#3h21

[artsyarrowl]

[coralloid]

dennis de dable

[winryrockbellwannabe]

switching screen time for study time 📵📚

idk if anyone has already done this for studyblr, but i keep on seeing my favorite booktubers doing this but for reading time and it always looked so fun!

so starting today, i'll be facing the consequences of being glued to my phone /jk bc im only doing this bc my screentime was decent last week lol

☕ this is what im working with:

monday: 4h29 tuesday: 4h17 wednesday: 4h40 thursday: 3h21 friday: 3h53 saturday: 3h52 sunday: 6h28

i'll be updating yall at the following morning (so starting tomorrow) - hopefully i manage to study even more than the stipulated time since i have a test in 2 weeks that i have to study for���. i'll also be keeping tabs on that day's screen time, and also the normal stuff

[valentin10]

ATP Pékin - Alcaraz renverse Sinner à l'issue d'un duel haletant : le résumé du match - Vidéo Tennis - Eurosport

Au bout du suspense, Carlos Alcaraz, N.3 mondial, s’est imposé mercredi en finale du tournoi de Pékin devant le N.1 Jannik Sinner, (6-7, 6-4, 7-6), nouveau chapitre d’une rivalité naissante qui devrait faire les beaux jours du circuit. Revivez les plus beaux moments de ce match de 3h21. La saison ATP est à suivre sur Eurosport via la plateforme de streaming Max. Les chaines Eurosport sont…

[hekow]

Low Fla

Elle est formidable. J'avais tout préparé, la serviette, un peu d'alcool, de la tisane, à manger, la musique, la chemise, l'endroit paradisiaque. Le bruit des vagues, le doux souffle du vent, les étoiles. Sa famille ne m'aiment pas. Ils sont hautains. Son père est très élevé dans la hiérarchie sociale. Elle souhaite prouver qu'elle peut y arriver seule. Elle dit que le fromage c'était pas bien et je lui ai dit que ça n'avait pas d'importance. Elle insistait de son anecdote personnelle. Deux bouchées du tacos ont suffit à la lancer. Avec l'ice tea elle va être motivé. Elle a vraiment aimé tout ces petits gestes. Il y a des choses qui changent. D'autre pas. Elle a dit ne rien vouloir de plus. Pas de sexe. Elle m'a dit de l'attendre qu'elle revenait dans 3mn. Sa mère est assistante dentaire. Sa sœur est soignée et ça compte beaucoup l'image que l'on renvoie. Mathilde sait tout et elle comprend. Je sais qu'elle m'aimait bien mais c'est L'aura qui me plaît. J'ai encore des décharges de plaisir qui s'enchaînent. Des frissons. Ça continue c'est la 4ème. 5. Je l'attends jusqu'à deux heures trente. Il me reste de l'américain. Des clopes. Des sous. Elle m'a dit de rentrer dormir. Je lui ai dit que je voulais sortir. Suivre son conseil? Je n'en sait rien. Elle a dit que c'est la première fois que ça lui arrivait. Elle part samedi. Elle aimerais plus? Oui. Je devrais lui parler de mon passé. Moi aussi c'est la première fois qu'un rendez vous se passe aussi bien sauf son braquage. Pourquoi elle doit faire semblant d'être triste? Étonnant. Les gens font semblant d'être heureux normalement. Elle veux que je la dépasse mentalement. Un mec comme moi c'est trop? Peut être elle ne se sent pas à la hauteur ? Que c'est elle qui est dans le besoin et c'est moi qui donne? Nous sommes dans le partage. Le don de son cœur est déjà beaucoup. Suis je juste un bouche trou? Je ne sais pas. Je ne crois pas. Car son retour sur notre rencontre est bon. Qu'est ce que je dois faire. Qu'est ce que je veux faire. Je veux lui faire vivre ce dont j'ai toujours rêvé. Une personne honnête, en qui on peut avoir confiance. Est ce qu'elle a toujours sa bague? Va elle revenir ? Peu de chance si ses parents sont réveillés. J'attends jusqu'à 2h30. C'est le max. 10x3mn. Je suis une bonne poire? Non, je suis plein d'espoir… Les émotions de la soirée redescendent. Le système nerveux du ventre agis. J'espère que son ventre va mieux. Elle en était au dégoût. Perte d'appétit. Comment faire pour la libérer de ses chaîne sans substances? Des mots, des paroles. C'était vraiment une soirée magnifique. J'aurais pas imaginé mieux. Je me suis rien imaginé. J'ai été moi. Flavian Roger Jacquot. Je suis fière mais elle l'est elle. Si je lui dit que je n'avais pas vécu ni ressenti ça pendant longtemps, comment elle réagirais ? Elle se sentirais enfermé. Ou bien ça la rassurerait sur sa valeur. Should i stay or should i go? Je partirais à 02h22. J'entends one more time en fond. Je pense à la suite. Et à elle. Les sentiments que j'éprouve me dépassent. Je baille. La 4eme source de dopamine s'active. Je vais passer faire un coucou au chica et à l'équateur. Je partirais à 3h21 rentré à 3h44. Il reste 5mn. Plus le temps passe moins elle a des chances de revenir. Elle doit penser que je suis déjà parti. Hé c'est comme ça. Pourquoi je ne prends pas les choses en main? Car c'est le deuxième rdv qui est kantao. Je dois me lever à 1h. Je dois dormir pour ne pas avoir de cerne. La barbe et les cheveux c'est bon. Les cicatrices sont camouflés. Je voudrais pouvoir les montrer sans crainte du regard et jugement des autres. Il reste 2 mn. Elle est repassé et elle ne m'a pas vu? Je ne sais pas. 1mn. Je n'était jamais venu ici. Comment repartir? Par le long chemin. Non par le court elle me verra passer de son balcon. Il est 02h23.

