A&E

Vocalist to compete at the Met Sunday

By Eric Anderson · Wednesday, March 21,2007 12 a.m.

If Facebook is any standard, Jacobs School of Music graduate student Jamie Barton is already an established celebrity. There are not only one but two groups in her honor: “Jamie Barton is the most popular girl on Facebook,” which claims she has more wall posts and Facebook gifts than anyone, and the noticeably less-flattering “Jamie Barton steals my lunch money,” which accuses Barton of nothing less than being a “bully who kicks puppies and scares freshmen with wedgies and wet willies.”

Undergraduate seeks “iSupport” from greek houses to jump-start singing career

By Michael Reschke · Wednesday, March 21,2007 12 a.m.

Alexis Joi Carter was in fourth grade at Charles R. Drew Elementary School in Gary, when her teacher singled her out from the rest of the students in the class. It was around Thanksgiving and the class was singing a song called “Truly Thankful.”

Out of the ashes of war and Holocaust, forgotten music found

By Ariel David · Wednesday, March 21,2007 12 a.m.

ROME – A waltz. A tango. A piece of jazz. But they weren’t composed in Vienna, Buenos Aires or New Orleans. Scribbled on diaries, loose pages or even toilet paper, these are the notes left behind by people who lived and died in the prisons and concentration camps of World War II.

May I have your attention?

By Ryan Brown · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

The art world has been shrouded with a dark stigma for a while now over its radical, sometimes too edgy nature. Artists continually push the envelope in dark, sometimes disturbing ways that began during the Dada period in the early 20th century. Perhaps one of the most famous pieces from this period is Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain,” a found art sculpture of a urinal signed “R. Mutt.” The piece, revered for its drastic existential questioning on the basis and standards of art, can be found as a replica in IU’s own art museum. Artists continued in Duchamp’s steps to create new forms of art that have brought on serious questioning on the status of art. Were the artists creating personal meaning, or were they merely craving attention?

WFIU hosts ‘This American Life’ advance screening

Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

The televised version of the public-radio hit “This American Life” will be shown 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Radio and Television Building room 251. The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by WFIU and the Indiana Daily Student. “This American Life” follows host Ira Glass as he travels around the country for six months. Some of his encounters include Iowa pig farms, a first-time filmmaker in California and a hot-dog stand in Illinois.

ONLINE ONLY: Legendary Toots and Maytals at Bluebird tonight

By Zack Teibloom · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

The casual reggae fan knows of Bob Marley, but for more than 40 years Toots and the Maytals have spanned all Jamaican styles and genres from ska to rock-steady in their unique blend of reggae. Most well known for “54-46 that’s my number” and “Pressure Drop” the band reached new acclaim for their compilation album where they collaborated with Eric Clapton, Trey Anastacio, Jeff Beck and Keith Richards among others.

New exhibit inspired by Romanian propaganda featured at SoFA Library

Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

More than 35 pieces of art will be on display this week in the IU Fine Arts Library Foyer. The exhibit, titled “Romania Redrawn,” features art based on old propaganda photos set out for disposal outside of the Romanian consulate in New York. Romanian artist Irina Hasnas Pascal found the photos and invited other artists to create works inspired by them.

Retro and futuristic war-inspired looks open L.A. Fashion Week

By Sandy Cohen · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

CULVER CITY, Calif. – Military-inspired collections that looked back and to the future opened L.A. Fashion Week, with Collection bebe offering edgy space-age designs, and Dina Bar-El showing clothes that dripped 1940s glamour. Their runway presentations Sunday helped launch the first of five days of fall fashion shows.

Iranians outraged over box office hit movie ‘300’

By Nasser Karimi · Tuesday, March 20,2007 12 a.m.

TEHRAN, Iran – The hit American movie “300” has angered Iranians who say the Greeks-vs.-Persians action flick insults their ancient culture and provokes animosity against Iran. “Hollywood declares war on Iranians,” blared a headline in Tuesday’s edition of the independent Ayende-No newspaper.

Thousands cheer multi-cultural St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin

By Shawn Pogatchnik · Monday, March 19,2007 12 a.m.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Lithuanian musicians, drum-beating Punjabis and West African dancers used Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday to celebrate their place in a booming Ireland that has become a land of immigrants.

Congress holds hearing on funding for arts

By Brett Zongker · Monday, March 19,2007 12 a.m.

WASHINGTON – Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, actor Chris Klein and Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson pressed Congress on March 13 to restore funding for the arts to levels from 15 years ago – before those funds were slashed.

‘Pretty Baby’ exhibit explores images of childhood

By Angela K Brown · Monday, March 19,2007 12 a.m.

