A Standing Ovation for The Black Swan

The film started a bit slowly as you get to know a bit about Nina. She lives in a childlike atmosphere with an overbearing mother who tries to trap her in the world of her youth as she relives her past through her daughter.
Nina does little to escape from this world and allows her mother to keep her there as she has never known anything else. This is why she makes such a good white swan as she has basically kept herself pure and naive.
However for the part of the black swan needed to combine with the white swan to make the Swan Queen, she needs to find a darker side of herself. The virginal perfectionist, must give way to the raw, flawed, sensual side that she has never known, to truly encapsulate the role.
In order to do this, her mind begins to play tricks on her, to show her the evil, the twisted, and the sexual that she needs. She reels from this and tries to fight it and flee at any possible chance.
The closer she gets to the first performance the farther from reality she goes. You begin to lose track of what is real and what is imagined in every action. Her trip down the dark path vastly increases her ability to perform as the black swan, however, her grasp on reality continues to slip away.
The performance itself is a bit shaky early on as she has slipped so far away from who she was that she can no longer completely embody the white swan. Her fall during a lift symbolizes her fall from grace and occurs at a point in the performance where she can begin to morph into the black swan.
She is a wreck after her fall, but her mind uses this opportunity to throw one heck of a mind trip her way that allows her to slip fully into the role that nobody thought she had in her. Her performance as the black swan is as chilling as it is intense. However, have the lengths that she has gone to in order to perform such a feat forced her so far down the road to insanity that she will never return.
The Black Swan was a very good film that picked up on a fragile, unstable girl, brings you through familial and sexual revolutions and drops you into the middle of madness.
Natalie Portman was amazing as Nina. The movie rests solely on her shoulders and she carries it throughout. That is not to say that others did not step up as well. Mila Kunis was fun and carefree in her role as Lily, Nina's possible competition. Barbara Hershey was intense and overbearing as Nina's mother Erica who gave up her career as a dancer when she became pregnant with Nina. The relationship between the two is chaotic and at times a bit surreal, but the bond seemed real and you could see the same intensity in Portman as the Black Swan as you see from Hershey as her mother.
The Black Swan was a great film to start my Awards Season marathon and I will be surprised if I see many that are better. I would be shocked if Portman isn't nominated many times for awards this season and wins at least a few. The performance by Portman as the Black Swan is amazing and worth the price of admission alone. Her metamorphosis is stunning. With the raw power of her performance along with the visual effects and sound, I was blown away. I give Black Swan a 9.

Debra Morgan (Dexter) on Babies

"A Baby!, A mother fuckin' roly-poly, chubby cheek shit machine."

Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan on Dexter on hearing that her brother's girlfriend is pregnant.

Star Wars Symphony, pt 1

So, we are currently at intermission d the show has already been well worth the price of admission. They started with the THX into followed by the 20th Century Fox Fanfare. Then came the moment I had come for, when the lights flashed and the first notes of the Star Wars theme rang out. It was was like being hit with a physical wave of emotion as so many moments had been shared with these films.

After this , they moved on to Duel of the Fates and then compositions for Young Anakin, Podracing, Droids, Anakin and Admidala's love, and Anakin's transition to the darkside. The first half was concluded with The Emperial Death March

Between songs, Athony Daniels takes the stage to introduce the next one. There have been many great moments already and I am looking forward to the second half.

USA 50% chance to advance to Round of 16 in World Cup

Going Through First Seed Second Seed
Slovenia 83% 59% 24%
USA 50% 13% 37%
England 39% 28% 11%
Algeria 28% 0% 28%


Depending on which side you are on, you will probably dispute the title of this blog, however, it is only calculated based on the possibilities.

I am a fan of the USA soccer team and hope they somehow find a way to go all the way, but this had no affect on the percentages as they are what the numbers show.

So, basically, what I did was take the 9 possible results from the third rotation of Group C and then determine if there were any scenarios in which goal differential, goals scored, or drawn straws could determine final positions in the group. In those situations, I would determine of each possible sub-scenario how many times out of the total sub-scenarios for that scenario that each position could be achieved.

