Dream #524 (July 11, 2014) X-Men and Groceries for Matt and Andrew

Borrowing,

I dreamt that I was Wolverine from X-Men.  The weird thing was that I didn't look like Hugh Jackman; rather, I looked like James McAvoy (who plays the younger Charles Xavier in the film).  I was sent to the future where I was supposed to wipe out some water god.  The machine that sent me to the future looked like an Ikea bed with all white sheets and a soft white pillow.  Above me was a bright white light fixture that I think also played a role in sending me through time.

The world of the future was a monosaturated blue.  There were many impoverished people wandering about who were slaves of the water god.  As I walked about these poor people, I occasionally encountered and battled some of the water god's henchmen.  These fellas wore an armor that looked like a mix between that of a knight and a samurai.  They used longswords but I was much too quick and strong for them to take down.

I finally battled my way to the headquarters where a film was screening.  I believe it was "Scream" (or something very similar to that).  Instead of continuing my pursuit, I decided to sit down and watch the movie.  Not long after I got comfortable, a man walked around the small theater and handed the 8 or so people in the audience a wooden toy house with a flat roof.  I played around with it as I kind of watched the movie.  I soon discovered that the toy house's roof could be transformed into replicas of various classical art pieces (none of which I'm able to name).  When I discovered this secret, I shouted for joy and showed everyone else in the theater my discovery.

After this I decided to visit my friends Matt (Erdel) and Andrew (DeSelm) at their apartment.  In my dream, their apartment building was a 100 story fancy hotel.  The center of this cylindrical building was hollow, so the door of every room opened up to a balcony that had a view of all the rooms below and above it.  Andrew and Matt greeted me and asked if I could go grocery shopping for them.  I agreed and left.

I went to a weird gas station market that was eerily and dimly lit.  Surprisingly there were some really good deals there, especially on cereal (which was extremely exciting for me).  I bought several boxes of cereal, a couple tennis balls, and a few other random grocery items Matt and Andrew needed.

When I brought it back to them I told them about the cereal deal and they didn't care.  Then Andrew took one of my tennis balls and threw it out the door down into the core of the hotel (they lived up near the 70th floor, so it was quite a fall for the tennis ball).  I was upset with him, and I left their apartment in order to find the ball.

I took the stairs for some reason.  In one of the stair wells, which was painted all white, I discovered a group of teens eating pizza, smoking weed, and discussing Wes Anderson films.  I asked them if any of them had seen my tennis ball, and one of the girls told me she saw it just a couple floors down.

Then I awoke.

Dream #523 (July 10, 2014) Post Post Apocalyptic

So

I was walking around the post-post-apocolypic streets of Brooklyn.  Society had been more or less wiped out and rebuilt.  Basically there were fewer people and a lot of empty buildings, though the jobs and various lifestyles were roughly the same as they are now.  Also, a dark violet twilight leaking from the atmosphere was the only source of light.

I ran into an old friend of mine from college, Lenny Walsh (maybe he goes by Leonard to some).  He invited me to work on a feature film that was in the pre-production phase, and I accepted.  He lead me to an old building made of blueish-grey bricks.  Inside there was a meeting occurring around a large wooden table.  I sat down and listened to people talk about the film.

Things seemed to be going smoothly until somebody at the table spoke up (it was a woman I've never met in any life).  She said that the child actor (side note: the child actor in this scenario had not yet been born; he was going to be perfuming as the lead character as an infant) would most likely not work out.  According to the last ultrasound, he had a condition known as "bubble on the brain" (I highly doubt this is a 'thing' in real life).  This most likely would cause brain damage and other malfunctions that would be unfitting for a lead actor in this film.

Everyone was saddened by the news, because the mother and father had gone through the pregnancy in a way that was supposed to help assure the child would be a good actor (music, diet, exercises, etc. all played a role in this preparation).

However, the mood quickly changed when a young(ish) couple in the room (in real life they are Jonathan and Elizabeth) spoke up and said they would "create" the replacement actor.  I thought this was all quite ridiculous.

As these things were going on, a friend of mine from high school (Alik Hall) was joking about people with "bubble on the brain."  They were rather cruel jokes (I tried my best not to laugh, though it wasn't easy).

At last, I left the building and continued my solo walk from where it was interrupted.

Eventually I awoke.

Dream #522 (May 19, 2014) Pool Sermon

After a month of little sleep:

I was in a swimming pool and the water was cyan and not as transparent as water should be.  I dove down to the bottom, wearing my blue goggles that were only useful in keeping water out of my eyes since I could barely see anything underwater.  I felt around for the sinky baton (I'm not sure what those things are called) that some random pool person had thrown down for me to retrieve.  At last I found it (after being underwater for well over a minute).

When I came to the surface, I realized I could stay underwater as long as I wanted, for I had learned to absorb oxygen through the pores of my skin.  I immediately dove back down into the water and sat at the bottom of the pool for a long time, studying the shapes and alterations in light around and above me.

