I never really knew Jim Rash as a writer outside of his acting role in Community; not to mention an Oscar-winning one. It's nice to find out about these things. I also can't wait for a "Writers' Room" episode featuring Community.

One of my RCs is checking the time on my phone in a dream. If the display doesn't make any sense, I'm probably dreaming.

Or my phone just might be busted.

I've only heard of FILD in passing. Reddit calls it "the biggest improvement in lucid dreaming techniques in a long time." I'll give it a go while learning proper induction techniques as well.

There was a wee discussion of lucid dreaming here. I didn't realize one could "try" lucid dreaming, as in bring it on yourself.

Huh, I must have missed that thread when I did a quick site search before posting!

I've already read on the many popular ways to induce a lucid dream, but my 'method' (I'm not sure if you could call it a method since it's only happened accidentally) usually comes right after a bout with sleep paralysis. By trying to 'fight it off' trying to move I become lucid once I fall back into a dream. I'm also used to getting into SP every few weeks that I don't think I've ever felt terrified when I realize I've set into the state again. It's something you get used to, I guess.

I'd love to hear one of your most memorable or recurring dreams.

All of my LDs (as well as a lot of my regular dreams) start in the room where I'm sleeping in, be it my bedroom or apartment. A recurring theme in all of my LDs is that when they would start, a dream character would appear. They're usually people close to me, like my sister or one of my best friends, and would usually be sitting opposite me on the bed, fixated on their phones or a book or something similar. They'd remain silent as I watched them from across the bed. My 'reality check' to know whether I was dreaming or not would be to push them off of the bed, where they'd disappear completely as they fell out of view. A quick check on my phone as to whether the time made sense, and I'm usually lucid by then.

I've never looked up the symbolism of all this; personally, I don't think dream interpretation holds that much water. Also, I've never pushed anyone off my bed IRK.

The sounds heard in the video don't seem to be the actual sounds played by the animals: the scene with the baboon ripping off one of the Casio's keys sounded particularly off for me.

I also want an explanation for the headphones connected to two of the synths.

It's a fun video, though.

Karl Sims did a similar evolution simulation, from Siggraph '94:

"A population of several hundred creatures is created within a supercomputer, and each creature is tested for their ability to perform a given task, such the ability to swim in a simulated water environment. Those that are most successful survive, and their virtual genes containing coded instructions for their growth, are copied, combined, and mutated to make offspring for a new population. The new creatures are again tested, and some may be improvements on their parents. As this cycle of variation and selection continues, creatures with more and more successful behaviors can emerge."