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Soap Paper How does an art museum create an exhibit that keeps the kids happy without boring adults – and vice versa? How does the brick-and-mortar museum highlight what can't be experienced online – but still provide the high-tech extras that only computers can supply?VideoCreative Connections lends hands-on experience at Dallas Museum of Art (DMN - Video/editing: Ron Baselice)05/03/2008More local/state videoView largerE-mail ClipMore VideoLocal/State VideosBrenden Morrow's winning goal in Game 6Raw video: Overturned 18-wheeler on fire, breaks in halfSpring rains roll through Dallas-Fort Worth The Dallas Museum of Art offered $27 million worth of new answers Saturday, with the grand opening of its Center for Creative Connections. A steady stream of visitors, many attracted by the special free general admission that extends through today, peered, probed and pondered the exhibition.Here: a wall of mysteriously pretty stuff that turns out on close examination to include everyday plastic straws, rubber bands, paper clips and plastic fasteners. Touch gently. There: two busts of a woman, one of soap and one of chocolate. Definitely do not touch, but the exhibit includes sniffable plastic boxes holding chocolate and soap.The item that seemed to have the highest wow! factor was a cardboard chair. That's not a typo. Architect Frank Gehry first designed his "Easy Edges" chair in 1971. An original is in a "no touch" zone. But smaller replicas, each one light enough for a kid to toss, were available for sitting. Children and adults seemed to have the same experience: a moment of nervous apprehension – will I break it? – followed by a surprised smile at how comfortable the chair felt."That's awesome!" said Donna Gibbs, 30, of Euless as she sat and gently rocked. She was a first-time visitor to the museum.That's the kind of reaction museum staffers are hoping for from the "Materials & Meanings" exhibition, the first for the center. The new setup includes sections with child-specific activities, but most of it is designed to grab interest from all age groups."Adults get as much out of active participation as children do," said Gail Davitt, project director for the center.Most of the DMA space is traditional museum stuff: paintings on walls, sculptures on pedestals, artifacts behind glass. Look, but not too close. And never, ever touch. The center is intended to break down the barriers between the viewers and selected items of art.The Wave, a painting by the French artist Gustave Courbet, is a particularly good example of how some artists use thick layers of paint. In the center, it's covered with a plastic case a few inches from the canvas. The case has a movable magnifying glass that offers the kind of close-up view normally reserved for art experts.A religious sculpture from Congo – a wood figure pierced with nails – is paired with a computer kiosk where viewers can touch a screen for explanations of what various parts of the statue would have meant a century ago to the people who used it.The chocolate and soap sculptures are by Janine Antoni, who licked the chocolate and bathed with the soap to change the appearance of each. A metal desk curves around the busts, covered with magnetic words that viewers are invited to turn into prose or poetry that lasts only until the next visitor decides to use one of the words: "I like delicious creamy luscious brown." "Slow weakness women melt until they clean it up." "The bumpy unseen classical within flesh."The goal, museum officials say, is for visitors to the center to transfer their experience to the rest of the museum, and to think differently about what they see.Marlene Rodriguez of Garland was there Saturday with her son, 9, and two children of a friend. They watched intently as Ellen Buie Niewyk demonstrated how ancient jewelers converted ingots of silver into rings, necklaces and earrings.Ms. Rodriguez seemed to be having as much fun as the kids. The cardboard chairs, they all agreed, were a highlight."I was kind of scared when they told the children to sit down," Ms. Rodriguez said.Ms. Niewyk was part of the special grand opening programming that also included a Mayan music and dance group, a painting demonstration, and ubiquitous examples of the red bull's-eye logo and canine mascot of one of the important corporate sponsors.While the designers hope the center will snag the interest of adults, some of Saturday's visitors were glad that it was diverting for their children."We go to see the art, but the kids get tired of it," said Polona Brooks, 34, of Garland. "This is good because it's not just 'don't touch it' all the time."

