A&E

Live From Bloomington looking for cover art

Books shouldn't be judged by their covers, but that is precisely what members of the Union Board will be doing -- CD covers, that is. The annual CD art design competition for Live From Bloomington will come to an end Tuesday, said Live From Bloomington Director Tracy Johnson. The CD is a compilation of nine local bands that will perform April 6 at various venues for Club Night -- an annual event to showcase local music live while simultaneously raising money for a good cause.

Don Knotts, TV's Barney Fife, dies at 81

LOS ANGELES -- Don Knotts, who won TV immortality and five Emmys for playing the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" with self-deprecating humor, was remembered by his friend and co-star as a comedic genius who wrote some of the show's best scenes. "Don was a small man ... but everything else about him was large: his mind, his expressions," Griffith told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Actors make 'She Stoops' a laughable success

During the rehearsals leading up to this week's performances of "She Stoops to Conquer," director Fontaine Syer said repeatedly reminded actors that "The acting style this material requires has certain things in common with 'I Love Lucy.'"

Author offers insight on poetry, cancer

His yellow Mini Cooper pulled up to the circle outside the Musical Arts Center five minutes before his scheduled reading Sunday afternoon, and poet J.D. McClatchy emerged from the passenger seat. McClatchy and his companions left the car on the curb for his entire 45-minute lecture. McClatchy, an English professor at Yale University, was in Bloomington for ArtsWeek and to celebrate Friday's world premiere of "Our Town," the opera for which he wrote the libretto. McClatchy said he is a poet and an opera writer but he likes writing poetry more.

Saying 'no' to engagement chicken

I love to cook. I love it even more when I don't have to do it. Luckily, I don't live in an era where such domestic talents are a woman's main value. That notion is a thing of the past. Yet, Glamour magazine doesn't think so. In this year's March issue, a reader named Laura wrote in to share her success with a previously published Glamour recipe, called "Engagement Chicken," which she paired with her recipe of "Hook Him Apple Pie."

Umphrey's McGee to play Indianapolis

Umphrey's McGee perform Saturday at the Murat Egyptian Room in Indianapolis. The band formed in South Bend while attending the University of Notre Dame. The members say they still consider Indiana to be a home base for support and have played in Bloomington at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and the IU Auditorium. The current tour is in promotion of the band's second DVD, "Wrapped Around Chicago: New Year's at the Riv." This is its second live release of a performance in Chicago.

'Tommy' brings rock concert with plot to Buskirk-Chumley Theater

It's a full-out rock concert with dancing and a plot. That's how University Players technical director and senior Greg Hofmann described The Who's rock opera, "Tommy." The University Players is performing the show at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Tickets are free, but seating is limited to about 600 per show. The show is appropriate for mature audiences, and haze will be used in the air.

Tale of mistaken identities on stage this weekend

Mistaken identities. Love. Lust. Relationship crises. Laugh-out-loud humor. No, this is not a reference to the typical events of a weekend at IU, but rather to Sir Oliver Goldsmith's comedy of manners, "She Stoops to Conquer," which will run at 7:30 p.m. Friday through March 4 at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre. According to the press release, the performance "combines slapstick visual humor with perfectly phrased wit to create a uniquely comedic brew." This 18th-century comedy centers on the independently minded, well-to-do Miss Kate Hardcastle, played by graduate student Renée Racan Rodríguez. Her hand has been promised in marriage to Sir Charles Marlow, played by graduate student Eric VanTielen, a timid young gentleman reluctant to enter into a relationship with a stranger, finding upper-class women to be immodest and hypocritical.

Ceremony to rename music school Friday

The Jacobs School of Music, renamed in November after receiving the largest single gift from an individual donor of $40.6 million, will celebrate its new identity with a naming ceremony and concert at 4 p.m. Friday in Auer Hall. IU President Adam W. Herbert will provide opening remarks for the event, and son of donors Barbara B. and David H. Jacobs, David H. Jacobs Jr., will attend as well as Jacobs School of Music Dean, Gwyn Richards, according to a press release.

COOKING DEMONSTRATION

Two naked actresses plus one clothed man: Anything wrong with this picture?

NEW YORK - Pick up this month's Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair and you'll see two lovely young stars-of-the-moment, Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johansson, posing alluringly in the altogether. Open the foldout, and you'll even see Johansson's bare buttocks. What you won't see is a third, equally lovely young actress, Rachel McAdams of "Wedding Crashers" fame. It seems McAdams arrived at the photo shoot and decided she didn't want to take her clothes off.

New tap dance club seeks members

Students with "any inkling to tap dance" are encouraged to join a tap dance club being developed by senior Kyle Daley and IU tap dance instructor Allana Radecki. Daley said she has created flyers to post and promote the club, which she hopes will begin meeting in the next couple of weeks. She said "all different types of people with all different levels of tap dance skill" are invited to attend club meetings, where students have an opportunity to practice tap dance.

SIDEWALK RUNWAY

Historic deal signed to return looted treasures to the Met

ROME -- New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art will return 21 looted artifacts to Italy in exchange for loans of other treasures in a deal signed Tuesday that the Italians called a model for other museums with stolen goods in their collections. Met chief Philippe de Montebello said the agreement with officials from the Italian Culture Ministry "corrects a number of improprieties and errors committed in the past" and would encourage museums to put in place new legal and ethical measures.

Talent in our town

The Bloomington community and IU are proud to collaborate once again on ArtsWeek, an annual two-week arts festival. After 22 years, the festival has continually expanded to include dance, exhibit, film, music, talk and theater events. Mike Wilkerson, ArtsWeek coordinator and director, explained that the festival was originally ArtsWeekend and was mainly a venue for art programs on campus to showcase their talents. "However, as the festival evolved, we started getting more involvement from community organizations," Wilkerson said. "The biggest change that has occurred for this festival is that the community has now come to feel that they are full partners in this and really want to contribute significantly."

SIDEWALK RUNWAY

"I like bright colors and things that are not baggy. I like vivid colors like orange, yellow and red. I think it looks really sharp."

Ireland comes alive at night

Rays of light begin to litter the streets on a damp daybreak in Dublin. The buildings are clean and fresh from the rain that whipped across the "fair city" the night before. The clouds are clearing and the sun is shining through, lighting up the spirits of the people lucky enough to enjoy this beautiful Irish morning. As is said here, "first up, best dressed," an old adage that rings true this morning. However, the truth strays from the original context. The saying carries over from harder times on the island. When a houseful of kids sharing clothes was a common thing in the country, the first up was the best dressed, for they had the biggest selection.

Move over, Barbie

OK, having survived this year's Valentine's Day extortion and the demolition derby of sales bonanzas surrounding Presidents Day, it's time to get back to buying random trinkets that serve no functional purpose. Fortunately for everyone, "the grand clearinghouse of all that should not be" known as the Internet offers plenty of artful choices for desperate shoppers clamoring to find a unique gift.

STONES IN THE SAND

CUTTING EDGE