Vivity Labs has developed a Web
site called
Fit Brains (www.fitbrains.com), which features engaging games and activities that exercise the five key cognitive
areas of the brain: memory, language, concentration, executive functions, and visual and spatial skills.
For me, the weekend included catching up with shows at the Phoenix and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It also involved stealing moments to read, flipping between David Wild’s goofy new “He Is…I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying…
Some random thoughts on cultural horrors.
–Boris Karloff may be Hollywood’s most underrated golden-era star. Watch him in “Son of Frankenstein” if you get a chance (although the film itself isn’t as good as the perversely fun “Bride of Frankenstein”).
–When we…
According to the Western Michigan Business Review, Schuler Books and Music in Grand Rapids (an outstanding locally owned chain) is looking to go beyond the cafe-and-sweet-treats ammenities that have become stapes in bookshops.
The downtown store has applied for a…
Interesting stat in today’s New York Times: The last four winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture (“No Country for Old Men,” “The Departed,” “Crash,” and “Million Dollar Baby”) combined didn’t bring in the box office money of 2003’s…
Peter Bart, one of the smarter guys in Hollywood, has an interesting blog over at Variety. His topic: Celebrity interviews. (Find it here.)
In the piece, Bart elequently points out something I’ve felt for a long time now: That most…
Over the years, the city has made a name for itself by hosting a handful of large conventions and a bevy of small and midsize
gatherings. But as companies and other organizations tighten their belts, the number of conventions
held nationwide is expected to shrink in the months ahead.
There was a lot to choose from this weekend.
Did you pick Hubbard Street Dance or David Byrne at Clowes? Or Gregory Hancock’s “Oh My Goth”? Stop in at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, or the…
Today, some random notes from around the arts world:
–Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune has an interesting item today about customer service in theaters. See it here. Have you had any overwhelming negative or positive experiences from the front-of-the-house…
This is the time of year that otherwise respectable news outlets begin publishing or broadcasting stories about haunted houses–not just the “guy jumps out at you with a chainsaw” haunted houses but also the allegedly real ones.
Problem is, many of…
The 54-volume Great Books of the Western World series, a set of books that sold more than a million copies in the 1950s and ’60s, was:
a. an empowering, groundbreaking effort to bring brilliant writing to the masses.
b. a sales stunt perpetrated by Encyclopedia…
Between the upcoming release of Disney’s “High School Musical 3” in theaters–as both an arts journalist and the father of teenage girls, I know a lot about HSM–and my kid’s own real life high school musical (Pike High School’s production…
Truly moved by anything at the Heartland Film Festival? Catch Dance Kaleidoscope’s season opener? Visit a haunted house or, like me, were you part of the jury at the trial at the Benjamin Harrison Home?
So what did you get to…
The Heartland Film Festival kicks off tonight with the North American premiere (which I incorrectly stated was a World Premiere in my weekly e-mail) of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
Landing a major studio premiere is a coup for Heartland…
A few month’s back, I travelled to Louisville to catch the national tour of “Avenue Q.” Not only was I anxious to see the Tony-winning show, but I also wanted to catch it before it came to Indy, the better to…
At some point, I will write about something besides the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of “Guys and Dolls in Concert” last weekend.
But that point isn’t here yet.
I blogged on one aspect of the show on Saturday. (Find it here, along…
What a weekend.
For me, it included the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s once-in-a-lifetime production of “Guys and Dolls” (Okay, so I saw it twice), Butler University Theatre’s “Phedre,” Theatre on the Square’s “Evil Dead: The Musical” and reading through most of Walter…
Conner Prairie wants to pay homage to early aviator John Wise with a balloon ride that recalls his August
1859 trip from Lafayette at the helm of a gas-filled balloon bound for New York City with the nation’s first
air-mail delivery. An ill wind blew him Wisecourse, ending his flight in Crawfordsville, but he still earned
a place in history–and a U.S. Postal Service-issued stamp honoring his pioneering effort.
An open letter to Des McAnuff, director of the upcoming Broadway revival of “Guys and Dolls.”
Mr McAnuff,
You don’t know me, but having seen your productions of “The Who’s Tommy,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and “Jersey Boys,”…
The well-sung but nondescript production of “The Sound of Music” currently running at Beef & Boards got me thinking about the musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Some random thoughts:
–The R&H reputation pretty much rests on “Oklahoma!,” “Carousel,” “South Pacific,” “The King…
