Pelican Angle

Another photo of a pelican at an angle.
Strange, geometric creatures, or something.

I hope you enjoy.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1414: Terrible Fate of Waiting

Doing that wait thing where I wait for something to be released. Oh, terrible fate and so on and so forth, though in this instance it is that the album that I’m waiting to be released has been announced as having been released, and it hasn’t.

Bit of a strange one, this. To be clear, it has actually been released… on streaming platforms, and not anywhere else that I can see, and this is a bit of an annoyance as I’ve bought the album, but I don’t have it.

To be more fair, I also have enough things to listen to as it is, and so I can wait, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to have to wait for a thing that I unfairly believe is my right to have access to now. That’s the way it all goes, of course, and in this case it’s also the way that it goes, and so I’ll just have to, but it was announced way too early, and whilst I’ve had plenty of things to occupy myself with (and at times have forgotten about the album), I have to keep on waiting and I can never accept that as a fair thing, or something.

Spend a lot of time waiting and I spend a lot of time finding things to do in the time that is spent waiting, and then I also spend time waiting for others and then spend more time doing other things when plans don’t come through.

I imagine that if I keep on waiting on people and things, I’ll start conversing with the stones.

But I keep on waiting and I keep trying to fill the time, and I keep waiting for this album to come out, but by the time it does I’ll have moved on. I do have to do work., after all, and I need to get on with the day and see it through and all that stuff.

I need to see if there is a way to speed up waiting, and influence the release and I need to find a way to get through everything in one piece. Of course I will, but I’m trying to be dramatic here and it’s not quite working as I know that what I’m complaining about isn’t an issue. There are far worse things out there. However, I do want to have my complaining out in the open and then get on with the getting on and all that stuff.

I do want people to stop wasting my fucking time, however. That I definitely want to stop. I don’t want to have to tell people to step up and start actually pulling their weight, as I’m tired of being the constant idea driver for a few things, but I don’t think that will change and I don’t think that will stop, and there’s little I can do, and so I just have to keep going and let things slide away, for my own sake.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:05:20

I went hard into the deeply serious toward the end, and that is in part due to being pretty frustrated and ready to pack in a few things outside of this space. Was it worth venting about here though? Probably not.

Written at work.

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Bloom Under the sky

I took a good few photos of my prunus blooming this year, but haven’t shared many, so here’s one of them. Not the best of photos, but I do quite like how the light falls on the plant.

I hope you enjoy.

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Yasunori Nishiki: Among Stately Peaks

One listen.

This mostly came easy, and I’m happy about that, but I feel I also sort of didn’t let myself breathe enough. I think I could’ve pulled more from the song.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “Among Stately Peaks” (“悠然たる山腹の街”) is from Octopath Traveler‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

Strings pulse whilst a lone steps careful in the background. The main ones stop pulsing and draw out, expanding and growing as brass calls out on top.

The sounds grow more sweeping, and start to congeal into each other, though it almost seems as some are subsumed.

A brief pause before the strings completely take over and express this sort of wide sensation. It seems small and personal, but also something that carries an incredible breadth. Light percussion becomes apparent, and soon after the sounds expand more. Woodwind is found as the drama of the space is carried out, and it’s large, but it still remains small.

A return to the start and it’s almost as though the sounds represent some sort of climb upwards. It seems like a calm climb, or at least one that isn’t too full of danger. There’s certainty, and there’s a push, but there’s also tension. However, it does not hold weight in the face of the grand magnificence of the space.

Shape and scene is revealed in equal measure, and the smallness of the self finds a comfort in its insignificance, and then once more the sounds become sweeping and beautiful, and it’s almost as though it’s breathtaking, but the moment does not linger, and the sounds fade as the song ends.

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Yasunori Nishiki: River of Life

One listen, though I did restart early on, and there was a point where I had to pause as I wasn’t sure if I’d heard something correctly. This did have an overall impact on the writing, though I’m not sure if it was negative or positive.

I feel as though this would’ve worked better if I just focused on imagery, however. That said, I did alright in getting the song across.

