Ruby

Nostalgia in America has mostly focused on the 1950s, a simpler, safer, happier time, etc. Ruby's avoids the cliche by going all the way back to the 1940s. The upside is the sleek, clean, art deco design that permeates every Ruby's restaurant. The downside is that it's hard to be nostalgic for a decade that gave us World War II, the Holocaust and de jure racism. Of course, it's better than the next inevitable trend: '70s nostalgia. Waiters and waitresses in bell-bottoms and flare-collar, purple shirts; lava lamps and strobe-light decor.

When Ruby Lee Gissing speeds out of backwoods Tennessee like greased lightning, it's because, as she later explains to a new friend, she has made it to young adulthood "without getting pregnant or beat up. " From the looks of Ruby's peevish ex reflected in her rearview mirror, this is some accomplishment. Ruby in Paradise is the involving, lovely story of this angel-faced woman and her travels to the Florida panhandle, where she may or may not find the man of her dreams on the Redneck Riviera, but she will most definitely find herself.

An episode of "Sex and the City" just may have saved the day for a struggling segment of American agriculture. The Florida Department of Citrus jumped all over a chance to promote its faltering grapefruit market when the high-maintenance women of the popular HBO show were seen sipping grapefruit martinis. "After that episode ran, we all screamed, 'Did you see that?' They had been drinking cosmos on the show for so long," Michelle Chandler told an Associated Press reporter.

A 38-year-old man was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself Friday evening inside a Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Southwest Philadelphia. Around 6:30 p.m. in the restaurant at 8680 Bartram Ave., the man stood up and reached into his pocket, causing his gun to fire into the left side of his groin. He was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police said his injury did not appear life-threatening.    -Robert Moran

Here's one you won't hear very often: a guy defending a woman's right to be fat. But that's what I'm doing in defending, nay, praising Ruby, the computer-generated poster child for women who wear a size 18. She was part of the campaign by beauty-product retailer the Body Shop to strike a blow against this nation's obsession with the bone-thin look - and damn it, I want her back. There are a number of reasons - selfish and unselfish - why I'm enamored of Ruby. Selfish reason: I hope she will cut down on the number of "Do I look fat in this?"

Every fan of the successful mother-daughter country act The Judds has noticed that Naomi is a beautiful woman with a nice voice and that her daughter, Wynonna, has a nice voice. If you wondered what happened to Naomi's looks, the answer is they went to her other daughter, Ashley, engaging star of the new independent picture "Ruby in Paradise. " "Ruby in Paradise" has won widespread attention for its sensitive look at a troubled, confused young woman (Judd) learning to understand and assert herself.

Feet in tiptoe condition? Eyes like a hawk's? If so, head on over to Old City on Oct. 2, when the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Old City Arts Association team up for the "First Friday" fall open-house series. "Ruby Friday," as they're calling it, named for choreographer George Balanchine's Rubies ballet to be performed Oct. 14 to 18, is a scavenger hunt for red objects scattered throughout 33 art galleries, antiques shops and decorative arts showrooms. Participants spotting six red objects - in six or more locations -will be eligible to win a season's subscription to the ballet, as well as other prizes.

ATTENTION, pawnshoppers and bling buffs! If you come across an 8,500-carat ruby shaped like the Liberty Bell, find a phone and call the cops — and you'll be rewarded with riches you can put in the bank. Thieves stole the 4-pound, $2 million sparkler in November from the Stuart Kingston Galleries in Wilmington, according to the FBI. Galleries owner Jim Stein is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the capture and conviction of the robbers. Four robbers, armed with handguns and hammers, burst into the jewelry shop about 1:30 p.m. Nov. 1, tied up employees, smashed display cases and escaped with the ruby and "a large volume of high-end jewelry and diamonds," the FBI said.

Danny Aiello was working as a Greyhound dispatcher in the New York Port Authority when he heard the news. "I heard that (Lee Harvey) Oswald was shot as I was getting off, and I raced home," remembers Aiello, re-creating the moment with feverish gestures. "I got home and my wife said to me, 'A guy named Ruby did it.' Every 10 minutes on the TV, they would play that famous clip of the shooting, and every time I watched it, I would go 'Yes!' " Aiello pauses, smiles and shakes his head.

Gerry Bell became a dog's best friend, removing thorns from Ruby's ears after the retriever dove into a thicket while playing catch between Pennsylvania Avenue and Kelly Drive.