[quietthoughtsloudworlddiary]

3H21

Je vais essayer de me rendormir pour être en forme demain.

[my-jokes-are-my-armour]

@everything-but-the-not-natural this was from Lucca's comics and games event in Italy. There were 2 interviews with him. [X] About 50min in for the first and 3h21 for the second.

[3h21universe-blog]

FORBIDDEN LOVE by 3h21

_________________________________

https://www.3h21.me/

[campterodactyl]

Light ofmd spoilers ⤵️

Izzy : “Ed are you in here? We don’t have all day!”

Stede: “ Is that Blackbeard?”

Blackbeard : “ Mhh? Nooo, I’m Blackbeard “

Stede : *freaking out*

Blackbeard : * enjoying himself so much* “shhhhhh”

Stede : *freaking out intensify*

This scene killed me 😄

Go watch the show ! It’s silly, it’s fun, it’s queer, it’s a cute romance with pirates ! ^^

So sorry tho, the beard and hair was a bit to much of a challenge for me. Couldn’t finish it properly

Ed:

Total strokes made : 4124

Time spent : 2h54

Stede:

Total strokes made: 9046

Time spent : 3h21

[chaylattes]

why is apathy cool.... who made it cool to not.... care............. why are people so.... afriad to... genuinely like things.....

[nangmuadong]

Trời ạ, để lên đc tàu mà như đóng phim hành động. Chạy mệt đứt cả hơi.

3h30 tàu chạy, định đi từ 2h cho sớm sủa vì biết Hà Nội ko vội đc đâu. Mà loanh quanh dọn dẹp chuẩn bị đúng 3h mới đi đc từ Định Công ra Long Biên. Bà chị đi bằng oto từ trước hơi tí lại gọi bảo quên này quên kia nhờ mang về hộ. Thế là tự nhiên phải xách thêm 1 đống đồ nặng trĩu, lùng tùng.

Gọi grab mãi ko đc, may anh xe ôm gần chung cư đi đc ngay. Dọc đường chỗ nào cũng đông nghịt người. Cứ nghĩ thứ 2 thì vắng hơn chứ. Đến nơi là 3h21. Lên ngồi tàu là 3h27.

Tàu nay đầy ắp ng và lạ quá, lần đầu thấy ghế kiểu này, tưởng lên nhầm chứ. Đi đc 1 đoạn mới thông báo số hiệu tàu, nơi đi nơi đến mới biết ko nhầm.😂

Trời lạnh mà để điều hoà rõ lạnh mãi ko ngủ đc... Ghế sau thì có bé trai cứ đạp chân uỳnh uỳnh lên ghế mình, kéo lên kéo xuống cái rèm cửa, hát đi hát lại cái bài tiếng Trung gì ấy trên top top... Haiz... Nay xách nhiều đồ nên cũng ko mua dừa dầm gì nữa...

