#highway thoughts

[kom-poetry-channel]

In my daughter's defense, she no longer says "capitalism" with ThatSpecific Intonation; much to my surprise, her school has apparently done its job of indoctrinating her in the Correct ideology by exposing her to "The Girl in the Red Scarf". However, I wrote the poem before that happened; it took me a long time to put the videotogether. Nonetheless she still does not appreciate the enormousmind-boggling scale of our civilisation; perhaps you have to have seen it increase, before you can really notice it.

Tolkien's "no beautiful things" is a throwaway line about goblin workshops, and it's possible I'm defaming the man by taking it to refer to all the products of industry (and also he might respond that nothing mass-produced can be "well built", but there he'd be JustWrong); but in the depiction of Mordor and the Scouring of the Shireit does seem that he was against industry generally, not just as applied by goblins. The hell to which I consign him would, obviously, consist merely of living in the Shire with nothing machine-made. There's an ironic punishment, if you like.

I can no longer remember which language I first composed this in, it may have varied line by line.

There's a highway between my house and my office. I cross it in the morning going to work; and in the afternoon, coming home. If you stop, at the apex of the bike bridge, and think about life for a minute, as one does - though you will have to do this one; I have things to do,and bills to pay - perhaps a thousand cars might pass beneath your feet.

A thousand cars?A thousand tons of metal! Glass, steel, titanium, copper, tungsten, platinum, rhodium, lead. Metal ripped from the uncaring Earth, smelted and forged, cunningly wrought so that it leaps at the lightest touch of foot to pedal. "Many clever things,'' the gentleman poet says, "but no beautiful ones''; well. To hell with him. He never sat the front seat of a coach-and-six and shivered through the rain that his patron might make an important meeting. Call me a goblin if you like: There's beauty in things well built.

An unending stream of shaped iron: Power beyond the dreams of kings. No committee decreed this, no czar nor emperor commanded it. A thousand tons of iron were ripped from the uncaring Earth; but not to make tanks for defense of the Motherland; not to build a monument to the glory of kings; no heroic patriotism dug the coal that smelted this iron. People did this, uncommanded: Because we had things to do,and bills to pay.

My eldest doesn't see what I do, standing on the bridge. She has things to do, but no bills to pay; a mere kiloton of iron passing every minute beneath her feet has no power to impress her. "Capitalism,'' she says, and there's venom in her voice; copied from a dozen streamers. That's irony, if you like: A thousand tons of it, ripped from the uncaring Earth, forged and streamed, cruelly wrought to get the most clicks. Capitalism doesn't sell.

It's all right, though. No doubt I, too, was unimpressed when my father tried to point out some miracle of logistics that he had not been born to. It's hard to be mindful of the sheer boundless power of the beast when you sit atop it and it obediently carries you as it has done all your life.

When all's said and done - provided only words are said, and no violence done - the wealth beyond the dreams of kings, the power and the glory, is only what we build because we have things to do, and bills to pay.

[n2qfd]

I came from companies that previously had intense safety programs where we did a lot of training. One of the things that stuck was this idea that I think originated with OSHA. You had levels of safety being more effective. A safety culture that is a mindset a group mindset that everybody participating bought into was the best, and you had engineering controls like hardware covering dangerous parts of a machine, detailed instructions on how to do a task, at the bottom, you had personal protective equipment. That bottom tier should be thought of his gloves and hardhat and goggles.

As I was driving yesterday, I wondered if this translates to other avenues of our lives and specifically industrial hygiene.

I wondered are there people who are driving cars now relying on the PPE? That is their seatbelts and airbags over the engineering controls such as the speed limit signs or the striping on the road? Over a culture that would suggest we are using a shared interface with very dangerous machines, and that we should be thinking about our fellows on the road?

And I wondered as a country where are we at as citizens? Are we assuming the PPE will save us instead of buying into a group culture that agrees we all have rights and want to mutually succeed? It seems like we’re losing the engineering control, which I think would’ve been Law and those involved in the enforcement of law.

It seems like the populists have managed to sell a lot of people on the idea that some fantastically imbued PPE will protect them better than adherence to engineering controls or acceptance of cultural outlooks of mutuality.

