56 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(05/31/09 10:22pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>One local recording company is shirking music distribution traditions and creating its own.Russian Recording, a local recording studio owned and operated by Mike Bridavsky, recently released its second compilation album, “We Just Call it Roulette: Volume 2.” The album comprises 13 tracks from 13 different artists who have recorded in the past several years at the studio. What makes “Roulette: Volume 2” stand out from the crowd, besides its limited edition handmade album cover, is the fact that Russian Recording is offering all the mp3 tracks for free download for a limited time.“We’re doing it because there are a lot of people who are not from Bloomington who want to get it and might not be able to otherwise,” said Karl Hofstetter, director of promotions for the compilation and drummer for Lafcadio, one of the bands featured. Several of the bands that have songs included on the compilation hail from places far from Bloomington. They include Child Bite, a band from Detroit, and Valina, an Austrian band. Having the chance to listen to the mp3s might encourage those who can come to buy a physical copy, Hofstetter said. The album art was designed by Shawn Knight, lead singer and guitarist of Child Bite. “People who buy it really want the whole package,” Bridavsky said. Picking a musician featured on the compilation to create the art for the album is becoming a tradition for Russian Recording’s compilations. For both CDs, the first track on the album is an exclusive track from the band that the album artist is in. Knight said he tried to combine elements of Russian and American imagery when creating the album art, primarily an eye-popping red, white and blue with a prominent pistol barrel to represent roulette. “I wanted to play into his heritage with the Russian and American elements,” Knight said. The studio owner Bridavsky is a first-generation Russian-American whose family is from Russia, he said. Knight said the swirling lines on the album cover allude to the complicated designs on currency to discourage counterfeiting.“The currency thing was an interesting thing to learn about, and a lot of people (who see the album art) pick up on it,” Knight said.Having both his band’s music and his art featured in the album was an honor, Knight said. “I’m always really excited about someone who can make a living out of what they really want to be doing,” he said, “And it was a fun project. I’m normally doing jewel packs, so it was cool to have a different format with the die cuts and magnets.” “We Just Call it Roulette: Volume 2” is dedicated to the memories of Lon Paul Ellrich and Evan Farrell, who were extensively involved in the Indianapolis and Bloomington music scenes, respectively. The physical compilation, which costs $6, can be purchased from Russian Recording online or in person, and it is also available at Landlocked Music and TD’s CDs and LPs. The mp3s will be available for free download for about a month longer, Hofstetter said. Releasing the mp3s can only benefit the studio and artists in the long run, said Dan Fahrner, formerly the drummer for Everthus the Deadbeats, an Indiana-based band featured on the compilation. “The industry is to the point where being highly publicized is the only way for them to get attention,” he said. “It can be risky, though, because people get used to everything being free.”
(04/02/09 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I am a total coffee snob. I admit it.I’ve worked at Angles Café and Gift Shop in the IU Art Museum for almost four years now, and it’s turned me into one of those people. I have a ban on being spoken to until my first cup of free trade organic coffee has been consumed. I don’t drink anything at Starbucks that hasn’t been drowned in sugar and syrup, lest I taste the burning fires of their over-roasted beans. I love my regulars at Angles – they are the polite, friendly, cheerful people that every slinger of joe wishes they could interact with.However, there are a few things every snooty barista will silently judge you for. 1. Pronouncing it “expresso.” Darlings. The word is spelled “espresso.” There is no “ex” in the word. The only thing that is properly referred to as an “Expresso” is a subcategory of the Dodge Neon. 2. Under-ordering. Most coffee shops, even if they are small and independent like the one I work for, can produce nigh-uncountable coffee-milk-syrup combinations. Grunting “large regular” over the counter at me will only get the falsely bubbly, “Oh, I’m sorry! A large regular WHAT?” response from me. 3. Over-ordering. If you absolutely must have a small non-fat sugar-free vanilla decaf short shot extra hot latte – in a large cup, I suggest you shorten it by saying “I’d like a useless latte, please.” Or go get a Diet Coke. 4. Talking on your cell phone at the counter. Tell your friend, or more likely your mom, to hold on while you order, or most baristas will burn you with the force of their glares. How would you like it if I talked on the phone while you were trying to order, and in the middle of you ordering a useless latte I burst into uproarious laughter and told you to “hold on?”5. Speaking StarbucksIf you’re not in a Starbucks store or one of their affiliates like the Hoosier Café, there is no “tall,” “grande” or “venti” anything to be found.6. Using all the half-and-half. Hey, you, guy who pours half your cup of coffee in the trash can and then uses fully half of our carafe of half-and-half – I have three words for you: Café au lait. Also: death by coffeepot. 7. Making a mess and leaving it there. Whether it’s a coffee-soaked pile of napkins and Sweet-and-Low or a copy of the Indiana Daily Student with a half-completed crossword puzzle, there’s nothing a hard-working coffee artiste loves to do more than clean up someone else’s mess. Really.The truth is, anyone who works at a coffee shop probably wants nothing more than to have positive, friendly interactions with the customers so those nice people will come back and regularly add a little sunshine to their day. As long as you avoid these seven cafe gaffes, you’re well on your way to becoming some barista’s favorite regular.
(02/05/09 5:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Anna Vincel, 7, dashed to a table with two marker-wielding volunteers and thrust her Olympic certificate at one of them. Vincel’s head then whipped to another table covered in cookies, sprinkles and tubes of icing. She began to inch toward them.“Here you go!” IU freshman Alexandra Franz said to Vincel, handing her signed certificate over the relay race table.Vincel and about 50 other girls participated in the Chocolate Olympics at Girls Inc., the fifth event in Bloomington’s annual Week of Chocolate.Options, a nonprofit organization, hosts the Week of Chocolate. The organization works with people with disabilities to help them live fulfilled lives, according to their Web site. The Week of Chocolate started Jan. 31 and runs through Feb. 8. It includes 10 chocolate-based events that raise money for several different non-profit organizations in Bloomington and Monroe County.The Chocolate Olympics raised funds for Girls Inc. through entry fees: $5 for a single participant and $10 for families.The Girls Inc. event featured five competitions – a relay race, a basketball hoop-shooting contest, a scooter obstacle course, jump rope and cookie decorating.Vincel decided halfway through the events that her favorite so far was the obstacle course.“I like scooting on these things,” she said, munching on a heart-shaped piece of chocolate.Rachel Dotson, director of program services at Girls Inc., explained that their event is sports-based because it’s scheduled around National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which always happens this time of year. Wednesday’s Chocolate Olympics marked the fourth time Girls Inc. has participated in the Week of Chocolate.“I’ve been really happy with how busy it is,” Dotson said. “We really want families to spend time together and get to know other families and girls.”About 10 volunteers worked the tables set up in the Girls Inc. gym.Volunteers wearing red t-shirts emblazoned with “strong, smart, bold” – Girls Inc.’s motto – jump roped and scooted along with girls whose mothers preferred to observe rather than participate.Senior Sara Koenigsberg-Wasser oversaw the cookie-decorating table. Koenigsberg-Wasser teaches a weekly art program on Fridays at Girls Inc. and said she enjoyed decorating with many of her regular pupils.“Creativity and chocolate are two passions of mine, so I jumped at this,” she said. “The cookie table has been really popular, of course. Everyone loves cookies.”Franz, a nursing major, started volunteering with Girls Inc. last fall. She helped oversee the relay race.Compared to how excited the girls usually are to be at Girls Inc. after school, they seemed pretty calm at the Chocolate Olympics, Franz said.“They seem to be having fun and enjoying themselves,” she said.Girls Inc. encourages girls to participate in sports with basketball and volleyball leagues as well as a dance team. About half of Girls Inc.’s 400 members, ages 5 to 18, are involved in the volleyball program, Dotson said.Hannah Nasstrom, 6, attended the Chocolate Olympics with her mother, Karen Nasstrom.Hannah, who has been a member of Girls Inc. since September, said she enjoys the events and weekly activities at the organization because she gets to do a lot of fun things.“I learned how to jump rope,” she said. “Backwards – and on one foot!” Koenigsberg-Wasser said that most of the girls who attended the event were already Girls Inc. members.“Hopefully after hearing about this, more people will want to be involved,” she said. “We do really great things for the community.”
