Daily Loaf

Jen and I recently traveled to Chicago for her first marathon. She began the Chicago Marathon in exactly the same state as she finished it: excited and feeling great. She’s still in the Midwest visiting family so I’ll give you all a little recap of what it’s like to be a spectator at a marathon in another state.

In a word: awesome.

Now, I am not sure if it’s just because we were in Chicago, home of the most elaborately garnished hot dogs I have ever seen, or if destination marathons are just the way to go.

Since I was there merely for support I got to do a bit more imbibing of local beverages (try the 312 if you are ever in the Windy City) and indulging in the food and late nights.

Destination marathons are actually quite wonderful for friends and family. While your racer is going to bed early and resting the legs, you, dear athletic supporter, can roam this new locale and stay up as late as you like. Unless of course it’s Saturday night, pre-race night. Your racer could get upset if you stumble in at 2 a.m. and wake them from their much needed slumber. I was smart enough to be home by 10:30 p.m. so as to avoid this.

A benefit to this destination marathon is that when your racer is finished they can see some sights as well. You might have to wheel them around depending on the shape their legs are in, but the walking is actually good for them post-race.

The Chicago Marathon is one of the biggest, and I now know why. From the city to the people to the course itself, Chicago seems like it was made to hold a race like this. Runners travel through Boystown, Chinatown, Grant Park, and so many other historic areas. It’s unfortunate that Chi-town didn’t get the Olympics because I can totally see it working wonderfully there. If you have never been to Chicago I recommend adding this to your race schedule. And if you aren’t a runner, go see the city on your next vacation.

See running Elvises, learn tips for destination marathon-spectating and more after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

“Dream Momma, I wanted to send you this dream to give you a smile. My husband told me yesterday morning that he had dreamed of a big stone foot that was possessed – and it was forced to tap-dance all over the place. He has just taken up a part-time corporate contract after being on sabbatical (to complete his Master of Commerce in Wine Management, his passion) in order to get some income to fund the set up of his new wine business. I’m not sure exactly how his situation connects to the dream symbol but my intuition says that it certainly does!”

Yikes! I’m not even smirking, much less smiling, and I fear you won’t be either when I tell you what I believe his dream means. Now, I usually don’t touch a dream sent by someone other than the dreamer, but my keen intuition tells me to make an exception here. I suspect it’s because you, the observer, are cloaking your fears in this pseudo-give-you-a-smile way. Why would you want Dream Momma to smile? I suspect deep down you don’t. What you want is for Dream Momma to soothe your fears and make you smile. Wish I could but that (playing mind games) is not my style. So, are you ready? If not, click delete … or steel yourself for a bitter pill. Read the rest of this entry »

“Dream Momma, I’m a young woman from Tampa. My dad died a little over a year ago. The other night I dreamed he gave me a key. The key was fancy and old. It was gold or gold metal. I read your blogs a lot so I know the key is probably a symbol, but still wanted some input from you.”

Thank you for following my blog and yes, you are correct: The key is a symbol. Now, the cool thing about dream symbols is that they are very specific in their own way. For example, ask yourself why he didn’t give you a different type of key; a modern one or a pink one with little dots on it?  This particular key is about your Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Hillsborough County receives $7.6 million federal energy efficiency grant- The county plans to use these funds to undertake energy efficiency and conservation projects on its facilities and vehicles.

The pursuit of sustainable happiness- Sustainability in relation to happiness here is used to denote something that is generative, something that will complete us and not deplete our energy levels, something that would inspire us to be better.
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According to figures from the U.S. Green Building Council, Chicago has the most certified green buildings then any other city in the country. That must be hundreds right? Not really. The council reports that 88 projects in Chicago have earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

Still, that isn’t too shabby especially since it was reported that in 2007, Chicago had just 27 LEED-certified buildings. That is over three times the amount in only two years. Kudos, Windy City!

So with all these green advancements in the Tampa Bay area, we must  have made the top 10 right? Not yet, but we will hopefully get there in time.

