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New Batman film on tap next week

With Batman lurking, the prehistoric critters of Ice Age: Continental Drift ran off with the box office, earning $46 million in their opening weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday.

The animated film from 20th Century Fox is the fourth in the Ice Age series and the first in 3-D. The North America performance of Continental Drift was on par with previous Ice Age movies but well below the opening weekend of the second installment, The Meltdown, which opened with $68 million in 2006.

There has now been a decade of Ice Age films, allowing the characters voiced by Ray Romano, Queen Latifah and John Leguizamo to become increasingly familiar to audiences, particularly international ones. The film had already done robust overseas business ahead of opening in the U.S. This weekend it earned $95 million internationally, bringing its overseas total to $339 million.

Couple plans to move from home they built together in 18th-century barn

John Lenaerts has never been afraid of change. At just 17 years old he left his home in England for a better life in America. After a stint in Korea courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, he moved to Greenwich Village for two years to experience all the city had to offer. And upon retirement, he and his wife left the life they'd known for decades and followed their dreams to the quiet countryside of New Hampshire.

But even if he's ready for life's next big transition, it won't be easy for Lenaerts to part with the one-of-a-kind home he built here from a late 1700s-era barn. Hugging the southern slope of a sunny meadow at the edge of Pittsfield, the home is handcrafted from top to bottom and filled with unique features.

"I'm not a planner. I just sort of made it up as I went," said Lenaerts, who plans to move with his wife, Marion, to Havenwood Heritage Heights when the home sells. "People would ask about my drawings and I'd say, 'I don't have any.' "

More eyes focused on pets left in cars

Good Samaritans, temperature guns and tougher laws are the newest tools in the campaign to keep animals out of hot cars, where just minutes can mean death.

More calls are coming in about overheated dogs - and officials say that's a good thing, because more people are aware of the problem and calling before it's too late.

Still, despite annual warnings, pets continue to die or suffer serious injury in hot cars. Before summer was even two days old this year, the Associated Press reported the deaths of five dogs in hot cars in Oregon, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

No one keeps tabs on annual deaths or injuries because so many different agencies handle calls. But agencies say calls have increased to 911, police departments, fire departments, animal control officers, shelters or veterinarians.

One thing I enjoy most about summer is visiting other gardens. Local garden tours are the best; they give you the opportunity to see what's going on in your neighbor's backyard. It is amazing just how much effort people put in to their gardens and the lengths to which some people will go to make their landscaping usable, productive and eye-pleasing. Digging ponds, creating waterfalls, clearing views, building stone walls, terracing hillsides, and paving walkways and patios - I admire their energy and vision.

There is also lots of creative garden art. I'll never throw away another worn out tool until I see if it can be incorporated into some kind of funky sculpture.

Women have been at center of entertainment conversation

At the box office, the summer of 2012 may be about breaking records with movies about boys and their toys ("Hulk smash," indeed). But culturally, the season's been all about the girls. Beginning with Snow White and the Huntsman, continuing through Brave and with a dash of talk-worthy premium cable thrown in, girls seem to have taken over screens both large and small, their inner struggles magnified into mythic battles, their most mundane problems examined with probing, disarmingly frank intimacy.

I was at the Concord Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago, and I was asked this question: "Should dogs be allowed to come to the market?" It was a discussion going on between a vendor and a customer. Apparently what prompted the question was a small convention of dogs that had blocked the way through the narrow market street. Dogs were checking each other out, people were talking and showing off their dogs - all this to the dismay of people trying to do business at the market.

Sampling was once the wild frontier

In May, Washington go-go band Trouble Funk took rap pioneers the Beastie Boys to court and didn't even know it.

Trouble Funk's publishing company, Tuff City, claimed that the group's tunes were illegally sampled on the first two Beastie Boys albums, License to Ill and Paul's Boutique. Trouble Funk's signature anthem, "Drop the Bomb," starts with two tumbling drum fills. The Beasties had cut them out and transplanted them into their songs. Now it was time to pay up.

But Trouble Funk leader "Big Tony" Fisher had no idea that this meant going after the Beastie Boys. He told me that he didn't even know the Beasties had sampled his music. The two groups had toured together in the 1980s. He liked them. On top of that, Tuff City's timing was nightmarishly bad. Founding Beastie Boys

member Adam "MCA" Yauch died of cancer the day after the lawsuit was filed in White Plains, N.Y.

