Charleston Gazette

An Open Book

The Gazz Calendar: ; October 9-15, 2008

Today 10.9 Stage/Theater

String Theory

Get a Laugh

B Is for Bramwell and Beer

Weekend Watch: ; Where to Hear What, When

TODAY: Thursday night specials are always sweet, and we've got the scoop on a new Ladies Night at The Empty Glass. Huntington's Jeff Ellis comes to town tonight to help the Glass celebrate femininity with no cover for the ladies. Show up around 10 p.m., and as long as you can prove you're a lady (a relative term, sure) you're in, scot-free. P.S. Ellis competes Saturday at the Cultural Center in the NewSong Contest. See story elsewhere. FRIDAY: Charleston's honky tonk trio Buckstone travels to...

Film Festival: ; Roll 'Em Worldwide at Mu

The Marshall Artists Series Fall International Film Festival features six of the most highly praised films of the year from around the world in a week-long rotating run of showings, Friday through Oct. 16 at Huntington's Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center on Fourth Avenue. Films include West Virginia native Morgan Spurlock's "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?" (pictured) (USA); "4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days" (Romania) about the gritty, tragic struggle of two women in the final days of Rus...

Bible Verses Come to Hip-Hop Life Through Kj-52

WANT TO GO? Creation Festival WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday WHERE: Charleston Municipal Auditorium TICKETS: $20 available at the Civic Center Box Office or through Ticketmaster INFO: www.creationfesttour.com "People tend to gravitate toward honesty," KJ-52 said.

Cover Story: ; Loveless Gets Her Road Legs Back; Opry Member to Spend 'Sleepless Nights' On Mountain Stage

WANT TO GO? Mountain Stage With Patty Loveless, The Dan Tyminski Band, Solas and Chris Knight WHEN: 7 p.m. Sunday WHERE: Cultural Center Theater TICKETS: $10.50 in advance, $15.50 at the door. Available at Taylor Books or (800) 594-TIXX INFO: www.mountain stage.org Time has been on Patty Loveless's mind a lot lately.

'City of Ember' Good, but Lacks Enough Heat to Ignite Screen

REVIEW City of Ember HHH RATING: PG, for scary images. DIRECTOR: Gil Kenan CAST: Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, Tim Robbins. THEATERS: Marquee Cinemas; Park Place Stadium Cinema Life in a post-apocalyptic world is not a new film theme. Humans have dug themselves out of the ashes in movies from "Logan's Run" to "A Boy and His Dog." The only difference is how deep society has been buried.

Film Clips

* "NICK AND NORA'S INFINITE PLAYLIST": HH, MC, PPSC. Michael Cera and Kat Dennings are a couple of teenagers exploring late night in the city. Music ties the screwball comedy elements together, but the story is kind of one note. Rated PG-13. * "BEER FOR MY HORSES": H Park Place Stadium Cinemas. Toby Keith is blandly colorless, Rodney Carrington is gratingly cartoonish and most of the supporting players simply go through the motions. Overall, it comes across as a dismal mix of broadly played f...

'90210' Picked Up for a Full Season

Shenae Grimes, who plays the rather ever-grinning Annie Wilson on "90210," really has something to smile about now. The CW has picked up its freshman drama, a contemporary spinoff of the original "Beverly Hills, 90210," for a full season, the network announced last week.

Singer Was to Perform Saturday at Clay Center

LeAnn Rimes has canceled a performance for Saturday at the Clay Center in Charleston. According to Rimes' Web site, her voice doctor has advised immediate vocal rest. She also canceled her scheduled appearance for Friday in Norfolk, Va., and is not expected to resume her current national tour until at least Oct. 17.

In Short

Art opening A new exhibit of paintings by Stanley Sporny, including "Cyan Diamond" (right) opens with an artist talk then a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Friday at the Callen McJunkin Gallery in The Loft @ 219 Hale St., above Stray Dog Antiques. Sporny, who now teaches at Marshall University, attended Philadelphia College of Art and earned his MFA at the University of Pennsylvania, studying under celebrated artists such as Neil Welliver, Red Grooms, Alex Katz, Elaine de Kooning and others. ...

You Can Experience Extreme Parenting with 'Bright Ideas'

WANT TO GO? Bright Ideas The Kanawha Players WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 10, 17 and 18 WHERE: Kanawha Players Theater, 309 Beauregard St., Charleston TICKETS: $16 adults, $10 students INFO: (304) 343-7529 or www.kanawhaplayers.org Get into the right preschool and go straight to Harvard.

5 Questions: ; Phish Fans, Get Your Phix with Strange Design

WANT TO GO? Strange Design Re-creating the Phish experience WHEN: 9 p.m. today WHERE: V-Club, Huntington TICKETS: $8 INFO: www.myspace.com /wvvclub Last week, Phish fans rejoiced when word was finally released from the jam band titans that Phish would re-unite for three shows next March. It's been a long time coming. While individually the members of Phish have toured and released music, the band's last appearance together was four years ago.

New Sounds: ; Metallica Finally Returns to Its Thrash-Metal Roots

"Death Magnetic" Metallica

Tickets for W.Va. Music Hall of Fame Induction On Sale Now

Tickets are on sale for the Nov. 6 West Virginia Music Hall of Fame's induction gala. Tickets are $38 for general admission, available at Taylor Books and through the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame website www.wvmusichalloffame.com. Premium tickets are $250 each and include preferred seating and admittance to the Governor's Reception. Premium tickets are available through the Hall of Fame office at 342-4412.

Gazzopolis

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'Opus' Creator to Lay Down His Cartoon Drawing Tools

WASHINGTON - Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is retiring, leaving a hole in Sunday comics pages after nearly 30 years because he says he wants to save his strip's main character, Opus, from being dragged down in the current political climate. The last strip of "Opus," the beloved, large-beaked penguin, will run in about 200 newspapers nationwide Nov. 2.