New Baby, New Article!

In an effort not to let an entire year go by without a new post, a few bits of news. The first one will be a bit of an explanation for why I've been occupied these past months.

First of all, my wife and I were blessed with a second daughter last month: Aria Dawn!



The second bit of news involves my students. I discovered an interesting UK website called Book Drum. Books are "profiled" with detailed notes and multimedia; think of a footnoted "critical edition" of a text, but with Internet steroids. At the time, my AP Lit and Comp seniors were about to begin reading Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. The book was not yet profiled, and I thought a class project creating such a profile would be an interesting opportunity and way to publish student work. I contacted the site editor, who told me that not only had a class of students never done a profile for the site, no one had ever done a large group collaboration, period. Holding my breath, we plunged in.

The results are now on the Book Drum website, and currently featured on their home page. In addition, I wrote a reflective article on the process and project, which is also on the site.

You can click here to see the book profile.

Or here to read the reflective article.

On the creative side of things, not much to report. Last year I taught AP Literature and Composition for the first time, so between prepping for the class and getting ready for baby, not a lot of original writing energy or time. I hope to at least punch out a short story or two this year, perhaps along with more educational articles.

Happy summer!

Article in "Classroom Notes Plus"

Some publication news! At the end of the last school year, I began drafting an article for Classroom Notes Plus, a National Council of Teachers of English journal for secondary educators. The journal articles are basically descriptions and directions for lesson plans: how they impact learning, and how to implement them in the classroom. My article involves a lesson with A Midsummer Night's Dream using a concordance (finding repetitious patterns of words) combined with a "gallery walk" (having students make posters in groups full of text quotes and insightful pictures).

The article will be published this month, in both print and electronic forms. (It prints four times a year to approximately 6000 subscribers.) Unfortunately for the general public, you need to be either a direct subscriber or (if you're a member of NCTE) wait until it's electronically archived to view it online.

More information on Classroon Notes Plus is here.

Special thanks to Felice Kaufmann for her encouragement and editing. Because of her, I now have my first publishing writing credit as an educator!

April's new book "Butterfly Rocks"

I'm very proud of April's creativity. Finding sometimes a few minutes at a time, she's finally published a children's book: Butterfly Rocks. Her artistically talented mother (Jo) was the illustrator.

The story is sweet yet powerful, weaving the story of a woman named Sue (who has cancer, but refuses to let that define her) and a boy named Jack (who receives a mysterious "butterfly rock"). April deftly handles cancer; although matter-of-fact about the impact of illness, she never treads heavily on the subject in a way to scare children. The story is both comforting and inspiring. As for the pictures, Jo may have found her second calling.

What's even more amazing is that it's based on a true story. For the sake of privacy, I'll stop there. But it adds another level of warmth to the book.

It's available from the website Blurb, where you can buy single copies. I've permanently added a widget for the book to the right of my blog, but here's another one to go with this entry. Note that the sample pages are random, and skip around different parts of the book:

Butterfly Rocks by April Watson (Illustrated by Jo Wathen) | Make Your Own Book

Congratulations, April! You're artistic and beautiful! I'm very proud.

In other quick personal news, the school year has started in a fine way -- the students and my classes are great -- and even had a chance to finally launch that long story (which looks like it'll be novel length) with a little help from friends (thanks, Laura!). I'm writing in small chunks at a time, but my goal is to finish it by the end of next summer. More news later . . .

A Castle, a B & B, and a Lodge

Three recent happenings and some pictures to share.

In mid-May, Ayla had a tea party with three of her friends at Yew Dell Gardens, inside of a real castle on its grounds! (I've raved about Yew Dell in a previous post; plan a visit there, especially during its "Sculpture at the Dell" in the summer.) The setting made the afternoon perfect. We were told that we were the first to have a children's tea party there, which is hard to believe; one look at the castle and it seems a natural place to rent for princess or tea parties for the girls, and "wizards and knights" for the boys. Michelle Cook (our beloved Ayla documentarian!) was our photographer, and did an incredible job, as always. Here's a few shots, done vintage style:

