Five-Hundred Word Challenge 188: Some Stuff About a Field Trip

Posted on March 24, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Today is going to be one hell of a day. I’ll be heading to uni after work to catch a bus to take me up north to go on a field trip that I need to be on but don’t want to be on, but at least it will give me a chance to take a whole bunch of photos, so I’m somewhat happy about that.

My bag is too heavy because I over-packed, but I’ll deal with it because I have no choice and whinging about my own mistake that was a mistake of silly proportions is not going to get anyone anywhere, so the best that I can do in the interim is cope and deal with the fact that I stuffed up.

From what I understand, there will be a lot of data collection and collection of data will be at the hand of the operator…

Or my own hands.

I do know that not getting drunk tonight and tomorrow, which is what will likely happen with a lot of the students, will benefit me greatly as it means that I’ll be able to get up as early as I need to in order to capture the sunrise (assuming the weather holds out long enough for it as there’s prediction of rain once more) as well as go for a swim and be able to explore the area before people start getting up, so I’m rather happy about that.

I’m also happy that I’ll probably be function much better than everyone else as it means I’ll have an easier time of doing the things that I don’t want to do, therefore giving me a better chance of being able to relax an unwind for a much longer period of time than everyone else, assuming that everything does work out the way that I hope it does, which, aside from the not drinking and then taking photos and swimming, probably won’t because the great thing about plans is that they are easy to change on a whim.

I have to admit that I am not looking forward to this trip. There are other things that I’d rather do with my time, but it is something that needs to be done, so doing it is what I’ll do, and verily so.

Well, I’ve run out of things to say at this point.

I imagine that Smiths Lake will be pretty to look  upon with my very own eyes, but if it’s storming, then I’m going to have some problems. I’ll have to take photos from a window, or with a lot of protection form the rain to make sure that my camera stays as dry as I possibly can make sure that it stays dry. Otherwise it has to go back into the shop and I don’t have the money to fork out for more repairs after getting it cleaned recently.

The joys of things and stuff.

Well now that that’s out of the way, here is the end.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:50:57

Faster than expected.
Probably not worth reading, but perhaps it just be…

Written at work

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My Favourite Beach

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Here is a shot of my favourite beach, although the shot doesn’t do it much justice.

I think this photo shows the beach as being quite calm and relaxed, which in some ways it is, but at the same time the waves at this beach are quite powerful.

This is my entry into Leanne Cole‘s Monochrome Madness for this week.

If you like monochrome photography then you should check out Monochrome Madness and consider participating.

I also strongly recommend checking out Leanne Cole’s other work.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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The Building on top of The Galeries Victoria in the Afternoon

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

It’s still raining quite a lot in Sydney at the moment, much to both my satisfaction and frustration.

However, that’s not what this post is about.
Here’s a shot of this building that I took last week.

It wasn’t raining at the time and I’ve wanted to get a good shot of this building with a clear sky for a while. Despite it being cloudy, I took this photo anyway as I had the opportunity.

I like how the building looks against the sky and the clouds. To me the sunlight hitting it makes it pop out.

I also like the minimal amount of colours and the patterns that the windows are in.

I hope you enjoy.

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T2: Trainspotting Review

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

I’ve been trying to think of what I can say about T2: Trainspotting, but I don’t think that there’s much I can really say about the film.

I can say that it is good.

However, there are parts that feel are a bit weak.

Before I go on, there’s spoilers ahead, so if you don’t want the film spoiled, don’t continue reading.

Well, here we go.

T2: Trainspotting picks up about twenty years after the first film. Renton is returning to Edinburgh for the first time since Trainspotting. Spud is struggling with drug addiction. Sick Boy is working as a dealer whilst running a pub with few customers. Begbie’s in gaol and is trying to get out.

Despite Spud and Begbie playing large roles, the film mainly focuses on the relationship between Renton and Sick Boy. However, the film mostly doesn’t feel unbalanced as the characters all have ample time, although at points it does feel that Spud’s actions could use a little more attention as it seems that he is slightly glossed over, although it’s nice that his progression as a character is clear.

The dialogue feels quite grounded in reality. It has a fairly smooth flow and little of it (if any) comes off as being out of character and, despite some stylistic moments, the statement can be applied to most of what happens in the film.