(10/03/08 1:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hoosiers, particularly basketball fans, might think they know everything behind the history of IU’s heralded basketball team. However, there’s one book Hoosiers should consider adding to their reading list.“Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball,” by Tom Graham and Rachel Graham Cody, is a well-researched and insightful look into the serious issue of unspoken rules of segregation in Indiana and what it took to break down the walls for talented basketball players such as Garrett.Garrett’s story begins in Shelbyville, Ind., a town about 40 miles southeast of Indianapolis, where he attended Booker T. Washington Elementary School, a segregated school that had been condemned for a period of time before he was born.Garrett was born in 1929 and grew up amidst unspoken Midwestern rules of segregation. Garrett made his way to Shelbyville High School and onto the varsity basketball team, along with several other black students. Shelbyville coach Frank Barnes created controversy among Indiana’s rabidly enthusiastic basketball fans by being the first coach to have three black starters on his team.Garrett and his teammates rose above the controversy, all the way to the 1947 state basketball championship.Garrett became a beacon of inspiration for black leaders in Indiana, including Faburn DeFrantz, the executive director of an Indianapolis YMCA. DeFrantz drove to Bloomington to plead with IU president Herman B Wells and basketball coach Branch McCracken. DeFrantz and others knew Garrett was more than good enough to be on the IU team, and they saw his reserved talent as a means of getting integration to IU basketball, despite the Big Ten’s unspoken “gentleman’s agreement” not to add black players to their teams.Other smaller colleges throughout Indiana, for example Anderson College to the north, had integrated their basketball teams already. IU’s football team had black members. Wells and McCracken knew, however, that with the popularity of basketball in Indiana and the funding the University received through the state, they had to step lightly to avoid a huge backslide.This book deftly points out the inconsistencies in northern race relations. The authors highlight how segregation was an unspoken part of life for people in Indiana – from the banning of blacks at Shelbyville youth clubs to the controversies that arose during the officiating of high school games.The depth of research for the book – seven years’ worth, Graham said – is an undeniable asset. Readers might be especially interested to learn the opinions and stances of IU leaders of the time, including controversial opinions of IU trustee Ora L. Wildermuth, after whom the gym in the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation building is named.In April 2007, IDS columnist Andrew Shaffer published a column criticizing the fact that the HPER gym is named after someone who adamantly stood against the integration of IU. Memos in the IU archives from Wildermuth show his reasons for keeping the races separate were based on his belief that mixing of the races would lead to miscegenation.If there’s a weakness to “Getting Open,” it’s an emphasis on Garrett’s early years in Shelbyville. The book doesn’t begin to discuss race issues at the university level until almost 100 pages into the book, which is only about 200 pages altogether, minus notes.The whole story is engaging and rich in detail, but readers might begin to wonder when they’re going to hear about IU.“Getting Open” might be a book with roots in local history, but it provides a broad scope of the times shortly before the Civil Rights Movement.Graham describes the book as a picture of race relations through basketball, rather than just a basketball story.“Getting Open” doesn’t end like a feel-good sports movie with a 3-pointer at the last second, but it is a fascinating look into Midwestern history that any Hoosier – born in Indiana or not – should enjoy.Tom Graham, author of “Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball,” was in Bloomington on Thursday to speak about his book. He had a one-on-one interview with the Indiana Daily Student before arriving in town.Graham was born in Shelbyville, Ind., in 1943. He was surrounded by enthusiastic Shelbyville basketball fans and was strongly affected by the immersion into the culture of basketball fanaticism. Graham has worked for law firms in Washington, D.C., as well as abroad, but has always wanted to write the story of Bill Garrett and the 1947 state basketball championship.IDS: Tell me a little bit about how Bill Garrett became your obsession.Graham: I was 4 years old in 1947 when Shelbyville won the state championship, and my father and my family had season tickets. To a 4-year-old, Shelbyville High School basketball was the biggest thing in the world. I’ve often said, semi-jokingly, that Shelbyville’s winning the state championship in 1947, in my mind, was equivalent to winning World War II. It’s difficult to overstate the impact that had on me as a small child. People didn’t talk about it, but they were proud of the fact that this team that had been derided as the “Black Bears” won the state championship. It never left me, really. I mean, I went far beyond Shelbyville, but increasingly I would ask myself, “What would I really like to do, if I could do whatever I wanted to?” And the answer was always, “I would like to write that story.”IDS: How does it feel to have a finished product of your obsession?Graham: It feels wonderful. It wouldn’t have mattered if we had only sold very few books. It wasn’t about that. It was about the story, and it really was a life-changing experience to go back to Shelbyville and have black people thank us for having given a voice to what they went through. And to have whites say, “I was so oblivious to it.” It really is an extraordinary source of satisfaction.IDS: What was it like to work with your daughter on “Getting Open?”Graham: It was a tremendous experience. It wasn’t all easy, because we had to learn to work together as colleagues instead of as father and daughter, so it had its strains and moments as might be expected. But by and large, it was just a tremendous experience for both of us.IDS: What were the biggest challenges for you in writing this book? Graham: Time, for one. I was working full time during most of it. We wrote it over seven years from 1998 to the end of 2005. I was practicing law in Washington at the time. The fact that some of the key people were no longer alive – it would have been really nice to talk to Frank Barnes, for example. Rachel did, on that point, track down Faburn DeFrantz’s son in Indianapolis who had an unpublished autobiography. He wouldn’t let it out of his house, but he let Rachel sit for four or five days in his kitchen, making notes on it.IDS: What do you want people to take from this book? Graham: We very much did not want it to be seen as a basketball book. We saw it at least equal to basketball as a story of race relations of the time and a story of local history. But on the race relations, the kind that we described in the book, the kind that existed in Shelbyville and towns like it all the way across the northern United States, small towns especially, have been very little recognized. There was segregation in the south, which was by law and in-your-face, and then there was the kind that was in the big cities, where blacks lived just in separate areas. There was a third kind, which was the kind in Shelbyville and all across the country, that blacks and whites lived together essentially and intermingled every day, but lived entirely separate lives, and nobody acknowledged that towns were segregated.IDS: Do you believe Garrett was the “perfect man” for integrating college basketball?Graham: Yes, I actually do. I mean, as we sort of say in the book, he had the qualities that were needed at the time, which was this sort of quiet competence and the ability to take it without reacting. That was what was needed, because if the person had been a hothead, or less able to withstand the taunting and the things that Garrett had to take, it might have risked setting the whole thing back a number of years because it was the way the times were.
