Dreamways

"Antonia Shapovalova, ‘a commissar in the pro-Kremlin movement Nashi’, has designed lingerie with a view to persuading the young ladies of Russia to have more babies.” This sounds like quite the titillating daydream in post-Soviet Russia. What does the lingerie look like? How does it work? Of all things, the dainties address (hoping to undress?) and appeal of solidarity to Russia’s political Big Boss Man, Vladimir Putin (whose nickname is Vova.) "Vova, I'm with you," is printed (stitched? branded?) across the front of the tiny briefs. Imagine  read more »

"Finding guilt-free food for our menus – food that’s clean, green and humane – is about as easy as securing a housing loan. And we’re suddenly paying more - 75 percent more in the last six years – to stock our pantries. Around the world, from Cairo to Port-au-Prince, increases in food prices have governments facing riots born of shortage and hunger.“ This is the waking nightmare recounted by Dan Barber in his article "Change We Can Stomach“ (The New York Times, 11 May 08).

"I can’t stop daydreaming. I’m dreaming of other men falling in love with me in various ways and in various circumstances, and all of them leading to that first passion-inflamed kiss that sends sparkles across my skin and yearning blasting around inside. These daydreams are not the normal nocturnal sweet fantasies I’ve had for years – no, these daydreams have taken over my life. I can’t stop them; I am a pawn of their power.“

"In marketing as in medicine, perception can be everything,“ Benedict Carey infroms us in his news article "$2.50 Placebo Gives More Relief Than a 10 Cent One“ (The New York Times, 05 March 08). "A higher price can create the impression of higher value, just as a placebo pill can reduce pain. Now researchers have combined the two effects. A $2.50 placebo, they have found, works better than one that costs 10 cents.“ In waking life, not only can sugar pills make us feel better, but the more expensive we think they are, the more curative!

An entire page of the magazine, in hues of periwinkle blue, gray and white, shows sunlight dancing in a cloudy, almost stormy sky. In the middle of the page gray, slanted text tantalizes: “Where happily ever after begins…” From the last of these dot-dot-dots, a swirling trail of white stars zigzags down the page.

Don’t know what the ad is selling? Well, worry not! There are thirteen more glossy, heavy paper stock, full-color pages to follow in this ad!

"The trees around George and Agnes Spaulding’s 170-year-old farmhouse [in Royalton, Vt.] are as good as money in the bank, many old-growth maples valuable not only for the quality of their wood but also for the sweet sap boiled into syrup each spring. So when a neighboring farmer crossed onto the Spauldings‘ land and chopped down 30 or so of their best trees, the couple was devastated.“ People stealing trees seems unbelievable, something ridiculous created in a sleep dream.  read more »