Over Memorial Day weekend, April and I wanted to do something different to celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. We decided to stay at a bed and breakfast for the first time, but we didn't want to drive too far. After Googling and reading some reviews, we went with the 1888 Rocking Horse Manor (at the edge of Old Louisville) and booked their Grand Victorian Suite. To say we were pleased is an understatement. The place was delightful (the backyard garden alone made the stay worthwhile), the breakfast delicious, and the hospitality of manorkeepers John and Ricardo would be difficult to beat. We are already mulling a return trip. During our stay, we walked a few blocks and ate at Amici Cafe, an Italian culinary treasure; I recommend their Penne alla Lorenzo! Here are a few pictures of the manor:

We took our most recent trip last week. April, Ayla, April's parents and I stayed at the Breezy Mountain Lodge just outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was a family reunion of sorts for April's father's side of the family, where everybody pitched in to rent the Lodge as a private getaway, complete with a mini-movie theater and a game room. Not only was it good to see old faces, but we enjoyed a trip into "town" and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We had fun walking down the Parkway (visiting the Hollywood Wax Museum was definitely worth the admission), hiking up to see Laurel Falls , and eating some good meals, including Huck Finn's Catfish Restaurant, a pleasant surprise and a must if you're in the area. (Any place that has "all you can eat vittles" has my heart for sure.)

Now, back home to rest, write, and prepare for next year's classes.

Widgets, Iron Men, and the Latest Hijinks

Forgive me fathers and mothers, I have sinned. It's been 10 months since my last post. There's no particular reason for my delay, except that (mostly) school has kept me hopping around. So I hope to make up for it with some content in today's blog entry.


As far as writing, teaching has kept me hopping too much to be terribly creative. That said, I got a great story idea that will at least be a extended short story, based on a creepy experience that actually happened to me in the last few months. I hope to pursue it this summer, along with a possible polish and submission of a few older short stories. While I'm still holding out for a publisher of another book's worth of poetry, I fear that ship has sailed, so perhaps I'll look at alternate opportunities to get the verse out into the world.


As for school, I've enjoyed creating a semester's worth of lessons for Myths and Legends, a class I never taught before this year. Speaking of school and summer, next year I'll be teaching AP Literature for the first time, so prepping for it in June and July will be part of my upcoming agenda.


Despite hectic lesson planning and grading, April, Ayla and I have tried to enjoy ourselves over the past year. Last August, we made it to Toronto, and despite a sanitation worker strike, had a blast seeing Canada for the first time and visiting with old friends. (Some highlights of the trip: Niagara Falls, Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum, the Ontario Science Centre, Casa Loma, and of course, the CN Tower.) Last fall, we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal -- easily in the top 5 museums we've had the pleasure of partaking. Last but not least, we went to Fort Boonesborough a few weeks ago and really felt like we stepped back in time. Here's a pic:

Gotta love the bonnet, eh? (Ayla bought it from the fort's gift shop.)


I decided the blog needed a minor facelift, so besides its appearance, I added two widgets. The first comes from Grooveshark.com (a fantastic music website -- if you use Pandora, give Grooveshark a chance!). I recently edited Live From Waverly Hills in multiple tracks and uploaded it to their site; listen in streaming audio! (If you want more info on the 2003 show, click here.) I also added a goodreads widget. I created an account at the end of last year, and for the past several months, I've done short reviews for some of the books I've read. It's not meant to be "professional" reviews -- it just captures some first impressions when I finish a book. If you're interested, click on the widget.


Last but not least, April and I saw Iron Man 2 on an IMAX screen this past weekend. I enjoyed the sequel, but not quite as much as the first one. (That's a tall order, though, since Iron Man is right up there with Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight as one of the best comic book action movies ever.) The action and special effects were fun to watch, and the somewhat darker tone added some nice character moments; for example, Downy, Jr. struggling with his mortality and perhaps drinking a bit too much, echoing a 1980's comic book plotline -- although I could have done without the "DJ Iron Man" cringeworthy scene. Paltrow and Favreau's characters are given more to do as well, Rockwell was amazing (although not threatening enough), and Rourke was perfectly cast (if a bit underused) as a Russian heavy. I'm in love with Johansson, and although she didn't have much to do as Black Widow, it was worth it just for her scene storming Hammer's headquarters. As much as I'm a fan of Don Cheadle, I missed a bit of the playful spark from Terrence Howard's take on Rhodes, although the script might be to blame. All in all, highly recommended to see on the big screen.


I hope to post a time or two during the summer (I promise!), so until then . . .

Our classroom videotaped on a NCTE website!