(09/25/08 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>One of Bloomington’s most diverse music venues, which in its history has seen everyone from John Lee Hooker to Del the Funky Homosapien, was named after an ice cream stand in Washington, Ind. The Bluebird Nightclub, 216 N. Walnut, was opened in 1973 by two brothers from Washington: John and Steve Ross. The venue’s exposed brick walls belie the history of the building itself. These walls housed businesses as early as 1920.Since 1973, the venue has hosted hundreds of local and national touring musicians, including musical trends from jazz to blues, rock and hip hop. The club’s artists throughout the years show the truth of the matter: The Bluebird has been an essential part of Bloomington’s musical and cultural scenes since it opened in ’73, said current co-owner Dave Kubiak. In the ’80s, the Bluebird’s shows became more heavily rock- and blues-inflected. The ‘Bird saw acts such as Hooker and Luther Allison in the 1980s, said Kubiak, who has been an owner of the club for nearly five years. “The Bluebird is a reflection of popular culture,” he said. The ’Bird’s popularity was in a lull when Kubiak first arrived, he said, but he worked to revive the nightclub as an active venue featuring a wide variety of musical genres. Kubiak said some of the most interesting acts of the Bluebird’s past are those that management chose not to feature.“All the people we passed on – Steve Martin, the first tour of The Police,” he said. Though the building itself has seen some renovations, including acquiring part of what was Opie Taylor’s building and raising the stage for a higher sight line in 2002, it has been the Bluebird since ’73. From 1920-22, the Bluebird building was occupied by the Tosti Louis fruit business. Bloomington city directories then list the Yellow Cab Company as occupying 216 N. Walnut St., from 1922 through 1928. In the 1930s, the space saw a large variety of businesses for a short time – from the Karmelkorn shop in 1931 to the Donelson Electric Company in 1937.Another part of the Bluebird’s history that is still around is bartender Leo Cook.Cook, who has been pouring drinks and making friends at the Bluebird for eight years, was a huge fan of the venue for at least 10 years before that, he said. Cook was actually performing as part of a Hank Williams tribute show to benefit the local organization Options for Better Living when he found out there was an opening for a bartender. He had learned bartending from a job at Applebee’s and was hired on the spot. “I figured if I hung out around here enough they’d give me a job,” he joked. On nights like last week’s Keller Williams show, Cook whirls behind the bar, pouring beer, shots and mixed drinks for customers stacked three deep at times. He tosses empty cans of Red Bull and pineapple juice into an adjacent trash can without really even looking, as he memorizes several drink orders in advance. One of Cook’s favorite parts of being a Bluebird bartender – besides the shows – is making friends with people who frequent the club. However, he said it can be difficult for him when the friends he’s made move on.“It’s hard when you made friends with students who are so transient,” he said. “You’ll be friends with someone for two or three years and then you might see them again or you might not.”One of Cook’s friends, Jason Apple, a fifth-year senior, greeted the bartender last week at the Keller Williams show with an enthusiastic shout of “Leo!” “I’ve been coming to Leo for, like, three years now,” Apple said. “He is the best bartender ever.”Though the nightclub’s bookers strive to bring many unique acts to the Bloomington audience, cover bands are what bring people back to the club time and again. Dot Dot Dot and Hairbanger’s Ball, a cover band out of Chicago, are the cover bands Kubiak lists as the most popular among the club’s customers. The Bluebird is the heartbeat of Bloomington – a cultural Mecca for music junkies, Kubiak said. “I do cover bands on the weekends,” he said. “I don’t think it’s my place to judge what’s culturally significant, as long as everyone is going out to see some sort of performance. People will always be critical, but just so long as people go out and enjoy watching performances somewhere, it doesn’t matter what venue it is.”
(09/19/08 2:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Kindergarteners in the Monroe County Community School Corporation learn that AIDS is transmitted through body fluids.Members of the League of Women Voters of Bloomington and Monroe County learned this, and how sex education is taught throughout MCCSC students’ entire education, at a panel discussion Wednesday in the Monroe County Public Library auditorium.League members and attendees also discovered the ways various organizations in Monroe County offer a chance for teens and adults to learn how to protect their bodies from sexually transmitted infections.Representatives from the Monroe County Health Department, Bloomington Hospital, Planned Parenthood of Indiana, Edgewood High School and MCCSC described the roles they play in the sex education of students and answered audience-submitted questions.The League, which is an organization dedicated to advocacy and voter education, decided to investigate Monroe County’s sex education methods in light of a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which detailed a marked increase in STIs among 15- to 19-year-olds in Monroe County.At the beginning of the discussion, each panelist briefly detailed what they do.Though sex education begins in kindergarten at a very limited level, students are not taught about contraception until 10th grade.“We teach abstinence-based health,” said Shelia Evans, the administrator of Community Health Education Program at Bloomington Hospital. “We promote and encourage abstinence, but we also talk about risk reduction.”Federal funding for sex education is restricted to abstinence-only education – that is, if a school wishes to teach students about contraception or risk reduction, that school loses its funding.Because MCCSC schools go beyond abstinence-only, they lose their federal funding. The educators on the panel said teaching the extra information is essential, however.“We realized that we can’t just teach abstinence,” said Brian Rosenburgh, health and physical education teacher at Edgewood High School. “The kids won’t listen to it.”Bloomington North High School senior Jake Axsom affirmed that MCCSC students benefited from the more-than-abstinence-only sex education.“Students react strongly to it and would like to go further into it,” he said.However, Jennifer Staab, healthy schools coordinator for MCCSC, explained that sex education ends at grade 10 for several reasons – the lack of federal funding as well as the need to complete Core 40 classes for graduation.According to a sex survey, half of Monroe County’s high school seniors have been sexually active, Staab said. However, Staab believes that number is even higher in reality.“Only 10 percent of students took the survey because it requires permission from both the student and parent,” she said.Evans and Larisa Niles-Carnes, the Bloomington educator of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, expressed a desire as health educators to be able to teach sex education from a complete health stance and not be challenged by values issues coming into the equation.“I think my wish for this whole topic would be that we would be more comfortable talking about it,” Evans said. “I wish that we could take all of that away and say ‘This is our body. We need to keep our body safe.’”Niles-Carnes, who is the educator for 22 counties in southern Indiana, expressed frustration at people’s preconception of Planned Parenthood.“Especially for me, people think I’m going to go tell them how to do it,” she said. “It’s frustrating when I’m told I can’t do something because they think I’m going to teach values.”Some audience members said they felt a benefit from learning how each organization played its part in the sex education of Monroe County youth.“I think I did walk away feeling better about this community’s sex education,” said League member Deborah Meader. “Abstinence-only sex education is dangerous. The simple solution doesn’t always work.”
