Review: Millenium Actress

After reviewing the lowest and crudest of animations, I needed something to reaffirm my love for animation and filmmaking. For that I turned to one of my favorite directors, the late Satoshi Kon. Kon is responsible for some of the most creative feats of storytelling in recent memory, most of which deal with altered perceptions of reality. The man is responsible for my all time favorite movie, Paprika, which takes a visually stunning journey through dreams as they merge with reality. He created Paranoia Agent, a surreal and horrifying trip through the psyche of the population as they deal with a string of assaults. He told the story of Perfect Blue which follows a young idol as she is slowly driven to the brink of madness by a stalker, her world literally crumbling around her. I haven't seen Tokyo Godfathers yet, but it is next on my list. I am absolutely in love with Kon's movies and how they play with the viewer's understanding of reality in such a visually magnificent way. The bar was high.



The movie deals with a director Genya Tachibana and his jaded cameraman as they conduct an interview with and elderly famed actress (and Genya's hero) Chiyoko Fujiwara. As she recounts the events of her life, the two interviewers find themselves taking part in the events as they are told, filming Chiyo as a child in 1930 when she has a fateful encounter with a painter on the run from the fascist government. He gives her a key "to the most important thing in the world" but flees to elude capture. Chiyoko is determined to meet him once more, and accepts a role in a film set in Manchuria, based on a rumor that he may be there. She begins her acting career, forever trailing the mysterious man in the hopes of returning the key. As the film progresses, Chiyoko's story is interwoven with that of the movies she stars in. Her quest to return the key is told indirectly, with her movie plots serving to advance the story of Chiyoko's life. She goes through noir dramas, samurai battles, and World War Two as the line between her movies and real life is blurred, twisted, and broken. All the while Genya follows her, helping her at every turn as different characters in the movies he watched growing up that he always wanted to be in.



When watching Millennium Actress, the first thing that hits you are the colors. Paprika was an explosion of bright and fantastic colors that really sold the viewer on the dream motif. Millennium Actress takes the opposite route, with a dulled pallet that immediately harkens to the early days of cinema. Each movie has such a rich tone to it that one will never get bored of simply admiring the scenery. The mood is spot on, with the atmosphere lending itself well to a personal story set in 1930-50 Japan. I was surprised that one of the strongest parts of the movie were the costumes. For an animation to pay such attention to making such beautiful clothing for each type of movie is utterly fantastic, and is something that I have not seen in any other movie. Many times while watching I was tempted to pause and just look at the screen, as every shot was layed out spectacularly, and I could stare at the costumes and colors all day.



Of course I didn't pause, because I was far too engrossed in the animation and story. The movement of the characters is off the charts, trumping even Miyazaki's work at points by a long shot. The film features many dynamic running scenes as Chiyoko chases the man between movie genres. Each one is beautiful, and special attention was given to the movement of hair as characters ran, making it look realistic in a way I have never seen before. A drawer or illustrator shows material by how it reacts with light, using shadows to give it weight and texture. In animation, it is impossible to put that amount of detail into every frame, so the only way to tell the audience what type of material something is made of is by how it moves. Kon's mastery of animation made it easy to tell that this coat was made of leather, while this was made of thin, slippery cloth. Even the key, hung around Chiyoko's neck, bounced with astounding realism as she ran. I don't hesitate to say that this film is a triumph in animation.



Millennium Actress excels in so many ways, I won't even bother nitpicking for flaws to list. I don't want to do anything to dissuade you from seeing this movie. An amazing story that is easy to connect which leads to an emotionally thrilling climax. A brilliant visual style that creates unique atmospheres every 20 minutes that I could spend a lifetime in. Satoshi Kon's signature of tweaking one's perception of reality in an intelligent and fascinating way. There is no reason not to see this movie. It is something that I know I will be watching again and again.



Millennium Actress: 9.5/10

Review: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt

Oh yeah, this place exists.

It's fall, and that means a new season of anime starting in Japan. This, of course, is bad news for me since anime is mostly a painful experience. However, every so often there is a gem hidden in the deluge of shit, and the only way to find it is to jump into the pile headfirst. This is how I found Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.

