Five-Hundred Word Challenge 740: A Brief Talking About a Particular Show

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

So I just finished watching a series of the Japanese animation variety; one I probably should have watched a number of years ago, but such as is the way of things I never saw it until some time at the start of this year. Took a bit of a break, then finished the rest of it off over the past few days. Do I think it was worth watching? Yes. Am I going to say as to what show it was? No.

I’m going to try and talk about the show as well as I can given the amount of words I have available to me in this current moment, but I’m not going to say as to what show it was as I’m trying to work out if I am going to write about it in full or not. Probably will, but don’t know if I can really add anything to the conversation about it. However, I will say that the show in particular is not Neon Genesis Evangelion, nor is it related to Neon Genesis Evangelion (as far as I’m aware). Anyway, here goes.

A well-crafted show that managed to make good use of its limitations to create something that was not restricted by them, if that makes sense. Moved quickly, knew when to push and when to hold back. Knew what moments worked best as serious stuff vs. what worked best silly. Had a great cast. Despite a fantastic setting, felt quite real and grounded. Did not feel like it was pushing for the fantastic, even in its fantastic moments. It didn’t dwell long on those either. Often situations that presented themselves as fantastic were still dealt with within the limitations of the man cast.

Character development was a thing and it often moved quite well. Somewhat-subtle, somewhat open and noticeable. It was well-handled. The characters started off from a base position as is the case of many shows and they changed and developed into a stronger cast by the end despite not being tied down by that growth, so to speak. They still were the same characters that they were when the show started but they became much more than just those base characterisations.

There was action and there was music. There was a lot of stuff going on but it concluded in the way the show could only conclude. Had another ending occurred and it quite possibly would’ve harmed the overall thing, rendering everything that happened quite superfluous. When I say this I am referring to the overarching plot, as there were plenty of moments that were (kind of) adventure of the week, albeit with something that added to the rest of the series whether that be subtle or overt.

Anyway, I recommend the show I’m talking about (in what is a rather surface manner) but not mentioning by name. It is a well-made package that delivers far more than it initially implies.

Oh yeah: the soundtrack was easily one of the best I’ve heard.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 11:20:33

So this is sort of a review. Maybe if I do write about the show in full I’ll use this as the basis for a first draft. It’s really rough but would work well for starting notes, I think.

Thought I’d be able to get this written faster, but I guess I was wrong. Oh well.

Written at home.

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Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Two of the colony of fur seals of the Sydney region.

I saw these last year two last year whilst on a boat during a small field trip. I don’t often see seals so I had to take the opportunity to get a few photos of them.

I don’t have much to say about this image. I feel that in a way it’s expressive (mostly through how I captured the seals’ positions), but overall it’s a pretty simple, straightforward shot.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s TPM photo challenge for this week.

The theme for this challenge is “Sea Creatures”.

I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit into the challenge.

You can find the challenges here.

I hope you enjoy.

field trip.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 739: Sliding Scenes

Posted on August 16, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Sliding scenes of moving along roads lined by palms in a graceful manner under the burning sun whilst not a care in the world floats on by the seat of which the living is occurring but it’s all with some sort of hidden intensity. That’s the way it goes on the odd occasion.

Still, not a care. Sunglasses on. Hair out. Somewhat flowing. Looking cool. Looking sleek. Watching as all the urban scenery rolls on by and it seems to dismantle itself so it can float on away in thought bubbles and clouds and all fades to something else entirely. A metamorphosis occurs and it’s all changing and shifting all at once. Still the coolness persists.

An ever-changing face stares down at a flower growing upon its lonesome atop a hill with no particularly unique features other than its location and its greenery. They crouch and look ever closer at the flower which seems strong, but only grows as tall as it needs to. Down the hill the person goes.

Scenery floating on by and disappearing once it is out of view. It once existed but now it no longer can until it is witnessed once more. The driving moves along the streets and looks for a turn so it can find something with more curve in its stretch. The sun beats down and makes everything appear somewhat-saturated. The driving continues.

More words seem to come up and be conjured into existence by the mere thought. The thoughts are being witnessed as physical words but not by the one thinking them; only by others around. Nothing out of the ordinary as the sky changes colours along with everything else. It all happens over a prolonged brief few seconds. It etches itself into memory for as long as it can, but only in the present for as long as the present doesn’t leave it behind.

Down the street walks someone search surreptitiously. They are yet to know what it is that they are looking for and so would rather not reveal it, lest they increase the chances of not finding what it is that they indeed are looking to find. They do their best to not look as though they are acting in a way that would arouse curiosity, for that may lead them to spill their proverbial beans.

No longer it seems that the trees are multiplying and flowing onward, but the driving continues on. There is not a care in the world. There is nothing to worry about as there are no worries in this particular place of existence. That sometimes is the way it goes, but of course it can only be for some series of moments rather than an eternal stretch of time, of which will eventually deconstruct so it can reconstruct itself ahead of itself so that it can continue flowing on like a unstoppable force.

