Roundup: Pop Culture & the Arts ... Movies, Documentaries and Museum Exhibits

In American Wife, novelist Curtis Sittenfeld fleshes out the interior life of our enigmatic first lady

Laura Bush is a lot more popular than her husband, so when many W.-haters see the first lady in photos or on TV, they must wonder, How does she live with him? The speculation about the first marriage has been fueled by Laura Bush's few titillating suggestions that she might be a closet liberal whose political views, particularly on abortion and homosexuality, directly contradict her husband's. (She was a librarian, after all.) When I look at Laura Bush, I have more Us Weekly sorts of questions,

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial You See Over There By the Tidal Basin Is Not the Original

If you scroll through the National Park Service list of national park birthdays, you’ll see a September entry that seems more than a bit odd. The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the list informs us, was established on September 1, 1959. Whoa! Can that possibly be true? The memorial to FDR was established a lot more recently than that, wasn’t it? Indeed, a quick check of the record shows that the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial that sits on 7.5 acres of prime land near the Tida

Author of book series sends kids on a history treasure hunt

When Rick Riordan was recently researching the life of Benjamin Franklin for the first book in a new children’s fiction series about the most powerful family in the world, he came across an essay about flatulence written by the founding father better known for his experiments with electricity and awaking early. “Come on, when you’re writing for kids, that’s just a must right there,” said Mr. Riordan during an interview at the New-York Historical Society, where he sat on a bench in f

Repairing a House With Superman Ties

In comic books, Superman was born on Krypton and rocketed to Earth on the eve of his planet’s destruction. In real life, the Man of Steel was born more than 70 years ago in Cleveland, a creation of the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster. But even Superman may not have been able to save the childhood home of Mr. Siegel, who died in 1996. The house, at 10622 Kimberley Avenue in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland, has fallen into disrepair, and an online charity auctio

Henry VIII will not get fat in historically inaccurate The Tudors

The makers of BBC show The Tudors have said Henry VIII will not gain weight so that he retains his sex appeal. The show's bosses have said Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Henry in the costume drama will not be required to put on a fat suit to reflect the king's expanding waistline. Henry, who died in 1547, was thought to have grown to more than 20st, with a waist of 54in, famously needing a hoist to life him on to his horse towards the end of his life. But executive producer Morga

Henry VIII will not get fat in historically inaccurate The Tudors

The show's bosses have said Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays Henry in the costume drama will not be required to put on a fat suit to reflect the king's expanding waistline. Henry, who died in 1547, was thought to have grown to more than 20st, with a waist of 54in, famously needing a hoist to life him on to his horse towards the end of his life. But executive producer Morgan O'Sullivan said: "We still want him to be appealing. "We don't want to d

Brick by Brick, a Weekend Warrior Builds a Medieval Retirement Home

SNELLING, Calif. — Most days, the talk here among the farmers and almond growers along this stretch of two-lane blacktop 18 miles from the nearest on-ramp concerns heat units — as hot summer days are known — and the hull split that signals the approach of almond harvest season. But there is also the Kasteel Noz, the turreted brick castle with two towers and a moat that Casper Noz, a 51-year-old contractor who was born in the Netherlands, has been obsessively building by himself almo

Recalling Solzhenitsyn, the genius of socialist realism

Most of the recent tributes to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died earlier this month, have concentrated on his titanic struggle against the Soviet regime, and rightly so. But what seems to have gotten lost is the reason he was listened to in the first place - namely, his virtues as a writer. What I most remember from my first reading of"One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (published in 1962 in the journal Novy Mir) isn't just the feeling that its author had miraculously circumvente

100m pounds to secure Old Master collection (UK)

The National Galleries in London and Scotland are collaborating to secure the long-term loan of an unrivalled Old Master collection. Since 1945, the Bridgewater Collection of the Duke of Sutherland, including works by Raphael, Titian and Rembrandt, has been on public view at the National Gallery of Scotland. The Duke has offered the sale of two of these paintings by Titian, Diana & Actaeon and Diana & Callisto, in return for the long-term loan of the Bridgewater Collection.

Exhibit: 1908, When the Democrats First Came to Denver

A joint exhibit of the Denver Public Library and the Colorado Historical Society. Music performed by the Denver Municipal Band. The three songs included in this online exhibit,"Democratic Fun,""Denver Auditorium March," and"Pickles and Peppers" were originally written for the 1908 Democratic Convention. Narration by Judy Steiner from the Colorado Historical Society and script written by Myron Vallier of the Denver Public Library.