These result totals are listed below and are a breakdown of the data. After this is the actual scenarios themselves


Scenerio 1 Scenerio 2 Scenerio 3 Scenerio 4 Scenerio 5
Scenerio 6 Scenerio 7 Scenerio 8 Scenerio 9
Chance of 9 % Chance % Going Through
USA 50%
1st Place 0.50 0.00 0.67 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
1.17 13%
2nd Place 0.50 1.00 0.33 0.00 1.00
0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00
3.33 37%
3rd Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00
0.50 0.50 0.00 0.00
2.00 22%
4th Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.00
2.5 28%
England 39%
1st Place 0.50 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00
2.5 28%
2nd Place 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00
1 11%
3rd Place 0.00 1.00 1.00 0.00 0.33
0.50 0.50 0.00 1.00
4.33 48%
4th Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.67
0.00 0.50 0.00 0.00
1.17 13%
Slovenia 83%
1st Place 0.00 1.00 0.33 0.00 1.00
1.00 1.00 0.00 1.00
5.33 59%
2nd Place 0.00 0.00 0.67 1.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00
2.17 24%
3rd Place 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00
1.5 17%
4th Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0 0%
Algeria 28%
1st Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0 0%
2nd Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 1.00 0.50 1.00
2.5 28%
3rd Place 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.67
0.00 0.00 0.50 0.00
1.17 13%
4th Place 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.33
1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
5.33 59%

I. US Win and England Win.
a. USA wins with a better goal difference than England's win:
1: USA
2: England
3: Slovenia
4. Algeria
b. USA wins with the same goal difference as England and the drawn straw is
in USA's favor:
1: USA
2: England
3: Slovenia
4. Algeria

c. USA wins with the same goal difference as England and the drawn straw is
in England's favor:
1: England
2: USA
3: Slovenia
4. Algeria

d. USA wins with a worse goal difference than England's win:
1: England
2: USA
3: Slovenia
4. Algeria
II. USA win and Slovenia win:
1. Slovenia
2. USA
3. England
4. Algeria
III. USA win and England/Slovenia draw:
a. USA's goal difference is better than 1:
1: USA
2: Slovenia
3: England
4. Algeria
b. USA's goal difference is 1 and the drawn straw is in USA's favor:
1: USA
2: Slovenia
3: England
4. Algeria
c. USA's goal difference is 1 and the drawn straw is in Slovenia's favor:
1: Slovenia
2: USA
3: England
4. Algeria
IV. USA/Algeria draw and England wins:
1: England
2: Slovenia
3: USA
4. Algeria
V. USA/Algeria draw and Slovenia wins:
a. England looses by more than 1 goal:
1: Slovenia
2: USA
3: Algeria
4. England
b. England looses by 1 goal and wins theoretical drawn straw:
1: Slovenia
2: USA
3: England
4. Algeria
c. England looses by 1 goal and Algeria win theoretical drawn straw:
1: Slovenia
2: USA
3: Algeria
4. England
VI. USA/Algeria draw and England/Slovenia draw:
a. USA's goals scored in final game is no less than one fewer than England's
goals scored in final match.
1: Slovenia
2: USA
3: England
4. Algeria
b. USA's goals scored in the final game is two fewer than England's and USA
wins drawn straw:
1: Slovenia
2: USA
3: England
4. Algeria
c. USA's goals scored in the final game is two fewer than England's and
England wins drawn straw.
1: Slovenia
2: England
3: USA
4. Algeria
d. USA's goals scored in the final game are more than two fewer than
England's:
1: Slovenia
2: England
3: USA
4. Algeria
VII. Algeria win and England Slovenia win:
a. USA goal differential is better in the final game than England's:
1: Slovenia
2: Algeria
3: USA
4. England
b. USA goal differential is the same as England in final game and
theoretical straw is in USA's favor:
1: Slovenia
2: Algeria
3: USA
4. England
c. USA's goal differential is the same as England in the final game and
theoretical straw is in England's favor:
1: Slovenia
2: Algeria
3: England
4. USA
d. USA's goal differential is worse than England in final game.
1: Slovenia
2: Algeria
3: England
4. USA
VIII. Algeria win and England win:
a. The goal difference in the two games is greater than 2:
1: England
2: Algeria
3: Slovenia
4. USA
b. The goal difference in the two games is 2:
1: England
2: Slovenia
3: Algeria
4. USA
IX. Algeria win and England/Slovenia draw:
1: Slovenia
2: Algeria
3: England
4. USA

