Jigoku ni Ike

Hell is relative, it changes with the tides, our mood, shifting with the change in life's daily stressors. Human nature is messy, and depending on our state forces us to either bury our hell in hopes that it will just go away, or we fight it - focusing the pain, fear, and anger outward to remove the source of our pain or inward in hopes of finding a way to over come it.

Much like the poem Invictus, by William Henley:

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

We plan our defenses and prepare for the siege yet to come. Praying for vengeance, and curses upon our foe then later if we survive going through survivor's guilt. Searching for understanding we grasp to justify the chaos through karma, the gods, fates and all the spirits and angels that do attend them.

But there is something strange about the hell humanity creates - - no matter how bad it gets we seem to find a way to live with it. We look at the mess and make peace with it - adjusting to the pain we begin to think it normal. Without the power to change the situation we allow the situation to change us. . . for good or ill we are either anchor'd or moved further down The Road.

Due to this flexibility of the human soul I no longer know what hell is or will be like - only that it will have phones in it :P

Mythos of Lament

The original "hook" to WoW (World of Warcraft) for me was the mythos. The history of a world that only exists in the shared will of those who created it. Unlike many other games where the realm exists only in a brief paragraph of introduction, usually on the back of the box, there is so much more here to be explored.

This is one of the major examples of how deep the mythos can go with an on-line MMORPG world can be:

"The exact origins of "Lament of the Highborne" have been lost to antiquity. Certainly the melody pre-dates the War of the Ancients, in which the song served as a lament for the fallen: a tribute to their steadfast bravery against overwhelming odds. Millennia later, the high elves of Quel'Thalas sang the lament, largely unaltered, in the Troll Wars. Here, too, the elves ultimately proved victorious, but they would not remain so. A plague of undeath swept through the human nation of Lordaeron in the Third War and converted many citizens into mindless undead minions of the Lich King. This army--the Scourge--invaded elven lands and decimated the populace, some of whom were raised into undeath and forced to join the Scourge."

"As leader of the last elven defenders of Quel’Thalas, Sylvanas Windrunner suffered a terrible fate: her spirit was ripped from her body and transformed into a banshee. When the Lich King's power faltered, however, she and other undead were freed of Scourge control. She has since reclaimed her body and become queen of these undead rebels, the Forsaken. Although her heart is full of bitterness, she cannot forget the people she once loved... "

Thalassian Version: Anar'alah, anar'alah belore, Sin'dorei, Shindu fallah na. Sin'dorei, Anar'alah, Shindu sin'dorei, Shindu fallah na. Sin'dorei, Anar'alah belore. Shindu sin'dorei, Shindu fallah na. Sin'dorei, Anar'alah belore, Belore.

Loosely translated version: By the light, by the light of the sun, Children of the blood, Our enemies are breaking through. Children of the blood, By the light, Failing children of the blood, They are breaking through. O children of the blood, By the light of the sun. Failing children of the blood, They are breaking through. O children of the blood, By the light of the sun, The sun.

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/downloads/movies.html#lament

Gollum Swinging Wild

Here be two types of insanity - both types we hold within swinging as a pendulum, existing somewhere between the two never really knowing where we've been.

One light and airy easy to touch, the other dark and black - the one fear'd so much.

The famous speaker who no one had heard of said:

Ladies and jelly spoons, hobos and tramps,
Cross-eyed mosquitoes and bow-legged ants,
I stand before you to sit behind you
In telling you something I know nothing about.

One bright day in the middle of the night
In the graveyard two dead men stood up to fight
Back to back they faced each other
Drew their swords and shot each other
A blind man was there to see fair play
And two big dummies to shout hurray

A deaf policeman heard the noise
And came and arrested the 2 dead boys

A legless donkey passing by
Kicked the blind man in the eye
Knocked him through a nine-inch wall,
Into a dry ditch that drowned them all.

If you don't believe this lie is true,
Just ask the blind man; he saw it too.

Anon.

Hmm, let's just chalk this one up to one to many rings of the phone - Muhahahahhahaha!! They ring, so pretty they chime - in the raven's voice quoth "Never Mine".

/sigh

Wouldn't that be nice :)

B'z - Itsuka no Merry Christmas

It's been a while since I've listened to this song - but the memories it brings back still seems closer than the lifetime away they have become.

Shifting Views

Today feels like a slower day, but one filled with a purpose I cannot place. It's also been a while since I've put a few items that have lasted with me for years - for some reason there are certain things that just hit right and make a subtle but definite change in how I view the world.


The Road

The road goes ever on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
I must follow if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet
And wither then I cannot say.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Warrior's Prayer

And the four spoke the words of the Warrior's Prayer.
Gods of war I call you, my sword is by my side.
I seek a life of honor, free from all false pride.
I will crack the whip with a bold mighty hail.
Cover me with death if I should ever fail.
Glory, majesty, unity hail, hail, hail.

Manowar

In many ways they act as a reminder of things past, life present, and dreams future. There are others that also fit in this category - maybe one day they will find there way here, but until then enough of my rambling - please enjoy :)

Kino's Pachelbel

I'm not sure why this song seems to linger in my mind - - I may never fully understand it and to tell you the truth there are much worse songs to have crammed in my cranium.

For some reason though I went to the tune tonight and felt the need to copy down the English lyrics - - hopefully I'll be able to track down the Japanese version, but so far I've had no luck - - may just pull what I can from the show it's self but I can only how badly I screw that up.

Anyway here's what I was able to get so far from episode 4: Land of Adults

Opening:

Far off memories of birds flying through the air
My desires fly on wings of my dreams
All thoughts from the heart of a spring day
I send to the other side of that rainbow

I can see the world's reflection in your smile

Later when Kino sings while working on Hermes and later as the episode ends:

Your eyes are a mirror in which
I can see the world's reflection
Without ever forgetting your kindness
Even if my heart is full of sad words
I will stare long and hard at the stars

Pachelbel has always been haunting, I guess the lyrics (especially when heard in the original Nihongo). This song also added a strong anchor for the series for me - a reality cross over so to speak :)

This is also the episode that the following quote comes from:

Though I did not know the place,
I set out for the land of my dreams.
Having arrived at the land of my dreams,
I found I did not know the place.

And that quote alone could easily become a posting of its own - - but that is a different story.

9/11

It's been a while since I've thought of this song, but it seems rather fitting at the moment. For those unfamiliar with the tune - it's an old Scottish song, of the many versions I've come across this one is my favorite, sung by The Corries .

The chorus of you take the high road and I'll take the low one has been around the world for a long time - - hopefully long enough to prep those vocal cords for the "blog" singers out there.

Loch Lomond

O Wither away my bonnie may
Sae late an' sae far in the gloamin'
The mist gather grey o'er moorland and brae
O wither sae far are ye roamin'?

Chorus:
O ye'll take the high road an' I'll take the low
I'll be in Scottland afore ye
For me and my true love will never meet again
By the bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond

I trusted my ain love last night in the broom
My Donald wha' loves me sae dearly
For the marrow he will march for Edinburgh toon
Tae fecht for his King and Prince Charlie

O well may I weep for yestreen in my sleep
We stood bride and bridegroom together
But his arms and his breath were as cold as the death
And his heart's blood ran red in the heather

Chorus:

As dauntless in battle as tender in love
He'd yield ne'er a foor toe the foeman
But never again frae the field o' the slain
Tae his Moria will he come by Loch Lomond

The thistle may bloom, the King hae his ain
And fond lovers may meet in the gloamin'
And me and my true love will yet meet again
Far above the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

Chorus:

sung by The Corries