Plugging in

(Art by Stacy)

I’m listening to Brimstone (bandcamp link) at the moment. I recently discovered the duo on Soundcloud and I’m in love with their music. Here’s how they described it;

Brimstone is the mood of late fall and early spring. As pure as dew, as strong as storm, the stunning flow of uncontrollable energy piles on you. It carries some kind of message from the future, which is impossible to say in human language, it could be felt if only plunging deep into the atmosphere of creation… 

They create a dark ambient atmosphere and if you listen on dedicated headphones, you’ll hear more of the details. The soundscape is gorgeous and there is absolutely something primal about bass frequencies. I own a pair of headphones that doesn’t enhance them, but listen to this on something that does. 

I also found this lovely blog called Walking with Aki via the wordpress discovery channel. I’m loving the simple narration of the landscape and the photography and I’m secretly hoping to read more about Aki the little dog. It must be the curiosity of reading about a furry personality.

Some interesting real life news… my Skull Candy earphones recently broke and I brought a pair of Sennheiser’s on eBay. They arrived today and I’m super happy with the sound quality. A part of me is glad that I can go back to plugging into my own world, but I’m thoughtful. For example… I would’ve missed the high school politics going on between two girls whilst I was waiting for my train. I was mortified to be honest. It left me with a thoughtful train ride home.

I would’ve missed the couple at the vending machine doing brilliant teamwork to score their choice plushie. I stopped to watch and almost felt as excited as the girlfriend waiting for the plushie to fall.

I would’ve missed the sound of bird wings whooshing through the park as the pigeons, seagulls and occasional ibis flocked towards their latest source of food.

I would’ve missed the conversation I had with the elderly lady on the train. I learned she was 69 and came alone from Shanghai to visit a lifelong friend. She reiterated this more than twice. She had wrinkles around her eyes. The kind that makes you think she smiles a lot.

The moment we shifted from Mandarin to Shanghainese, I felt at home. I have a conversational grasp of the language. Anyone fluent in it would hear my accent… but… a shift happens when I speak it. A stranger becomes less of a stranger.

Perhaps, that was the most interesting thing to happen to me without earphones. A conversation with a stranger about how beautiful this country is; the blue skies, the green trees, the Jacaradas, the ‘fun’ shopping experience.

I wonder if others experience this dichotomy; feeling at home in a language they’re not fluent in. For a moment in that afternoon, the walls came tumbling down and I felt a lighthearted openness in our conversation.