British Admiralty School

October 3, 2005 @ 2:41 pm

British Navy UniformI had a dream just before I woke up this morning that I was a captain at some sort of school for the British Navy. Oddly enough, we were headquartered around the lake at Versailles. All of my students were out practicing their rowing when I got a phone call (anachronism!) from headquarters at the other end of the lake that I was needed there immediately. So I ran to the lake and jumped in the first boat I could find wearing my finest dress uniform.

I remember rowing as hard as I could from one end of the lake to the other, and marvelling at how easily the row boat slipped through the water and how light the oars seemed (not like at Versailles). All of my students were astonished too, to see me rowing myself and going so fast. A couple of them tried to intercept me to do the rowing for me, but I had gotten to the other shore by then.

Doctor Who and PeriI remember running up to headquarters, which looked a lot like the palace at Versaille, but at the other end of the lake. And suddenly I had Nicola Bryant with me, following me around as if I were Doctor Who. (Maybe it was the groovy duds that had her confused.)

As I stepped through the doorway I had to duck to keep from knocking my hat off (which I was wearing front to back pre-Nelson style), but when I got inside I noticed that everyone else had taken theirs off so I removed mine too and put it under my arm. As I was wiping the sweat from my brow, the other officers asked me why I was sweating so. I explained that I had rowed myself across the lake and they were all quite amazed. Then the old boys sent all the women out of the room so we could get down to business, and I woke up.

I think this dream was processing several recent events in my life. Obviously my visit to Versailles fits in, and all the paintings of Napoleonic uniforms I saw there and at the Louvre. I also see traces of my trip up Mt. Greylock as a physical endeavor analogous to rowing across the lake. Finally, I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately in an attempt to understand why it is such a cult classic. The main thing that has been impressed on me so far is the wackiness of the Doctor's outfit and Peri's stiff acting.

Replies: 14 Comments

That's a pretty intense dream, have you been reading any books by C.S. Forester since I'm sure that would have thrown in some British Navy captains into the mix. By the way did you check out the Nicola Bryant site, she's got a "Fon" club which I first thought was some horrible & hilarious error by the designer of the site but apparenlty isn't a misspelling of fan but rather an acroynm for something like friends/fans of Nicola.

Jacob said on October 3, 2005 @ 4:19 pm

oh my god. i fucking love dr who. my sister and i used to run home every night so that we could catch the reruns. i was a tom baker fan. the long scarf and the jelly babies. i have a tom baker dr who scarf. mmhmmm. i have it here with me. "exterminate" do you know there's a museum in london where you can get inside a darlek suit and talk through a vocoder that makes you sound like them? heeee. *nerd* why did we never watch dr who? why? oh. my. i thiink i have to start. .m

m to the chill said on October 4, 2005 @ 11:28 am

Are you watching the new BBC version of Dr. Who or old reruns? If new, what channel? (Or maybe you have satellite...) Nice dream analysis though... I also think that the fact that you had students and were a captain suggests a high level of confidence in your work, although you sometimes suprise even yourself. However, I don't understand why you were British, though.

Allison said on October 4, 2005 @ 1:56 pm

Man, I've had a huge crush on Nicola Bryant since I first saw Doctor Who. I've still only seen episodes with Tom Baker, and they're supposed to be among the weakest, right?

J said on October 4, 2005 @ 9:27 pm

Er, wait. Colin Baker I mean. I guess I read "Tom" in the other comment.

J said on October 4, 2005 @ 9:30 pm

I've been watching the Colin Baker versions of Doctor Who, and you're right, they're pretty weak. Mostly I love the end credits and the 80s synth music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. These are the same people who brought us the theme for the BBC Radio version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's a masterpiece of the (admittedly limited) genre. I've been watching the old Doctor Who on DVD courtesy of Netflix (I'm up to 6 movies at a time) but the new series looks decent. Too bad it's on BBC 3. How many BBCs are there?

Nick Baker said on October 5, 2005 @ 9:36 am

I've seen most of the Colin Baker episodes, and hardly anything else. I thought they were pretty charming though. But my fondness for them might be in their novelty, and the circumstances of when I saw them. They were on a public TV station way late on Saturday nights. So, no commercials, staying up late, and, obviously, having nothing better to do. Regarding the theme, have you heard the remix of it by Orbital? It's right up your alley.

J said on October 5, 2005 @ 6:58 pm

i can't believe you devoted an entire blog entry to a dream. sheesh! who really cares about dreams anyway? okay okay. i'm just jealous that nicola bryant got a starring role instead of me.

jammies said on October 5, 2005 @ 9:02 pm

there's totally tom baker. he's the best one! turns out he's the 4th dr who, and colin baker was the sixth... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Baker

miranda said on October 6, 2005 @ 12:33 pm

Most of my dreams aren't blog-worthy, but when I get taken for Doctor Who by Nicola Bryant while dressed like Napoleon, everyone needs to know! It's too bad you weren't there Jammies, or I would have asked you for the secret word. Tom Baker is the Doctor Who I remember from my childhood, but nothing more about him than the overall strangeness of the show. I guess I wasn't quite ready for British Sci-Fi at the tender age of 7. I haven't heard the Orbital remix, but all I've been listening to lately is Daft Punk's latest, Human After All. It's amazing!

Nick Baker said on October 6, 2005 @ 10:25 pm

I'm pretty sure the BBC is like how all multi-channeled cable networks wish they could be. As in like 10 BBC channels.

Allison said on October 7, 2005 @ 1:23 am

oh, nick, i was just kidding! alldreams are blog-worthy! reese witherspoon had a starring role in mine the other night.

jammies said on October 7, 2005 @ 2:06 pm

Do you blog about every dream you can remember? A comprehensive record might be revealing, maybe a little too revealing for a public blog. Of course, I wouldn't mind if Reese Witherspoon dropped in on my dreams from time to time. And on BBC 72: Red Dwarf all day, every day.

Nick Baker said on October 13, 2005 @ 10:08 am

oh no! i definitely don't blog about every dream. there are too many, and some are just so personal. or weird. it would be revealing, though, you are right.

jammies said on October 13, 2005 @ 10:26 am