There has to be more ground between what I would suggest as a Japanese style monoculturalism, and an American style in individualism that we can agree on. 

Thinking back to an old experiment done with children to suggest the downsides to hyper marketing products. Children were offered a choice at what was typically a time of day when they would be eating between a banana and a rock with a Shrek sticker. Many children went for the rock.

We’ve reached in moment where adults would choose a hardhat with MAGA iconography or some equally childish left wing sticker on it over making better decisions involving their skulls, or their neighbors, or their country.

[url-is-url]

WHAT IF EMBER GETS POWER FROM PEOPLE SAYING HER NAME BECAUSE SHE'S TRANS

Like. Imagine. Imagine the angst. Imagine you're a wee baby trans girl and you're just about ready to come out and then you fucking DIE before you can do so and therefore get buried with the wrong name. WOULD YOU NOT BECOME A GHOST AND HAUNT SOME SHIT? I WOULD BECOME A GHOST AND HAUNT SOME SHIT.

[c-rowlesdraws]

🎃 it’s ween 🎃

[putschki1969]

The "rito" Situation

Following my post about Hitoshi Konno, I thought it would only be fitting, to round up some info on rito as well, especially after the most recent announcement. When the detailed lineup for YKL Vol#21 was released, many people were not only shocked by Keiko's absence, they were also wondering why rito was not included. I received as many questions about her as I did for Hitoshi Konno but I didn't really feel qualified to talk about her (I still don't really but now we have a bit more information to work with). There's not much to say here and also, her connection to Kalafina (and Keiko's situation) is peripheral at best so I will keep this short.

Today, on January 31 2025, rito announced her departue from Highway Star. Her contract will officially end on March 31 and it seems like no attempts have been made by either rito or the agency to extend said contract. It sounds like it was mostly rito's own decision to distance herself from her current situation so that would also explain why she's no longer participing in YK events as regular member. Judging from her personal comment and Yuki's tweets on the matter (she has nothing but kind things to say about her), this is most likely a standard case of moving on due to a lack of creative opportunities. Perhaps she didn't find what she was looking for or she simply exhausted all possible avenues at Highway Star or maybe she had hoped to gain more from her collaboration with Yuki, who knows. Obviously, these have been some valuable experiences for her but now she is seeking new paths.

Even to a casual onlooker like myself it does feel like she kinda fell along the wayside during these past few years and not much was invested in her. As far as I know, she did have a couple of solo releases and a dedicated song from Yuki on the PARADE album but other than that, nothing much to write home about. Her appearances at lives and events were a great bonus of course but despite frequently being referred to as "regular member", both her and Lino Leia didn't have a lot to do. Maybe that's changing now with all the restructering taking place but sadly, rito will mostly likely not benefit from that. Yuki did include her in one of her "top secret" recordings from last year so we'll see if that will lead to anything at least. It's a shame she wasn't used more, I like her voice a lot more than Lino's tbh and it fits better with Yuki's style of music if you ask me...but one has to admit that Lino is the more seasoned singer among them with what appears to be a lot more experience handling her own solo stuff so my best guess is that she's quite happy with the current arrangement since she can effectively juggle all of her activities. In contrast, rito seems to have been a newbie with no established solo career. Also not sure about their exact age but I'd assume that rito is probably a bit younger than a lot of Yuki's other vocalists (could be completely off on that though, I've honestly no idea how old any of them are but rito just comes across as quite young).

Circling back to Kalafina for a little bit here. Just the other day I was having some discussions in the reply section of one of my posts and among other things, I was talking about why Hikaru (and even Keiko) would have never considered signing up with Highway Star during all these years. After all, Keiko could have just as well joined Highway Star instead of Tristone back in 2020 when she made her solo debut. And Hikaru has been a struggling freelancer for quite some time now so a contract with a seemingly decent agency (with the added bonus of an official Yuki Kajiura affiliation) would have sounded like a good idea to me. We don't know of course if it was entirely their choice or if Highway Star (and Yuki) were not willing to negotiate something with them. Whatever the reason might have been, now I am thinking it was maybe for the best that they never joined. Their management of rito was certainly not great.

