Willebrant: Sands VIII (Skies)

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

This one was pretty straightforward. I feel that perhaps I didn’t write enough and I stretched for words, if that makes sense. This does give enough of an impression, but it’s quite a limited one.

Willebrant’s “Sands VIII (Skies)” is from Desert Songs.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A bright and smooth sound appears. It seems not to shimmer, but there is something shimmery about it.

The sound is peaceful, and calm and relaxing, and perhaps relieving. It’s not as though a great pressure or weight has been lifted, but it certainly does have qualities that could imply as such.

The sounds drift, and they carry the peace and calm with them, and then they lift into themselves. They stretch like drifting rays of light, and they are massive without feeling overwhelming. They hold their relaxed state, and they hold a soft grandeur, and it’s all a drifting peace that continues on as the song ends.

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View Inside the Tunnel

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

This is a tunnel I’ve taken a photo of before, and likely will do so again down the track.
I’ve also spent a lot of time walking through this tunnel, and it’s
It’s good for practise,

This is my submission into the three hundred-and-seventh Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. The theme for this one is “Tourist Attractions“.

This tunnel has a history (which is a silly thing to say, but you know), and it’s not exactly in an overtly-accessible spot (it’s easy enough to get to, but unless you drive it’s a combination of public transport and walking, and it’s not exactly openly advertised), but it (and the surrounding area) most certainly can be seen as a tourist attraction.

The host of the Lens-Artists challenges cycles weekly between the following people:

Tina

Patti

Ann-Christine aka Leya

John Steiner

Sofia Alves

Anne Sandler

Egídio

Ritva

Leanne Cole is guest-curating this one. The rest of July is guest-curated by:

July 20: Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures, with the theme of “Pairs”.
July 27: PR of Flights of the Soul, with the theme of “Balconies”.

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.

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Willebrant: Sands VI (Caravan)

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen and I tried to do something. I think I was thinking a bit about the title and letting that creep in, which is something I try not to do too much as I worry it might lead to writing that is less “honest” in terms of what I’m doing with these pieces. Still, I think that, overall, this isn’t too bad. At the very least it gives an idea of how the song sounds, and I think there’s an attempt at painting the scenery without giving too much information.

Willebrant’s “Sands VI (Caravan)” is from Desert Songs.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Low, or perhaps distant. Seems to sink, and some sound plods closer and closer. Maybe it’s not plodding, but it is moving. Near and around it a quiet sound drifts and wafts, coming in and out of focus, in a sense. There’s more than just the moving sound, and what is there provides details, but they’re not always there; there’s something else that holds attention.

Those sounds that are around, however, do press inward, and perhaps give a sense of immeasurable, overwhelming massiveness. They’re an open space and that moving is, comparably, small and insignificant.

Rather than a hopelessness, it seems more that the way forward is known, but the journey is long. Before more is revealed, however, the moving sound stops and the song ends.

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Willebrant: Sands IV (Shadows)

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

I don’t think I did well in getting an idea of the song across with this one. I wrote it last night and sat on it mostly because I was tired. I’m okay with what I wrote, but I think I wandered too far from what was going on with the sounds.

Willebrant’s “Sands IV (Shadows)” is from Desert Songs.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Silence and still, until something low and deep comes forward and fills the space. It is motionless and moving, and upon it sounds seem to float away and dissipate. They seem heavy, weighted, and weightless at the same time, and they drift off into nothingness.

Sounds move carefully, and seem to look at what lies beyond the surface, and maybe there’s a lingering despair here that’s imagined. Maybe this is all just an impression based on the changing time, and maybe it continues on after the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1387: Happy Chappy

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

Another day circles itself and spreads thick on the toast that is LIFE.

Well, that was too strong a start. Where do I go from here? I can only smear myself like the jam on the wall as the breakfast flies in all sorts of directions. Forsooth, and all that other junk.

At least it’s calm in here… for now. Perhaps I will be followed by my words and I’ll be forced to eat them in a way that suggests some sort of malfeasance. I don’t know. I don’t know anymore and I don’t know anything, but at least I’m here, comfortable, and pretending that everything is all okay and all things will work out in the end. They won’t, but they might. You never know with these things.

Well, it takes a lot of proactive action and outreach and education, and it takes a lot of pushing for more progressive and empathetic ideals and policies and all those sorts of things for things to work out in the end. It takes a lot of work, and if enough people do, then it just might.

I’d like to believe that I know why a lot of people out there are against progress and I think it’s due to them seeing things in the sort-term and being rather selfish about what they have. People don’t like to let go of power and wealth and all that. But truly, there are a lot of reasons as to why people are like that, and it’s difficult to convince someone that progress toward supporting more than a select few if they’re not willing to be wrong. Such is the way of things I suppose, but it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s not a good thing, but we still need to try where we can.

Realistically change is inevitable, and refusing change that is centered around genuine progress leads to the gradual erosion of that which is around us. You get caught in it all, regardless of your feelings on the matter. Just, if people resist progress, they generally end up dragging quite a lot of others into the shit so they can be a happy chappy for a short period of time.