Yasunori Nishiki’s (西木 康智) “River of Life” (“街は川と共に生きる”) is from Octopath Traveler‘s soundtrack, Octopath Traveler Original Soundtrack.

I hope you enjoy.

A guitar plays out a gentle roll and flow of notes, and soon keys and percussion join in step. Bass plays light and guides the melody, and it all feels quite airy overall. A little sad, but also quite relieving and relaxing. Perhaps dispelling and assuaging.

Something akin to either harmonica or accordion (or another instrument I’m just not picking up upon) comes in as the percussion picks up a little, and this new sound plays upon the gentle flow, and floats along. It seems to waft and drift on some sentimentality. The melody swings to a low and this new sound remains high, though not as before.

Strings start flowing in from underneath, and lift and push the emotion up and outward as they take space; there’s added theatre, but it doesn’t go full bore.

A return to the start, almost, and everything flows along, and all remains gentle; unflinchingly so. More of the emotive qualities start coming through, and the song seems to slow down a bit more. It’s the same as it was prior, but it seems to slow, and hold the moment more nakedly, especially as the strings come in once more.

Eventually the sounds fade and the song ends.

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Centre of the Ripples

A duck cleaning itself, creating ripples as it does.

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

Participating is pretty straightforward and something I recommend. If you do, then include the tag “monochrome-madness” in your post. If not participating, then at the least check out Leanne’s photography as well as what other people submit.

I hope you enjoy.

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Tim Larkin: Air Stream

One listen and it felt quick, and I struggled a bit, but that’s okay.
Need to stop drawing out these sentences.

I heard the song last night and decided to do it, but I don’t think I was loose enough to write about it, if that makes sense.

Tim Larkin’s “Air Stream” is from Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (Original Game Soundtrack), the soundtrack for Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.

I hope you enjoy.

Guitar plays with in specific notes, and another with a twang, and they seem to play into an open space. A rattling of shuffling noise here and there, and more guitar seems to play over what is happening, and it seems to play specific notes to fill out sound.

A bit of bass here and there, and the space fills but it remains spacious. There’s a very specific and precise melody coming forward, and there’s a bit of the melancholic coming in too.

There’s some beauty here, and perhaps some wonderment, but it’s all on a small scale. Dusty, wide, expansive, empty, but filled and small, and maybe tiny too. And in all of that, these sounds slightly change and add and grow, and they stick to the pace, and something akin to woodwind drifts in and calls out. It stretches along lines, and then disappears, and the other sounds start fading and the song ends.

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The Underwater Look

A lot of people would say that this isn’t a good photo of a bird… I think. There seems to be a consensus on what does and does not make for a good bird photo, and usually it involves seeing its face, but this is still the bird.

I hope you enjoy.

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Coloured Curves

This is a sculpture of sorts near where I work. Took a few photos of it and two turned out well enough to share.

So here’s one of the photos, and I think it works well in terms of perspective, lighting and colour all working together. There’s a sort of flow between widening and narrowing, as well as how the light hits the colours.

I hope you enjoy.

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The Brain Fire

I wrote this yesterday after someone I speak to said something that gave me an idea.
Recently this person has stoked a greater desire in me to write than I usually have, and so I’ve collated a bunch of ideas into a list so I know what I’m writing and I can properly prepare them rather than just rattle the ideas off and move on. It was not an intentional move on their part, and I greatly appreciate it.

Anyway, after the thing was said I churned this out. Was about thirty-four minutes of writing. It’s rough; it’s sloppy, but I got something out of it, and it was a fun bit of writing to write.

I hope you enjoy.

So once upon a time, in a land known as “Canada”, was a wee man by the name of Bevan. Bevan was your regular go-getter with certain skills and abilities that helped him make the most of his skills in the art of using words to make sentences. He meant well and did no harm intentionally.

Anyway, one day whilst going about his usual routine of making and creating, and disseminating, Bevan felt this thing in his brain. He didn’t know what it was, but it was there. Didn’t feel like a block; didn’t feel like an itch. Didn’t feel like anything, really. But it was definitely felt, but it was small. It was insignificant. It was annoying, but insignificant.