(09/18/08 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Keller Williams, a musician renowned for his one-man-band sensibility, will join a backing band of high-profile jam band members today at the Bluebird.Williams, who is well-known in the jam band scene for looping his instruments through a Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro looping unit, will join Keith Moseley, bassist from The String Cheese Incident; Gibb Droll, guitarist for Marc Broussard; and Jeff Sipe from Leftover Salmon on the Bluebird stage in a two-set show.“This is an all-star lineup of talented musicians who have matured with their instruments,” said Ari Solomon, director of Bluebird promotions, in an e-mail.Williams, who has released 14 CDs since his self-released first album, “Freek,” in 1994, is largely known for his solo work. Though Williams will be backed up by the other band members, Bluebird owner and manager Dave Kubiak said fans will get more than a taste of Williams’ solo style during the show.“I’m sure he’ll do some solo stuff since that’s what he’s known for,” Kubiak said. “But with the two long sets, the fans won’t feel left out of any part of Keller’s career.”The Fredericksburg, Va., native has worked with some of the people he’ll be performing with today. Williams collaborated with The String Cheese Incident on the 1999 album “Breathe.” However, his latest release, “Live,” includes all of the performers. Williams has always wanted to front a band, and was surprised by how well his live collaborations with the three other jam band members turned out, according to his Web site, kellerwilliams.net. Kubiak was unsure of how many people he expected to attend the Williams show, though he heard some Bluebird-goers talking excitedly about it.“It’s hard to tell, but we’re expecting to get a crowd,” he said.Though Williams is well known among connoisseurs of jam band tunes, Solomon said, he hasn’t yet become a household name.Freshman Alex Carmen admitted she’d never heard of Williams, though she thought his methods of looping recordings was interesting.Ramsey Davis, freshman, said he was disappointed he couldn’t get into the Bluebird to see the show.“If I was 21, it’s definitely something I would check out,” he said.
(09/17/08 2:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Community leaders are gathering to discuss sex education in light of reports that sexually transmitted infections in Monroe County teens have increased drastically.The Centers for Disease Control released a report this summer that details the increases in STIs among 15- to 19-year-olds. Gonorrhea increased by 200 percent among 15- to 19-year-old males, according to the report.The League of Women Voters learned of the increased incidences of sexually transmitted infections from a report released by the CDC. The league decided it was an issue that needed to be discussed, said Albrecht Holschuh, second vice president of the organization.“All the age ranges raised, but the teens’ rates astonished a lot of people,” said Larisa Niles-Carnes, Bloomington educator for Planned Parenthood of Indiana.The League will hold a panel presentation and discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Monroe County Public Library auditorium. Six panelists will speak and answer questions: Niles-Carnes; Penny Caudill, administrator of the Monroe County Health Department; Shelia Evans, administrator of the community health education program at Bloomington Hospital; Brian Rosenburgh, physical education and health teacher at Edgewood High School; Jennifer Staab, Healthy Schools coordinator for Monroe County Community School Corporation; and one student.The event will last about 90 minutes, but 30 minutes will be spent discussing sex education in schools, Holschuh said. Audience members will be able to submit questions to the panel on index cards.While there have been several opportunities for parents to attend the how-to sessions throughout the school year in the past few years, attendance is not always strong, Caudill said.“The ones I went to didn’t have a lot of participation,” she said. “One class had many parents, and two I went to had none.”Getting parents to discuss sex with their children is essential in Monroe County, Niles-Carnes said.“Comprehensive sex education should be taught in schools,” she said. “Government funding only provides funding for abstinence-only education. MCCSC teaches abstinence-plus, which addresses birth control and how to prevent STIs, but it’s limited on everything they can talk about in the classroom.”If comprehensive sex education is taught in schools, some parents’ squeamishness about talking sex with their children could be avoided because it will have been discussed at school, Niles-Carnes said. However, it would still be important for parents to talk with their children about these issues, she added.Another challenge for health educators like Caudill is interpreting the information released by the CDC.“We’re not sure whether the amount of STIs are increased or whether we’re just discovering more,” she explained.It is likely that many more young people are getting tested for STIs since 1996, because testing itself has become simpler, Niles-Carnes said. Some STI tests can be completed with a urine sample, she said.“I hope more people are getting tested,” she said. “When I do education sessions, I push that people get tested.”While Caudill and other panelists hope the meeting will serve to raise awareness and discourse about STIs and sex education in the community, Caudill said there’s no easy answer to what it will take to lower the rates of infection among the county’s teens.“We hope it will help parents and families have the conversations they need to get the problems they have addressed,” she said.