[seirindono]

Hummm if you are in another country it's normal but if you're in France je ne vois pas pk je reçoit des notification (i'm not complaining I love you're art)

Just worried I guess it's literally 3h21 sooooo

Oof, no, I'd just programmed the publication for tonight, don't worry.

3:00 a.m. is a little too late even for me. La vraie question c’est, qu’est ce que toi tu faisais encore debout, hmm ?

[virgoneism]

Chúc mừng sinh nhật em!

Hé lu, Ngọc Tuyết được 20 tuổi hơn 3 tiếng rùi nè, à không 18 tuổi lần thứ 3 :> mình tính kêu Ngọc Tuyết lên để chúc mừng sinh nhật với nói chuyện một tí mà Ngọc Tuyết bận nên thui hì. Thôi thì Ngọc Tuyết tuổi mới vui vẻ hơn, trưởng thành hơn nhưng vẫn làm em bé của mình nhen :p chúc bà được mọi thứ thuận lợi như mong muốn, tui biết tui chẳng giúp được gì đâu, lại còn làm bà giận nữa, nhưng mà khi nào bà cần thì cứ nhắn tui nhen.

Dạo này chắc mọi thứ khó khăn với bà lắm, tui xin lỗi vì tui chẳng giúp được gì cả.

Tui biết tui nên thay đổi nhiều hơn, tui xin lỗi.

Hmm thui hôm nay đi chơi với Bin chắc cũng vui rùi hen. Còn mấy cái quà kệ đi, hong có gì đâu, khi nào gặp rùi tui đưa sau cũng được.

Chắc chắn điều đầu tiên tui làm khi gặp bà là ôm bà thật là lâuuuuu.

Chắc chắn điều tui đang nghĩ trong đầu lúc 3h21 phút sáng này không có gì khác ngoài Ngọc Tuyết cả.

Chắc chắn là tui vẫn đang ổn.

Hoặc ít nhất tui nghĩ mình như thế.

Thôi nào hôm nay sinh nhật Ngọc Tuyết mà, ai lại đi khóc vào sinh nhật người yêu thế này nhỉ hehe.

Mà tui nói nè, tui cũng muốn nói chuyện với Ngọc Tuyết nhiều lắm chứ, tui cũng cố gắng lắm rồi đó, nên bà có thể nào giúp tui mở lời một xíu được hong.

Ngọc Tuyết ngủ sớm đi nhen, sáng mai bà có tiết đầu đó.

Tui cũng có.

Tui không ổn chút nào.

Tui không biết sau này bà có đọc được những dòng này không,

Nhưng tui thực sự xin lỗi.

Tui biết bà đang giận tui lắm.

Mà thực ra tui chả biết gì cả.

Tui mong tụi mình im lặng như thế này vì giận, chứ không phải vì hết yêu nhau, hết thương nhau.

Tui có vài điều vậy thôi.

Thứ sáu, 21 tháng 10 năm 2021.

[corallorosso]

