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____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The overwhelming excitement for Little 500 only comes to IU once a year, right?Not exactly.The IU Student Foundation will present the Fall Cycling Series today through Saturday to set the mood for April’s festivities.“The Fall Cycling Series garners a lot of excitement because of the fact that Little 500 isn’t just a single-day event,” said Jordan Bailey, IUSF assistant president, in an email. “Teams and riders train year-round in order to be successful in the race, so having competitions in the fall helps to showcase that. Also, the fall series is a great opportunity for students new to riding to be able to have a taste of what the Little 500 is all about prior to April.” The series will be comprised of three events throughout the weekend: Cyclo-Cross, Dualathon and Street Sprints. In previous years, the events were dispersed during three separate weekends. This year’s concentrated events are intended to attract greater enthusiasm.Sarah Schopmeyer, a member of the IUSF Steering Committee, said in the press release, “We are hoping to increase interest in the fall events, which are very popular among riders who train year-round for Little 500, and we hope that other students and cycling fans also will be excited by all the action.”The series will begin at 7 p.m. today with the Cyclo-Cross. Teams of two riders will compete in a timed obstacle course consisting of hay bales, stairs and cinders at Bill Armstrong Stadium.On Friday, the IUSF will introduce the Dualathon, a new event this year. Participants will run a mile, bike two miles and run another mile. The event will begin at 4 p.m. at Armstrong Stadium where competitors will ride. They will run on a road course. April marked the 60th running of the Little 500. “I think that this is a nice way to celebrate that accomplishment, while also bringing together two different communities for a single event,” Bailey said.To conclude the series, riders will compete in 200-meter bike sprints on North Jordan Avenue beginning at 1 p.m. in a double-elimination bracket. The winners of each contest will accumulate points, which will collectively determine the overall winners of the series. Instead of partaking in the normal lottery drawing, the top three men and women’s teams at the end of the weekend will have the advantage of choosing what time of the day the team will qualify for the 2012 Little 500.For each event individual participants compete in, he or she will be entered to win a 2011 Little 500 bike. Participation is not just limited to teams and riders. IUSF encourages all undergraduates to compete in the Fall Series, and the foundation will provide bikes to anyone in need of one.“There are a lot of things to take into consideration when putting on a bicycle race, especially when you are putting on three,” Bailey said. “We are confident the series is going to be successful because the Fall Cycling Committee has paid attention to all of the small details.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Interest in music, art and civil rights brought Bloomington community members together Thursday for Boogie-Woogie, Blues and the Arts: A celebration of 20 years with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The City of Bloomington Council for Community Accessibility coordinated the anniversary celebration in a ballroom in the Fountain Square Mall on West Kirkwood. Event supporters included Ivy Tech Community College, WFIU, WTIU, WFHB, Fourwinds Resort & Marina, AccessAbilities, Inc. and the City of Bloomington Office of the Mayor. “When we were planning this event, we didn’t want to focus on people with disabilities necessarily,” said Joshua Paul, CCA events chair and executive director of AccessAbililies, Inc. “We wanted to focus on people who were doing extraordinary things who happen to have a disability, which is really exciting.” The event’s main attraction was the blues piano, guitar and vocal team, Liz Pennock and Paul Shambarger, aka Dr. Blues. The married couple have been playing music together since 1983, typically at festivals, concerts and clubs. They said this was the first ADA concert they’ve ever done. “It’s great (playing this celebration),” Pennock said. “(There are) really nice people. It’s a fabulous cause and a good thing to celebrate.” Craig Brenner, CCA special events coordinator, said during the event planning process he thought the band would be a wonderful example of how people should not be limited by their disabilities. “In fact, Liz’s biography talks about that she was born missing two fingers on each hand — and I mean, she’s not hiding anything, but she’s also not getting by on that because she’s an excellent musician,” Brenner said. “So she’s a perfect example of an artist to showcase during the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” During intermission, Pennock and Shambarger were selling T-shirts as well as their DVD and six albums ranging from 1986 to 2008. To include everyone in the celebration and keep within the ADA focus, two sign language interpreters worked throughout the speeches and songs. “We’ve got braille programs, we’ve got sign language interpreters, so it shows everybody that you can include everybody regardless of whether they have some kind of physical disability,” Brenner said. Also grabbing attention were 17 handmade posters hanging on the wall, all part of the poster contest. Each poster highlighted accessibility or disability issues and was colorfully decorated with glitter, paint, markers and foam letters. The contest started in April and was open to the general public. Guests voted on paper ballots handed out during the start of the event. Sarah Collins was voted the competition winner with her poster titled “Just Me.” Collins won a framed certificate and a Barnes & Noble gift certificate. Local artist Jan Branam showcased her own art. Her oil, watercolor, pastel and pencil paintings were available for purchase. The Stone Belt Arts Program had a table as well, featuring Stone Belt artists’ sculptures and framed art. One World Catering & Events provided food and drinks throughout the event on a long buffet table. An abundance of pamphlets allowed people to learn more about the subject of disability and available support services. For all this information, food and entertainment, admission was free. “We had a great turnout, and really what we were hoping to do was highlight a lot of the work about disability and accessibility that’s going on in Bloomington, which is really progressive in comparison to a lot of other cities,” Paul said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On a warm and humid Tuesday evening, an Art Hootenanny at The Venue Fine Art & Gifts brought people together to casually sing, strum instruments and look at art.The South Grant Street gallery welcomed anybody wanting to take part in the festivities or just socialize. The Art Hootenanny was part of The Venue’s Tuesday demonstration series. Each Tuesday night features a different event.