(09/04/08 3:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Voices and tunes that evoke bygone eras will ring out at Upland Brewing Company on Saturday to help keep southern Indiana green.The first Hillbilly Haiku Americana Music Festival, a benefit for the Sycamore Land Trust, will begin at Upland at 12:45 p.m. Saturday. Six Americana artists – The Stringtown Pickers, Larry Crane, Sara Petite, Jason Wilber, Aaron Persinger and Todd Snider – will take the stage in an all-day show for the nonprofit organization whose mission is to maintain the natural landscape of southern Indiana.While the alliterative name of the music festival might seem to have little to do with raising money for southern Indiana natural habitats, it’s all connected.The event name “Hillbilly Haiku” is a phrase lifted from the song “Cold Dog Soup” by Americana artist Guy Clark.While the event is titled “Hillbilly,” Persinger said Americana isn’t restricted to tunes that twang.“The beauty of the label Americana is it encompasses so much,” he said. “It’s growing a lot. It’s focused on songwriting and people who can write songs that mean something.”The Sycamore Land Trust has been working since 1980 to preserve the southern Indiana landscape, said outreach coordinator Erin Hollinden.The trust is comprised of 26 counties in southern Indiana and creates nature reserves for people to use for recreation and research that also serve as wildlife habitats, Hollinden said.Persinger, who grew up in Jackson County, appreciates the work that the Sycamore Land Trust is doing in Indiana.“I grew up in the woods,” he said. “I live in a log cabin by Lake Monroe now. I think the beautiful land we have here does get taken for granted.”Upland Brewing Company’s event organizers don’t know how much they expect to raise with this first – year event but hope to continue to contribute in coming years, said Scott Johnson, Upland marketing operations manager.Johnson’s wish is to raise $10,000 each year for the Sycamore Land Trust through the Hillbilly Haiku Music Festival.Though the benefit is a first-time event, it is getting much attention from out-of-town Americana lovers due to the headlining musician, Todd Snider, Johnson said.“I didn’t know what this was going to be like until he signed on,” Johnson said. “Getting him to be a part of the event was a stepping stone for us.”However, he asserted that all the artists were locally well-known and respected and should come together for a good time.“Twenty dollars for a festival where you see six bands is not bad at all,” he said, commenting on the festival’s ticket price.Americana music is a good pick for this benefit, Persinger said.“Americana has this musical heritage that’s part of the land,” Persinger said. “It’s hard for me to imagine sitting by the barn and there not be music ringing through the hills. As long as there have been settlers in Indiana, there has been music, and that’s part of it.”
(04/09/08 7:09pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Band members, reviewers and fans alike agree on one thing: Seattle-based band Minus the Bear's sound is hard to pin down. Minus the Bear will come to the Bluebird Nightclub for the first time 9 p.m., Tuesday, April 15. The opening bands are Portugal. The Man and The Big Sleep. Minus the Bear drummer Erin Tate said he can’t pinpoint how to describe their sound.“It’s not like we’re this super-original band or anything,” he said. “Some people have said, ‘Oh, you sound like this band,’ but some people are like, ‘I have no idea.’”Junior Michael Falls said he thinks Minus the Bear has a very crisp sound.“The thing I love about Minus the Bear is they do their own thing and you can’t stick them in one category,” he said.Even magazines have to combine a number of terms to come up with an approximation of Minus the Bear’s sound.Hybrid Magazine reviewer Jason Dunbar said in an album review that if he had to pigeonhole the band, he would say they had post-punk leanings, but even those only show up sometimes. Rolling Stone mentions the catchphrases “math rock,” “post-punk” and “hardcore” in its review of the band’s 2001 EP “This is What I Know About Being Gigantic.”Sophomore Brad Buchanan said he thought the band had a focus on nautical themes, with frequent references to the ocean. “They’re very lyrical; they talk about drinking and smoking and partying in a very refined way,” he said.The band, which got together in 2001, is comprised of guitarist Dave Knudson, bassist Cory Murchy, guitarist and lead vocalist Jake Snider, drummer Erin Tate and newest member Alex Rose, who performs on synthesizer, drum machine, vocals, saxophone and electronics. The band released its latest album Planet of Ice in August 2007. Tate said the band spent about two and a half to three months in the studio on the album. He said the album was more realized than the band’s other albums and was its most cohesive work.“I think we have all learned how to play and write with each other more,” he said. “The first couple things we did was just us throwing stuff together. I think we care more about what we do now and we put more time and effort into what we do.”The Bluebird show is the 10th for the band in a 3-month tour that ends in June at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The band tends to draw from the crowd’s energy during shows, Tate said, so concertgoers can’t expect a certain type of show from the band unless they come ready to rock out.“You know, it’s generally just the five of us getting up and playing our songs,” he said. “Sometimes there’s a great energy, and sometimes there’s just a lot of tired people.”Ari Solomon, director of promotions for the Bluebird, said he was ecstatic Minus the Bear was coming to the Bluebird, as he personally had been a fan for about a year. “I expect Minus the Bear to offer their fans a show filled with dynamism and drive,” he said in an e-mail. Falls is not 21; otherwise, he said, he would be attending the show. He said he was a little upset that the show was at a 21-and-over venue. “I don’t know why they’re doing that,” he said. “If they had their show at a place like Rhino’s, they’d have a great night. I’m assuming their audience is older.”Falls is not the only under-21 student irked that he’s barred from seeing the band. On Facebook, a group has formed under the title “Get Minus the Bear to an all-ages venue at IU” and has 37 members. The group information calls for young Minus the Bear fans to raise their voices and see if they can change the venue. As of now, Minus the Bear won’t be moving, although pressure from the group got a Portugal. The Man 21-and-under show at the WIUX mansion at 6:30 p.m. on April 15, right before the Bluebird show.Bloomington’s Spirit of ’68 Promotions President Dan Coleman said he tried to get Minus the Bear to do an under-21 show, but the band didn’t agree.About the young fans, he said, “I applaud their efforts. Everyone who grew up in Indiana knows it sucks until you turn 21, but, you know, I couldn’t move the show.”Whether young or old, there seems to be no typical Minus the Bear fan. “It kind of tends to be all kinds of people,” Tate said. “There are younger kids, but we have a following of older people. Our shows tend to be really diverse as far as the crowds go.” Solomon said he thought the fan base for Minus the Bear was pretty broad – from rock fans to jazz enthusiasts. “Minus the Bear fans tend to be involved in – however, not restricted to – the ‘indie scene,’” he said. “All genres and labels aside, I expect to see a great mix of students and the community enjoying ... Minus the Bear.”
(01/21/08 8:42am)
The writers strike might be coming to an end. Thursday night, the Directors Guild of America reached a tentative three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The agreement deals with compensating directors when their work is displayed on the Internet. \nBut what does that mean for the strike in general? \n“It’s putting pressure on writers to settle because they are working with some people,” said Michael Diamond, alumnus and trainee lit agent at United Talent Agency in Hollywood. \nDiamond said the directors settled on their terms. \nRonald Wainscott, a professor of theatre and drama, said he thought writers and the Alliance will have to compromise in the end.\n“The writers are sticking by their guns,” he said. “I don’t think they’re completely right, but management is at least in part to blame for this.”\nWainscott said he thought neither side was right, but that the strike was justified. He cited the actors strike in 1917, saying he thought arts strikes since then had been justified. \n“I’m always in sympathy for workers, because I tend to lean that way,” he said.\nBut when will the strike be over? TV viewers are missing their favorite dramas and scripted talk shows like “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”\nWainscott said he doesn’t watch very much TV, so he won’t miss the shows if they are further delayed by the writers’ negotiations.\n“If they go away, they go away,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of DVDs to watch.”
