A&E

What’s in a size? A lot.

By Teri Rosenbaum · Monday, March 19,2007 12 a.m.

In the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe was considered one of the sexiest women in existence. Not only was she glamorous, but she had that find-an-air-vent-and-pose thing totally down. She also had a classic beauty mark that puts Cindy Crawford’s to shame. (That’s not really true. To be honest, I’ve never had beauty mark preferences and I don’t plan on starting now.) She married a host of hotties and even got to sing a steamy version of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to our nation’s most erotic president, John F. Kennedy. (Yum.)

The Complete Moron's Guide to: Mexican Arts and Entertainment

Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

For those lucky enough to be spending spring break in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas or any other Mexican beach destination make sure to check out the local culture. Mexico boasts a rich cultural background aside from beautiful shores crowded with college students. So if you need to take a break from baking in the sun, check out some other Mexican hot-spots.

Obi-Wan’s brown cloak sells for $104,000 to phone bidder at auction

By Raphael G. Satter · Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

LONDON –The brown hooded cloak worn by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the “Star Wars” films – and then forgotten for years in a warehouse – sold for $104,000 to an anonymous telephone bidder Tuesday at an auction of movie and TV memorabilia. Audience members raised their paddles in rapid succession as costumes flashed across TV screens at Bonhams, a British auctioneer, as staff fielded phone bids from all over the world. When the hammer dropped on a Bond girl’s cat-suit or Anthony Hopkins’ army uniform, men in dark blazers whispered the prices into their cell phones.

Comic-book hero Captain America dies on the page

Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

NEW YORK – Captain America has undertaken his last mission – at least for now. The venerable superhero is killed in the issue of his namesake comic that hit stands Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported. On the new edition’s pages, a sniper shoots down the shield-wielding hero as he leaves a courthouse. It ends a long run for the stars-and-stripes-wearing character, created in 1941. Over the years, some 210 million copies of Captain America comic books, published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc., have been sold in 75 countries. But resurrections are not unknown in the world of comics, and Marvel Entertainment Editor in Chief Joe Quesada said a Captain America comeback wasn’t impossible.

Sweet, Southern Samantha eliminated after her attempt to depict a high school wild child

By Lindsey Landis · Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

On the phone, Samantha Francis didn’t sound like much of a slut. Her soft, sweet voice with its thick southern accent reminded me of sweet tea and church sermons – certainly not the kind of girl whose name is scrawled all over the bathroom stalls. However, on the second episode of the eighth cycle of America’s Next Top Model, Samantha was told to don a cropped top and garter belt and strike a pose on the bleachers of a high school football stadium – those which so often hid those tete-a-tetes of the good ol’ days. I talked to Samantha recently about her experience on the show.

Louvre to expand with branch in Abu Dhabi, angering some in art world

By Jim Krane · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – France’s storied Louvre museum, home to priceless art works such as the Mona Lisa, said Tuesday it will open a new Louvre in this Persian Gulf boomtown, prompting outcries from some who accuse the museum of shilling France’s patrimony for $1.3 billion in oil money. The 30-year agreement, signed by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and the head of Abu Dhabi’s tourism authority, Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, opens the way for the Louvre Abu Dhabi to display thousands of works from some of France’s best museums, such as the Louvre, the Georges Pompidou Center, the Musee d’Orsay and Versailles.

Cafe Django

By Annysa LaMantia and Anyssa LaMantia · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

Walking down Kirkwood Avenue, you can find a mix of local eateries and chain restaurants. But just to the north on Grant Street, in an icicle-lit, purple home of a building, you’ll find a different kind of food experience called Cafe Django. Cafe Django is a jazz bar showcasing local musicians and their performing jazz talents. Although the cafe is coined a jazz bar, all ages can enjoy the live entertainment while dining on Asian-fusion cuisine.

Girls suspended for saying ‘vagina’ during reading of feminist play

By Jim Fitzgerald · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. – A public high school has suspended three students who disobeyed officials by saying the word “vagina” during a reading from a well-known feminist play. The honor students, Megan Reback, Elan Stahl and Hannah Levinson, included the word during their reading of “The Vagina Monologues” because “It wasn’t crude and it wasn’t inappropriate and it was very real and very pure,” Reback said. Their defiant stand is being applauded by “Vagina Monologues” author Eve Ensler, who said Tuesday that the school should be celebrating, rather than punishing, the three juniors.

