Region

Don't spread the McPhever

By C. Warner Sills and Wes Jakacki · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:48 p.m.

Katharine McPhee should have beaten Taylor Hicks for "American Idol." Yeah, that's right, I proudly watch the show. Katharine McPhee actually fits the role of the "American Idol" much in the way Kelly Clarkson did in the first season of the show. She even has the pipes and the image to translate into commercial success and to be something special, but in her self-titled debut album, McPhee presents a dichotomy between the big old-fashioned vocal numbers and modern pop. The album suffers from the lack of an identity and misses out in the process.

Big Easy Listening

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:46 p.m.

Before hitting play on Harry Connick, Jr.'s latest album, Oh, My Nola, I solemnly swore that I wouldn't go easy on him just because it was a tribute to his hometown of New Orleans. No, I don't feel pity -- I'm a critic. Fortunately for my sake -- and the sake of my editors who, I suspect, did not want to field hate-mail from Louisiana -- it's quite good.

'Remains' of the Trio

By C. Warner Sills and Chris Green · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:44 p.m.

It's new, but it's not really new. Alkaline Trio, The Misfits of my generation of punk rock, have compiled a good deal of their B-sides and a few live ones in one affordable, convenient package. I was hoping for a brand new album, but this is the next best thing I suppose. The compilation album is made up of 19 B-sides and three live cuts. You also get a DVD for no extra charge, their first since the live set at the Metro they put out a few years ago.

Busy 'Weekend'

By C. Warner Sills and Brian J. McFillen · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:42 p.m.

Want the review in brief? Bloc Party's A Weekend In The City is a clear-cut example of the "ambitious second album" -- both in its failings and its successes. Access to greater studio resources has resulted in a grander, more sophisticated sound … along with some fussiness and a diluting of the raw electricity seen in the band's 2005 debut, Silent Alarm. Meanwhile, frontman Kele Okereke's painfully sincere lyrics address every concern he has ever had -- oftentimes with vibrant imagery and sharp phrasing, but occasionally dropping a groan-worthy clunker. There are moments that hew a little too close to Silent Alarm, and others that point to a blazingly bright future -- in short, it's not perfect, but promising.

Horror on the farm

By C. Warner Sills and Brian Hettmansperger · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:41 p.m.

Take equal parts "The Sixth Sense" and "The Birds." Add in "The Shining" and garnish with Grant Wood's painting "American Gothic," and you have yourself a tasty horror cocktail called "The Messengers." "The Messengers" opens with the Solomon family moving from Chicago to North Dakota to begin new lives as sunflower farmers. There's the obligatory teen female lead Jess (Kristen Stewart), the overly optimistic father Roy (Dylan McDermott), the doubting mother Denise (Penelope Ann Miller) and the mute little brother Ben.

Silent Bob finally talks

By C. Warner Sills and Brian Hettmansperger · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:39 p.m.

Without Kevin Smith, "Catch and Release" would have just been romantic without the comedy. "Catch" is the story of Gray Wheeler (Jennifer Garner) putting her life back together after the sudden death of her fiancé. Co-starring Kevin Smith as the best friend and Juliette Lewis as the kooky ex, the movie has a formula for success. After Grady's death, Gray begins learning about secrets from his past, including a 4-year-old kid he's been supporting. After the money stops because of Grady's death, the mother of the child (Lewis) crashes Gray's life and sets up shop in a hotel close to Gray's house. She begins coming over and we learn about her quirky behavior and her kid's desire to destroy almost everything. Among all this chaos, Gray begins falling for Fritz, the sleazy guy from the funeral.

The good-looking 'German'

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:37 p.m.

The year 2006 was an interesting one for director Steven Soderbergh's filmmaking experiments. Last January saw the release of "Bubble," Soderbergh's indie gem that spanned multiple release formats yet still went relatively unnoticed. In December, Soderbergh unveiled "The Good German," his throwback to old noirs of the 1940s using only equipment available at that time in history. "German," based on the World War II thriller from novelist Joseph Kanon, takes Soderbergh favorite George Clooney as Jake Geismer and sends him to the Potsdam conference as a military journalist covering the meeting of the "Big Three" after Germany's fall. Driven around the ashes of Berlin by Tully (Tobey Maguire, who should stick to playing Spider-Man and not attempting to speak German), Geismer stumbles upon America's plot to transport ex-Nazi scientists out of Germany to begin building bombs for the forthcoming Cold War with Russia; all the while Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett), the wife of one of the dead scientists, wants to escape the rubble of her homeland.

Restrooms for everybody

By Chip Cutter · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:19 p.m.

Some single-stall restrooms on campus have gotten a name change -- from "male" or "female" to "gender neutral." The signage switch is designed to make the restrooms more inclusive to transgender students, said Barry Magee, assistant director of diversity education for Residential Programs and Services.

