the Social Network movie

It took me forever to watch The Social Network and then longer to finally post this. I don't have much for a review - it was a good movie, that's pretty much all there is to it. Not an action movie or comedy, more like a based-on-life character study, so it was informative and interesting. Not to say they may not have made some characters more unlikeable or likeable for movie-purposes, but it is an entertaining adaptation of reality.

Most (all?) of the outdoor college campus scenes where filled here at Johns Hopkins, so I had been meaning to watch it eventually (no matter how the movie did) so that I could keep on eye out for the Hopkins scenes, specifically the ones with my office building since I know they changed the exterior for a few days so it could say Harvard and the name of one of their buildings.

So this will be quick, mostly listing times in the movie that were shots of my campus. Mainly the beginning credits (that caused a re-route of my walk home one evening) and then a few other short walking scenes.

I was actually reminded to watch this because there have been spotlights and cameras off-campus this past Fall for other filming. The upcoming HBO show Veep was using Baltimore for scenes that are supposed to be Washington, DC.

Based on the version of Social Network I watched, here are the times that show Hopkins:
5:55 to 7:37, of which 6:14 was at the time of filming my walk home that got rerouted due to filming and 7:10 is the breezeway (overlooks the 'lower quad' and my building, Latrobe, can be seen)

7:22-7:34 Latrobe! (my office building/ civil engineering and mechanical engineering building) is used as the exterior of the Harvard dorms

11:27-11:36 more Latrobe!

19:28-19:53 Shaffer Hall, in the same quad as Latrobe


So that was additionally interesting for me because of the Johns Hopkins connection.

A purple bag

I don't want to make this blog about handbags, but I have to share this purple beauty. <3

Rebecca Minkoff's Circle Quilt Casanova in purple shine with silver hardware

I had a hard time capturing the color in the pictures (ever since my camera broke I have not gotten the hang of taking great photos with hubby's old camera). But this is a pretty perfect deep purple (between the flash and non-flash picture colors), perfect with the silver hardware. And the circle quilt pattern makes it wonderfully smooshy!

Of course I love the cute matching tassel and surprising leopard lining (and matching dustbag).

The size is great, especially as a crossbody bag (my preferred style). Not too big but bigger than the RM MAC which I love but can be a little tight if I am carrying one or two more things than normal.
... Sorry, I am messy so the background is a disaster...

<3

The hair...

I had tried to get some better pictures with the violet dye, so here are those:
indoors:

 outdoors:

Sadly, my hair looked black or blue which was not my intent, so I have since dyed to a 'normal' brown. However, I really dislike having a normal hair color now, so I might try out one more purple color (without bleaching). I have heard good things about a British hair color brand called La Riche and their plum purple in the Directions line. I have heard some reports that the color does not bleed as much, so I may be going for one more purple attempt soon.

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

I recently decided to try making cheesecake again. I had a bad experience about 10 years ago with a family recipe and the inside didn't cook all the way. So I looked up some easy recipes and tried my luck. (Not to ruin the suspense... but it worked so well I've made it multiple times.)

Filling:
16 oz (two 8-oz packages) cream cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat until smooth - *I recommend using an Immersion Blender

Crust
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs (~one package inside box)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/8 cup water
Melt butter, mix all together, press into pan.
Does not require pre-baking if pie will be baked.

Bake 350 degrees for ~50min

My first one (I made less because I put a portion into a not-so-good attempt of pumpkin cheesecake, but this tasted great and didn't need to cook as long - only about 30min).

 

For my second one, I blended in some frozen strawberries (which is why the color looks different).

 Before serving, I spread some strawberry topping on top.

I've also used half of the cheesecake filling recipe for muffin filling. I made pumpkin muffins with cheesecake filling and can't wait to try this again with chocolate muffins or brownies.

*I added the recommendation for using an immersion blender after talking with a friend who has many cheesecake-making problems. She believes her problems (sometimes explosion, sometimes collapse) had to do with how much air was in the cheesecake mixture. She uses a hand mixer and I have used my immersion blender for this recipe and never had a problem. So maybe that's the key? Anyway, it is worth mentioning.

Hair Updates

While I have purple hair, I figured I'm make one more attempt to get stronger color. So more bleaching, and then the purple. Then I'll let my hair grow out and trim the purple until the roots get long enough.


So here are the details of my re-dying attempt.

Bleach with Clairol Textures & Tones Permanent Moisture-Rich Hair Color in Lightest Blonde. This is not made for white girls like me, but my hair was resistant to bleaching last time and this was cheap, so I figured it would be my best bet. And it did work much better than with the Splat color bleaching method.