A few months back, our classroom was chosen to be part of the National Council Teachers of English's professional development webcourse, "Pathways for 21st Century Literacies." They were interested in Dragon Booktalk's literature circle podcasts. Laurie Henry and an assistant came and videotaped the students as they podcasted, and interviewed me. Today, the edited video went online, along with some of my resources and links involved in the project. I was very pleased with the final video, and enjoy the site; it has many tech resources and work from actual teachers in the field. Also, it's another way that my students have found an authentic audience, and their good work is archived for the forseeable future.

Unfortunately, the site is not free or accessible by the general public. However, if you're an educator and interested further, the "Pathways for 21st Century Literacies" course is available at:

http://www.ncte.org/pathways/21stcentury

As of today, I'm on the course's home page as a "Classroom Spotlight," but the video and materials are also repeatedly threaded throughout several places on the site.

Special thanks to NCTE's Laurie Henry and Leslie Froeschl for making our participation possible.

Summer at the midpoint

Fleeting, fleeting summer. Here we are, just a month out before school begins again (and Ayla goes to kindergarten).

School, of course, has not been too far away. I spent a week in Bowling Green for an AP Institute (to learn how to teach AP Literature & Composition). It was actually very productive, thanks to our instructor Danny Lawrence. I enjoyed some good meals as well. I will never look at cornbread, garlic mashed potatoes or prime rib the same after Montana Grille, and if there's a higher deity that loves me, Zaxby's will come to Louisville one of these days.

I also have been reading up for a Myths & Legends class that I'll be teaching for the first time next year. I hope to include some discussion of urban legends, especially local ones. (After all, the tools for discerning an urban legend as true or untrue are the same for determining any source is credible.) One of the sources for memorable folklore is a book Weird Kentucky; I definitely recommend it. Oh, and I'm sure Joseph Campbell will make its way into the curriculum . . .

But enough about school. April and I enjoyed our trip to Memphis over Memorial Day weekend. As planned, we hit Graceland, Sun Studios and the National Civil Rights Museum. Strangely, I felt more excited and closer to Elvis at Sun than I did at his home. As for the NCRM, it's a must if you're in the area. The museum is one of the best I've ever visited, and I can't describe how moved I was, looking into room 306 of the Lorraine Motel. On a lighter note, we were glad to have the chance to walk Beale Street and ate some of the best ribs ever at Charles Vergos' Rendezvous.

Going to the Outer Banks was amazing as well. A 12 hour drive was a bit much, although renting a mini-van helped, and Ayla really was a trooper. (On the way there, we stopped by Grand Caverns, Virginia and took a tour, so that gave us a chance to stretch our legs. Beautiful cave!) It felt good to touch the ocean -- and once Ayla got over her apprehension about the power of the waves, she enjoyed it as well. April, Ayla and I climbed Currituck Lighthouse, ascended the dunes at Jockey's Ridge, ambled around the Elizabethan Gardens, huffed around the Wright Brothers Memorial (the mound with the monument is a bit of a hike!) and saw the wild horses of Corolla in person, thanks to a 4 x 4 tour. All in all, pretty fantastic.

Canada is coming soon -- our last big trip of the summer. As long as we get to spend time with our friends Dan and Amy, and take a peek at Niagra Falls and the CN Tower, I'll be happy. After our 12 hour driving adventure, driving 9 up to Paris, Ontario will be a cakewalk.

What else to discuss? Oh yes, the big news of Michael Jackon's death. Have to admit, I got pulled in and watched the memorial live from the Staples Center, so I'm guilty of gawking as well. It's interesting, and sad, that MJ hasn't been on the blip of pop culture for years (indeed, I only found out about his 50 sold out London shows after he died), but when he died, all sins were forgiven by the public and his albums are charting again. How ironic that his current post-mortem album sales may erase his blossoming debt! Look, even if MJ was innocent of specific child molestation charges, he clearly is guilty of horrible judgment and decisions when it came to children. In addition to that, more than likely his death was the result of drug abuse. Should I feel sorry for a multi-millionaire that used drugs to kill the pain of his life? Certainly, he suffered; MJ's father got what he wanted, but what a price. In the end, it's hard to feel sorry for Jackson, if only for one reason: his children. When the world apparently stopped loving him unconditionally, he decided to become a father three times over to fill that void. I'm sure he really loved them, and did his best to raise them. But here's the deal. Jackson chose drugs, which had the chance of killing him, over his children. Because of that choice, with half or more of their child years ahead of them, they'll now be fatherless. And that's the part that guiles me most about Michael Jackson. It's a tragedy, and yes, I'm sure he had personal demons that were nearly impossible to fight -- but in the end, his choices led to three kids without a dad.