[falderaletcetera]

okay who wants a fucking great country-ish song about the 401 highway, apparently the busiest highway in both canada and the US and an absolute nightmare to drive on?

(because I didn't think I needed this but apparently really do, and it has single-digit likes on youtube, so I figure it can stand to be seen by more people.)

this guy has minimal online presence and only two songs actually for sale anywhere but @darkfinch managed to find this, which has some info and songs on it.

and now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna go relisten, because this song goes hard and is quite happily stuck in my head <3

~

lyrics:

this is a long highway and it might take a day to drive from detroit back to montreal where the big rigs roll down through ontario and cars go speeds they should never go (never go, never go) take a look ahead flashing lights of red another crash out on the blacktop run on the news it says another driver's dead that brings the toll this month to twenty one (twenty one, twenty one) I took a ride today out on the king's highway from montreal to toronto bay justice will have its day with your life you'll pay better pay heed, so the people say keep your hands at ten and two do what you have to do keep them there until the drive is done or you may walk this road a lost and lonely soul another death out on the 401

just between you and I how can you justify the life you took with the pedal down (pedal down, pedal down) the ghosts they roam the road looking for their home and if they spoke you never hear the sound (sound, sound) I took a ride today out on the king's highway from montreal to toronto bay justice will have its day with your life you'll pay better pay heed, so the people say keep your hands at ten and two do what you have to do keep them there until the drive is done or you may walk this road a lost and lonely soul another death out on the 401 another death out on the 401

~

[pearly-sims]

Hey so uh

[renchanters]

anyone else like songs so much they feel crazy

[pokimoko]

There's been an crashed car on the side of the highway that leads me home from work for about a week now, but today there was a cardboard sign beside it that said 'Please don't burn me! I'll be better soon!'

And I know it was just the owner asking for some common decency, but it also felt kinda poetic to me. Like yeah, I know I'm a little broken right now, in fact I have been for a while, but please be kind and don't break me beyond repair. I don't want to be stuck here forever. I'll be better soon, so long as you give me a chance.

Anyway I'm rooting for you, crashed car. I hope you find your way home soon. 💜

[merge-conflict]

Goro cupped her cheek, thumb running over the edge of her tight smile before it faded. “In that alley…I thought if you asked me, then I would help. But, you did not ask.” His tone was light, almost wistful. “You smiled and then–“ He released her, gestured gently. “–turned away.” “I didn’t smile.” “You did.” His expression was soft, bittersweet. “It is a not a sight I will soon forget.” In truth the memory was hazy, volatile. There was the moment when she had first seen him, and it had been a little shock, something sharp and inarticulate. Maybe he was right.

the damn things overlap, 7 - some things you do for money

Commission by the incredibly skilled @nananarc

Also as an added bonus the original scene from Valentine's pov:

He fell back, head striking the pavement with a thump. She watched him, chest heaving, one hand on the knife still buried in her shoulder. Blood was roaring through her ears, but everything else was quiet. Cautiously, she crouched down next to his body, transfixed by the sight of him. The ripper had lost consciousness almost immediately, but this one had known what was going to happen.  <C’mon V, gotta keep moving.>   There was a wary note in Johnny’s voice. She resented his presence, but she despised his condescension more. The facile comments, the smug self-righteous air, as though he were a paragon of virtue merely for having promised her something he could not give. It was not enough that he was eating her alive, but he had to exert his control now, dig in his spurs over and over until she did what he wanted. But she did not want what he wanted. <He’s dead.> Exasperation, now. There were two parts of her working along in uneasy tandem, one which regarded him with a cold professional contempt, and the other which wished they could rip him apart into silence The remaining part of her wanted to sit there a while longer, to spite him, but the adrenaline was starting to wear off. She staggered to her feet, leaning heavily on her good leg, and then froze, catching movement at the far end of the alley. <Persistent guard dog, isn’t he?> Even in an untailored button down and cheap slacks Goro cut an imposing figure. It was something in the way he moved that made the animal part of her wary. Recognition of another predator. She felt herself relax as he approached, eyes drawn briefly to the corpse at her feet before his attention returned to her. He was dangerous but he was not her enemy. “V,” he greeted her, evenly. “I wished to talk, but I see that you are busy.” If he was still angry with her she could not find it in his face. He was calm, inscrutable. Possibly he thought she had gone insane. She found she did not want to talk.