KATHRINE SWITZER COMBATTÉ IL MASCHILISMO NELLO SPORT CORRENDO LA MARATONA DI BOSTON Kathrine Switzer aveva diciannove anni quando nel 1967 decise di correre la maratona di Boston violandone le regole. La gara era infatti interdetta alla partecipazione femminile. Secondo gli organizzatori le donne non erano in grado di competere sulle 26 miglia del tracciato. L'anno prima Bobbi Gibb aveva partecipato alla competizione sotto mentite spoglie. Iscrivendosi sotto falso nome e vestendosi da uomo era riuscita a correre fino al traguardo raggiungendo il 125° posto su 500 partecipanti con un tempo di 3h21'. L'anno seguente Khatrine raccolse il testimone ma decise di dare battaglia a tutto campo. Non si travestì e non cambiò nome ma usò solo le iniziali nel modulo di iscrizione. Accompagnata dal fidanzato Tom Miller, lanciatore di pesi di 109 kg, si presentò puntuale alla partenza. Passarono pochi minuti dall'inizio della gara quando Khatrine finì per essere notata da alcuni fotografi, che seguivano da un pulman, i concorrenti. Alcuni di loro cominciarono ad urlare "c'è una ragazza" e a scattare delle foto. Anche il direttore della corsa Jock Semple era sul pulman. Noto per la sua visione retrograda e per il suo carattere rissoso, scese dal veicolo, rincorse Khatrine ed iniziò a strattonarla gridando "vattene dalla mia gara e dammi la pettorina!". Tom che seguiva la ragazza intervenne energicamente placcando Semple e mandandolo con il sedere a terra. Khatrine, ormai libera, poté continuare la sua corsa e raggiungere il traguardo. La sua storia fece il giro del mondo, e questa foto divenne un simbolo di lotta contro le discriminazioni di genere. Pochi anni dopo la maratona fu finalmente aperta alle donne. Khatrine partecipò per ben otto volte alla competizione e nel 1974 trionfò con un tempo di 2h51'. Cannibali e Re

[helloitsblueuniverse]

Você havia chegado tarde naquele dia, não que eu me importasse, você sempre chegava tarde. Eu me lembro exatamente.

Eram 2h26 da manhã e você chegou feito um furacão, tinha esquecido a chave e nós ganhamos uma multa na manhã seguinte pelo gritaria que você fez para que eu abrisse a porta. Você estava toda descabelada e sorridente, quase não piscava os olhos e andava apenas se apoiando nas coisas, gritou comigo quando eu perguntei aonde estava e então se sentou na mesa da cozinha comendo o resto da janta.

As 3h10 eu consegui colocar você debaixo do chuveiro, por alguns curtos minutos foi engraçado escutar você dizer que estava chovendo. 3h21 eu consegui tirar você do banheiro e te deitar na cama, você estava enjoada. Ás 3h46 você tinha vomitado seis vezes e choramingava dizendo que sua garganta doía. Ás 4h00 você já havia adormecido, porém, eu permanecia na cadeira ao lado da sua cama, alisando a sua mão que estava enrolada na minha, uma mexa de seus cabelos negros caiu em seu rosto e seu peito ia e vinha em longas respiradas.

Às 4h30 eu voltei para meu quarto e tentei dormir também, mas às 4h34 você acordou gritando, tinha tido um pesadelo, às 4h40 você estava aninhada aos meus braços e às 4h42 pediu para que eu nunca lhe abandonasse.

Mal sabia você, que te abandonar era a última coisa que eu queria.

[magistralucis]

Danger - Taiko [Commentary]

(Disclaimer: I’m terribly sleep deprived and have just finished the 1st full listen of Taiko, and am currently on my second. This is not so much a review as it’s a collection of my thoughts during the playthrough; I’m not knowledgeable re: Danger’s intentions for this album and have put no biographical nor philosophical thought into it yet, because I’m trying to put myself into the mindset of someone entirely new to Danger listening to this. So I’m getting this down before I have a chance to form powerful opinions about which tracks are the highlights of this album and which are worth skipping, which are definitely opinions that might be worth discussing at some other point but aren’t so much helpful when I want to follow the whole album. Reviews are probably best left for someone far more knowledgeable than I am, but well. Two cents and all.)

[1789 Records - 7:17 - 11:02]

This is music that knows that it is being watched.

That is the broadest opinion I can lend to this album as a whole. I bundle those three tracks into one because they flow right into one another; they should be considered collectively as one intro, if I might say so. Taiko starts off slow. But by the time I’m done with 7:17 - when the beats begin to speed up rather abruptly around the 1 min 56 sec mark, I suddenly find my heart is pounding, and that I have been tossed into the midst of all this without quite realizing it. The static that marks off a three-part structure (more on this later) doesn’t help matters. This is, in some way, music that knows and syncs with what you’re feeling.

Then comes 11:02. Holy fuck. Where do I even begin. 

Okay well. I go nuts for choral effects. That’s a thing I can confess to. If 7:17 was the introduction to the album, pumping you up for what’s to come, 11:02 is the first story that stands on its own. The first bit introduces the rhythm and choral effects, the beat drops about 30 secs in - there’s a passing resemblance of serenity before we return to the rhythm and chorus - and it gets even more lively about two minutes and a half in. It’s well-structured and fades out very cleanly, completing the marvelous intro to Taiko as a whole. 

