This should make some interesting reading...

 

King-Slutzky, whose thesis is on “theories of the imagination and poetry as interpreted through a Marxian lens” and the “fantasies of limitless energy in the transatlantic Romantic imagination from 1760–1860,” and whose fantasies are indeed limitless, goes on . . .

-as cut-and-pasted from here

Fantasy..........................

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong.

-Terry Pratchett

image via

Escape....................

 “Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”

-John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

As fantasies go, this is a pretty good one...

via

Well, okay.................................

"Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality.   It’s a way of understanding it."

-Lloyd Alexander 

via

This almost makes me feel better..........

via

Not sure how I missed it..................

..............but yesterday was Theodor Seuss Geisel's 112th birthday.

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” 
-Dr. Seuss

It may well be............................

"It may just be human nature to attribute certain accomplishments to skill instead of luck."
-as extracted from this article debating the nature of gambling and fantasy sports
via

No kidding........................

.................So, it turns out that the massive fantasy football (etc.) leagues are creating only a teeny number of winners.  One version of the story is here.  Of course, what else should one expect from a "skill game".

But the data says that if you're looking to make money, DFS is a losing bet for most people.

According to data put together at Sports Business Daily, a small portion of players take home the cash.

Should have figured this would happen:

 The top players will risk $100,000 a day in entry fees. Why? Krejcik says that some tournaments allows users to enter hundreds or thousands of lineups in a tournament that has a fixed number of entries — meaning that players with deep pockets can enter 5% to 10% of lineups. In many tournaments, the top 1% to 10% of winners get the outsize payout, making all that investment worthwhile. He estimates top players get 30% ROI — not much when you're betting $100 but quite a bit when you're getting into six figures.

From the cheap seats, it would appear that the real winners are the TV stations raking in millions of dollars in advertising fees from a source that was non-existent only a few years ago.
thanks craig

Me thinks he is over-thinking this...............

Our intrepid statistician calculated the odds on winning the $500,000,000 Powerball prize and decided it just wasn't worth the investment.  I think he makes his mistake in looking at a lottery ticket as a financial investment.  Having already bought my ticket (and in full rationalization mode), I look at it as an investment in an enriched fantasy life.  From that vantage point, I can't think of a better way to spend $2.00. Trust me when I tell you, one can spend hours fantasizing about how to spend/gift the money.  As far as the odds go, two thoughts:   the odds improve the most when you buy the first ticket, and, somebody will eventually win the jackpot.  May the odds be with you.

It's not a fantasy.....................................

...............many people in my wee corner of the Intertunnel have been saying nice things about you behind your back.  It's how we roll in the Heartland.

Unfortunately, elusive the truth is........

thanks Joe

Michael gets personal.................

His secret fantasy is here.