An Interstellar Plant and a few quick reviews

I mentioned Yew Dell Gardens in a previous post. We bought a family membership, and on a recent trip, I took a few pictures. Thought I'd share.

Apparently, the plant life also includes a famous spaceship captain.

The hand sculpture is called "Man and Technology" by Don Lawler. It's one of my favorite pieces of art from their recent show.

Quick movie reviews:

WALL-E. Saw this with Ayla and April. Some of the things were a bit above my four year old's head, but she enjoyed it. True, it doesn't hide its "save the planet" parable, but if there's a moral worth smacking us across the face, this one would be it. Have to admit, misted up at the ending. Only Pixar could make a love story about robots so moving.

HELLBOY II. I can't decide on this one. I was aware of the Hellboy comic when I was younger, but never read it, so I saw the first movie from the perspective of a clean slate. I enjoyed it enough to buy the director's cut/set on DVD when it came out. For the sequel, it concentrates more on character relationships (something I always appreciate); Ron Perlman seems to be having a blast again, and Del Toro has the market cornered on fantastical creatures that fill up every portion of the screen. But some of the fight scenes and plot devices (such as the "three piece crown" MacGuffin) felt more perfunctory than the shenanigans of the first film. I'd still recommend it to fans of the first film, and the ending definitely intrigues me for what they might do in a third Hellboy film.

Didn't get to the Caped Crusader this weekend.....next weekend at the latest.

Yew Dell

My wife, daughter, mother-in-law and I recently visited Yew Dell Gardens, and I had to mention it in a post.

Full disclosure: I have to admit, I'm not the biggest outdoorsy kind of guy. I've camped all of once, and that was as a Cub Scout -- in a tent, in a backyard, fifty feet from the nearest indoor plumbing facility. It doesn't help that I'm so fair skinned the reflection off a set of clean teeth would probably sunburn me.

However, I've always loved the beauty of outside -- a beach, a waterfall, a tall tree, the color of leaves in the fall when I visit my grandfather in Columbia, Kentucky. I enjoy a good hike in Bernheim (and their new visitor's center is an amazing example of Green architecture, BTW). I'm certainly fan of all things that slither, creep, lope, or crawl. At some point, however, I need running water and air conditioning. Nature is a great place to visit, but I don't want to live there.

That said, Yell Gardens is one of the few places that feels so unbelievably peaceful, I regretted having to leave. Beautiful landscaping, some interesting buildings (including a "castle" that my daughter emphatically told us belongs to Cinderella), and (at least until the end of July) a display of dozens of intriguing art sculptures. If you've never been, go take a visit. It does cost a few bucks ($7 per adult; they also have membership choices), but it's worth it.

In other bits of interest:

Counting down the days until this movie.

Finished my first draft of my play, and turned it in to the producer. Once it's officially accepted I'll announce the details. (Yep, my name is already on their website, but I want to make sure he's happy before I presume I'm in their festival.)

adamwatson.org Relaunch

Firstly, Jackpot Tiger's website is finished and updated.

As promised (or warned), my internet facelifting continues on my personal site. As before, I have some glitches and typos to check and fix, but otherwise it's good to go. I ended up keeping nearly all of the Showcase writing and Press information (although I had to fix a few broken links), but I did drop the old archive of "News" pages from the server, and deleted most of the previous site's pictures. My blog -- the current way I post news -- is now two years old, so I don't really see a need to keep a news archive older than that. In terms of pictures, I now use this blog to frequently post images. I might need a few more new shots on the site, but I think the older pics were starting to get . . . well, old. And cluttery.

Congrats to producer and artistic director Juergen Tossmann! Louisville Magazine had a new category in their 23rd annual Best of Louisville awards: Best Small Theater Company. According to its readers, Bunbury Theatre was the best place for Kentuckiana adults to see drama and scored third overall (behind Blue Apple Players and Walden Theatre, both for young people). Considering the other well-known groups in the area, that's quite an achievement.

Find the good news on page 57 of the July 2008 issue.

And more official news next week on that play festival . . .