IU photography professor featured in NYC exhibit

Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

A member of the IU photo faculty has snapped the perfect picture, taking the flash all the way to New York City. The SEPIA International Gallery is presenting a group exhibition titled “Namesake/Inspiration” based on the new film “The Namesake,” from filmmaker Mira Nair and the novel by author Jhumpa Lahiri.

ARTiFACT

Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

What: A spirit house from Bang Saen, Thailand.

1,000 fans ‘Spoon’-fed at Bluebird

By Zack Teibloom · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

Spoon’s frizzy, blond-haired front man, Britt Daniel, kept the packed Bluebird crowd on its feet as he dropped to his knees throughout the performance. Wailing away on his guitar like a machine gun, thrusting it against the speaker and breaking into occasional falsetto, he didn’t let a broken guitar strap halt him or the rest of the band from feeding the crowd a night of hard rock.

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s cloak and James Bond’s suits on sale at costume auction

By Raphael G. Satter · Wednesday, March 7,2007 12 a.m.

LONDON – What’s it like to slip into James Bond’s three-piece suit? What about disappearing beneath Obi-Wan Kenobi’s rough wool cloak? Or maybe strapping on Supergirl’s blue elastic leotard and red knee-high boots?

East coast tour to showcase IU New Music Ensemble

By Whitney Wyckoff · Wednesday, March 7,2007 12 a.m.

While some college students will be spending their spring breaks on a beach, 20 musicians from the IU New Music Ensemble will be touring the East Coast with a concert called “New Music from Indiana.”

Dancer fits the slipper in ‘Cinderella’

By Katie Ingmire · Wednesday, March 7,2007 12 a.m.

Like the pirouettes she performs on stage, IU ballet major Lauren Fadeley’s life is an endless swirl of movement. Devoting over six hours a day, five days a week to her craft, Fadeley is all-too-familiar with squeezing in classes from morning to night

Ladylike clothes in spotlight at Paris fashion

By Joelle Diderich · Wednesday, March 7,2007 12 a.m.

PARIS – Paris fashion week drew to a close Sunday with designers setting up camp near the City of Light’s top tourist attractions to showcase their creations for next fall.

IUAM honors talented youth

By Kyle Meehan · Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

More than 100 students from 11 elementary schools were honored at the Youth Art Month awards presentation Saturday. There was standing room only as the students and their families packed the lecture hall in the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts to its maximum capacity of 300 people. The IU Art Museum hosted the event with the Monroe County Community School Corporation to honor the students whose artwork their teachers selected to be displayed in the atrium of the IU Art Museum.

Photography exhibit at BCT reflects evolution of television

By Lauren Younis · Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

It’s no small task to examine how vulnerable individuals have become to the mass media that saturates our lives on a daily basis, but Bloomington artist Brian Chase has come convincingly close. And he has photos to prove it. Chase’s most recent exhibit, “Tube Fed,” is a collection of 12 black-and-white photographs that reflects the evolution of television from innocent invention to media machine. Central to the theme of the collection are figures of both male and female nudes, seemingly captured in empty rooms with nothing but televisions before them.

Stolen Rockwell in Spielberg’s collection

By Daisy Nguyen · Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

LOS ANGELES – Norman Rockwell paintings often resonate because of their depictions of everyday life, but the life of one of his paintings has been anything but mundane. “Russian Schoolroom,” a Rockwell painting stolen from a gallery in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, Mo., more than three decades ago, was found in Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s art collection, the FBI announced Friday.

Fantastical ‘Cirque Dreams’ showing at IU Auditorium tonight

Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

With ultraviolet colors, contortionists and aerialists, Neil Goldberg’s “Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy” will morph the IU Auditorium into a whimsical dreamscape tonight. Taking place in a magical forest, performers from around the world bring the jungle to life using special effects and creative choreography on a multi-million-dollar set. The 90-minute show features gravity-defying aerial acts, vine swinging and puppeteering.

Anna Nicole: death of a corporate scam

By Ryan Brown · Tuesday, March 6,2007 12 a.m.

One night, as I flipped through the channels, I came across what I assumed was an entertainment-based network showing clips and up-to-date info on the death and burial of Anna Nicole Smith. I was shocked to find out the late Smith, 27 days since her death, is still receiving headline coverage on one of America’s most powerful news stations: CNN.