Like finding a needle in a haystack that will give you herpes.

The subtley named Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is the newest production from famed studio Gianax, responsible for some of the most visually fantastic and over-the-top-awesome animes out there, including FLCL and Gurren Lagann. My hopes were high for this new series. First thing I saw was the art style. Distinctly American, I was immediately excited by its similarity to Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, which blazed a trail with their unique art style.

America!

The show follows two fallen angels, Panty and Stocking on their quest to defeat evil ghosts and earn their way back to heaven. A more accurate description would be: Panty and Stocking hit stuff with their car, pose suggestively, and sometimes there are ghosts. The show revolves entirely around a single sex joke that is played out for the entire episode, and then at the end something blows up. And these aren't your run of the mill sex jokes- oh no. The third episode dealt entirely with the disappearance of tissues from the world, meaning men were unable to masturbate. The cause? Ghosts of the dead sperm destroyed the tissues as revenge. It included an extended sequence of a D-day like siege of sperm on vagina hill, and naturally ended with the two characters drenched in semen. I determined that I must be watching some sort of hardcore porn, only someone had painstakingly gone in and drawn clothes over all the characters.
The more I watched, the more strange things they seemed to focus on. Aside from paying special attention to sex, the show also gives us an episode on poop and makes a desperate attempt to include black people in it. Cheerleaders and football players, explosions, sex, a gay black man with an afro, and title cards that parodied movies like Fight Club and Pulp Fiction. I slowly began to realize. "Oh my god, this is what Japan thinks America wants to see." Indeed, the cartoon drawing styles and constant use of english phrases confirmed it. This show was aimed straight at America. What. I don't even. ugh.
Don't get me wrong. The show has some redeeming points. The music is a cool electro-club mix that suits the action well, and Gianax's animation talents are not wasted with some truly fantastic sequences.

This picture is indeed as awesome as it appears.

Even then, something terrible will come along and ruin the coolness. The animation direction is so schizophrenic watching it becomes a chore. Shots are often poorly planned out and leave your eye searching for a focal point in the chaos, a problem worsened by the bright colors and fast cuts. Every so often the style will change for comedic effect to a cutesy big headed version with so few frames actually drawn that the illusion of motion is completely ruined and your eyes strain to keep up. PaSwG is in general absolutely painful to watch, but at the same time I'm compelled to keep watching- a point which I think is perfectly illustrated in this clip, where the overly anime and awkward striptease begins, and just when I'm about to turn it off because I can't watch anymore, the style returns to that of a cartoon and the animation quality goes up tenfold.
WATCH HERE
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt: 1 out of 5

I'm not dreaming (8/12)

I have lots of dreams about cars in water. I don't know why, but more times than I can count, I'm in a car with someone, we're racing across a collapsing bridge, falling off a cliff, or just feeling like driving into a fucking lake. One way or another, we wind up in the water. Sometimes we make it to the bottom and have to figure out a way to the surface which is so far away we'd need auxiliary air, sometimes we bail from the car right on impact. I've had so many of these dreams that I managed to recognize the scenario as a dream while dreaming.
So my dream starts as I'm driving with 2 friends I had just hung out with that day in real life. The driver seemed angry, and I was sitting shotgun wondering why he was so irritated. We were off-roading through the woods, a forest of tall, thin pine trees with a ground that was painted a beautiful orange. After a minute of driving, we arrive at a lake. Seeing this, the driver floored the pedal and we went careening into the lake, where the car began to sink. I sighed, used to being in sinking cars and realized that I must be dreaming. I slapped myself a few times, then realizing it hurt decided that I must not be dreaming (also blowing my chance at a free lucid dream. Damn.). The car somehow drove across the lake, half submerged, of course me still thinking that all this was real. We arrived on a highway surrounded by gorgeous cliffs and rock formations. We decided to keep a look out for cops, since they would give us a ticket for driving across a lake. Aaaand that's where the dream ended, leaving me to wake up with a splitting headache. Weird.

