THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday June 9,1999
Entertainment
Section:
More ways to plan your summer. Check columnist Jennifer Roush's summer Web sites.
B
Web Wandering
Film Festival
Page 1
Alyssa Buecker is busy making films starring her pet guinea pigs with quirky voice overs.
SEE PAGE 5B
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OPTIONS A PLENTY Clinton Lake, Lawrence Aquatic Center and parks around town are summetime hotspots
Story by Matthew Friedrichs and Lisa John, Kansan editors • Photos by Lisa John, Jamie Roper and Roger Nomer
Summer highways are packed with minivans bursting with suitcases, inflatable beach toys and kids.
The smells, sounds, sights, tastes and feels — hot muggy air — of June through August are associated with vacations and fun.
Mount Oread is surrounded by summer activities. And it isn't necessary to leave Lawrence to get stuck in traffic created by the ubiquitous orange construction cones.
The University Daily Kansan editorial staff has created a list of some of our favorite area activities. This is by no means every entertainment option or venue, but it is a starting place for summer trips, leisure and
place it in a non-classroom activity.
There's more than one way to taste summer. Whether it's a smoky chicken aroma wafting off the grill, or the ocean-like salt spray from a homemade ice cream churn, the smells of summer food can make people salivate with hunger.
Slice of life
The variety of restaurants in Lawrence and the Kansas City metropolitan area is too great to list here, but summer is a great time to try eating somewhere with an outdoor patio.
Enjoy strawberries and other summer fruits at the Farmer's Art Market.
And speaking of dining under the expansive Kansas sky, a picnic can be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to eat out during the summer.
Spread a blanket on the hill above Potter Lake, below the Campanile or at some other picturesque campus spot and break out the ham sandwiches, pasta salad and chocolate chip cookies.
Or, grab a picnic table at one of Lawrence's many parks. South Park, which straddles Massachusetts Street just south of downtown, has picnic tables, swings, a flower garden and the William Kelly Bandstand, where the Lawrence City Band performs free concerts at 8 p.m. every Wednesday.
For the more ambitious cook, charcoal briquettes, marinades, gallons of lighter fluid and a choice cut of meat can be the answer to both hunger and a bit of pyromanin
The Lawrence City Band plays a concert at South Park every Wednesday night.
Holcom Park, located at the intersection of 26th Street and Lawrence Avenue, and Broken Arrow Park, 31st and Louisiana Streets, both have picnic tables and blackened public grills.
Of course, there's always room for dessert. Don't forget to top the slice of chocolate cake with some of that homemade vanilla ice cream. And be ready with a wet napkin for the juice from that crisp, cool slice of watermelon.
Step outside
too much summer food and it's time to exercise.
Bicycle riders, inline skaters, walkers and runners can sweat to the summer heat on several trails around Lawrence.
Cross the Kansas River bridge north of downtown and turn right or left to follow the finely-crushed gravel path that tops the levee.
Or follow the asphalt paths along Clinton Parkway from 23rd Street all the way to Clinton Lake.
Another path also leads to Clinton Lake, beginning in the parking lot of South Wind Theaters at 33rd and Iowa.
Swimmers with a KUID can use the indoor pool at Robinson Center from 5-7:45 p.m. weekdays and 2-7:45 p.m. weekends. Outdoor swimmers can splash down the slide and bounce off the boards at the Lawrence Aquatic Center, 727 Kentucky. The pool is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 1:30-10 p.m. weekends. Admission for adults is $2.
For other water sports visit local lakes.
Lonestar lake, southwest of town,
is arest for fishing and small boats.
is great for hiking and short breaks Clinton Lake, directly west on Clinton Parkway has a Marina, boat docks and a variety of park spaces including hiking trails, a beach and camping locations. For more information, call the local US Army Corps of Engineers office at 843-7665.
Perry Lake, northwest of Lawrence off of US highway 24, has many of the same facilities as Clinton Lake. For more information, call (785) 597-5144.
Staging points
University Theatre will feature two productions this summer.
Jack Wright will direct "Three Tall Women" by Edward Albee on July 9-11 and 14-17 at the Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall.
John Strainings will direct "Gods
Stephen spell" by Stephen Schwartz July 23-25 and 29-31 in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre.
Call the University Theatre at 864-3982 for times and tickets.
The Lawrence Community Theatre is currently producing "Sylvia."
The play will run through Sunday, June 20. Tickets are still available for the performances, but reservations are recommended. Ticket prices range from $10 to $14, with a special student rate of $7 on Thursday nights. For more information or to make reservations, call Lawrence Community Theatre at 843-7469.
