Tongue Twisted
(07/22/09 11:01pm)
Review of Twista's album, "Category F5."
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Good to bad
(07/09/09 12:59am)
Review of the film, "Public Enemies."
Weekend chats with Aaron Watke of Moon County
(07/09/09 12:34am)
Q & A with Moon County's Aaron Watke.
Going Viral- and You Can Too!
(07/09/09 12:30am)
Moon County, a L.A.-based comedy troupe garnering online fame, has roots in Bloomington.
Most Definitely Good
(06/18/09 4:00am)
Brian Hettmansperger's review of Mos Def's "The Ecstatic."
Poor Parody
(06/04/09 12:23am)
Review of "Dance Flick."
Candy-coated comeback
(05/28/09 4:00am)
Review of Eminem's "Relapse."
Horror for ’tweens fails again
(11/05/08 8:12pm)
With its predicable plot (save the somewhat surprise ending) and the young actors walking through their roles, the burden of the movie’s success factor is on first-time director Mickey Liddell, who gets an A for effort but an F for execution.
Local Saint Bernard remembered
(07/16/08 9:22pm)
Regulars of Delilah’s Pet Shop mourned the loss of the store’s pet icon July 2 after Delilah, the beloved Saint Bernard, passed away at the age of 13.
Concert to raise money for Red Cross
(06/25/08 10:38pm)
Six local bands will rock the Bluebird on Thursday evening to raise money for Indiana flood victims.\nLocal concert promoter Dan Coleman organized the “Rock for Relief” benefit show. Other than a food drive Coleman organized last Halloween, this is his first benefit show. The “Rock for Relief” show allows local bands to come together and do what they can to help get flood victims the help they need, Coleman said.\nThe American Red Cross estimates $3 million is needed for Indiana flood relief. So far, the organization has raised $1.2 million, said Conner Burns, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer doing resource development for the Monroe County chapter of the American Red Cross.\n“Every bit helps,” he said. “We appreciate everything that anyone is willing to give.”\nAll the bands on the bill – Built for Comfort, Gravitas, Good Luck, The Fatted Calf String Band, Racebannon and Shaggy Wonda – are donating their time and entertainment to the show free of charge. The money raised from the $5 cover charge will be donated to the Monroe County chapter of the American Red Cross, Coleman said. Canned goods, toiletries, clothing and other items will also be collected at the door and delivered to the St. Mark Mission in Spencer, Ind.\nSome players involved in Thurday’s show have been affected firsthand by the flooding. Coleman’s basement was flooded and Shaggy Wonda was marooned on State Road 37 for eight hours because the rain washed out the road. Coleman said his losses were insignificant compared to those that lost \neverything. Shaggy Wonda guitarist Colby Miller said seeing the flood damage up close spurned the band to get involved in the relief effort any way they could by putting on a rocking concert.\n“In the wake of tragedy, you can have a good time and support the cause,” he said\nThe doors open at 8 p.m. for Thursday night’s “Rock for Relief” concert. Cover charge is $5 and you must be at least 21 to attend.
Nerd sightings
(06/19/08 12:59am)
With the exception of a few tracks (“Everyone Nose,” most notably) Seeing Sounds is a success. Fans expecting club-bangers will be left wanting more. However, listeners needing a soundtrack for an afternoon summer barbecue in the park will rejoice.
New restaurant hosts California winemaker for its grand opening
(06/19/08 12:10am)
Finch’s Brasserie welcomed California winemaker Mac McDonald to its grand opening celebration Monday night.\nMcDonald, who owns and operates Vision Cellars in California, told stories to patrons about his life and wine business between four different food courses. While some wine enthusiasts will claim certain wine should be paired with certain foods, McDonald stressed a casual approach to wine and food pairing.\n“Just drink whatever tastes good to you,” he said.\nMcDonald also shared funny anecdotes about subsisting on grilled squirrel as a boy in Texas and how to look at wine as a metaphor for marriage. One of his wines featured Monday was crafted as a collaborative effort between him and his wife, each choosing their favorite grape to put into the wine. The finished product boasted 79 percent sovereign blanc grapes, his wife’s favorite.\nMarried men know that’s about as equal as you can hope for, McDonald joked.\nFormally Trulli Flatbread, Candace and Jeff Finch bought the restaurant earlier this year and renamed it Finch’s Brasserie. Jeff is the chef and Candace manages the front of the house. While flatbreads are still featured menu items, Assistant Manager Macy Dale said the new menu is much more diverse. \nAt the grand opening, patrons dined on duck breast, wood-fired halibut served with funnel coleslaw and wild mushroom crepes. The food was received well by patrons and McDonald, who ate every course at a different table \nof patrons.\nMcDonald joked to one table that the chef omitted squirrel from the menu.\nAt the end of dinner service, Chef Finch emerged from the kitchen to acknowledge the crowd and was met with applause.\nDale said the grand opening went well and Finch’s Brasserie hopes to have McDonald back again in the future.\nMcDonald, who met the Finches in Vermont in 2000, said he “has the best job in the world” because he gets to travel the country, eat great food and wine and talk to fun and interesting people. Monday was the first time McDonald visited Indiana in 20 years.
