• Michael Huebner - Arts come into focus as presidential race comes down to the wire
Barack Obama scores higher than John McCain when it comes to arts and arts education, according to a report by the lobbying group Americans for the Arts.

• Grab your flashlight and get in on an Alabama ghost hunt
Standing in a darkened room, wearing a flashlight that clips to my head, I'm frantically writing notes - ambient temperature, electromagnetic field reading - all the time keeping my eye on the K2 meter. From time to time, someone in the room with me calls out "Flash" and clicks the shutter on a camera.

• Local best-sellers in Birmingham -
ALABAMA BOOKSMITH 1. "Family Bible" by Melissa Delbridge 2. "The Bible Salesman" by Clyde Edgerton 3. "Prince of Frogtown" by Rick Bragg 4. "Trail of Crumbs" by Kim Sunee 5. "Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows:

• SILVER SCREEN AT THE VST TUE 7:30 p.m. $8 Virginia Samford Theatre, Martha Moore Sykes Studio, 1116 26th St. South. Movie night. The movie "Once," presented by the Virginia Samford Theatre. 251-1206.
MUSIC:

• Turtle Island String Quartet, Assads combine instruments, styles
DETAILSWhat: Turtle Island String Quartet with the Assad Brothers: "String Theory."

• TRAVELOGUE
Adventure Travel has fall show:

• American gems played with verve
Chamber music that's made in America can be a hard sell, even if your string quartet has "American" in its name.

• Alabama Symphony video game music concert scores
Video Games Live, an amalgam of video montages and game scores performed by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, descended on the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex with all the subtlety of a digital air raid.

• Three days of Middle Eastern food
St. George's Middle Eastern Food Festival kicked off Thursday with entertainment, cultural booths and, of course, plenty of food. Parishioners at Birmingham's Melkite Greek Catholic Church, where the three-day festival is held, started preparing pastries for the festival in August and rolled grape leaves and baked kibbee for the event last month. About 8,000 people attended last year's festival to partake of the menu that includes spinach pie, baked chicken, hummus and Middle Eastern pastries such as baklava and mamoul. Lunch hours are 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. each day and dinner 4-9 p.m. The festival also offers drive-through service 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for lunch and 4-7 p.m. for dinner.

• Brazilian maid hates cleaning, involves others
"The Clean House" is an odd little play.

• Samford arts dean Joseph Hopkins meshes drama with robust singing
Samford University's singing dean nearly made you forget there was a presidential debate going on and a financial crisis to deal with.

• "Birmingham Rocks! History and use of Native Sandstone in our Landscape and Architecture"
"Birmingham Rocks! History and use of Native Sandstone in our Landscape and Architecture" Thur 8/31 Vulcan Park and Museum. Videos, interviews and photographs exploring the geology of sandstone, an abundant resource in Birmingham.

• Health Department Restaurant Ratings
The Jefferson and Shelby County departments of health regularly inspect all establishments where food is prepared or sold for human consumption. These scored inspections were made without prior notification of the food service owner, operator or employees.

• American String Quartet to perform music by American composers at Birmingham's Alys Stephens Center
What: American String Quartet: Peter Winograd and Laurie Carney, violinists; Daniel Avshalomov, violist; Wolfram Koessel, cellist

• Quick Trip: Discover haunted New Orleans
A female bartender of an other-worldly nature. A dark-haired male spirit who wanders in a courtyard. A bit strange for some places.

• Local best-sellers in Birmingham -
Alabama Booksmith 1. "Family Bible" by Melissa Delbridge 2. "The Prince of Frogtown" by Rick Bragg 3. "Trail of Crumbs" by Kim Sunee 4. "City of Thieves" by David Benioff 5. "Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Annie Fiery Bowers and Mary Ann Shaffer:

• Red Mountain Theatre Company
MUSIC: "Dreamgirls" Sun, 10/12 & 19 2 p.m. THU - SAT & 10/16 - 18 7:30 p.m.; $30 Red Mountain Theatre Company, Cabaret Theatre, 301 19th St. North. Presented by Red Mountain Theatre Company. 324-2424. www.redmountaintheatre.org

• Alabama Symphony, UAB Chamber Choir joined by lasers, video game footage
BJCC Concert Hall's dazzling new lobby areas will be matcheBJCC Concert Hall's dazzling new lobby areas will be matched Thursday by an array of lasers and videos Thursday, with live music from the Alabama Symphony and UAB Chamber Choir.

• George Culver to lead Birmingham Children's Theatre
Birmingham Children's Theatre has a new leader.

• Travelogue
NCL returns to New Orleans: James Keller of Adventure Travel reports that Norwegian Cruise Line is returning to New Orleans beginning Nov. 23.