The play is a romantic comedy about a man and his mid-life crisis, his wife and a stray, street-smart dog he brings home from Central Park. KU graduate student in English, Megan Dillingham, Overland Park, plays the role of the dog, Sylvia.
If special effects are more important than live actors, Kansan reviewers will be watching the summer blockbusters and writing their opinions of the films.
Fans of soccer, known almost everywhere else on earth as football, can watch the Kansas City Wizards next door to the Royals in Arrowhead Stadium.
Liberty Hall Cinema, 642 Massachusetts St., shows art house movies every night. Their movie line is 749-1912.
Hollywood Theaters, 2339 Iowa,
and South Wind 12 Theaters,
3433 Iowa. show first-run movies.
The Hollywood movie line is 841- 8600 and the South Wind line is 832-0880.
The Kansas City Royals play home baseball games at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Sparked by young players, the Royals have surprised people by hovering near .500 early in the season. Tickets start at $7 for general
Freshly-cut green grass, white chalk lines, hot dogs and the beer man assault the senses and stomach at the ballpark. But there are few activities more enjoyable than a lazy summer afternoon or evening watching a professional sports team.
Tickets start at $11. Call (816)
1-800-676-9257.
is start at 8:45 for general admission seats. For dates and tickets call
John Taylor, 12, beats the summer heat with a dive into the pool at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.
Take me out to the ball game
472-GOAL (4625) for dates and times.
A dash of culture
Summer is no time to let brains atrophy.
A trip to a local museum can be entertaining and educational. Campus and area museums are a treasure trove of interesting facts, unique articles and commentary about our society and world.
The Spencer Museum of Art, in the 1300 block of Mississippi features a wide selection of art, plus a special quilt exhibit this summer. The Quilt National Sampler runs from June 12-Aug. 7.
Museum hours are Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday and Saturday,
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, 10
a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, noon-
5 p.m. Galleries are closed Monday. Admission is free.
■ The University of Kansas Museum of Anthropology in Spooner Hall has exhibits including "The Talking Pot: Interpreting Ancient Pottery from Costa Rica," and "Archaeology in Kansas." The museum is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.
Lee Collard, Lawrence resident, nudges his canoe away from the banks of the Kaw at Burcham Park.
to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.
For more information or to find out
about children's workshops, call the
museum at 864-4245.
Generations of children have enjoyed the displays in the Museum of Natural History, located in Dyche Hall. This museum features a collection of fossils, including dinosaurs, fishes, birds, mammals and more. There are diorama of birds, mammals and plants, and even live bees in a working hive.
A large panorama depicts animals, plants and natural environments from the Arctic Circle to the tropics. The museum is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Admission is $2 for adults, and $1 for children. For more information, call the museum at 864-4173.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays, the museum exhibits place a strong emphasis on "Bleeding Kansas" and Civil War history.
There is also an emphasis on KU basketball history, featuring exhibits on former coaches James Naismith and Phog Allen. Admission is free. The
The Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts, is a place to learn more about the history of Lawrence. Open from
museum is housed in an 1888 mortgage and bank building and has ornate and unusual wood-work. For more information, call the museum at 841-4109.
more than 20,000 square feet of exhibits address the colorful past of Kansas. Featuring a real locomotive.
Just an hour's drive from the Lawrence is The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, located at 4525 Oak Street, in Kansas City, Mo. The museum holds a vast collection of paintings, sculptures, furniture and
archaeological finds. Visit now to see the museum's special exhibit, "Echoes of Eternity: The Egyptian Mummy and the Afterlife."
The Kansas Museum of History is off of Interstate 70 in western Topeka, Exit 356.
The museum is open Tuesday
The museum is through Sunday.
Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for students with an ID, $1 for children ages six to 18, free for those under six. Saturday are free. For more information, call 816-561-4000.
On the Nelson grounds is the Kansas City Sculpture Park. It features an outdoor walkway, rotating sculpture exhibitions and the famous shuttlecocks. This weekend is the 10th Anniversary of the
Sculpture Park and special activities are planned for Sunday, June 13. from 1-5 p.m.
The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo., has no admission charge and is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.
For questions about exhibits call 816-561-3737.
Sure we've missed some things like summer concerts. But we're not completely out of tune — read Chris Eckert's music column to get an update on the latest in music.
The museum hours are 9 a.m. to:
4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday and
12:30 to 4:30, Sunday.
Admission is $2 adults, $1 children.
Final notes
And if the sights — and smells — listed here are not exotic enough, visit the Kansas City Zoo on 63rd Street in Swine Park, Kansas City, Mo.
The zoo is open 9 - 5 daily.
Admission is $6 for ages 12 and
over and $3 for ages 3-11.
Local bands such as Starsky perform on various stages around town.