Over the days and weeks Bevan continued with his routine, and both gradually and insidiously the feeling grew. It was mostly ignored, but as it came to prominence, it became harder to do so. It seemed to itch, and that itch turned into something akin to a burn.

It grew and grew, and even though Bevan was able to get through his daily routine and his act of creating, the feeling would create more distraction, and drops in attention, and take time away. There would be time lost to this sensation. It grew and grew, and it moved from a burn, to something else.

It felt hot. It felt intense. It felt like a fire. In the brain.

It ate more time and it kept on going, and all these ideas would flow out and Bevan would capture them where he could, but he could not put them down for the fire was too much. Eventually he could no longer keep pushing past it, and so he decided to do something about  the issue. He wanted his life back, for it was the loss of his time that saw his life dispersing.

It was a particularly biting winter at the time, but Bevan had a focus that was driven by the distraction. He went outside, and looked upon an axe. “Ah, old trusty axe” Bevan said with a knowing smirk. It was there, lodged in the last stump that it had helped bring to the world. From the stump had sprouted something small, and near it was where the axe lay embedded. “Life does spring from the direst of situations”, Bevan said to no one in particular.

He then focused on the axe. He tried to stare at it as much as it he could, and he tried to keep focus. The brain fire did not react… not at first.

It was cold and it was the afternoon, and afternoon shifted to twilight, and twilight shifted to night, and nothing seemed to change, but it did. The brain fire seemed to howl inside. It started reacting to this focus on the axe, and the axe it did not like.

It howled and shrieked, and in its lashing out and feeling a greater weakening and desire to escape, the brain fire caused pain fantastic and unimaginable. However, Bevan kept on focusing. He knew he would win in the end so long as he refused to relent.

Suddenly Bevan felt his head snap upward, and a great physical manifestation poured out from his mouth and nose and ears. It heaved outward with a violence, and with it left a heaviness. Bevan had clarity again, but this clarity was a mere distraction, for the brain fire was now in front of him and preparing to strike.

By sheer luck Bevan narrowly dodged the forceful sweep, and by sheer luck he was able to start running. He had no idea how to fight such a thing, and it was between him and the axe. However, he had a thought that could lead to an idea, and so, as running, he called out “LORNE, IT’S TIME”.

You see, many years ago, when Bevan was much younger, he met a moose by the name of Lorne. Lorne was known by many names: The Mighty Under; The Singer of Trees; The Poet of the Graven; The Walker of the Horizon’s Line. However, only Bevan knew Lorne’s true name: Lorne.

How Bevan learned this was through being in the right place at the right time. He was lost in the woods, having gone on a walk to allow himself the time to think in the introspective manner. He saw the moose, and it seemed momentarily dejected. Bevan said “Same”. The moose looked up from its cigarette and said “Name’s Bevan, by the way”. From there, they came to each other’s aid where necessary, and many an adventure was had.

So when Bevan called out as the brain fire chased after him, it was no surprise that Lorne came charging and got a grip on the axe, taking the stump out with it, then gingerly tossed it to Bevan at the right angle so as to get around the brain fire. Bevan, with his eternal reach, caught the axe by the hilt. Then, turning around at just the right time, turned around and spun threw the axe at the brain fire.

The axe, rotating rapidly, passed through the brain fire as though nothing. Rendered paralytic, the last look on the brain fire’s face was one of incomprehensible feeling. Lorne came charging toward Bevan as the brain fire started rapidly expanding. Bevan hopped on and Lorne moved faster than a peregrine falcon.

They kept going, but the brain fire caught up… almost. Suddenly it stopped expanding, and something reacted within it and it exploded with grand magnificence and danger. In its wake, dying flames and ruin and wreckage, but safety. However, Bevan and Lorne kept going. They had won this battle, but what it signified was a war, and one that only they could fight, and so they charged off into the dark of the night, away from the dying flames and toward their destiny.

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