I’m pretty concerned about the next few months. I’m worried about what is happening over in The United States of America, and I don’t think it’s going to go well. I’m worried about another Trump presidency, and I’m worried that people are willing to overlook what he has been and is associated with, and things he has said in order to vote for him because they are people who don’t believe in the consequences of their actions. At the same time, I’m worried about a democratic presidency as too many people are willing to rest. Progress doesn’t get to take a break. It takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of time, and without that effort going in, it doesn’t go much of anywhere. It mostly stops.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 10:33:08

Slow, not great. Still, less stilted and messy than usual, so that’s a plus.

Written at work.

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Willebrant: Sands III (Dunes)

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

So it looks like I will be doing all the songs from this album, though I never set out to do so. Such is the way of things. Anyway.

I started sort of trying to just describe the song as it was happening and that fell through pretty quickly. The result is, I think, better than what would have been had I focused on describing as the song makes use of what’s coming from it more than how it sounds, if that makes sense.

Willebrant’s “Sands III (Dunes)” is from Desert Songs.

I hope you enjoy.

—

A weighted movement stretches across the contours of the land, and fades, and returns, and seems to reach farther. A softer note stretches through the space, more sparse, and seemingly barren.

These two cycle through a big emptiness that’s full of landscape and quiet life, but they seem to remain locked and still, and seemingly nothing changes.

Perhaps, like the landscape itself, these are changing gradually, for it seems noticeable, and maybe it is noticeable, but only in consideration for how it all flows.

Eventually the sounds fade out and the song ends.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1386: Ideas Happening

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

Today I’m feeling excited. I’m tempered, but I’m excited for what is coming. I’m excited for what lies ahead of me, but I need to work to make it happen.

There are things brewing and all that other stuff. You get the idea. I get the idea. We all get the idea. Things change and you move on and you move forward, and you let go of what has been weighing you down for a while, and you keep on going and then you go some more. At least, you try to.

But yeah; there’s stuff I’m excited about, and there are things that are happening that working on have helped keep me interested in still doing photography. I’ve found a way forward there, and that’s nice. Still need to make those things happen, and hopefully they happen, but I’m sure they will, so long as I keep working on them.

Sometimes you spend a long time in a rut as you work on things, and the wheels spin forward but you feel you’re going in reverse. Sometimes you feel as though you’re intentionally inserting yourself into a massive accident, and sometimes you realise that you need to drop some stuff and get on with other things. Sometimes it’s better to let go sooner rather than later.

I’m thinking about the way I’ll get these ideas forward, and one of them might be happening much sooner rather than later, if only because I’m already preparing stuff for publication, and if I actually finish that stuff off, then I’ll be able to keep it going. A nice side thing that might take a bit of time, and might not take much time at all. Gotta see what happens as I work on it, really. but it’s one of a few things and… yeah.

I know I’m being a bit vague and evasive, but I don’t want to out-and-out announce things yet. There’s still a good deal of work to be done and I still need to keep bringing this place to its end, and there are a lot of other things going on, but I’m looking forward to it all. To be honest, I’m not sure I’ll say much of anything about what is coming from these things in the works. Sharing that Culture Eater exists is enough for me.

I don’t think I could go for a completely fresh start; there’s always going to be the baggage of my nineteen years of writing carrying through, and especially the baggage that this space comes with, but I might just try. I think I’d rather cut myself loose and wander over the hills and disappear from view… in terms of here and previous spaces in which I’ve written. Then I’d come back, hopefully unrecognisable.

There are things in the works and I’m excited for them to happen, and I’m looking forward to them coming to greater prominence in my life as this place gradually winds down. The change will be something nice.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:30:57

Bit slow and a bit of a stretching out far more than necessary. Doesn’t bother me much right now, but perhaps later I’ll feel differently.

Written at work.

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Bathed in Stage Light

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

This is a (kind of) recent photo I took, and it’s one I’m fairly happy with, though it is a bit blown out in spots. It’s just a band performing and the light is nice… mostly.

I hope you enjoy.

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Held Lion

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

This lion is features as part of a sculpture of Gilgamesh.
When I was framing this, I was trying to make the lion look goofy, but I don’t think I pulled it off. Still, I like what details came through in the photo.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s “Monochrome Madness” for this week. This one  is hosted by PR of Flights of the Soul, and she has chosen the theme “Sculptures”.

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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Willebrant: Sands II (Awakening)

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Stupidity Hole

One listen.

I’m pretty tired but thought I’d try and do another bit of music writing and I’m not sure I did as well as I could have had I done this earlier in the day. I was going toward describing the sounds but I didn’t go far enough.

Willebrant’s “Sands II (Awakening)” is from Desert Songs.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Sound grows clear, and rich, perhaps. It stretches long and feels almost cinematic. Parts fade, or rather change, and there’s some sort of freshness to everything.

As the sounds spread forward and out, they seem to look to express an expansiveness. They seem to look to reach for wonder, and they follow curvature and linearity when it spreads outward.

The sounds seem calm, and rather more interested in expressing the gradual rather than the immediate, and they look at things with an optimism and hope, or at least seem to. They come and go, and move, and nothing seems to change but it does, and everything fades out and the song ends.

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