“It’s kind of two-fold,” said Gabriel Colman, The Venue’s curator and owner. “It’s an opportunity for people to come down on a kind of non-competitive night and see artwork and see something new that they could report on during the week.”Sarah Flint, a well-known local singer and guitarist, was named song leader of the evening. Musicians sat in an informal circle on the front porch, and participants played in unison and took turns selecting songs.Most of the tune choices in the random selection were of the folk genre. “(I enjoy) the informality, the sharing, the interchange,” Flint said. “I learn songs. If I were just here performing I wouldn’t learn any new songs.”Flint said every time she comes to The Venue, music participants pull out some songs that she is unfamiliar with. From there, she’ll keep her eye out for those songs.“I kind of try and collect songs everybody knows that bring up memories for people,” Flint said.As guests walked into the Victorian-style house gallery, leaving the music and heat outside, two rooms featured distinct art exhibits. In the first room, portraits drawn by Max Hartstein, a musician in the 1950s San Francisco jazz scene, are featured. The portraits depict fellow jazz players in pen and charcoal.“He’s a three-fold artist,” Colman said. “He does paintings and drawings, he is a fantastic upright bass player and he’s a writer.”In the next room toward the back of the house was local artist Jeanne McLeish’s show. McLeish does plein air paintings, meaning her works are painted outside on location.The work of these two artists will be shown for two weeks. Two new shows will then be installed.Local, regional and national artists’ works lined the rest of the walls. These pieces included jewelry, bags, pottery, paintings and drawings, among other pieces, and are available for purchase. Colman calls these his “static collection” because they include art for decor’s sake.“It’ll be a single piece of an artists’ collection, not necessarily an entire show,” Colman said.Colman said he chooses art for the gallery based on how the aesthetics of the piece plays in the physical space. He also looks at the level of completeness and whether the artist achieved a goal.“One of the things that makes the gallery work is the building, the layout, the lighting,” Colman said. “It also has to play well with the rest of the artwork. Beyond that, I can’t look at a piece and go, ‘Personally, I like this, so I should put it on my wall’ — because what I like somebody else might not like.”Admission was free, and refreshments were served. Artworks were also available for purchase.Patsy Flint, a Bloomington resident, said she came to the event to see Sarah Flint, her daughter, play. Other than the music, she said she enjoys the artwork featured in this particular gallery. This event was a way to capture people and bring them inside to look at the art. The event additionally met her personal definition of what a hootenanny is, Patsy Flint said.“(It’s) just this kind of music — country music,” Patsy Flint said. “Nothing written down, just out of your head come up with whatever seems like fun. It’s a fun thing. So the music is always fun.”Colman describes the event as an appreciation of music and more so the art of free-form music. More specifically, he explained it as free-form bluegrass.“(The hootenanny is) something that people could casually join in,” Colman said. “It wasn’t necessarily one person doing a song and then allowing another person to do a song so much as picking songs that multiple people could sit down in.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The harp melodies quieted and a gold medal was awarded as the 2010 USA International Harp Competition came to a close Saturday night.The eighth triennial competition has been running since July 7 at the Musical Arts Center. Out of 39 harpists from 15 countries, all of this year’s participants were women. Six of these contestants were IU students, while four were alumnae of the IU harp department.“The field from top to bottom was exceptionally talented,” said Andrew Bratton, executive director of the competition. “There were a lot of tough decisions in cutting the field down. In each of the three stages, they did eliminations because they were so strong.”Agnes Clement from Lyon, France, won the gold medal. Clement has been studying the harp since she was 7 years old. She has been studying at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.On the second day of the competition, Clement experienced a debilitating muscle injury in her back resulting in a trip to Bloomington Hospital. She performed the rest of the competition sporting a back brace.“That was definitely overcoming adversity in order to find her moment in the sun,” Bratton said.As Clement dealt with her injury, the judges obviously found nothing painful about her harp playing.“The thing we heard time and again was she just played everything so well,” Bratton said. “Her aptitude was very high, her ability to take the notes on a page and play, her interpretations were strong. ... A lot of the errors that you might hear and be judged and docked points for, she just didn’t have because she was just so skilled and played so cleanly.”Clement’s prizes include a $55,000 commemorative Lyon & Healy gold concert grand harp, two debut recitals and a CD recording, both sponsored by Lyon & Healy Harps, and the $5,000 David and Linda Rollo Award in memory of Mindee Rollo. She will also receive artistic management sponsored by the Victor Salvi Foundation.Following Clement with the silver medal was Japan’s Rino Kageyama, who will receive the $5,000 Dick Johnson Memorial Prize. Bronze medalist Vasilisa Lushchevskaya of Russia was awarded the $4,000 Jung-suk Han Memorial Prize.Fourth- through eighth-place winners include Coline-Marie Orliac from France, Jimin Lee from the United Kingdom and South Korea, Ruriko Yamamiya from Japan, Gwenllian Llyr from the United Kingdom and Marta Marinelli from Italy.Each of the fourth through eighth places received various prizes ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.Two special awards of $1,000 were also given. France’s Coline-Marie Orliac won the Jan Jennings Prize for Best Performance of “Concerto for Harp and Orchestra” by Reinhold Gliere, and Japan’s Rino Kageyama won the Mario Falcao Prize for Best Performance of “Awakening Stillnesses” by Michael Maganuco.These special awards were given to harpists who did not necessarily place but were thought to have played in a way that Bratton said exceeds the technical requirements.