So why did I watch the memorial, and despite all of that, still had a twinge of pity for him? When I think of Jackson, I think of Thriller on cassette, playing "Billie Jean" over and over. Watching "Thriller" on MTV and always getting freaked out when he crumples to the ground while his date asks is he's okay -- and then he looks up with those frickin' yellow eyes. (Really, was that video appropriate in the middle of the MTV day for a nine-year old kid?) But mainly, when I think of Jackson, I think of my 1980's youth. Jackson wanted to stay childlike forever, and symbolically, even tragically, it seems he finally paid the price for that desire. When he died, I realized, part of my youth died too. I have a feeling a lot of people around the world felt the same way.

Site Updates and Teacher News

Summer is fast approaching; it's hard to believe we're only a few weeks away from another school year complete. April and I are planning some trips in the next few months:

• Memphis. We've always wanted to make a pilgrammage to Graceland, but we're also looking forward to seeing Sun Studios and the National Civil Rights Museum.


• Paris, Ontario (just outside Toronto). We'll visit our old friends Dan and Amy, and among other sights and sounds, check out nearby Niagra Falls. In fact, we're getting our passport IDs today.


• Outer Banks, NC. We've been wanting to get to a beach and see a lighthouse in person ever since Ayla was born, so we're finally going to do both. As a lover of Shakespeare, checking out the Fort Raleigh National Historical Site (with its Elizabethan Gardens) is a given, but we also can't wait to see the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, the Wright Brothers National Memorial, and maybe a wild horse or two:

In other news . . .





I've updated my personal site and Jackpot Tiger:





For my personal site, I fixed some broken links, updated the Bio, added YouTube links to "Occasional Poisonings from the Kitchen" to the Showcase page, and updated the Press Room to reflect some of the latest teacher news.





For Jackpot Tiger, I updated About Us and fixed some broken links.





And now for the latest teacher news. First, our class podcasting site (Dragon Booktalk) made the cover of the April 2009 issue of Kentucky Teacher! The issue is archived as a PDF; click here for a link to download it, and look on pages 8 and 11. Here's the cover:

Last but not least, my colleagues and faculty have voted me as South Oldham's 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year. I am very flattered and humbled to get the award, and will work hard to earn it.

With being busy wrapping up the school year, I probably won't have a chance to blog until summer. At the very least, I'll try to give updates after our vacations and post a pic or two. Until then, enjoy the end of spring!

"Occasional..." on YouTube

Two months! Ahhh, Tiempo Padre. As our spring break is about to end, wanted to take a few minutes to write an entry.

Since I last blogged, the Honest Abe Festival ended. It was an incredible experience; I was so glad and honored to work with Juergen and Bunbury again.

On one of the last shows, I videotaped the evening and ended up producing and editing a DVD of the Festival. From that footage, I did something for the first time: posted an original video on YouTube. The entire play is posted in four parts totalling about a half-hour. Here are the links:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Another article about our podcasting site is in the works; this one will definitely be available online, so I'll post when it is published.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!

----Adam

Honest Abe Review, and 35th Birthday Shenanigans

Cory Vaughn, over at Theatre Louisville, posted a review of the Honest Abe Festival. In short, he enjoyed it! You can read it here:

http://theatrelouisville.org/reviews2009/cv_honestabe.php

It's hard to get reviewed in this town unless you're Kentucky Center, so I appreciate Mr. Vaughn taking the time to do so.

I saw the show Saturday, and was pleasantly surprised when Dan and Amy, two friends from Canada, were sitting in the audience! April had somehow coordinated the logistics to get them here. It was a great birthday surprise.

I had not had a chance to see the show from start to finish, so it was a treat. It was obvious how much hard work had been put into the plays. I enjoyed myself, and when my play was staged, I still got that funny tickle of disbelief that actors down there were saying my lines. Thank you, Juergen, for giving me this wonderful opportunity. And thank you to the cast and crew of the Festival, who did a marvelous job.

Afterwards, the four of us went to 21c Museum Hotel for the night. (We had already had reservations, but somehow, April had also arranged for Dan and Amy's room as well. Unbelievable.) This was our second stay. You would think it's impossible for a hotel to be beautiful, modern, intriguing, have a sense of humor, have friendly staff, and NOT be snooty, but 21c manages to attain the delicate balance. We also had dinner there at Proof on Main, and Tyrone Cotton, you were right: the Bison Burger is pretty darn good.

