Fantasy World

Alone in his room for days at a time, the scrawny teen retreated into a fantasy world of violent video games and Dungeons and Dragons. Donald Anthony Traub, known to family and friends as Donny, preferred his computer screen to playing sports with neighborhood boys. The only time he ventured out was to shoot fake guns at other kids in the woods. He was a middle-school honor student, one of his former classmates and neighbors recalled yesterday. But his source of pride was in the mall arcade, where he could beat anyone at Street Fighter II, a complex game that involves dueling against an imaginary opponent.

This is the true story of 12 tweets picked to appear in a column to find out what happens when 140 characters stop being polite and start getting real. Or something like that. The Reali-ty of Fantasy World. All were sent to twitter.com/aroundthehorn. And they're real, fantasy face. N to the O. That would be like Hugh Hefner asking if he's violated the "too-many-hotties-in-one-mansion" rule. If Donnie Brasco taught us anything, it's that there are friends of mine and friends of ours.

Charles Croteau, a custodian, sat with his coffee in a doughnut shop yesterday, and explained the facts of life: There's the New Hampshire presidential primary, which is just some kind of "fantasy world," a TV show filled with "a lot of bickering. " Then there's the real world that he sees with his own eyes. And like a lot of people in this town that's down on its luck, he can't connect the two worlds. Which is why he said: "When we get into that booth on Tuesday, and look at those fellas who are running, we'll probably revert back to that game we played when we were kids - Eenie, meenie, minie, moe. " This bellwether Republican bedroom community - the fourth-largest in the state, just 20 minutes down Interstate 93 from Manchester - is still reeling from the aftershocks of the corporate downsizing that struck southern New Hampshire in the early '90s.

SADDAM HUSSEIN: A UNIFYING FORCE Ah, Saddam. There is nothing quite like that infamous face, and the evocative accompaniment of Peter Arnett once again sending reports from Baghdad on CNN, to rally Americans and inspire them with a sense of foreign-policy purpose. It is the face of The Enemy. Since the collapse of communism, America has suffered from a shortage of compelling enemies - except in the fantasy world of this summer's blockbuster movie, "Independence Day," which invented a super-enemy from outer space.

Ask Guillermo del Toro if he was like Ofelia, the Alice in Anything-but-Wonderland heroine more at home in the fantasy world than the grim reality in "Pan's Labyrinth," and del Toro will answer before you finish the question. "I am like that little girl right now," he said, laughing. "I think the 'fantasy world' is actually more tangible than the false world we create out of the mundane things in our own lives. " The Mexican filmmaker has been devouring fairy tales and fables his whole life, and he showcases variations of some of his favorites in "Pan's Labyrinth.

TO GAR Joseph at Clout: Could you please knock off the stupid "cult member" cheap shots at Obama's supporters? It's stupid, it's trite, and it's also untrue: Speaking as a 38-year-old parent, homeowner and taxpayer who supports Obama, and who's been voting for 20 years, it's personally offensive and denigrating for you to describe voters like me as mindless cultists. After eight years of a president who has gone out of his way to divide the country on partisan lines, including rallies at which only his most hard-core supporters are permitted to attend after signing loyalty oaths, and at which protesters are harassed by the Secret Service, you have some nerve describing Obama's campaign as "a totalitarian cult.

Macaulay Culkin, whose base salary for "Home Alone 2" was reportedly $4.5 million, is getting a 75 percent raise for his next starring role. Culkin will be paid $8 million for MGM's "Getting Even with Dad," a studio spokeswoman confirmed earlier this week. He will star as a youngster named Timmy who blackmails his ex-con father into shaping up. The film, being directed by Howard Deutsch, is set to begin production in July with a target release date of spring or summer 1994. Culkin, 12, is said to be making about $5 million for the movie he currently is filming, "The Good Son. " His salary for "Home Alone," which became the third-highest-grossing film of all time, was reportedly $100,000.

DEAR ABBY: "Keeping It Real in Laguna Beach, Calif.," who is embarrassed by the dialects of his Southern relatives, should learn some Southern hospitality! Yes, we may say "Ma and Pa," "y'all," "yonder" and "I reckon," but we would not laugh or be embarrassed if a California relative came to visit. We'd be overjoyed and welcoming. "K.I.R.," get off your high horse and get over yourself! If you visited, we'd show you around town, take you to see friends and relatives, and smother you with affection.

THREE EXHIBITIONS at the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, are fun and funky. "East Meets West: 'Folk' and Fantasy from the Coasts," organized by Alex Baker, now associate curator at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, presents colorful paintings and sculpture by six young artists from Philadelphia (Joy Feasley, Jim Houser and Clare Rojas) and San Francisco (Chris Johanson, Scott Hewicker and Margaret Kilgallen). Feasley creates autobiographical mixed-media paintings that concern her relationships and travels.

As soon as the crowd at Veterans Stadium heard Fred Barnett's name on the public-address system, the reaction was a predictable Philly greeting: Booooooooo. After six seasons as an effective Eagles receiver, Barnett now wears the Miami Dolphins' aqua and coral. "I felt so welcome," Barnett said later, mixing a slight smile and a trace of sarcasm. "It wasn't as loud as I thought it would be: It was a low boo. " Barnett played his first game since underdoing surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament on Aug. 5. The player former Eagles coach Buddy Ryan nicknamed "Arkansas Fred" agrees with the assessment that many observers have made - that his quick recovery is a miracle.

