situation of which I find myself in, but do I really want to do that? Do I really want to be in a position where I have to admit to my mistakes and faults and then carry on living with that weight lifted?

Not really, no.

So the thing is the thing and the thing is the thing that is being done. There are a few things of which the thing does and does not, but rest assured that one of the things the thing involves is its being done, and it is being done, so therefore I am doing it right now and then when it is done it will find itself in a state of completion, though perhaps this state of completion is only a temporary one and therefore the thing that is done will then become undone and I am not sure as to where I will go from there if I am to be honest.

I guess what I would do is do the thing again and perhaps that would find me in good stead with myself, but there is no telling at this particular time of the day. There is no telling at any particular time of the day really, though if I think about it enough, then perhaps it will reveal itself as another path of my choosing of which I will then follow and where it leads is not known to me as of yet as I need to follow it first before I find out anything about it, or something.

Perhaps there is no following at all and the path is following me, for it only appears when I move and unless I am moving it is not there, so therefore there is no path and there is no doing of the thing. There is the thing that is nothing and all actions related to it do not constitute doing, but rather something else of which I cannot fathom right now as I am rather lazy and staying lazy is the way that I will remain, for I’m feeling like being lazy, or something. Something else and so on and so forth, but there you go too.

So anyway, I don’t know as to what I am going on about at this point, but I think that if I keep on going, then perhaps there will be something that makes sense in all of this rambling and nonsense that provides nothing other than more time to waste, though there are more productive ways to waste time. This certainly is not productive, though maybe it is and you just need to see that it is in order to be able to discover the sublime beautify in small gestures provided in a manner that implies acceleration rather than gumption.

Then again, perhaps that is neither here nor there and really what I should be doing is getting back to doing the thing and then getting on with the day as there are other things that need to be done and I am wasting my time by stumbling over my words. However, I am sure that there are other things along the way that may serve as some sort of distraction and perhaps I can embrace those as I run from this, but if I need to do more things along the way in order to do the thing that I am doing. then maybe I’ll just give up. It’s a nice afternoon for reading a book and reading a book is something that I want to do as I have are too many to read at the moment, but that’s all on me.

Well, I guess with that being said I’ll continue to do the thing, but what is the thing anyway?

The time it took to write one thousand words: 10:29:02

This was a struggle in places.
Probably was stretching myself too thin.
I feel that although the writing is rather bland and repetitive, I could’ve done a bit more to use those to somehow make the writing interesting.

Written at home.

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Rooftop Parking

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a photo I took at the start of last month.

A still scene, I think. Rather quiet and rather empty.
I like the sense of space here as the area is open, but due to the large shade it doesn’t feel as open as it should.

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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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 977: Burning Mouth

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

With a sense of aggrievement and a mouth burning blue, they made their dash to whatever sauce of cooling they could find. This was not what one would refer to as an ideal situation and it was one entirely of their own creation, though there was outside forces of course. It could not be completely their responsibility, and yet most, if not all of the blame lay at their feet. However, this was not the time for pointing fingers. Their mouth was far, far too hot and they needed to find a way to cool it down.

Unfortunately it seemed as though all options had conveniently disappeared and so the only choice they had was to keep on running and looking around rapidly, hoping that something, anything would reveal itself as being useful to stopping the current pain that was being experienced.

The heat was both far more intense than anything they had experienced before and completely unexpected. Sure, they knew that there would be some heat from what they were doing, but they certainly weren’t expecting anything like this. This was far too much. This was far beyond the beyond. It was almost intolerable. As they ran, trying to find whatever they could that could help relieve them of what they were experiencing tears ran from their eyes and down their cheeks, almost as though a futile attempt to funnel whatever it was that was in them out.

They kept on running, weaving around people and doing their best to keep on looking, but things starting falling out of focus and shapes blurred into each other. Small yelps of pain started escaping for they were unable to be held back any longer. Those yelps eventually became screams, though thankfully they were spaced apart. However, enough were around to try and see the spectacle, but all they could see was someone running and screaming.

They kept on running through the streets still nothing they saw could provide any relief. There was nothing standing out and no stores that appeared as though they would be able to provide in this time of need. It all seemed hopeless but they felt they had no choice but to keep on running until eventually they reached a point where they felt they could run no longer.

They stopped and bent forward, looking down. They could feel sweat pouring off of their face as it became hotter and hotter. They felt as though they were going to be heavily sick and began to pant. The heat in their mouth would not go; it would not abate. There was no relief from this experience and it was entirely theirs at that particular moment.

Then, when all hope was lost the heat began to recede. At first it was not obvious, but it became apparent over time. Eventually there was sweet relief and it was almost as though it had never been there.

Straightening themselves out, they wiped their face, then walked away as though nothing happened.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:14:30

Sort of a slow writing and perhaps not that great, but it’s a bit more fiction that I get to throw into the world.

Not sure if that is a good thing.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 976: Maze Situation

Posted on August 13, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

It’s cold and it’s morning and all of those other things, but I like it being the morning as it means more productivity or something. Maybe.