Kirkwood remains large part of IU’s culture
(06/05/08 7:27pm)
After moving into the dorms and mapping out the routes to take to class last August, sophomore Rachel Dian and her new college friends walked down to Kirkwood Avenue to see what the city of Bloomington had to offer besides IU’s campus.
Red Cross offers bargain on personal medical alarms
(05/15/08 12:44am)
In celebration of Mother’s Day, the American Red Cross is offering free installation of the personal medical alarm Lifeline to new subscribers throughout the month of May. \n“Lifeline (keeps) individuals living independently in touch with help when needed, gives family members peace of mind and assures prompt assistance is close at hand,” Donald Moore, director of Lifeline services for the American Red Cross in Monroe County, said in a press release.\nThe medical alarm consists of two pieces: a communicator which plugs into a phone jack and a small, waterproof button subscribers can wear around their necks or wrists, according to the device’s Web site. Subscribers, mostly elderly or disabled men and women, push the button if they have an accident in the home they cannot recover from themselves, such as a fall.\nA Lifeline employee at a call center will call the home, and if there is no response, begin the help procedure that starts with a call to the nearest neighbor to check on the subscriber and then possibly a 911 call, Moore said. The alarm button has a range of 700 feet.\n“The whole idea is when a person needs (help) and they cannot get to a telephone, they can push this button and we can call someone for them,” Moore said. \nFree installation saves subscribers $70, Moore said, and the promotion came about because 75 to 80 percent of Lifeline subscribers are female mothers. Moore oversees 500 subscribers in 10 counties in southern Indiana. Lifeline is one of only two national contracts the American Red Cross, a not-for-profit agency, honors.\nMoore, whose mother subscribed to Lifeline for four years, said the personal medical alarm service aids an overlooked population of society. The American Red Cross does more than donate blood and assist disaster victims, Moore said.\n“American Red Cross exists to serve citizens with which we live,” he said. “Lifeline allows us to reach out to the disabled in the community.”\nIU senior Ken Tussey has been a volunteer at the American Red Cross for two years. As a volunteer home service representative, Tussey installs and inspects Lifeline hardware in subscribers’ homes 12 to 20 hours a week.\nThe best part of his job is interacting with the subscribers on a weekly basis, he said.
Their fighter pulled through
(05/08/08 12:14am)
On Tuesday night, 13 worn-out patrons sharing two pizzas at Greek’s Pizzeria watched the television above their table in uncomfortable silence as the Indiana primary election results were tabulated.\nThe pizzeria patrons, all volunteers for the Hillary Clinton campaign, experienced a wide range of emotion as their “fighter” candidate lost the North Carolina primary early in the evening before just squeaking by opponent Sen. Barack Obama by two points in Indiana.\nThe evening started on a sour note, as major news outlets projected Obama as the winner in North Carolina just seconds after polls closed there. Clinton supporters like Olivia Morales said such a quick projection is unfair because, while Obama won the state, the margin may be narrower than the projection after all votes are tabulated.\n“People think he’s winning by a landslide, but he’s not,” she said. “There are different numbers being thrown around all over the place.”\nIndiana state Sen. Vi Simpson, who endorsed Clinton early in the primary race and is a delegate candidate, joined the Clinton supporters just after 9 p.m. Simpson’s appearance heightened the spirits of the dejected volunteers, who watched a double-digit Clinton lead in Indiana dwindle to less than five percent. She said a Clinton victory would help combat lingering cultural issues such as gender-based discrimination, and the small gathering was indicative of the kind of support Clinton has all around the state.