Shota Kageyama: Soaring Illusions

One listen.

I feel the start was strong, or at least had the potential to be strong and then I dropped the ball.

I wrote about the last piece and this one together as they both represent the same thing, but from different times of day. “Soaring Dreams” is of the daytime; this one of the nighttime. I think that, at the very least, the writing does reflect that to some extent, but perhaps not as strongly as I’d have liked.

Shota Kageyama’s (景山将太) “Soaring Illusions” (“天翔ける幻”) is from Nintendo 3DS Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Super Music Complete, the soundtrack for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

I hope you enjoy.

Gentle like quiet waves. Gentle like a calm breeze. There’s a flow and it is smooth, and the drama is there. The excitement runs through, but it’s rather low-key. Keys seem to rest on the framework; other sounds follow along and also seem to rest.

The spirit of adventure remains, but even though so much is amazing, things are more willing to stay low now. They keep looking, experiencing wonder, but above a quiet world there’s more willingness to drift and take it easy. Keep looking, but without a desire to speed along. Without a desire to go as fast as possible.

And so the sounds continue drifting with ease as they fade and the song ends.

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Shota Kageyama: Soaring Dreams

One listen.

Not sure what I was going for here, and not sure if it worked. Fun bit of writing though.

Shota Kageyama’s (景山将太) “Soaring Dreams” (“天翔ける夢”) is from Nintendo 3DS Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Super Music Complete, the soundtrack for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

I hope you enjoy.

Sounds stir and start rising before launching into full speed. The spirit of adventure and the grandness of open spaces becomes apparent as the sounds move with a full thrust. They glide and rise and fall, and keep moving. It’s all exciting and this moment is one to be treasured.

A slight rest of sorts before the sounds stir once more and continue on with their charging on. They carry upon them hopes and dreams, and all is expansive underneath. They carry on through an open sky, free, free to explore, free to journey in new ways, free to continue on, knowing that the future is bright. They continue on until they fade into the distance and the song ends.

 

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Stopping Sylvester Stallone in the Past Dream

I was checking out a place to move into and I was there with Fe. It seemed alright but I could see some water on the floor, and there was a leak but I couldn’t quite see it so I opened a hatch on the floor and went down slightly and I could see there was this cubic hole in the roof. I told Fe about it and whilst I was he was throwing balls at me. I told him what I thought about the place. Then we had to go back in time to stop Sylvester Stallone.

The only way to go back in time was to beat Stallone in the present unconscious, put hand sanitiser on him and then stab him with a nubby pendant. Thankfully he was somewhere on Norton Street in Leichhardt for a short period, but we only had one chance. So Fe and I went to Norton Street and we tracked him down. Stallone ended up behind a dumpster and fell over. We went through the steps and somehow it worked. The pendant had a mix of dark blue and green running through it, and it could split open in two halves, like a grabbing mechanism of some sort, but it didn’t need to be used for that.

So Fe and I went back in time and we were in the past, and past Stallone was more of a slippery eel than we realised and defended himself and started chasing us. Or rather, me, because Fe had to slow down and Stallone kept running after me. Eventually I was cornered so I explained everything to him, and he understood.

Then I woke up.

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Masaharu Iwata: Crypt Maze Theme

One listen.

Struggled a bit with this one. It’s a somewhat singular, yet changing piece and I didn’t do enough to capture what was going on.

Masaharu Iwata’s (岩田匡治) “Crypt Maze Theme” is from Evolution: The World of Sacred Device. As far as I’m aware, there was no soundtrack release for this game.

I hope you enjoy.

Bright, muffled percussion, ringing out, shimmering, shining. More comes in, offering a slightly different rhythm. Keys pressed on gentle moments, and something else seems to descend a little. Strings stir, and much melody comes forward. More sound comes in; more layers, filling a space, creating a scene. Painting a picture.

The percussion fades a little, and melody continues on. It draws rich and eventually comes to a halt and everything loops back. Everything builds once more, but keeps it light. It keeps itself based around it’s core rhythm and loop, and seems to look for painting a scene by adding to it.

There’s something a little sad in this, but it’s not the main focus. The focus is the transformation and change on moving over one section over and over, and letting atmosphere seep on through, all the way until the sounds fade out and the song ends.

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Wilting Humbert

What I’ve learned is that this flower is likely a Canna ‘Yellow King Humbert’ Burbank. I saw it at last year’s Sculpture by the Sea. Thought there was something interesting about the contrast between it and the surrounds. Didn’t draw that out enough, but I’m still happy with the photo.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week. This one is hosted by Dawn of The Day After, and she has chosen the theme of “Spring Time”.