Finally, here are the tie breaker criteria for the group stages:


World Cup Group Stage Tiebreakers
a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:
d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;
g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

Buffy dusting the sparkle-vamp

Stupid Water

You Play to Win the Game

Comet Akimbo

Culinary Quest #4: Comet Café’s Akimbo Burger

After looking up the Diner's, Drivin-in's, and Dives locations in Milwaukee a few weeks ago, I decided that I had to try out this crazy burger called the Akimbo Burger at the Comet Cafe on the East side of Milwaukee.

I had mentioned to a friend at work one day that I was going to try to go after work and he decided to come with me. So, immediately after work, I made the short drive over to that part of town and parked. I ended up finding that the place was only a few blocks from the guy's house.

When we entered the Comet Cafe, it had a laid back dim lighting thing going for it. We sat in a corner window booth and took a look over the menu. After a little deliberation, he decided to go with the open faced meatloaf sandwich, which was the next thing I wanted to try there and I went off menu for a little burger that I saw on the show called the Akimbo burger.

The waitress took our orders and put them in. When she came back for refills, so verified with me that it was $17 and wanted to make sure that I still wanted it. I did, so we chatted while waiting for the food to come out.

His meal looked pretty darn good and then my massive plate came.

The Akimbo burger is as follows from the bottom up. You start with a grilled cheese sandwich, followed by lettuce and tomato. After this, you get the burger patty, and cheese, and a fried egg. Next you have some BBQ sauce, bacon, onions, mushrooms, and jalepenos. Then there is a chipotle mayo, two giant onion rings and another grilled cheese sandwich. Then on top you have two cherry tomatoes and a pickle.

I thought about trying to smoosh the shit out of it to make it bitable, but this obviously wouldn't work, so I started from the top and began to work my way down. So, a couple of tomatoes and a pickle later I was into the actual sandwich. I ate the first grilled cheese, which was pretty crunchy and then took down the onion rings which were covered in BBQ sauce. At this point, I was finally getting to the burger. I cut through into large bites of BBQ, mayo, mushroom, onions, bacon, egg, cheese, and meat. This part of the burger was actually really good.

However, at this point I couldn't go any further. I had taken down the fries and didn't really want to try to push myself to finish it. I still had the lettuce, tomato, and bottom grilled cheese left to go.

It was a fun thing to try and tasted pretty darn good. I think this was a great little adventure, so I'm glad I did it. Next time, I will be trying the open faced meat loaf.

Spicing Up a Run to the Border

Culinary Quest #3: Taco Bell's Cheese Rollup, Crunchy Potato Soft Taco, Crunchwrap Supreme, and Beefy 5-Layer Burrito with Mild, Hot, and Fire Sauce

First off, let me start off by saying that I am a long time fan of Taco Bell. It obviously isn't the best food out there, but it is cheap, there is allot of it, and it is great for certain cravings. Growing up, I didn't get a whole lot of it and the rare times that I did would tend to be times when money and time was short, so a handful of soft tacos were the go to.

However, in college I started trying different things on the menu and started eating their a little more frequently. Now, I live about 6 blocks away from one, so it has become something that I eat every couple of weeks. However, until recently I would stay away from spicy food like the plague, so I had never tried any of their sauces. I enjoyed the food enough as it was, so I had felt no need.