Review: Toy Story 3

By now it's no secret that the folks weave dreams for your enjoyment. In the 15 they've been releasing movies, not one of them has been bad. They have pioneered both the narrative and technical world of movie making using technologies and stories far beyond their time. Movies like Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Wall-E, and Up have topped the box office and captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. Needless to say they have quite the reputation to live up to.
I'll get this right out of the way, Toy Story 3 does not disappoint. It manages to cater to everyone, and has moments that will have both adults and children laughing together.

Toy Story 3 follows Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and a group of other returning toys, their numbers dwindling after various yardsales and whatnot. Andy, the toy's loving owner in the last 2 movies, has grown up and is about to depart for college. His toys hold their heads high and accept their new role- storage in the attic, waiting for Andy when he needs them. As the moveout begins, there is a terrible mixup and the toys nearly get thrown out. Woody is the only one aware of the mistake and tries to convince the others that Andy still wants them, but has no luck. The group winds up hiding in a donation box for the local day care, where they can at least brighten other children's lives. Everyone is happy about this turn of events except for Woody, who remains fiercely loyal to Andy.

The writing in the film is executed expertly, giving life to each and every character. The voice talent is fantastic in turning the toys into living breathing characters that you will care about. The animation and visuals are spectacular as always, technology finally able to create the playful, cluttered, colorful world that living toys would exist in. The animation direction is spectacular. Toys feel like they're being played with, moved by invisible hands all the time. Their movements during action scenes are quick and jerky in a good way, exactly how a child would move the limbs of a toy. When they run, their legs flail as if they were ragdolls being moved by a higher force, which is just what they are. Lighting in the film plays a bigger role than in any other Pixar movie. When Woody's face is illuminated by the pale green of a light above a dumpster just before dawn, you will realize how out of their environment the toys are, how far from home.

Two triumphs of animation are Ken, Barbie's love interest who totally steals the show with his stiff, jointless walking and hilarious dialogue. The other, a little girl named Bonnie, plays a small part but her animation makes her so adorable you will want to give her a hug right then and there (probably the only reason to see the movie in 3D)

The story deals with abandonment, loyalty, lingering feelings, growing up, moving on, letting go, and in true Pixar style will leave you choked up remembering the fond childhood memories you have. While it doesn't have the magic of Up or Wall-E, it is the perfect ending to the Toy Story series, and recommended to anyone with an inner child, or an outer one.

4/5 stars.

(Unfortunately I was unmoved. Angel Boats completely destroyed my ability to love anything else.)

Review: Angel Beats!

Anime, completed series, 13 episodes

Rarely do I find anything on TV that can make me laugh with legitimate humor, engross me with a unique visual style, and make me cry on 3 separate occasions. Angel Beats! (Angel Boats after this point, since boats sounds better) is a masterwork than incorporates several different genres without overwhelming itself.

Otanashi awakes one night outside a large school with no memory of who he is or how he got there, watching as a schoolgirl aims a sniper rifle at a strange white haired girl, some ways away. When the sniper, Yuri, tries to recruit him into an "afterlife battlefront," he decides that he may have better luck reasoning with someone who doesn't aim guns at other girls. He tries to talk with the silent and robotic white haired girl, or "Angel" as Yuri calls her. She tells him that this is the afterlife, and when he asks for proof, she promptly stabs him through the heart. Otonashi wakes up the next day, entirely fine, but his shirt still ripped and bloody. He once again meets Yuri, along with a big cast of characters who can't agree on a name other than the "afterlife battlefront" to call their group.

The plot follows Otonashi and the other members of the battlefront, who are waging war in a world where wounds and death are cured the next day, against the mysterious Angel. While things seem serious at first, Yuri explains that by following the rules (attending class, etc) will make you disappear forever, probably to be reincarnated as a barnacle. Therefore, the battlefront basically causes chaos as best they can in a world filled with unresponsive dummy classmates to simulate a real school. While this seems like a trivial plot, what really makes the series shine is the excellent writing and execution of characters and animation.

While most of the battlefront is easily forgettable (except for the most important characters and TK, a hip dancing guy who spouts engrish like a DDR machine) they all play a part in making the world seem alive. Someone is always moving in a group shot, and while this may seem like an obvious choice, it is a breath of fresh air to anyone used to limited animation. The production values are high and well utilized, evidenced especially in the first episode where a concert is expertly rendered with beautiful flowing animation and colors. Dramatic parts are emphasized by intense lighting usually only seen in feature length films. The quality never goes down either, making every episode as visually pleasing as the last.