This is amazingly satisfying. It’s like... it’s boss battle music. I am looking forward to the rest of this.

[11:03]

This is the first track where we begin to understand... well, why Taiko, out of all things. The first minute of this are positively East Asian in tone - sounds comfortingly familiar - then the actual meat of the track begins. It doesn’t return to the starting mood again until halfway through, then again at the end, which gives this track a rough ABABA structure: refrain, verse, refrain. I have come to notice recently that that is not a standard Danger feature, which I may be able to say more about later.  

Also: static. Tiny bursts of white noise are present throughout the entirety of this album, not just 11:03, but where static introduced a new track or indicated shifts to a different mood within a track before, this one fades out with it. I note it first here because that’s when I first began paying attention to the role of static in Taiko. One minute’s difference to 11:02. Hmm.

[22:41]

Fuck yeah. I’m seeing a return to some old Danger in this one. The point of this commentary isn’t bringing up old Danger tracks constantly, but fuck it. A similarity is a similarity. A more lively version of ‘22h39′, anyone?

Static governs 22:41 quite heavily, too. The mood shifts ever so slightly with each instance. The instruments at the background during 3 min 50 secs onwards are also notable - if you know much about taiko as in the Japanese art of drumming and performance, this is probably the first track that would speak to you regarding it. There are others that do that with more urgency, so let’s get to them.

[19:00]

I’m spinnin’ in the desert, dyin’ to live, livin’ to die...

This is growing on me. I honestly don’t know what to make of fully sung vocals with Danger music in general, I guess I’m just not used to it or something. Danger hasn’t ever been a songwriter for me. But there’s probably a reason why 19:00 was offered download ahead of all the other tracks in the album - I got my copy through iTunes - in that it’s a fairly apt summary of the mentality behind Taiko in general (as well as a Tupac reference? Possibly?).

I distinctly recall Danger saying that this album is about innocence. Losing it, even. Wondering whether it does any good, even. But wanting it anyway. 19:00 pretty much spells it out for you.

Here I take a break. Six tracks in and Danger has already made the point that the tracks are not simply to be judged separately, but as part of a broader cinematic experience. I’m tired and too dumb to think hard about it at the moment, but I’ll be keeping this in mind as I continue.

Sidenote 01: You know, we actually put a lot of faith in Danger’s titles, when it’s claimed that they reflect the time of day when they were finished. We might not have much reason to question it, but how do we like, know that. What if he just decided that the aesthetics of a number suited a song better and changed it to that instead of the actual finishing hour? We’d never know know, would we? I mean, I don’t know what major incentive he has to be untruthful about this, and even if he were, not titling a song after the exact hour and minute isn’t any skin off our back. It’s not a problem. 

But you know... it makes me wonder. What do we really get out of those titles when we see one like ‘4h30′ (for example)? Because for me, it’s definitely not the sentiment that ah yes, that definitely sounds like a song that was finished off to splendid daybreak. Something about the numerical value of the song makes the titles hard to remember, and thus, blur into a false image of equivalence; if Danger announced tomorrow that ‘4h30′ was going to be called ‘16h30′ from now on, would it really change your opinions about the emotions that the song invokes? What about ‘13h09′? ‘3h21′? I doubt it, personally. But I think if SebastiAn, for example, announced tomorrow that ‘So Huge’ was going to be called... I don’t even know... ‘The Metaphysical Impossibility of Death in the Back of a VIP Room’ from now on, I think that would probably shift the way I look at that song, before and after the name change, and potentially my opinion on Sebastian himself. Same thing if the name change was to something more ordinary. Point is, words mean things, yet numbers seem to hold less priority over one’s minds. At least immediately. I don’t know. I’m making too much out of a passing thought.

[9:00]

I’m immensely glad that Danger isn’t an Asian-appropriative musician.

