I learned a lesson today: always call before you show up at a small, out-of-the-way art gallery, even when they advertise an exhibit. The place might be locked and dark. This is the downside of being adventuresome—like Geraldo Rivera finding nothing but cobwebs in the alleged secret vault of Al Capone, you sometimes wind up at a dead end, forced to apologize for hyping up the mission and then wasting everybody’s time….

On the air yesterday, I declared today (Sunday, February 26) to be Happy Bubble Sunday, a name I invented for a fun-filled afternoon. My group of friends coming from the rock opera My Green Eyes at Judson Church (which was, in fact, sold out as I reported), along with any listeners who dared, were to meet at Stevens Square Center for the Arts for the last hour of an advertised exhibit called The Happy Show, featuring the cheerful work of seven visual artists, including Keiko Yagishita, whose sweet “Above the Clouds” print of a boxer pup was featured in promotional materials. I thought it fitting that after such levity, we should all enjoy some bubble tea. (I learned to love the stuff in China. Slurping pea-sized tapioca pearls through big, fat straws from frothy drinks is fun!) Thus, Happy Bubble.  read more »

I saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar last night at the Bloomington Civic Theatre, and the only reason I’m not completely depressed by the death scene at the end (you know the story…it’s in the Bible) is that the actor who plays Jesus of Nazareth (Patrick Morgan) is an absolute doll—and he assures me that the blood is fake. I just had to show you his picture before heading off to bed, where I hope that I will not dream of murderous behavior by the clergy. More about this classic “rock opera” on my show Saturday, so tune in!

By the way, Jesus wears Homer Simpson slippers. Betcha didn’t know that!