Sunday, October 11, 2009

Baseball

In Quebec. Robert, Tim, Jack and I are here to see a baseball game. Oakland versus Quebec. It is the last game of the regular season and spectators are let in free. Sometimes we watch the game on TV. The game is being played on an open field rather than in a stadium. A quiz is in progress. People are wagering on what will happen with Morris on first and the last batter up. Some complain that the quiz is unfair. They win money to buy goods like TVs. Bobby Battista is there talking about someone called Panicek.

War of the Plants

At the Fitzjohn Avenue house. I am living with Gina. We have been bothered by a man and a woman trying to sell us things. The man wears loud clothes that are too young for his gray hair and wrinkles. They try to sell us a paint treatment for cars. We cannot get rid of them. I shout at them. A man called Mr. Majestic with an Italian accent stops by and talks about the hawkers and weed killer.

In the kitchen. Mum is in the house talking to her friend Rita. A couple of house plants that came into contact with the weed killer declare war on each other. Stuff shoots from one pot to the other as bells ring. One plant seems to be winning. When Mum enters the kitchen everything is covered in mud. I am outside laughing.

Shadow Puppets

On a roof. Rough black tar on a row of garages overlooking an auditorium. Andy is sitting with his girlfriend who isn't Debbie anymore. They are talking about me.

In the auditorium. I am wearing a suit, white shirt, and heavy black cape. There is going to be a classical music performance, but I do not see an orchestra. The music begins. It is dreadful, easy-listening "popular classics." On a projection screen rabbit shadow puppets move roughly in time with the music. In front of me, men in tuxedos begin bobbing up and down to the dreadful music. Their actions have been prearranged. As the music gets worse they jump higher and higher. The bearded conductor stops the performance and asks pompously how long he is going to be made a fool of. I shout out that maybe people don't like the music. Some in the audience applaud. The conductor says we will take a recess.

Walking from the auditorium. The cape is much too hot so I take it off. It is a nuisance carrying it. I meet Tom and shake his hand, then continue walking on my own. I pass a cafeteria which is empty except for a couple talking. I come across a smaller room where people are gathering. Tom and Mike are there. An attractive blonde woman walks over to us. She asks us if we will buy her and her friend a drink. She says they have liquor if we can provide the juice. I ask her which bar is open, trying to give the impression I know where I am. She says the one on the third floor. Mike and I rush to an elevator. The doors, which are made of old, patterned glass, close before I get there.

Outside in daylight. I tell Mike I did not like the music. He says he thought it was okay, but it was spoiled for him because during the performance someone near him was frying chicken.

Cat Princes

In a large house. I am a servant to two princes who are brothers, one good the other evil. They are both cats. The evil one is transporting gold and jewels to Hawaii to build a new palace. There is a creature who consumes the gold and jewels in order to transport them. The creature has no eyes or other features except a mouth set in a glassy green face. It wears heraldic costume. The good prince races around and explains the plans of his evil brother using complex gestures.

Exit Only

In a tunnel. Walking along the tracks of the London Underground. Trains approach from both directions. To avoid being crushed by the trains I open a small door in the side of the tunnel and hurry through it. "I could have been killed," I say.

In the Uplands Road house. I am in a rush to get to the airport. I am going to Minneapolis to see Gina. I had a reservation on a rental car, but I do not have enough time to get to the rental car place. I ask Richard if he will drive me to the airport. He is very reluctant and says Mum will take me and that she will be back soon. He seems to be hiding something. He claims that he has to go for a walk for the next hour and a half. I tell him if he doesn't help me out I will never speak to him again. Finally I persuade him to lend me his car. It is Friday. I promise him I will bring the car back from the airport on Sunday. He is not happy. There is construction on Uplands Road and a triangular sign that says "Exit Only," black on yellow with one vertical arrow and another pointing to the left. I look at my watch and remember I have not packed my bag yet. There is not enough time for me to catch my plane.

Blue

A blue lagoon. Floating on a raft with a naked blonde woman.

Driving my car. I am not in the car. It drives up an overpass and I can no longer see it.

In a room. A polished wooden interior with an upper balcony like the tiered shops in Chester. A man playing with a huge Scalextric set that includes slot cars and a train. The train comes off the tracks and bounces up the stairs to greet me like a dog.

In a large blue room, next to the blue lagoon. I look for my note book to record the dream but can only find an address book. Then I remember that I already recorded the dream but used binary code. I am a poet who dreamed he was a scientist. A woman in the room comments that nobody has seen me for a while. I explain that I have been dreaming.

In a dangerous part of town. I walk with a man and a woman. The man has a gun and points it at someone. I tell him we must not fight as it would draw attention to us.

Baltimore in the Alps

Walking to work. There is snow on the ground. As I pass the athletic center I see Colin ahead of me wearing an ill-fitting gray suit. I walk faster to catch him up and drift slowly off the ground. I look across the road to where the Institute used to be. An Alpine village is glistening, quaint, sunlight on snow.

Looking at the window in my bedroom. I write down the dream on my pad.

In a room. Sitting with Bonnie and Gina. I drop cigarette ash on Bonnie's leg and it burns a hole. She smiles.

Numerical Restaurant

Dinner time. I am driving with Jack but there is a problem with the address of the restaurant. The address is a seven-digit number beginning 516. To find the remainder of the address you add the number of the meal you want to a four-digit number. Sometimes Jack and I find the restaurant. At other times Gina and I find it. Sometimes Gina and I are Peg and Al Bundy.

In the restaurant eating. A waiter with a Pythonesque French accent comes to our table explaining how the sole must be eaten at exactly the right moment. Other diners explain that they like to support the restaurant despite the chef's strange ideas because they have a financial interest in its success.

Turning Japanese

In a bedroom. Annette is trying on underwear and asks for my advice. She says she wants to go "Franglais." My glasses have a twisted arm. I try to straighten the arm, but instead it breaks off. I go through other pairs but none are comfortable, even when I adjust the bridges. I look for a pair with a similar arm so I can replace the broken one.

In a club wearing a silk dressing gown. A Japanese guy comes over and shows me how to tie it properly. A band is playing. I am carrying a TV remote.

I see myself walk towards a large building. My hair is longer and fairer. On Psychedelic TV with no sound I watch myself ask a guy if he has any cocaine.

In bed with a dark woman. She tells me she is going to The Pavilion.

Newspaper Reporter

On the phone. Talking to a woman with a Spanish name who works for a newspaper. She wants me to send her some figures from my research. I have a feeling we arranged to speak about this today, since it is the day after she returned from her vacation. I have a photo of the woman. She is dark, mid-thirties, rather dumpy.

Driving my mother's car. I hear her describing an oddity of the steering wheel. She is not in the car. The steering is heavy. I am about to complain to my mother about the lack of powered steering, but stop myself as I know it will annoy her. As I drive down Fitzjohn Avenue I have to maneuver around a large umbrella in the road. I get caught up with some hosing that knocks over several plastic cups which roll down the hill. I get out of the car and gather up the cups so I can return them to the owner up the hill.