Film Review Surprise ending simply falls flat

Red Lights culminates with a twist ending that doesn't just change everything that came previously, it actually negates the entirety of the film. Rather than leaving you in an awestruck state of "A-ha!" it's more likely to make you wonder in annoyance, "Really?"

There are actually two big character revelations, one of which isn't terribly hard to guess much earlier; the other, however, just rips gaping holes in the narrative. The story was pretty flimsy anyway, and never nearly as serious or important as writer-director Rodrigo Cortes seems to take it.

Just because a vegetable has grown past its prime doesn't mean it's for the birds Embed multimedia (photos, galleries, audio, map):  Pea Falafel Tired pea and bolting lettuce soup

One problem with having a garden is that every summer without fail you will be vacationing far from home when something really wonderful, something you have carefully nurtured from a seedling, protected from bugs and birds and deer, something you have been hoarding recipes for since last December, gets ripe. You will arrive home, rush into the garden looking to see if your treasure is at last ready, only to find it was, in fact, ready three days ago. And though it is not rotten or completely inedible, your treasure is well past its prime, a bit shriveled, bitter, tough - over-ripe. You'll treat the erstwhile treasure like trash, and throw it onto the compost heap, or feed it to the chickens, vowing never to go on vacation during garden season again.

Easy horseradish aioli adds big flavor to pan-cooked fish

If you can break up the timing/prep of this recipe, make the aioli in advance so it's nice and chilled by the time the fish is done.

Fresh horseradish is worth having on hand, so don't be worried if you have to buy a larger piece than is called for here. It brings a bright intensity to the aioli. (The flavor will mellow after a day or two.) Grate it fresh as you need it to make your own cocktail sauce, a dip with sour cream or creme fraiche (for fish, chicken or prime rib); add it to a slaw or mashed potatoes. It lasts in the refrigerator in a food-safe plastic storage bag for weeks; wrap the cut side with a damp paper towel.

You'll have leftover aioli, which can be refrigerated for up to three days.

Crispy Salmon With Horseradish Aioli

1-inch-wide piece fresh horseradish

About 6 leaves flat-leaf parsley

2 large egg yolks

¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon water

Here's a quick summer-themed treat that, come school time, makes a great after-school snack.

This little treat offers the flavor of s'mores with the texture, ease and portability of puffed rice treats.

PEANUT BUTTER S'MORES BARS

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

10-ounce package marshmallows

¼ cup smooth natural peanut butter

3 cups graham cereal, lightly crushed

1 sleeve graham crackers (9 sheets), lightly crushed

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate bits

½ cup lightly salted peanuts

Coat a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large saucepan over medium-low, heat the butter, marshmallows and peanut butter. Stir until completely melted and smooth.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the graham cereal and graham crackers. Stir to coat.

Using buttered fingers, press the mixture into the prepared pan. Set aside.

Chicago Legendary improv club still hilarious

A samurai fighter inched toward me, his sword poised for a gutting or a swift beheading. As quick as a falcon, I swerved and plunged my weapon into his side. He crumbled to the floor, his face scrunched in agony. Yet before I could savor my victory, I was felled by a surprise attack from behind. I hit the ground clutching my wound, my fingers twitching with the last flickers of life.

No one survived that gruesome battle. Contorted bodies littered the floor. A thick stillness coated the air. It was hilarious.

Live from Chicago, it's drop-in improv at Second City.

Whenever I go somewhere new I am drawn first to the gardens to see the amazing feats of labor and sigh over plants well grown. But it is the herb beds that always seem to impress me the most. I love visiting a restaurant or inn that displays culinary herbs along its entryway so that visitors can experience their fragrance when walking past.

There is something about an herb garden that stirs our connection with the plant world - a connection that lies deep within us. Of all the plants in a garden, it is the herbs that awaken the relationship mankind has had with plants since the beginning of time. Somehow, this sense is most sharp when there is a scent of chamomile or lavender - a faint longing of the heart arises, perhaps we are pining for a time when we were more involved in the mysteries and magic of the plant kingdom, or maybe the smell merely reminds us of our grandmothers.

Joan Davis is the new chairperson of the Curriculum Committee for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute chapter in Concord. There are 12 volunteers on her committee whose job it is to recruit volunteer presenters for the OLLI program.