However, after a night of drinking the night before, Taco Bell sounded like the perfect place for a late lunch. Also, as I have began to branch out into the spicy a bit, I decided that I would finally try their sauce packets as well.

So, in the order today were the following: Cheese Rollup, Crunchy Potato Soft Taco, Crunchwrap Supreme, and Beefy 5-Layer Burrito. I have tried all of these before except for the Potato Soft Taco.

I like to start off with the cheese rollup as I tend to wait until I am really hungry on the weekend before eating, so I can pull this bad boy out in the car and get a quick hit of warm, melted cheese on a tortilla. These are great starters and at only 79 cents, you can even get two if you need an extra shot of gooey cheese.

Once I got home, the next thing out of the bag was the crunchy potato soft taco. This didn't have a whole lot of flavor, so out came the sauce. I started off with the mild and decided to work up from there just in case they were really hot. So, a squirt later, I was a convert to Taco Bell sauce. The mild sauce didn't have any heat to it, but it was very tasty. I started really squirting it on at this point and finished a pack halfway through the taco. Next came the Hot sauce. This one added a low grade of heat, but kept the nice flavor going. The taco would not have been nearly as good without them. These are only 79 cents, so for a cheap meal with the sauce, they aren't a terrible idea, however, there are better options.

Next up was the crunchwrap supreme. This was one of my favorite items at Taco Bell for a few months, but then the stores started skimping on the ingredients inside and with the toast it would be dry and chewy. This one was no exception, but next up to combat this was the Fire sauce. I was a little worried here going with their hottest sauce, but I needn't have worried. The heat bumped up a little bit, but it still wasn't very bad, however, the flavor of it definitely took a turn for the worse. So, I tried a few bites with it and then went back to the mild and hot sauces. This still didn't save the crunchwrap, but did make it better. However, for the price, it is not currently worth it.

The final piece of the meal was the beefy five layer burrito. The first time I had this, it almost turned me off of it. However, the ones that I have had since have been much better and now, adding the mild and hot sauce gives it that extra little hit of flavor. At under 1 dollar, this is a great value and a new staple of my Taco Bell orders.

So, time for a quick little breakdown:

Cheese Rollups - Quick, cheap hit of gooey cheese

Crunchy Potato Soft Taco -Cheap option made better by the sauce

Crunchwrap Supreme - Not so supreme, too expensive for what it is

Beffy 5-Layer Burrito - Good addition the menu, new staple item, also improved by the sauce

Mild Sauce - good flavor, no heat

Hot Sauce - good flavor, light heat

Fire Sacue - decent flavor, medium heat

So, overall, Taco Bell really did the trick. It gave me plenty of food for a good price and also gave me the cheese and grease that my stomach wanted. The sauce really picked up the flavor of the meal as well. I can say that I am now a convert to the Taco Bell mild and hot sauces, however, they can keep the Fire sauce.

I'm sure I'll be back again soon and can try some new items and some oldies, but goodies with my new Taco Bell friend, the sauce.

A Little Friday Night Voodoo

Culinary Quest #2: Bar Louie's Voodoo Chicken

After a long week of work, I wanted to kick back, have a few drinks and a nice dinner. So, I decided to head just down the street to Bar Louie. I have now had quite a few of their meals and I continue to try new ones as nearly all have been very tasty. Listed below are the items on their menu that I know I have tried in the past.

Loaded Fries

Bavarian Pretzel Sticks

Mini Kobe Hot Dogs

Classic Caesar Salad

Backyard BBQ Burger

Mario Sandwich

Luigi Sandwich

Southern BBQ Pork

Mac & Cheese

I nearly went for a second go around with the Southern BBQ Pork, but decided to try something different. After allot of deliberation, the item of choice for dinner was the Voodoo Chicken, which is listed as a Louie Specialty. Their description is, "blackened chicken breast, peppers,

andouille, voodoo sauce, rice."

This was one of the few times that I have been to Bar Louie during peek hours, but the wait was small and the service was quick as was the food. I hate sitting at a table and waiting forever for food, even during peak hours, so this was a good start.

