A&E

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

ARTIFACTS

Institute offers opportunity to explore global music

Ancient music is anything but dead as the Jacobs School of Music's Early Music Institute keeps tradition alive. Founded in 1979 by the late Thomas Binkley, a lutenist and musicologist, the institute focuses primarily on ancient music and instruments. Binkley acted as director of the Early Music Institute until January 1995. "It's a great regret in my life that I never met the man," said Michael McCraw, current director of the Early Music Institute. "But I feel like I can talk about him, because I know so many people on both sides of the ocean that are so greatly influenced by him. He was a man of boundless energy and extraordinary vision."

IU Auditorium season selected to inspire, educate wide audience

It's a process that takes months, even years, to complete. Before the first patrons take their seats for a lecture, concert or Broadway musical in IU's Auditorium, a team of people work behind the scenes, choosing shows, booking talent and setting schedules -- all in an effort to find the right mix of entertainment for the community. "It's part science, part magic," said Doug Booher, director of the auditorium. "We try to create a nice melange of shows. Some are highly sought after, some are new down the pike that people haven't heard about, and that's the magic part."

Small crowd for Mardi Gras parades

NEW ORLEANS -- The first of the major Mardi Gras parades with marching bands, brightly decorated floats and flying plastic beads rolled down New Orleans' streets Saturday, greeted by small but celebratory crowds. Despite the widespread destruction from Hurricane Katrina, officials decided to allow a scaled-back Mardi Gras celebration this year. New Orleans parades, put on by private groups, were restricted to one corridor to help cut the cost of police protection and trash pickup.

ARTICULATE

Bloomington Community Band seeks percussionist

The Bloomington Community Band, an all-adult volunteer band, has an opening for a percussionist. The band, which has about 50 members, plays about 20 concerts a year at civic events and public gatherings in Monroe County and surrounding areas. The band always welcomes new members, but it particularly needs a percussionist who can read music.

Six months later, Michael Jackon's Katrina song said to be ready soon

LOS ANGELES -- Eight days after Hurricane Katrina hit, Michael Jackson announced he would release an all-star charity single within two weeks. Nearly six months later, after questions about exactly who would be participating, the prince who has been hosting Jackson during his self-imposed exile in Bahrain says the song will come out by the end of this month. In a telephone interview from Dubai last week, Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the son of Bahrain's king, told The Associated Press, "The record is coming along great. We've been taking our time to perfect it and mix it."

Hold on to your passion and don't let go

Passion stirs in all of us. It might be the one, single thing that makes you get out of bed in the morning. It could be the only reason you're pursuing a college degree.

The Exit will rock IU as O.A.R.'s opener Sunday

To be the opener for the headlining band is no easy feat. There's a lot of pressure to get the crowd excited, and many times the fans see the opening band as little more than a time filler. "It's just waiting time," freshman Kristi Hewitt said. "They entertain us while we wait. It's entertaining, but it's not usually that good." On Sunday, O.A.R. will perform at the IU Auditorium. Before the quintet steps into the spotlight, its opening band, The Exit, has the not-so-easy task of energizing the crowd.

'Emperor's Daughters,' 'Sleeping Beauty' on stage at John Waldron Saturday

The Bloomington Area Arts Council and Monroe County Civic Theater will present "Sleeping Beauty" at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Feb. 25 and 26 at the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium, 122. S. Walnut St. Catherine Wilkerson's version of this well-known fairy tale is part of the 2005-06 Performance Series at the John Waldron Arts Center.

WIUX debuts creative writing talk show

With the recent shift from AM radio to FM, WIUX 100.3 is also debuting new programming. The student-run station now features a creative writing talk show Wednesdays at 10 p.m. WIUX news committee member Nicholas Peters said the show will feature on-air readings by local poets and writers and recordings of readings from local artists. "As a member of the news committee, I was looking for a new way to discuss the cultural aspect of the news," Peters said. "I think a lot of creative writing automatically discusses culture in its own unique way."

Musician to come alive at Buskirk

Ever since he was 14 years old, local folk-rock musician Ron Vanzo has played the guitar. While he never truly considered himself a professional musician until recently, having worked odd jobs for much of his life to pay the bills, Vanzo always wanted his music to be heard. "I've pretty much been a full-time musician in the past year or so," said Vanzo. "I'm gradually going in that direction."

Sequel to 'The Notebook' maintains romance

The movie adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel "The Notebook" has brought a lot of recent attention to his writing and the story's main characters, Allie and Noah. In "The Wedding," Sparks reintroduces the romance of the two by making Noah a secondary character. The story takes place years after Allie's death, when Noah has begun to show his age and has suffered more strokes and other related injuries.

Game for a grade

On Tuesday afternoon,graduate students Dan Wolfe and Cesar Kobashikawa hovered over a computer to work out details on their upcoming video game. Kobashikawa clutched his notebook that held the detailed profiles of the game's characters. These students can legitimately claim they are doing their homework. Wolfe and Kobashikawa are students in the Masters of Immersive Media Environments program. Wolfe is working on his thesis about online game development communities, a combination of online groups, forums, blogs, wikis, tutorials and Web sites where programmers, artists and designers can come together to talk about games.

WINE TIME