Ladies Brief A good comeback is like a great third act in American lives; it's the triumphant return, the end of the story. James Cagney retired in 1961, then made a triumphant comeback in 1981 with Ragtime. But a good movie never deals with the aftermath of the comeback. Just as often as not, the comeback leads to nothing. Cagney died a few years after the hubbub. Though we all love a good comeback, the following is a list of comebacks that weren't the end of the story, and didn't provide the inspiring coda that they could have.1. Sylvester Stallone in Cop Land (1997)Stallone's is one of the most fascinating, dramatic careers in cinema. His fame is so huge that his name and face -- or at least his characters -- are known the world over. He had a fairytale rise to fame with Rocky (1976), complete with tales of writing it in a weekend. He has a lot of charisma, and earned an Oscar nomination for acting. He has directed eight feature films and contributed to the screenplays for nearly twenty. People whisper about how smart and savvy he is behind the scenes.Yet he has made more expensive flops than just about any other actor, alive or dead, and he's difficult to take seriously anymore; his image is that of a monosyllabic dope. In 1997, James Mangold wrote a terrific role for him, which required him to play sad, saggy, dragging rather than pumped up and heroic.He pulled it off spectacularly, even if the rest of Mangold's film doesn't quite live up to its centerpiece. Stallone should have gone on to bigger and better things, but instead, he reverted right back to brain-dead action duds like Get Carter and Driven. Interestingly, he had another small comeback recently with Rocky Balboa (2006), but again squandered it with the follow-up, this year's Rambo. Regardless, Stallone's life will someday make a great book.2. Pam Grier in Jackie Brown (1997)Grier was a box office star in another dimension, in the drive-ins and inner city theaters during the Blaxploitation days; she could "open" a movie better than most mainstream stars at the time. When that run ended, her career floundered, and she was relegated to supporting roles in forgettable films (one of her high points was in a Steven Seagal film). When Tarantino wrote this rich role for her, it looked as if his magic would work again as it had for John Travolta.She stepped up and gave an astonishing performance, exhausted, but wise. But Jackie Brown didn't draw the crowds, and Grier was unjustly overlooked during the year-end awards (although, frankly, so was Robert De Niro). And after that, the parts just didn't come in, though she did appear in Jane Campion's bizarre, breathtaking Holy Smoke (1999). On a side note, Michael Keaton (who was a big star for a brief period in the late 1980s) also appeared in this movie, and also failed to benefit from it.3. Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (1997)What was it about 1997 that brought all the old stars back in interesting roles? Perhaps everyone was trying for a Tarantino/Travolta repeat. Reynolds was once a favorite of Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Aldrich, and, of course starred in Deliverance. He was the number one box office star for five years in a row in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but mainly in substance-free films. (How many Smoky and the Bandit or Cannonball Run sequels did we really need?)Years later Paul Thomas Anderson saw that Reynolds could project a kind of fatherly tough love in his tale of a tight-knit group of porno filmmakers; he was good enough that he landed his first and only Oscar nomination (usurped by Robin Williams). Since then, he has worked steadily, but mainly in junk like The Dukes of Hazzard and the soulless 2005 remake of his own great 1974 film The Longest Yard. This year, he has worked with Uwe Boll (!) and appeared in the universally despised Deal. Is it possible that he's not quite as savvy as Stallone?4. Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream (2000)This is an example of how it usually goes in Hollywood. In the 1970s, Burstyn was among the very best available, a combination of sexy and tough, but high-quality, with memorable roles in films like The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist and Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, not to mention winning an Oscar and several other nominations. But as soon as she started to show the slightest sign of maturity, the roles began drying up.She appeared in more and more television, while her male co-stars kept working and younger actresses landed the big roles. Years later, Darren Aronofsky gave her another chance to shine with her dazzling, desperate performance as a dumpy housewife addicted to diet pills. She received her sixth Oscar nomination, but what followed? The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (bleh) and more TV. When the same thing happened to Bette Davis's career, she at least wound up with an interesting second life in exploitation and horror films (thanks to her comeback hit What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?).5. Bela Lugosi in Ninotchka (1939)One can argue that Lugosi, in Dracula (1931), is one of the most famous faces in movie history. But Lugosi's career after that slid drastically downhill, embodied by a number of increasingly cheap horror and exploitation films, eventually ending with his trio of Ed Wood flicks. His only break came in 1939 when the celebrated, irreplaceable director Ernst Lubitsch cast him in Kommissar Razinin, in this legendary comedy opposite Greta Garbo (and written by Billy Wilder).The film was a huge success and was nominated for four Oscars. I've never come across anyone who wrote much about Lugosi in this film, and I doubt he got much