Oly Funk Fest 2025

Hey Earthlings!

We took a short break from reality, "funking off" to a festival in the nearby city of Olympia, WA, over an extended weekend and returned last night. Despite being Washington state's capital and just under an hour away, I've never visited. I've passed dozens of times, watching the freeway exit signs blip past on the way to Portland or some other Oregon destination.

Well, that deficiency is now addressed. I've visited Olympia's downtown area, anyway, and it gets our seal of approval (FWIW). I'm sure the three venues playing live funk and funk-adjacent music at all hours of the day during our visit contributed to our great impression. That aside, the downtown area was rich with restaurants, breweries and bars, shops, and other attractions, all in one walkable package. I was surprised and impressed.

The festival itself, as I alluded to above, was great. Two of the three venues were perfectly suited to dancing, and Batgirl and I were at pains to take advantage. We danced so much that my fitness watch decided I'd graduated to a new fitness tier! Well, I don't think I'll soon be able to replicate 3 days of 3+ hours of dancing, sad to say.

Some of the standout bands included Eldridge Gravy, Hillstomp, Clinton Fearon, and the Andy Coe Band, though everyone was great. Not all the musicians were strictly funk (or even that close, really) but all were really amazing. Overall, it was quite a nice, if short, vacation.

Dreamgineering

These last several months, my mental health has greatly improved by restricting my reading to select curated sources. One of those is Scientific American, and in particular, its Today in Science daily newsletter.

One article recently caught my attention because it discussed "engineering" dreams. The article is titled "The New Science of Controlling Lucid Dreams." 

I respectively suggest this alternate title: Dreamgineering ;).

It's so amazing that scientists are learning how to engineer sleepers' dreams to reduce nightmares, treat insomnia, and even just for fun.

In college some years ago, a friend living in a different state and I tried to induce lucid dreams, specifically so we could attempt to meet up the world of sleep. I'm sad to report that nothing ever came of those experiments, but our attempts have obviously stuck with me.

[Photo by Javardh on Unsplash]

Of course, I wonder how much such "dreamgineering" science might have been involved, historically and as an in-world basis for my current Patreon novel, Dreamrider in the Nightland. The novel is a near-future sci-fi-ish story, if you aren't aware. Though it's not hard science fiction, especially as revealed by the Dreamrider's patron in this last scene of chapter 10.