got you all in check

See? It’s official!

ninjas!

Originally uploaded by kajrules

As seen at the Domino’s at 21st and Mithoeffer…
 

feeling hot, hot, hot

Hello from Arizona!  I’m in Scottsdale this week, training on one of the aspects of my new job.  

It is HOT out here!   The breaking-record-heat-warning-air-conditioning-cranked-and-I’m-still-sweltering type of hot.  I’ve never been to Arizona, so I’ve never experienced this desert dry roast firsthand.  Now that I have, I think I’ll take my next trip in, oh, January or something. 

I’m fascinated by the pseudo-Southwest architectural style they have going on in greater Scottsdale as well.  I say ‘pseudo’ because it reminds me a lot of “Old Town” Carmel, very manufactured and contrived.  It makes for a great theme, but there are some that are completely over the top.  It probably doesn’t help that I’m smack dab in the tourist district – apparently everyone that visits is required to buy a piece of turquoise jewelry and a smoothie.  Just sayin’. 

The highlight of my trip so far was a trip to Papago Brewing, just up the road from our hotel.  I thought I was going to strike out as far as hitting a brewery on this trip, but the front desk clerk highly recommended this place.  The beer selection was top notch; the service, not so much.  I tried a New Belgium Mothership Wit (kind of a cross between a Leinie Sunset Wheat and the Brugge Wit) and a Papago Hop Dog (pretty similar to the Dogfish Head 60 Minute, although not quite as tasty).  I would have sampled more (they have huge coolers in the front where you can buy singles, and nearly thirty on tap) but I had to head to dinner. 

So, yeah.  I’m finishing up my stay here tonight, redeye-ing it back to Indy, and hopefully sleeping most of the day on Friday. 

Under the sweet, sweet air conditioning. 

It’s way past beer thirty.

Whoopee, an update!

We’re headed out to the IMA to see Raiders of the Lost Ark (hooray for picnic dinners and Bell’s Oberon!) so here’s a hodgepodge of awesomeness for you:

*Not so long ago, my fantastic friends Jen and Barb got married. Here’s a bit of their story. Without getting too political (don’t have the time or temper right now), two of my best friends are happy together and I think it’s wonderful. I wish I could take credit for their meeting, but McBookstore gets that particular accolade.

*I have decided that this is the perfect alarm clock for me, if it didn’t have the potential to break my wallet in seriously awful ways. I’m the worst snooze-hitter in the WORLD.

*What are you doing on Sunday, June 3? Nothing, you say? Not anymore! My friend’s band, the Strokin’ Aces, are playing their first battle-of-the-bands concert at Birdy’s. Tickets at the door are $10 – come out and support local music and help them get to the next round. Bring earplugs, these guys can crank!

*Speaking of stuff to do, come out to the Vintage Indiana Wine Festival tomorrow (June 2) and say hello! We’ll be working the French Lick Winery tent all day, and I’ll be trying desperately to keep my hands off their Heaven’s View Norton. Mmm, so good.

*Anyone want to buy a Lollapalooza ticket? Just one, but I’ll sell for the unheard of price of $120. Three days of killer music for $75 less than the going list price. You know you want to go…

*And saving the best for last… the apex of the lolcat meme… it’s LOLST!

pass the popcorn

The Indianapolis International Film Festival is wrapping up today, and for the first year, I actually got to see more than one film!  We decided to purchase a 10 ticket bundle (5 movies each) this year, and overall, it was definitely worth it.  Here’s a rundown of what we saw: 

*The Buffy the Vampire Slayer sing-along.  Yes, you read that right.  There is in fact a particular episode of the Buffy TV show where, in full-on musical style, they sing, dance and carry on like demented Broadway castaways.  Somehow, this has morphed into a Rocky-Horror-type spectacle, with attendees dressing in character and bringing props.  There’s even a devotee who goes from city to city orchestrating this madness.  At the urging of several friends, we decided to check it out.  It was fun!  The theater was packed with BIG fans, so we stood out a little, but we quickly got into the signing.  And the dancing dry-cleaning.  And the bunnies.  BUNNIES! 

*The Ten, a collection of vignettes dealing with the tribulations of The Ten Commandments, put together by the same people who were behind Wet Hot American Summer.  Some of the shorts fell flat.  However, a couple of them were downright amazing – who knew Winona Ryder had it in her?  There was a lot of over-the-top disgusting humor, but given the context of the comedy, it only made it that much funnier.  Naked men, sex with wooden puppets, murder, sodomy, this movie had it all in liberal doses.  It sure got the crowd talking. 