Here are the top ten cities with the most green buildings according to the Chicago Tribune:
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“Hi dream momma. I’ve had the exact same dream twice. I don’t really do much during the dream, but it is so vivid that i had to post it. So it starts off with me and my friend Alex in Miami. We quickly board a plane to Chicago,  and when we land I notice from the window that the airport and city does not look like Chicago (I’ve been there before). Instead it looks like a remote airstrip in the Pacific Northwest. Soon we meet a middle-aged dude (I forgot his name) and he explains that he has work for us. We ride in the back of his truck through a sinuous two-track dirt road through redwood-type trees for what seems like forever. We finally arrive at a warehouse complex in the middle of a temperate rain forest. It is snowing but all the vegetation is verdant and green. I change into winter clothes and soon I am doing menial tasks like screwing nails into the wall, climbing a ladder, and painting. Then I wake up … very confusing. However, I had almost this exact same dream a week ago, same place, Chicago, airstrip, same tasks, and warehouse … weird! What’s your take on it? Read the rest of this entry »

On this week’s very special Reel Projections podcast, Host Joe (that’s me) is joined by PoHo Wayne Garcia for a conversation about the career of director John Hughes, who died on Thursday at the age of 59. Joe and the PoHo play audio clips from Hughes most famous movies and dissect the director’s influence on the 1980s specifically, and on film-making in general. And go here for video clips of Hughes’ films.

Listen to the podcast here.

Podcast player after the jump …

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Earlier this week hopeful young ladies attended the Tampa Breeze tryouts to become part of the bay area’s hottest sports team.  The St Pete Times Forum was loaded with prospective players suited up in T-shirts, short shorts, and shoulder pads.  The Lingerie Football League may sound cute, but it’s no joke. These girls are ready to play hardcore smash-mouth football, all while looking hotter than any cheerleaders safely yelling from the sidelines.

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Hi Dream Momma. I’m female and live in Chicago. Here’s my dream. I was out on Lake Michigan canoeing and a lot of other people were canoeing, too.  Here and there people started getting out of their canoes and into the water and I was wondering how they were going to get back into their boats. It looked very refreshing to be in the water and everyone was having fun.  Eventually it became clear that the water was draining out of the lake as the people who were out of their canoes were suddenly able to stand on the bottom.  Finally, the entire lake drained out and we were all standing around with our canoes.  The bottom of the lake (that we were now standing on) wasn’t flat – it was very hilly.  Eventually it started to rain and we were happy because we thought the rain would fill the lake up again but it wasn’t actually raining it was snowing snowflakes that were perfectly shaped little stars that we were catching in our hands.  We were all amazed.

Congratulations Chicago dreamer, you have had a life’s journey dream. Here are some of the archetypes that indicate that: Read the rest of this entry »

When Fred Ebb penned the lyric “In fifty years or so, it’s gonna change, ya know” for the 1975 Kander & Ebb musical Chicago, the ironic intent was clear. Sung by a pair of beautiful murderesses famous for being famous, the message seemed to be: Sure, we’ve set this so-called “musical vaudeville” in the late 1920s, but you know and we know that “in 50 years or so” — say, in 1975 —America’s obsession with celebrity and sensational gossip will only get more intense.

That message seemed more prescient than ever in 1996 when the musical was revived. Director Walter Bobbie further blurred the lines between past and present by removing the Roaring 20s period trappings, stripping down the set and costumes to basic black (with lots of see-through and spandex), downplaying the overt links to vaudeville archetypes and pushing the undercurrent of sex and violence to the forefront.

And audiences loved it. Chicago finally got the attention it deserved, going on to become Broadway’s longest-running revival, winning eight Tonys and generating an Oscar-winning movie adaptation and multiple tours. Judging by the version that came to the Mahaffey Friday (and closes tonight), Chicago has lost none of its razzle-dazzle, its relevance or its sex appeal. Read the rest of this entry »

"That's Weird," by Bluelucy at ARTPool.

