A&E

Lotus fest carries on despite troubles

Lee Williams is exhausted. After months of planning the Eighth Annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival, booking bands, arranging venues and transportation and ticket sales, his efforts were jeopardized when four terrorist hijackings grounded flights nationwide last week.

'Breaking Away' composer visits campus

The Academy Award-winning movie "Breaking Away" is one of the few things that has put the small, quiet town of Bloomington on the map. The film focuses on the annual Little 500 bike race, and while most IU students remember it for its location, the film's score was perhaps its greatest aspect.

Exhibit explores silliness of sex

Friday evening, the School of Fine Arts Gallery opened its doors to a new exhibit. The crowd that had gathered outside moved past the wine and fruit tables and into the gallery. A low rumble began and soon grew into audible laughter.

This Weekend's Calendar events

Count 'em out

The Counting Crows have canceled their previously scheduled Oct. 30 performance at the IU Auditorium. Ticket holders can obtain a refund at the point of purchase starting this morning.

Arts Fair heats up the square

Artists and art lovers crowded the courthouse lawn Saturday for the 22nd annual Art Fair on the Square. This year, the event was bursting with artistic talent from near and far.

Art students display work

A woman makes her way around a room, observing artwork that's mounted on walls, illuminated by little spotlights. She pauses at a large, framed black and white photograph and peers over her glasses to inspect it more closely. "That's a compelling little girl," she murmurs to herself. The child she's referring to has short brown hair that frames her face, a cowlick of baby hairs hanging down the middle of her forehead, a smudge of dirt on the right corner of her mouth and is thrusting out her lower lip in a slight pout.

World-famous Hagegård visits IU

World-renowned Swedish baritone Håkon Hagegård is teaching masterclasses at IU, and will be performing Schubert's song cycle Die Winterreise this Friday at the IU School of Music.

Recorders hurting TV

PASADENA, Calif. -- Television viewers could face paying for channels they now receive free if digital video recorders kill commercials, said Jamie Kellner, chairman of Turner Broadcasting System.

Early Music Festival takes the stage

In its ninth year, the Bloomington Early Music Festival explodes with more talent, diversity and precision than ever before, attempting to strengthen and enlighten the Bloomington community. The festival lasts ten days and includes 15 concerts. The festivities combine local, national and international artists, as well as 4th and 5th grade Bloomington children. Workshops, discussions and films also help the festival in completing its mission.

Attacks force industry-wide entertainment shutdowns

LOS ANGELES -- The Emmys and Latin Grammys canceled their awards ceremonies, amusement parks closed and Hollywood studios locked their gates as Tuesday's terrorist attacks darkened a stunned entertainment industry. All Broadway shows were canceled in New York and box offices at the theaters were closed indefinitely, said Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers. Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland and Universal Studios in Southern California were shut down, while most resort hotels -- many sheltering those stranded by the nationwide airline shutdown -- remained open.

Kundabuffer conundrum

No one at Yogi's Grill and Bar seems to know what a kundabuffer is. Customers ask the employees every day, especially when the fluorescent green signs facing 10th Street near Indiana Avenue are lit up at night.

'Ragtime' actress sounds off

Imagine going from playing a Munchkin in a community theater production of "The Wizard of Oz" to playing Mother, one of the leads in the national touring company of "Ragtime". Emily Herring did it. "(Touring with a show) is a lot like living out of a suitcase," Herring said with a laugh. Herring grew up in Alabama and studied classical music and opera at a college in Southern Mississippi and at the University of Tennessee. "Two good southern schools," she said about them. She now lives in New York when not on the road.

Expectations mixed about new theatre

As the curtains went down on "Waiting for Godot," Dale McFadden knew it was time to say goodbye. McFadden, associate professor of theatre and drama, directed "Godot," the last play performed at the University Theatre. Although he said he is "grateful" to be moving to the facilities at the new Theatre/Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, McFadden will miss the historic and aesthetic details of the old space.

Capturing the world through Ink

Many lessons students learn at IU will take place outside the walls of the classroom. In a population that brings together students and faculty from all over the world to share ideas, a hidden curriculum presents itself throughout the community. It is evident in the many opportunities at IU for learning about the cultures of others. One such opportunity is a new exhibit titled "Rudy Pozzatti: A Printmaker's Odyssey," which will open to the public at the IU Art Museum Saturday and ends May 5. The exhibit is funded by the Richard Florsheim Art Fund, the IU Foundation, the Bloomington Area Arts Council Inc., the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. It will feature more than 70 pieces -- mostly prints -- organized with a basis on Pozzatti's many themes.

Peachy keen summer treats

When I first arrived in Bloomington a few years ago, I burst into tears. I contend it was the confluence of a sleepless night, a long day of plane travel marked by multiple delays, and the growing anxiety of starting both a new degree and life in a Midwestern town more than 2,000 miles from my Bay Area home that reduced me to a pathetic puddle. My parents, who claim to know me better than I know myself, maintain that I was merely cranky from hunger.

Murder mystery involves audience

Are you looking to start little change in your life? Would you like to add a little spice, a little intrigue? We all do. But what would you do to get it? Some might go skydiving or take up needlepoint. For some though, that isn't enough. Some need it so badly, that they could kill.

Trio gives exciting performance

Standing ovations from a nearly full house at the Musical Arts Center greeted the Beaux Arts Trio Tuesday night. Menahem Pressler, pianist, Daniel Hope, violinist, and Antonio Meneses, cellist, bowed with pride after completing a commanding and exciting performance.

Make your own bread

Tortillas, pita bread, lavash and focaccia may be relative newcomers to Indiana restaurants and supermarket shelves, but in their native lands these flatbreads are as old as civilization itself. When people first began harvesting grains, they were faced with the same problem many of us have with a cupboard-full of ingredients: how to turn what's on hand into what's for dinner.

French folk singer returns

Stories of loves, deaths and betrayals from the distant past come together with original songs written from personal experience in the music of French folk singer Gabriel Yacoub. At a concert Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium, Yacoub will play guitar and sing both traditional French folk songs and his own modern music. The concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is presented by the Lotus Concert Series, also organizers of Bloomington's annual world music festival.