DEAR ABBY: "Keeping It Real in Laguna Beach, Calif.," who is embarrassed by the dialects of his Southern relatives, should learn some Southern hospitality! Yes, we may say "Ma and Pa," "y'all," "yonder" and "I reckon," but we would not laugh or be embarrassed if a California relative came to visit. We'd be overjoyed and welcoming. "K.I.R.," get off your high horse and get over yourself! If you visited, we'd show you around town, take you to see friends and relatives, and smother you with affection.

Grief over the way the city now is As a former resident of Oxford Circle and current homeowner in Fox Chase, I have sentimentally mourned the closing of neighborhood small businesses - stores whose owners and employees catered to a shopper's specific needs or desires. They were the stores on the "avenues" - Castor, Cottman, Frankford, and Rising Sun. Many of these businesses closed due to economic constraints but, today, they're closing due to crime. I recently drove on Rising Sun Avenue to the jewelry store my family has frequented for 25 years, but couldn't get in. It was blocked by yellow crime-scene tape.

ORLANDO - After two days of being shaken, stirred, and overstimulated, I needed a break. So I was relieved to wander into Epcot's upscale Les Chefs de France, which reminded me of the bistros I'd recently visited in the real Paris. Everything from the imported French staff to my favorite French spring water made me forget for a few minutes that I was in Orlando. As my waiter served me a perfect croque monsieur sandwich, I watched as the maitre d', Amelie, pushed a food cart down a nearby aisle.

This is the true story of 12 tweets picked to appear in a column to find out what happens when 140 characters stop being polite and start getting real. Or something like that. The Reali-ty of Fantasy World. All were sent to twitter.com/aroundthehorn. And they're real, fantasy face. N to the O. That would be like Hugh Hefner asking if he's violated the "too-many-hotties-in-one-mansion" rule. If Donnie Brasco taught us anything, it's that there are friends of mine and friends of ours.

Watching Natalie Bauder skip through her garden, hair flying, light as a sprite, one thing comes to mind: Alice. She's Alice in her own little Wonderland. Her Wonderland's in Wyndmoor, but it could be anywhere. Natalie loses herself in it with intensity, as 6-year-olds do, playing with her imaginary friends, Buzzy and Rudy, putting on one-girl shows about nothing at all, and tearing around the spiral path as if she's Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. "The White Rabbit says, 'I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for a date,' " Natalie confides in a sing-song, "and if they're really late, the Queen of Hearts will chop their heads off!

AMERICA'S TEAM is teetering on becoming America's Mess. The Cowboys are 4-2, but the star quarterback is banged up, the star wide receiver is cranky, and the rookie running back has a hamstring problem. There also was a big trade and a suspension that has indefinitely relieved Cowboys fans of Pacman Fever. So here's a look at the happenings in Dallas recently and an attempt to untangle what they mean to us in fantasyland: Quarterback Brad Johnson was the week's hottest free-agent pickup in light of Tony Romo's busted pinkie.

TO GAR Joseph at Clout: Could you please knock off the stupid "cult member" cheap shots at Obama's supporters? It's stupid, it's trite, and it's also untrue: Speaking as a 38-year-old parent, homeowner and taxpayer who supports Obama, and who's been voting for 20 years, it's personally offensive and denigrating for you to describe voters like me as mindless cultists. After eight years of a president who has gone out of his way to divide the country on partisan lines, including rallies at which only his most hard-core supporters are permitted to attend after signing loyalty oaths, and at which protesters are harassed by the Secret Service, you have some nerve describing Obama's campaign as "a totalitarian cult.

With many fantasy-league playoffs starting this week, it is time to recognize 2007's most valuable players. Although fantasy draft magazines touted Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson and Steven Jackson, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was described as a solid fantasy starter but nothing more. Moreover, a new teammate of Brady's, Randy Moss, had clearly lost a step and would never mesh with the Patriots' philosophy, they said. On the contrary, 2007 will be remembered as the year Brady and Moss blew the doors off NFL records, setting fantasy scoreboards on fire.

IF VETERAN GOLFERS strive to shoot their age, do elderly running backs try to rush for their age? Of course not. If they did, Chiefs running back Priest Holmes is looking at 34 yards Sunday (which is probably the right number to expect anyhow). With Larry Johnson becoming the latest stud running back to land on the injury report, eyes in Kansas City - and many in the fantasy world - have turned toward Holmes, the 34-year-old former superstar who is expected to get his first significant action since Oct. 30, 2005.

Ask Guillermo del Toro if he was like Ofelia, the Alice in Anything-but-Wonderland heroine more at home in the fantasy world than the grim reality in "Pan's Labyrinth," and del Toro will answer before you finish the question. "I am like that little girl right now," he said, laughing. "I think the 'fantasy world' is actually more tangible than the false world we create out of the mundane things in our own lives. " The Mexican filmmaker has been devouring fairy tales and fables his whole life, and he showcases variations of some of his favorites in "Pan's Labyrinth.