Grounds for Enjoyment

I finally got a chance to visit Grounds for Sculpture this weekend, and what a unique gem it is!
Karen and I met up there Sunday with with my cousin, Susan Mills, who has a photo in the current exhibition, "Focus on Sculpture 2010." It's a detail of the Martin Luther King statue on the Princeton campus.
It was gloomy and drizzling when we arrived, but miraculously the sun came out just long enough for us to enjoy a stroll around the grounds. The place is beautifully landscaped, with sculptures arranged in perfect settings. There are surprises around every corner. We particularly enjoyed J. Seward Johnson's three-dimensional recreations of Impressionist paintings, such as "The Boating Party" pictured here.
We also enjoyed Flo Perkins' art glass exhibition,"The Common as Uncommon," with its clever glass sculptures of cactus flowers, and bowling balls arranged so that reflected light made them appear as smiley faces.
As an added treat, one of the many peacocks on the grounds put on a full display for us. We were more impressed than the hen he was trying to attract.
Now I'm looking forward to coming back in the summer when the weather's better.
The one disappointment was Rat's Restaurant. We hoped to have dinner there, and arrived long before it was scheduled to close. However, the hostess told us that since things were slow, they had closed down early and couldn't serve us. Bummer!
On the other hand, Susan came up with a really good alternative: The Alchemist and Barrister in Princeton. The food and service were great. I ordered their chicken pot pie, which turned out to be HUGE! I just finished my doggy bag tonight.
For a late breakfast/early lunch Monday, Karen and I tried Mom's in Ringoes, which Susan Yeske reviewed for Good Times a couple of weeks ago. Good, stick-to-the-ribs food in a homey atmosphere.
Then we stopped in at the Princeton Doll and Toy Museum in Hopewell, which was of particular interest to Karen because she's a school speech pathologist who uses toys and children's books in her work with young children. Director Virginia Aris is there with plenty of entertaining stories.
All in all, a pleasant weekend in Trenton Times Land.
All in all, a great weekend

Go Ask Alice

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that Mama gives you
Don't do anything at all...

Yeah, yeah, I'm dating myself. Jefferson Airplane's classic psychedelic anthem "White Rabbit" came out during the 1967 Summer of Love, which fell between my sophomore and junior years of high school. In her haunting contralto, Grace Slick borrowed images from Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and put them in the context of a hallucinogenic drug trip.
Tim Burton's new 3D interpretation of "Alice," with Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen and Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, arrives in theaters Friday. Critic Roger Moore's review is the cover story in this week's Good Times. He gives the movie a thumbs-up, saying that it's inspired as much by "White Rabbit" as by the original novel. Read the review and decide for yourself.
Elsewhere in Good Times you'll also find reviews of “Brooklyn’s Finest” and “The Ghost Writer.”
Also, Michele Angermiller profiles Jersey boy turned country-western singer Moot Davis, returns to his hometown of Hamilton for a concert Saturday night.
In "Fine Arts," Janet Purcell reviews an exhibition titled "Living Among Giants: Seeing the Forest for the Trees," in which painters and photographers explore the unique character of each tree, at the D&R Canal Land Trust in Princeton.
Susan Sprague Yeske reviews the Za Restaurant in Pennington.
Ted Otten previews the Passage Theatre’s Solo Flights Festival, opening this weekend Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton with Lauren Weedman's "Bust."
"Backbeat" columnist profiles blues devotee J.B. Kline, who performs with his band Friday night at the Bordentown Record Collector.
And classical music writer Anita Donovan previews the Lenape Chamber
Ensemble's program of Mozart and Shostakovich works this weekend in two Bucks County locations.