A&E

'Lord of the Rings' museum exhibit opens

INDIANAPOLIS -- A mishmash of hairy feet, pointy ears and gnarled noses is artfully arranged in a display case in a darkened gallery, looking more suited to a mad scientist's lab than a museum. The odd lot of latex body parts is part of "The Lord of the Rings" exhibition, opening Thursday for a three-month run at the Indiana State Museum.

Noah Bambach returns with 'Squid and Whale'

NEW YORK -- It's taken Noah Baumbach 10 years to get back to where he started. The director of "The Squid and the Whale" was considered a wunderkind at 25 when his 1995 debut, "Kicking and Screaming," played at the New York Film Festival. A decade later, the native New Yorker finally returned.

New nickel gets a facelift

WASHINGTON -- After nearly 100 years of depicting presidents in somber profiles on the nation's coins, the U.S. Mint is trying something different: The new nickel features Thomas Jefferson, facing forward, with the hint of a smile.

Sweatshop cutie

Murals to liven up concrete floodwalls for Hoosiers

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. -- Scenes of ferry boats and stately mansions are unfolding along the floodwall in Jeffersonville, linking southern Indiana to an Ohio River art project that stretches from Steubenville, Ohio, to Paducah, Ky.

Supporters see better future for Harriet Beecher Stowe house

CINCINNATI -- The two decades that Harriet Beecher Stowe lived in Cincinnati helped shape the feelings and beliefs that led to her anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Now, several groups are working to make more people outside Cincinnati aware of the importance of her 19th century home to America's heritage.

Benigni's new film to take place in Iraq war

ROME -- Like the Oscar-winning "Life Is Beautiful," which tackled the Holocaust, Roberto Benigni's new film, "La Tigre e la Neve (The Tiger and the Snow)," is a comedy set against a tragic backdrop -- the war in Iraq. The movie is an anti-war statement in Benigni's preferred style -- a love story driven by the 52-year-old actor-director's exuberant and sometimes slapstick humor.

Count Basie Orchestra still alive and well

Friday featured one of the oldest and finest big bands in existence at the IU Auditorium: the Count Basie Orchestra. It might be incredible to imagine that this big band, first devised by Count Basie in 1936, is still going strong today. Many band members have come and gone through the years, but there are still members playing today who actually played with Count Basie, namely Clarence Banks on trombone, John Williams on baritone saxophone, Butch Miles on drums and James Leary on bass.

Restorers work to conserve art battered by Katrina

CHICAGO -- Helen Conklin whisks a cotton swab delicately across a 19th century painting of silvery fish set in deep earth tones. She's looking for, of all things, mud on the canvas -- and sure enough, there it is. She peers at another painting through a microscope, focusing on a cardinal's rich crimson robes that have faded to a sickly pink. That's the mark of floodwaters.

Gallagher gives 'smashing' performance Sunday

Loud laughter filled the IU Auditorium, coming from all directions. Comic and entertainer Gallagher, who has been making people laugh for 35 years, put Sunday's audience into hysterics. Gallagher's act included a little bit of everything, from simple jokes to twisted talks about everyday life to smashing pies. The infamous "Sledge-o-Matic" has been a staple at Gallagher shows for many years and hasn't disappeared yet.

'Star Wars' draws residents, alumni

Every time IU graduate George Starkey sits down for a cup of coffee at the Starbucks in Broad Ripple, a neighborhood on the north side of Indianapolis, someone wants to know. It happens so often that Starkey even has a name for it: He gets "Lucas-ized." "First someone turns around, and then you can start hearing necks snapping," said Starkey, who learned as a teenager of his uncanny resemblance to "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. "People say, 'Are you him?' I say, 'Just call me George.'"

Soviet Union art comes to Midwest

PEORIA, Ill. -- Call it a glimpse of a lost world, a world that never was but remains still, preserved in oil and canvas -- a world of workers united and equal, struggling to build a new society of justice and peace. Such was the Soviet Union's official view of itself in state-sanctioned artwork created between 1917 and 1991, a selection of which goes on display in "Behind the Iron Curtain: Russian Impressionism," which opened recently at Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences. The exhibit is testimony to the power of art -- and the eagerness of revolutionary leaders to use that power to help build a new kind of society. It is also testimony to the resilience of the artists themselves, who managed to create notable work even within the rigid strictures of a totalitarian state that banned abstraction and other forms of nonrepresentational 20th century art.

Mind your manners at Fashion Week

NEW YORK -- Anyone who knows anything about the fashion industry knows that fashion people have a certain way of doing things. We tend to follow social rules not written in any book or pamphlet, but rules that have been passed down to us through years of training.

'Darth Vader' to take over Buskirk-Chumley

With a vintage 1977 Darth Vader mug clutched firmly in hand, Gary Wood waited in line at an Indianapolis science fiction convention, hoping to get an autograph from David Prowse, famed for portraying the classic villain in the first "Star Wars" trilogy. Wood got the autograph, but he also got something he hadn't expected: a new cast member for an independent movie he was directing, titled "Saving Star Wars."

Controversial museum scrapped from 9/11 Ground Zero plans

NEW YORK -- Bowing to pressure from furious Sept. 11 families, Gov. George Pataki on Wednesday removed a proposed freedom museum from the space reserved for it at Ground Zero, saying the project had aroused "too much opposition, too much controversy."

Disney gives African art to Smithsonian

WASHINGTON -- A major collection of African artwork, some dating to the 1400s, was donated Thursday to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art. "This is a collection that has been sought after by everyone in the museum world because it is so great," said Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence Small. "Finally, for reasons I wholeheartedly agree with, it came here."

Singer Baez tests community standards for language

NEW YORK -- Another musician has tested the tolerance level for bad language on prime-time television, but she's no raucous rock star. Would you believe it's Joan Baez? The 64-year-old folkie was interviewed as part of "Bob Dylan: No Direction Home," the two-part "American Masters" series directed by Martin Scorsese that aired this week on PBS. She talked about how fellow musicians were frustrated with Dylan's use of the F-word.

'Darth Vader' relishes fans, avoids limelight

Dave Prowse estimates that 99.9 percent of "Star Wars" fans are perfectly normal, sensible human beings. Still, in the more than two decades since Prowse last appeared as Darth Vader in "Return of the Jedi," that one-tenth of a percent has added up. Whether it's being bombarded by fans while on a plane or visiting houses completely turned into "Star Wars" shrines, Prowse has noticed the craze the movies and his character spur in some people.

Cooks teach about Japanese food

For those who've grown sick of Gresham Food Court's take on Asian cuisine or are looking to expand their recipe repertoire, wander down to the Asian Culture Center this Friday for a crash course in Japanese cooking. Not only will tasty tucker be provided free of charge, but attendees can also learn about Japanese culture.

Carmichael Room honors famous IU music alumnus

You might have heard his music on a Norah Jones CD, at a Straight No Chaser concert or even back in pre-school without even realizing it.