And so the scenes keep on sliding along roads lined by palms in a graceful manner under the burning sun.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:46:95

I think I was trying to create imagery when I wrote this. Not entirely sure as to how successful I was, but I’m satisfied with the result. It’s not great writing but it was moving toward something I want to move toward.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 738: Winding Down

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

Alright, so it’s time ti burn out even though I’m already burnt out.

Maybe that’s meant to be “burned out”. Oh well.

Anyway, I’m already in such a state so really it’s just burning the ashes at this point. Rather tired, let me tell you. Yes, yes, it could be worse, but I am not going to talk about that right now. No, rather I’m going to incessantly ramble until I reach the end of this, almost as though I am looking to make some sort of point by not making any point at all. That is how it is going to work. Maybe later I’ll do something far more openly meaningful, or something.

You see, the real secret behind all of this is that there is one meaning hidden in all of it and I’m so brilliant and amazing that no one other than my own personal self is yet to realise what that meaning is. At first I did not, but because I am so brilliant and smart and such an amazing genius, I eventually did and have continued to express that meaning in these writings. However, now I shall reveal the secret, but before I do that there are other things that I need to discuss. Not sure as to the order in which the discussing will be happening, but the order will commence at some point in the near future.

Instead of all of that, however, I need to discuss something else. However, as there is only one of me an not another person writing at the same time as me on this particular space on (in?) The Internet, I guess it’s more like a monologue or a diatribe. Much less teeth, however.

Now, where was I, other than at home, sitting here and writing all of this out? I think there was some discussion about how this will all conclude. It will conclude with a full stop; at least, that is how I think it will conclude. To be honest, I’m not sure at this point. I’m still just trying to unwind a bit as it was a lengthy day of working and it took a lot out of me. Still, the desire to write remains strong and the desire to get all of whatever there is in me also remains strong. It’s increasing in strength and so I must address that desire.

Still, I guess I should try and find a bit of focus among all of this. Maybe I will and maybe I will not. I don’t know. I don’t care to know as of yet. What I do care about is unwinding a bit more and taking it easy. I don’t think I will as the evening remains rather young and there are many a thing requiring a status of “done”, but then again, considering how all of these things go, there’s a good chance that instead of doing anything at all I’ll end up finishing this and start up winding down.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:02:28

I think my being tired came through quite a bit in this writing.

Written at home.

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Rippled Clouds

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

A shot of clouds that, to me, invoke an image of ripples across a body of water.
They also look blurry in parts, as though captured at a speed a little too slow for fast movement, or as though captured whilst moving the camera; neither of which were teh case when the photo was taken.

I really like the pattern, as well as the sense of vague impression rather than specificity I get from looking at this; outside of the rippling, of course.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 737: I think I got Stuck

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

We had a few days of warmth and now it’s gonna back to being cold. It’s not bitingly cold, but much more refreshing as it feels less worrying than the warm days that we had. Still, there are plants to be watered and things that need the doing so as to be able to do the other things and the cycle continues on for some sort of grand eternity of which I can neither fathom nor comprehend, though I guess in this particular sentence those two words could quire easily be used interchangeably so I’m not sure as to why I used both of them and not one or the other. Oh well.

So I think today is going to stay cold. Of course I don’t know for sure. I could just check the weather report but to be honest I don’t want to. I want to wait and see. I don’t want the temperature to be spoiled for me. If it doesn’t get spoiled, then it’s more of a surprise throughout the day, assuming I do leave my room more than a few times, of which I likely won’t so there is a good chance that unless I do check the weather report I will not find out what the temperature will be later as my bedroom is quite good at maintaining a cold or warm temperature throughout the day, regardless of how much the temperature outside does or does not shift which of course has its own set of problems, such as the room of the bed being rather cold right now and I’d much rather it be less cold. That’s not to say that I want my bedroom to be warm as I do not. I must want it to be less cold than it is right now.

At the end of the morning, however, that’s only a small thing in the grand scheme of things. There are far worse things to worry about at this present moment. There are other things that I need to consider that do not involve the temperature of the room I refer to as the bedroom that is the room of beds that I specifically inhabit at this present moment, but I’m going to ignore those things in favour of paying attention to how cold the room of resting that I refer to as a room of beds that currently contains one bed, hence the name bedroom and not bed room as bed room would probably imply that there is room for a bed, of which there is, but the room is not measured in how many beds it can fit, but rather in different forms of measurement.

So there must be a way to warm up this particular area of space and walls and tiles and a ceiling, among an assortment of other items, but I think that, now that I’ve hit this point in my life I’ll just put on a few more clothes and warm up that way.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:23:20

This is rather silly and more aimless than usual, but it came quickly and it felt really smooth to write. Despite it being average at best, I’m satisfied with the result.

Written at home.

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Overgrowth Around the Sheds

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

As far as I’m aware, whilst this area remains in use, it is in a diminished capacity compared to how it was a while ago. I think that at some point there were train tracks next to these sheds. They’ve been pulled out and the vegetation has been allowed to grow by quite a significant amount.