FRIDAY
Fever Fakers. Opening night for an exhibition of five artists from Young Blood Gallery in Atlanta — notable, says CL art critic Megan Voeller, for fine examples of figurative drawing and painting. April 24-May 22, with opening reception 7-10 p.m. Fri., April 24 at [5]art, #210, West Tampa Center for the Arts, Tampa, 813-340-9056, five-art.com.

International Cinema Series. This week’s selection is My Winnipeg from wildly imaginative Canadian director Guy Maddin, who reinvents his own childhood in via a “docu-fantasia” fusing history with surrealist images and metaphorical myths. Fri., April 24, 7 p.m., Miller Auditorium, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, free.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY
Chicago. You may have seen the movie, but you haven’t fully experienced the down-and-dirty razzle-dazzle of this classic Kander & Ebb musical about murder and showbiz in the Roaring 20s until you’ve seen it on stage. Apr. 24-26, Progress Energy Center for the Arts/Mahaffey Theater. Fri. at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun. at 2 & 7:30 p.m. 800-982-2787 or BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

SATURDAY
Super Saiko! The latest show from Bluelucy (Chad Mize and Phillip Clark) includes work (like “That’s Weird,” above right) inspired by Japanese pop culture and by music — “from Of Montreal to Animal Collective, Kanye West to TV on the Radio,” says Mize. April 25-May 7, with opening reception 7 p.m. to midnight, Sat., April 25 ($10 cover) at ARTPool, 919 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg, 727-324-3878, artpoolrules.com.

Tampa Does Dallas. What’s not to like about hot chicks on roller skates? This weekend, the badass babes of the Tampa Tantrums meet the Dallas Devils in a roller derby bonanza. This may prove to be the dirtiest day Dallas has seen since Debbie left. Sat., April 25, 8:30 p.m., Skateplex, Temple Terrace, $10 in advance/$12 at the door, 813-989-2122, tampabayderbydarlins.com. (Franki Weddington) Read the rest of this entry »

It was one of those “must be seen” events I tagged along on.  Amid the crowd, noise, a woman with a shoe on her head and good but loud music, I slipped away to commune with Salvador Dali.  One image jumped off the wall because it was an incomplete staircase and had the word “Dream” in the title.  Karmic goose bumps for sure!

Just the day before I helped my first dream-reader with just such a dream; an image of an incomplete staircase. How wonderful to see that painting!  I wandered around loving Dali all the more. Aware he flipped for Freud really helped me make sense of all those sexual body parts he so loved to paint.  His known father complex just added to the provocative imagery.

So, what’s a complex?  Basically it’s a huge ball of emotional energy tied to someone or some thing that traumatized us in the past; usually someone, usually, but not always, a parent.  When one of our “buttons” get pushed, it’s often tied to a complex.

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Singles will debate which night of the year is the loneliest-Valentine’s Day or New Year’s eve.  But people tell me of more dreams about lost love and loneliness on Valentine’s Day than any other.  After a while the dreams started to fall into themes.  Dreams about missing a train, being alone in a car, seeing a plane take off, etc. These dreams had a journey theme as in, LOVE IS A JOURNEY.  A journey all of us want to share with a special someone.  Here’s a sample dream from Joe, a guy in Chicago who, incidentally, had a secret yearning to be a biker dude, and whose GF, Pamela, just blew him off.

“I dreamed I was alone in my car but wasn’t at the wheel.  I couldn’t see who was driving but it wasn’t me.  Just ahead was a mountain road and the car began to climb up the side, its wheels hanging on the edge.  I was trying to be cool but inside man, I was freaked.  I look up and see this green light off in the distance and suddenly the car’s off the road, flying through the air towards the light.  Just then I see Mick Jagger blowing by me on a hog and that bitch Pamela hanging on to him.  I’m freaking, I want to kill that bitch but I’m not driving the car.”

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Do you refrain from eating foie gras due to ethical concerns? Understandable, even if I personally overcome that ethical dilemma thanks to the fuindamental deliciousness of those fatted duck and goose livers. One of the biggest problems most folk have with the production of foie gras — besides the industrialized nature of almost every livestock operation — is gavage, or force-feeding.

Well, you might not have to forego this tasty delicacy any longer. Read the rest of this entry »