This installment of Traps in the Midst of Dreams is a resolutely East Bay Area edition. Jesse Luscious, member of such flag-bearing punk bands as Blatz, The Gr’ups and The Criminals, and current manager of Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles imprint, woke up one morning following a dream and knew precisely where to send it. Given the subject matter of much of his music, it's not surprising that illicit activities manifest in his dreams, but it took the keen deciphering of Brontez Purnell to distill the significance of Luscious’ dentistry proclivities.
Purnell, who may have first demanded your attention as member of garish, queer- centric party art group Gravy Train and now fronts The Younger Lovers (in addition to a myriad of other creative endeavors in the fields of dance and film,) seemed the logical interpreter of Luscious bloody travel tale. I only wonder whether Luscious is aware of the similarities between his dream’s ending and the final living moments of The Church of Latter Day Saints founder, Joseph Smith, following his own indictment for treason.
JESSE LUSCIOUS’ DREAM:
My wife & I were living in an apartment and I was working as a legitimate dentist out of the apartment when for some reason, I became a wanted fugitive. We drove away over night, heading for England. We started from somewhere in Southern Germany or Switzerland and I was driving. After many exhausting hours, I thought we were back in Berkeley, or at least Oakland, but we had somehow missed Britain and ended up in Ireland. We high-tailed it back to Italy to get our bearings, where our apartment was, and start out again. Even though I was a fugitive, the police had already gone through our apartment so there was no one there.
We decided to lay low there for a few days since there were roadblocks leading out of town and massive media coverage about us. We spent days watching TV and not being disturbed until my wife suggested renting another apartment in the same complex and restarting my dentistry practice. I was initially doubtful, since I didn't want to draw attention to us. She said that the landlord didn't care about my fugitive status and just wanted to rent out another flat. I agreed to do it once I realized that the police would probably return to examine our apartment again once they couldn't find us out in the world, so it made sense to move to a different spot.
At that point, the police showed up and surrounded the apartment because a nosy neighbor had noticed both male & female voices coming from our place. I tried leaping out of a back window but got shot in the eye. It wasn't fatal, but it was pretty bloody. I was taken into custody.
BRONTEZ PURNELL’S INTERPRETATION:
OK, to set some shit straight, let's get some facts straight. Dreams about dentistry usually denote strong anxiety based feelings about appearance. This is, of course, common knowledge. It also could mean some kind of waiting pain (i.e. the dentist office, waiting, hearing drills, making yr grill all tight- you get it right? ) Anyway, the fact that you are a dentist speaks to the level of control you are wanting because you ARE the dentist. I.E. YOUS A MUTHAFUCKING BOSS. WORK GODDAMMIT!
To dream that you are a fugitive denotes that there is something you are refusing to confront or accept responsibility for. Fugitive dreams call into question some aspect of your moral character.
LET’S CRACK THIS BABY!
This dream is basically about a man that cannot escape his good looks. He is burdened by the fact that he is handsome and wants the rest of the world to be comfortably attractive also. He wants to put beauty into the world. He is an artist. There are literal roadblocks in the dream and literal roadblocks in life. His wife is a symbol of aided consciousness. The constant endless driving symbolizes that no matter how far you go, the problem is EVERYWHERE As Coolio once stated, “fools are the same from Watts to Brooklyn.” The media coverage goes back to attention, handsomeness, and the ultimate star quality of the dreamer.
Now, dreams about bleeding eyes represent sacrifice and pain endured. Though harmless in the dream world, it also denotes someone that has learned to accept pain. Again, to dream about cops and being taken into custody are all sure fire symbols of giving the middle finger to authority.
This is clearly the textbook dream of a tortured and beautiful artist. In the words of Tupac, “IT'S ME AGAINST THE WORLD, BABY!”