FORT WORTH, Texas – From a sculpture of a pigtailed girl with four eyes to a photograph of a self-conscious teenager on the beach, works in the “Pretty Baby” art exhibit demonstrate that childhood can be anything but simple.

What’s in a size? A lot.

By Teri Rosenbaum · Monday, March 19,2007 12 a.m.

In the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe was considered one of the sexiest women in existence. Not only was she glamorous, but she had that find-an-air-vent-and-pose thing totally down. She also had a classic beauty mark that puts Cindy Crawford’s to shame. (That’s not really true. To be honest, I’ve never had beauty mark preferences and I don’t plan on starting now.) She married a host of hotties and even got to sing a steamy version of “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to our nation’s most erotic president, John F. Kennedy. (Yum.)

The Complete Moron's Guide to: Mexican Arts and Entertainment

Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

For those lucky enough to be spending spring break in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas or any other Mexican beach destination make sure to check out the local culture. Mexico boasts a rich cultural background aside from beautiful shores crowded with college students. So if you need to take a break from baking in the sun, check out some other Mexican hot-spots.

Obi-Wan’s brown cloak sells for $104,000 to phone bidder at auction

By Raphael G. Satter · Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

LONDON –The brown hooded cloak worn by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the “Star Wars” films – and then forgotten for years in a warehouse – sold for $104,000 to an anonymous telephone bidder Tuesday at an auction of movie and TV memorabilia. Audience members raised their paddles in rapid succession as costumes flashed across TV screens at Bonhams, a British auctioneer, as staff fielded phone bids from all over the world. When the hammer dropped on a Bond girl’s cat-suit or Anthony Hopkins’ army uniform, men in dark blazers whispered the prices into their cell phones.

Comic-book hero Captain America dies on the page

Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

NEW YORK – Captain America has undertaken his last mission – at least for now. The venerable superhero is killed in the issue of his namesake comic that hit stands Wednesday, the New York Daily News reported. On the new edition’s pages, a sniper shoots down the shield-wielding hero as he leaves a courthouse. It ends a long run for the stars-and-stripes-wearing character, created in 1941. Over the years, some 210 million copies of Captain America comic books, published by New York-based Marvel Entertainment Inc., have been sold in 75 countries. But resurrections are not unknown in the world of comics, and Marvel Entertainment Editor in Chief Joe Quesada said a Captain America comeback wasn’t impossible.

Sweet, Southern Samantha eliminated after her attempt to depict a high school wild child

By Lindsey Landis · Friday, March 9,2007 12 a.m.

On the phone, Samantha Francis didn’t sound like much of a slut. Her soft, sweet voice with its thick southern accent reminded me of sweet tea and church sermons – certainly not the kind of girl whose name is scrawled all over the bathroom stalls. However, on the second episode of the eighth cycle of America’s Next Top Model, Samantha was told to don a cropped top and garter belt and strike a pose on the bleachers of a high school football stadium – those which so often hid those tete-a-tetes of the good ol’ days. I talked to Samantha recently about her experience on the show.

Louvre to expand with branch in Abu Dhabi, angering some in art world

By Jim Krane · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – France’s storied Louvre museum, home to priceless art works such as the Mona Lisa, said Tuesday it will open a new Louvre in this Persian Gulf boomtown, prompting outcries from some who accuse the museum of shilling France’s patrimony for $1.3 billion in oil money. The 30-year agreement, signed by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and the head of Abu Dhabi’s tourism authority, Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, opens the way for the Louvre Abu Dhabi to display thousands of works from some of France’s best museums, such as the Louvre, the Georges Pompidou Center, the Musee d’Orsay and Versailles.

Cafe Django

By Annysa LaMantia and Anyssa LaMantia · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

Walking down Kirkwood Avenue, you can find a mix of local eateries and chain restaurants. But just to the north on Grant Street, in an icicle-lit, purple home of a building, you’ll find a different kind of food experience called Cafe Django. Cafe Django is a jazz bar showcasing local musicians and their performing jazz talents. Although the cafe is coined a jazz bar, all ages can enjoy the live entertainment while dining on Asian-fusion cuisine.

Girls suspended for saying ‘vagina’ during reading of feminist play

By Jim Fitzgerald · Thursday, March 8,2007 12 a.m.

CROSS RIVER, N.Y. – A public high school has suspended three students who disobeyed officials by saying the word “vagina” during a reading from a well-known feminist play. The honor students, Megan Reback, Elan Stahl and Hannah Levinson, included the word during their reading of “The Vagina Monologues” because “It wasn’t crude and it wasn’t inappropriate and it was very real and very pure,” Reback said. Their defiant stand is being applauded by “Vagina Monologues” author Eve Ensler, who said Tuesday that the school should be celebrating, rather than punishing, the three juniors.