Another waterfall seen on the same walk as the last one I shared.
Actually, maybe this one wasn’t smaller. I can’t remember. Anyway.
I think the lighting on this one is alright. Probably could be a bit better balanced, but overall I think the lighting helps with the framing and everything came out alright here. Sort of moody; sort of not.
I hope you enjoy.
A recent photo. Less than a week old.
I want to write about this now, but I’m saving it for another day as it was a fairly standard, yet adventurous… adventure?
Anyway, this photo was taken on 4 1/2 hours of sleep and about an hour of driving, and I missed what I wanted to capture, missing out was very much worth the loss.
I hope you enjoy.
As far as I’m concerned, a very lucky photo. Right place at the right time.
This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s Monochrome Madness. The theme for this one (“Birds”) was provided by Elke of Eklastic.
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.
So if I give myself five minutes to write I can give myself twenty minutes to walk and then I can go and start the day in a way that expresses some sort of spectacular dazzling in a wonderful display of errors, and then I can ask myself where I am and where I am going, and all the other fun questions that follows ones legs and bites at the ankles, or rather nips at the ankles… I don’t know which one is correct, but I know one of those might be.
In the grand scheme of things there are things and there is stuff, and realistically I should just go for the walk instead of writing and then going, but I wanted to do this beforehand and doing this beforehand is what I am currently doing, and I don’t know why. There are other, far more important things to deal with and I’m dealing with them by doing things, but one tries, or something. Maybe I’m not trying and just doing the whole spinning on the spot thing still, but I’m telling myself I’m not.
To be fair, it’s a pretty large spot.
So the day is young and the weather is worrying, but today is a little cooler than what tomorrow will be and that’s nice. I have to tell myself that that’s nice and that’s okay, because if I don’t then I’ll probably despair more than I already am, but maybe things will be okay. Maybe things will wash away and it will be all okay and then I can rest and you get the idea.
I’m gonna stride and I’ll keep on pushing forward, and eventually I’ll get some sleep and I’ll sleep better than I had on prior nights, and that’ll be nice. That’ll be earned… well, not really, but it will feel like it was earned and feeling like is good enough sometimes. Sometimes the best you can get is the feeling than the actuality and that’s all good. You just can’t rely on it. You don’t want it to be a crutch, and so you keep on going and you keep on pushing through all the crap to try and get ahead of where you currently are, or at lest get some sort of reprieve that gives you some time to rest.
I don’t know where I’m going with this, so I think I’ll keep it short and get into the next bit, whatever that next bit may be.
So it’s a nice day and I’m at work, and things feel alright. Could be better; could be worse, but things feel alright. Things feel like they’re moving at a good pace, and I’m enjoying myself. I’m tired and I’m in pain, but I’m doing okay and things don’t seem as bleak on a personal level. In the grand scheme of things there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but that’s for another time and day, and that’s a collective effort.
The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:38:13
Bit of a nothing writing. More relaxed thoughts, or something. I don’t know.
Written at work.
I’ll have to take a better photo of this area at some point.
I was trying to show the distance this bit of the run… runs, and I think I did okay, but I can see where I could’ve done better.
I hope you enjoy.
I took my time with this one.
I wrote most of the original form of this somewhere around the end of July, then made tweaks here and there. I rewrote some parts, made more edits, then got to a point tonight where I decided to finish it off, and it was easy enough.
Not exactly a good bit of writing, but I think it works well enough. I think choosing to take my time with this one paid off, but I’m not sure I want to do so again, because I thought I’d be done sooner.
Most of my interview and review work now appears on Culture Eater.
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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 although it has been silent for a year, that should change in the coming weeks.
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I hope you enjoy.
—
Alright, it’s toe’s NOW I SEE THE LIGHT. I’ll cut to the chase: it’s good.
So toe aren’t the loudest band, and that’s fine. They rely a lot on clarity to convey their sound, and considering their music often feels like it holds balance between simple and complex, having that clarity is a boon. It allows their liveliness to come through when needed, as well as gentle moments to speak more effectively. In that regard, the songs here seem “quieter”, or perhaps more “reflective”; that liveliness is still there, but it’s a bit more restrained than usual.
There seems to be less interest in knotty guitar work – though that is there – and less interest in establishing a sense of progression and flow-through – though that also is there – and instead the songs sort of simmer on a moment, though not always. In lacking hands this can make for boring music, but toe deftly handle what they’ve put forward. Their focus seems to have always been reflective of where they are in life, and in that regard NOW I SEE THE LIGHT is no different to previous releases. It might be less “dancey” than some of what they’ve previously released, but it’s an album no less considered.
Still, whilst it’s a little diminished, the sense of dance and rhythm remains strong. The percussion keeps that nice flow and groove going, and they also have striking sense of precision, even in quieter moments. Meanwhile, the guitars and bass (and other sounds here and there) sound crisp and clear, whilst efficiently building on rhythm.
Vocally, the… vocals are a bit more quiet than usual, or at least they feel that way, but they carry a tune well enough. Do they sound different from what toe have made use of before? No; at least, not overtly, and that’s fine. However, their use here treats them more as a sound to blend with the other instruments than usual. The voice is still there and it’s still carrying words, but it’s a bit less at the forefront.