As the plot unfolds it deftly intertwines comedy, tragedy, and action. We start to learn of the horrific circumstances under which each character died before arriving in the afterlife; each is fantastically hear-wrenching without ever going overboard or seeming to try too hard. The writing is keenly aware of itself and strikes a perfect balance of emotion and realism. Characters who at first seemed important but turned bland were written as growing more emotionally distant from Otonashi, just as the audience grows more distant to them. Angel Boats flawlessly guides your thoughts and feelings just the way it wants you to, making you think that it's just you that started disliking this character and liking that one when it is really a carefully crafted plan to get you to feel that way. It not only does this in its tragic and dramatic moments, but in the comedy where it creates such a good dynamic between characters that you can't help but like everyone Otonashi likes.

Angel Boats is not without flaws. I have trouble recommending it to someone who doesn't watch anime because at first glance it seems to be so terribly steeped in anime cliche. The drawings are the only thing that slips into this style, however, as everything else takes a delightfully original direction. Yuri is a direct rip-off of Haruhi Suzumiya (titular character from a far less creative and original show) but even then the writers seem aware of this and slowly downplay her role. The soundtrack is woefully lacking, but the music it does have is decent in it's own respect.

Overall, I have no choice but to recommend Angel Beats! to every man woman and child that I meet. The writing is crisp, the atmosphere is masterfully manipulated, and the animation doesn't skimp. Best of all at 13 episodes it doesn't overstay its welcome and leaves you both satisfied and craving more. I urge you to look past the style it is drawn in and try watching it. It takes everything bad you've heard about anime, puts it in a sleeper hold, and blazes a trail.

New favorite series.
5/5 stars

(No really, episode 4, 7:00 in. Watch as it literally takes everything terrible about Japan and chokes it.)

Review: Durarara!!

Anime, completed series, 24 episodes.

I'm told that Durarara!! (Known as Dura from here on) is a masterpiece from a writer's standpoint. That it's plot and characters are the best of any other contemporary anime. For the life of me, I can't see why.

Dura follows Ryugamine Mikado a high schooler moving to a new town, his friends Kida Masaomi, Anri Sonohara, and fifty thousand other characters; so many that both openings of the series are dedicated to naming them. We are introduced to the city of Ikebukuro where the story takes place, and the many strange people who inhabit it. Foremost is Celty Sturlson, the local urban legend who is a headless motorcycle rider. There is also talk about lingering gangs, kidnappings, serial attacks, and basically anything else you can think of. Each element is introduced early in the series, then forgotten until the second season. Celty's story is fairly interesting, and dominates the first season, but after the 13th episode she is thrown to the curb, and the magical headless motorcycle riding woman becomes nothing more than the 3 main character's personal ferry.

There are so many characters that while all of their stories fit into the main plot in some way, almost none of them are resolved. Like Celty, after they serve their part, they are totally ignored. As for the 3 we stick with, none are interesting enough to warrant a spot as a main character. Anri serves the purpose of being the only character more bland than Mikado, who spends most of his time being sheepish and entirely useless. Kida's only redeeming quality is he adds some semblance of life to the party in his loud, maybe-he's-gay way. The best characters in the entire series were the bit characters, good only because of their outrageousness (A bartender who throws vending machines, a black ex-black ops russian who know serves sushi.) At first I thought the main villain was interesting, putting people in stressful situations in the same way Jigsaw would, because "He loves humanity." I waited for more development, as he single-handedly orchestrated all the events of the series, but there was none. There was no explanation to his motivations for targeting these 3 highschoolers and changing their lives with headless riders and gang wars and soul crushing agony other than it being interesting.

The musical score tries so hard to be different and avante-garde that I actually feel sympathy for it. The series is littered with the same instances of random strings plucked on a doublebass, discordant notes on a trumpet that it manages to be more interesting than the series in it's badness.

