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Christmas cookies help missionaries, women's groups

By Katie Peck · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 10:59 a.m.

Thanksgiving break is gone, and the Christmas season is now upon us, bringing good times with family and friends, a long break from classes and fun traditions unique to the season, including making Christmas cookies. Fun to bake, decorate and -- of course -- eat, these treats attracted many local guests to a local church Friday and Saturday.

'Csárdas' preserves folk tradition

By Lisa Braverman · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 10:58 a.m.

On Friday evening, the Hungarian dance ensemble "Csárdas" displayed a passionate folk tradition and East European tango. Part of the Lotus Education and the Arts Foundation's mission to bring world music and culture to Bloomington, "Csárdas: The Tango of the East" also served as a celebration of Hungarian artistry and athleticism.

Playwrights Project rings in holiday season with Ballot Box Blizzard

By Mike Wilson · Friday, Dec. 2,2005 9:03 a.m.

Thirty different holiday plays, featuring everything from a gun-toting Santa Claus to God paying a humorous house call, opened Thursday night at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, 107 W. Ninth St.

Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Wit' opens at Wells-Metz

By Sarah Neely and Sarah A. Neely · Friday, Dec. 2,2005 9:03 a.m.

The Department of Theatre and Drama has tackled everything from murder to gay parenthood this fall, and now it will close the semester with the intimate play "Wit," a Pulitzer Prize-winner by Margaret Edson opening at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Wells-Metz Theatre.

'THE NUTCRACKER'

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:34 p.m.

This weekend the IU Musical Arts Center will welcome the timeless holiday tradition "The Nutcracker." "The Nutcracker" is a classic story of Christmas by the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann. The story features Clara Stahlbaum, a young German girl who dreams that a Nutcracker she received for Christmas turns into a prince. The ballet was born when Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) set the story to music in 1891. Ever since, the ballet has become a Christmas tradition that conjures up childhood fantasies and the world of the imagination.

Csardas show to display 'Tango of the East'

By Lisa Braverman · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:17 p.m.

Synchronized couple dancing, infectious boot slapping and rapid spinning are all in a day's work for members of Csardas, a Hungarian folk dance group. The group, which performs dances from the Carpathian Basin (which includes the countries of Hungary and Romania), will be featured Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Freshman group writes, produces film

By Allison Richie · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:13 p.m.

If there is a checklist for making the most of the first semester of college, Rachelle Wilson has certainly completed hers. The "Art of Acting" Freshman Interest Group, a community within the Residential Programs and Services system, decided in September to go above and beyond for their final project relating to the freshman experience. Instead of making a scrapbook or writing a short story reflecting on the previous few months, this FIG decided to make a movie.

Archaeologist suspects Bosnian hill might contain hidden pyramid

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 4:08 p.m.

VISOKO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- With eyes trained to recognize pyramids hidden in the hills of El Salvador, Mexico and Peru, Semir Osmanagic has been drawn to the mound overlooking this central Bosnian town.

Renowned 'Lord of the Dance' troupe comes to Auditorium troup

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 4:08 p.m.

For those who don't have tickets for the IU-Duke game tonight, there's another show in town that could be just as exciting.

Co-founder of Berenstain Bears books dies at 82

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Nov. 30,2005 4:07 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA -- Stan Berenstain, who with his wife wrote and illustrated the Berenstain Bear books that helped millions of children cope with trips to the dentist, the first day of school and getting new siblings, has died. Berenstain, 82, died Saturday in suburban Philadelphia from complications with cancer, said Kate Jackson of HarperCollins Children's Books in New York.

'Narnia' books fly off of the shelves

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Nov. 29,2005 5:32 p.m.

FORT WAYNE -- Retailers and librarians say they're having a hard time keeping copies of C.S. Lewis' books on their shelves as fans prepare for the opening of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe" Dec. 9. At a Fort Wayne Barnes & Noble, customers can buy individual Narnia books, or the entire seven-book series, along with puzzles, games and books about the stories.