OLLI is a nationwide continuing education program for seniors founded by Bernard Osher, who made his fortunes in California. Osher believes that one is never too old to learn, and that learning should be fun. To these ends he gives start-up money ($100,000) to colleges to establish continuing education programs. After five years, if a program is successful, it's chapter becomes eligible to apply for a $1,000,000 grant to help keep the program going. The money is used to support a facility, staff and office expenses. Osher's goal is to see OLLI in all 50 states.

New York On 'To Rome With Love,' playing himself, Oscars

It's a torrid summer day in New York, but the lobby of a well-appointed Park Avenue building has an immediate cooling effect, its well-appointed marble corridors keeping the heat at bay.

Down a side hall, a sign on a nondescript door reads "Manhattan Film Center" and behind that door lies a room crowded with FedEx boxes, bursting file cabinets and the detritus of creativity's business end. The only clues pointing to the identity of the occupant are a Mighty Aphrodite poster, a book about Fellini and a khaki bucket hat that sits poised on a bookshelf, waiting to be joined with a pair of equally iconic black eyeglasses.

Rebecca Morse, a mother of three and independent baby supply store owner, has found a surprising culprit in her years of advocacy for more traditional parenting techniques: the stroller.

Concerned that too many parents blindly "bucket their babies" in strollers or infant car seats that they lug around, the 29-year-old lactation consultant and certified "babywearing instructor" started a counter-campaign in her home town of Ann Arbor, Mich. She set up a station at a shopping mall there to offer parents an alternative to the rolling buckets.

With a suitcase stocked with a rainbow of woven wraps and other baby-carrying gear, Morse showed the moms and dads how they could keep their hands free and their babies close. This practice is a given in many parts of the world where strollers are rare.

Ravelry fiber artists ordered to stop their 'Ravelympics'

The sweater triathlon will go ahead. The mitten medley will proceed as scheduled. The spinning wheels will hum for the handspun heptathlon, and looms will clack in the weaving vault.

But let's be clear: There is no link, none at all, between these activities and the Olympic Games.

The U.S. Olympic Committee recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to a bunch of knitters who had found a creative way to get together and watch the Olympics. While copyright infringement notices happen all the time, this one seemed a particularly far-fetched target for the USOC's wrath.

The knitters - and crocheters, spinners and other fiber enthusiasts - are members of a social-networking site called Ravelry, which has been a haven for fiber artists since 2007: It's a bulletin board, marketplace and discussion forum rolled into one.

Stones's drummer reflects on longevity

Even though he's played in the same rock 'n' roll band for nearly 50 years, Charlie Watts still prefers playing jazz.

The Rolling Stones drummer learned how to play it by imitating his favorite jazz players as a teenager.

So during his breaks with the Stones, Watts has played jazz, not rock, and that legacy continues with his latest venture, The A, B, C, and D of Boogie Woogie. The quartet recently released Live in Paris from one of their shows during a recent 10-show run at the club Duc des Lombards.

Watts recently spoke to the Associated Press about the project, as well as what's being planned for the Rolling Stones's 50th anniversary next year.

AP: Tell me about the comfort level of this band.

Concord Outdoor sculpture exhibits notch 15th year at Mill Brook Gallery

It doesn't happen everywhere. But in at least one unusual place ancient behemoths still dot the landscape. Dogs wear their bones on their sleeves and boulders make good cargo for teeny, tiny boats.

This topsy-turvy world is all part of the 15th Annual Outdoor Invitational Sculpture Exhibit, which runs at the Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden through Oct. 18. The work of 36 sculptors from across New England and New York will be on display on the gallery's sprawling grounds.

"I think people who say they don't like contemporary art, when they walk around the sculptures and they see how it's made and the shadows and often the images, they get a different point of view of contemporary art," said Pamela Tarbell, owner and curator of the gallery. "And people do, they really enjoy it."

ABC, CBS battle over shows, dates

The escalating war between ABC and CBS over their respective fame-seeking-narcissists-live-in-totally-wired-house series now threatens to consume both networks' date-to-mate reality series.

In the latest development, CBS has been compelled to move the unveiling of its new reality dating series, 3, to July 29 - after learning of ABC's plan to attack 3's originally scheduled July 22 launch by moving its season finale of The Bachelorette to that same Sunday night.

Not only does ABC intend to move The Bachelorette finale to that Sunday night from its usual Monday berth; it also plans to follow that broadcast with its first-ever live After the Final Rose post-finale special at 10.

In February, CBS announced that it had ordered 3, which is kind of like The Bachelorette. Except that on 3, three chicks will simultaneously kick the tires on the same three eligible guys.