Revive The Oral Tradition by The Vixen
December 1st, 2007 1:27 AM
When Burn Unit chose this task for our duel, I knew right away which completion I would write about; there wasn't even a question. However, when it came down to the amount of epic greatness achieved in my Last Day task, I realized that no matter how grand of a scale it covered, it was epic simply because I took the task into my own hands and fully immersed myself into the mindset it suggested.
This idea of "epic" has been on my mind on and off for months now. When I first started sf0 back in June, I was awed by how emotionally involved a lot of the players were and how much this community was a part of their lives. It amazed me to see such effort put into tasks that in the long run, served no other purpose than to be an outlet for their emotional and mental energy not otherwise freed by other means. I knew from the start that I wanted to be part of this "epic" way of being, but I also knew that it would take a lot of hard work to get there. So slowly, over the following months, my drive quickened and I began to focus more time on individual tasks, making sure that I didn't leave anything tarnished. However, I began to notice that standards for "epic" were raising higher and higher.
Are these standards that we place upon ourselves? Do we place them on each other? Or do they simply arise naturally, boosted by every unbeatable completion after the next?
I wanted this task to be beyond epic. I had the ballad and the piano accompaniment written out, the location, equipment and transportation planned; I even had it down to the outfit. It had the makings of grandiosity. And yet, as one thing after another went wrong and time was running out, I took a breath and stopped.
What was I doing this for in the first place?
My first intention was to revisit many of the scenes I documented in my "Last Day" task and film several stanzas at each location. This was a huge undertaking in itself, for it would require a hell of a lot of driving (and gas) which I couldn't exactly do at this time of year (what with finals, transfer applications, etc.). So I decided that I would simply film the ballad at Moss Beach where the majority of my time was spent on my last day. It sounds ridiculous, but the cliffs above a beach AREN'T the best place to film audio.
I then realized that though this was a duel meant to outdo an opponent, I wasn't playing sf0 to pull out my hair in frustration in an effort to "win". And why did I feel the need to outdo myself with the original "Last Day" task? That completion was an experience in it's own, and nothing I do could ever compete with that. So after the keyboard stand broke, the emergency brake light went on, the camcorder went dead, the sun went down and the air became freezing, I still had my song. And that song and what it says IS the heart of my "Last Day" task and is the culmination of what this task calls for.
So I don't have the frills. The special effects. I don't have a church choir or a huge audience cheering in the background. After 6 tries, I couldn't even record the song right. But it's my song, the first song I've ever written and believe me, writing it and preforming it was just as fulfilling as the task completion it's written about.
Please be real when you read/view this. The song itself is very simple, as is the chord progression, but I feel that it is merely a supplement to my "Last Day Task." A ballad'ish ode, if you will. So try to shake yourself free from your normal expectations when it comes to "epic" tasking and allow yourself to appreciate the song and performance for what it is.
And please excuse any flat notes I hit. Or keys mashed underneath my freezing fingers. Or.... ok, I won't point anything else out ;)
Her Last Day
She walks along a jagged coast
Her feet, they fall behind
It's there she tries to make the most
Of a life that's on a line
She woke to light that filtered in
Through blinds that blocked the day
It's then she heard the clock begin
To wind her life away
She poured her tea, a bite to eat
A glance at the front page
She knew her time had come to leave
Her war had ceased to wage
She left her home still safe and warm
Set off for a trail of gold
Her lungs heaved as the day she'd born
But her heart had yet to fold
The yearn for flight, the dream to flee
Overtook her grounded feet
So she sought the only way to meet
Her need for the flight of the street
The day was drawing to an end
But her heart was coming to
It was then she knew that she must spend
Her time in her place of youth
She walks along a jagged coast
Her feet, they fall behind
It's here she tries to make the most
Of a life that's on the line
After it all, it wouldn't have been made possible without the help of my wonderful assistant, Qarly! (also known as Ms. Pish.) Thank you so much for dedicating your time to me and my project, it was definitely a rewarding experience and one that was made all the better by your presence!
-V
And now for something ENTIRELY different. (Note my unfamiliarity with filming. No Kristina, it won't film vertically if the camcorder is placed that way...)
Intense
Whoa there!
I didn't know she had taken the picture...
Where did the battery go??
Relocating to the woods after realizing that while the sound of ocean waves is pretty, it's not pretty when it drowns out everything else!
Ughh!!
The sun had gone down, a battery was missing, and we still hadn't filmed the song in full...
THERE IT IS!!
After we had packed up and were ready to go.