consideration for it, especially since his other roles the same year included Son of Frankenstein (as Ygor), the Ritz Brothers comedy The Gorilla and the sci-fi serial The Phantom Creeps. The following year, his career continued as before, and all hope of Ninotchka leading to bigger things was lost.6. Marlon Brando in The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris (both 1972)Despite having been a brute force in the 1950s, Brando was practically unemployable by 1971. His reputation as a demanding troublemaker sent financiers running for cover. These two films made a huge impact both critically and financially and Brando received Oscar nominations for both (Tango was released in America the following year). However, this comeback did nothing to restore Brando to his former glory. Rather, although he was now a box office draw, he continued on his stubborn, difficult streak.His performances were unnecessarily showy (The Missouri Breaks) or expensive (Superman, Apocalypse Now) or both, his films flopped as often as they hit (Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, The Island of Dr. Moreau) and some were deemed un-releasable (The Brave, Free Money). On the other hand, I find that Brando in this late period found a new kind of warmth and lightness missing from his early work, especially in comedies like The Freshman and Don Juan DeMarco and in lightweight entertainments like The Score. He also earned his eighth and final Oscar nomination in 1989 for A Dry White Season. So maybe a little humility was a good thing!7. Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy (1983)Jerry Lewis was one of the top U.S. box office draws in the 1950s (with Dean Martin) and in the 1960s (solo). He directed some of the most visually inventive comedies of that period, with The Bellboy (1960), The Ladies Man (1961) and The Nutty Professor (1963), among others. At some point toward the end of the decade, his career simply crashed. Lewis attempted to direct again in the early 1980s with Cracking Up, and though the French loved it (they viewed him as an auteur), it flopped here.But at the same time, Martin Scorsese showed that Lewis could still be a powerful presence, taking his sense of humor and veering it toward darkness. The King of Comedy is an undisputed classic today, and if it had been understood as such back then, things might have been different. Lewis might have had the chance to participate more directly in things like the 1996 Nutty Professor remake, or better still, to keep making his own films. On the plus side, he has continued to turn up sporadically in interesting things like Arizona Dream (1993) and Funny Bones (1995).

Ladies Panty With spring finally arriving in all of it's green glory, I find myself, like many others, yearning to shake off the settled winter dust and move again.Swimsuit season is around the corner, and this year, I'm determined to have the guts (and not the "gut") to slip into one.Like many women, I struggle with weight loss and gain. It's a battle I have fought since I was first introduced to Doritos and Burger King.I am a deep-fried junkie. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be hired to work at a women's gym, and there I learned just how important being fit and healthy is to self-esteem.However, since leaving the gym a little over a year ago, I have been slacking on my daily exercise routine, spooning hearty second servings onto my plate and bundling up in front of the television during the long, cold winter months.As a result, I've packed on a sturdy 30 pounds (yikes!) and often find myself sluggish, cranky or tired. It wasn't until spring officially arrived, that I realized just how out of shape I was.In case you're wondering "What does this have to do with being a single woman?" the answer is "everything!"The key to happiness is confidence in yourself, and all women, single, married or divorced, deserve to feel the joy that comes from being proud of themselves.#The goal for the "slightly-fluffy" single gal isn't to lose weight to capture a man's attention, it's to take control of her health and body. Once you have control of body (and I have to stress here that this must be done in a healthy way, ladies) you literally feel as if you can take over the world. (And you can, you stone-cold fox!)Like many things in my life, the answer to my "how do I get active again?" found it's way to me.While checking my messages on MySpace, I found a friend request by a group called "Pittsfield Panty Raid."Wary at first, I decided to check out the page, just to see what it was about.As if God himself had handed me a gift, perfectly wrapped in a sunshine bow, I discovered that "Pittsfield Panty Raid" is a group of women who want to start a roller-derby team in Western Mass. Yes, dreams really do come true.I immediately accepted their request and went to the introductory meeting last Friday.I was euphoric when I heard the reasons why "Tara Heartout" and "Punky Bruised Her" (their derby league names) decided to start a team in the first place."Tara" explained that she wanted women to have another option for social activity in Berkshire County, besides just going out to bars. These girls wanted to give women the chance to empower themselves and have fun while doing it.I admit, it was a little intimidating. I arrived at the meeting, not knowing any of the other girls and not having strapped on skates in nearly 14 years.