Friday, April 18, 2008

Where's Your Head When The Biscuit Blows?



We must, in the next place, investigate the subject of the dream, and first inquire to which of the faculties of the soul it presents itself, i.e. whether the affection is one which pertains to the faculty of intelligence or to that of sense-perception; for these are the only faculties within us by which we acquire knowledge. -Aristotle

Two nights ago, after an enjoyable viewing of Street Kings, I laid myself down to rest, fully exhausted and ready to succumb to sleep. My full surrender to the unconscious did not happen as quickly as I would have liked, but sure enough eventually it came, in the form of a Pillsbury Biscuit commercial, played on a loop.

I was told earlier this week after beginning some new medication that an often seen side effect was vivid, imaginative dreams. This may be superfluous information-- it depends if you call advertisements for a major dough corporation imaginative or not.
Though I've never had a dream that just simply consisted of a commercial, with no outer story arc or explanation. This in itself may qualify as creative in a post-modern Don DeLillo shrinking-boundary-between-reality-
and-commercialism kind of way.

Anyhow, the dream: A child appeared at the kitchen counter, Pillsbury biscuit tube in hand, ready to bake. She started peeling off the label. It was the frightful kind of biscuit tube-- the ones you have to peel and peel bracing yourself for the inevitable "POP!" that sometimes comes after a quarter-inch, other times after three full rotations. The camera is doing a close-up on her hands as she's peeling, then "POP!", the camera pans up and the circular metal top is embedded in the child's forehead--right between the eyes (my brain influenced here by Street Kings, I'm sure)-- blood trickles down her dazed face and then the major-keyed, soul chorus-led jingle starts:

"WHERE'S YOUR HEAD WHEN THE BISCUIT BLOWS? WHERE'S YOUR HEAD WHEN THE BISCUIT BLOWS?"

Then a male spoken voice: "A friendly reminder from Pillsbury to keep your head back when making our delicious, buttery biscuits."

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