\n“There are these small groups all over the state of Indiana,” she said, motioning to the crowd of about 15.\nSimpson left Greek’s just after 10 p.m., and most of the volunteers followed shortly after. Andrew Franczyk, 16, left discouraged after news outlets reported Lake County would not be releasing their votes until all the absentee ballots were counted. Francyk, though ineligible to vote, campaigned hard for his candidate all day and needed to get some sleep.\n“She could still pull it out,” he said.\nBy 10:35 p.m., announcements that Clinton would address her supporters in Indianapolis had been ticking across the television for an hour and a half. Greek’s Pizzeria was virtually empty, save four Clinton volunteers. Five minutes later, the four supporters, “who stayed out of respect for Clinton,” as one patron said, finally watched her deliver a victory speech.\nMost news outlets would not declare Clinton the winner of the Indiana primary for another three hours, but that did not deter volunteers like retired IU employee Shirley Fitzgibbons from applauding Clinton for deeming the victory “your victory.”\n“I’ll never stop fighting for you” got a standing ovation from Gibbons and fellow Clinton supporter Evelyn Lafollette. Both women said they identify with Hillary’s fighter spirit.\n“I’m a fighter for myself and for Hillary,” Fitzgibbons said.\nAfter Clinton’s acceptance speech, both women were buzzing about what to do next for her campaign. They may go down to Kentucky to help Clinton supporters there.\nThe future of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign got a sorely needed boost Tuesday night that may propel it well into June, Fitzgibbons said. \n“There’s a big fight ahead, no getting around it, lots of hard work,” she said.
Artists come together to support Barack Obama
(05/05/08 3:13am)
Two days before the pivotal Indiana Democratic Primary, four Bloomington artists will stump for presidential hopeful Barack Obama by doing what they do best: playing a live show at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The show is free and open to the public.\nThe show, dubbed “A Concert for Change,” will feature writer Scott Russell Sanders and singer/songwriters Carrie Newcomer, Malcolm Dalglish and special guest Krista Detor. Each of the four artists will perform 15 minutes of solo material and then do collaborations “in the round,” show producer Robert Meitus said.\nCarrie Newcomer played to a sold-out crowd at the Buskirk-Chumley in February for the release of her latest CD “The Geography of Light.” She said she is excited about her return to the Buskirk-Chumley and said it’s time for our country to address the pressing issues of economic justice, health care, the environment and military conflict.\n“In my mind, Sen. Barack Obama has the wisdom, eloquence and resolve needed in this important moment in history to inspire a generation,” Newcomer said.\nSanders, a distinguished professor of English at IU and author of more than 20 books, prepared a new piece titled “A Citizen’s View on the State of the Union” that he will read at the show. An IU professor since 1971, Sanders feels a strong connection with both current IU students and alumni.\n“I am greatly encouraged by the increased interest on the part of the IU student body,” he said. \nMeitus said the free show is not just the artists’ way of supporting Obama, but also a way for individuals who have given their time and energy to the Obama campaign to show their support.\n“It’s our way of giving back to those in the community who have been out their busting their butts,” he said.\nMeitus and Newcomer waited an hour and a half to see Obama speak on Wednesday. Obama’s moving speech reinforced Newcomer’s eagerness for the performance.\n“He’s amazing, he’s articulate, he’s inspiring,” Newcomer said.\n“A Concert for Change” will take place at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Tickets are free and still available at the Sunrise Box Office. Doors open at 7 p.m.