$4 million remodel concluding for IU's Beta Theta Pi

By Whitney Biber · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 11:16 p.m.

A house on Jordan Avenue will become the new home to 60 men next fall, when the brothers of Beta Theta Pi move into their newly renovated house. The house is scheduled to open Aug. 24. While the design for the house, located at 1100 N. Jordan Ave., is new, the fraternity is certainly not.

Professor, flautist Robertello appreciates his students' motivation

By Amanda Dorman · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 10:57 p.m.

Of all Thomas Robertello's professional titles -- orchestra soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral player, teacher -- he views his job as professor most rewarding. As an associate professor in the Jacobs School of Music, Robertello instructs 18 students a week, leads a master class and teaches an orchestral repertoire course. In his spare time he performs as a flutist internationally and owns an art gallery in Chicago. "My career has taken a lot of different turns," Robertello said. "At this particular stage, I'm really focusing a lot on my teaching."

IU women swimmers aim for 1st Big Ten championship since 2003

By Brian Buckey · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 10:51 p.m.

Although the IU women's swimming and diving team heads into this weekend's Big Ten championships as the highest ranked team in the Big Ten, coach Ray Looze insists they aren't making the trip to Minneapolis as the favorites. "The rankings are based on the dual meet system and are really just speculation," Looze said. "We finished in fourth place last year and, based on the seeds, we're picked to finish third or fourth again this year."

Hoosiers ready for road test against Badgers tonight

By Lee Hurwitz · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 10:50 p.m.

It's getting close to that time of year. After winning its last two games, the IU women's basketball team is set to make its case for an NCAA tournament bid. With five games left to play, the Hoosiers (15-9, 4-7) travel to Wisconsin, where they will look to build on their regular season resume against a Badger team in the midst of a two-game losing streak. IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack credits her team's recent success to its focus on present tasks. "We're not going to look ahead and we can't go there," Legette-Jack said. "We're not old enough yet to think about five games. Those thoughts are just way too analytical for our team this year, so we're just going to stay in the moment."

A Hit and A Miss

By Eric Anderson · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 10:27 p.m.

In a rare feat of dexterity, the Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater managed to achieve both in one night at the opening of "Arlecchino and Too Many Sopranos"

Chocolate milk could be a good post-exercise beverage

By Kim Cullman · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 10 p.m.

Four-year-old Heidi Dufore loves gymnastics and bowling. When she arrives home from exercising, she usually drinks a glass of water or juice. But after visiting the WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology last week, Dufore has a new beverage of choice: chocolate milk.

Minnesota professor calls for a draft

By Kathryn Nelson · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 9:48 p.m.

With tours of duty for U.S. troops extended and casualties mounting, one University of Minnesota professor is looking for a solution to steady the societal burden of Iraq. Humphrey Institute associate professor Barbara Crosby wrote the column "Consider a truly universal draft" for the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune in January, rousing opinions from many supporters and some critics, she said.

Stock of student-loan company plummets

Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 9:46 p.m.

The student loan saga continued Monday when shares of the nation's largest provider of loans dropped the most it had in 14 years. According to Bloomberg, SLM Corp's stock fell 8.8 percent on the New York Stock exchange, "the biggest one-day percentage decline since February 1993."

Chocolate-filled class studies culture, history

By Erin Riley · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 9:45 p.m.

More than 100 IU students are enrolled in both the College of Arts and Sciences' E104 and S104 classes, titled "Chocolate: Food of the Gods." The class studies the history of chocolate and how it has affected humans by looking at the social aspect of it, its preparation, its romantic aspects, the fine arts of chocolate, major producers of it and the psychopharmacology of chocolate.

Man arrested for peeping in HPER

By Paige Ingram · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 9:42 p.m.

A man was arrested in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building Tuesday after admitting to peeping at other men, the IU Police Department said. IUPD Officer Brice Boembeke was called to the HPER building late Tuesday night after someone told a cadet at the HPER that a man was peeping in the men's locker room, said IUPD Sgt. Craig Munroe.

Apple CEO pressures labels to drop anti-piracy technology

By Michael Liedtke · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 9:42 p.m.

Jobs discusses DRM, Fairplay, safeguards on blog

Two new hotels set to open this fall will replace University Plaza

By Elizabeth Dilts · Wednesday, Feb. 7,2007 9:41 p.m.

Bloomington's hotel industry is getting a push in the upscale market with the building of a new Radisson Hotel and conference center this fall. The corner of Kinser Pike and the bypass, formerly the site of University Plaza Hotel, 1710 Kinser Pike, is going through a multi-million dollar renovation to accommodate a deluxe Radisson hotel and 4,000 foot meeting center, with a connected Comfort Inn, said Radisson hotel project manager Robert Lansdell. The University Plaza hotel closed more than a week ago and the twin hotels are slated to open in August.