Dreamways

EMPIRE OF DREAMS

On the first page of my dreambook
It’s always evening
In an occupied country.
Hour before the curfew.
A small provincial city.
The houses all dark.
The storefronts gutted.

I am on a street corner
Where I shouldn’t be.
Alone and coatless
I have gone out to look
For a black dog who answers to my whistle.
I have a kind of Halloween mask
Which I am afraid to put on.

- Charles Simic

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‘The Song of Deborah and Barak’ from the Old Testament is re-told by Mark Twain in his 1869 best-selling book, The Innocents Abroad, a travelogue Twain penned describing his journey to Europe and The Holy Land with a group of religiously minded American tourists as part of the first-ever luxury cruise. “Somewhere in this part of the country – I do not know exactly where – Israel fought another bloody battle a hundred hears later. Deborah, the prophetess, told Barak to take ten thousand men and sally forth against another king Jabin who had been doing something.  read more »

"Ajinbayo Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ, just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and illustrated Bibles. Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is 'a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,‘ here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.“ A Nigerian selling the Bible in a Japanese format?  read more »

"The women’s basketball game at Eastern Washington University on March 8 started out like any other, as the Eagles of E.W.U. faced off against the Montana State Bobcats. But a routine timeout turned into a 1980s flashback, as two men on the sidelines briefly hijacked the proceedings with a popular prank known as rickrolling. They surprised the crowd by blasting the British singer Rick Astley’s 1987 hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up‘ through the gym, while one, dressed as a look-alike in Mr.  read more »

"The exotically shaped creatures that began to sprout silently all over the cozy lecture hall were soon spilling onto empty chairs and into women’s laps and shopping bags.“ Uh oh. "When fully grown, these curiously animate forms will find a home as part of a mammoth version of the Great Barrier Reef.“ This waking dream, reported by Patricia Cohen ("Want to Save a Coral Reef?  read more »

This Sunday edition of “Prickly City" by Scott Stantis (24 Feb 08) features our canine hero, the scraggly yellow mutt, Winslow. The first panel shows Winslow airborne, holding onto the handlebars of a red, flame-spewing jug on his back. “Jet Packs!” a disembodied voice exclaims. The second frame has Winslow shoveling a large spoonful of ice cream and syrup from a large goopy concoction into his greedy mouth. “Must eat dessert first!” exclaims the bodiless voice.  read more »

"One of the most thrilling trailers for a ‘Superman‘ movie featured no blue tights or red cape. It was just the blue sky. Clouds skimming past. Like you were flying.“ This classic image straight out of sleep dreams is conjured up in a recent Denver Post article entitled "Dreams of Flying Solo … On a wing and a Prayer.“ The article explores human flight without sitting in a machine, which is a common and powerful Sleep Dream experience.  read more »