Daily Loaf

The fabulously rich Democratic incumbent Governor Jon Corzine has been upset by the cheerfully overweight Republican challenger Chris Christie in New Jersey, MSNBC has reported. Maybe the Virginia election wasn’t a referendum on Obama, but New Jersey certainly could be viewed as such.

It’s a little early, however, (Howard Fineman, we’re talking to you) to see Corzine’s defeat as a rebuke of rich guys. Though Fineman was exulting at the closer-than-expected race for mayor in New York City, zillionaire incumbent Michael Bloomberg has been declared the victor in NYC, according to the New York Times.

Most of what is said about abortion comes from politicians and religious leaders, but it’s everyday women who actually have to make the difficult decision of what to do about an unplanned pregnancy – women like me.

1 in 3 American women will have an abortion in her lifetime. This is a huge number which likely includes many women close to you, yet few ever talk about their experiences. Where are the personal accounts?

Even with the anonymity of the internet, these stories are hard to find. Women facing unplanned pregnancies have a right to know about the experiences of other women and why some chose to terminate their pregnancy. Read the rest of this entry »

What awaits at the end of of a two hour-long, cushy Jet Blue flight north; a 10-minute AirTrain ride west, a 55-minute subway ride uptown; and a climb up a particularly steep and stained flight of stairs?  New York City! (In my best Pace Picante Sauce voice), and a bottle of Poland Spring water, of course.  I just returned from the Big Apple last night, and in between shameless gawks at all the pretty buildings, I managed to survey the fashions of the hip and uninhibited.

See what they’re wearing right now, or at least yesterday, in NYC — below the jump.

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Last week I encountered my first call girl, “Broadway Mary,” when I stopped to ask for directions. Mary claimed she was in Ybor City on “business” that had fallen through; she asked for a ride home. She was reasonably attractive, and I was completely lost, so I complied.

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When I ventured to Ybor City last week for The Hold Steady show at the Ritz, I had no idea I’d come face to face with my very first professional sex worker.  Or in street terms, you might refer to her as a call girl.  An unplanned event like this could only take place on a damp, sticky night in Ybor.

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Remember 1989? Remember the disappointment? How exciting the mere prospect was, the idea that we’d get more of that magical, hilarious madness. Another two hours worth of memorable quotes – what would replace “When someone asks you if you’re a God, you say yes!” or “Listen; Do you smell something?”

But then we got Ghostbusters 2 in all it’s lifeless, tepid, walking Statue of Liberty forgettableness. Who would want another sequel after that mess? And how could we get it two decades after the fact? Of course you’ve guessed the answer – Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which really is the sequel I’ve been waiting for.

All the original busters are back, Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson playing digital, young versions of their now aged and expanded selves. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis are even credited as writers of the game, and I can believe it. The story has the same sensibilities as the original movie, the same over the top mythology and paranormal gobbledygook, and I found it a lot more interesting and entertaining than the Ghostbusters 2 plot. Of course it’s spread out over 7 hours of game play, but that works fine. It’s the transition to digital actors and recorded voice overs that’s less satisfying.

More review and video after the jump: 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 past week:

Reconstructing a historic bat tower in Temple Terrace and how to build your own bat roost- Grant Rimbey investigates efforts in Temple Terrace to reconstruct an historic tower for bats, discusses a large community bat roost he designed for the Florida Bat Conservancy, and tells how you can purchase (or build) your own bat roost for your yard.

Summer Solstice: A brief history- Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, occurs this Sunday- June 21st. Here are a few facts you might not have known about it, from Linda Taylor.

Organics: How to eat well without breaking your budget- With the increase of demand over organic food in the last ten years you would think that a wide range of these products would be easily accessible. Here’s some some advice from Kelly Rothwell on purchasing healthy, organic food in this region without breaking your budget.
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For more news and reviews of the summer’s biggest movies, go to the CL Movies & Television site.

The only things for sure in this life are death, taxes and that any movie starring John Travolta as the villain will suck. Swordfish, Battlefield Earth, Face/Off, Broken Arrow, The Punisher — the list goes on. If Travolta’s playing the heavy, the movie’s going to sink like a stone. Until now: With The Taking of Pelham 123, this rule finally has its exception.
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[Editor's Note: Jennifer Huntsman is a US Army Reserve Signal Captain stationed at MacDill Air Force Base with Joint Communication Support Element (JCSE). She has just returned from deployment in Qatar. Jenny writes for The Daily Loaf about life in the military.]

I am home.  I have been back in Tampa for about a week now, but it feels as though I have never left.  Our flight was long and we first arrived in the U.S. through the Baltimore-Maryland International Airport (BWI).  A military flight to Maryland is a humbling experience.  I smelled very bad and I slept on a toy train at BWI’s Observation Deck.  There was a large homecoming at the Tampa International Airport.  Balloons, banners, friends, families, coworkers, even news crews were all waiting for our arrival.  I had so many strangers come up to me to tell me thank you, God Bless, and welcome back home.  When I saw my loved one my heart skipped a beat, I missed him so much.  Coming home is what we’d wished for throughout the whole deployment.

Just a week ago I remember talking with my coworkers of what we were excited about when we arrived back home. Read the rest of this entry »

After opening last year with In Bruges, a film packed with star power and scheduled to open in theaters the following weekend, Sundance has chosen this year to open edgy and unpredictable. It is not just that Mary and Max is an independent claymation flick from Australia, with a darkly comic theme about a lonely and misunderstood 8-year-old girl who strikes up an unlikely and disturbing correspondence and friendship with a 48-year-old overweight depressive male diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. What was truly unexpected was the moving power of its simple message, achieved without resorting to sentimentalism or cliché.

The film, apparently based on a true story, plays like Wallace and Gromit conceived by Oliver Sacks and imagined by David Lynch and Robert Crumb. The animated characters, who tend to be overweight with exaggerated melancholy expressions, are nevertheless enormously expressive – and the film seamlessly shifts from the muted colors of the rundown Australian suburb where Mary lives to the expressive black and white of Max’s New York City. Read the rest of this entry »