*First on the Moon, a faux documentary about the Russian space race and the attempt to be the first on the Moon in the 1930’s.  The premise was really intriguing, but the movie flopped on several different levels.  First, it was about 45 minutes TOO LONG.   It got almost painful near the end.  Second, the plot was meandering and just confusing.  A Russian-narrated documentary, with subtitles in English, based in the thirties with flips into the late 80’s, with random edits and even more random dialogue… it was crazy.  I wanted to like it, I really did.  Parts of it were brilliant, but we were wholly disappointed overall. 

*Fido, a tongue-in-cheek mishmash between Pleasantville and Night of the Living Dead.  The small town of Willard is hit by the Zombie Wars, and figures out that if they put collars on the zombies, they become docile, subservient and, well, they make good pets.  The cinematography on this film was nothing short of amazing!  Bright, crisp, well, executed.  The characters were a bit flat, but given the fifties-ish background, it played out well.  As the movie’s tagline says, “sometimes it takes a dead man to teach us all what it means to be alive”.  Plus, you really just can’t go wrong with zombies.  This was my favorite film of the festival. 

*Swedish Auto, a dark drama about… stalking.  And Volvos.  And a beautiful soundtrack.  I was expecting more Benny and Joon, but it turned out to be more Romeo & Juliet.  The plotline really played up the star-crossed lovers bit, they weren’t happy without each other but couldn’t be happy with each other… it got to be a bit much after awhile.  And while the cinematography was again very pretty, the plot had holes like swiss cheese that it didn’t even try to answer.  I think the word “befuddled” was what my fella used to explain the storyline, and I’m inclined to agree.  Though I do have to admit, Lukas Haas has permission to stalk me in the dark any time he wants. 

Kudos to the IIFF folks for putting this together and making it run (mostly) smoothly.  I heard a few horror stories, but nothing shocking.  Ticket sales were up nearly 15%, which I think is an encouraging sign for the future of the festival.  We’ll be volunteering next year, and I expect to see you ALL there.

clean up in aisle nine

In the process of cleaning house ‘round these parts, I’ve updated my blogroll and made some additions.  Here’s a roundup of the new linkage:

My fellow Beer Geeks have been busy!  Chris started up a new blog called The Non-Profit Dad, Jim has come back from blogging hiatus with He Writes About Words, and Jason comes at the blogosphere with Circle and Squares.   (these, of course, in addition to Mike’s Ridehorsey and Renee’s Feed Me Drink Me.  I wonder if we’ll have time to update in between pints…

I also added a couple of sports-related blogs:  first up is Stampede Blue, the SB Nation blog that covers the Indianapolis Colts.  These guys know EVERYTHING about the Horseshoe, and have the team covered down to the tiniest detail.  Yeah, I know, you wouldn’t have guessed I’m a football fan, right?  (Just don’t tell the Indie Rock police). 

I’ve also added Charlie Weis Ate My Baby, a local sports collective blog full of the best kinds of snark (and way too much Yankees coverage for my taste, but I’ll let it slide!)

Speaking of  CWAMB, I have added frequent contributor Jason’s Xtra-Rant to the blogroll – not updated as frequently as I’d like (hint, hint!) but chock-full of miscellaneous techie, political and humorous stuff sure to keep you occupied for quite awhile. 

I’ve also updated my link to the old Shakespeare’s Sister, now Shakesville.  Fellow Hoosier Melissa’s group blog is an absolute must-read if you’re fed up with the current state of political affairs.   Plus, her Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime postings will have you humming old jingles and cursing the advent of YouTube.

Finally, I’ve added some links in a new “noteworthy” section of the blogroll.  These don’t fit into any real category, just places I visit to get my daily fill of laughter, outrage, hope and help. 

If any of you have a link to a blog or site that you think I’d be interested in, send it my way!  And if you’re a Hoosier blogger and I don’t currently link to you, I’d be glad to do so.  Just let me know.

help us Race for the Cure!

Tomorrow morning is supposed to be beautiful.  What better way to take in the awesome weather than by walking for a great cause? 

This is sort of a last-minute pitch, but our team this year, Team Annie, is walking (not running!) in tomorrow morning’s annual Race for the Cure.  If you want to join us, come on down to IUPUI tomorrow morning and join the madness that is 40,000 people trying to go the same direction at varying rates of speed.   

But if getting up early to walk doesn’t appeal to you, how about donating to the team?  I’m hoping we can get to $1500 before race day tomorrow, so this is my last-ditch effort to push us over that mark.  See Kelly grovel!  See Kelly beg!  See Kelly push her bum knee to the limit! 

