Being an optimist

Two weekends ago I went to the AFI Silver in Silver Spring to see Hitchcock's Torn Curtain with Paul Newman and Julie Andrews.  I didn't check the Metro website before I left so I didn't know that there was Metro station in Silver Spring was closed so I had to take a Metro Shuttle bus to the Silver Spring station.  Which means that I was about 20 minutes late for the movie.  But I actually didn't mind being late (I have seen the movie before).  It was kind of nice to go on the surface streets of Takoma Park and Silver Spring versus the elevated and relatively secluded location of the Metro Rail (though I did recognize some graffiti which allowed me to determine that I was close to the Silver Spring Metro Station.  But the most interesting thing about the bus ride was that it took me right based the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  It is a little strange to think that the center is closing in the near future but I was kind of cool to see the center before it closes.  But kind of sad as well knowing the history of the Walter Reed Center, both good and bad. 

East Coast Living

It has been quite an exciting week for me, here in Maryland. As you may have heard, on Tuesday there was a earthquake with an epicenter about 90 miles south of here. And it was my first earthquake. Thankfully, nothing was damaged (I was actually working in the lab at the time). And then this weekend, sometime Saturday afternoon, hurricane Irene is expected to reach my little part of Maryland on her way up the coast. Since I live a little bit inland from the coast, I'm hoping that the rain and wind won't be too bad but I am fully expecting to lose power at my apartment. I was hoping to move into my new room and out of the government housing but moving during a hurricane is just a bit too adventurous for me (but I smartly created a huge pile of stuff in the middle of my room that I can run into in the dark whenever I feel like it this weekend, so that should a good source of amusement). So I'm just getting ready for losing power on Saturday. I have some bottled water (and lots of Coke) and I plan on cooking stuff in the morning that can be eaten hot or cold as well as lots of candles for reading/quilting/creating a fire hazard. Mostly importantly, I've charged up my jump box so I can charge my phone or iPod when the need arises. So heads to people whose number I have, I may be calling you when I get bored. I do have 3 Netflix movies (as long as I have a chance to get my mail on Saturday before it starts pouring) to watch as long as the power hold out. It will be a very interesting weekend. On the plus side, now there will only be a few natural disasters that I have not experienced (maybe I should spend a year or two in Hawaii so I can experience a volcano eruption).

I might be the only one

If you haven't noticed, I am a bit of a film nut. In general, I prefer older movies but I enjoy more recent movies as well with a special enjoyment of period pieces. I especially love it when a movie is set in relatively recent time (20s-70s) and made by one of the old studios (Warner Brothers, MGM, Paramount, etc) and instead of using the most recent version of the studio vanity card, the movie will use the vanity card from time period of the film. I just finished Fincher's Zodiac (set in the late 60s) and they used the both an older version of the Paramount and Warner Brothers vanity card. Another good example is Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong. Now if only RKO Pictures still existed!

Quite the quandary

So one my AFI memberships perks is half off a DVD from the Warner Brother Archive. A few years ago Warner Brothers basically released all the films from the Archives to be purchased on DVDs by demand for about $20 (so instead of making 10,000 DVD copies, Warner Brothers will produce one DVD when you order it) or you can download the film for $15. Now I am faced with a tough decision of what DVD to get and more than likely I haven't seen the movie, except I have found one so far that I have seen called Doctor Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (about Paul Ehrlich, those who have read Microbe Hunters will remember him). One of the first movie that looked promising was Above Suspicion with a Hitchcock style thriller with Fred McMurray and Joan Crawford. But then a few pages later I stumbled on Confession of a Nazi Spy with Edward G. Robinson which I confess was my laptop wallpaper a few months ago when it was on TCM. And since seeing the poster every day for about 30 days, I really want to see the movie. Most likely, I am going to look through the entire Archive and pick out a few gems. In the mean time, I am totally enjoying the made-for-tv movies and cheesy movies from the 60s-90s that are in the Archive. Let me just say there are multiple movies that feature ": A Love Story", including Champions: A Love Story and Divorce Wars: A Love Story. Any suggestions of old Warner Brothers movies worth checking out?

For your listening pleasure

And because I've been obsessed with this song since Saturday night (and as a side note, this is the same composer that wrote the music for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)



And does anyone else miss pre-Waterworld Kevin Costner? And Andy Garcia for that matter?

A Single Drawback

A drawback of living alone/with 1 other person, is that I am less motivated to want to bake something for the sole reason that fewer people means increased likelihood of having to throw away a stale baked good. Living with Rachel's family last year lead to baking in a weekly frequency to the point that I completely memorized a couple of recipes (pancakes and pita bread specifically). Now that I am living in a reduced household and without a mixer (when I moved out here, my job was temporary and to last 6-9 months), my desire/motivation to bake is greatly diminished. However, due a consistent craving for chocolate chip cookie dough and a well timed sale (thank you Target), I bought a hand mixer. And tonight, I made blueberry muffins using one of my favorite recipes from The King Arthur Cookbook. I have used all sorts of fruit in this muffin mix including blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, strawberry/blueberry combination, and once (for Ellis) chocolate chip. I love this recipe, the muffin always turn out really well with a nice crumb. And my favorite part of the recipe is that you alternately add flour and milk (which is similar to what you do when making a cake). What I love about this step watching the batter become too thick with the flour and then too thin with the milk until you reach this perfect balance between the two extremes. It's like baking alchemy. And it's delicious.