A&E

Being fashionable is being logical

Pride films breakthrough onto the big screen

Keith Romaine, a Bloomington resident since 1991, attended last year's PRIDE Film Festival party and decided that, while it was nice, he could do better. With improvement in mind, he went to work, taking on the position of party coordinator for this year's festival. Romaine has hand-sewn more than 60 banners and silks, which he will use during the after-party to decorate the auditorium of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, located at 114 E. Kirkwood Ave., the site of this year's festival. Using fabric, food, drinks, music, dancing, and a man covered in chocolate Romaine hopes to "generate a queer celebratory space where creativity, play, acceptance, vitality and the carnivalesque are available to everyone."

'Idol' develops mean streak in season 5

LOS ANGELES -- Considering it's the biggest kid on the block, "American Idol" is becoming quite the bully. Fox's talent contest has regularly made an art of mocking the untalented who expose their dreams of stardom on TV, but the show's fifth year has the stench of a mean season.

Keeping it weird on eBay

Maybe the hookah you bought your freshman year doesn't spark the same interest that it once did, or perhaps the steadily growing pyramid of bottles in your living room has turned from prodigious feat to passable yawn.

'Getting published' is artists' first step

For many young artists, writers and photographers, getting published is the first step toward larger artistic goals. For those artists at IU, a free informational session sponsored by The Bloomington Area Arts Council tonight will focus on how to get published in different genres and print formats, according to a press release. Artists After Hours is a monthly networking session held by the art council and is presenting "Getting Published" from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. tonight at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St. "If you want to get recognized, (getting published) is a good start," said junior Ashley Fragomeni.

Mainstream hip-hop missing potential

It is no secret the world of hip-hop is invading mainstream pop culture. What once started on the streets as a culturally derived art form has now commercialized into one of the most recognizable influences in today's society. It is prevalent in all forms of media -- music television, commercial ads and most recognizably on the radio. You know that hip-hop has hit the big time when you turn on your radio to the enjoyable beats of a hip-hop song, only to discover seconds later that what you thought was the "newest jam" was in fact a McDonald's commercial.

MUSIC AWARDS

Black Eyed Peas' lead singer Fergie gives a speech after the band received the Best International Group of the Year award during the 2006 NRJ Music Awards at the Cannes Festival Palace, Cannes, southern France, Saturday.

PRIDE Film Festival makes debut in residence halls

IU residence halls will host a new addition to the PRIDE Film Festival this week. While this is the third year of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender film festival in Bloomington, this is the first year the IU residence halls will screen festival films.

'Sex in the Cinema' features adult film posters at Kinsey

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to visit an adult theater during the 1960s, this could be your chance to find out.

Lecturer gives inside look at curator's lifestyle

A basketball game ending minutes before and a crowd trickling in late because of traffic set the stage for the Burke Lecture Series presentation of Julien Chapuis, curator at The Cloisters of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Classic literature pops up in airports

Readers who pick up a Danielle Steel novel are probably not the same readers who pick up Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Yet, new marketing and packaging of classic romantic literature might change that.

What's at stake with lies in literature

Our world is full of stories. Television shows, films and novels all entertain us with imaginative and creative narratives. We know this media is made-up; storytelling is part of our culture.

IU group seeks dancers

Not many artists do their creative work lying on the floor. Still, members of the InMotion Dance Company lay on the floor Wednesday night, brainstorming moves to include in the dance for their upcoming audition.

Alumnus, curator to speak at benefit dinner

Outside the School of Fine Arts, professors in bright greens and purples smoke cigarettes and watch the students: boys in skinny pants and overpriced loafers, girls with chunky glasses and rainbows for bangs. The smoke clouds drift over their heads and dissipate into the rain and wind. Everything in this building is art: the witchy cackles propelling the steam puffs, the swirls in the commercial carpet and the broken-pencil scent filling the hallways.

GONE

GONE -- Three-year-old Austin Brandt of Apple Valley, Minn., touches Snoopy's big red dog dish Wednesday at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. The Peanuts gang along with its branding will be removed after inhabiting the mall's amusement park, Camp Snoopy, for the past 13 years.

Remodeled IMU darkroom open

Photographers and artists alike have a new resource on campus to express themselves and be creative. The Union Studios opened its newly renovated darkroom for photographers in the Indiana Memorial Union Monday. In addition, a variety of six-week classes, including courses in pottery and ceramics, are offered for students through Union Studios this semester. The Union Studios is located in the IMU's Back Alley past the arcade. The darkroom has doubled in size and has a new ceramics studio, said Kera McElvain, Union Studios program director.

We think students with inspired style should be seen.

Today's model: Alaa Fadag, Graduate Student On her style: As a graphic designer, Fadag said she creates her style to be fun, but simple. With interesting color combinations and unique details, she strives to be both comfortable and sophisticated. "I put attention into my clothes, but I don't try to overdo it," Fadag said. "I like to incorporate a lot of color because I am an artist."

Gillian Anderson finds nothing alien about playing British in 'Bleak House'

PASADENA, Calif. -- Since "The X-Files" ended, Gillian Anderson has tried to move as far away as possible from her fame as Dana Scully, the skeptical FBI agent assigned to investigate the paranormal. In PBS's "Bleak House," she's probably completely succeeded. As the beautiful but tragic Lady Dedlock in this six-part "Masterpiece Theatre" adaptation of one of Charles Dickens' greatest novels, only Anderson's classic profile is a reminder of Scully.

Knitting to unwind

Clickety clackety. The steady sounds of knitting needles can be heard on campus this semester because of the steady rise in popularity of knitting among college students. The sudden interest has caused knitting groups to pop up like crocheted crocuses. "Student interest is very high," said Marla Dawson, knitting instructor at Yarns Unlimited. "It is the busiest I have ever seen it."

Another Oprah book club selection having issues

NEW YORK -- Another Oprah book club pick has raised the issue of fact vs. fiction.