Right now it means that I need to do work for my job involves doing work and all of those other things that I need to do in order to get paid, but with that being said there is a long day ahead and so it will be filled with a lot of doing work and a lot of not much else, for work is the focus and boy oh boy do I love to work.

That is not exactly true. It is true that I love to work, but I’d love to work on things that aren’t my current job that involves paid employment, but that’s not really different from one of the norms so that is here I will stop mentioning that and instead find something else to prattle on about.

So now that I need to think of something else to prattle on about I’ve nothing coming to mind and so I need to find a way to navigate that which I have set in front of me. How I do that might involve some sort of locomotion but I’m not thinking about the movement of the muscles through sending signals through my body right now. I’m trying to think of another way of doing the navigation.

Of course this is now a maze situation and I’m blindfolded. It’s not so bad, but I do wish I hadn’t set this out for myself as now I need to do the navigation and that is something that I don’t want to do. I don’t want to go through a maze and I don’t want to do much, but sometimes you need to push through and hope for the best so that you come out on the other side of the whole thing and then you’ve done the thing so you have a bit of a rest, but the rest stretches out to a few eternities as you need to rest more than you initially thought you would, so therefore you’re now in a situation where you’re resting for far too long, but that rest really feels good and is doing wonders for your mental health and all that.

Of course I could just not rest and then go back through the maze, but it already took a long time and I’d rather not take another long time. However, it might be easier going back than it was going forward, but then again, why would I want to go back? Only should if I need to, and so on and so forth.

So here is the conundrum that I am presenting myself with. It is wholly of my own creation and that is all on me, but of course I will pretend it is now and keep on going on about it. I could get it over and done with, and I will.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:06:26

Lengthy and pointless.

To be honest, I’m a little surprised I wrote this as quickly as I did.

Written at home.

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Nobuo Uematsu: Main Theme

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Six listens for this one, though it feels like many, many more.
This one was a real challenge, partly due to being rather tired.
I think that if I had spent time breaking down the song and working on the writing without pressure this would have been much, much better.

Oh well.

Nobuo Uematsu’s (植松 伸夫) “Main Theme” (“メインテーマ“) is from All Sounds of Final Fantasy I•II. As its name suggests, this album is the combined soundtracks for Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II. This writing is about “Main Theme” from Final Fantasy.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Out into the field and so it commences. The journey is young and it is old, and it has begun. There is a sense of joy and the fantastic as the sounds drive the melody forward. An oscillation followed by a stepping down, then another set whilst a lower sound bops away.

At the right moment things seem like they speed up, or at least fill out. There perhaps a moment of triumph emerges, though only in the context of there being more adventure ahead. More adventure to be had. More journeying and exploring.

The music drives that forward and as it does so, reinforces the want to move forward and see more, and so even though it is short, the desires it carries persist, even as the song ends.

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Nobuo Uematsu: Main Theme II

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was a struggle to write. It may have to do with the song’s length and its simplicity. Still, there is a fair bit that can be drawn out of it, I think.

At first I tried describing the instrumentation, but pretty quickly I switched what I was writing about and it remained a struggle over all five listens.

Nobuo Uematsu’s (植松 伸夫) “Main Theme” (“メインテーマ“) is from All Sounds of Final Fantasy I•II. As its name suggests, this album is the combined soundtracks for Final Fantasy & Final Fantasy II. This writing is about “Main Theme” from Final Fantasy II.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A pensiveness fills the air as a journey across a land commences. Sounds draw out and play solemnly, looking over fields for what lies ahead, rising and falling, hoping to locate what needs to be found.

Perhaps there is a mourning in the music, for this is not an overly hopeful piece, but throughout the sound that comes forward and throughout all of its downcast feeling there remains a sense of hope. There still remains a sense of determination to push through. Perhaps it is a struggle that could last a long time and perhaps it will be one that seems insurmountable at the best of times, but in the face of seemingly-overwhelming odds there will remain resistance and in that resistance there will be some sort of eventual success.

Through the sounds comes the aftermath of devastation, as well as the effects of such a thing as it happens, but through this the journey continues, even as the song ends.

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Envy: LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

A lot of this was knocked out really quickly. Then I sat on what I wrote for a week for some reason. Didn’t do much other than procrastinate until a good part of the last few hours which involved slowly and lazily editing the review.

I though it was going to be shorter. That’s all I’ve to say right now.

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 and (aside from the next few weeks) new episodes are available through there first.

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.

—

Last year after the release of The Fallen Crimson Envy played a show in support of the album at LIQUIDROOM. Unfortunately no shows followed due to much of the music scene as a gig-based performative method going into forced hibernation. As it had turned out Envy recorded the show and then released it as LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo.

Live albums seem like a tricky thing, often functioning more as a document suggesting rather than stating. The recording can come through tinny or muddy when the performance was quite full and clear; The inverse is also possible.