26 vote(s)
- Herbie Hatman
- teucer
- Cthulhu Kitty
- Spidere
- Ben Yamiin
- JTony Loves Brains
- susy derkins
- Charlie Fish
- lara black
- Tøm
- Pish
- Malaysian Eddy
- Rao
- Levitating Potato
- anna one
- Burn Unit
- Blue
- Loki
- Fonne Tayne
- SNORLAX
- Jackie H
- The Revolutionary
- Not Here No More
- Darkaardvark
- Natalia Envy
- Dan |ØwO|
Favorite of:
Terms
(none yet)24 comment(s)
Applause all around, indeed! I second everything Loki has said.
I need a Glove Slap completion to vote for both, while I try to make up my mind between two amazing completions!
Well, there was never a glove slap because B-Unit already participated in a glove slapped duel with Lowteck.
But thank you, we both appreciate the complements!
This is going to be difficult...
i think people may be having trouble voting for one precisely because this particular duel is so aesthematic...you're literally dueling with art itself. also, the task description doesn't really allow for any sort of "logical" evaluative reasoning, as in one adheres more closely to the rules, or something. and so choosing one over another winds up being a lot like voting for picasso at the expense of matisse. these are both obviously really great, and my impulse is to vote for both, but since that's so discouraged, i don't want to, and voting for one also seems impossible. i wind up wanting to say "they're just different" and not make any sort of value judgment.
they're both really great! but i don't know! normally i don't mind voting based on my moods, but in a dueling scenario, i'm supposed to think things through! i'm stuck.
you guys just should have done slam poetry, instead. ;)
I liked your write up a lot, because it was interesting to hear about all the logistical difficulties. Bravo for making something great, despite the obstacles.
Well, it was B-Unit who chose the task. I had no input whatsoever, except that it had to be a writing task. Oh well, it was fun. Vote on both if you'd like, it seems that no one else is voting due to your exact dilemma.
Why y'all gotta make it so hard?
I'm gonna sleep on it...
the duel ends tuesday nite. by now there's a well established practice of having our cake and eating it too here at SF0 (if they're so good, vote for both eventually after the agreed upon period ends. fine.)
But before that happy situation arrives, one of these is going to win, and both duelists acknowledge that and are comfortable with it.
People who haven't gone through a duel may not realize this, but in SF0 taskduels, everyone wins. Until you do it, maybe you don't quite have the idea how great the feeling is to complete a task on a deadline and know in your heart that you made it really hard for someone else to be able to say "this one knocks out the other one." That sensation is awesome, but really it pales when compared to the feeling of having done it at all. Yeah, it's a pointless competition between works of art. Ho hum. But from inside, you're really proud of how hard you've thrown yourself into it for no clearly appropriate "real world" reason; and you really want to win. That is why they called it satisfaction, yes? Duelists with swords or pistols know that it is enough just to have risked everything.
Of course, when it happens, it happens. I expect no less.
Vixen, your song is hauntingly beautiful--something about the way you sing makes it really feel like you're putting your whole self into the song. Well done.
Here here, BU. It's strange, (and I might jinx myself for saying this) but at this point, I'm so happy with what I did for this task, pointage seems obsolete.
BUT DON'T LET THAT STATEMENT HOLD YOU BACK FROM VOTING FOR ME!!!
...OK V. I've slept on it. I've listened to both a few times now.
...and...
...I'm voting for you.
You SO get my vote. Beautifully done. I could imagine Human League doing it! Actually, I found it very moving... lovely... particularly the first verse when it is repeated at the end. Thanks.
Oh, and as for Epicness... it is about passion, drive, will, and love much more than it is about flawless execution. To paraphrase Forest Gump, "Epic is what Epic does!" I'd say this is pretty epic.
Both completions full of thought, and as everyone has said before me this was a hard one to call.
But in the end, I'm a sucker for a heartfelt piece of introspection and, by that criterion, this one wins by a nose.
vixen, you win for dragging that massive keyboard into the wilderness, dressed to kill.
and for the bit about thinking that turning the video camera sideways would make it record vertically (that's totally intuitive!)
and, of course, for the beautiful song :)
(a note on catchiness,
as I awoke this morning, the tune to your song was playing in my head...
wish I could remember the dream....)
I can feel you there. Ten times over...
Good song, but damn, it won't go away!!!
Hey guys, thanks for all the love! I appreciate the compliments; I honestly had no idea that anyone would even give me a chance! I do, however, think y'all should give B-Unit the support your gave me; I still think his completion blew mine to Mars!
-V
yay!! sorry i couldn't check this out in time to choose a side on the duel.
Blessed cow!
Hail cow, full of grace. . .
Wonderful stuff, both of you. I've listened to all the contributions, and am thoroughly impressed. (I didn't know either of you could sing. Daaaaaammn.)
You really expect us to vote for just one of these? This is gonna take some serious decidin'
Applause, all around.