I could not ask for a more fantastic 35th birthday. April, you're amazing. I love you.

My last plea on behalf of Bunbury and myself: if you haven't come to see the plays, BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW! Two more weeks!

Articles, NCTE, Opening Night

It has been a whirlwind week. First, let's talk about our class podcasting project, Dragon Booktalk. Some major bullets:

• So far, two authors -- Larry Colton (Counting Coup) and Michael D'Antonio (Hershey) -- have contacted me about Dragon Booktalk. They listened to the podcasts and sent their kudos to the students for their work. As if that wasn't enough . . .
• Dragon Booktalk was mentioned in a NCTE INBOX e-newsletter (with 115,000 subscribers), and the site and C-J article was discussed at length in a corresponding blog entry. This has led to . . .
• A lot of hits. It took three months to get the first 400 hits at the site. In the course of 48 hours, we've climbed over 1000. In addition, I've received emails from all over the United States, as well as a Canadian associate professor and a teacher in China!

I'm thrilled for the students, who are getting the opportunity to reach a global audience.

The Honest Abe Festival opened last night, and John Foster interviewed and photographed myself, Matt Orme, Dale Strange, and Juergen Tossmann for a feature article. No pictures online, but you can read the text of the article here, which came out in yesterday's edition.

Oh, and I turn 35 this weekend. What better way to celebrate a birthday than the opening of my play?

More thoughts on the production later . . .

Come to Bunbury! The three week run begins NOW!

Courier-Journal article on Festival!

Apparently, Bunbury is not the only theater with Lincoln on the stage!

I just read the Courier-Journal article online from Sunday's paper. Our Festival is thoroughly discussed; Nancy Gall-Clayton (playwright) and Matt Orme (actor protraying Lincoln in all the plays) are quoted at length; and Nancy is beautifully pictured at her desk.

Read it here:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090125/SCENE05/901250326/1047/SCENE05

Two more days!

Oldham Era article, and How I Feel About Electricity

First things first: having no electricity, to put it gently, sucks. But I won't complain too loudly. Our house was without power for only two days, and considering as of this post that 100,000 are still in the dark, I consider myself lucky. Also, I had a week off of school, which I spent hanging out with family, so I was glad for the mini-break.

The press release for the Honest Abe Festival actually came out a few weeks ago; I posted links for it at both my personal and Jackpot Tiger site. But in case you missed it, click here.

I've been going to, on average, about one play rehearsal a week. I have to say, I'm very excited about the actors' work, Juergen's direction, and the set and lighting design. (Here would be a good time to give the actors a well-deserved shout-out: Matt Orme, Dale Strange, Ted Lesley, and Mike Burmester.) Actually, I'm impressed with the overall quality of the writing, directing, and acting of all of the plays in the Festival. Counting down to Thursday, February 5 -- the Festival's opening night -- and Saturday, February 7 -- my 35th birthday!

Yesterday, John Foster from the Oldham Era came to interview myself and Juergen, as well as take photographs. The article should run in this Wednesday's paper (February 4). Find a copy in Oldham County anywhere newspapers are sold.

At this point, I'll probably not post until after opening night, but let's hope for broken legs and no more ice storms.

Podcasting Article in The Courier-Journal

My students work hard. And it's great when they get a chance to shine.

Sara Cunningham from The Courier-Journal came out a few weeks ago to interview myself and my students about a podcasting site we incorporate into the classroom. In short, they record literature circle discussions, and as a culminating project, write, record and edit a "book commercial." It's like a "movie trailer" for the book.

Read the article for more information and a link to the podcasting site:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090121/ZONE09/901210362/-1/ZONE09

In play news, I've been to a few rehearsals, and I'm excited to see Juergen's ideas in action, as well as the actors bringing it to life. (As I told them last night, my favorite parts are the looks, reactions, and acting business they do between and around the lines -- after all, my words are just a scaffold!) We're hoping for some publicity opportunities, but I'll announce and/or link them here if and when they become definite.

Until then, the countdown continues to opening night February 5 . . .

Holiday Greetings, and a Abe Poster present

Happy holidays! Some amazing things have happened since my last blog posting. We've had an election, and a new President is on his way. Halloween has rushed by, along with Thanksgiving, and Christmas is just a few days away. School has kept me busy and happy.



