Half Acre, All Wisconsin

I was in Chicago this week and I finally tried one of the beers from Half Acre Beer Company that I wrote about in September.

It was good, but that's probably because it's made in Black River Falls, Wisconsin by the Sand Creek Brewing Company (contract beers account for 30% of their production).

They only make one beer so far - Half Acre Lager - and it was tasty. My 3 choices at the hotel were only Half Acre, Heineken, and Miller Lite, so I think I made the right selection. It was a pretty light beer but it had good malt and hop taste to it - much more taste than tradition light beers. I'd have it again.

I also went to Goose Island Brewery in Wrigleyville. While there I had a $10 glass of their Imperial IPA which was great (9% alcohol but come on, $10?). I also sampled 8 more of their beers, many of which I had before but the good ones were Matilda, 312 Urban Wheat, and their Christmas Ale. The brew pub is a nice place with decent food too.

Eastern Promises & Futurama

Two more movie recommendations from this week:

Eastern Promises
The film follows the mysterious and ruthless Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen), who is tied to one of London's most notorious organized crime families. His carefully maintained existence is jarred when he crosses paths with Anna (Naomi Watts), an innocent midwife trying to right a wrong, who accidentally uncovers potential evidence against the family. Now Nikolai must put into motion a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution.

I could tell this was going to be a pretty violent movie just by reading the plot keywords from IMDB for this film: Stabbed In The Eye, Nude Fight Scene, Frozen Corpse, Severed Finger. Surprisingly, there are 39 movies listed as having nude fight scenes, and most of them I haven't seen yet. I guess I have some catching up to do.

If you enjoyed A History of Violence, you'll enjoy this film, especially because it's from the same director (David Cronenberg) and again stars Viggo Mortensen. The story is fairly simple and told in an unusually straightforward manner, but the characters are complex and interesting, and they're the focus of the movie.


Futurama: Bender's Big Score!
Planet Express sees a hostile takeover and Bender falls into the hands of criminals where he is used to fulfill their schemes.

I've been excitedly anticipating this direct-to-DVD movie since I read about it this summer. It's a very satisfying movie for Futurama fans as they address the show's cancellation from FOX two years ago and tie up other loose ends.

All your favorite Futurama characters are back, including Robot Santa, KwanzaBot, Chanukah Zombie, and Al Gore.

They are planning to release 3 more DVD movies and then they will chop them all up into 16 episodes to air on Comedy Central along with new episodes.


I also watched a bad movie called I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry which I assume is offensive to gay people everywhere. It's also offensive to straight people everywhere, since the story is so stupid. I don't think it contains a single joke that you haven't heard elsewhere, like every gay joke you heard in 6th grade.

Jessica Biel is pretty though.

Nod to Bob

I'm going to this. 2 blocks from my house. 3rd year in a row. For a good cause.




Update: We really enjoyed the show. One of the definite standouts was Victoria Vox, who sang great versions of You Ain't Goin’ Nowhere, I'll be Your Baby Tonight, and Not Dark Yet. She played ukulele and a really cool mouth trumpet, which I had never heard before. Quite impressive.

Here's a video of her performing Uking at the Wheel, while she is uking at the wheel.


We also really liked Amy Rohan (who we've heard and enjoyed before) and Dan Hanson & The X-Rays.

Duff Man can't breathe! Oh, no!

I would have guessed that Duff Beer would be the first alcoholic beverage inspired by a cartoon, but Family Guy beat The Simpsons to the punch.

Family Guy will soon be the first animated show ever to have a beer licensee.

In an example of reverse product placement, Pawtucket Patriot Ale will appear in liquor stores and specialty outlets next year.

Family Guy is also being used to advertise Subway restaurants, starting this month. In one ad, an animated Peter Griffin presents an "ode to a Subway feast" in which he makes fun of Subway spokesman Jared.

I want to be a pirate

I saw this boat sitting in the shallow waters near Bradford Beach off of Lincoln Memorial Drive. I even got out of my car and took a picture on my cell phone (although this isn't my cell phone picture).

I thought there was a law that said if you found an abandoned boat at sea, you could claim it as your own. But the article below implies that isn't true in the Great Lakes.

Here's the article about the boat and what it's doing there:

Dream boat came to rest on the rocks

The $15 drink

Last Friday night Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro sold me a $15 drink. They also sold me two $7.50 drinks, but I'm not worried about those.


The $15 drink wasn't an expensive glass of wine or a 10 year old scotch - this was a cocktail - a cosmopolitan. The same type of drink that City Lounge in Cudahy sells for $5 on Monday nights. The same type of drink that the bar at Hotel Metro in downtown Milwaukee charges only $5 for during their happy hour.



Here's the standard recipe for a cosmo:

1 oz vodka
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz cranberry juice

Shake vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice vigorously in a shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass, garnish with a lime wedge on the rim, and serve.


I'm not trying to be a cheap-ass here, but $15 is too much for a cosmo. I can understand $8 or $9, but $15 is crazy. I can buy an entire bottle of Absolut Vodka for $20 and make many cosmos. Next time I will.

Movies

I recently saw two movies that I recommend.



King of California

Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood

An unstable dad who after getting out of a mental institution tries to convince his daughter that there's Spanish gold buried somewhere under suburbia.






American Gangster

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe

In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country in the coffins of soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.

Here are the ones I saw that I don't recommend: