Spirit

At Tales of the Cocktail, an annual drinks convention held last week in New Orleans, there was no spirit or cocktail ingredient you couldn't try. (Goji liqueur from organic berries, anyone? Vinegar-spiked cocktails? Czech liqueur? Mushroom bitters?) With bartenders from around the world gathered in one place, and all kinds of drinks available for sampling, conversations flowed as easily as the cocktails. Here are a few things folks were buzzing about at this meeting of the spiritually-minded.

Paul Brannigan, the untrained actor who stars in Ken Loach's latest movie, has gone from being unemployed in a rough Glasgow neighborhood to nude scenes with Scarlett Johansson. But he still doesn't have a job. That says something for the veracity of "The Angels' Share," a rare dram of comedy from Loach that raises issues of youth unemployment and urban violence in a Scottish caper tale. Brannigan carries the film as Robbie, a troubled lad who discovers he has a nose for fine whiskey.

Pop Leona Lewis Echo J. Records / Syco Music ESSENTIAL “Outta My Head’’ Leona Lewis made history by having last year’s biggest-selling single, “Bleeding Love,’’ from her debut, “Spirit.’’ It capped a remarkable year for the ingenue who won Britain’s “The X Factor’’ talent show in 2006 with her surefooted contemporary R&B that reminded most everyone of early Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston....

All the lovely singing fails to save the Vienna State Opera's new production of Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito. " No less an expert than Richard Wagner called Mozart's last opera "stiff and dry. " And that's how the work came across at its latest reincarnation on Thursday. Musically, the evening was a treat. In her role as Sesto, Elina Garanca's big mezzo voice easily powered into effortless crescendos that rode atop the orchestra before throttling down with equal aplomb to perform delicate passages allowing solo woodwinds to shine through.

RE "WHERE ‘try again' finds victory" (Page A1, Sept. 14): I was part of an unusually small high school class where the motto of our girls' athletic coach was: It's not in winning, but in playing well. Sometimes we won, sometimes we lost, but we always tried to do our best because we didn't want to embarrass our classmates, our coach, and ourselves. Kudos to Wheelock College's athletic director Diana Cutaia for reviving the spirit of striving to bring out the best in yourself and feel good about it. Susan Playfair Cohasset

With due respect to Miss Patti - because I know she could hunt me down and knock some sense into me - I'll go on record and say she underestimates her performance on "Live in Washington, D.C.," a new concert album that was previously unreleased. To hear LaBelle tell it to Newsday's Glenn Gamboa, her voice that night in 1982 "wasn't bad. " "Wasn't bad"? Please. Keep that in mind when she rips into "The Spirit's in It," ascending glorious heights like someone has just pummeled one of those carnival games, rings the bell, and wins a prize.

“On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow traveler in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck, on perceiving that he was headless! . . . They had now reached the road which turns off to Sleepy Hollow, . . . crosses the bridge famous in goblin story, and just beyond swells the green knoll on which stands the whitewashed church.’’ “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’’ Washington Irving SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. - The Old Dutch Church remains, perched upon the same green knoll where Ichabod Crane, a timid...

President Barack Obama says Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has an “incredible spirit,’’ and calls her ongoing recovery from a gunshot to the head “a genuine miracle.’’ Obama says it’s “almost unimaginable’’ that Giffords is now walking, talking and laughing. He met with the congresswoman in April at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where her husband, Mark Kelly, was preparing to lead the final mission of the space shuttle Endeavour. In an interview taped Monday, the president told NBC’s “Today’’ show that he thinks Giffords...

I WAS surprised to see the coverage of the sale of the late Rev. Peter Gomes's estate last Sunday ( "Reunion and tribute at auction Sale brings back memories of Gomes," Metro). I was one of his friends and admirers who did not attend. For me, Peter was not about "things. " I enjoyed visits with him both in Cambridge and in Plymouth, and was aware of his interest in antiques and of his collection. But somehow, it was never on that level that I connected with him. He was a man of faith and an enormous force for good in the world.

It was her favorite race: Hannah Randolph ran in the "minimarathon" every year that she went to Wellesley Middle School. "She always wanted to win it," said her father, Marshall Randolph, smiling at the memory. "But she never did. " A gifted runner and athlete, Hannah was not that competitive: It was the camaraderie that she loved. "Having her friends around her - that was a big plus," said her mother, Karen McLaughlin. "I know that they call it a race, but it was really a fun run. " On Monday, less than two months after his 15-year-old daughter was killed in a skiing accident...

