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 . . .

Words to remember...

Politically, I am usually pretty mild in my posts for this blog. That said (and to no surprise to those who know me), I've never hid the fact that I would be considered on the liberal side of the spectrum.

While waiting on a person to measure our living room for new carpet, I was watching Judgment at Nuremberg (1961, directed by Stanley Kramer). It's not the first time I've seen it; I always remember it as a moving film, with some wonderful performances by a slew of legends (Spencer Tracey, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Marlene Dietrich, Richard Witmark, Maximilian Schell, Burt Lancaster). Today, however, Tracey's "decision of the court" speech slammed me into the back of the couch. It's a combination of incredible acting, well-written monologue, and prescient fat to chew for our modern day world. Here's an excerpt:


"Heir Rolfe further asserts that the defendant, Janning, was an extraordinary jurist and acted in what he thought was the best interest of this country. There is truth in this also. Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he loathed the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture . . . by the Government of which he was a part. . . . [T]his trial has shown that under a national crisis, ordinary -- even able and extraordinary -- men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. . . .
There are those in our own country too who today speak of the 'protection of country' -- of 'survival.' A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look the other way.
Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what?' A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult!
Before the people of the world, let it now be noted that here, in our decision, this is what we stand for: justice, truth, and the value of a single human being."


A clip of the speech is here. (AmericanRhetoric.com is a wonderful resource, by the way -- in fact, I've used it for the classroom.)

Everyone better vote in November. Everyone.

Jackpot Tiger 2.0 Launches!

So I'm trying to upload an updated webpages to Jackpot Tiger, reflecting a few things that have happened this year -- including the play festival announcemnt I mentioned in my last blog entry -- when I find out that my internet service provider has a new user-friendly website creator.


I guess it was time for a reboot anyway.


Check out Jackpot Tiger's new look. It's 85% complete -- I still need to upload a few pictures and fix some formatting errors -- but it does look more polished. Eventually, my own site will get an facelift as well. The only problem is deciding what to upload and what to retire, in terms of content (particularly in the Showcase and Press sections).

TLAG and Play Festival Teaser

Lotsa things to report in this year's edition of The Latest and Greatest.

Okay, since it's been over a year since my last post, I guess I owe at least three new pics of my daughter. Let's talk about her and them before we talk about me.

Ever since my wife knew she had a baby in her womb, she planned for the day she could get fairy pictures made. So, this spring, she ordered a costume from Costume Fairy (shares the home with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, dontcha know), sprinkled some pixie dust, and crossed our fingers. We were ecstatic with the results -- the quality of the outfit was fantastic, and the photo shoot went great. We printed several, but two are shown above.

The third photo was my secret Father's Day gift, a montage my wife and daughter had framed. Amazingly, Ayla didn't blab or let on once about the Jedi photo shoot, so I was truly surprised when I opened the bag. The framed pic will now sit in my classroom in the fall. Note: I gave Ayla the Yoda training lightsabre as a gift for her first birthday. How could it be that she's turning 4 in August? Where does the time go (says the guy who posts an average of twice a year...)

(BTW, all the photos above were taken by the always fantastic Michelle at Celebrity Kids in the Summit.)

Other than photo shoots, Ayla is doing great. We're looking at pre-K, possibly for this fall. Not sure if Mommy and I are ready for that moment when we'll drop her off with strangers, but we'll try to hang tough.

In other news, we got a new tuxedo kitten back around Christmas. We named him, appropriately enough, (James) Bond. Dixie is still not sure if she appreciates his friskiness. Poor thing. I think she just got used to Ayla, and here is another monumental change.

Onto Adam stuff. So what has happened in the past twelve months? Here's a quick list:

1. Passed the teaching internship, which means the last stage of official teacher training is complete. I'm looking forward to next year being "just" a teacher, without university classes or an internship hanging over my head.
2. Produced a version of The Odd Couple at school. Although I am still officially on the drama sidelines (I stepped down from the Theater Director position at the end of last year, so I could concentrate on finishing my teaching credentials and having more family time), several seniors I had worked with last year desperately wanted to do a student-led production, so I eventually agreed to sponsor it. It was great fun to work with a Neil Simon play, and the students did a great job.
3. Was nominated for Teacher of the Year, which was flattering beyond words.
4. In non-teaching news, had a chance to watch some of the "event" films: Iron Man (best super-hero movie I've seen since Spider-Man 2, and easily in the top 5 comic adaptations of all time), The Incredible Hulk (much more watchable than Ang Lee's version), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom etc. etc. (Fun but not fantastic). The biggest is yet to come, however: counting down to The Dark Knight. (RIP, Mr. Ledger. Always liked your work.)