“At the same time they’re selecting the percentages and giving scores, they’re considering what they’ve heard,” Bratton said. “They’re giving points for interpretation as well as mastery of the challenges of the piece itself, playing with artistry as well as skill as well as fewest mistakes.”The competition had four stages, each with specific time and repertoire requirements. Each harpist ultimately performed two hours of music if she made it to the competition’s final stage.Seven judges from varying countries were involved in making decisions throughout the competition. Bratton said he hopes the 2013 will see an expansion, especially among South American and Central American harpists to compete. None were present at this year’s contest.“We always want to grow, so if we can get as many or more participants, we’d like to expand,” Bratton said. “We want to have as much quality as we can and as much diversity in the field as possible.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a small room lined with shelves and tables holding various books, one book, “Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans” by Philip Gambone, had all the readers’ attention.Award-winning writer and teacher Gambone visited Boxcar Books on Friday night, an event sponsored by BloomingOUT on WFHB and IU GLBT Support Services.At the Sixth Street venue, Gambone read the introduction of his most recent book. Participants of various sexual orientations joined in a question-and-answer session following the reading.“The turnout was great, and the questions were wonderful,” Gambone said. “I hope the crowd got a little sense of my personality — about the personality behind this book, about the enthusiasm behind this book. I hope that in the excerpt that I read from the introduction, they picked up a little bit about what my goals were for the book, how I went about doing the book, who I saw as the audience for the book.”Gambone is an essayist, journalist and fiction writer hailing from Massachusetts and has written three other GLBTQ-based books. Along with writing, he has taught English at the University of Massachusetts, Boston College and the Harvard University Extension School.“Travels in a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans” is a book of various profiles of people in the GLBTQ community. Gambone traveled to different parts of America, candidly interviewing people about their lives.Celebrities included in the book are David Sedaris, George Takei, Barney Frank and Tammy Baldwin. Less familiar voices include a retired Naval officer, a transgender scholar and “drag king,” a Princeton philosopher, two opera sopranos who happen to be partners, an indie rock musician, the founder of a gay fraternity and a pair of Vermont garden designers.Altogether Gambone interviewed 102 people, he could only publish 44 interviews. He said it was difficult to choose which stories made the cut. In the end, he mainly focused on showcasing diversity and sharing untold stories.“Some people who have been really well profiled in the past — (I) cut them,” Gambone said. “(I was looking for) diversity in whatever way you could measure it: age, geography, occupation, race, religion, ethnic group — any way I could cut it.”The project began in summer 2007. The author traveled for two years across America. He started by sending letters to potential participants, introducing himself and asking them to speak.Gambone said he also used Google as a tool to find places to visit and people to interview, typing in searches such as “gay Chicago” or “gay Austin.”“‘Gay Chicago’ was the best because ... Tracy Baim, who publishes the Windy City Times, put together this enormous website in which she interviewed gay/lesbian Chicagoans,” Gambone said. “I browsed the website and came up with names of people I wanted to profile in the book. “‘Gay Austin’ was another one. I really wanted to go to Texas.”Face-to-face interviews with permission to use first and last names was a must for each profile, as Gambone was determined to get more than just a voice. Seeing the interviewee in some sort of environment was also important.“I interviewed people in their homes, in their offices, in hotels, outside on picnic tables, in their workplace, wherever we needed to meet,” Gambone said.To research, Gambone studied each interviewee and how he or she creates his or her identity.“If they were a writer I read their work, if they were a musician I listened to their music, if they were a filmmaker I watched their films, if they were a historian I read their books, if they were a politician I tried to familiarize myself with their political record,” he said.An average of 20 to 30 hours of review was done prior to each interview. Because each person was different, the sets of questions were specifically tailored to each participant — though each discussion started the same: “tell me something memorable about your childhood.”From that question a theme emerged.Personality, story, anecdote, humanity, pride and strength were all qualities the author wanted to capture from each person. Never bored by a story, he said he heard tales with laughter, tears and emotions in between.After the event, Gambone stayed to speak to patrons and sign copies of his book.IU student Samuel Buelow came to the event 20 minutes early and was the first guest to arrive. He said he was attracted to the reading because of its description and especially because of the popular names featured within it.“I thought I’d go and see what it was like, and it was really kind of a surprise,” Buelow said. “Just the stories in general and this idea of this compilation of stories is just exciting to me.”From what Gambone read, the book sounded interesting, Buelow said. As a result, Buelow left the bookstore with a signed copy in hand.This particular book hit shelves in June 2010. Though a second volume is not in the works, writing one is a hopeful thought — Gambone said he has 58 more interviews he’d like to see published.“I didn’t approach this book with an agenda; I didn’t approach this book with a thesis; I didn’t approach this book with an ax to grind,” Gambone said. “The only agenda was: Let me get as diverse a range of stories as possible.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The only requirement: “Dress to impress.”The IU Swing Dance Club and interested community members put their dancing shoes to work Saturday night as part of the club’s Summer Fancy Dance.The Windfall Dance Studio on North Dunn Avenue provided the venue for the free event, and anyone interested was welcome to participate regardless of age, club membership or skill level. Club member Natalie Rodibaugh led a solo dance in the event’s first half-hour section. She taught a prepared choreographed swing routine to “S’posin” by Jon Tigert and promoted being “silly” with the dance moves. The dance routine served as practice for a larger event called “Swing, IN,” held in Indianapolis during Labor Day weekend.Rodibaugh said “Swing, IN” brings the dance community together from various locations. Each region learns a piece of the whole dance.The second part consisted of social partner dancing. Without instruction, participants danced to jazz music with their own swing styles, constantly changing dance partners.Jennifer Trueblood, president of the IU Swing Dance Club, said the group is meant to be social.