for the ARTS record

Ruby will be "dressed and ready to impress" for a blind date at the Canine Couture show next Wednesday at the MSPCA.

Geschke Lecture Series: David Gergen, Harvard University and U.S. News & World Report

The 2007 Geschke Lecture Series theme is "Leading in the Global Age." This series features speakers from a variety of fields who strive to answer the question 'In this global age, is the United States leading or following?' On Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 8 p.m., David Gergen presents a lecture at the United Methodist Church, 2 Centre Street. (Admission is $25 admission. Tickets are available at the library.)

Gergen is currently a professor of public service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership. He is also editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report. In earlier years, he served as a White House advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

Noonday Concert series

The Unitarian Church's Thursday Noonday Concert Series will present baritone Joseph Dudzinski singing spirituals in a half-hour concert on Thursday, Aug. 2. Pianist Marcia Hempel will accompany Dudzinski for the concert, which will include several arrangements by the well-known black composer Moses Hogan of favorite spirituals like "Deep River," "Were You There" and "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands."

Dudzinski is the new music director at St. Paul's Church. He has founded choruses in Toronto and in Maine. In Washington, D.C., he started the "Pipe Dreams Project" to restore a historic pipe organ, began a successful musical arts series and founded a scholarship music program for inner city youth. He recently conducted the NCMC Chorus on Nantucket in a concert of Faure's "Requiem."

The concerts are held each Thursday throughout July and August. A $5 donation at the door is suggested.

"The Daily Show" passes Cape Wind

"The Daily Show" weighs in on the Nantucket Sound Wind Farm issue Thursday, Aug. 2, 8 p.m. and again at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central. Correspondent Jason Jones filed the fake news report.

"It was like a lamb going to slaughter," Barbara Hill of Clean Power Now was quoted in The Boston Globe. "I knew they were going to poke fun at me, but there's no way we'd get this kind of exposure otherwise."

Plinka-plunkas!

Storyteller Mike Myers will present two programs at the Nantucket Atheneum on Friday, Aug. 3. The first program is musical instrument building for 20 children, ages 6 and up (11 a.m.) called "Little Hands ON." The children will be making Plinka Plunkas, and become the orchestra for the second show (at 1:00PM) appropriately names "Little Hands: A Musical Adventure." Myers' hand-made instruments will be played with his stories. Instruments include diddley bows, boing boxes, an elephant-shaped instrument with duct tape ears named Ductimba, Plinka-plunkas and shakers. Kids will get to play an instrument called Mega-Plunk 2003. Both programs are free. Space is limited. Please call 228-1110 for more information.

Alastair Crawford unveils historic Inglefield Bracelet

Alastair Crawford LLC, the dealer of antique Georg Jensen silver, launches the new Inglefield Bracelet this week with a reception on Saturday, Aug. 4, from 5 - 8 p.m. in his shop at 3 Old South Wharf. As a sailing enthusiast whose last six generations of his family served in the British Royal Navy, Alastair has designed the "Inglefield" bracelet available in sterling and 18-carat yellow gold that features sailing rope joined with a most unique and attractive nautical clasp modeled after the Inglefield shackle. Designed in 1895 by Crawford's greatgrandfather, Admiral Sir Frederick Inglefield, this shackle enables signalmen on warships to attach a number of code signal flags to a halyard in the quickest possible time - and is still used by the Royal Navy as well as by sailors around the world wherever a quick but secure fastening is required. The bracelets are hand made in London exclusively for Alastair Crawford, LLC.

In addition, Alastair Crawford, LLC is proud to sponsor the perpetual and the 2007 winner's trophy for the IOD Celebrity Invitational at Nantucket Race Week. These specially commissioned silver trophies are exquisitely handmade in sterling silver and will represent an exact half-model of the IOD sailboat. The perpetual trophy will permanently grace the Nantucket Yacht Club and Alastair Crawford, LLC has agreed to sponsor the winner's take-home trophy each year. The winner's trophy will be on display in the shop until it is awarded during the race week, which begins on August 15.

Fourth Annual Jamaican Independence Day Celebration on Nantucket

To celebrate their independence, the people of Jamaica have held weeklong celebrations - with historical re-enactments, family get-togethers and parties - since 1962. With trademark "prizes and surprises," Orville Butler is throwing another on-island party to celebrate Jamaica's 45th year of independence. Sound system Stone Love headlines the party at the Muse on Wednesday, Aug. 8 with good, conscious reggae music, according to Butler.

In Jamaica, sound systems are emcees, promoters and sound technicians wrapped up into one - they began decades ago as the people who brought turntables, speakers, microphones etc. to a location for a block party, then kept the party lively by interacting with the crowd. A pioneer of the format, Stone Love is one of the most reputable sound systems in the world. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $25.

Book signing: Mary South, "The Cure for Anything is Saltwater"

Mary South's memoir "The Cure for Anything is Saltwater" relates the quite remarkable tale of South's journey from the lackluster world of publishing to shipman's school - where she purchased a trawler, threw caution into the wind and traveled from Florida to Maine on the high seas. Reviews of the book have appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair and People magazine. South is taking her trawler up the coast for her book tour, which stops this Monday, Aug. 6. on Nantucket (where South lived year-round in the late- '80s) for a book signing at Nantucket Bookworks from 6-7:30 p.m.

The MSPCA's Canine Couture Show

"In certain circles, an air of secrecy, an undercurrent of excitement and a flurry of activity is rapidly building," wrote Pet Tracks columnist Jan Jaeger last week. "It's crunch time for the upcoming contestant owners and handlers who, along with their dogs, will soon be strutting their stuff down the runway at 21 Crooked Lane on August 8 for the second annual Canine Couture Fashion Show."

The monies raised stay on Nantucket to directly benefit Nantucket's stray, rescued and surrendered animal population and Shelter outreach programs, Jaeger reported. The Shelter is now at critical mass with the largest number of animals ever.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m., with hors d'oeuvres and pastries provided by Water Street and Two to Tango, an open bar featuring beer, wine and spirits and the specialty drink, the "Muttini." Once again, Gordon McGregor emcees the fashion show and live auction. "August 8 is a Wednesday, so this is not a late night event," Jaeger said. "But it sure packs a wallop for fun, glamour and entertainment." The tickets are $150 and are available at the MSPCA, Cold Noses, Sandy Paws and Geronimo's. Contact the Adoption Center,

825-2287, for further information. I

- Compiled by MG