Articles Written in January 2005

Topic: Hoosier Oddities | Photos

Posted: Fri, Jan 28, 2005 | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

I drive north on college from downtown everyday on the way to work on the north side. And every day I pass this cool fake S.W.A.T. van (which appears to be an old delivery van repainted) that's usually parked on the street near the intersection of 49th Street and College Avenue. And everyday, I think, "That's cool. I wish I could drive around in a fake S.W.A.T. van."

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TV Toys: DVR from Comcast

Topic: Film & TV | Geek Bling

Posted: Wed, Jan 26, 2005 | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)

I just got a DVR, yay! I've been wanting this for a while, as I have no working VCR and need some way to resolve the time-slot conflict between Alias and The West Wing at 9:00 on Wednesday nights. I'm also looking forward to recording some of the great movies shown on TCM in the middle of the night.

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IndyGo gets two new diesel hybrid buses

By bmundy

Posted: Tue, Jan 25, 2005 | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

IndyGo is adding two new diesel hybrid buses to their fleet on the first of February. This is in addition to the 5 they put into service back in August '03. Counting hybrid buses in our mass-transit strategy puts Indy into an elite club of only 18 cities in the US with this technology.

So, are these the same thing as the bio-diesel buses I have seen? The exhaust fumes from the bio-diesel buses smell like french fries.

TV Review: The Wire, Season One

Topic: Film & TV

Posted: Tue, Jan 25, 2005 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Critically acclaimed since its debut in 2002, The Wire is another in the long line of excellent original series from HBO. I recently watched the first season of this show on DVD.

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Movie Review: Aguirre, the Wrath of God

By Jim Chalex

Topic: Film & TV

Posted: Mon, Jan 24, 2005 | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

Over the holidays I was given a book called 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Surely, I thought, I’d seen at least 600, if not 700. So I eagerly headed for the index, pen in hand, in order to check off the movies I’d already seen.

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Book Review: Indianapolis Then and Now

By bmundy

Topic: Books | History

Posted: Mon, Jan 24, 2005 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

When I first moved to Indy a few years ago I wanted to get a book about the history of the city to help me get to know my new home town. I wanted to scratch under the surface and learn more about how the city became what it is today.

I was more than a little disappointed when I started my search for an Indianapolis history book; it seemed that every one I found was focused on the history f the Indianapolis 500. It appeared the city didn't have a history separate from the famous race.

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Trivial Pursuit: Book Lover's Edition

Topic: Board and Video Games

Posted: Sun, Jan 23, 2005 | Comments (972) | TrackBack (0)

The Book Lover's Edition is played very similarly to the regular editions of Trivial Pursuit; the goal is to collect pieces of pie representing different categories of questions, and then to land directly on the center of the board to answer a final question in the category chosen for you by your opponents. Unlike other versions, there are only four tokens to move around the board (a coffee mug, a stack of books, a book bag and a typewriter) and therefore at most four players or teams, instead of the usual six can play.

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Movie Review: The Phantom of the Opera

Topic: Film & TV

Posted: Wed, Jan 19, 2005 | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Over the weekend, I saw The Phantom of the Opera, the movie based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, itself based on a book by Gaston Leroux.

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Gov. Daniel's State of the State Address

By bmundy

Posted: Wed, Jan 19, 2005 | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

I watched a bit of this on TV last night. The overwhelming message I got from it was our need for fiscal responsibility. The Governor is planning to either cut or flatten spending on our state programs. A couple of his major ideas for solving our problems poked through to the surface; reform property taxes and imposing a one time tax of 1% on people making more than $100,000 per year. See a full transcript of the State of the State Address. Here's a little of it to set the tone...

The state of our state is far from sound. The state of our state needs serious attention. The foundation is still firm, but major repairs are overdue.

How will this impact us in Indy?

Crate and Barrel comes to the Fashion Mall

Topic: Indianapolis Living | Shopping

Posted: Tue, Jan 18, 2005 | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

I caught wind of this a few weeks ago, because my friend Jason works for the construction company that will be building the new store: the IndyChannel is reporting that a Crate and Barrel Store will be going into the location of the the recently vacated for new digs TGIFridays restaurant at Keystone at the Crossing. Because that mall (and that tiny little area) isn't nearly crowded enough as it is.

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Diluvian Damage

By Jim Chalex

Topic: Weather

Posted: Sun, Jan 16, 2005 | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Following up on Steph Mineart's post, I had the opportunity to survey the flood damage on the North side yesterday (1/15). From my personal, non-scientific observations, it looks like this flood is worse than the Labor Day flood of 2003. So much for a 100-year flood; how about a 2-year flood?

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Wireless Hotspots in Indianapolis

Topic: Geek Bling | Indianapolis Living

Posted: Fri, Jan 14, 2005 | Comments (8) | TrackBack (1)

Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. provides a list of 22 spots where you can get wireless internet access, some of it free and some for a fee. On the other hand, wi-fihotspotlist.com lists 36 wireless locations in Indianapolis. It's not clear from this list which services are free and which are paid. So an IndyScribe wireless outing/control panel training session is in order! Woo hoo! We are such geeks.