The few highlights of this series are maybe instances from 2 episodes, which were remarkably dull considering what it could have done with it's large cast and multiple storylines. Saying that this is written well is the same as taking a shotgun full of buck to an archery range. Yes, you hit the target, but the buck is all over, and most of the pellets flew off into the distance, totally forgotten...

2/5 stars

5/4 A haunting

Stress dream!
I don't remember specific details of the beginning of this dream, but it involved being in a town at night. For various reasons I'd find myself out with someone walking along this road. The darkness was a dark green, and the brick buildings were orange in the glow of the streetlights. The first two times, I was with my dad as we walked along. A unique part of the dream was that it had a soundtrack, like a movie. Every time a haunting happened, scary music started playing. It was very specific and developed music too. The first time it was a song with trembling strings that led into a larger horror song. The second time it was a big crashing thing with a full orchestra.

Anyway, I don't remember it so well, but we'd see something weird across the street, music would start playing, then my vision would distort (I'm tempted to call it the screen since I knew it was happening everywhere, and it was a very cinematic dream). Everything would become dark and twisting, and we would be visited by some apparition. The dream was mostly from first person, but sometimes it had a shot from a third person perspective, with the viewpoint a tight angle very close to the back of my head. For some reason I had short hair, and it wasn't even realistic. It was cartoon-like, and pretty much how I drew Kain's hair in my animation.

So the part I do remember: My dad and I were walking along, and he spies a shop he used to love. The sign read "Casey Jone's Disco" (Have I been listening to too much Greatful Dead?) Anyway he explained that it used to be a great disco before the owner was ruined. We went in, and it was a very small market of some kind. Various people were inside, all looking down on their luck. In the front was a magazine stand with a group of magazines featuring a man in his 50's with gray curly hair, a face with deep crags of features, and a large, doughy nose that looked like a ball that had been smushed onto his face. The title read "The Scandal of Casey Jones." "That is Casey Jones." my dad explained. "He was ruined after they found him drinking tampon water from one of the employees." Suddenly I imagined Casey Jones' voice on the telephone, ordering his secretary not to tell anybody that he 'lit the tampon water on fire'. "But this," Said my dad, walking to the back of the store, "is the real Casey Jones." He gestured to a group of magazines and posters illustrating a younger Casey Jones in full disco outfit, dancing and being successful. Obviously this place had been a large part of my dad's life.

We made our way to the front, squeezing through the tight aisles (there were only 2) and fat women in pink nightgowns. My dad needed to use the ATM, but standing there was someone familiar. He stared at us, smiling kindly, having watched our conversation in back. "You're Casey Jones aren't you." My dad said. "No." The man who looked exactly like the Casey Jones from the first magazine replied, trying to hide his smile. My dad shrugged and accepted it, and began using the ATM. I watched the man and felt good inside. Here was a man who lost everything and was generally looked down on by society, but hearing that my dad still liked and respected him probably made him feel great.

I looked down. There was a shopping cart that people were both putting things in and taking things out of. It was mostly a few empty soda bottles. For some reason I had an empty 2L of ginger ale so I put it in the cart, and soon a woman took it out for herself, putting a coke bottle in. What a strange exchange. Then I spied a pile of bills in the cart. I looked around, and everyone in the store smiled and nodded at me, encouraging me to take it. I reached down and picked up the $500+. Casey Jones noticed and turned to me. "I'm doing very badly recently, may I have some?" he asked. His warmness was gone however, and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. My dad came and stood next to me. After I didn't respond, Casey Jones spoke again. "I'll issue an ultimatum. You'll give me all or nothing." I was silent. My dad turned to the group in the store. "What do you think?" He asked them. "All or nothing?" Various people shook their heads and gave thumbs down. "Sorry," my dad said, "It's nothing." We turned to leave the store, but Casey Jones followed us.