Besides house projects and some teaching lesson plan tweaks, I'm still trying to keep creative. My work on my full-length play has been slow because of the school year, and is currently on hiatus because of the latest news . . .

A few months ago, I was asked by a local producer/director to contribute a new one-act play for a festival in February 2009. I was honored and immediately said yes. I've had the play outlined in my head for a while, but have finally found the time to type the first draft these past few weeks.

More details on the play festival to come; I'm waiting for the person to officially announce it in his own press release soon. Once he does, I'll post more information.

Enjoy the summer!

Time Doth Fly

Remember when I said that adding a blog to my website would result in more updates, because it would be so much easier to post?

Sigh.

Well, here I am, in the middle of my summer "vacation," just now posting for the first time in six months. Vacation is in quote marks because I've been busy with one project after another around the ol' Watson household. I finally forced myself to sit down and give some kind of update; after all, if I can't even update a blog more than once a year, I need to call it a day, hmm?

(Quick tangent: I have updated my personal and production sites a little, mainly in the Bio sections to reflect some of the stuff below.)

So what have I been up to? Although it would be near impossible to knock out all the things I've done for the first half of 2007, here are some highlights:

** Finished my second school year with a successful production of The Wizard of Oz. This is now the second high school musical I've been involved in.

** Completed my MAT program at U of L in Secondary Education (concentration on English). After 11 years of part-time college, I'm finally done with university classes. At least for now.

** After much debate and handwringing, decided to step back from the Theater Director position and "just" teach English and Drama for the forseeable future. Two teachers in our English department were retiring, so there was a need to be filled at the school, and after so many nights at college and time away from family (especially from Ayla), I wanted to have more time for home during the school year. I do hope to dip my toe into local theater in the next year or two . . . or at least finish the play that's been bouncing around in my head for quite a while.

** Speaking of Ayla, had to share a recent pic from around Father's Day. This would be as good time as any to give a shout out to Michelle, our favorite Ayla photographer (responsible for the beautiful shot above) who has seen enough of her and us to become a friend of the family. She's currently at Celebrity Kids at the Summit, I highly recommend her work.

** Saw Spider-Man 3 (liked it more than 1 but less than 2) and Transformers (much better than I expected, incredible special effects, Shia LaBeouf is a riot, and the first Michael Bay film since The Rock that I really could give a thumbs-up).

** I'm turning green. No, not sick. Or Kermit-y. April and I are trying hard to be more eco-friendly. We can't say we're perfect, but here are some of the highlights:

Got canvas bags for the grocery and other outings. Kroger had a killer sale, so we stocked up.

Using an electric lawnmower and trimmer. (Have actually had both for a few years now.)

Signed up at Greendimes, which cuts down on unwanted junk mail and plants some trees.

Working on recycling/consigning/otherwise avoid dumping a buncha unused stuff in the house.

Starting to buy CFL lightbulbs to replace our standard bulbs as they go out.

Signed up for a programmable thermostat from L G & E. (It's free, but read the fine print.)

Watched Live Earth online and on Sundance Channel pretty much most of yesterday. Some AMAZING music, and I hope it truly raises awareness. Get green folks; the planet you save may be your own.

Unfortunately, there's not a recycling pickup in our neighborhood, but we're working on bins and trip to the local center.

And that's it, really. I'm frustrated that I haven't done as much original writing as I would like, but I at least feel I'm getting other things accomplished. And since school has let out, getting some rest.

I make no promises about when my next blog entry will be, but let's hope it's not six months. In the meantime, let me leave with one last plug. The Little Colonel Playhouse has a production of Heaven Can Wait next week, July 12-15. I plan to go because several of my high school students will be on the stage and behind the scenes. They have wonderful talent, so that should mean a great show. Call 588-1557 for ticket information.

Enjoy your summer!