“(The goal is) just to have a good time,” Trueblood said. “It’s a nice way to exercise, meet people, hang out.”The club is offered through RecSports and meets every Monday in the Indiana Memorial Union with monthly weekend social dances. This particular dance is the only one in the summer.Lessons are available to both beginners and intermediates, with intermediates encouraged to stay for the beginners’ instruction.“(It) helps people to get to know people that have been in the club and gives them the chance to dance with more advanced dancers,” Trueblood said. “We’re trying to make sure there’s not a real big division between the dancers. We want everybody to enjoy it and have a good time.”For the first few lessons, the club teaches East Coast swing, and participants can learn the more difficult Lindy Hop during the last five or six weeks.Levi Brown, a two-year IU Swing Club member, said he started out as a complete beginner with no dance background. Now he describes himself as “an honest intermediate.”“I’m addicted,” Brown said. “Around Christmas there’s a week without dance, and you’re just kind of like, ‘Oh man, I need my fix.’”He said he enjoys the activity itself and the friends he has made since joining the club.“It’s a lot more interesting than getting together with friends and going to the bar and having a couple drinks,” Brown said. “You’re actually doing something, and you feel good afterwards.”Dianne Shewmaker has been in the club for at least 15 years. Because she did not grow up dancing, Shewmaker started her dancing career with aerobics. Though she still does Jazzercise and aerobics, she said swing dancing is now her passion.“I really truly think it keeps me young,” Shewmaker said. “I know I have the energy and the stamina of any 20 to 30 guy around, and I love to dance. ... It’s because all these years you really build up stamina. It’s just so good for you mentally as well as physically. I always say it’s better than any anti-depressant that you could take.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No paintbrushes, scripts or musical instruments will be needed for extracurricular activities during the 2010-11 school year at Bloomington public schools.Changes to the Monroe County Community School Corporation teacher contract changes resulted in stipend cuts for extracurricular and co-curricular activities, including music and arts programs. With a successful and supported referendum on the November ballot, these activities have a chance of being restored for the 2011-12 school year.But this still leaves the upcoming school year empty. “I was absolutely stunned,” said Janis Stockhouse, director of bands at Bloomington High School North. “It was, like, shock and awe — flabbergasted.”Stockhouse said her students often spend class periods practicing music for participation in parades and concerts.“What are we going to do with our music classes?” Stockhouse said. “These kids have been spending years learning to play their instruments. It’s about playing the music at a really high level, but now they’ve taken away that.”The students do community service work such as painting murals, visiting professional studios to speak to successful artists and going on trips to create art. With reduced funding, it will be more difficult to bring artists to students, said Diane Davis-Deckard, who sponsors the National Art Honors Society, a club made up of about 40 to 60 juniors and seniors nominated by art instructors.“I teach them the basics, and I try to introduce them to as much as possible — but I can’t introduce them to enough in terms of really actually being able to talk to people of success,” Davis-Deckard said. “Yes, you can pull them into the classroom, but it’s not the same as if we go into their studio on a weekend and artists can spend a lot of time.”Francesca Sobrer, director of theater at Bloomington North, said she does not see her extracurricular activity as simply costumes and reading lines with enthusiasm, but that she essentially teaches “human interaction.”“In this class, you learn how to look someone in the eye and talk to them, you learn how to present yourself in public and you learn how to get a gauge on your own confidence and comfort level,” Sobrer said. “That is going to help them for the rest of their lives.”Donna Stevens, an education professor and former MCCSC employee, has a daughter who recently graduated from the Bloomington school system. Stevens said her daughter was extremely involved in school activities.“Learning doesn’t happen in a classroom,” Stevens said. “As much as we’d like to think it does, it’s not where the learning happens. It is in the application of those ideas that you hear in the classroom and put into practice in your life, and you do that in these extracurriculars.”As a teacher, Sobrer said her extra pay for supervising an after-school activity acted as a financial boost and a sign of the value of the help.With the November referendum still up in the air, the community has been trying to stay active in spreading the word about the issue and raising money. Stevens said there are Facebook groups to gather support and provide information. These support groups in turn provide organization within the community.“We need to find ways to raise funds or more critically look at ... how are these tax dollars being spent,” Stevens said. “And do we as a community value education enough to say ‘I want my tax dollars going towards education’?”Davis-Deckard said she thinks the community will find a way to help the situation.“My feeling about the referendum is that if it’s not passed, things are going to get significantly worse — and then it’s not just the schools that are in trouble, it’s our community that’s in trouble,” Sobrer said. “Serious trouble.