I didn't really know exactly what to expect when the food came out, but when it did, I was a bit surprised. From the description, I guess I expected chicken and sausage with diced peppers and some sort of sauce on a bed of rice. However, when it came, it was a big plate full of a sort of cheese sauce with some sliced sausage around. In the middle was the chicken with long strips of green and red peppers.

It was a nice surprise as I am a huge fan of cheese and I had nearly went back to Applebee's for anoter go around with their Queso Blanco instead. So, to be able to get a good dose of cheese in the meal was a plus. The chicken was nice and moist and the sausage was nicely cooked as well. However, the sauce was what put it over the top. I would try to get some of everything in on each bite as the cheese sauce and the peppers together with the meat made for great bites. There wasn't anything really special about the meat in the dish, but the sauce made the dish.

It was a very nice overall meal that was pretty light, which was nice as I had most of the night still ahead of me. I could see ordering this again in the future in the right circumstance, but my favorite so far, is still the Southern BBQ Pork Sandwich.

Irina' Kitchen is missing a few burners

Culinary Quest: #1: Irena's Kitchen

As I walked in, I knew that something was wrong. It was 6pm, well into diner time and there was only one other patron in the store, who seemed to be busy working on something while she ate. I heard someone behind the wall to the kitchen talking on a cell phone and telling the person to hold so he could take care of the customer.

The man handed me a menu and told me to sit anywhere I liked. This was easy with so many tables open, so I sat down and looked through the menu. I decided to go with the Irina's Special which was described as roast beef, country potatoes, spring vegtables, and cole slaw.

I waited to order while the man was on his cell phone again, but only for a couple of minutes. It was at this time when I realized that he was the only person working the restaurant. So, he was waiting tables, cooking, and ringing people out. This is just too much for someone to do and it showed.

Before long, the man brought out a plate with a mix of small roast beef peices, breakfast potatoes, onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms with a side bowl of an oddly yellow looking cole slaw.

I was a bit surprised at the plate as it read as if there would be slices of roast beef, some potatoes, some vegtables, and some cole slaw, so I was surprised when it was all combined, and that apparently the vegtables mentioned were mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers.

The meat was pretty darn tasty, though and the potatoes were not bad and surprisingly didn't get too soggy in the mix. However, as I don't typically eat mushrooms, I had to pick them out as I went and there may have been more mushroom than meat.

During this time, two more people came in, including a blind man by himself. During this time, the man running the place continued to be on and off of his phone. When the person after me came in, she ordered chili. I almost did this myself as I have been trying to find a decent chili in the area, but I quickly noticed that he was microwaving it. I don't know if they made it themselves or dumped it from a can, but when I am at a restaurant, I don't want to think about them nuking the food, as I can do that at home.

So, the food was pretty good, if not listed well on the menu, but the price was just too high for the total package. I ended up, with tip, out $18. I don't think I'll be back. The place just had a bit of an eerie feeling to it and is not staffed which continues to add to the strange feeling. Since what I had was pretty good, maybe they will see an increase in business and can afford to have a waitress and a cook. If that were to happen, I might try it again.

Silent Bob gets Verbal

An Evening with Kevin Smith

On Thursday, I was driving into work, flipping through the channels when I heard a local DJ doing an interview. I stopped when I heard the interviewee. It was Kevin Smith. He was probably my favorite director for about 4 or five years. Clerks and Mallrats are good and Chasing Amy and Dogma are great.

So, I did a quick search and found out that he was going to be at the Pabst Theater the following night. I quickly bought a ticket and was looking forward to the show.

Friday was an interesting day as my new cell phone came in and I had to run home during the day to sign for it and then after work to start charging it.

After this, I was off to the show. I parked in the underground parking and made my way about six blocks over to The Milwaukee Brat House. The bar was full as it was mostly bar with a few tables along the wall. I lucked out with an empty table, sat down, and ordered a Brat with fries and a Polish dog.