This photo was taken in spring, though it doesn’t feel much like a spring photo.

This challenge is open to all, and I recommend joining in. If want to, check out more information about it here, and include the tag “monochrome-madness” when you share your photo. If you’d prefer not to join in, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography, and what other people submit.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1489: Some Relief and Relaxation

In sharing what I shared yesterday, I have to be honest: I feel some relief and relaxation. Right now I have concerns that I’ll renege. I don’t think that would be a good idea at this stage, however. Just want to get through it all and get to the end, and try and celebrate each day. Try not to make it too sad. But there is relief.

So I’m sitting here, and I’m still feeling like shit, but the announcement has provided some relief. It’s nice to know that, officially, the end is coming. It’s nice to know that I have it coming on a specific date, too. I’ve a lot of work to do on Stupidity Hole between now and then, but I’m going to get it all done.

A lot of comments I intend to respond to, and a lot of cleaning up, too. Let this place slide a little too much in places, but I’ve worked out how much I can take care of each day. If I can keep taking care of things, I can get everything to where it needs to be by the time it all ends.

In a sense what is to come is highly daunting. I fear I may have not done enough preparation work, but I’m going to get it all done. A lot of my life has been failing and surviving, so at the very least I can get everything here done. I can consider that a resounding success. I just need to actually do everything I intend to do, and I can, but I need to stay focused and I need to actually get it all done. Should be starting today, so long as I have the time as there are other things I need to deal with, but it’s all looking good… I hope.

Of course if there is the ability to take action, then hope must be realised with action, and so that’s what I plan to do. I plan to charge through it all and get to where I want to be. I plan to re-reail this blog, though I’m not sure what that will look like as it’s become something so very different to what it was when it started. But there’s time to work that out. Or maybe there isn’t. Maybe there isn’t time to do so, because it could take a while, and I’m fine with that.

This morning feels alright. It feels good to know that I’ll be shedding this weight. I’m still a bit scared. I’m still worried, but knowing that I’m giving myself the time to wind down and let go, and knowing that I’ll have more time after all is said and done… yeah. I’m looking forward to it.

I’m also looking forward to having less stress and feeling less pressure that, admittedly, I’m putting on myself. But until that end, hopefully a lot of joy. Probably a lot of sadness and stress, and hopefully something everyone can enjoy.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:27:66

Really, this didn’t need to be as many words as it is, but it is and I’m fine with that right now. Maybe not later, however, but right now I am.

Written at home.

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One Last to Fifteen: Fourteen Years of Stupidity Hole

Or is it Stupidityhole? I can’t remember at this point.

Okay. It’s definitely Stupidity Hole. I checked.

At this point I don’t have much to say. Fourteen years is a long time to be doing anything, but I’ve had a presence on The Internet (writing-wise) for a good twenty now. This is just the longest continuous thing I’ve done. Kind of scary.

A lot of crap written. I mean a lot. Some good. It’s probably unlikely that a lot of people out there write only good; we only see the result of refinement and rewriting, and chipping away until the ideas make sense and are concise. But I’ve certainly put out a lot of crap, and perhaps without enough care, and I can’t say for sure that that’s a good thing.

The next period of time leading up to the fifteen year anniversary is the last year of Stupidity Hole. The end has been coming for a long time, mainly due to my spending a lot of that time trying to work out how I wanted to wrap things up. I thought a sudden thing might be fine, but that wouldn’t work. I’ll get into that in a sec.

There’s a lot of pain tied into this space, and doing anything here has taken more and more time. It’s consumed a lot of my life, and I’ve lost a lot of it to here. I don’t regret doing so, but I also wouldn’t repeat a lot of the time spent were I given the chance. It came at a cost and it contributed to a lot of issues that are impacting me at the moment.

There’s also a lot of joy and silliness spread throughout too, and some really good writing here and there. Running this space might have come at a cost, but I’ve learned a lot from all the writing and editing. I’ve learned a lot about discipline and phrasing, and also being a better person. I’ve also had a fair bit of fun throughout.

At the end of the day, however, it’s time to call last drinks.

I’m tired of running Stupidity Hole, and I’m tired of trying. I’ve a lot of life to live and I need to get back to trying to live it. If I were generating an income from my writing and photography, things might be different, but I’m not and so I need to start changing how I’m using my time. This space was never started with neither the intent nor the desire to earn an income from it, but the need has been a factor for a while.