I think the contrast between the vegetation and the sheds is nice. The sheds are distinctly artificial, but the vegetation implies a sense of nature even though it’s likely that the plants are not endemic to the region.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 736: Throwing Things

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

An increasing of volume does not necessarily mean better; it just means increased. Well, it does mean things outside of that, but I’m just throwing things at the wall on this fine afternoon of afternoons. Spent far too long in bed this morning, am now up and need to do the rush thing as there are a lot of things that I need to get done before the end of the day. Not going to stay up to a late hour, but am going to power through things as much as I can right now.

Of course this will lead to not much getting done as I am willing to procrastinate, but procrastination is a difficult duty and someone must do it. Perhaps it is even more difficult than actually getting stuff done. That is something to consider, or not consider at all. I don’t know right now. What I do know is that I am doing this and then there will be things that follow the doing of this. There will be the things that get done and getting done is how they will be done. Hopefully it all leads to something that seems more complete than incomplete, but of course there is no telling until I get to the end of the day and take stock of what I did and did not do, weigh everything up with careful consideration toward how everything weighs, then do the thing that requires the taking stock of everything as a whole. Then I shall know as to how well I got everything done, or something.

Again, it needs to be pointed out that I am just throwing things at the wall at the moment. Well, it doesn’t need to be pointed out but I am pointing it out. That is currently what I am doing as I have nothing else other than the desire to be a bit more awake and get on with things instead of pretending that I’m getting on with things and being less awake. With that in mind, it is easy to divine that it is hard to tell as to how this will all turn out, but I’m going to be certain that it will turn out as a series of words organised in specific orders in order to form something that people may or may not consider as being coherent; such is the way of this writing and such is the way of my writing this writing in order to express some sort of tangible and coherent series of words organised in a particular order in order to express something that may or may not make sense, if that makes sense.

I think I may have overstepped my mark and instead of turning around, it appears as though I have kept on going. I guess that what this means is that, now that I’ve acknowledge the overstepping, I can keep on going as I power on into the metaphorical sunset in search of a conclusion.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:26:62

Loose and sloppy. Perhaps more of a warming of the up variety than anything else.

Written at home.

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One of Them Freight Trains

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Stupidity Hole

A shot taken whilst at a lookout.

The train slowly moved forward before stopping for a short period. It then slowly moved backward (at least from where I was standing that’s how its movement appeared).

The train feels small even though it clearly is not. I think it’s due to having a fair bit of space around it, as well as the size of the nearby buildings.

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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Jesu: Never Review

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Stupidity Hole
I struggled with writing this review. Not sure why as I knew what I wanted to say.
Actually, I do think I know. What I wanted to say wasn’t entirely justifiable, now that I think about it. Ended up saying (mostly) something else.

Not a great review. I’ve written better. Still, I’m glad I wrote it as it was a challenge.

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. We’re going to do a live broadcast of the podcast soon and are looking to add more things for supporters.

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.

—

Never sees Jesu prioritisng electronics. It also comes with what sounds like a major increase in terms of atmosphere, leading to an ethereal (so to speak) and (in some places) vague sound.

Space also takes a greater role, though only on half of the EP; specifically songs one and three, where Never is at its most electronic. The songs are slower, more tender, and more suggestive than they are direct; especially “Never…” which comes off as being the most naked song on the whole EP whilst conversely sounding obscured. Songs two and four are the “fuller” and “livelier” compositions; There’s more energy within them, and guitar and percussion take on a more prominent role.

“Never There For You” stands out as being the most energetic of Never‘s songs. It’s highly melodic, rhythmic and pretty and keeps up a (relatively) quick pace. Justin Broadrick’s vocals, whilst somewhat-buried by effects, have a short punch to them that matches the song’s tone.

Comparatively, “Never There For You (Original Vision)” gives more focus on the looped vocals and some of the underlying sounds. There’s a bit more space as this version has less going on. It’s pleasant, but it feels a bit like an unnecessary addendum as, whilst it does offer a different perspective on itself, it doesn’t add anything to the EP overall.

Overall Never is an interesting release for Jesu. It sees Justin Broadrick exploring a fair bit with electronic sounds (which isn’t saying much) through crafting four songs that differ from each other to varying extents whilst maintaining a sense of connection. “Because Of You” is highly impressionistic; “Never There For You” is highly rhythmic; “Never…” is quite ambient, and “Suffocator” is quite redolent of earlier Jesu whilst still sounding as though it belongs here, though not without some distance to the EP’s other songs.

The songs work together well enough and move pretty easily, but Never feels a lot like a series of rough sketches. It’s quite a beautiful-sounding and emotive release, but there are times when the songs start dragging where brevity would’ve benefited. At others too much becomes revealed too quickly. That said, the EP grows with enough time. It’s flawed, but it’s a heartfelt and welcome addition to Broadrick’s music.

Never is available here.

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