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'Calvin and Hobbes' creator as absent as beloved characters

CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- Maybe someday, officials will put up a statue marking this quaint village as the birthplace of "Calvin and Hobbes." Just don't expect cartoonist Bill Watterson to attend the unveiling ceremony. It's been nearly 10 years since he abruptly quit drawing one of the most popular comic strips of all time. Since then, he's been as absent as the precocious Calvin and his pet tiger, err, stuffed animal, Hobbes. Some call Watterson reclusive. Others say he just likes his privacy.

NY plans Sept. 11 museum to remember experience

NEW YORK -- Visitors to the Sept. 11 memorial museum could relive the 2001 terrorist attacks in an "immersive" area that surrounds them with pictures of the falling towers, the sounds of police sirens and the last words of some of those who died at the World Trade Center.

The fashion business has new set of men to dress

New York TV festival seeks to boost industry

NEW YORK -- You don't have to look far to find a reason for the New York Television Festival. Look no further than, say, NBC's dead-on-arrival drama "Inconceivable." ABC's long-running but torturously humdrum sitcom "According to Jim." Or enough other examples to fill the rest of this column.

A season without Kenny

Unless you've been living in a cave for the past 10 years, or you're Amish, you've seen "South Park," Trey Parker and Matt Stone's cartoon about four kids from a small mountain town in Colorado. What was once a late '90s craze that blew up, continued for a few seasons and turned into a movie -- the-end all-be-all of television series' -- is still going strong, with a new season ready to air on Comedy Central. In terms of the DVD market, this most recent release is season six.

Where will they be ten years from now?

Before I even begin this, I have a single question for you: what happened to that show "Where Are They Now?" on VH1? You know, the show where they catch up on the recent developments of your favorite auxiliary entertainers. I seriously haven't seen the show on VH1 since I was in junior high, and that's certainly saying something since I'm one super-duper-senior. Now maybe in the last 70080 hours of programming on VH1, I happened to miss a showing of "Where Are They Now?" Be that as it may, I'm just dying to get some updates on the lives of superstars such as Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block and the entire cast of "Beverly Hills, 90210."

Ridley's 'kingdom' true to life

Making a movie about the Crusades for post-9/11 audiences takes serious sack, and few Hollywood power players have a bigger one than Ridley Scott. His "Kingdom of Heaven" tells the tale of Balian, the French blacksmith (Orlando Bloom), who through a chance meeting with his father Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) ends up a knight charged with the protection of Jerusalem from invading Muslims and power-hungry Christians alike in 1184 A.D.

'Screaming' good comedy

Throw Will Ferrell into the "Bad News Bears" and change the sport to soccer and you have "Kicking and Screaming." After directing such films as "How High" and "American Wedding," Jesse Dylan, son of musician Bob Dylan, has come out with his third and most recent movie, but unlike his first two movies, "Kicking and Screaming" is aimed more toward kids.

Dysfunction is a function of great comedy

What do you get when you combine a dysfunctional family, a magician named Gob, a Private Eye named Gene Parmesan, a blue-painted David Cross, Saddam Hussein, a bounty hunter/caterer called Ice, Liza Minnelli, a carnivorous seal, Henry Winkler, a one-armed man, Ron Howard, the Motherboy competition and lots of frozen bananas? The answer of course is season two of the brilliant television anti-sitcom "Arrested Development."

Danger Doom project highly animated

It's incredibly likely that anyone hearing about Danger Doom will react with a healthy dose of skepticism. It stinks of cheap cross-promotional marketing, novelty recording and a co-opting of a currently popular television trend. After all, it is a rap album about cartoons. Not just any cartoons, but the fanatically popular Adult Swim line-up shown late-night on Cartoon Network. For all the naysayers out there, The Mouse and the Mask is perhaps the most bizarrely catchy cash-in this year.

Post-punk grave-robbing and ho-hum covers

Gang of Four's story is one of the greatest and saddest in rock music, mostly because they put out two fundamentally amazing albums and then proceeded to shred their legacy with horrendous (I'm talking so bad it can't be described) subsequent albums. 1979's Entertainment! is one of the most solid and jaw-dropping debuts ever committed to tape, and its follow up Solid Gold was of equal quality. It was only in the '90s when albums like Mall and Shrinkwrapped came out that music fans were forced to tears.

Let's hope 'The Fog' dissappears

At one point in the middle of this loss of eight bucks, Selma "I'm only in it for the paycheck" Blair asks an intriguing question: "What kind of fog goes against the wind?" I know the answer. The kind of fog that sucks. Hard.

Ruined by a record label

O.A.R. fans: Prepare for a great divide. Stories of a Stranger, the 7th album from the band known for its college-heavy following, creates exactly the stir it was supposed to. For good or bad: that's up for debate. Initially I sided with the latter. The CD signifies a growing move for the band, now under Atlantic Records, and showcases an attempt to prove they are more than a band that can come into college towns and get undergrads to rock out in their apartments.

Gather 'round for storytime

With "Get Your Way," the opening track off his second major full-length release, Catching Tales (a fitting title since most songs are narrative voice-overs), Jamie Cullum seems to have taken the jazz influences from the many swing covers off his last album, Twentysomething, and nicely incorporated them into a more modern, swing style of his own. This popping, upbeat number complete with a soulful, funk strut shows that Cullum need not only cover 1950s standards, but can make his own.

'Domino' is an action flick on speed

In the vein of Uma Thurman's character "The Bride" from "Kill Bill," Domino Harvey, played by Keira Knightley, is the story of a pretty woman who kicks ass, masterfully handles nunchuks and other assorted weaponry and lets nothing short of death get in the way of completing her mission as a bounty hunter. The only difference between the two characters: Domino is based on a true story. Well, sort of.

'Proof' of an Oscar nod

"Proof," adapted from David Auburn's Tony Award-winning Broadway play, is a drama of mathematical proportions. There is so much going on between all the main players that the effects they have on each other almost seem incalculable -- like the math problem that keeps you up all night making you swear there is no possible right answer.

Crowe's 'town' worth visiting

Man, do I hate Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. And not just in a cute, pouting kind of way. Whenever I see either one of them I have the overwhelming desire to throw my shoe at the T.V./movie screen/billboard. If ever you read the headline "Bloom attacked with loafer," chances are it was me. That is why it is so amazing that Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous," "Vanilla Sky") was able to make an enjoyable movie starring both of them. Yet that is what "Elizabethtown" is, maybe not as great as his past efforts, but still worth a trip to the theater.

IU's Ultimate Fighter

Chris Higi is a fighter, make no doubt about it. He started at 4 years old and naturally has taken a few beatings in the 22 years since. But he sure as heck has dealt a few out himself -- like in his first mixed martial arts fight, which he deemed the worst beating he ever handed out.

Chancellor candidates make visits

University officials continue to keep quiet about the ongoing search for IU-Bloomington's next chancellor. As an announcement of the search committee's choice is expected before the next board of trustees meeting in November, many IU faculty members are keeping their opinions to themselves.

Greenspan: 'We will meet football revenue goals'

IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan said Tuesday he believes increased football revenues will ease the burden of a repeal of the student athletics fee. During the Bloomington Faculty Council meeting, Greenspan said his goals for the athletics department include developing and ratifying a balanced budget and achieving revenue objectives, which have increased from previous years.