This is already slipping from my mind at an alarming rate, but the dream went something like this:

"Terrorists" were occupying large sections of Chicago, but it was one of their holidays and they weren't paying as much attention, so a number of former Chicagoans, myself included, decided to sneak back in and have a look around. The biggest symbol of their occupation was a soda can thumb drive that sat at the top of an escalator in what was probably the Nordstrom's downtown. I went up to it, while people behind me chattered about how there'd been a lot of talk about strategically nuking it, and no one had been brave enough to touch it. I walked up to it, thought "Seriously, could they have irradiated this can and made it that deadly?" and picked it up. It stuck to my hand, I screamed, and threw it down the escalator, then calmly walked over to my apartment, which was up the escalator at Nordstrom's. I went inside and set about making breakfast, knowing that by screaming and destroying their symbolic pop can thumb drive that I was going to get into a lot of trouble. I figured I'd have at least a day, though, because it was a terrorist holiday. But, as I stood at my stove, a little boy came to my door holding a giant rock over his head.

"I'm going to throw this through your window, now" he said.

"Okay," I said, knowing that this was terrorist retribution and I might as well get it over with.

He gave me a confused look, but chucked the rock through my window anyway. I stood next to the stove in a pile of glass, and he continued to stare at me.

"I'm going to verbally abuse you know," he said. I shrugged, he looked confused, said a few hateful things and then wandered off.

Word of my bravery against the terrorist rock-throwing spread among those who were back in Chicago for the holiday, and while I was out for a walk by the lake, hundreds of other people began to gather around in peaceful protest. I found myself shouting instructions to them, like "Don't leave any litter behind!" and "Whatever you do, don't rise to their attacks!" There were police and former soldiers wandering around in swim trunks (they still had their guns, though, which worried me), random families with picnic blankets sat on the rocks, and we were apparently peacefully taking Chicago back (because some kid threw a rock through my window because I destroyed a symbolic can). At which point I decided I'd go for a swim, and woke up.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you defeat the terrorists.

From: [identity profile] apple-pathways.livejournal.com


*wild applause* Awesome! Lead us proles to victory, oh fearless leader! I'll bring a re-usable bag to pick up the litter.

Also, I'm glad to see that other people have dystopian dreams of oppressive regimes taking control of their reality. Makes me feel less strange. :)

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


::bows:: Thank you! If only all the world's problems were as easy to solve!

This is by far the calmest dystopian dream I've ever had. I think the most stressed out I was during it was when my dad ate the half of an acorn squash I was saving in my fridge.

Also, icon! Are you going? A friend and I are roadtripping out, because I couldn't stand the idea of not witnessing it in person. (-:

From: [identity profile] apple-pathways.livejournal.com


I am REALLY TEMPTED to go, but my friend who was living in DC just moved to Santa Monica. I have another friend who lives in the area, but she lives with the family she nannies for, so that wouldn't work out. Plus, I'm trying to save up for a trip out to Santa Monica after I graduate, so no fun trips for me until then!

So, I've been thinking of topics for our next Epic Playlist Battle. Here are my categories for this round:

1. Song to listen to while riding a unicorn.
2. Best tune to get you in the mood for doing chores.

I'll ruminate on my choices and send 'em out once I get your categories.

GAME ON! :D

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


Oh no, random battle! I'll admit I'm still ruminating on what my choices will be, but since I'm taking so much time it's only fair that I give you my categories first. I've tried to stick to your theme of one odd and one practical. (-;

1) Song for being Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28. (The year is up to you.)
2) Best song to wake up to in the morning.

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


Okay! Here goes. (Also, you are directly responsible for me finding things in my music library I hadn't listened to in years. (-:)

1. Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear. (This was really hard. I knew that if there was a song for riding a unicorn Joanna Newsom had probably written it, but even this isn't quite it.)
2. Weezer - Slob. (I am never in the mood for chores. We are also completely disregarding how this comes from an album in that awkward period between when Weezer was certifiably Good and when they became Really Confusing. If I was going to answer honestly, it'd probably be something by Shout Out Out Out, possibly Procrastinator's Fight Song. Let's call that one an honorable mention.)

I am now retroactively re-numbering mine.

3. Waiting for Worms - Pink Floyd (The year is 1915, and this is not my original choice at all. Originally I was going with 1914 and the song was going to be something by TV on the Radio, but I couldn't find anything with proper music and lyrics. He Lied About Death by Stars was the best I could do for 1914.)
4. The Katamari Damacy Theme. (It just... Okay, I'll admit that another Katamari song is actually on my phone as an alarm. There's something about waking up to the cheerful opening bars of songs that are designed for rolling random objects up. In retrospect, this would also make a good chores song, but I don't want to encourage myself to just ball up all the messes in my apartment and launch them into space.)

From: [identity profile] apple-pathways.livejournal.com


VERY good choices, though I must admit that Joanna Newsom drives me up a wall; I just don't get why I'm supposed to like her weird-ass voice and nonsensical lyrics.

Also, I can't believe you snuck in a history assignment! Wikipedia is my friend...