When we left the store, something shifted, and I was on that same street, but now with my mother instead of father, and Casey Jones now took the form of Obadiah Stane, specifically the Jeff Bridges version from the Iron Man movie. I tried to put the money in my pocket as we walked, but it was difficult to fit in. Casey Jones was following us, and I didn't want him to see which pocket I put the money in. I tried waiting for him to turn away to switch which pocket I was putting it into, but it took to long to fit into any pocket. Finally, he turned away and began walking towards a parking lot, and I knew he was going to the car where my sister waited, but I didn't care as long as he wasn't following us. We continued walking for a bit, when I looked to my left. A border collie was standing on a skateboard, rolling down the street, and high notes began to be played on an echoing piano. "We're about to be haunted." I told my mom, sighing. At this point I was used to it. "No we're not." She laughed. "We so are." I said. "Just watch." She didn't believe me. "Whatever, you'll see." I shrugged. Nothing was happening yet, but then the dog got off the skateboard and ran over to us. It arrived as a golden lab, bounding over and happy to see us. The piano stopped. 'that was weird' I thought, and then my alarm went off.

Very weird, but cool. So detailed in things like the music and the face of Casey Jones. As for drinking tampon water... I'm going to blame that on my friends. That seems like something some of them might say...

4/26 Money

Today's dream was really short. In it I was at home, talking to my mother, only we lived in a mansion, and our discussion took place in a huge walk-in closet filled with expensive clothing. And we had a maid. In the dream, I was angry that my parents had been spending so much money at home while not giving me money for housing at college. That's pretty much all there is too it.

This is an easy one, since I really am frustrated with my parents regarding housing, and how they are determined to not look into it until all my other roommates are totally ready, making me the one everyone is waiting on.
Stressful time of the year.

4/22 Volcano dragons.

It began with me walking to someplace in my slippers, and only realizing once I was there that I had forgotten to switch to my shoes.


Now it was night in a large field, with an enormous blackened mountain range in the distance that reached halfway up the sky. It was covered in spiky peaks and looked like something out of LotR. Behind me was a building that looked of ancient Greek architecture. It was just a large room, open on all sides with huge pillars supporting the roof. It gave off a comforting yellow glow, which was beautiful on the ivy that crept up the columns.

I stood there, in my robe and pajamas (my standard relaxation/too lazy to get dressed attire) with a friend from highschool. I had just said something to offend her, and she was very angry. She said that she'd call down "the Dragon" to punish me. She ran off into the field, and I followed, wondering what she meant. Sure enough, a dragon appeared. It was blue and red, and I thought to myself, "it looks just like a pokemon."

Behind it flew 20 suitcases, as if they were outlining the rest of the dragon. It dove and shot by right over my head as I continued running. Again it dove, playing with me before finishing me off. Suddenly something caught my eye. Looking at the mountain, a plume of fire erupted from one of the spikes. The dragon flew away as more and more fire burst from the mountains. I caught up with my friend, and we stood watching as lava began to flow down the huge wall of mountains.
"That looks like it could get us." I said, fearing the amount of orange that was engulfing the peaks. As soon as I said that, all of the volcanoes spewed molten rock at once. An unimaginable amount of lava burst forth, nearly as massive as the mountains themselves. It formed a great waterfall, larger in scale than anything I had ever seen. It crashed down into the field, exploding upward on impact hundreds of feet into the air. I knew there was no hope for survival, and my friend and I just watched as the lava came forth to engulf us.

I don't know what the dragon is all about, but I'm pretty sure the lava is finals!

4/14/10 The Island

It was long, so the beginning parts are a little fuzzy. It started with a group being in a large stone tunnel, almost like a sewer, but huge and without waste. The whole thing was tinted green, and had the feel of an ancient Aztec tunnel. Everyone was panicked, as some person has just disappeared- carried away by some monster. There was a large hole in the wall, leading to another stone room, and everyone was sure this is where the monster had come from. I entered the room, and discovered that there were holes in this wall, to the left right and above. As people protested, I entered the one to the left.

The dream shifted now to an island made mostly from a strange house, that myself and a small group were stranded on. I wasn't sure how we got there, but I could still remember the events from the tunnel, so it doesn't seem like an entirely different dream. The house/island was surrounded by strange pieces of junk that sat suspended above the water. Rusting cars, semi trucks, and piles of chairs littered the edges of the place. Again, briefly there was a cameo of a friend from high school, but she was soon gone. The only part separated from the island was another, small house. It appeared to have 3 stories, and resembled a lighthouse. It, however, was locked. I explored the island, and there was the sensation of much time passing. It had been weeks on the island, and food was dwindling. I began to swim around the area, checking various places for anything of use. Every little area I swam had small details that made it seem more and more like a game. I remember swimming under one of the trucks and seeing spikes on the bottom and thinking "oh, that's to catch anyone who gets over eager and jumps." Being able to jump out of water is impossible, but is common in video games, as well as spike traps like that to catch jumpers.