RUBY IS in limbo. She's fine with it, until it dawns on her that she's not fine at all. Directed by Ava DuVernay, "Middle of Nowhere" follows Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) as she wallows in her own inertia, eventually allowing her to break free. Once a promising medical student, Ruby drops out of school so she can be at the beck and call of her incarcerated husband, Derek ("Dark Blue's" Omari Hardwick, who starred in DuVernay's directorial debut "I Will Follow"). She takes the night shift at her nursing job so she can be home for Derek's phone calls, willingly goes into debt to fund Derek's defense, and rides the bus two hours every weekend for the short time she can visit him. Ruby is constantly in motion - on public transportation in several scenes - but she never goes anywhere.

GROWING UP in Compton, Calif., director Ava DuVernay was surrounded by people like Ruby, the main character of her award-winning feature film "Middle of Nowhere. " She calls people like Ruby women-in-waiting: They are the mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of men who are incarcerated. DuVernay always wanted to explore that world, but thought it would be in the form of a documentary. "What happens if the anchor in our lives is removed from us, whether it's [by] death, incarceration, divorce?"

IN YOUR CLASSIC Hollywood romcom, the meant-for-each-other couple meets, fights through a few obstacles and ends up together. There the movie ends. Tellingly, we never see them actually living together, because nothing intrudes on gossamer fantasies of romantic destiny like the grungy details of real life. And nothing tests real love like the imperfections of your "perfect" mate. "I think love and disgust are a lot closer than people think," Zoe Kazan, the writer and star of "Ruby Sparks" who makes that idea one of the movie's themes, said with a laugh.

ATTENTION, pawnshoppers and bling buffs! If you come across an 8,500-carat ruby shaped like the Liberty Bell, find a phone and call the cops — and you'll be rewarded with riches you can put in the bank. Thieves stole the 4-pound, $2 million sparkler in November from the Stuart Kingston Galleries in Wilmington, according to the FBI. Galleries owner Jim Stein is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the capture and conviction of the robbers. Four robbers, armed with handguns and hammers, burst into the jewelry shop about 1:30 p.m. Nov. 1, tied up employees, smashed display cases and escaped with the ruby and "a large volume of high-end jewelry and diamonds," the FBI said.

For six weeks, Lisa Maguire's chestnut-colored pony refused to walk and was barely able to hold her own weight. "If a horse can't stand," said Maguire, "it can't live. " The veterinarian said the 6-year-old horse was suffering from diabetes. But medications proved ineffective, and a Lyme disease test was negative. Worried, Maguire turned to Jennifer Dickman, an animal communicator. Performing Reiki, a Japanese healing practice, on Ruby on Christmas morning 2009, Dickman communed with the horse at Maguire's seven-acre farm in Fort Washington.

WHO WAS THAT sweet lady passing out the Watchtower at 30th Street Station? And who would dare not take a copy from so earnest and charming a devotee of the faith? It was a devotion to the Jehovah's Witnesses that on many days led Ruby Gamble to hike from Stenton Avenue to City Hall with other witnesses, buttonholing passers-by and delivering their message of hope. Then she'd track down possible converts at the train station and other venues that might offer up interested people - or at least the curious.

Who was that sweet lady passing out the Watchtower at 30th Street Station? And who would dare not take a copy from so earnest and charming a devotee of the faith? It was a devotion to the Jehovah's Witnesses that on many days led Ruby Gamble to hike from Stenton Avenue to City Hall with other witnesses, buttonholing passers-by and delivering their message of hope. Then she'd track down possible converts at the train station and other venues that might offer up interested people - or at least the curious.

A 38-year-old man was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself Friday evening inside a Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Southwest Philadelphia. Around 6:30 p.m. in the restaurant at 8680 Bartram Ave., the man stood up and reached into his pocket, causing his gun to fire into the left side of his groin. He was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police said his injury did not appear life-threatening.    -Robert Moran

Nickelodeon's bunny siblings hop into the Keswick Theatre Saturday for their new stage production Max and Ruby: Bunny Party. The play, presented by Koba Entertainment at 1 and 4 p.m., celebrates the nature of sibling relationships. Max and Ruby have many things to do in preparation for a surprise birthday party for a special mystery guest. The audience goes on an adventure as the bunnies embark on a musical bus ride to the East Bunny Hop General Store to select a birthday gift.

MILAN, Italy - Aspiring Italian starlets and Oscar-winning actor George Clooney are being called to make appearances in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges he paid for sex with an underage prostitute then tried to use his influence to cover it up. Unlike Berlusconi's other trials, Wednesday's court appearance puts his personal life under scrutiny, and a conviction could end his political career. TV crews from around the world will be on hand for the opening session - even though Berlusconi himself is not attending.