Here's some pictures of Ayla:







Ayla wanted to be a black cat for Halloween. You can just make out the tail going down the stump. Thanks again to Michelle for taking pictures at our Halloween party (and thanks to Aunt Sue for the stump!).



And here's a few Christmas pictures, also thanks to Michelle (it was hard to narrow down to two to post, but here goes. Oh, and BTW, the backgrounds are courtesy of Michelle's newest stomping grounds, Fusion Photography in Middletown):

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.


In Honest Abe Festival, there is a new poster, reflecting a change in playwrights (John C. Finnegan is now in our fourth slot).





I went to a production meeting last week. Turns out Juergen is directing my play (very flattering and tres cool), and rehearsals will begin in January.



I'll try to post at least one more time before the Festival kicks off, especially if I know about any publicity appearances from Juergen or the crew.

Little Black Dress Rehearsal Party

So I went down to see the new Bunbury Theatre for the first time since they moved into the historic Henry Clay Building. The place is impressive, to say the least. Go to the building's website and see some fantastic pictures.



And if you have $285,000 to drop, you can even live there. Take a virtual tour for free. Just yell when you get back.



Did you enjoy that? Good. Moving on . . .



One of the sponsors of the evening was Little Black Dress wine, appropriately enough. Had a taste-test of their Merlot. Also had a Finlandia grapefruit cocktail drink (another sponsor), which was pretty smooth (I like a good vodka on the rare occasions I drink, but not much of a grapefruit enthusiast, so this is high praise). Munched on some great hoers d' oeuvres; I'd give a shout out to the caterer, but not sure who it was. Should also mention Gilda's Club, yet another sponsor of the event, who had a worthy cause (creating a space for those enduring with cancer to enjoy themselves); their Louisville chapter is celebrating their first year anniversary.



Unfortunately, all this was done without April; Ayla had a photo appointment with Michelle at her new studio space (Moto Photo, across from the Summit). But I enjoyed checking out Juergen's new digs, even if it was solo.



Speaking of Juergen, we did meet and talke for a few minutes. He didn't recognize me without the hair (I was 21 last time we were face to face; ah, youth). Apparently, all but one of the actors of Poisonings are casted. With three months to go before rehearsals, no worries, mate.



The evening concluded with a snippet from their opening show, Beau Jest. We went upstairs to the new theater, and it is a fantastic performance space. It sits 149 in padded stadium chairs in a slight curve around a curtainless stage area. Beautiful. As for the play itself, it looks like it might be a hoot. Frankly, I'm really looking forward to the Albee show at the end of the season, Seascape. (Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is easily one of the top 5 plays of the 20th century, and a helluva Nichols movie to boot.) Any play where lizards come out of an ocean and start talking -- well, that's hook enough for me.



One of the things I picked up was a flyer that gives an overview of Bunbury's season. Here's a copy:



A closeup of the Honest Abe portion of the flyer is on my personal and Jackpot Tiger websites.

As the holiday season hits (which means AYLA PICTURES!) and possible publicity opportunities ahead, I'll post more soon.

Living in the 1800's, and a Black Dress

When you look outside and there's not a drop of rain --heck, it's even sunny -- you don't worry about a power outage, much less a chance of storm damage. Yeah, the wind was shaking the trees, but I swear I've seen worse.

Imagine my surprise when we lost our power. For five days.

Yep, from Sunday the 13th to Friday the 19th of September, we took a trip back in time. Back when you went to bed early cuz Mother Nature didn't allow you to stay up late watching HBO, or checking on the newest TV and movie news at Dark Horizon. School was also shut down, which meant I did have a chance (during the daylight hours!) to catch up on all of my grading.

Of course, many people were far worse off. When I finally went back to school last Monday, there were still some people without power, which boggles my mind. And all of us are more lucky than many people in the South. Seeing the news report about Galveston, Texas getting hit by Hurricane Ike was particularly distressing, since April and I enjoyed such a fantastic honeymoon there back in 2003. I hope the people of Galveston, and all those affected by the storms, get all right in the end.

Moving on from such heavy news to something a bit lighter. Bunbury Theatre is having a special "Little Black Dress Rehearsal" party to kick off their 2008-2009 season on Wednesday, October 1. I'm going and excited about it -- I haven't been face to face with Juergen since 1995, and I hope to meet some of the artists involved with "Poisonings."