Celtics fans saw a bit of the versatility of the 76ers' Evan Turner Saturday night, such as when he easily made a midrange jumper over Rajon Rondo or soared for a rebound to begin a Philadelphia fast break. While Turner may have struggled against some other NBA clubs, he has turned into a problem for the Celtics. At 6 feet 7 inches, Turner is a difficult matchup because he can play point guard, has the offensive skills of a shooting guard, and the size of a small forward. While he is one of a handful of potential cornerstones for the 76ers, he is the most intriguing.

As London gears up for the 2012 Olympics, critics have their knives out. Most locals have been unable to get tickets, rents have skyrocketed, and the sports venues are draped in corporate branding. In newspaper columns and in conversation, the country is bemoaning what has happened to the Olympics: The games have become a carnival of commercialism, celebrity culture, corporate and political jostling, and security wonkery. These are hardly problems unique to the London games.

I'm getting married this year, and last week I met two of my future in-laws, Great Aunt and Uncle Atwell. I was told that the Atwells are "true readers," and, in a whisper as we walked to their front door, "wait until you see the house. " It took me some time to piece together the relationship between these two pieces of intelligence. Once inside, it was the abundance of doilies and tablecloths that first leapt out. No surface escaped the crusade of cloth involving at least one, but more often two, lengths of fabric strategically draped to avoid...

‘Don't think too hard. Think with your heart. Let's go. " Marc Bamuthi Joseph is conducting a WallTalk workshop at the Institute of Contemporary Art's theater. The kids are middle and high school students from Young Achievers Pilot School, Dorchester Academy, Urban Science Academy, and McKinley South End Academy; WallTalk is an ICA art and writing program designed to improve their critical thinking and verbal literacy. On his easel, Joseph has written the title of Ntozake Shange's 1975 choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

Facing a wave of criticism, the chief executive of Spirit Airlines reversed his position on refusing a terminally-ill 76-year-old Florida veteran's request for a $197 ticket refund. Chief executive Ben Baldanza said that he would give Jerry Meekins of Clearwater, Fla., a refund and that Spirit would make a $5,000 contribution in the name of the veteran to the nonprofit organization Wounded Warrior Project. Meekins, a Vietnam veteran, bought tickets to visit his daughter in New Jersey, but then was diagnosed with terminal esophageal cancer and his doctor judged him too...

One of the last studio recordings by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Levon Helm was also one of the closest to his heart. Helm, his longtime friend and producer Larry Campbell and a crew of musicians and technicians recorded the rhythm track for the new Amnesty International 50th anniversary commemorative song "Toast to Freedom" last summer and helped recruit stars like Ewan McGregor, Kris Kristofferson, Warren Haynes, Keb Mo, Carly Simon, Taj...

Back in 2003, when Mayor Menino launched (ähts): The Boston Arts Festival , the celebration of our city’s cultural life was a one-day deal. The event has grown into a three-day extravaganza highlighting work by more than 60 juried visual artists and live performances on two stages. Partcipants include the Boston Ballet, BalletRox (pictured), Melissa Ferrick, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra, Zili Misik, Gentlemen Hall, and City Stage in “A Kidsummer Night’s Dream.’’ Speaking of children, there’ll be a special area just for them with interactive mural painting, glass blowing demos, and...

Ask the average person to describe a muse, and the answer probably won't be a British neurologist. And yet the writings of Oliver Sacks have inspired three plays by theatrical giants, as well as the film "Awakenings. " Harold Pinter wrote "A Kind of Alaska" in 1982 about a woman who wakes from a coma and thinks she is still a young girl. Brian Friel created "Molly Sweeney" in 1994 about a vivacious blind woman who loses her lust for life when sight is restored. Now the Nora Theatre Company has staged "The Man Who," first performed in 1994 and written by...

By Gary Washburn, Globe Staff The Celtics received an unexpected guest for Thursday's season-finale against the Milwaukee Bucks as former forward Chris Wilcox watched the game from a baseline seat, his first Celtics game since undergoing surgery for an enlarged aorta on March 29. Wilcox said he will be able to resume basketball activities in three months and will be available to play in the NBA next season. "I'm feeling good man, I'm feeling a whole lot better," he said at halftime of the Celtics-Bucks game.

Olympic spirit is in the air. With less than 100 days until the opening ceremonies in London, the international sporting event is a reminder that, despite everything, the world still knows how to throw a party. Even the most cynical of us become true believers in universal good watching the most fit men and women compete. About those women, though. There is still one major exception to the celebration of all athletes. Saudi Arabia now stands alone as the only country competing without female participation.