A Robot Tea Party? The art collective The AV Club of Honolulu has spent five months modifying remote-control cars, replacing the vehicles' tires with crayon casts. At this week's Robot Tea Party, visitors get to control this device on a giant sheet of paper, leaving colorful track marks in its wake, for the performance piece "Title Track." That's happening at 4 p.m. Friday at Gallery 'Iolani at Windward Community College; 236-9155; http://gallery.wcc.hawaii.edu.

— Advertiser Staff

MAKING THE CUT

PAY THE PRICE TO HIRE AN 'IDOL' SPEAKER

Talk may be cheap, but not if you're trying to hire a speaker with "American Idol" connections. The talent agency All American Speakers Bureau prices Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest in the $100,000 and above category. Too rich for your blood? Former contestants go a lot cheaper. In the $5,000 to $10,000 range, you'll find Season 2 finalist Kimberly Caldwell.

— Newsday

FINAL WORD

"Most of my friends and men in my life are non-readers. ... (But) if I went over to a man's house and there were those books about life's lessons learned from dogs, I would probably keep my clothes on."

Jessa Crispin | www.Bookslut.com blogger, in an excerpt from The New York Times