the damn things overlap, 3 - washed in the blood

[7-wonders]

Somebody in my area has a Cybertruck and whenever I see them I can’t not think about this tweet

[wist3r1a]

don’t rlly know him but I love who I think he is

[true-blue-sonic]

Silver going to Amy and asking for help to make the best chilidog ever to Sonic, meanwhile Sonic travelling the world and all the dimensions he knows to find the best caramelized apple to Silver

(I misclicked on "send ask") Hope you get better soon ^_^

Thank you ^-^ I've definitely been more miserably ill before than I am now, so that is something! Taking it very easy right now, with a lot of time spent in bed to recharge and some crocheting happening🍀

I do actually have a scene in my Sonilver fic where Sonic gets Silver a caramelised apple, and one wherein Silver makes him a chili dog in turn; it's just with Tails instead of Amy, but close enough, haha! You predicted that very nicely :> I envision Silver lives kinda out in the wild in a hideaway: in my fic he doesn't have a house (I just can't envision him having one XD But if he needs a house, I think he'd have a treehouse! <3), so he only ever cooks on a campfire or something similar. So Tails has his hands full transferring "making chili on a stove" to "on a campfire" to help Silver out! Sonic in that regard has it easier: he just buys a caramelised apple in the city Silver lives close to and gets his appies from, so he's guaranteed that Silver will like it <3 But Sonic would 100% travel all over to get more appies for Silver so he can try them all out, because Sonic is just nice like that. Though, I don't think Silver would easily pick a favourite; he's probably happy with all of them because Sonic got them for him <3

[putschki1969]

"Fate/stay night" 20th Anniversary Concert ~ring your bell~

Yuki Kajiura appeared on both days of this weekend's 20th Anniversary event for "Fate/stay night". Day 1 , "Heaven's Feel", was dedicated to her as creator while Day 2, "Unlimited Blade Works" featured Hideyuki Fukasawa as main creator.

[Heaven's Feel] 2024/9/21 Open 15:30 / Start 17:00 [Unlimited Blade Works] 2024/9/22 Open 14:30 / Start 16:00

Keiko, Hikaru and Lino Leia appeared as secret guests during today's event to perform a cover version of Kalafina's "ring your bell" at the end of the show. Personally, I thought the performance was quite messy. I've never been a big fan of the song so it's hard to impress me anyway but this here really isn't my cup of tea. It seems like their vocals aren't blending together at all, very jarring how everyone is just doing their own thing. Might be the mixing/audio? Hopefully they can fix this for the CD/BD release. Lino's voice is also very out of place imo. I know some people say her voice sounds a bit like Wakana's but I definitely don't think so.

Tweet by Hikaru | Tweet by Keiko | Tweet 1 & Tweet 2 by FSN Official | Instagram story by Keiko | Instagram post by Keiko | Tweet by Yas Nakajima | Instagram post by Hikaru | Instagram post by LINO LEIA

Both days of the event were live-streamed on the platform Zaiko. You can still buy tickets (JP¥3,500 each) for the archived version if you are interested. As far as I remember, the platform is very foreigner friendly.

Official CD Release

Live audio from both concerts will be released on CD with additional video footage available on the limited edition.

Release date: 2025/3/19 「Fate/stay night」 20th Anniversary [Unlimited Blade Works]」 Concert

Limited edition 2 CDs + 1 BD - Includes live audio and footage from the [Unlimited Blade Works] concert Price: 7,700 yen (tax included) Product code: SVWC-70691-70693

Regular edition 2 CDs - Includes live audio from the [Unlimited Blade Works] concert Price: 3,850 yen (tax included) Product code: SVWC-70694-70695

[dreamydoll222]

He was so close to confessing, to writing me a love letter, but let's be cowards once again

[grahamdollton]

just wanted to say i'm real fond of the way james says this particular thing in this one part of that audiobook that he recorded . . . . .