THERE is surreal calm in Brussels, amid the greatest crisis to befall the European project in its history.
But on one sunny afternoon at the track, as at many other gathering places across Baghdad, the mood was one of almost surreal calm, of everyday concerns that seemed to push thoughts of cruise missiles and smart bombs and helicopter-borne assault forces into the back of people's minds -- or at least into the hinterland of what they were prepared to say.
Watching breaking local news on TV has a surreal, calming effect, as if you're watching a movie that must be happening far away, recorded at an earlier time, no matter what the weather outside tells you.
At one point, Alex Jones, the stout conspiracist radio host, marched into a left-wing protest and started shoving people, but there were no scary scenes, only surreal ones, of calm protesters walking past bike cops, who had assembled in line formations, prepared for a mob.
As nerves jangled from the north-east to East Anglia, Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez maintained an almost surreal air of calm amid the stresses of the struggle for Premier League survival.
Both stayed calm, as if in a surreal chill-off.
Like Mr. Pintilie's "Reenactment," "Niki and Flo" pivots, in ways I am reluctant to reveal, from calm, unstated tension to almost surreal violence.
In the meantime, it's easy to pick out the common threads — not just the sense of time slowing down but the strange calm and the touch of the surreal that he remembers from his own childhood fall.
Sitting across from the stunning MacDowell felt surreal, especially in the crisp Dubai air, surrounded by a calm silence during a bustling festival.
Surreal deal Chatting backstage before his show, Marco de Vincenzo seemed calm and focused.
If players can master their emotions, and stay calm or calm down, the game levels are easier to master and less surreal.