Throughout NOW I SEE THE LIGHT a sense of the reflective and melancholic comes through, but it’s not all that; there are occasional moments of joy too, and toe don’t seem to want to lean one way or the other. There’s an obviousness to the songs, but it’s not overt and it’s clearly one aspect rather than a defining trait. There remains plenty of room to let things sink in and explore. There’s intention here, and restraint, and perhaps it’s why the album feels like it goes by quickly.
On one hand I don’t want to claim this album is background music. On the other, I don’t want to say it’s present and right there. NOW I SEE THE LIGHT is appreciable as both, and how you approach it does change the listening experience in this instance. I do think, however, that toe intentionally straddle a line here. The energetic thrust found on previous releases isn’t as pronounced here, but there still is a sense of energy. Whilst some moments of the album feel more upbeat and, at times, drifting, the album still feels emotionally weighted without being overt. The album’s a more muted affair, even when it implies a loudness. It feels and sounds simpler than usual, but that works in the album’s favour, and it’s quite likely deceptively so.
The songs carry fine, there’s clarity, there’s space and the vocals are on the quieter side of things, and a little more fragile-sounding than usual. It works, and so does the album as a whole, really. Is it toe at their best? I’d like to argue that it is but I don’t know if I could say for certain, and anyway, who cares? It’s good music.
NOW I SEE THE LIGHT is available here.
Another photo featuring Bondi Icebergs, and with a bit of railing in the way, but it sorta kinda makes for some interesting framing… sorta.
I like the sense of isolation that comes through in this photo. It’s almost as though there’s nothing beyond the pool, but the ocean is right there… and a few rocks against the pool’s outer wall too.
This is my submission into the three hundred-and-fourteenth Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Shorelines“.
I feel this image counts as, although it’s not visible in this photo, Bondi Icebergs is part of the shoreline.
The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:
Anne is curating this one. The next one is curated by Ritva.
I recommend participating in the challenges as they provide a fun way to interpret theme. If not participating, then at least you should still check out what others of the Lens-Artists community are submitting.
I hope you enjoy.
I feel wretched. A sudden illness that has passed and left lingering stuff. Fun times.
It was an overnight thing and now I go through the long tail of it, but I’ll rebound. Don’t have much choice, really. Kind of have to; there’s a lot of stuff that needs doing and I’m just the doer to do it and al that stuff.
We’ve some unseasonably warm weather, and I feel that, once more, I’ll be shouting into a void left by ears leaving. I remember a while ago someone commented on one of my ramblings suggesting that climate change as it is happening is bullshit, and I imagine that there are still people around who still believe that to be the case. Oh, how short memories are and inattentive people want to be.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: It is difficult to hold onto hope. I try to, but seeing the active lack of action from people doesn’t leave much room for belief that we’re going to be okay. It doesn’t leave much room to keep wanting to promote doing things that are beneficial overall, but I keep on going. You have to keep on trying, even if things seem inevitable, because maybe, just maybe things will change.
If a lot of people start dying off, things will definitely change then, but it shouldn’t take that. It shouldn’t take people being personally affected to get action happening, but then again the whole cost of living crisis wasn’t a concern until the middle class started feeling it more than usual, so I’m not overly surprised.
I don’t want to write like this. I don’t want to be spreading some sort of anger and misery, especially at this hour of the day, but things just aren’t good. Things are really bad, and sure, I don’t feel great right now, but we’re actively fucking up the planet and refusing to change and live less lavishly to try and ease it a bit. We’re not doing enough to hold governing bodies and large corporations accountable, and we’re not doing enough to try and improve things.
Everyone can make a difference, and it needs to happen before the tide reaches for your shore. It needs to happen now, and there needs to be a lot of work done, and those who can’t don’t seem to want to, so who gives a shit?
I’ll be away from Sydney this weekend and I’ll be among bushland, and it’ll be a nice thing to be among, but I wonder as to how many more years that’ll be possible before it becomes difficult to do. I wonder as to how many more years before we start talking about some wondrous things as memories rather than something that everyone can appreciate.
Right now it’s not too late, but it’s close. I hope things change for the better but I don’t think they will, and when it’s too late we’ll be saying we didn’t have enough time.
The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:36:88
I wrote this two days ago and held off on publishing as had to work. Then got better, but had stuff to get out of the way, then got among the bushland and ended up getting sick again (so it probably didn’t go away), and now I’m home.
I think what I wrote needs to be more pointed, if I’m to be honest.
Written at work.
Another long night and day, though part of this one was spent preparing for a trip tomorrow afternoon rather than much of anything else, and that’s nice.
This is another photo featuring Bondi Beach, though more of it. I feel it’s a bit blown out, but there are a lot of lights in the area, so maybe it being blown out makes this more accurate or something.
I hope you enjoy.
I took this photo a few weeks ago, in part to see if I could get the contrast based on the sunlight to really come through. I then pushed it a bit further to get the below result.
This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s Monochrome Madness.
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.
Stupidity Hole 