1. Best Song to Ride a Unicorn To: has to be The Mummer's Dance by Loreena McKennitt. Mystical and stirring, and just perfect to set the scene.

2. Song to Inspire You to Do Chores: I hate cleaning as well, which is I need a good soundtrack if I'm going to accomplish anything. To start things off, I'll go for: Fresh Feeling, by Eels. Makes me want everything all sparkly clean and fresh!

3. For Franz and Sophie, on the occasion of their death, 1914: I Will Follow You Into the Dark, by Death Cab for Cutie. Perhpas less creative and rather "inside the box", I've always been touched by the story of Franz Ferdinand and his wife, and how he insisted for years he would never marry anyone else. And then when they married, Sophie had to suffer the indignity of enjoying a lesser rank than her husband and being separated from her husband at state functions. I was thinking, "I wonder how she reacted at his death", forgetting that she was killed as well.

4. Best Song to Wake Up To: Again, not particularly creative, but Mr. Blue Sky is a song that gets you out of bed with a bounce. It's impossible not to picture yourself in some sort of crazy teeth-brushing, clothes-finding, breakfast-eating movie montage when you hear it first thing in the morning.


You might just be too good at this!
Edited Date: 2010-09-26 04:15 pm (UTC)

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


I don't think I've ever met anyone who was middle-of-the road about Joanna Newsom. I actually like her for the nonsense lyrics, but I forgive a lot in favour of good nonsense. (-; Her most recent album is a lot less squeaky, and as a result it ends up reminding me a lot of Kate Bush, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

1. You've got me on this one. This is excellent unicorn music, plus at 6+ minutes you get a longer ride than my song. (-;
2. The Eels! Another band I should get back into my rotation. Excellent choice.
3. I waffled a lot on whether to use a song that'd acknowledge Sophie. I had to do some research myself, since I was more of less only thinking in in terms of 'Song for an assassination that was a precursor to world war' when I thought of the prompt (hence TV on the Radio). I had no idea about Sophie and the politics around their marriage--it's really interesting how there always seems to be another interesting story around these kind of figures that no one gets to see because it's eclipsed by the events that happened afterward. The story of him begging her not to die and then her dying first is just heartbreaking. But to think they'd had bombs thrown at them all morning and still got in the car again after reading speech that was literally bloody. It's the sort of thing that seems like it should be fiction instead.
4. Someday I will figure out what it is that makes ELO songs stick in my head so effectively. I think maybe I'll try setting this as my iPod alarm tomorrow so I can see whether it'll get me to perform a real-life morning routine montage. (One in which I don't look in the fridge, go "Man, there is nothing for breakfast" and completely forget that I have three boxes of cereal on top of the fridge.)

I love this game. I'm going to have to concede to you on this round, since your choices are much more well-rounded than mine. Until we battle again! (-;

From: [identity profile] apple-pathways.livejournal.com


You are too kind in conceding! As always, I'm so impressed with the connections you're able to make with your choices. Much more creative than my often literal interpretations of the categories! I am loving this game, too, and I'll leave it up to you to choose the time and arena for our next round.

I have a warm, squishy place in my heart for Kate Bush's crazy ass. [livejournal.com profile] rachel2205 and I share a crazy fixation for her song "Wuthering Heights". Why I like her and not Joanna Newsom, I do not know: sometimes it all depends on what mood I'm in when I first hear something!

Yeah, the story of Franz and Sophie is incredible! And being a social worker, naturally I want to focus on the interpersonal dynamics of the situation and not the larger, global implications of his assassination! What can I say? My approach is very micro. ;)

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


Oh, I have such fond memories of "Wuthering Heights." I'm glad there are other people out there who appreciate it. My roommates introduced me to it in my last year of college, so it's associated 1) with one of them making dramatic entrances into the apartment and singing/dramatically reciting the chorus (we also once nearly defenestrated ourselves in this manner, during a horrid wind storm) and 2) the other attempting to sing the song at a karaoke bar in Germany (an event that, sadly, went undocumented on film, but her story of it was still good).

From: [identity profile] apple-pathways.livejournal.com


Two things: first, I love you for using "defenestrate" in a casual conversation.

Second: Kate Bush at karaoke? Now that's a girl who knows how to PARTY!

From: [identity profile] zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com


Ohmigod Carrie you're amazing. XDDDDDDD I love Terrorist Retribution Kid! Also the fact that we have found the crappy town where you're a hero. :DD

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


Yes. ^_^ Unless there's a song out there called "Terrorist Retribution Kid" in which case I'm off to get that stuck in my head instead.

From: [identity profile] evilhippo.livejournal.com


Sadly, if there is another part of the internet where the words "Terrorist Retribution Kid" exist in sequence, google hasn't found it. I'm hoping that just means the band that wrote the song is so indie google hasn't even heard of them yet... I'll be calling in the irregulars.

From: [identity profile] zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com


Dar says it sounds like the title of a song MCR would do. Clearly we need to start making subliminal suggestions to Gerard Way.
.

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