MANUAL
Hand
in the life of ... // A HOOPSDANCER living vicariously through others is ok with us.
Photo by Patrick De Oliveira
Hoopdancer Luna Breeze can swing a hula hoop in ways the average 8-year-old would never dream of.
Luna Breeze has a special circle in which she's always happy. It's her hula hoop.
"When you're inside the hoop it's hard not to smile. You just let go of all outside worries," Breeze says.
Breeze, whose real name is Brie Blakeman, is a member of a growing community of hoopdancers.
Hoopdancing is a mixture of circus arts and modern dance — something very different than the images of kindergartners during recess that the name evokes.
Breeze, who lives in Kansas City, Mo., first started hoopdancing after seeing it performed at String Cheese Incident concerts. She learned her first trick at a music festival. Now she performs at corporate events, festivals, teaches hoopdancing classes and busks. She's even been to India twice to perform.
"If someone would have told me that I would've been making a living out of hula hooping I would have laughed at them," Breeze says.
But even though Breeze is making a living out of hoopdancing, she still faces skepticism from certain people. She says that when she tells others what she does, some people will laugh, but as soon as they see her in action, they realize that it's serious business and requires lots of talent.
// PATRICK DE OLIVEIRA
get some culture // GUESS WHO?
it's not all about fast food and beer pong.
How often do you get to see Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn on the wall of a parking garage?
Tonight may be your last chance. And it's free.
The final night of the Downtown Lawrence Film Festival will feature Tracy and Hepburn, whose high-yielding partnership is the theme of this year's festival, along with Sidney Poitier, in the classic Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
When first released in 1967, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was groundbreaking because it dealt with the subject of interracial marriage, which at the time was still illegal in several states.
Jane Pennington, director of Downtown Lawrence Inc, which is promoting the festival, says the film would be interesting for students because it helps give a better understanding of how far the country has come in terms of race relation.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was also Tracy and Hepburn's last film together, marking the
Contributed photo
Sidney Potter, that's who. Poitier starred alongside Tracy and Hepburn in the ground-breaking 1967 film showing tonight for free downtown.
end of a rich cooperation. Tracy died shortly after the filming ended.
Attendees should bring their lawn chairs and blankets to the vacant lot at the 9th and New Hampshire streets intersection.
The movie begins at 9:15 p.m., and before that there will be live music and free popcorn.
// PATRICK DE OLIVEIRA
essential life skills // TACKLING THE STACKS in case of emergency, read quickly.
The stacks in Watson Library can be a daunting place. There is row after row of books, organized in some mysterious order, and trying to find a specific book can be quite the task.
Sierra Amon, Lawrence sophomore, works at Watson Library shelving books. She says that the easiest way to go about finding a book is looking up the call number online at lib.ku.edu, and then looking at the stacks map. This shows you what call numbers are on what floor, and will point you to the right vicinity. For example, the call number PS3564.1362 T56 would be found in the center stacks on the fourth floor. Once you get to the fourth floor of the center stacks, you have to read the signs at the end of the shelves to find the right number range and keep looking at the books until you find the number that matches. Amon says that what confuses people the most are the half floors and how to access the west, center and east stacks.
Amon often fields questions from students about where to find a certain book. She says sometimes they get confused when she explains, so she directs them to the employees at the main circulation desk, who are used to helping the lost.
Photo by Andrea Olsen
Kelsey Smith, Council Grove sophomore, works at the circulation desk at Watson. She says she answers many questions each day regarding
A dark and scary place. Finding books in Watson Library can be a daunting task,but using stack maps and asking staff members can help.
how to find books in the stacks. The start of the semester is the busiest time for these types of questions, but Smith says most of the people who are lost are students of all ages who have never been in the library.
"Once they get in to the stacks it can be a little bit intimidating to them, but once you know where you are going and how to find your call number it's a lot easier," Smith says.
// ANDREA OLSEN
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