Seriously, though, we’re walking in memory of a deeply missed friend and mentor.  Annie lost her battle with breast cancer last February, and I can’t think of a better way to honor her memory (and the memory of all those affected with/by breast cancer) than by raising as much cash as possible in the hope of a cure.  

I hope that some of you out there can help… and if nothing else, send good thoughts when I’m at mile 3 and my leg feels like it’s going to fall off!

Today, we are all Hokies

 

I’m a Hokie.

I took a year’s worth of commuter classes at Virginia Tech back when I lived in Roanoke.  I sometimes jokingly refer to VT as my “pseudo alma mater” because the time I spent there was the closest thing I had to a traditional college education.  I’d make the long drive down 460, through Elliston and Shawsville, and Christiansburg, bust over the mountain and down the valley…the sight of campus was almost always enough to shake me out of any funk I was in.  I cannot begin to imagine what that campus must feel like today.

Thankfully, everyone I know on campus is safe and accounted for after the shooting. (I’ll save the descriptors like “tragic” and “massacre” to the TV pundits who are having a field day with them already.)  Regardless of who eventually shoulders the blame, and regardless of what side of the why-wait-till-the-bodies-are-cold 2^nd Amendment debate you find yourself on,  give a moment of silence on Friday for those who lost their lives.  This could have happened anywhere, to any of us.

I’m a Hokie. 

We are all Hokies.

Discovery what?

File under: Reasons why I don’t live anywhere NEAR my hometown…

According to Shakesville (by way of Bilerico), Ligonier is going to be home to Indiana’s premier creationist science museum, Discovery Express. Yes, folks, that’s right– the sleepy little villa of racial disharmony up in Noble County that’s home to the annual Marshmallow Festival (fitting, eh?) is now cementing its reputation as a repository for idiocy under the guise of science. And to think, I used to live there!

My heart’s all aflutter with anticipation. Perhaps they’ll have a big diorama showing cavemen and dinosaurs living in harmony! I can’t wait to read about how plants are proof that there is a God. Will they give a discount for anyone arriving with an In God We Trust license plate? Maybe I can hold my secular humanist meetings in their spacious third floor conference room!

But seriously… the sheer enormity of the volume of ridiculousness is frightening. Are public school children going to be forced to take field trips to this place? Proselytizing to a captive audience, how lovely! It wouldn’t surprise me, seeing as how there are public school teachers involved in running this thing. Brian Shidler is the West Noble HS Band director and Kellie Shidler works with the color guard.

The other thing that disturbs me greatly is the apparent amount of community involvement and support for this place. It would be one thing if a couple of loonies were putting this out in the woods somewhere, but it’s listed on the front page of the Visitors Bureau website. It’s a good thing I no longer bank with (or work for) Lake City Bank. I’d be pulling my accounts if they’re financially supporting this sham, which it seems that they are.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s a great thing to teach science to kids, and wholeheartedly support innovative teaching methods and nature education. But to do it under a fraudulent umbrella of creationism is shameful, and it makes me embarrassed to admit that I’m from that neck of the woods. Discovery, indeed.

We are what we imagine ourselves to be.

“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over.  Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.”

The New York Times is reporting that Kurt Vonnegut died today, from a brain injury he received in a fall.  Before the blogs get clogged up with words like ‘innovator’ and ‘visionary’, and before the city wrestles out from underneath the fairly large wrench this throws into the “Year of Vonnegut”,  I just want to say that the man penned the first novel that ever truly touched me.

Yep, that’s right.  Ms. Voracious Reader, Yours Truly of the Book Club Circuit, had never cried reading a book until she picked up Cat’s Cradle. 

I started reading the book on the day after my 21^st birthday, a day when nothing was going right and I was looking for something to read that reminded me of Indiana.  At the time, all I knew about “Hoosier” authors was neatly folded into Booth Tarkington, Gene Stratton Porter and Vonnegut, so I chose door #3.   

I won’t critique the book—god knows so many people have tried—but I’ll tell you that as quirky and disconcerting as this novel has been said to be, it was absolutely perfect for me at that time in my life.  It got me reading again after an extended absence.  It got me thinking again, after swearing off higher education.  And most of all, it got me dreaming again. 

“We are what we imagine ourselves to be.”

I believe strongly that a person’s way through life is full  of missed opportunities, uncharted paths, bad choices and spur-of-the-moment decisions.  If I had picked up “Girl of the Limberlost” that day, what would have happened?  Kurt, you played the tiniest of tiny roles in shaping who I am today, and I know full well how sweeping and self-important that sounds… but I think it’s the truth.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Vonnegut.  Thank you for the stories.