One the plane back, we were watching deleted scenes from "The Incredibles". Brad Bird described dream sequences as placeholders because it meant you couldn't work what you want to say in the context of the story. Not to say that all dream sequences are bad, but they do tend toward lazy narration. Personally, I hate dream sequences, if only because they so rarely simulate actual dreams.

Damn, I was looking forward to this opera. Oh well, at least I'll be able to see off_coloratura sing.