thatwasthen

Morpheus

December 14, 2009

…was the Greek god of sleep and dreaming. We’re not talking The Matrix here, people, so if you’re disappointed go ahead and click the back button now.

Due to my extensive knowledge of mythology that surely isn’t just comprised of facts gleaned from Wikipedia (read: yes it is), I know that Morpheus‘ uncle was Thanatos—the god of death.

I bet that was an interesting Thanksgiving. Right about now would’ve been a good time to insert a still from the Monty Python “Salmon Mousse” sketch, which appropriately features the Grim Reaper at a dinner party. Alas, Google Images fails me again:

[Alternative joke that requires a little 'shopping. picture of Grim Reaper pasted over Thanksgiving scene? Hilarious hijinks, speech bubbles?]

So anyhow, Thanatos, being like the cool uncle that buys you alcohol, decides to give his nephew a little gift. Using his unspecified badass godly powers, uncle Thanny deposits upon wee Morpheus’ tender trapezius a pair of feathery wings. These enable the deity-child to fly around the Earth, and somehow by extension into peoples minds and through their dreams. The word morph actually stems from this guy’s name, because of his notable ability to change into the form of any human in your dreams.

You may be curious as to why I would share this mythological dissertation with you. Well, besides being a practice in the art of witty caption writing, what I truly want to discuss was a strange dream I had last night. Morpheus came to me in my sleep in the form of Brent, Chris, Nathan, Benny, a sizzling amplifier, and a goddam T-rex.

For some reason, in my dream, thatwasthen was playing at Wild Rivers…if you’re not aware, Wild Rivers is a water park based out of Irvine that is rivaled only by its competitor Raging Waters for sheer ratio of piss to chlorine. For more insights, see graph:

So we were playing in this little shack surrounded by the aforementioned visitors, which really isn’t too foreign a thought to me, because Chris and I actually played there in eighth grade in a different band and a different life. You might be wondering where the T-rex comes in. Well, I clearly remember being SO stoked we were playing there because my completely irrational dream-brain conflated Universal Studios with Wild Rivers. There is definitely no Jurassic Park ride at the waterpark, but you can understand my confusion as it is a logride style deal.

Regardless, we were just starting to plug in when Brent starts singing the breakdown to Radar Love by Golden Earring. I think it was the section “No more speed I’m almost there...” So I’m supposed to be playing those little lead licks that go in between Brent’s words, but my guitar won’t work. When I look down to inspect it, it’s my guitar but it isn’t. It looks just like my real life model, minus some subtle aesthetic differences that recall cheap overseas knock-offs.

Not only is it just a little bit off, but it feels completely different. I’m stressing hard and trying to get the right tone when suddenly the sound begins cutting out. Simultaneously the acrid smell of an electrical fire wafts into my nostrils. Whipping around I notice that this foreign amp I’m apparently borrowing is quickly turning into a gooey, smoking glob of molten techno-death. Rushing to put out the flames, the tent we’re in is suddenly completely upturned. A gargantuan toothy maw slowly lowered toward me—it was the DAMN T-REX! With a hideous roar it began to charge when BOOM! Morning. Rain. Headache. Leather couch.

I hope this discussion of my dreams lead to a deeper understanding of my strange psyche. I myself am quite curious as to what it says about my subconscious…but anyway, if not completely revelatory, at least I hope it helped you mentally escape your cubicle or procrastinate in whatever way you desired when you clicked this!

‘Til next time,

NP

Posted by nicky on in Nicky P

Tagged with: , Dreams, Golden Earring, Monty Python, Morpheus, Radar Love, Salmon Mousse, T-rex, Thanatos, The Matrix, Wild Rivers