IU alumna draws on local serving experience in 1st novel
(05/02/08 2:23am)
IU alumna and novelist Tara Yellen came back to IU on Wednesday for a book signing and reading at the Indiana Memorial Union Bookstore. Her book “After Hours at the Almost Home” draws on some of her experiences in Bloomington as a bar server.\nThe book, which took Yellen “a weekend to write and eight years to revise,” centers on a bar named the Almost Home and is told from the perspectives of six different characters. While she was an undergraduate at IU more than 10 years ago, Yellen experienced the bar culture firsthand as a server at Yogi’s Bar and Grill and later at Nick’s English Hut. Old bosses and co-workers from both restaurants were at the book signing.\nYogi’s manager Chris Karl remembers and is fond of the short stories Yellen used to write as an undergraduate. The two have remained close, and Yellen sent Karl a copy of her book before it was available for purchase. “It’s all your fault” is written on the title page of the book above her signature.\n“Everything I see and experience comes out in my writing,” Yellen said.\nYellen received her master’s degree in creative writing from Colorado University-Boulder, and later her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Virginia.\nCreative writing professor Tony Ardizzone said Yellen was a “dazzling young writer” as an undergraduate. He pulled Yellen aside after class one day and told her she had the talent to be a professional writer if she wanted to be, wisdom that Yellen credits for jump-starting her writing initiative.\nNow their relationship is different, Ardizzone said.\n“There’s nothing more I can teach her,” he said. “(It’s now) a writer-writer relationship.”\nBloomington resident and Bluebird bartender Leo Cook had never been to a book signing until Wednesday. After Yellen read a few passages from “After Hours at the Almost Home,” he quickly bought her book and had her sign it. Her focus on the bar culture was what he found most outstanding.\n“She captured the world of the bar industry vividly,” he said.\nAfter the book signing at the Union, Yellen took a pile of her books to Yogi’s where patrons could meet and greet the author in a more familiar environment. Yellen, a part-time nanny, teacher and freelance editor, relaxed a bit and sipped a margarita between signing copies of her book. Even though she’s a published author, she said she still lives the starving-artist lifestyle. She has a passion for writing and is not worried about the sophomore jinx. She’s already hard at work on her second book.\n“(Writing) fuels me,” Yellen said. “I’m excited as hell to get it out now.”
Krista Detor concert raises $4,000 for Nyaka School
(04/28/08 5:40pm)
The Bloomington arts community showed up in droves to musician Krista Detor’s benefit show at the John Waldron Arts Center for Indiana Friends of Nyaka, an organization supporting the Nyaka School for AIDS orphans in Nyakagyezi, Uganda. The show also marked the U.S. release of her critically-acclaimed third album “Cover Their Eyes.”\nDetor played two back-to-back shows Saturday night. Maryland-based musician and long-time Detor collaborator Bob Sima opened the shows. He said he was grateful Detor asked him to be a part of the benefit.\n“Just being able to contribute my art to (the benefit) makes my art more worthwhile,” Sima said after the show. \nA brief intermission followed Sima’s show. Audience members used this time to purchase beer and wine before Detor’s set. Some audience members didn’t make it back to their seat before Detor came out.\n“All right, I guess I’ll wait a minute before I start since I know everyone that’s in the beer line,” Detor joked to her straggling audience from behind her piano. \nDetor opened her set with “Pretty Horses Run,” the opening song on “Cover Their Eyes.” Band members Anne Hurley, David Weber, Steve Mascari and IU professor Jim Krause performed with the songstress. Bobbie Lancaster also lent her vocals to a few songs throughout the night.\nBetween songs, Detor’s wry humor and jokes about her band mates as well as friends in the audience revealed her playful side, which is not easy to discern from a listen to any of her albums.\nBloomington artist and Detor fan Ransom Haile saw the second show. He said her cynical humor is the part of the show he most looks forward to.\nDetor played songs off her new record, which was available for purchase in the lobby. “Go Ahead and Wait,” which Detor described as “a happy suicide song from the perspective of a teenager,” was a crowd favorite, as was “Waterline.” \nBefore Detor’s song “Icarus,” storyteller Arbutus Cunningham read her poem inspired by the song.\n“It’s a very rich experience working with Krista,” Cunningham said. “She’s a great writer and exquisite storyteller.”\nClosing up the show, Carrie Newcomer, a native Bloomington singer/songwriter, came onstage for the duet “Lay Him Down.” The song was written in the same vein as a white spiritual and was based on a story by Scott Russell Sanders.\nAfter the encore, which featured a Detor dance number, the audience milled around the first floor of the John Waldron Arts Center purchasing the artists’ CDs and baked goods courtesy of Vernon Presbyterian Church pastor Sarah Cochran. Cochran raised an additional $100 for Nyaka House with her bake sale. Indiana Friends of Nyaka board member Allen Pease said the organization met its goal of $4,000 with the benefit show.\nDetor’s mother, Judie Iverson, manned her daughter’s merchandise table and chatted with the crowd. \nIverson said she first noticed her daughter’s musical ability when she was in junior high school in California. Iverson said she is proud of her daughter for following her dreams and becoming a successful artist, but is quick to point out Detor is more than just a singer/songwriter.\n“She’s a great mom, a great daughter and a great sister,” she said.\nNext up for Detor is a free concert at 8 p.m. Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The concert, “A Concert for Change,” is in support of Sen. Barack Obama. Newcomer, Sanders and Malcolm Dalglish are also scheduled to play at the event.