That comes across as a thing I just blurted out from nowhere, but... it does mean a lot to me. Take it from me when I say that this man really understands what taiko drums are about. Writing down what ‘taiko’ means as an art would be a thesis’s worth of work - but I listen to this track, comparing it with the prior 22:41, and I hear what he learnt. Literally. 9:00 is pretty much the encapsulation of what it means to learn, which in the context of taiko (and many other forms of old Japanese art) basically means the search for perfection in the form (kata) that those before you have left behind. These taiko samples scattered within the album are, by definition of being taiko drums, depictions of rhythms and patterns passed down through taiko players through generations at a time. You don’t really improvise or do your own thing when it comes to kata-heavy arts like this. It’s a pretty damned good metaphor for returning continuously to the past, like what Danger said.

Anyway, that is a... strange mood change around 2 min 50 secs...

[6:42]

Okay this is getting long now and Imma put the review under a cut from here. I wasn’t feeling this track until around 45 secs in. I knew that I noted something about this song down before I was just trying to get to where it was making sense sorry about that

The taiko beats are far less pronounced in 6:42. Further apart, very even, singular beats. But for once, it’s not them I’m listening to. On the first listen I jotted down something about mu - in taiko philosophy, the liminal gap that comes between the beats is just as important as the beats and posture - but then I realized I was probably approaching it too seriously. The second half of this track features heavy, even breathing sounds which reflect that we’re now verging onto the second half of the album; there are 15 tracks, this is the eighth, and I feel like what’s taking place is a figurative breather. I need it.

[10:00]

This feels like a lighter and more disturbing version of 9:00. I don’t know what to make of it in all honesty, if Taiko was the soundtrack to an anime or movie this would be like the readying-yourself-for-a-mission BGM.

I don’t even know if this is making sense anymore. Also those whispery samples are kind of disturbing to me ymmv

[0:59]

... Kavinsky is that you?

Forget the taiko drums for a bit. Wow. This is some excellent driving music. Quiet and menacing and subtle, 0:59 is probably the track that does the best job at invoking images (apart from 19:00 and 11:50, which have vocals) out of the entire album.

[11:50]

The same comments I made about vocals in Danger music for 19:00 apply here as well. In a way, I feel that 10:00, 0:59 and 11:50 make up yet another three-parter. The screeching samples used in all three tracks are distinct, and yet close enough to invoke each other (see 1 min 11 sec for the kind of ‘screeching’ I mean).

The heavy autotune kind of threw me off to begin with, but let me tell you, it’s nothing compared to the logical extension of said heavy autotune that takes place from 3 min 44 sec onwards. It needs to be heard to be believed.

Time for another break, I think.

Sidenote 02: This isn’t just a Taiko thing, but... leaving all talk of sound or genre aside, I feel like what really makes Danger tracks stand out is the fact that they follow a narrative. They’re not necessarily a specific narrative of anything - we can’t listen to a song and think wow, that definitely relates to an experience Danger had at the tender age of 23 or that this song is about the eternal struggle between thanatos and eros - but I mean that they follow a structure that’s not unfamiliar for literature. An intro, conflict, and ending, not the verse-and-refrain or theme-and-variations that we might otherwise expect of a lot of music out there. Each section has a different color to them, and it’s not uncommon for Danger tracks to end quite dissimilarly to how they begun or through callbacks to completely different songs altogether. This is completely in line with what he himself said about his creation process in an interview, but right about now is where it really sunk in for me.

[21:10]

The last third of the album. 21:10 is pretty kickin’ to start with, but I’m not sure what else to say about it. And I almost swear to god I have heard this exact melody and beat somewhere else before.

One minute in. Yeah, this track is like recalling a dream that I never actually had in the first place. Danger might have lost me here again. It’s not bad, it’s just... not immensely notable. Moving onto the next

[19:19]

This is more like it!

So far in Taiko, I think three tracks are genuine stand-outs when it comes to actually using the drumbeats in their narrative: 22:41, 9:00, and 19:19. There’s a lot in this one track - old Danger sounds are revisited (I immediately think of ‘4h30′, ‘1h30′, ‘13h12′) as well as woven amidst the drums, which by this point have proved themselves a faithful backbone to the epic experience this album has shaped up to be. Taiko beats literally announce 19:19′s beginning, let alone accompany the other sounds in it; by the end of it you’d have heard a smorgasbord of other noises, such as an actual organ and sirens and whatnot, which sort of speaks to me as Danger hashing out all his influences in one song kind of ‘Giorgio by Moroder’-style.

