within the limitless confines of this room , valhalla and hades , light eternal and the infinite darkness , every hue of colour and every sound could echo , could smell and taste , and every combination of atomic ideas could be explored , and this livingroom , with its bare walls , the full wall , and the broken lightshade , the long barrel of a rusty pipe , the empty cartons of orange juice and the sticky floor , the tangle of wire to the stereo and the hills of scattered cds , the perfect ferment to produce the beer of the mind , stimulated them and exhausted them in equal measure , their heads straining to escape the confines of their mortal frame .