Pixar’s Ratatouille: This rat really cooks!

By David W. Shelton | June 29, 2007 |

I never thought I’d be cheering on a rat. But when a rat is concocted by a Bird, all the rules change. Ratatouille, the new film from the on-again marriage of Pixar and Disney, has proven once again that an original story can be delicious.
 
After his astonishing success with The Iron Giant and the smash hit of The Incredibles, Brad Bird clearly had a tough act to follow. With Giant, he proved he could tell a story. With The Incredibles, he showed that he wasn’t a one-hit wonder. With Ratatouille, he’s firmly established himself as a master chef of animation brilliance.
 
All right, I’ll stop gushing for a minute. This new tale of a rat who just wants to cook begins humbly enough as Remy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt), the film’s blue-furred star, jumps out the window of a French country house. He’s not particularly cute, but his enhanced sense of taste and smell has given him a special place among his colony. To their delight, they discovered early on that he can smell rat poison.

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American Road Show: SolarFest 2007

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 29, 2007 |

As I move about northern Vermont, with its rustic charm and innovative quirks, I stumbled across the upcoming SolarFest 2007 (July 14-15), an earth-friendly energy and music festival that draws about 4,000 people to the Forget-Me-Not farm in Tinmouth. Powered by the sun and bio-diesel fuel, the entire festival last year generated a walloping single trash bag of waste — EVERYTHING was recycled, composted or otherwise renewed.

Created in 1995, this non-profit has a microscopic bare bones administrative staff and a core of dedicated sponsors and volunteers promoting the best performing artists of the region and most importantly, the building of sustainable, earth friendly communities. «Read the rest of this article»

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Journeys on Drive-In Saturday Night

By Christine Anne Piesyk | June 29, 2007 |

We’ve traveled to outer space already this summer. How about inner space now? With Pat Boone as a headliner, how could this version of H.G. Wells’ Journey to the Center of the Earth be anything but a lightweight sojourn. James Mason is the dedicated Professor Lindenbrook, who believes another explorer, Arne Saknussen, has already reached the earth’s core. He’s got a rock with marking to prove it. Entering the earth through an Icelandic volcano, he is accompaned by a stocky Swede, a white duck, the widow of another explorer, and a student (Pat Boone). Along the way, they encounter prehistoric creatures, have a close encounter with a salt mine, and battle their way through a magma flow. Outrageous? Of course. That’s the fun of it. (1959).

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