Also I think the music might be slightly off-tune around the two-minute mark but I can’t tell whether that’s just me or what.

[8:10]

I want to talk about kata in more detail.

I’m so tired atm I’m probably not going to make much sense but. Hear me out. You know how martial arts across the East and West seem to differ greatly on their attitudes to positions, postures, and stuff like that? A lot of Western martial arts focus directly on practical applications - sparring, and whatnot - but it’s not uncommon for a practitioner of kendo or karate or such arts to be focused on the repetitive perfecting of form. You do that on your own for most part; sometimes you need a partner to practice a mutual kata with, but basically the point of kata is like... basically, it’s running a simulation of what the perfect execution of an art would be, with yourself as the subject. Repeated practice of tried-and-tested posture and technique help to discipline you, and allow you to know what is to be expected.

You don’t ever learn a kata-based art like you pick up programming languages or mess around on Photoshop to develop your own fluency. Under a kata philosophy, those techniques are the ones being taught to you in the first place because they are the polished jewels resulting from the efforts of countless masters who have come before you. The focus of those arts is not putting in your 10,000 hours to become a master at it; the form itself is the knowledge, it’s already there for you to come along and get it, and to practice its art is to internalize it until you understand it on your own. Kind of like how if you’re an artist, you’re probably never going to attain perfection in your art and can only get better and better as you go along with no end in sight. It’s the moments where you look back on yourself and see how far you’ve come, or the realizations you get about something you found so hard before but not so much now, that contain the beauty that you seek.

A lot of that is the philosophy behind taiko drumming. It is both the advantage and disadvantage of kata that it cannot help but be ridiculously traditionalist - you’re passing down knowledge and it only gets more powerful the older it is, there is almost no room for the new. And you’re never going to live up to the sheer power of the old forms. But then, trying to equal it isn’t the point of kata-based arts. It’s the acknowledgement that each person’s journey towards the old and powerful forms will be different, and that the satisfaction comes from seeing how you yourself fare in it. If you apply that to Danger’s intentions, it’s like... Danger is not even remotely the first artist, in EDM or otherwise, to have worked with Japanese influences, to have thought about innocence, about his childhood, about the current of violence and resentment in France. These topics will endure forever, but the art based off it may not. We are simply watching Danger’s foray into old thoughts long since crystallized into his being, with a new hint or influence here or there, forever revisiting the past from the new. Like taiko practitioners, as he said.

This is not a commentary on the track 8:10. It is an overall realization. But this is the penultimate track of the album and the realization comes at the right time. As I said, this post isn’t meant to be like a well-thought review or whatever - I am writing down my feelings as they come. I think my attempts have been quite fruitful so far, though.

All right. I’m ready. Let’s end this, M. Rivoire.

[3:00]

...

e h ?

I guess this is the outro to ease you out of the album as much as the intro slowly eased you into it. There are not many surprises in this track and I almost wonder if he could not have ended it with 8:10, but then... I fear that might have been too abrupt for anyone’s liking.

Again, it’s not a bad thing. If anything, Danger bookending this album with slow intros and outros make structural sense holy christ what the fuck is happening at 1 min 20 secs the song’s losing its shit

So okay. There are surprises here and there. There’s nothing hurtling you into the music like 11:02 does, but Danger leaves behind a tone of vital uncertainty for the ending in throwing in strange twists and offbeats.

Is it a satisfying conclusion? Musically not. Logically, and philosophically, yes. Taiko isn’t a ‘Danger is granted serenity to accept the things he cannot change, the courage to change the things he can, and the wisdom to know the difference’ type of album. As far as I can tell, there isn’t any solid conclusive statement he’s making here about what his life has been like and what he wants you to get out of it - no, he leaves behind a reel looping a quiet, unsteady, hopeful song (kind of how life usually is) waiting to paint more things upon that reel from some other future time.

It is as good a final song as it gets. It is now finished. So is this commentary.

What a fantastic album, what an experience! I’ll be thinking heavily on this for the next few weeks or so, no doubt. If anyone kept up with me for all of this so far, thank you very much!