(01/08/08 3:47pm)
An exhibit examining the erotic side of social networking will soon be on display at the Kinsey Institute Gallery.\nThe text- and collage-based exhibit by local artist Robb Stone, titled “iGuy (helovesmehelovesmenot.com),” takes a look at what gay men reveal and don’t reveal about themselves in the photos they display on networking Web sites. \nThe exhibit will officially open from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Kinsey Institute Gallery in Morrison Hall, but the exhibit can be viewed beginning Wednesday afternoon. The exhibit will feature collages, a sample profile of what one might see on a networking site for gay men and an artist statement about the subject matter. \n“(The artist statement) is a broader, more critical overview of the subject,” Stone said.\nBefore the opening, several professors will hold a panel discussion, “Virtual Connections: Sexuality and Relationships Online,” at 4 p.m. in Morrison Hall 007. The panel will include IU professors Brian Dodge, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Bryant Paul, assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunications, and Michael Reece, director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion, according to Stone’s Web site, www.robbstone.com.\nStone will host a talk about the exhibit at 6 p.m. Friday in the gallery.\nHis exhibit explores adult social networking sites like Manhunt and Craigslist, said Catherine Johnson-Roehr, curator of art, artifacts and photographs for the Kinsey Institute Gallery. Stone pulled images off the sites and used them to create art, she said.\nStone said he finds the online networking sites interesting because people are now more focused on meeting online than in bars or other places in person.\n“I focused on profile sites where gay guys can meet other guys that are single, or maybe not single,” he said. \nStone, who is gay, also used images of himself in his collages. While he did not ask for permission to use the photos of others, he said he made sure there was no way you could identify the people whose pictures he used.\n“I’m not going to out anyone,” he said. “This is a forbidden glimpse ... at the very underground aspects of our culture, especially gay culture.”\nStone said he put his own photos into the show because he felt he owed it to the men whose photos he took from networking sites. According to his Web site, the exhibit aims to raise questions about self-objectification, wish-fulfillment and the implications of these issues on love. \n“These pictures are interesting, erotic and poignant,” he said. \nThe exhibit will be on display from Jan. 8-15. The Kinsey Institute Gallery is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.\nStone, a Bloomington resident, graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
(01/07/08 5:49am)
Two family-oriented bands with southern roots graced the angular stage at The Bluebird Friday night. \nThe Springfield, Mo.-based band Big Smith was the main event, playing with a mix of rock, bluegrass and gospel influences. \nLocal group The Payton Brothers Band warmed up the crowd with “part hillbilly, part rock” music. \nAbout 100 people were in the stage area of the Bluebird when the Payton Brothers began playing. \nMartinsville residents Jay and Kate Knox said they came to see Big Smith after learning about the band from the documentary “Homemade Hillbilly Jam.” \n“I didn’t want to sit at home and watch ‘Cops’, so I started looking for things to do,” Kate Knox said. \nThe audience reception was warm for both bands, and spectators danced and clapped along. As Big Smith got into its set, what could only be described as a hoedown erupted in the crowd, as many attendees swung each other around to the group’s infectious tunes. \nBoth bands developed their unique sound from their Arkansas and Missouri roots. Besides their regional inspiration, both groups rely on family ties to originate their sound. \nThe Payton Brothers is composed of brothers Ryan Payton, 25, and Jason Payton, 27, as well as their cousin, Grady Ferguson, 21, the bassist, who is their childhood friend, Matt Floyd, 21, the drummer. Ryan and Jason Payton are the vocalists, guitarists and primary songwriters for the band.\nAll the members of Big Smith are first cousins, and there are two sets of brothers in the band. The band is made up of brothers Mark and Jody Bilyeu, brothers Bill and Rik Thomas, and Jay Williamson. Guest violinist Molly Healey also joined the band Friday.\nRyan and Jason Payton lived in Arkansas for five years, and earlier incarnations of their band played several times with Big Smith.\n “(Bluegrass is) my identity,” Jason Payton said. “It doesn’t pay all our bills, but we’ve had periods where it does.”\nFor Big Smith, the love of bluegrass music was passed on through their family, Williamson said. Although each member of the band has eclectic tastes in music, they share a common bond of musical heritage as family members.\nThis heritage was evident during Big Smith’s set, particularly when Rik Thomas moved from behind the drum set, strapped on an acoustic guitar and told the audience, “This is a slow, sweet gospel song my Mommy taught me.” \nFans also embraced the influence bluegrass had on their upbringing.\n“We both have been listening to bluegrass since we were young,” Kate Knox said.\n“It’s always been there,” Jay Knox added. \nJason Payton said the type of crowd that was most receptive to their type of music wasn’t put out by the use of the word hillbilly.\n“We think that’s a good thing,” he said. \nThough he said he understood that their country-inflected music tended to draw an older crowd, and the band loved their fans, he said he and the other members would enjoy seeing a younger crowd at their shows as well.\n“We’d love to see more college kids,” Jason Payton said. “Beyond that, I really think it’s worth supporting local music. We really support the local scene and wherever we go, we want to make Bloomington proud.”\nThe Payton Brothers and Big Smith will play at the Bluebird again March 10.
(11/30/07 1:42am)
A rotating tour of comedians put together by nationally-syndicated Indianapolis radio program “The Bob and Tom Show” will make a stop at 8 p.m. Saturday at the IU Auditorium. The Bob and Tom Comedy All Stars will include comedians Drew Hastings, Greg Warren, Patti Vasquez, Costaki Economopoulos and Bob Zany. \nZany, a Los Angeles native, has been performing comedy for 30 years, since he was 15. He has performed the “Zany Report,” a funny twist on the week’s news, on “The Bob and Tom Show” every Tuesday for the past 10 years. He said his stand-up performances are based off things that have happened to him in his life, and that his performances include some audience \nparticipation.\n“My performance has a beginning and end, and for the middle I let the audience take me somewhere if I start talking to them,” Zany said. \nHe said Saturday’s show will feature each comedian performing their individual routines.\n“It’s everyone doing their own thing – the show put this together to showcase these comedians,” \nhe said. \n“The Bob and Tom Show” can be heard locally on the radio at WFBQ-94.7. Tickets are $29.50, and are available at the IU Auditorium Box Office or through Ticketmaster. For more information, visit www.iuauditorium.com.