Richard Wagner kin fight for control of Bayreuth Festival

The fight for Germany's most famous cultural institution has entered its final round, with the great grand-daughters of composer Richard Wagner slugging it out for control of the Bayreuth Festival. Family feuding over the festival, a world-renowned annual celebration of Wagner's operas, has dogged the battle for succession to current director, Wolfgang Wagner. He is stepping down following this year's festival, which ended on Thursday. The question of who w

Princess Margaret linked to gangster lover in Channel 4 documentary

The late Princess Margaret is to be the subject of a second unflattering programme about her love life by Channel 4 in two months. The next documentary will allege that the Queen's sister had a sexual relationship with the notorious London gangster turned actor John Bindon. The programme, The Gangster and the Princess, will focus on her relationship with Bindon when she stayed on the Caribbean island of Mustique after the break-up of her marriage to Lord Snowdon.

'Unprecedented' Picasso exhibition planned for Paris galleries

Described as the art sensation of the season, almost 200 works by the Spanish genius and the painters who inspired him will be on display simultaneously in the Grand Palais, the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay. With works loaned from public and private collections around the world, the gigantic exhibition's aim is to bear out Picasso's claim to being heir to masters like Rembrandt, Velasquez, Cézanne and Matisse. The bulk of the tableaux – some 120 pieces – will hang in th

Art auction: National galleries scramble to keep Titians as duke cashes in

"I was staggered when I saw the works ... A new sense came upon me, a new heaven and a new Earth stood before me." So wrote William Hazlitt in 1798 when he saw the collection of old master paintings bought in France by the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. Among them were two Titian masterpieces whose net worth 210 years on may now reach £300m - which would make them easily the most valuable paintings ever sold. Yesterday the national galleries in London and Scotland announced the

New medieval reality show?

VISITORS to Scarborough Castle have the chance to find out about some of the worst jobs in history this weekend. The medieval world certainly had more than its fair share of unpleasant occupations. A castle spokeswoman said: "Children were commonly regarded as 'miniature adults', so by the time they reached 16 or 18, they would have probably already learned a trade, often following in their fathers' chosen career path. Unfortunately for some, if their parents were at the

Wellesley College museum's cherished Leger is lost, and the crate that held it may have been trashed

A prized 1921 painting by the French cubist Fernand Leger has been lost - perhaps unintentionally thrown out - by Wellesley College's Davis Museum and Cultural Center. That would be a costly mistake. Last year, the average Leger painting sold for $2.8 million. "Woman and Child" is part of an important series by Leger that applied jagged, geometric strokes to a familial theme. John McAndrew, then director of the Davis, gave the oil on canvas to the museum in 19

McCartney to perform in Israel 43 years after ban

Some 43 years after a Beatles concert was -- according to popular belief -- banned by Israel, Paul McCartney has announced he'll perform there in September. Paul McCartney says he's looking forward to playing a concert in Israel next month. The show, which will be held September 25 in Tel Aviv, had been rumored for months.... In the mid-1960s, when the Fab Four from Liverpool, England, ruled the music charts, a concert in Israel was proposed. It never happe

Divers discover amazingly preserved shipwreck of HMS London on bottom of Thames

The largest-ever post-war salvage operation on the Thames has discovered seven shipwrecks up to 350 years old. They include a warship that was blown up in 1665, a yacht converted to a Second World War gunboat, and a mystery wreck in which divers found a personalised gin bottle. The vessels, in the Thames Estuary, are just some of about 1,100 ships which went down in the whole of the river. The salvage by Wessex Archaeology and the Port of London Authorit

The crime that created Superman: Did fatal robbery spawn Man of Steel?

On the night of June 2, 1932, the world's first superhero was born — not on the mythical planet of Krypton but from a little-known tragedy on the streets of Cleveland. It was Thursday night, about 8:10 p.m., and Mitchell Siegel, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania, was in his secondhand clothing store on the near East Side. According to a police report, three men entered. One asked to see a suit of clothes and walked out without paying for it. In the commotion of the robbery, Siegel, 60, fe

Ballpoint pen artist nicknamed Bicasso recreates classics

An artist has created several recreations of famous works of art using only a ballpoint pen. Troy Howe, a former playwright, began doodling while trying to combat writers' block and as his sketches became more complex, he realised he had a hidden talent. He has now drawn pen versions of classic paintings including Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and a portrait of the Queen - all with a biro. Mr Howe, who is from