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Friday, August 29, 2008

FEATURES

 
Bicyclists in big cities are turning to the Internet for the safest or most scenic routes to work, school or the grocery store. Cyclists in Baton Rouge use the Internet to plan routes, but, mostly, they learn the best routes through personal experience and talking to other road warriors.

Debbie Cook, owner of Sanctuary, a gift store in a former Baptist church near the intersection of Highland Road and Kenilworth Parkway, asked landscape contractor Frank Zachariah to plant “something colorful” in the flower bed beside busy Highland Road. Zachariah, who uses dramatic plant color in beds around town, put in Amaranthus Illumination.

Three years ago, an editor of a national magazine asked me to write a travel piece explaining the wonders of Cajun country to the rest of America.

U.S. presidents, congressmen, governors and other famous men and women have graced the halls of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. St. Joseph’s Academy senior Destani Parker, 17, may not yet be famous, but she thinks she might understand the secret behind the academic successes of Harvard attendees.

Each week The Advocate asks a different “quiz taker” for his or her current favorites in pop culture.

Exercise can be the best thing for a healthy back. Exercise tapes can be the best thing for a healthy physical therapy business. “Tae Bo was great for my business; Jane Fonda was great for the business,” physical therapist Gus Gutierrez said, speaking Saturday at the Louisiana Men’s Health Conference.

When I see advertisements for how big the lottery jackpot has grown, I sometimes daydream of what I could do with a gazillion dollars. Lots of travel to exotic places might top my list. The trip my youngest son and I have planned to New Zeeland would happen as soon as I cashed in the winning ticket.

Dr. Thomas Guillot has always loved music. It’s a family tradition. He started playing piano when he was 7, picked up the trombone while in eighth grade and a Redemptorist High School classmate, Randy Rea, taught him to play the guitar.

Gasoline won’t power a thing on the 700-pound, solar-powered car parked inside the technology building at Baton Rouge Magnet High School. Two-hundred pounds of solar panels will fuel the car down a 600-mile stretch of highway.

Short hair, short shorts, great look. The subject of this week’s Style File, where we catch people out and about, got it all right.

When you hear the phrase Renaissance man, the image that comes to mind is not of a 32-year-old, ponytailed, New Age rocker. But there’s no better way to describe J. Lamm. He plays piano, guitar (both regular and bass), drums and violin. He sings. He paints in acrylics, oils and mixed media. At the moment he’s working on a painting that includes an MP3 player and music.

It’s not just the music, it’s the style. When Southern University’s Human Jukebox struts on to the field, the striking dark blue uniforms with their sky blue chest plates demand attention.

There’s never been a fundraiser quite like this one. Come hear Hawaii’s No. 1 band, HAPA, and join in the fun.

Fantasy, adventure, an evil queen, a kidnapped princess, a noble prince and a feather-covered bird catcher — those are a few of the ingredients of one entertaining opera.

Treasures that have been locked away for decades in the archives at Southern University have moved from the vault to the World Wide Web.

Religion Bulletins for Aug. 23, 2008

Though the Hebrew word in the name might suggest otherwise, Echad Awakening is not a Jewish organization. Patti W. Fox, 56, doesn’t consider her new nonprofit organization religious, either.

This year, Sept. 1 coincides with the beginning of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This is also the beginning of the monthlong fast Ramadan (pronounced rom-a-DON). The annual fast is one of the Five Pillars or practices required in Muslim life.

DENHAM SPRINGS — The Rev. Leslie Stephens is doing something only one other female Methodist minister has done in Louisiana — starting a church from scratch. Stephens and two male ministers embarked last year on an ambitious mission by the Louisiana Conference to plant three new United Methodist churches in Prairieville, Ponchatoula and the Denham Springs area.

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