Weird Dreams and a Few Film Reviews ...

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Bizarre dream, or was it a nightmare?

Sunday was the "stripping of the bed," it's not like we make a big deal out of doing this, but every time we do this, The Missus Herself comments on just how horrible my pillow looks. She often speaks of discarding it, but on Sunday last, she did more than just speak of it.

So now I have a new pillow, same make and model (if you will) as the old pillow, but it has yet to become "my pillow," carefully kneaded, drooled on, and crushed over time so that it is almost a part of me whilst I slumber. Nope, not yet.

I'm not saying that the pillow change had anything to do with the rather bizarre dreams (nightmares?) I had in the course of Sunday night to Monday morning. Could have been the two slices of cold pizza I consumed earlier. Who knows? Nevertheless the dream (nightmare?) was unsettling, to say the least.

The scene was rather like that in the opening photo (from the latest version of Dune). People were in formations, they were very gray, the day was gray and dark, might have been raining as well. I felt like I was somewhere in the future. A rather dismal future, that I can tell you.

I awakened, rather breathless as if I had just been running. I sat up in bed and said "What the hell was that?" I'm guessing it's my dismay as to the possibility of a completely unqualified, anti-American, corrupt asshole becoming the President of the United States. Again.

But having been awakened and left somewhat dazed, my brain went in different directions, I do that in order to try and get back to sleep. What I tend to do, when in the midst of one of my fictional bouts of writing, is try to think up new plot lines, twists and turns, ya know, that sort of thing.

For some reason though, early early on a Monday morning, my thoughts went to retirement, which is just a bit under three months away. It struck me that I would no longer be interacting with fellow adults in the pursuit of a common goal, ensuring that the Navy's weapon systems actually perform well, at least in a simulated environment.

In my half asleep, bad dream awakening state, I kinda panicked at that thought. I will indeed miss that. What I won't miss is management with no clue directing the show. We don't have a lot of that at the middle level, we have an awful lot of that at the higher middle levels. To them it's all about throwing the right tool and the right process at the job.

While the right tools and a good process can help, they're not a panacea, though many view it as such. So when a ew tool comes out, they rush to get it as long as someone in "industry" endorses it. Doesn't matter if they actually use the Gorram thing, if it's new, they want it. Kinda like those transformationalists a few years back.

That I will not miss at all.

Now that school is back in session and as apparently all of the "work from home" types are gradually filtering back to their actual brick and mortar company locations, traffic on my wee commute has become a PITA.

Mind you, it's nothing like big city commutes where you might sit in traffic for an hour or more, but if you're used to a 15-minute commute which now takes 30 minutes, well, let's just say, I ain't gonna miss that either.

Finally had the chance to watch that much-maligned film Civil War. You know, the one where Texas and California gang up on the rest of the United States and secede. The one where the "Western Forces" (sporting Old Glory with 13 stripes and 2 stars) manage to capture DC? As entertainment it wasn't bad. Lots of shootie stuff and things going boom, I like that in a film, even if the plot makes no damned sense at all.

And it didn't make any sense. No back story as to how California and Texas found common cause (I mean come on, Texas and Florida makes much more sense). No details on how it all started.

But yeah, lots of shootie stuff and things going boom.

Second film review, (okay, I watched a couple of movies on Saturday as it was raining like a sumbitch) this one was Red State. I had seen some clips of it, and John Goodman was in it (I like him), and when I was looking for something else to watch, there it was.

It's tagged as a "horror film" which I didn't think it was, sure some teenagers got slaughtered, so I guess to Hollyweird that's a "horror film," it wasn't, not really. Lots of shootie stuff and some really cool "trumpets of Revelation" stuff near the end. (Sounded like some of the same sound effects used in the Tom Cruise version of War of the Worlds when the tripods showed up. They were cool in both films.) You can read the synopsis at the link above.

It was weird, but oddly entertaining.

Maybe I need therapy ...

I managed to squeeze in another film on Sunday night, The League of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which, while entertaining, was rather a disappointment. I was expecting so much more.

U-Boats controlling the coast of Africa from Senegal to Gabon, the Germans occupying various coastal areas, the Royal Navy controlling the waters to the west of that, it was all so very contrived.

Now I'm not a huge fan of Sir Dudley Pound (PQ-17 and all that) but the movie made him look like a right berk, didn't like that at all. The premise of the movie was flawed, and the characters portrayed are based on real people! Come on, take a bit of history and put it in there Hollyweird, I know, it might require picking up a book, but damn, what a bloody disappointment.

It did have the benefit of being mildly entertaining, I will give it that, but I'm awfully glad that I didn't spend money at the theater to see it!

Speaking of weirdness, I love this scene from Dune ...

Maybe I really do need therapy ...

Anyhoo, how was your weekend?