Re: GG: dream of rock (GG off/on the Record)

[John Hill <jphill@home.com>]

> The description of the dream is beyond my comprehension.
> 
> Q1.  "a colorful variation".
> What does "colorful" mean?
> (a) having bright colors, (b)having a lot of colors or
> just (c)vivid and realistic?
> Considering the content of the dreamd and
> GG's preference to black and white coloring,
> (a) and (b) seem to be inconveivable.

Probably "vivid" or "striking" would be good synonyms.
Since rocks are usually gray, I don't think "colorful" is meant
literally.

> Q2.  "Rock."
> Is it a single mass of rock, a lot of rocks,
> or a plain which consists of rocks?

Probably *layers* of rock.  This is really hard to decribe. 
Having vacationed in Northern Ontario, I can picture
exactly what he is describing, but it's very hard to put into words.
He's describing a vast vista or landscape of rock(s), with very little
vegetation.  "Stark" and "rugged" might be good descriptors for this
type of terrain.

> Q3.  Depending on the interpretation of Q2,
> but I don't understand "a little bit curved and receding" here.
> If it is a single mass, it might be understandable.

He's describing the *shape* of this mass of rock.
You might want to see if you can get some pictures of the landscape
in Northern Ontario around Timmons, Sault Ste. Marie or further north,
up around Hudson Bay.  It's *really* difficult to translate this visual
imagery into words.
 
> Q4. "When one gets into it, another kind of thing takes hold."
> Non-native speaker of English,
> I am poor at such an idiomatic sentence, but I try paraphrasing:
> When one begins n a life one doesn't really enjoy
> (here, i.e. the life of giving concerts), one will find something
> new that is interesting.

Perhaps another way of saying it would be:
When one gets accustomed to it (after a few days or weeks of touring),
one's feelings change (it starts to feel more normal and less crazy).

> Q5. Does this dream sound fairly original, unique, very Gouldian?
> Or is it a cliche?  Is there any precedent in the culture
> of English-speaking people?

I think the point of it is that GG hated going back to school on Mondays.
He felt an overwhelming sorrow associated with having to give up his
freedom to practice and play the piano, because school meant going
to class, being regimented and having to physically interact with his
peers.  GG obviously didn't like that and this dream was a subconscious
reminder of it.  This was a "bad dream", because it evoked a strong
feeling of sorrow and lack of control for him.


Don't feel badly about your difficulties with colloquial English, Junichi.
It's a very complicated language and colloquial expressions can be really
weird!  I'm sure you're doing very well with it.

Is it true that in spoken Japanese, the pitch (highness or lowness) of sound
communicates different meaning?

jh