Sometimes a live album works in its presentation of songs, providing great contrast if there is enough shift between studio and live and can end up considered as key listening in a discography. Sometimes the songs presented end up sounding better than they were when recorded in a studio due to various factors. In general it seems that live albums work better when showing musicians in a state of transition rather than in attempts at capturing and canonising a solid performance, but this is all rambling and I’m getting ahead of myself.

So probably the first thing to note about LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo is that the set list mostly focuses on The Fallen Crimson, likely due to that being the most recent studio album at the time. Do the featured songs work in a live setting?

The implication is “yes”.

“Statement of Freedom” kicks things off, though not without what feels like a sample of “Zero” first. Then there’s a bit of tense guitar buildup; Gets loud and menacing and Envy keep building before launching into the song proper. It’s not as though it was necessary; it almost feels like a tautology, but it is a good start to the set.

Many of the songs sound fine enough; they’ve a bit of grit, dirt and room as the songs sound more bottom-heavy and muddy, but also more biting. There’s also a sense of liveliness which, considering Envy are a lively band, is both unsurprising and welcome.

“A Faint New World” loses a bit of its impact but still makes good use of playing with tension; “Marginalized Thread” is a bit more indistinct, though the main melody still comes through; “Fingerprint Mark” remains blistering and energetic; “HIKARI” still sounds emotional, though it feels held back from peaking. The electronic vocal sound it has is also much more prominent here and gets a bit distracting in places; Its presence on “Dawn and Gaze” can get incredibly grating due to how much more at the forefront it is than on the studio version. However, it works better on “A Step in the Morning Glow”.

The songs not from The Fallen Crimson work well as part of the set; “A Warm Room” especially, which here feels like a come down from the climactic “A Step in the Morning Glow”… almost. At first “A Warm Room” does wind things down a bit. Then it brings everything to a greater, almost celebratory climax that caps the album off really well.

“Footsteps In The Distance” sounds great, and the vocoding on some of the vocals provides a contrast whilst still fitting in a strange way. The additional guitar gives the song a bit more depth, but it’s difficult to tell if it’s adding too much or just the right amount. Still, the song has a great sense of shift and flow here. There’s a way that it seems to pleasantly rage as it gets bigger without going too far.

Unfortunately whilst “Left Hand” has a lot of energy behind it, it lacks much of the clarity necessary for the song to be effective. That said, “Go Mad And Mark” shows Envy hitting some pleasing highs, especially in the way the song seems to sway, and its quiet sections remain as pretty here as they always have, though at the same time they feel a bit lacking.

What you’re getting with LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo is a document of a band early in a touring cycle. Whilst Envy sound massive and dynamic, too often the songs become flat in sound. Envy seldom (if ever) put on a bad performance and this certainly is a good one. Some parts are tight, some are loose but the songs still work together. Perhaps a super tight performance may have elevated the material more. However, most of the problems with the album come down to how it sounds rather than anything Envy are doing.

Had Envy been able to tour, would they have used this show? I don’t want to say that this album shouldn’t exist as I don’t think it shouldn’t. It’s not a simple live album; at the very least, it seems to be worth something more than just a cynical stopgap release. There’s an intent behind this to provide something to the fans that’s appreciative. However, I can’t help but think that if they had been able to tour in full, then Envy may have used a different show. Maybe they would have used this one and a few others.

Speculation aside, whilst not a key release, LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo still is a nice set to hear.

LAST WISH | Live at LIQUIDROOM Tokyo is available here.

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Bridge to Bare Island

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Here is a photo I’ve taken before, but from a slight different angle… maybe.

This particular one was taken a number of weeks ago. It’s a moody photo that captures a sense of distance which, considering the bridge having an amount of length, distance being captured is a good thing, I think.

The fog in the distance helps to keep attention on the bridge and Bare Island, which feels isolated.

This is my submission into the one hundred-and-sixtieth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

The theme for this one is “Your Inspiration“.

For me it’s mostly form, shape and lines, which this scene has an abundance of.
I also feel inspired by the suggestion of natural and by extension urban impact.

Now that I think about it, there are a few things I’m inspired by.

The challenge is hosted by four people and cycles weekly:

Week 1 – Patti

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 3 – Amy

Week 4 – Tina

Patti is curating this one. The next one is curated by Leya.

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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Nobuo Uematsu: The Boundless Ocean

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Almost feel like I’m writing more bad poetry with this one.

Six listens.
I probably could’ve gotten more out of this one, but it’s a rather short tune.

Nobuo Uematsu’s () “The Boundless Ocean” (“果てしなき大海原”) is from the soundtrack for Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy III Original Sound Version.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A tune plays out as the emptiness stretches out across a vast expanse. A rising scale descends as the main sound pauses between its moments, moving carefully and slowly in places, almost alone if it were not for the the scale.

A tinge of sadness permeates the music as it reaches its shift. The scale arpeggiates as the main sound doubles, and solemnly carries out a tune perhaps heard by none, though there still remains some hope in being heard.

And so in that search for something other than ocean a sense of the sparse and bleak reveals itself, but remains held at bay by determination and so the search continues as the song ends.

 

 

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