, i was pleasantly surprised.

natalie portman was really good of course. she plays the petite protagonist like a pro.

but yr girl mila kundis, she defies all the herky jerky directorial cues, she sizzles effortlessly

the whole movie works on so many levels.

and best of all it asks the viewer, are you as complete as you could be?

are you holding back

why are you holding back

people are saying The Fighter is the best movie of the year hands down, but Black Swan is getting the exact same high rating on rottentomatoes (88%).

the times’ kenneth turan is one of the minority who ripped it to shreds, pointing out the directors lack of subtlety and flat characters.

the readers root him on: “Great review.  Turan is one of the few critics who still has a voice and does not seem concerned about writing an advertisement for the film,” said Bilboa.

anonymous 47 said “I don’t often agree with Turan’s reviews, but I completely cosign this one.  I cannot believe the postive reviews this film is getting.  Somewhere in this film is a good movie with a different director.  But this?  This is not it.  At all.  I get people are looking for something new & original, especially considering the dreck out there.  Finding five best Oscar nominees will be tough, much less ten.  But good lord.  This is not a good movie.”

roger ebert was in the majority giving it 3 1/2 stars saying it’s “a full-bore melodrama, told with passionate intensity, gloriously and darkly absurd.”

apparently everyones gotta run out and rent “The Red Shoes” now, im being told. ok.

and division champs dont need jackets

da bears are division champs. they beat brett fav-ruh in a frozen college stadium in minnesota

the game was played on monday night football around the world.

devin hester broke the record for most kickoffs or punts returned for a touchdown (14) and he did it way faster than anyone else. second place got 13 after more than a dozen years, hester has only been in the league 5 years.

the bears also swept the entire NFC Norris Division, the first time anyones run the table on such a competitive division since 1987, the year i became a gaucho

i want a hat for christmas ma

but you have sex, she challenged.

but theres nothing in the bible that says i shouldnt i said.

but what about gays? she asked

Jesus’s last commandment, almost in defeat of human’s desire to rebel was “just love each other the way ive loved you”, i said.

then she said, tell me why do bad things happen to good people?

wasnt as ready for that one as i was for the others, but it still came pretty easy.

free will. dont you want to know that when you accomplish something you did it. that you have responsibility over your life? free will however opens up the possibility for dbags to do dbaggery.

but i wish i had known of this 10-year old quote at the very bottom of this lead up from this sermon that i wouldnta known about if adriel wouldnta posted on her facebook.

Thornton Wilder in his play, “The Angel and the Troubled Waters”, illustrates this profound thing. In the play, there is a scene where a medical doctor comes every day to a pool, very similar to the pool in today’s scripture, wanting to be healed of his melancholy and his gloom and his sadness.

Finally an angel appears. As the doctor is about to step into the water and be healed, the angel blocks his entrance and says,

“No, step back, the healing is not for you.”

The doctor pleads,

“But I’ve got to get into the water. I can’t live this way.”

The angel says,

“No, this moment is not for you.”

And he says,

“But how can I live in this way?”

The angel says to him,

“Doctor, without your wounds, where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of women and men. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children of this earth as can one human being broken on the wheel of living. In love’s service only wounded soldiers can serve”

Merry Christmas.

almost brought a tear to my eye.

im very glad i will be spending Christmas with her this weekend.

CANT BELIEVE CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!

its got a cute name, Like A Little, and apparently a great start

but my question is do young women really talk that way or is the success of this site the fact that people of all walks can talk about each other without the fear of namecalling and discrimination?

im usually against anonymity because i think we as people should work on our individual levels of courage instead of hide in fear, but i can see how this could be a useful stepping stone

mark horvath, @hardlynormal, a man who justly won $50,000 earlier this year for his hard work putting a spotlight on homelessness, made his way to glendale this morning to show the conditions hundreds of poor people were shoved out into because bureaucrats decided not to have a meeting friday, he alleges.

all day on twitter i have been celebrating this long sustained rainstorm dumping down on the city of Angels, ignorant to the fact that there are tens of thousands of people cold and wet all around me without shelter.

while there is no easy solution to cure homelessness in the immediate future, mr horvath rightfully shows how thousands could have stayed asleep, safe, and dry this morning when most of us were enjoying the sleep of the just.

.. and here we are at May

immigration rally, downtown la, may day
heightened by the controversial arizona law

hollywood blvd, may 2
karisa celebrates her birthday

manchester blvd, mothers day
missed my mom so i got food that reminded me of her

hollywood, may 14
sass and candice join the movie club

my desk, may 17
a very sweet surprise

hollywood, may 20
a double feature: tony clifton at the comedy store; macgruber midnite movie at the grove

las vegas, may 23-24
another boring weekend in the desert

la times, may 25
some of the superstars get recognized by the editor and publisher

church & state, may 27
sometimes its fun to make yr friends freeze mid-conversation

downtown la, may 28
rip gary coleman

downtown la, may 29
almost all of my superhero secrets involve rudimentary time travel and wigs

, it might be God’s way of telling me the Cubs are forever doomed

i had some of the most interesting dinners this week with a variety of people.

on Tuesday i dined with a ucsb gaucho who basically taught me that indeed i pre-judge people foolishly and would probably be better off knocking that ish off.

people are dying to break molds. its what we do. white rappers, black presidents, jews for jesus.

so throughout the week i did my best to just let the people be who theyre gonna be with a concerted effort to notice when i was prejudging instead of being open.

because im a ridiculously flawed man this wasnt easy but i must say it was a great week, kicked off by a random encounter that woudnta happen if it wasnt for the fond feelings i have for my alma matter. and the moxie of a young lady.

last night was even better than that, and tonight im being treated to the stand up comedy of ms kathy griffin where i am told they serve nachos. with cheese.

all i ask is that this good fortune continues through monday when the bears appear on national tv on monday night football versus the minnesota vikings outside in the cold, snow, and ice.