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bright colors and familiar Bloomington icons adorn the wall outside the Bloomington Board of Realtors building at Fourth and Madison streets, the result of several months of planning, preparation and painting.A celebration of diversity and art honored the new “City of Peace” mural Friday evening.BloomingPeace Partners, along with volunteer local artists, and building owner Jason Beard made the mural’s installation possible. “The location of the mural is significant because of its location near the B-Line Trail and the Arts District on Fourth Street,” said Lisa Morrison, BloomingPeace Partners and City of Peace Project public relations and marketing consultant.Community members gathered in the parking lot in front of the mural for a dedication ceremony to celebrate the mural’s completion and the diversity it represents. The Second Baptist Church Choir, BloomingPeace Choir and Baraka all performed at the ceremony, and Rev. Tom Capshew read passages relating to each of the 12 belief symbols featured in the mural.Participants also formed a large circle and sang a Russian song about peace on Earth.The mural is centered on various structures that represent Bloomington, such as classic west-side houses, the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center and the Sample Gates. All the mural’s aspects were chosen with care, including a large 3-D dove at the top of the mural, flying over the city.“Everything is sort of symbolic,” local artist Joanne Shank said. “If you look into it and want to read something into it, you can.”Judy Noyes-Farnsworth is the other artist who helped paint the mural. The artists selected a drawing by Ayana Harlow from the Boys and Girls Club to add a child’s touch to the painting.The project started in mid-April and, despite rainy days, it took until last week to finish, Shank said.“I came up with the basic design so enjoyed looking up the symbols on the Internet and making sure I had them correct — how to get them to flow artistically and also be considerate to inclusiveness,” Shank said. “It was a labor of love.”This mural’s overall purpose is to give the community the opportunity to imagine what a city of peace would look like, organizers said. The mural acts as a first step toward achieving the organization’s long-term dream of Bloomington joining other cities around the country in obtaining the title of “City of Peace,” BloomingPeace Partners co-founder Gail Merrill said.“It’s — our dream is that we’ll get to a point where we develop the skills for all of us to be peacemakers and to live in peace,” Merrill said. “It’s not a peace like the hippies were about — it’s really a much more deep kind of peace.”To Morrison, the mural also acts to represent the Bloomington of today.“It’s a beautiful mural, and I think it captures the essence of the Bloomington community in a variety of ways,” she said. “For anyone who is not familiar with Bloomington or familiar with the project itself, I think they can stand in front of the mural and get a really good snapshot, if you will, of a slice of Bloomington.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A group of 11 people got up on stage Saturday to speak into the microphone in front of friends and strangers in a dimly-lit room, simply for the love of telling stories. The Bloomington Storytelling Project and community radio station, WFHB, brought the group to The Bishop on Saturday.Each speaker had the stage for three to 10 minutes. The stories ranged from humorous topics to more heartfelt subjects. Cricket Gage, one of the storytellers, shared a tale from her childhood involving her love of the Fonz from “Happy Days” and a piece of Fonz memorabilia she took from her older sister.“I wanted something that was lighthearted and funny and semi-accessible to everyone, and I think that’s what everyone does,” Gage said. “It was something so ludicrous, right? I mean, before the age of 5 I was a larcen and a thief, ultimately, so it was kind of ridiculous.”Louis Malone was another speaker in the lineup sharing funny stories about his life and friends. He said putting his personal experiences out there is daunting, but a good experience.“The first time I did it, it was all about how I was devastated by a girl when I was at IU,” Malone said. “In that situation, you’re, like, completely naked up there, but it’s good, and I think it’s like therapy in some ways.”He said he typically shares stories the audience can relate to. “I told a story about one of my best friends who, while he was in college, was kind of a degenerate a little bit, and that’s cool, but I think everybody has a friend like that or knows a guy like that, and they can kind of say, ‘Oh yeah,’” Malone said.Grover is not only Malone’s friend; she is the creator of the event, which is finishing its first year. To be part of the event, potential participants e-mail her a brief summary of a story they want to tell. She follows up, and candidates tell her their story over the phone. The storytellers are volunteers, and there is no cost for admission. “It’s all just depending on the kindness of strangers and just hoping people are interested enough to make it happen,” Grover said.This show runs four times throughout the year at various venues. “The premise is that everybody has great stories and that we should celebrate everyone for their stories — and not just writers or performers,” Grover said. “And that’s the whole idea of the project, is getting together and having that kind of community.”BLOOMINGTON STORYTELLING PROJECTTo tell a story, contact Laura Grover at bloomingtonstorytelling@gmail.com.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A field of 27 will be narrowed to one as the Comedy Attic presents its Second Annual Bloomington Comedy Festival during June and July.This comedy festival takes place Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. at the club previously known as the Funny Bone Bloomington on Walnut Street. It features mainly local residents and IU students serving up their best efforts to make people laugh. Each comic has five minutes to perform his or her routine. A total of 27 comedians are participating this year. In the first round, six comics compete and three winners qualify for the next round. The second round features all first-round winners facing off against each other.The festival’s first night was June 2. Phil Hunt, Stephanie Lochbihler and Mat Martin were victorious. Lochbihler, the only female comic performing that night, used her life as a single mom to fuel her routine. “Tonight was the first time I tried all of that single-mom stuff, and it obviously worked out pretty well,” Lochbihler said. “I get really nervous, but it’s always right before I go on. Like I’m getting really, really sick to my stomach and nervous, and then I just go and I have to tell myself ‘Screw it, let’s just go.’”The main judge is the audience. Scoring cards are given to audience members, and they rank their favorites in each battle bracket. The audience also gets to enjoy additional closing comedic routines not involved in the competition.“When you’re on stage, you don’t really pay attention,” Lochbihler said. “You’re kind of up there and you know that people are laughing, but at the same time you’re going, ‘Shit, what’s my next joke? Where am I going?’ So, you’re not really paying attention to laughs, so you have to watch yourself to be able to see.”Tickets per evening are $5, and summer festival passes are $25. Local participants range from IU professors to Bloomingfoods and Cook Pharmica employees to Bloomington Playwrights Project contributors. “People are going to be that much better, and so it’s going to be that much more difficult to win this thing because there are so many funny people in this festival,” club owner Jared Thompson said. “But at the same time, it needs to be an outlet for somebody to be able to win that doesn’t have the same experience level that maybe some of the other comedians have.”The winner of the festival will receive a trophy and be crowned the funniest person in Bloomington. “Just having the title of the funniest person in Bloomington or the winner of the second annual Bloomington Comedy Festival is a pretty big deal without having any other prize,” Thompson said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Blooming-Tunes 2010 Competition, Songs From the Heartland, is now open for songwriting submissions. This second annual competition is an opportunity for songwriters all over the country and beyond to showcase their musical talents.The top 15 songwriters will be featured on a compilation CD. The top five of those go on to perform their songs in concert Oct. 17 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The top five will additionally be compensated at the concert. “It’s to give songwriters another thing to do than just sit around their living room writing songs,” said Suzette Weakley, promoter and producer of Blooming-Tunes 2010. Weakley, along with being a songwriter, is also one of the founders of the Bloomington Songwriters Showcase held Monday nights at Players Pub. “Other than just this kind of an offshoot of the songwriters showcase, it’s the next step for people,” Weakley said.The event’s final plans are still in the works; two of this year’s judges are still undecided but will ideally include one non-local pro-writer and one music lover without musical background. One decided judge is last year’s Blooming-Tunes 2009 Competition first- and second-place winner, Joe Peters from West Lafayette.Peters’ style is folk-rock, inspired by his overseas experiences as well as everyday subjects in Indiana. He said as a judge he is looking for “songs that move you.”“I’m excited to listen to the submissions, and I think they’ll be very good because I have the compilation from last year’s contest, and all the songs on there are very good,” Peters said.Song entries will not be accepted after July 15. The contest is open to all genres of music, except lyrics featuring profanity.“It can be funny and it can be sad, it doesn’t matter, just a little bit out of the box — just so it doesn’t sound xlike everything else,” Weakley said. “You throw a little honesty on top of something, a little unique, and (I’m) all over it.”For songwriters, a $10 submission could be the ticket to fame.“My biggest advice for songwriters is: if you don’t submit something, you can’t win,” Peters said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Visual art and audio stimulation will come together at Rhino’s third annual GuitArt Auction at 6 p.m. Wednesday.Local visual artists volunteered to create unique, hand-decorated guitars. After each artist finished the design, Rhino’s put the instrument together and installed the electronics to make it playable. Artists included Barb Bonchek, Mike Cagle, Dylan DeWitt, Sally Harless, Lindsay Hine, Colin McClain and Matt Traughber. “Each and every one is something totally different,” Rhino’s director Brad Wilhelm said. “It’s a remarkable donation the artists do for the organization, and we could not be more pleased with them. It’s really cool.”The silent auction will start each guitar at $200. One guitar will be included in the raffle for those who cannot attend the event. Artwork and CDs from local artists as well as gift certificates will also be sold. The event will feature live performances by Wilhelm, Busman’s Holiday and teens from Rhino’s. Local restaurants have donated food and beverages for attendees.The event raises money for Rhino’s nonprofit Youth Center’s after-school programs in an alcohol-, drug- and tobacco-free place. In these after-school programs, teens participate in arts-oriented activities such as screen-printing, video, radio and audio production, a monthly newspaper and creating murals. “Our goal is to raise $10,000 over the course of the summer for Rhino’s, and this kind of kicks off our summer campaign,” Wilhelm said.Admission for the event is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Raffle tickets cost $10 as well. The auction will be held at The Lodge, located at 101 E. Sixth St.Bonchek has been involved with Rhino’s for years, being one of the organization’s founders. This was her first time designing a guitar for the auction. She incorporated her signature black-and-white “Dizzy Art” designs onto her guitar. “I’ve been very invested in Rhino’s, and doing the guitar was just a way I could really participate in helping the organization financially by raising money,” Boncheck said. “It really is a ripe venue for really being creative in many different ways.” Wilhelm said overall he hopes to raise money for the organization’s after-school program through this auction, but also that “the guitar auction raises awareness about what we do and why we do it.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The School of Fine Arts Gallery housed the Bloomington Photography Club’s 19th annual exhibition opening reception 7 p.m. May 14.At this reception, some of the artists were present to casually speak to guests viewing their works. The photographs lining the gallery walls featured diverse works created by Bloomington Photography Club members of Monroe County and surrounding communities. This year’s exhibit showcased art from 46 different photographers, whose works featured subjects such as wildlife, nature scenes, everyday objects and people, among other things. Black-and-white and color films were also present. Photographs are available for purchase until the exhibition closes Friday, May 21.Three jurors with professional photography experience selected the photographs in the exhibit. Members can choose to submit up to four of their photographs. Typically, some photographers have one to three photographs exhibited at a time. Each year, the jurors involved in the selection process change. This years jury had three professional photographers from around the state, Mary Ann Carter, R. John Ferguson and Flounder Lee.Dr. Aina Puce, director of the Imaging Research Facility at IU’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, has been a member of the Photography Club for 18 months. This year’s exhibit was the second in which she had two photographs featured. “This (exhibit) for the club is the highlight of the year, in a way, because we can showcase what people like to do the best,” Puce said. “It’s very exciting because there are so many quality images that it’s a real honor and privilege to actually have one or more of your images included in the show.”Myron Cole also had some of his favorite photographs in the exhibit. He said he loves to show his work and became involved in the group after viewing the Bloomington Photography Club’s exhibit about five years ago. “We have everything from novice beginners to professionals,” Cole said. “I’m always trying to improve, and having your work juried — I think it’s kind of a sign if you’re on the right track or not.