(11/15/07 5:17am)
For 100 years, one opera has been fantastically popular and considered an essential part of any opera house’s repertoire – Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Exactly a century after the 1896 debut of the opera, a rock musical based off the characters and events was reinvented for the Broadway stage, and has since enjoyed the same amount of notoriety and controversy. \nThese two renowned shows graced the stages of IU in the same week: “La Bohème” at the Musical Arts Center and Jonathan Larson’s “Rent” at the IU Auditorium. “La Bohème” opened at the Musical Arts Center on Nov. 9 and is continuing this weekend. A national touring cast of “Rent” completed a two-day run in Bloomington Wednesday night. \nMost people know “Rent” is a Tony Award-winning musical, or at least they discovered that after the 2005 release of the movie. But what some might not know is how true “Rent” stays to its 19th \ncentury counterpart.\nThe story lines are startlingly similar – in “La Bohème,” which is set in the 1830s, Rodolfo, along with his roommates Colline, Schaunard and Marcello, occupy a small apartment in Paris. Rodolfo meets and falls in love with a woman named Mimi after she comes to his apartment when her candle goes out. Mimi is fighting tuberculosis and her health rapidly declines before her lover’s eyes. \nIn “Rent,” which is set in the early 1990s in New York City, the names are slightly altered; Rodolfo becomes Roger, Colline becomes Collins and Marcello becomes Mark. Tuberculosis is replaced with AIDS, which Mimi, Collins and Roger battled. Though the illness evolved to match the times, both diseases were similar in their prognosis. In the 1830s, tuberculosis had no cure, and in the 1990s, the AIDS epidemic was still somewhat of a mystery. \nWhile there are more main characters in “Rent,” as well as homosexual characters, the chain of events in both the 1896 and the 1996 shows are parallel. The love between Mimi and Rodolfo is the backbone for both the opera and the musical. Both works are romantic and exciting, and though “La Bohème” is sung in Italian, it’s easy to follow what is going on with the characters. English translations on a screen above the stage aid the audience. \nThe opening sets, which are two apartments, are conceptually similar. The set for “La Bohème” is remarkable because it can revolve 360 degrees. In Act One, it switches effortlessly from Rodolfo’s apartment to a street scene outside the Café Momus in Paris. During Friday’s performance, the change caused audience members to gasp in awe as the set pieces glided to the front of the stage as if by magic. \n“The new sets were incredible,” said Bloomington resident Pam Davidson, who attended “La Bohème” by herself and “Rent” with her \ndaughter, Olivia. \nOne of the biggest differences between the two shows is the music. Though hints of “La Bohème” shine through “Rent” in the song “La Vie Bohème” and Roger’s repeated playing of “Musetta’s Waltz” on his guitar, the music in “Rent” is much more modern and rock and roll than the opera. \nDavidson said she preferred “La Bohème” because of \nits music.\n“It’s so romantic,” she said. “With the opera, your voice really has to carry you through the songs.” \nShe said she was glad to be able to see both shows, and that though she couldn’t get her daughter to attend “La Bohème,” she was delighted to see “Rent” at the auditorium. \n“How lucky we are to live in Bloomington and have this opportunity,” she said. \n“La Bohème” will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Musical Arts Center. Tickets are $10 to $20 for students and $15 to $35 for adults. They can be purchased at the Musical Arts Center Box Office or through Ticketmaster.
(11/01/07 3:08am)
Hilary Hahn, a self-described “modern troubadour,” will stop Saturday at the IU Auditorium. The Grammy-award-winning artist, who is releasing her 10th solo album in the spring, will play a five-piece recital, mostly of composers born in the 19th century, including Brahms and Mozart. \n“They all emphasize different elements of their time,” she said. \nHahn, 27, graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at 19. She said she began playing violin at the age of 4, after witnessing a lesson in New York City. By age 14, she was practicing up to six hours a day. \n“I try not to play more than six hours a day because it’s hard to maintain physically,” she said. \nBecause Hahn tours all over the world, performing simple day-to-day tasks has become more of a challenge for her. She said she has a few things she likes to do every day, though she said she has no rigid schedule. \n“Every day I try to eat and drink water, play, keep in touch with people and make administrative decisions,” she said. \nWhen on the road, the musician said she also tries to maintain an online journal for her Web site, www.hilaryhahn.com. Hahn has been blogging about her travels and sharing photographs since 2002. She talks about the trials of being a traveling musician as well as meeting personal heroes of hers. She also photographs everything from the dazzling concert halls she performs in to the view from her hotel window. \nThough Hahn mostly plays a classical repertoire, she said she’s performed with several contemporary artists, including “... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead.” Hahn said she enjoys playing music outside her genre. \n“I like that it shows me a different approach to classical music,” she said. “My classical training helps me absorb contemporary music differently, as well.” \nThough she regularly performs with the premier orchestras of the world, Hahn said she doesn’t feel like she is at the pinnacle of her success. \n“You have to be your own hardest critic, but you have to believe in yourself, too,” she said. \nHahn said hard, steady work is something she consistently strives for to keep her level of skill high. \n“Keep chipping away at it,” she advised budding musicians. “It’s better to save some energy for the next day and be steady, and really push yourself when you’re tempted to slack off.” \nHahn will play at 8 p.m. at the IU Auditorium. Student tickets are available for $13 to $23 and can be purchased at the IU Auditorium or through Ticketmaster.
(10/26/07 4:19am)
Outstanding artists, performers and supporters of the arts from across the state were honored Thursday night at the 2007 Indiana Governor’s Arts Awards.\nThe awards ceremony was held at the Musical Arts Center – the first time it has been outside of Indianapolis in its 35-year run.\nDistinguished Professor Menehem Pressler, 83, of the IU Jacobs School of Music, was one of the six honorees.\nPressler, one of the founding members of the Beaux Arts Trio, has been performing and educating for over 50 years and is the senior faculty member of the Jacobs School of Music. \nGwyn Richards, dean of Jacobs, said it was an honor that Pressler had chosen to spend 52 of his 83 years in Bloomington, contributing to the community and the music school. \n“He moves people, and they in turn, thankful for being shaken from their complacency, shower him with recognition,” Richards said. \nPressler performed “Nocturne in C Sharp Minor” by Frederick Chopin for the attendees before accepting his award. \nAnother Bloomington link in the awards ceremony was the award itself.\nKaren Green Stone, a Bloomington potter, was commissioned to create the porcelain awards. She created handmade bowls based on the shape of the Indiana state flower, the peony.\nThe Governor’s Art Awards, given every two years, represent the highest honor given by the state to emphasize the role the arts play in the state’s culture and economy. The awards are hosted by the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency committed to the expansion, promotion and encouragement of the arts. \nGovernor Mitch Daniels commended the state of Indiana’s cultural diversity, saying that commitment to the arts is vitally important right now in the state and nation’s history.\n“There’s the old cliche that music tames the savage beast,” he said. “Today’s popular culture seems to inflame the beast, so to speak, so we need fine art to show our young people what true beauty is.” \nOther winners were Henry Leck and the Indianapolis Children’s Choir; the Fischoff National Chamber Music Organization of Notre Dame, Ind.; Lori Efroymson Aguilera of Indianapolis, a community leader in the arts; Jamey Aebersold of New Albany, Ind., a saxophonist and educator; and the City of Jasper, Ind., the first honoree to win twice for its support of the arts. \nLewis Ricci, executive director of the Indiana Arts Commission, praised the state government for its 30 percent increase in state funds – the first such increase in over a decade. \nRicci introduced a video celebrating Bloomington native and popular musician Hoagy Carmichael, a 1975 Governor’s Arts Awards recipient. \nAebersold performed the Carmichael song “Stardust” before accepting his award. \nDaniels said he is working to ensure that in the future, Indiana will be known as a place of distinction in the arts. \n“When people think of the finest in culture, they will think of a place called Indiana,” he said.
