Daily Archives: December 20, 2010

12 posts

100 Word Movie Review: Black Swan

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From the too-revealing trailers, you probably know that Natalie Portman plays an intense, unstable ballerina who might be losing her mind because she either is or is not – the psychological tension works either way – being undermined by a competing dancer (the gorgeous Mila Kunis).

What you don’t know is that Darren Aronofsky’s film is dark, off-kilter and tense throughout as it weaves together story elements taken from Swan Lake (duh), “The Double,” and stage mothers, real and fictional. Portman’s performance should not be missed; she embodies the emotional and physical frailty of a woman driven to the edge.

Was it all just a dream?

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Perhaps it’s the drugs.

Lately, I’ve been having as least one very vivid dream each week. When I awaken, I can remember the details so well that I actually have to question whether or not I actually did teleport myself to Chicago where I met up with an ex who then took me to Joseph Arthur’s house so we could crash there for the night.

Yeah, maybe it is the drugs.

Then, there was the dream where my co-workers and I had to move offices to a more crowded floor, but first, we had to go to a concert in an amphitheater. I can easily remember walking through the grass towards the stage and waiting for the band to perform. There was even an instance in the dream where one of the guys from the band recognized me.

Drugs are good! Mmmkay?!?

No matter their subject, I can’t complain about the dreams, actually. My physical life isn’t nearly as exciting, so I’m glad at least one part of my brain is firing and making sure I have a good time somewhere.

Manic Elves

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Crossposted from bbqcornnuts.typepad.com

My four year old son is so wound up about Christmas that I’m somewhat concerned that he will spontaneously combust from his own excitement. It is extremely cute and Christmas morning is definitely one of the best times to be a parent. It’s particularly rewarding with my son, who is easily pleased and is thrilled when someone gives him a new pencil.

But how on earth are we going to get our children to sleep on Christmas Eve? We’ve got presents to put together and we’d like to set it up to look like Santa Claus made an effort. I’ve got to find some way to get the kids to bed and make them stay there.

I’m fortunate enough to have fairly mellow children for the most part. They’re small so they get into plenty of nonsense but they’re generally well-behaved. However, in the last few days, they have turned into manic little elves. My son is almost hysterical with Christmas spirit. We’ve had nonstop tantrums and I swear my son has regressed into a two year old. He’s also been puking a lot. My 2 year old daughter doesn’t remember last year but she knows something is up and is excited by default.

I’ve decided that my best bet is to completely exhaust them on Christmas Eve. Here’s a preliminary schedule I’ve worked up:

5 am: Let’s get up early!

7-10 am: Wind sprints in the park

10-noon: High impact hide and seek

1-3: Extreme Gymnastics

3-6 pm: As much running as possible

7-8 pm: Mainlining Sleepytime tea

8 pm: Straitjackets and locked bedroom doors

Rainy Rompies with Ruby

Well.  Here I am with my 8yo nephew.  We’re wet.  I don’t really like it all that much.

I did not have a decent rompie all weekend because of the rain.  But, we did errands today and then went to the upper football field at the high school and I got to run around in the pouring rain in the puddles and I had a blast.  I am soaked!  It’s not so bad now, because I am laying on the warm bed drying out.  And the Cabin will smell like me!  Which is how it should be.

Technology Will Get Your Lazy Ass Out of Bed

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The most patented device is the US is the mousetrap, but I’m sure number two is the alarm clock.

Science has long promised us a graceful awakening based on our own body rhythms giving us a nice way to start the day. Instead we have been given alarm clocks that are loud, alarm clocks that run awy from us, ones that play only music you don’t like, ones that donate money to causes you hate for every minute you stay in bed. This kind of stick instead of carrot system has gone on far too long.

Now you can finally have a gentle marriage of technology and body rhythm to get your lazy ass out of bed.   WakeMate.

The website even lets you track your sleep paterns so you can obsessively search WebMD for sleep disorders that you have diagnosed yourself with.  Now wake up, fall out of bed, drag a comb across your head and get some coffee so you can really wake up.

Baking with Stabby Croissant shopping list reminder!

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Hey all you bakers and baker-wannabes!!  Quick reminder for you to brave the grocery store today and get 2 pounds of flour (!), eggs, milk, sugar, and butter (I get the Kerrygold UNsalted – it’s freaking delicious).  Then find a big mixing bowl and your rolling pin, and a couple of cookie sheets.  Oh, and make sure you have saran wrap.  That’s it! Oh wait, if you want filled, get some jams or whatever.  Don’t get the cheap crap, get something a bit pricey that has sugar and not HFCS.

Croissant is not that difficult, but it is time-consuming and a little bit moody depending on the weather.  Those of us in Cali are going to have a time of it I tell you, what with all the rain.

So tune in tomorrow at around noon-ish pacific time.  I’ll be sortof liveblogging the prep with cell phone pics of the mess.  You can post your questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to help you through.  The full recipe is down the main page if you lost it.

Come bake with Stabby!  Your xmas dinner will thank you.

Not a Black Swan Ad / Joan Rivers

Joan Rivers- A Piece of Work, DVD Screener, 700mb Divx

Black Swan, DVD Screener, 700mb Divx

As always, see these films! Use a Bit Torrent client to download these. Google for instructions if you don’t know what to do (its not at all difficult.) If you get a message saying that the torrent cannot be downloaded, try a different torrent client. VLC plays both of these, you may have problems playing on things other than your computer. I’m not responsible if you try to play it on your ps3 and it blows your house up!