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Audience members cheered Friday night as they followed nerdy Seymour Krelborn and his mysterious man-eating plant, both of whom conspired and killed to make their dreams reality.Add in a love story, some doo-wop ditties and a sadistic dentist well-equipped with innuendos and you’ll find the essence of Cardinal Stage Company’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Adults and their little ones crowded into the John Waldron Arts Center to watch the musical comedy. Taeeun Kim, a fifth-grader from University Elementary School in Bloomington, saw the show with her family. She said she was glad she came and enjoyed every part of the show.“I like it all,” said Taeeun. “And I like when the dentist is dying.”The performances accompanying band played in the alley of Skid Row, in front of the florist shop where the story takes place. The stage transformed from the streets to the flower shop to a dentist’s office to meet the needs of the story.The puppets portraying the violent vegetable Audrey II also changed throughout the show, starting at the size of your average houseplant and growing until it could swallow people whole.IU graduate student Dan Baer said he enjoyed the presentation of the show and found the symbolism in the play intriguing.“I thought the show was very well done and very professional,” said Baer. “I enjoyed the flower as a phallic symbol that made men do bad things and got bigger when there were scenes with blood.”The performance was fun not just for audience members but for the actors as well. Actor Scot Greenwell, who portrayed Seymour, said working on the show has been a rewarding experience.“The cast is awesome, and I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know them and working with them,” Greenwell said. “The fact that I’m in it with people like Naomi (Weiss) and Brett Gloden just makes it very enjoyable, makes it worth it.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Flowers have long been a symbol of love and romance, and they’re a sure way to win a girl over. Just make sure when your bouquet takes your girl’s heart away, it doesn’t do it literally. The famous talking, singing, man-eating flower from Cardinal Stage Company’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” will premiere Friday for an evening of music, manslaughter and general merry-making.Performances will begin Friday with a 7:30 p.m. performance and additional shows will be at 7:30 p.m. May 6-9 and May 13-16 at the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium. Tickets are available at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Box Office and range from $12 to $24.50.Shy Seymour’s bland and boring life as a florist turns around completely when he discovers the predatory plant Audrey II, named after the woman of his dreams. The flytrap brings excitement and even wealth and fame to Seymour, but when Audrey II’s taste for blood gets out of control, Seymour discovers he’s bit off more than he can chew.“‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is about what risk you would take to make your wildest dreams come true, what you’ve always hoped would come true,” said sophomore Charnette Batey, who plays singing narrator Ronnette. “Seymour gets tempted by this talking plant to kill and he ends up doing it because he’s so in love with Audrey.”Penned by IU alumnus Howard Ashman, the show had its amateur premiere on campus in 1987 and includes every ingredient necessary for wacky, fun theater.“The musical came along after the movie back in the ’60s, and that was sort of a B-movie horror film, so the movie kind of spoofs that. So it is horror, but it’s romantic and completely funny,” said actor Scot Greenwell, who portrays Seymour. “It sort of incorporates comedy, romance, horror, science fiction and spoofing.”One distinctive feature of the show is the puppeteering required to bring life to the man-eating plant Audrey II. Junior James Moffat, who is the plant’s puppeteer, said making the creature appear alive even before it starts speaking is a challenge.“To make a puppet seem real, you have to breathe life into it. You have to give it eyes, so to speak, so it seems like a living creature,” Moffat said. “All I’ve got is the sound and the extreme heat that’s inside this puppet, and there are just three little slits that I can look out of every now and then.”Batey said she is excited for opening night and hopes the audience will leave a bit disturbed, but very entertained.“They should expect a lot of fun,” Batey said. “They should not expect to just sit in their seats and chill. They’re going to be bouncing in their seats.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When the forces of nature collide in fashion, the results are sure to be fiery and fun.This happened at the Epiphany Modeling Troupe’s “Signs of Fashion” show Friday.Thirty-two models strutted down the walkway in six different scenes sporting clothes from 14 stores around Bloomington, including Pitaya, Haley’s Boutique, Cha Cha and The Limited. The show covered everything from business attire to swim wear.The models acted out confrontations, interactions and flirtations on the stage, catwalk and even toward the audience. They also performed choreographed dances between their poses and pirouettes on the walkway.Freshman Jumanah el Shabazz said she came to the show to support her friend but also to get a taste of something new on campus.“I wanted to support my friend Matthew Kumalo, as well as get something different in the last few weeks of school,” el Shabazz said.Besides fashion, the show also featured performances from artists including YE Ali as well as raffles and a competition on the catwalk between audience members. Nancy Stockton, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, also came to speak about CAPS and share a moment of silence for Gregory Willoughby.All the events, from the music to the catwalk competition, came together to create the atmosphere of a professional fashion show. Freshman Victoire Iradukunda said she appreciated the hard work Epiphany put into the show.