Who is Krista Detor?
(04/28/08 2:26am)
A chart-topping recording artist across the Atlantic, Krista Detor lives an unassuming life here in Bloomington. But after Saturday’s release of her third album “Cover Their Eyes,” an upcoming tour that spans the United States and Europe and a Summer PBS special, Detor may be the next big thing in Americana music.\nDetor’s mother, Judie Iverson, is proud her daughter is living her dream as a successful singer/songwriter and said her Krista is so much more than just the artist you see onstage.\nIndeed.\nA loving mother, daughter and wife, Krista enjoys quoting Kurt Vonnegut and watching old episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 with her family. Detor can hit the bulls eye of a dartboard with a blow dart gun from a distance of 15 feet and has a 37-foot long boat named “The Gumption” sitting on her front lawn. Her husband, high-flying-acrobat-turn-music producer David Weber, said Detor is the best talent he’s ever worked with. She’s one hell of a cook, too.\nBeing on the cusp of stardom is a special time for an artist. A year ago Detor could go grocery shopping and, most likely, she would not be recognized. A year from now, that may change.\n“I have no idea where this is going,” she said. “I know more people will know who I am but you never really know. Maybe I’ll get lucky.” \nWith two back-to-back critically-acclaimed albums released less than two years apart already under her belt, it’s hard to say luck factors into the equation of Detor’s success. Gumption figures into the equation, the woman does have gumption.
Local musician will play benefit for Ugandan orphans
(04/25/08 4:10am)
Bloomington singer-songwriter Krista Detor will play two back-to-back shows at the Waldron Arts Center Saturday night. The shows are the U.S. CD release party for Detor’s latest album “Cover Their Eyes.” All proceeds from the show will be donated to Indiana Friends of Nyaka, a charity that benefits a Uganda school for orphans. \nDetor, whose latest album was hailed as “one of the best albums of the year” by music magazine Revolver, has made philanthropy a never-yielding career goal. The artist regularly donates to a charity that supports African elephants that fall victim to ivory poachers, and she quickly jumped at the opportunity to raise money for Nyaka AIDS Orphans School in Nyakagyezi, Uganda.\n“I’ve been watching the situation in Africa,” she said. “(The benefit show) was an opportunity to do something at a high-profile level in Bloomington.”\nThe Rev. David Bremer, copresident of Indiana Friends of Nyaka, described the Nyaka AIDS Orphan School as “a movement” and hopes Detor’s benefit show will expose the movement to a different niche of people.\n“We would like to get more people involved (in the movement),” Bremer said. “They will receive joy in return.”\nTwesigye Jackson Kaguri, a Ugandan-born man who witnessed the AIDS devastation of his country firsthand, created the school in 2003. Most of the children the school serves are double orphans, meaning both parents were killed by AIDS.\nBremer formed Indiana Friends of Nyaka in 2004 after meeting with Kaguri at his church. Since 2004, Indiana Friends of Nyaka has raised more than $50,000. The number of students served has increased from 86 to 180. Health care used to be nonexistent at the school, but now a full-time nurse makes home visits and administers free AIDS tests. The staff has increased from three to 11. Bremer said Indiana Friends of Nyaka has raised more money every subsequent year of operation. His goal for the Detor benefit concert is $4,000.\nBremer said the Nyaka school benefits not just the students but the community as a whole. The students are learning valuable trades such as sewing and gardening that will lead to self-sustained employment. With funding from the school, the village has running water now, too.\n“It’s a complete transformation of a village that was teetering on the brink of extinction,” Bremer said.\nShow tickets can be purchased at The Wandering Turtle Art Gallery, 224 N. College Ave., and gallery owner Jaime Sweany has been a supporter of Detor’s for years. She said “Cover Their Eyes” is Detor’s best work to date.\n“To have a benefit concert for her CD release party is really generous of her,” she said. “She’s committed to good things and social justice and all those things we should care about.”\nTickets for the benefit show are $18 in advance and $20 at the door for each show. They can be purchased at www.bloomingtonarts.info, in person at The Wandering Turtle Art Gallery or at United Presbyterian Church, 1701 E. Second St. The first show starts at 6 p.m. followed by the second show at 8 p.m. Saturday.
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