It’s fair to say that the film feels like something that’s just kind of happening in the lives of the characters. The actors do a really good job of portraying them as real people and giving them a sense of presence, which is something that seems to be undervalued in acting as plenty of characters out there are believable, but they don’t feel as though they are real.

Many of the scenes work quite well, although there are points where they fall flat.

Take for instance Spud trying to commit suicide compared to when Renton and Sick Boy shoot up for the first time in years. Spuds scene is fairly emotive and a slight bit humorous whilst remaining quite intense. It’s shot with some rather plain lighting and kept fairly low-key, and the outcome of the event ends up having a lasting impact on the rest of the film. It’s instantly memorable as, whilst being something that is quite shocking, it’s not overblown, nor does it feel like it’s trying to be big.

Renton and Sick Boy shooting up feels like it’s trying to be big, with the immediate result being set to look stylish and comes off as being excessive. Unless I missed something, it has little to no impact on the remainder of the film and is glossed over almost completely. It doesn’t feel as though it had a place, and Renton and Sick Boy had seemed to have moved on, although maybe that’s the point.

At other points the various references don’t always work. Usually they do, but there are some that feel tacked on and don’t quite belong.

The humour is a bit more overt this time around. However, it doesn’t break the film in any way and still feels as appropriate as it needs to be.

As said at the start of this, I don’t think that there’s much that I can say about the film.
I can say that T2: Trainspotting is good. Despite some flaws, it flows well and it’s well-crafted. Seeing the actors play off each other as well as they do is is quite satisfying.
It’s a film worth seeing.

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A Short Polemic on Marriage Equality

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Quite recently in the news in regards to gay marriage, Peter Dutton said that someone (specifically the CEO of QANTAS, although I’m certain that it applied to all CEOS) shouldn’t use a company  or shareholders’ money to push their agenda and that companies should stay out of  politics.

That’s definitely not an exact quote. I’m pretty sure that Peter Dutton did say things differently and that wasn’t the exact representation of the intent behind his words, but it’s as close as I can get now without reading the article again, which is something that I don’t want to do right now as I think I understood it well enough.

I think that Peter Dutton is right, but about the wrong thing. When it comes to politics, I think that companies shouldn’t be given as much leeway and concessions as they seem to receive. I don’t think that they should be (mostly) ignored for some of the things of which they are part.

Beyond that, I think that a company (or CEO) are able to support what they want, so long as it does represent the interests of their employees, shareholders and customers and so long as it’s not something that could be seen as being a bad decision.

Furthermore to this, I don’t see there being an issue with a CEO or a company supporting the idea of marriage equality.

Yes, the conversation should be open to everyone,so it’s a good thing that it has been for years. If a CEO or a company want to support something that can be seen as a step forward for civilisation, then there’s nothing wrong with them showing support.

I think that there’s significantly bigger issues than that (among other things), such as how badly we’re damaging the natural environment (regardless of if you believe as to whether global warming is real or not, you cannot deny that the environment is getting screwed over pretty badly in some areas) and I really wish that everyone who is continuously protesting for rights would shut up and actually start working harder toward supporting the natural environment. With that being said, I don’t think that who has sex with who is anyone’s business (obviously taking consent into consideration here), or that attraction to someone of the same sex is grounds for preventing them from being able to marry if they so choose simply because denying people the right is, in a sense, saying that they’re not deserving of being treated as equal.

Denying people this right based on “the sanctity of marriage” is an utter garbage excuse. It would be much more respectable if you admitted that you didn’t like them simply because you think that the god you believe in told you through a book.

It’s also utter garbage because you think it’s wrong.

I don’t think that you can justify a lack of understanding via refusal to learn. Letting ignorance grow because you’re not willing to allow your views to be challenged is disappointing.

Most people who are against marriage equality seem to be against the idea of change despite something like this not affecting them at all. The thing is that change is inevitable, for better or worse. There are some things you can try to prevent (and some things that are worth preventing), but most of the time you have to accept that you have to learn and support or move on.

I’m probably not adding anything to the conversation at this point, but the thing is that I think it’s something that’s worth fighting for (and writing about) despite my belief that it’s not anywhere near as important as trying to reduce the damage being done to the planet because I think that denying someone of something simply because you don’t agree with their actions, despite their actions not hurting anyone is wrong.

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Who is Mordechai Waterview?

Posted on March 18, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Ewe has a play running in Adelaide Fringe Festival at the moment called Who is Mordechai Waterview? and I’m doing this post as a partly to promote it and partly to share this photo.