As always, call Bunbury at 585-5306 for more information on the party and their upcoming season.

Lincoln Play Festival Announcement!

Okay, now that I've been informed that actors auditioned for roles in my play this week, I am finally confident enough to officially announce about my newest one-act.

Juergen Tossmann of Bunbury Theatre was kind enough to ask me, along with two other local playwrights (Nancy Gall-Clayton and Dirk Griffin), to contribute new works for an upcoming play festival. (Juergen himself has written a fourth play.) I enthusiastically said yes. After all, Juergen produced my first play at Bunbury as part of their tenth anniversary festival way back in 1995, at my wee age of 21. The festival's theme is pretty clever: not only is it celebrating Bunbury's 23rd anniversary (has it really been 13 years since last time??), but it's a tribute for the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. So, all the plays deal in some way with ol' Abe, and are roughly 23 minutes long.

I don't want to say too much about my play Occasional Poisonings from the Kitchen, except to mention it involves both Mr. Lincoln and the second president to be assassinated, James Garfield . . .

. . . so you'll have to attend the festival to find out the rest.

The Honest Abe 23-Minute Play Festival

Bunbury Theatre

February 5-8, 11-15, and 18-22, 2009

Call 585-5306 for ticket information

I'm incredibly excited to be part of the festival, and can't thank Mr. Tossmann enough for giving me another opportunity to have a play staged at Bunbury.

Quick Reviews: TDK and DMB

Finally saw The Dark Knight at the end of July. It's hard to add anything new to say to all the critics, but in short, I loved it. Ledger is guaranteed an Oscar nod, if not a win, for his incredible performance. However, this may be the first "superhero" movie that has a chance to get nominations across the board, especially for Nolan as director. It's that good.

On August 1, April and I finally saw Slugger Field for the first time when we went to see the Dave Matthews Band, with Willie Nelson (!) opening. The first and only time I've seen either one was, coincidentally, at the same venue -- Live Aid, Cardinal Stadium, 1995. Nelson, as always, is a pleasure to see and hear -- a man who loves music and still has the same genuine, emotive voice all these years later. We missed the first few minutes of his set, but got there in time to hear all the classics. (Tell me, how can "Always On My Mind" not be in your top 10 greatest love songs ever?)

Now, DMB and I have an interesting relationship. When I heard "What Would You Say?" in 1994, grunge was midway through its heydey and I had only graduated a few years prior. I thought it was an okay song, and appreciated their musicianship and the catchy hooks of their subsequent singles, but at the time I never really got why people were such ecstatic fans. I certainly never picked up any of their CDs at the time.

But -- not long after "WWYS," actually -- I met and began dating April. And April has always been a HUGE fan of DMB. So after repeated spins in the player, my appreciation grew into a genuine respect, then a warm fondness.

As I said, I went and saw DMB in 1995, but that was enough for me. While April saw them a few times over the years I was quite content to stay at home while she went with a friend. (Quick shout-out to Doug, photographer of Lollygagged and Flannel Flogged.) But by the time DMB announced their Slugger Field concert, I really was interested in going.

Thank God I did. It was an amazing show, not least because Tim Reynolds sat in on lead guitar (Dave's solo albums Live at Luther College and Live at Radio City are favorites of mine cuz of Tim). Blistering playing by all, energetic band chemistry that you could feel in every note. I was disappointed only that they didn't play "Bartender," "When the World Ends," "Don't Drink the Water," or "Crash." On the other hand, they played fantastic covers of "Burning Down the House" and "Sledgehammer," Willie jammed with the band on "Gravedigger," and the concert was nearly three hours long, so it's hard to complain.

I left converted to the religion of DMB. It just took me 14 years. Oh, and BTW: get better soon, LeRoi.

The set list from the night, courtesy of the band's road crew website:
One Sweet World *
Seek Up *
Everyday *
Grey Street *
Gravedigger *+
Eh Hee *
Corn Bread *
Burning Down The House *
Sleep To Dream Her *
Two Step *
Out Of My Hands ~
#41 *
You Might Die Trying *
Sledgehammer *
Dancing Nancies *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much Intro *
Ants Marching *

Encore:
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Stay (Wasting Time) *

Show Notes:
* with Jeff Coffin
+ with Willie Nelson
~ No Horns, Dave on piano

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.