#The coaches, and their friends, were more than helpful and positive with helping me get over my anxiety. Before the end of the night, I was cautiously circling the skating rink on borrowed skates and feeling like this could be a great thing for me, and other women in Berkshire county.After the first skate, we went back to "Tara" and "Punky's" apartment for some steaks, beer and team bonding.I left that night feeling excited and eager to attend the next practice. I vowed to my new team, that soon enough, I was going to be able to moonwalk in my skates. And I will, mark my words.Spring is the time for new growth and new beginnings. It's nature's way of starting over, so why couldn't it be yours as well?#Got a loser boyfriend who lives off Cheetos and cheap beer? Dump him and start walking a mile a day.Got a great husband who loves you and worships you like the living Goddess you are? Join a gym and let him bask in the glory of your new self confidence.Got a muffin-top that won't tuck into the top of your jeans? Find an activity that makes you break a sweat, and then crack a grin, when you're finished. Now's the time to get out, get healthy and get happy.If there are any other women out there interested in joining the derby team, or who simply want more information, you can visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/pittsfieldrollerderby or directly through e-mail by contacting them at Rollerraidsk8@yahoo.com.

Knitted Set SUPPORTERS of a village chapel near Driffield have paid tribute to a former stalwart by knitting teddybears of hope to be sent to children around the world.The worshippers at Kilham Methodist Chapel have given their support to the British branch of Teddies For Tragedies, an international movement where supporters make bears from the same knitting and crochet patterns.Teddies made in this country are mostly despatched to either Africa, Asia or Eastern Europe.The appeal was launched at a coffee morning held at the chapel, which also supported chapel funds. Visitors to the event, which raised ￡293 for ongoing maintenance of the chapel, also enjoyed an organ recital by Ruth Nicholson.The Minister, the Rev Rosemary Nicholls, told the Driffield Post that the teddies were being made in tribute to Angela Smaile, who died suddenly last year.Mrs Smaile had been the inspiration behind the campaign for a set of new woollen kneelers which were dedicated at the chapel's centenary celebrations shortly before her death.Around 70 bears have been knitted since the scheme, which was the brainchild of Mrs Audrey Forbes, was launched. A knitters and stuffers club has also been formed.And Mrs Nicholls said the scheme had also caught the imagination well beyond Kilham.She said: "It's really taken off. People at my other chapel in Flamborough are knitting teddies."My mother took a pattern back to Castleford and she is asking people there to knit them."Anyone who would like to help is asked to contact either Mrs Nicholls on (01262) 673159 or Mrs Forbes, tel (01262) 420085.

Jean Button FARMINGTON — Steven Simkins, 9, was a miniature pirate. Sporting a mustache and goatee, he stood in front of an ocean backdrop. His wrist was extended as he looked down and encouraged a passer-by to press the button on his arm. Once pressed, Simkins sprang to life, a pirate in action.The third-grade student at Ladera Elementary School told the story of French pirate Jean Lafitte. He knew the pirate's birth and death dates and important events his life.Jean Lafitte was that special someone in history who made an impact on the child's life and imagination. Other children at the school discovered their historical mentors from Albert Einstein and Betsy Ross to Walt Disney, Thomas Edison or Sacajawea.Then the children became them for a day on May 1 during the school's annual Living History Museum."I like pirates a lot," Simkins said. "I wanted to be Black Bird (Beard), but my mom said he wasn't a good person."Simkins, dressed like Jean Lafitte, said the pirate became a hero in the Battle of 1812. "He saved New Orleans."Next to Simkins was Zachary Halpain, 9, as Walt Disney. "I love Mickey Mouse," the child said.Davey Crockett was Tanner Lusk's hero, "because he's cool," the 9-year-old Lusk said.Ariana Young, 8, discovered a role model in Annie Dodge Wauneka. "She was a Native American and she was a good teacher and a doctor," Young said.Young selected Wauneka after learning about the American Indian woman from her mother, Adriana Young. "I would like to be like her (Wauneka) when I grow up," Ariana said.The children spent several weeks working on the Living History Museum, a project that used several modalities of teaching. They gathered facts through research on the Internet and in the library. They organized those facts into a research paper.They also made paper dolls of their characters, and then dressed up like them on the day of the presentation. "All sorts of creativity goes into it," said Kathy Merrion, a third-grade teacher at Ladera.One of the favorite aspects of the project was the child's ability to select his or her own character. "I could do whatever I wanted. I could pick anybody," Young said.The students were introduced to several historical people with an emphasis being placed on the person's characteristics, said Wendy Carpenter, another third grade teacher at the school."We talked to the kids about different characters in history. We emphasized what character traits made these people — who they were and did they have courage or determination," Carpenter said.Once the character was selected, the research began. After all aspects of the project were completed it culminated in the Living History Museum, during which students from other classes paraded through the third grade to learn about history.The third-graders were enthusiastically sticking out their wrists and encouraging fellow students and adults to press their button, so they could come to life and give their presentation."It's a confidence builder," Merrion said.Even shy children were excited about their costumes and characters, anxious to share their new-found knowledge.