(10/16/07 4:12am)
Best-selling author David Sedaris will return to the IU Auditorium at 8 p.m. tonight. \nHis performance will feature his latest works, as well as an opportunity for audience members to ask questions, according to a press release for the event.\nSedaris is well-known for both his books and his comedy performances. He is a regular contributor to the radio program “This American Life,” and he writes for Esquire and The New Yorker Magazine. He is the author of several books, including “Naked,” “Me Talk Pretty One Day” and “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.”\nGraduate student Katie O’Keefe said she’s been a fan of Sedaris since she was an undergraduate, when one of her friends took her to his last show at the IU Auditorium. \n“I had never heard of David Sedaris before and didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “After a few minutes into the show, I was hooked. I think it’s his blatant cynicism that’s so hilarious. He builds his career saying what everyone else would say if they weren’t so restrained.” \nAlumna Lora Conrad, who saw him last year in Cincinnati, said no one is safe from his wit during the question and answer session.\n“He made fun of my grandma in front of hundreds of people,” she said in an e-mail. “She asked him a stupid question. ... My grandma is a literary genius, but he didn’t let her off the hook for a second.” \nFans said they often recommend Sedaris’s work to others. \nEduardo Fernandez, a graduate student, said he first heard Sedaris on National Public Radio and instantly became a fan.\n“It prompted me to pick up “Naked” on audiobook while driving to Atlanta,” he said in an e-mail. “Sedaris and (Kurt) Vonnegut are the only things that kept me awake.”\nFernandez, who is attending the show today, said he plans to convince a “small horde” of graduate students to come with him as well. \nGraduate student Georgia Millward said she fell in love with Sedaris’ stories on “This American Life,” which led her to read his books. She said he’s even funnier in person.\n“I definitely recommend seeing him in person, which I have done twice, because his stories are 10 times as funny when he is reading them aloud,” she said in an e-mail. \nTickets for David Sedaris are $25 to $40 for IU students and $42 for the public. They are available for purchase at the IU Auditorium or through Ticketmaster.
(10/15/07 1:17am)
For more than 100 years, the creations of Brown County artists have added to the county’s reputation as the “Art Colony of the Midwest.” \nIn continuing with that tradition, the Brown County Economic Development Commission is seeking fledging arts businesses to nurture and grow.\nThe EDC has an office space in the National City Bank building in Nashville, Ind., with enough space for five small arts businesses to get started. It will be called the Art Industry New Business Incubator.\n“Basically, the purpose of the art incubator is for new start-up arts-oriented business operations, primarily focused on the commercial arts, which could be anything from publishing to web design or visual arts,” said Douglas May, business arts development consultant for the Brown County EDC. “With Brown County being a creative center, this is a great place for any arts-oriented business operation to start their business.”\nMay said they started the application process with 12 businesses, but no one had been chosen yet since the incubator was announced just a few weeks ago. The EDC anticipates several more applications from young arts businesses. \nMay began work on the project in July, in an effort to expand the range of arts-related businesses in Nashville.\n“Brown County has always needed to look at expanding how we define the arts,” May said. “The arts industry is a huge, huge industry, which I don’t think we’ve ever really truly tapped into, so this is an opportunity to open the doors in many ways to those that want to benefit from the association with an art colony.”\nThe arts businesses that are accepted into the incubator will have a furnished office, and will share office equipment, communications access, secretarial support and potential funding avenues with their fellow fledglings. \nIncubator hopefuls must submit an application and a business plan to the EDC. \nMay is also working on a project called the “Working Artists Program,” which will help artists find unique studios in Nashville, especially if they are interested in working with the public “for the development of bigger artistic endeavors,” May said. \nHoward Hughes, a member of the Brown County EDC, said the incubator and other programs could have long-lasting benefits for the arts colony area. \n“We think that the payoff in Brown County would be the spin-off businesses that would actually bring more places that may develop because of the efforts here,” he said. “It could help out with taxes, and that would certainly be a payoff for us. Also, we’re claiming credentials of the Art Colony of the Midwest, and in order to have those credentials, you have to have arts businesses.”\nThe process of creating the incubator has been a smooth one, May said.\n“It’s definitely been embraced by the community, it’s been embraced by normal artists,” he said. “It’s just a total win-win.”
(10/09/07 1:17am)
The family-friendly Broadway musical “Annie” is coming to Bloomington for the first time in 30 years. \nBased on the “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, the musical is showing at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Wednesday at the IU Auditorium.\nThe main character is a lovable but streetwise orphan who believes her parents are still alive because of a locket left to her promising they’d be back for her. A wealthy man, Oliver Warbucks, decides to adopt a child as a public relations move, and ends up choosing Annie. Hijinks abound, and Annie’s plots are often foiled by the evil Miss Hannigan, the proprietor of the orphanage. \nThe Depression-era musical had a six-year run on Broadway. The cast coming to the IU Auditorium is a non-equity – or not unionized – continuation of the 30th anniversary “Annie” equity tour that began in 2005.\nDoug Booher, IU Auditorium director, said in an e-mail that he thought the musical’s setting was one of its most interesting aspects.\n“It was an era that many of our grandparents lived through as children,” he said. “And the stark contrast between the classes still makes the Depression era one of America’s most intriguing historical periods.”\nBooher said that last week Residential Programs and Services held a contest where students sang the famous tune “Tomorrow” from the musical, and he could tell many were familiar with the musical.\n“You certainly got the feeling that students know and love ‘Annie’ from their years growing up, so it will be a nostalgic experience for IU students to come and see the show,” he said. \nThis tour is directed by Martin Charnin, the show’s lyricist, and is produced by NETworks Presentations. General admission tickets range from $37 to $59 and student tickets range from $19 to $40. Tickets can be purchased through the IU Auditorium Box Office or Ticketmaster. For more information, including audio samples from the musical, visit www.iuauditorium.com.