Eventually I found 3 cans of coke, and a carton of yogurt. Without knowing, I began swimming. I swam and swam, and eventually passed out in the water. I woke up the next day, shocked that I wasn't dead. The empty coke and yogurt tub were floating around me, and I was angry that they were depleted without me remembering myself using them. I struck one out of anger, but as it started to sink I suddenly felt that it would be terrible should it sink, and that I absolutely needed to keep it afloat. Looking around I noticed that I was back at the island, between the mysterious 2nd house and the edge of the main island. I knew that everyone was dead by now, killed off by either hunger or each other. I was convinced that the island was abandoned, but suddenly- a noise from behind. In one of the rusty old cars that made up the edge of the landmass, there was movement. The car began shaking back and forth, and it dawned on me that some couple was having sex inside. Just as I thought this, there was a large crash sound, and all movement stopped. I was filled with a stomach churning sense of dread. Something terrible was in that car, and I needed to get away. The emptiness of the once moving car was truly terrifying, and I began to swim for my life. I struggled and thrashed, but remained stationary in the water. Finally, I was suddenly at the mysterious other house.

I stared at the door in disbelief. The locked glass door that somehow no one has thought to smash- that instead had served as an unbreakable barrier, was slightly ajar, unlocked. I slowly got out of the water, the car forgotten. I entered the house cautiously. The interior was white walls, with dark wood accents. There were many trinkets, paintings, and furnishings that made the whole place seem classy. "Hello?" I called out. I somehow had the feeling that this was the home of some powerful person, who was responsible for all of us being on the island. A figure entered from a side room. I don't know anyone like this in real life, but in the dream I recognized him as someone who had also been on the island. He mentioned that there was a third person from the island here, and once again I got the feeling that this was all a game, that we were the finalists, and that we would have to compete against each other. But for now, we continued to explore. Finding the kitchen, I rushed in and opened the fridge. The thing was filled with delicious food. Chocolates, fruit tarts, steaks, all prepared in a beautiful fashion. I popped a deviled egg into my mouth, and rejoiced as it satisfied my painful hunger. I continued eating, and was preparing to speak to the other person.

This is when my alarm went off. I wish this dream had continued. It had a very powerful mood to it, and was very detailed. I have no idea what it could mean, but I'll think about it as the day continues.

First post! Dreams from 4/11/10

In this blog I'll recount any dreams as best I can, maybe speculate on why I dreamed these things, and provide POWERFUL INSIGHT on IMPORTANT TOPICS!

I rarely have dreams that I remember, but a big factor is sobriety. Or more like, I have crazy dreams when I sleep while intoxicated. This dream is an example.

The dream began with myself and all my college friends in my common room, having a party. We were playing Beastie Boys, a rhyming party game that was a staple in all parties in my highschool. I don't think we actually played it, but I knew that we were playing it. It then switched to a game of suck and blow, another popular game in my high school. Again, not actually playing, but having the knowledge that we were playing.

I don't have recurring dreams, but I sometimes have recurring settings or objects. At this point the dream changed, and I was sitting on a dock with a friend from high school that I've fallen out of touch with. We were looking at an overcast lake, with strange boats going across it. All of the boats were propelled by the steamboat paddle mechanism, and many were just small boxes with the wheel on the back, speeding around out of control, occasionally flipping or crashing. A recurring image, a car with a raised body, huge wheels, and even bigger axle, made its way across the lake. When I looked back at my friend, he was suddenly underwater, laying along the bottom, and reaching up at me for help. I grabbed his hand and pulled, but he wouldn't budge.

This is where the dream ended. Am I suddenly missing the high school that I entirely abandoned? Am I fascinated with cars with big wheels (no)? Was I just really drunk?