Unfortunately I’m a bit late because the last performance in Adelaide is today. He is considering bringing it to Sydney and I’m hoping he does because I want to not only see him preform, but I also want others to see him perform.

I’m not sure as to what the play is about. Maybe Ewe is not sure himself. He’s trying to work out the identity of Mordechai Waterview just as much as the audience. Then again, maybe he knows and is hiding the fact.

I know that the play explores a few things. I also know that it is currently being run at The Basem3nt for $15 a ticket.

If you’re in Adelaide, go check it out if you can.

Here’s one of the promo shots I took for Ewe.

I hope you enjoy.

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A Brief Rant on Some Fans Taking Things too Far

Posted on March 17, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Recently The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out and there was much rejoicing.

It received a great deal of praise for reasons that I don’t quite know but am sure that I’ll come to know one day. Possibly. Who knows?

Anyway, there was one reviewer who had the sheer audacity to not tow the line and dared give the game a seven out of ten, which caused a whole lot of people to lose it because it brought the aggregated score on Metacritic down from an amazing ninety-eight out of one hundred to an abysmal ninety-seven out of one hundred.

Of course there were many fans of the game who took umbrage at this malicious action and took it upon themselves to begin attacking Jim Sterling (of The Jimquisition and the critic in question) for not blowing his load all over the game, instead thinking about what he was playing and pointing out what he saw as flaws whilst still stating that the game was good.

“How dare he dare?” the fans said and rightfully so, because in this reality, anything resembling a little more critical thinking about things than other people is completely unacceptable, even if it doesn’t mean that someone thinks a game is bad by any measure.

What the saddest thing about this whole issue is that it’s not anything new. Fans that think it’s okay to wish death upon someone for saying something that they don’t like is disappointing, for sure, but it’s so common that it’s no longer surprising.

What’s still surprising is that they think that it’s okay to do such a thing.

What happened to people? Why do they think that this is an okay way to conduct themselves? Do they realise just how stupidly fragile they make themselves appear because they don’t know what being a mature person is and would rather go on trying to unleash righteous indignation just because someone doesn’t think something is as amazing as they think it is?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!

I don’t understand why people become so vicious about something as minor as a review score which is ultimately irrelevant. They behave as though this is going to prevent them from enjoying the game or having any semblance of life left after the fact. It reminds me of when people were saying that the Star Wars prequel trilogy (or George Lucas) ruined their childhood. It didn’t and a review score won’t ruin a game. There’s no need to seemingly take the issue so personally.

If you can’t deal with something that you don’t like so much that you need to become a vicious little asshole, then grow  up. Jim Sterling (and other critics) don’t need to receive a boatload of crap just because you’re too immature to deal with something different to how you think everyone should react.

There’s better, more dignified ways of going about things.

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Mahon Pool

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Here’s a photo of Mahon Pool that I took yesterday whilst I was “Atop” an elevated section of the area that I happened to be situation in at that particular time.

The photo is a bit flat and I think that has to do with how overcast it was in the area.

Still, there’s a bit of nice detail and in processing it has gotten a bit more depth.

This is my submission into The Daily Post‘s photo challenge for this week.

I hope you enjoy.

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Walkway at Night

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

Here is a photo that I took recently.

I like how strong the contrast between the light and dark parts of the photo are, as well as the shape of the objects that can be seen and their lines.

I think that there’s a bit of ambiguity in regards to some of the shapes, despite them being clearly defined.

Whilst the shadows have been enhanced the area wasn’t the most well-lit.

I would prefer the city to be darker than it is, but due to the light pollution, I doubt it will ever be as dark as it appears to be in this photo.

Well, at least not for a long time.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s Monochrome Madness for this week.

If you like monochrome photography then you should check out Monochrome Madness and consider participating.

I also recommend checking out Leanne Cole’s other work.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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The Walk to Sydenham Station

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Stupidity Hole

This is the path I used to walk to get to the train station I’d go to in order to catch the train to get me to the bus stop that I’d catch the bus that would get me near home from.

I couldn’t work out which one I liked the most of the first two so I thought I’d put both of them here.

The last one is closer to how the original looked.
I think it might be slightly brighter.

I like how the “impressionistic” style of the first two images really enhances the light and textures of the photo.

I also like the simplicity of the scene.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

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