A&E

SWING

ARTIFACTS

Bassoonist devoted to instrument

Fingers flew amid a maze of black appendages: suit sleeves, music stands and folding chairs. Noise and motion jumbled into a mish-mash of bows poking upward, toes tapping and metal gleaming. Junior and bassoon major William May played contrabassoon, the largest and lowest-pitched of the double-reed wind instruments, in a student orchestra last Sunday. May prepared to play, soaking his hand-carved reed in a pill bottle of water. He tries to avoid any sort of mental preparation before performing, he said. "I try to go into everything as cold as possible to avoid panic," he said. Nerves can cause May's right hand to shake, but if he focuses and thinks about the music, he can control the quivers.

Rossini opera features student stars

Audiences this weekend will be treated to one of the most famous operas ever written, Gioacchino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." The IU Opera Theatre will perform the work in the original Italian script with English supertitles.

'Honour' steps onto the stage

Junior Jessica Rothert examined her photo collage carefully and pointed out the last touches she made to the finished project. Crinkled from tape and glue, covered in pictures of broken glass and writing paraphernalia, it looked like it had seen a lot of attention. But this collage was no art class project or dorm room decoration.

SIDEWALK RUNWAY

Jokes on the rise

Giggles, clicks, chortles, chuckles, hoots, cackles, sniggers and guffaws. Laughter in all its forms will be available this Friday and Saturday at the first ever IU College Comedy Festival. The spectrum of comedians performing ranges from IU students to professionals. The Union Board-sponsored event is free and takes place 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Indiana Memorial Union. All three of IU's student comedy groups (Full Frontal Comedy, Awkward Silence and All Sorts of Trouble for the Boy in the Bubble) will be performing along with visiting student comedy groups from other universities.

Classic clothing pieces that work for everyone

Bloomington, I give you the Bird

Blood flies amid a flurry of punches as Abraham Lincoln removes his stovepipe hat and steps into the cage. Michael Landon stands down-river with a look of misery stamped across his face.

IU Art Museum: We need more students

Junior Aaron Jackson would rather go to a basketball game than spend an afternoon at the IU Art Museum. Jackson said he's been to the museum just once, and it wasn't voluntarily.

SAG AWARDS

The cast accept the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for their work in "Crash," at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006, in Los Angeles.

ARTIFACTS

What:Head of Pharaoh with Junior Blue Crown by an Egyptian, probable Dynasty 21 (1045-945 B.C.) Where to find it: The IU Art Museum, Ancient Collection

Irish pubs offer rich cultural experience to student

The night starts slow. People steadily pour through the old wooden doors of McDonagh's Pub. Soccer plays on the television in the background. A group of old men laugh as they play a game of darts, arguing now and then about the score. It is a normal Wednesday night in Dalkey, Ireland. A man strolls in quietly, singing to himself, "When Irish eyes are smiling, sure 'tis like the morn in spring. In the lilt of Irish laughter, you can hear the angels sing ..."

Magazine accepting student submissions

Student artists and writers looking to have their work published have the opportunity in Canvas, the Union Board-sponsored fine arts magazine. Photography, paintings, poetry and short fiction pieces are typical submissions to the magazine, which comes out once a semester, but the publication isn't limited to that type of work, said senior Karolyn Steffens, assistant director of Canvas. "We'll consider any kind of visual art that people want to send in," she said. The magazine is completely student-run and a selections committee comprised of several students, not just art students, decides which submitted pieces will run.

Chronicler of American feminism dies of cancer

NEW YORK -- Playwright Wendy Wasserstein, who celebrated women confronting feminism, careers, love and motherhood in such works as "The Heidi Chronicles" and "The Sisters Rosensweig," died Monday. She was 55. Wasserstein, who had been battling cancer in recent months, died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Andre Bishop, head of Lincoln Center Theater and Wasserstein's close friend and mentor, said the cause of death was lymphoma. "She was an extraordinary human being whose work and whose life were extremely intertwined," Bishop said. "She was not unlike the heroines of most of her plays -- a strong-minded, independent, serious good person." Wasserstein's writing was known for its sharp, often wry observations about what women had to do to succeed in a world dominated by men.

CHOCOLATE

The Pride Film Festival's dance party included movies on blowing tapestries, a chocolate covered man and several hours of dance music for festival attendees.

The art of chocolate

A chiseled statue inspired by the greek god Atlas stood covered in chocolate. Without warning, he moved. Dave Naze, an assistant instructor in the IU Department of Communication and Culture, said he'd never before been covered in chocolate, but described playing Atlas as an exciting, liberating experience.

ARTiculate

Frank Stella (1936-present) is an American abstract painter, sculptor and printmaker with work on display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Minnesota. His work is listed as some of the most expensive among living artists, according to an article on the Art News Online Web site. His "Black Paintings" series sold for more than $5 million at auction.

Winfrey's reprimand of Frey novel questioned

CHICAGO -- When Oprah Winfrey confronted disgraced author James Frey on a recent live taping of her talk show, analysts say her motive wasn't only about bringing the truth to light, it was about protecting her brand.

Broadway show debuts at IU Auditorium

"Chicago," known to many as the star-filled musical that made it to the Hollywood big-screen, is coming to the IU Auditorium Tuesday and Wednesday. But what you'll see is not what you got from the Academy Award-winning film. In fact, the film originated from the Broadway revival that is coming to Bloomington.