This time my purpling product was initially Manic Panic Semi-Permanent Hair Color Cream in Ultra Violet. But I found one container was not enough for all my hair. Also, this violet shade is very blue-toned. So the top of may hair looked purple in sunlight but dark blue in the shade and indoors, the rest of my hair was a light brown from the bleaching.

Not enough product, so got some Jerome Russell Semi Permanent Punky Colour Hair Cream, this time in Violet, and did the rest of my hair and blended it with the other color up top. It looks pretty dark in the pictures, and still looks bluish indoors and in the shade, but I am hoping it fades more purple (less red-toned like previously). I will also try to get some better pictures of the color... Here's what I've got:

That's where I am with my purpling hair attempts. :)

US Top Model All Stars!

I am scared but so excited! Usually I wait to watch seasons until they are over and I can watch all the episodes together, but I can't wait for this.

I remember all these girls (since I pretty recently watched all of the seasons) and I do have a few favorites. At the same time, it has been a long time for many. This season can't really be about starting a modeling career because some of the girls are too old to start modeling (sad but true).

So I am a little worried how this all star season will go, but it will be fun to see some of the girls again. However, with a show all about the girls who were memorable, the opening sequence with all Tyra as all the girls was a bit much. Hopefully Tyra won't try to be the main focus all season.

And the celebrity guests this season, probably not necessary but could be interesting, and the live finale like the other country shows, we'll see how it goes for the US. At least for this all star show, it makes sense since it is not really a modeling competition, so it works fine for the public to have input (if that is how they are doing the finale, with some public voting).

Movie, TV, reading Update

Been watching more movies and shows between work.Generally, here are my thoughts:

Funny Face has an interesting premise - turn a not-model into a model - seems like something I'd like, especially with Audrey Hepburn, but I have mixed opinions. It is shot beautifully, and has some interesting songs (it's a musical) and fantastic clothes, but the love interest (Audry with Fred Astaire) did not work for me and the bohemian dance scene did not seem to fit with the usually graceful Audrey.

I have an odd mix of stuff on my computer... next up Clockwork Orange. Besides the content that is supposed to shock the viewers (which I knew to expect, like violence and rape), the general premise makes you think. To me, a good movie confuses your emotions and makes you think. First you hate the character, for obvious reasons, then you might end up feeling bad for him, which is confusing because he is not a good person. But the premise makes you think. One thing I could do without is the 'futuristic' russian-infused-english. It may work in the book, but in the movie it just made it harder for me to understand. So, for movies that make you think, if you are okay with violence, this is a good movie. I would say people should see this once (though some argue it gets better with multiple viewings) - I am okay with once unless you don't get the movie at all, then multiple viewings may help.

As for TV shows, I have been starting this season's Project Runway. I do like watching multiple episodes at once, so I hadn't watched any and them watched 6 in a row. Though now I have to wait for more. The designers this season are very interesting with their unique styles and personalities.

I have also been watching the 1960s show Gidget with Sally Field (so cute!). This only lasted one season, and I can see why fans of the movies would not care much for the show - her love interest is off at college, so it is more about the family relationship during the school year. But, as I never saw the movies, separate from the movies, this is a cute series. However, you have to take it with a grain of salt. For me, some of the 'lessons' in the show don't match with my belief of encouraging women that they can do anything they want, even 'men's jobs.' But that was a part of the times - this is based on a series from the 50s, with 50s mentality of women as homemakers and all that jazz. But I've noticed enough of that in the Audrey Hepburn movies, too, and just chalk it up to being part of the time period. If you let it get to you, you may not enjoy this show or many of the Audrey movies.

Also watching Friends - as a replacement for my Top Model - to have in the background while I work. I have seen a lot of the early Friends shows, but I think 7th season on I haven't seen much. I don't know if I really want to (I have heard some opinions that it gets bad), but I would like to know how it ends, since the show is a pretty big staple of American pop culture.

And in Books (this is new for me), I have a lot of books I want to read. The hubby is more of the reader, so we went to Border's store closing sales. I actually found a few books I wanted. A few are picture collections (of rock stars), but I also found (and started) a book about the band Queen (Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen). Among the others I grabbed, the ones I am most excited about are: 1) one about hollywood (Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood) and how it changed with some pivotal movies and flops like Doctor Doolittle (incidentally, I loved as a kid and plan to re-watch soon); 2) one about the filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's (Fifth Avenue, 5:00 AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Dawn of the Modern Woman); 3) one about studio 54 and the disco party days (The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night); 4) one about Bruce Springsteen. I am a super slow reader, but I will review them if I finish any...