CD in Play: Big Star, #1 RecordI have had some pretty vivid dreams lately. I have had some really odd dreams lately. There was a while where I wasn't having any dreams at all, least none that I can recall at all. Anyhow, here are two of the dreams.
World of Warcraft Meets The Holocaust Meets the Marvel UniverseI have rejoined the Legion of Nerds - I own a copy of the
World of Warcraft. I can't play it because my system is too antiquated, but I plan to buy a new system soon. WoW is the sort of game I think many people in my generation dreamed of playing, so it is like fulfilling a childhood fantasy.
I had a dream where I finally installed the game along with a patch for the latest system fixes. In the character creation area I was given the choice of playing either a Jewish child or a German opposed to the Nazi regime. The dream wavers back and forth from both perspectives. I live through
Kristallnacht and escape while the Nazis place my family in the
Lodz Ghetto. The terror is all there, hiding from the soldiers and party members trying to find sympathetic places to hide. Eventually the child grows older and after the war he confronts a former neighbour, who has many of his family's personal effects. (including his father's watch)
The role of sympathizer puts you in a sort of resistance cell, hiding Jews and running an underground railroad to get them out. You collect intelligence and counter-intelligence and commit acts of sabotage. At one point in the dream the tutorial mode kicks in and explains how to hide in the game, how to use stealth, heal up, (I was shot at one point by a German with an
FG 42) and kill.
One objective was to go steal a radio and transmitter that the SS had stashed in the basement of a house. I proceed up the alleyway and open the door. Standing just behind the door is one of Spider-Man's old villains,
Electro. His knees are slightly bent, his back turned slightly from the door and he's eating a sandwich. He turns towards me with a near panicked look and says, "You aren't gonna fuckin' hit me, are you?" So I do and knock Electro's lights out. I find the radio, which looks like an old fashioned telephone and I am confronted by a Siamese twin version of Mr. Sin. (a character from an old Doctor Who serial) At this point I woke up.
SAS Fat CampI am far too overweight and need to loose weight. To that end I have been trying to walk more, stretch, lift weights, increase my intake of fruits and vegetables and decrease the meat, and so on. It is slow going. I was also reading up on British Special Forces units like the
SBS,
SRR and
SAS. I am reading Ian Rankin's
Blood Hunt, a non-John Rebus story, whose main character is ex-SAS. The character of John Rebus, as it happens, is also ex-SAS and the first novel in the series ties in with his past in the Special Forces. I have also considered moving to the UK when I get my teaching certificate, as there is a shortage of high school teachers over there. (as there is here)
The night of the dream my feet were very cold and the rest of me was overly hot, some sort of fever I suppose. (but no sweating) In fact I felt sick all day and barely made it through work. In the dream I was inducted by the SAS into their weight loss for Britain programme - part of Her Royal Majesty's Initiative for a Fitter Britain. I was told that in order to be deemed fit to teach British youth, I would have to become fit in all aspects.
In the dream, I pretty much went through what I read about SAS training. Made to run about Wales with an 80 lb backpack strapped to my back. Combat training with live ammo in the jungle, (the accountant lost a hand) though in the dream the jungle sometimes became the Scottish Highlands and then became
Seymour Mountain. Me and the other inductees are then set loose and hunted down. We had to stay hidden and undiscovered - otherwise we were beaten.
Finally through we were all caught, thrown naked in a dark damp pit, deprived of food, sleep and comfort occasionally let out to be interrogated, humiliated and tortured. Eventually we were all given a cot with clean sheets, pillows and cellphone to act as our alarm clock. (which was exactly like my Nokia) We were to set our alarms for 0447 hours (that's 4:47 am for those who can't figure out the 24hr clock) and get up immediately and be alert. I woke up at 0444, shut off the alarm, got up and began stretching. the doors opened and I was let out. They congratulated me on passing, for beating my alarm. At this point I woke up at 4:44 am feeling anything but alert. I felt like someone had beaten me up. Still, I do find myself wishing I could have joined Special Forces...