“You can see they put a lot of effort into it,” Iradukunda said. “It’s like a real fashion show. It’s very classy. And you can tell (the models are) all comfortable with each other.”Perhaps the most important thing Signs of Fashion brought to stage was a sense of community and togetherness for the troupe members and the audience.“That’s one of the greatest things I found when I joined the Epiphany Modeling Troupe: the unity, how we all come together as a family,” freshman and model Ebony Holmes said. “Since I’m away from home I don’t have that family bond that I used to have, but in my troupe I can find it.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Epiphany Modeling Troupe wants to bring some class and fashion to IU’s Little 500 weekend with ‘A Black & White Affair,” “mocktail” dinner paty. Epiphany’s dinner party is a chance for the troupe to say thank you to their supporters with live performances, food and a good time. But it also provides IU students with an experience different from their typical college parties. Senior LaTroy Hampton, founder of Epiphany, said attendees should dress in their cocktail party best and the dress code will be strictly enforced.“For the females, a nice elegant dress would be appropriate,” said freshman and model Ebony Holmes. “We don’t want to go prom-style, a nice evening gown along with light make-up, nothing too heavy.”For the guys: dress slacks, dark colors, nice dress shoes, a shirt and a tie are appropriate, Hampton said. Guys don’t need a suit jacket. The annual fashion show will feature clothes from 14 different stores around Bloomington, and the theme of the show centers around zodiac signs.“Basically we took the normal zodiac signs ... and four different natural elements,” Hampton said. “We combined the naturalistic values like fire and air or earth and water, and we made scenes out of that. So it’s sort of a twist on zodiac signs.”After the show, a short memorial service will take place for junior Gregory Willoughby.Hampton said he hopes these events will give students a chance to meet Epiphany’s models and see what the organization is all about. “Our organization’s purpose is to raise self-esteem, self-awareness and body image. It’s being comfortable in your own skin,” said Brittany Kraus, junior and president of Epiphany. “I just hope ... that you can see the growth of individuals throughout the semester.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The summer night smiles for everyone, young and old, foolish and wise. It even smiles on the infidelity, jealousy and hilarity that follows the three couples in the IU Department of Theatre and Drama’s last production of the year, “A Little Night Music,” which opened Friday.The show tells the story of Desiree Armfeldt and her many love affairs, the latest of which includes Count Malcom and a long-lost lover, the lawyer Fredrik. Both men are married, but that doesn’t stop Armfeldt from pursuing the one that got away.Sarissa Michaud, a stage manager of the ballet department and a member of the audience, said the elaborate costuming and scenery caught her eye.All the dresses had distinct designs, and the scenery took the audience from home to theater to a summer forest seamlessly.“I liked the scenic design and I enjoyed the costumes,” Michaud said. “I also know the director George Pinney and thought he did a really nice job.”The songs, distinct in their three-beat waltz time, blended with the action of the play. The songs “Now” and “Later” came together in “Soon.” Desiree and Fredrik exchange quips and adorations on Fredrik’s wife in “You Must Meet My Wife,” and the whole show ends with a finale featuring “Send in the Clowns.”Megan McKinney, a freshman at Ivy Tech, said the musical performances were her favorite part of the show.“I really like the vocal side of it. I thought it was pronounced really well, and the ensemble in general was really good,” McKinney said.Between the singing and flirting, gossip and threats, the characters’ feuds and follies in love made the audience giggle throughout the show. Audience member and sister of one of the actresses, Melissa Peterson, said all aspects of the show came together for a fun evening.“Very entertaining, it’s comedic, the music was beautiful,” Peterson said. “It’s not too serious, but it still sends a particular message.”Senior Andrew Brewer, who portrayed Fredrik, said he looks forward to the rest of the show’s run.“Opening night is always super nervous, and it’s always really energetic,” Brewer said. “It’s been great audiences so far. Make sure everybody comes — it’ll be great. It’s always fun.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Desiree Armfeldt said she loves loving men but does not mind losing lovers, either. Such affairs are common for the lead character in the Department of Theatre and Drama’s final production of the season, “A Little Night Music.”The show, written by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler, opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. Regular tickets are $20 and student tickets are $15.Desiree is an actress mostly interested in pursuing the glamorous life, with no time for family and much less for deep and meaningful relationships. But when an old flame from years before attends one of her shows, she has to reconsider exactly what role love plays in her charmed life.“Night Music” is a show of threes. There are three couples, many songs are grouped into threes and all of the songs are in waltz time — three beats in a measure.“A lot of times you don’t realize you’re in waltz time,” said George Pinney, professor of theater and drama and director of the show. “And it’s really the brilliance of Sondheim that he can write a complete score doing that. And you never, ever tire of it. His creativity, mixing things up, is true genius.”In addition to the distinctive sheet music, the show also stands apart in how the songs are presented, Pinney said. There is very little dancing, but sophomore actress Jamie Anderson said the music itself is more organic.“It’s more like a play that has music that heightens the dialogue,” Anderson said. “It just kind of transitions within the plot of the show as opposed to a big song and dance number. Everything is very natural, and most of the songs are much like dialogue.”Pinney said rehearsals have been going well and that he thinks audience members will enjoy what he called his favorite musical.“They’re going to take away a delightful evening that they’re going to find themselves chuckling over probably throughout the night, and the visual impact will be ingrained in many a brain,” Pinney said. “I think it’s an absolutely terrific evening of theatre.”