Finally, after a long and peaceful time alone, I decided to rejoin the pool party taking place above the surface.  When I came up, I discovered that my dad had gathered everyone together, including my cousins and a few old high school classmates, and was delivering a sermon from the diving board.  It was compelling, but most of the people chose to chat amongst themselves rather than listen.  It was difficult to hear my dad over the generic crowd noise, but I could hear him talk about how mankind was destroying the earth and how God didn't need to bring judgement upon us because we were bringing it upon ourselves.

After I heard this, Alik Hall (friend and former high school classmate) asked me if I still believed what I believed when I was younger (he was referring to belief in God).  I contemplated this question for a moment, then said I think I do.  I said that I feel as if I understand far less about who/what God is than ever before, but I also told him that I sense a rhythm to life that is far more complex than any man can comprehend.

After those words, I awoke.

Dream #521 (April 3, 2014) Student Film and NYC

Here is a dream.


In the first part of the dream, I entered a large bar with my brother Mike.  Bethel College was showing a film there that had been made my several students at Bethel and was funded by the college (it was an interesting venue choice since Bethel doesn't allow their students to go into bars or drink).  There was an open bar, and I grabbed a tea (yes, they served tea) before sitting down in a folding chair facing a projector screen.

The movie started, and I managed to sit through the entire thing.  It was well over an hour long, and it wanted to be hilarious, but it was horribly obvious and boring.  Somehow Bethel had tons of cameos, including Samuel L. Jackson, Adam Sandler, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and more.  Some of these cameos were just stills animated with voices of Bethel students, but others were actually in it somehow.  I was perplexed and angry simultaneously.  There were some occasional special fx (there were a ton of explosions) that were impressive, but I couldn't stand most of the film.  The plot revolved around a game called 'Ambush' (created by Andrew DeSelm) where people had to target each other, eliminating them until there was only one last survivor (it's a bit more complicated than that, but I don't think I need to explain all the rules here).  Basically, there were many death scenes in this film.

When it was finally over, I was happy to leave.

The second part of the dream flowed seamlessly from the first.  I walked out of the bar and was in New York City.  I decided to go on a walk, and walk I did.  It was afternoon when I started, and I walked clear past sunset into the night.  Finally I decided that I should find a place to stay, so I knocked on a random door.  Gwyneth Paltrow answered the door and told me she didn't feel like hosting a guest, though she suggested I try an apartment across the street.  I walked over and found that the door was open.  I walked inside the dark apartment and found it to be empty.  So I wandered around through the kitchen and living room until I entered the bedroom.  There was a bunk bed in there, and I climbed up to the top bunk and wrapped myself up in the dinosaur sheets and blankets on the bed.  There was a Batman pillow case with the face of the Joker on it that I remembered from my childhood (I used to be terrified of that face), so I flipped the pillow over to the Batman-faced side.

Suddenly a light was turned on in the next room.  I cowered under the covers.  I saw the silhouette of a woman standing in the doorway.


Then I awoke.

Dream #520 (April 1, 2014) The Failed Film Shoot

I was at last directing a feature film.

I began the dream on a plane.  I was flying to somewhere in the Middle East to shoot a feature length film with a few friends of mine.  I was with Jon Andrew Castleberry, Dan Jeter (both friends of mine from college), Jon Andrew's wife Emily, TG (an acquaintance of mine), and a few other strangers.  The film was a drama about a Middle Eastern elementary school, and TG was the lead actress.

When we landed, Jon Andrew and Dan helped me haul all the lighting and camera equipment into a bombed out school house.  Though it was a bit eerie, it had a certain beauty to it that I liked very much.  We began to light the first scene on the shot list, in which TG was suppose to walk around the destroyed building trying to find hints of the past that was buried below the rubble.

In the first couple takes, TG had a pretty rough performance, so I brought her into another room and had her sit on the floor.  I instructed her to make up stories about her former students that her character would have had.  She sat and thought for a while, then I asked her to tell me about those students.  She did quite well making them up, and seemed to become the character in the process.  We went back to the scene and she had two excellent takes in a row.

Then we began shooting more similar shots in other areas of the school.  They all went very well.  We ran into a couple issues with lighting one of the rooms with a lot of windows because the sun we setting and changing the look drastically.  We eventually had to call it a day, and everyone was told to return the next morning.

Everyone except for me left the school.  I wanted to get to know it more, so I slept there.

The next morning I awoke and walked to the parking lot and waited for TG and the crew.  The crew all showed up on time, but TG was thirty minutes late.  When she parked her car, I walked up to her and asked her what had taken her so long, and she told me this crazy story about how her hotel had a few gunmen enter and rob the place.  She luckily was unharmed.

I then met with Jon Andrew and Dan outside the school.

All of a sudden, people began to run about in the streets.  Gunfire was heard in the distance, and it was getting closer.  Dan, Jon Andrew and ducked under a concrete structure and watched as a military parade walked down the road nearby.  People began to poke their heads out of there windows, and most were waving guns about.  It was rather scary.  Then, somebody in a 3rd story window spotted the three of us and began shouting at us.  He then fired a couple shots in our direction.  I wasn't sure if I should hide or show myself to be unarmed and not a threat.  My heart was pounding.