Chicago being slowly 'chipped away'

By Alyson Brodsy and Don Babwin · Tuesday, Nov. 29,2005 5:32 p.m.

CHICAGO -- To former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, the elevated train tracks crisscrossing the city are more than a mode of transport. They are a reminder of a great city that has for generations looked and felt like no other place in the world. But they are an increasingly lonely reminder.

Supreme Court pediment falls apart near tourist group on steps

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Nov. 29,2005 5:31 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- A basketball-sized piece of marble molding fell from the facade over the entrance to the Supreme Court Monday, landing on the steps near visitors waiting to enter the building. No one was hurt. The chunk of Vermont marble was part of the dentil molding that serves as a frame for nine sculptural figures completed in 1935. The piece that fell was over the figure of Authority, near the peak of the building's pediment, and to the right of the figure of Liberty, who has the scales of justice on her lap.

British painter uses Kate Moss in series of works

By Brett Martel and Emily Behlmann · Monday, Nov. 28,2005 10:22 a.m.

LONDON -- Kate Moss is the subject of four paintings by Stella Vine now on show at a London exhibit, including one based on a tabloid photo that allegedly shows her preparing a line of cocaine. A portrait titled, "Must Be the Season of the Witch," is based on a photo of the 31-year-old supermodel that was published in a London tabloid in September. Vine said Friday she usually bases her work on press photos.

French aid strengthens Louisiana ties

By Brett Martel · Monday, Nov. 28,2005 10:21 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- France has offered to fly over some of the city's musicians and provide them with rent-free residences and monthly stipends for up to three months, in hopes of compensating for concerts canceled after Hurricane Katrina. Major French museums -- including the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou -- also intend to help the New Orleans Museum of Art put on an exhibit of major French artists, probably in 2007.

Nazi-era children's opera adapted for modern theater

By Lisa Leff · Monday, Nov. 28,2005 10:20 a.m.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Tony Kushner doesn't mind when critics call him a "political" playwright, a polemicist who mines humor and hypocrisy, and condoles human truths from the rougher chapters in world history. But when he decided to translate a 1938 Czech opera about a greedy town bully who meets his match in a pair of poor children, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Angels in America" knew the project called for restraint.

TV star hosts opera awards

By Verena Dobnik · Monday, Nov. 21,2005 11:38 a.m.

NEW YORK - Emotionally, opera is "a direct whammy," "Law & Order" star Sam Waterston said as he prepared to co-host the first Opera News magazine awards. The awards, presented Sunday, went to three Americans - mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham and Dolora Zajick, and conductor James Conlon - plus Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and French soprano Regine Crespin.

Catherine the Great's necklace auctioned

By Alyson Brodsy and Bradley S. Klapper · Monday, Nov. 21,2005 11:37 a.m.

GENEVA - A diamond necklace believed to have been made for Russian Empress Catherine the Great fetched more than $1.5 million at auction, but sold at just below the high-end estimate.

Pope Benedict XVI attends screening of made-for-TV movie about John Paul II

By Alyson Brodsy and Nicole Winfield · Friday, Nov. 18,2005 10:44 a.m.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI attended a Vatican screening Thursday of a television miniseries on the life of Pope John Paul II -- giving equal billing to the latest biopic on his predecessor after watching a rival production six months ago. Benedict said "Pope John Paul II," which CBS will broadcast Dec. 4 and Dec. 7, provided an important service in spreading the message about the life and works of the late pope.

Designer giving pairs of $215 specialty sneakers to illegal immigrants

By Alyson Brodsy and Elliot Spagat · Friday, Nov. 18,2005 10:44 a.m.

SAN DIEGO -- The high-top sneakers cost $215 at a San Diego boutique, but the designer is giving them away to migrants before they cross to this side of the U.S.-Mexico border. These are no ordinary shoes. A compass and flashlight dangle from one shoelace. The pocket in the tongue is for money or pain relievers. A rough map of the border region is printed on a removable insole.

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