The wait staff was friendly and quick, but they were slightly understaffed for the number of people, so they couldn't keep up with their customers quite enough.

The meal came fairly quickly in cardboard containers similar to those at BW3's. I started with the brat, which came with a ton of sauerkraut. I tried a bite with it, but you could only taste the kraut, so I took it off. Underneath, I found that the brat was only about the size of a hot dog. I put some brown mustard on it and it wasn't too bad. I definitely liked the pretzel buns that they came on. I then went to the polish dog, however, it tasted just like a breakfast "squirty" sausage, which wasn't great. The frys were pretty good, though. Overall, the food wasn't that great and I've had much better brats. So, when I'm in the area, I probably be going to the German Beer Hall instead.

After I was done, I made my way back over to the Pabst and was just about on time for when I wanted to arrive. The theater was open, so I made my way in, got a bottle of water, and went to my seat. Unfortunately, my seat was not where I thought it was. I ended up being stuck next to an entryway wall for the next level down and had another big guy sitting next to me. So, I wasn't in the most comfortable spot.

However, once the show started, this was all forgotten. Kevin Smith came on stage and briefly talked about the issue with being kicked off the flight and said that he felt at home being around so many people that looked like him. He also in a story basically told people that when he met people from Wisconsin, he referred to them as being "from the cheese."

He went on to talk about sex allot, flesh lights, and a little about his movies. He talked about how different of an experience it was to direct Bruce Willis and his relationship with George Carlin.

The format was that there were two microphones and people would come up and ask a question. On some, he would segue into a 20 minute or so story, on others, the answer would only take a couple of minutes. Also, occasionally you would get people on the mic that were painful to listen to.

It was a good show, pretty funny. I was a little surprised a how little he talked about film, but the show was funny enough to still make it worth while.

I thought that the show was funny, so to me, it was worth the admission price. It wasn't great though, and anyone uncomfortable listening to someone talk about sex, sexual acts, defecating, their friend's junk, self pleasure with fake beer cans, or drugs should probably stay away.

Blu-Ray Bonanza, Part 1: The Beginning

So, after buying a Blu-Ray player in November, I am now up to 11 total Blu-ray films. I have listed them below in order of purchase and why.

1. Watchmen – (November 26, 2009) – Purchased from Amazon.com as a special gold box offer on Thanksgiving the day before I got my player.

2. Braveheart – (November 26, 2009) – Purchased from Amazon.com as a sale item along with Watchmen.

3. Beetlejuice – (November 27, 2009) – Came with the player at Best Buy as a choice between it and Superman Returns.

4. The Matrix – (November 27, 2009) – Purchased from Best Buy as Black Friday special.

5. 300 – (November 27, 2009) – Purchased from Best Buy as Black Friday special.

6. The Dark Knight - (November 27, 2009) – Purchased from Best Buy as Black Friday special.

7. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince – (November 27, 2009) – Purchased as Pre-Order on Amazon.com.

8. Paranormal Activity – (December 31, 2009) – Purchased from Best Buy as a first week in release special.

9. Interview with the Vampire – (December 31, 2009) – Purchased from Best Buy as a regular special along with Paranormal Activity.

10. Cloverfield – (January 9, 2010) – Purchased from Best Buy at regular price.

11. Fight Club – (January 9, 2010) – Purchased from Best Buy at regular sale price with Cloverfield.

At this point, I have watched 6 of the 11 films on Blu-ray.

Seen: Braveheart, The Matrix, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Interview with the Vampire, Cloverfield, Fight Club

Not Yet Seen: Watchmen, Beetlejuice, 300, The Dark Knight, Paranormal Activity

Top Movies to Buy on Blu-Ray: Pan’s Labyrinth and Avatar (when released)

Taco Bell Diet

I thought that this commercial was funny and a bit of a poke at Subway at first, but apparently they are being serious. Now, there are a couple options that probably won't immediately kill you, but to claim a diet from Taco Bell is pretty funny.

The bikini picture of her after, though is pretty hot. :)