Finally I decided to stand up with my hands in the air.

Then I awoke.

Dream #519 (February 27, 2014) Castle Prison

An epic dream.


It was a snowy evening.  I was driving an old Studebaker with three other young men.  We had just finished visiting the museum of art and were trying to find a place to eat.  The roads were pretty bad, and visibility was low so I pulled off to the side of the road to gather my bearings.

As I was looking at a map another car pulled up and parked in front of mine.  A man in a pinstriped suit came out and, with a smooth confidence, persuaded us to follow him across a long bridge over to a castle on an island.

The bridge was a mile long, and the caste was grand.  The man in the pinstriped suit waved us down at the draw bridge and we all got out of the Studebaker there.  Suddenly he pulled out a tommy gun and he was joined by a couple other thugs with guns.  Together they led us into the castle and into a dungeon.

There we sat all night, not quite able to sleep.  We tried to talk about what was going on, but we were all a bit speechless.

In the morning, some older ladies came and instructed us about our chores for the day.  I was given a mop and bucket and I went to clean some of the endless hallways.  The stone was blue and grey, and emitted an overall dismal tone.  There were hollow echoes bouncing slowly off the walls, and it sounded like people crying out in pain.  I tried to determine where they were coming from, but it was impossible.

The dream went on slowly from this point.  I did more chores, day after day.  Eventually I met a few more of the slaves.  From what I gathered, I determined that there must have been about 100 of us enslaved altogether.  I began to realize that if we were to come together, we could possibly overthrow our captors and escape the castle.

I began to organize each prisoner into different groups with different purposes.  Some kept track of all supplies going in and out of the castle, and others had to intercept those packages and steal a few supplies here and there.  Others studied the layout of the castle, searching for the best ways to escape.  After several weeks of work, everything was coming together and a massive escape was imminent.

The evening before the great escape, I had lunch with a young woman who had started as a slave but worked her way up to becoming an actual employee.  I had fallen for her and revealed my plan of escape to her and welcome her to join in.  She told me that she enjoyed her life in the castle too much to leave.  I tried to tell her that she was still a slave there, no matter what they called it, but she was stubborn.  The meal ended with her boyfriend (who was a terribly cruel slave master) coming in and making her leave me.  He punched me in the gut before dragging her away from me.

I was depressed, but still determined to escape.  The next morning, everything went according to plan.  Several people, including me, snuck into the lift that lowered down into the basement of the castle.  From there we crawled through a tunnel we created to a river that ran underneath the castle.  We climbed out of the river at the entrance of the castle and forced it open, allowing the other hundred of slaves to leave.

We marched toward the bridge with determination.  Suddenly spotlights were shining on us and a loudspeaker informed us that we would be shot if we left.  Everyone froze, except for me.  I kept walking.  The loudspeaker continued to threaten me, but I kept on marching.  I arched the bridge.  I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned around and saw the young women who had refused to leave.  She begged me not to go.  I tried to get her to join me again, but she wouldn't.  Finally, I turned and started walking again, shouting for the rest of the prisoners to follow me.  They did.

Suddenly the bridge began to collapse as I walked onto it.  The prisoners jumped into the great lake and started swimming to the other side.  I was about to jump in, but I was hit suddenly by a bullet in the back.  I fell into the water.


Then I awoke.

Dream #518 (February 12, 2014) - The Tricycle

Ha!


I dreamt that my brother Mike, Kevin and I were living at my grandpa's house in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  I had just returned from a shoot in the bitter cold out in Washington state (like in real life), but Fort Wayne was warm and sunny enough for me to wear shorts and a t-shirt.  I hopped out of my car (a blue Honda Civic for some reason; I've never owned that kind of car) and greeted Mike and Kevin.

It was lunch time, so we began preparing a meal together.  In the dream we were all quite talented: Kevin juggled tomatoes before chopping them up, I blew lettuce into the air before slicing it with one knife in each hand, and Mike kicked whole carrots into the air and quickly chopped them up.  Everything we cut up magically landed in a great bowl in the middle of the kitchen and thus a salad was formed.

We then made peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for each other (I made Mike's, Mike made Kevin's, Kevin made mine) and sat down and ate a good meal.  After lunch I hit myself in the head with the palm of my hand as I realized Mike and I were supposed to pick up a rented camera from Indianapolis (over 2 hours south of Fort Wayne).  I began getting ready to leave.  As Mike and I walked to the car, he told me that he didn't want to drive on such a nice day.  Instead, he wanted to ride a bike (yes, just one bike for the two of us) down to Indy.

I laughed at the idea, but he insisted, so I put my things in a plastic bag and walked over behind the house where he kept his bike.  As it turns out, his bike was actually a tricycle with a large basket in the front.  I crawled into the basket and Mike began to pedal.

We went quite a ways, but then it dawned on both of us that it would take us days to bike as far as we were wanting to go at such a slow pace, so we turned back around.

Finally, we got into my car, which had transformed to a Buick LeSabre (the car I actually own) and we started driving.


Then I awoke.