Fresh Carrot For 45 minutes the toddler's screams pierced the thin walls of his mother's two-bedroom apartment, until a neighbor finally called the cops. His mother was used to screaming from her unusual child, who cried for hours if she simply laughed while watching television. But Lillie Addams felt sick when a police officer stopped them to check her son for bruises as they walked to the park. The officer quickly realized there was no attack -- he was just one of "those kinds of kids" -- but his mother wouldn't know the kind was autistic for two more years. "Check it out, buddy. If you keep it up, they are going to take you away," the one-time ballet dancer told her son once the officer let them go. Then she sat on a park bench and cried for an hour. Children have autism, but parents are often invisible casualties. Their child's disorder ricochets through their lives, breaking up marriages, draining bank accounts and robbing them of sleep. University of Washington researchers found these parents, among all with disabled children, suffer the highest levels of depression and anxiety symptoms, and parenting stress. Since Sharky was diagnosed, his mother has dealt with depression, chest-seizing anxiety attacks, insomnia and incessant guilt that she wasn't doing enough. "It's this overwhelming sense of powerlessness," Addams said. "I feel blamed by society, by insurance companies. As if it was somehow our fault." Seattle may be a leading center for autism research and treatment, but its therapists and the medical community can't handle the growing number of families dealing with the disorder. Today, as many as one in 150 children are diagnosed with autism, up from three to four out of 10,000 a decade ago. More than a year after Sharky's diagnosis, the Addams family felt alone and stressed. Without a map for treatment, they, like other Seattle parents of autistic children, were stuck in a maze of therapies for a disorder with no cure. There are few insurance plans that cover touted behavioral treatments and not enough therapists or slots at specialized schools. Parents can wait 18 months for services -- after doctors urge them to begin treatment quickly -- and pay tens of thousands of dollars a year out of their own pockets for therapy. Over the past year and a half, Sharky's three parents -- Lillie, her ex-husband, Ted Munat, and her partner, Stormy Addams -- have visited a dozen doctors, therapists and classrooms, yet they still can't fill big gaps in their son's treatment. "Everywhere we have gone they are pushing you in different directions," Stormy Addams, 43, said. "Or they are pushing against you." On a cool afternoon in April 2007 while many 4-year-olds play at nearby Miller Park, Sharky comes home from school and stays inside his Capitol Hill apartment, running across the wood floors like any kid his age, and talking about Spider-Man and Big Wheels. But he runs across the same area again and again, his ponytail and hands flapping around him, uttering words often impossible to understand. By his third birthday, this engaging child had choked a baby and wanted to kill the family cat. His behavior meant there were no raucous birthday parties, play dates or big dinners out for this family because Sharky could get overstimulated, lash out and throw tantrums that lasted for hours, or simply invite unwanted glares and advice from others parents. "Our world has become very small," said Lillie Addams, a registered nurse at Group Health Inc.'s cardiac unit. The Seattle P-I talked to families, therapists and researchers around Seattle dealing with autism who echoed her alienation, anxiety and lack of support.