There’s a lot of crap and some good here, and even though there’s plenty of room for improvement, right now I’m proud of the work I put in. As said, I don’t regret the time I’ve lost to here. I don’t regret what I’ve wrote, even if I’d go back and change a good chunk of it.

Around starting the job that’s about to end, there were a few days where I stopped writing, and I realised I didn’t miss writing here and would’ve been fine to drop it. I came back in part due to feeling obligated to, and figured I could keep going, at least in the short-term and still enjoy rambling as much as I do. Eventually I realised that I’d need to give myself time to end this place though; to wrap things up, because I need time to properly let go. It’s scary in a way because it has been so big a part of my life for so long, but, as said before, it’s time to call last drinks.

It’ll be a long last drinks. There’s a chance that, as I might be homeless soon it’ll end sooner than planned, but I’m going to do what I can to reach my goal. I’m aiming for something pretty massive over the period too. Perhaps too ambitious, but we’ll see.

When I started Stupidity Hole I just wanted to continue my silly writing, though there were serious ideas and some of those came through. WordPress seemed like the right place to go to, and there were no ambitions; just a desire to get back to regular writing. This space has become so much bigger than I thought it would, and it has remained small. It’s going to be a sad time, but it’ll be a joyful time also.

Fourteen years. That’s a good run. I’m looking forward to getting to that last post, and I’m looking forward to what comes from here to then. I hope to see you all there.

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Go Ichinose: Asperita City

One listen.

So this has some similarity to the other introductory town themes the Pokémon games uses, and either that’s a limitation on my part, or their composers have the feel and flow’s effectiveness down to a T. Anyway, I think I did pretty well with this one. A few places where I had to rebalance, so to speak, but overall I think I did well here.

Go Ichinose’s (一之瀬剛) “Asperita City” (“ヒオウギシティ”) is from Nintendo DS Pokémon Black2 – White2 Super Music Complete, the soundtrack for Pokémon Black 2 and White 2.

I hope you enjoy.

A low stirring, signaling the beginning. Signalling the start. It’s the start of something grand, and it always starts small, but here it’s seemingly certain of its first steps. Percussion comes in, slow and steady, and carries a metropolitan sheen. It carries the familiarity and the sleekness; the joy of moving about an urbanised area.

Everything is easy; everything is excited and calm, but there’s mystery and adventure that lies beyond the familiar, and it’s within that that exists change. It’s within that that lies the journey, but home will always be home, no matter how much you change.

Structures tall enough, but not so much that scenic views are unavailable, and the sounds stroll on through the streets, carrying their light blissfulness with every step until they fade out and the song ends.

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Shota Kageyama: Nuvema Town

Two listens for this one.

I was caught off guard by the shortness of the loop on this one, and I’m not sure if I got past that enough. Ended up with something that feels a bit split apart, with an attempt to make it all connect near the end that sort of works.

Shota Kageyama’s ( 景山将太) “Nuvema Town” (“カノコタウン”) is from Nintendo DS Pokémon Black・White Super Music Collection, the soundtrack for Pokémon Black and White.

I hope you enjoy.

The gentle stirring of sounds, waking up, and keeping things small. There’s space and there’s a rising to the morning, almost. At least, it feels like waking up, and coming into the first hours of the day.

These sounds come gently, and they are humble. They present a small, familiar space, and they carry a sense that’s almost as though there’s not a care in the world.

In a sense it’s all about innocence, and what comes before a journey. They play long and simple, and they feel almost pastoral, or at least somehow agricultural-related. But there’s something more urban in there too; it’s on the edge of nature, and finding a line where it and the urban and rural meet. And it drifts on as it fades out and the song ends.

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Hitomi Sato: Eterna Forest

One listen.

For this particular soundtrack album, not all the songs loop, so there’s a bit more pressure to get things across. I had an idea of some of the things I wanted to touch upon when going into this and those came through. I think having the pressure helped a little too, though I probably could’ve had a few repeats and drawn more on scenery.

Hitomi Sato’s (佐藤仁美) “Eterna Forest” (“ハクタイのもり”) is from Nintendo DS Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Super Music Collection, the soundtrack for Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and most of Platinum.

I hope you enjoy.

A light twinkle as woodwind comes in through the refreshing space. Keys and soon percussion, and a little bit of bass flow through, playing relaxed and at ease, almost.

There’s something fanciful here, but also about taking it easy, and when the energy picks up as though a breeze carrying steps forward, it still all feels relaxed. It still feels dewy, almost. All things are light and refreshing. They play with a mystical, almost ethereal feel. Almost a dance of nature, and they continue as they fade and the song ends.

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