Time Warp

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's decision this year to observe daylight saving time statewide was supposed to end 30 years of clock-changing confusion. Instead, it sparked a battle that could create a time zone system in the state as puzzling as a Rubik's Cube. At least 19 counties had asked to move from Eastern to Central time as of yesterday, the deadline to submit requests. If the federal government says yes to the requests, a person driving from Chicago to southwestern Indiana could go from Central time to Eastern to Central to Eastern and finally back to Central.

Gary Player was camped out under the big oak tree behind the clubhouse, signing autographs and posing for pictures as he did 50 years ago. At the many snack stands scattered around Augusta National, pimento cheese sandwiches in green wrappers were selling for 1962 prices — a buck fifty. A place stuck in a time warp, just like the men in green jackets who run it. They gathered Wednesday for their annual State of the Masters report and, despite some wilting azaleas that will make this year's Masters a bit less colorful, it seems that things have never been better in one of the last...

Howard Zinn, the historian and social activist, is best known as the author of such works as "A People's History of the United States" and "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train. " But he has also written several plays. And, as part of a yearlong celebration of his life and work, Suffolk University and Boston Playwrights' Theatre are jointly presenting a fully staged production of one of those plays, "Daughter of Venus. " The play was first produced in 1985, during the late-Cold-War-era campaign for a freeze on nuclear weapons, which is its clear inspiration.

Once upon a time? How about thrice upon a time? Why not admit we've lost count? The movies are in love with fairy tales again. "Mirror Mirror," a playful revamp of "Snow White" with Lily Collins as the heroine and Julia Roberts cracking wise as the Evil Queen, opens this Friday. Directed by the eccentric visionary Tarsem Singh Dhandwar ("The Fall"), the movie has won the battle of the competing bedtime stories, with "Snow White and the Huntsman" waiting until June 1 to hit theaters.

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW Presented by Oberon and the Gold Dust Orphans At: Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. Fridays, Oct. 14-Dec. 2. Tickets: $25-$55, students $20 day of performance. Under 18 not admitted. 866-811-4111, www.cluboberon.com CAMBRIDGE - On a Saturday afternoon at Oberon, a mostly young cast sings and dances up a storm to music the stage manager plays on a boom box. They're in rehearsal clothes, jeans and sweats and T-shirts. The director, James P. Byrne, sits on the bar, taking notes.

Gary Player was camped out under the big oak tree behind the clubhouse, signing autographs and posing for pictures as he did 50 years ago. At the many snack stands scattered around Augusta National, pimento cheese sandwiches in green wrappers were selling for 1962 prices — a buck fifty. A place stuck in a time warp, just like the men in green jackets who run it. They gathered Wednesday for their annual State of the Masters report and, despite some wilting azaleas that will make this year's Masters a bit less colorful, it seems that things have...

It was a little creepy when Dana Carvey and Mike Myers returned briefly as the "Wayne's World" duo on the MTV Movie Awards a couple of weeks ago. The stage was too big, the guys too old, the retro vibe too unironic. But Myers had a new movie to promote, and Carvey had a smaller comeback to call attention to, namely tonight's HBO stand-up special, "Dana Carvey: Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies. " And so there they were, in their wigs, partying on. Yet despite the not-so-excellent time warp, it was really nice to see Carvey again.

AT THE GREENWICH PRIME MERIDIAN, England - Just a second, 2009. It's going to take a little longer to say goodbye to the worst economic year since the Great Depression, but all for a good cause. The custodians of time will ring in the new year by tacking a "leap second" onto the clock today to account for the minute slowing of the Earth's rotation. The leap second has been used sporadically at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich since 1972, an adjustment that has kept Greenwich Mean Time the internationally agreed upon time standard.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — As a rule I don’t turn up at the racetrack in a seersucker jacket and tie, but I do here. One never knows when the Whitneys might proffer an invitation to their private box so it’s wise to be appropriately turned out, just as it was in the 19th century when this spa town was the playground for polite society. Horse racing may be disappearing from the American landscape, yet Saratoga’s gracious and leisurely allure endures in a time warp of the most pleasant sort.

I knew I liked "Life on Mars" when New York's World Trade Center appeared and I didn't feel like I was supposed to cry. ABC's new time-warp cop drama, based on a British series, re-creates the now-gone landmark to establish the fact that our present-day hero, Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara), has woken up in 1973. It's an awe-inspiring moment, not an emotionally manipulative one, as David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" blasts over the soundtrack and Sam gazes up from the street at the recently built towers.

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW Presented by Oberon and the Gold Dust Orphans At: Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. Fridays, Oct. 14-Dec. 2. Tickets: $25-$55, students $20 day of performance. Under 18 not admitted. 866-811-4111, www.cluboberon.com CAMBRIDGE - On a Saturday afternoon at Oberon, a mostly young cast sings and dances up a storm to music the stage manager plays on a boom box. They're in rehearsal clothes, jeans and sweats and T-shirts. The director, James P. Byrne, sits on the bar, taking notes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — As a rule I don’t turn up at the racetrack in a seersucker jacket and tie, but I do here. One never knows when the Whitneys might proffer an invitation to their private box so it’s wise to be appropriately turned out, just as it was in the 19th century when this spa town was the playground for polite society. Horse racing may be disappearing from the American landscape, yet Saratoga’s gracious and leisurely allure endures in a time warp of the most pleasant sort.

Howard Zinn, the historian and social activist, is best known as the author of such works as "A People's History of the United States" and "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train. " But he has also written several plays. And, as part of a yearlong celebration of his life and work, Suffolk University and Boston Playwrights' Theatre are jointly presenting a fully staged production of one of those plays, "Daughter of Venus. " The play was first produced in 1985, during the late-Cold-War-era campaign for a freeze on nuclear weapons, which is its clear inspiration.

AT THE GREENWICH PRIME MERIDIAN, England - Just a second, 2009. It's going to take a little longer to say goodbye to the worst economic year since the Great Depression, but all for a good cause. The custodians of time will ring in the new year by tacking a "leap second" onto the clock today to account for the minute slowing of the Earth's rotation. The leap second has been used sporadically at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich since 1972, an adjustment that has kept Greenwich Mean Time the internationally agreed upon time standard.

I knew I liked "Life on Mars" when New York's World Trade Center appeared and I didn't feel like I was supposed to cry. ABC's new time-warp cop drama, based on a British series, re-creates the now-gone landmark to establish the fact that our present-day hero, Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara), has woken up in 1973. It's an awe-inspiring moment, not an emotionally manipulative one, as David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" blasts over the soundtrack and Sam gazes up from the street at the recently built towers.

It was a little creepy when Dana Carvey and Mike Myers returned briefly as the "Wayne's World" duo on the MTV Movie Awards a couple of weeks ago. The stage was too big, the guys too old, the retro vibe too unironic. But Myers had a new movie to promote, and Carvey had a smaller comeback to call attention to, namely tonight's HBO stand-up special, "Dana Carvey: Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies. " And so there they were, in their wigs, partying on. Yet despite the not-so-excellent time warp, it was really nice to see Carvey again.

Television shows about boys in grade school generally involve someone getting into mischief at home ("The Suite Life of Zack & Cody") or having an adventure in the neighborhood ("Hey Arnold!"). Today, with the premiere of a charming new cartoon series, WGBH-TV is attempting something fresh. "Time Warp Trio," a 30-minute action-adventure show for children ages 6 to 11, will follow the exploits of three 10-year-old friends as they use a magic book to travel back in time. Once they arrive in the past, the boys will outwit bad guys and meet famous people.

Once upon a time? How about thrice upon a time? Why not admit we've lost count? The movies are in love with fairy tales again. "Mirror Mirror," a playful revamp of "Snow White" with Lily Collins as the heroine and Julia Roberts cracking wise as the Evil Queen, opens this Friday. Directed by the eccentric visionary Tarsem Singh Dhandwar ("The Fall"), the movie has won the battle of the competing bedtime stories, with "Snow White and the Huntsman" waiting until June 1 to hit theaters.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's decision this year to observe daylight saving time statewide was supposed to end 30 years of clock-changing confusion. Instead, it sparked a battle that could create a time zone system in the state as puzzling as a Rubik's Cube. At least 19 counties had asked to move from Eastern to Central time as of yesterday, the deadline to submit requests. If the federal government says yes to the requests, a person driving from Chicago to southwestern Indiana could go from Central time to Eastern to Central to Eastern and finally back to Central.

Television shows about boys in grade school generally involve someone getting into mischief at home ("The Suite Life of Zack & Cody") or having an adventure in the neighborhood ("Hey Arnold!"). Today, with the premiere of a charming new cartoon series, WGBH-TV is attempting something fresh. "Time Warp Trio," a 30-minute action-adventure show for children ages 6 to 11, will follow the exploits of three 10-year-old friends as they use a magic book to travel back in time. Once they arrive in the past, the boys will outwit bad guys and meet famous people.