Rain, rain, go the hell away

Topic: Weather

Posted: Fri, Jan 14, 2005 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)

As another 1.5 inches of rain fell on Indianapolis yesterday, neighborhoods like Frog Hollow (I love that name!) and Ravenswood, which were already battling flood waters are hit hard again. The city closed 12 streets, mainly in these neighborhoods and along Fall Creek and in a neighborhood on the southside near Troy and Harding streets which are flooded and impassable. The river is expected to crest this afternoon. UPDATE: Emergency crews are evacuating people from 78th and Keystone area due to the White River flooding. 16 people were rescued by boat from their homes. The attached photo show the level of water in that area. Emergency personnel also evacuated people from the Ravenswood areas.

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May We Suggest "Flat, cheap and out of control?"

Topic: Indianapolis Living

Posted: Thu, Jan 13, 2005 | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

According to the Indianapolis Star, the City of Indianapolis is trying to come up with a tagline to define the city, in the same way that Vegas has "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Although they hasten to assure us that they're looking for something less risque. Damn. And I thought we were going to finally get some spiciness going in good old Naptown.

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Bagel Fair

Topic: Restaurants

Posted: Thu, Jan 13, 2005 | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

I've had Manhattan bagels and Brooklyn bagels and Philadelphia bagels and chain store bagels. But no one makes better bagels than the folks at Bagel Fair. If you don't like bagels it's because you've never had a good one. Go here immediately.

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Story Time At the Zoo

Topic: Events & Festivals | Kids' Stuff

Posted: Thu, Jan 13, 2005 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

On Saturdays in January, February & March this year, the Zoo will have a brand new activity for kids - Story Time at the Zoo! See your favorite storybook characters come to life at Story Time at the Zoo. This all new event gives your little ones the chance to meet Lyle Lyle Crocodile, Corduroy Bear, Stellaluna, Curious George, and Winnie the Pooh up close and in person! (yeah! people in mascot outfits!)

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Wild Oats

Topic: Restaurants

Posted: Tue, Jan 11, 2005 | Comments (6) | TrackBack (2)

The Wild Oats "Natural" Grocery Store chain isn't exactly a restaurant, but it's one of the best damn places to get a healthy and diverse lunch. If one of your New Year's resolutions is to eat better, then this is an excellent place to start. On top of that, you won't be limited to grass and sticks (unless that's what you want). There's plenty of yummy food on hand -- even pizza. They'll even give you a place to sit and enjoy it.

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XM Radio - Save me from Sucky Indy Radio Stations!

By bmundy

Topic: Geek Bling | Music

Posted: Tue, Jan 11, 2005 | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

In a previous discussion we touched upon the subject of the general suckiness of Indianapolis radio stations. With the possible exception of high school stations and NPR, commercial radio stations have little to be desired. What's a geek-bling loving guy to do? In my case, it was XM Radio to the rescue.

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Movie Review: Closer

Topic: Film & TV

Posted: Tue, Jan 11, 2005 | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Dan (Jude Law) is walking down the street one day when he runs into Alice (Natalie Portman) who, while staring at Dan, is hit by a car. He helps her to the hospital, and then begins a romance with her, despite the fact that she looks like jailbait and there's not a single hint of chemistry between them at all.

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TV Review: MI-5

Topic: Film & TV

Posted: Mon, Jan 10, 2005 | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

I've always wanted to be a spy, but I have a terrible poker face, so I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work out. (And no, I will not play poker with you for money.) I love all things spy-related, and there are some great spy-themed books, movies, and TV shows available today. One of my current favorites is the BBC production known here as MI-5, which airs on the A&E network on Saturday nights at 10:00.

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Indianapolis Aerial Photography

Topic: Indianapolis Living

Posted: Mon, Jan 10, 2005 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Using Indianapolis' official City website, Indygov.org, you can view maps of Indianapolis much like mapquest, and aerial photographs dating back to 1935 that allow you to view the whole city and also to zoom in close to see, for example, the roof of your house.

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Hidden Indy: Broad Ripple Dam

Topic: Hoosier Oddities | Indianapolis Living

Posted: Mon, Jan 10, 2005 | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

Just east of Westfield Boulevard and north of Broad Ripple Avenue is the Broad Ripple dam, a wooded area of the White River that's fenced off and not accessible, just north of the Broad Ripple pumping station. On a sunny summer day a few years back, my friends and I climbed up the painted wall next to Westfield Blvd., shimmied through a hole in the fence, and hiked back through the woods to the dam.

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Hidden Indy: The Catacombs Beneath Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church

Topic: Hoosier Oddities | Indianapolis Living

Posted: Mon, Jan 10, 2005 | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)

Back in the early nineties, my friend Dennis Williams was a Franciscan friar. We met doing volunteer work, and once we were working on a fundraiser together and we needed folding chairs. Dennis asked the staff of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church (one of the oldest and the only Franciscan church in Indy) if they would donate the use of some chairs for the fundraiser. Dennis didn't mention until we were in the church that we were going down into the catacombs beneath to retrieve them.

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WTTS 92.3 is playing through their entire catalog

Topic: Music

Posted: Mon, Jan 10, 2005 | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Starting at 6 this morning, WTTS radio station began playing through their entire catalog of songs alphabetically. Currently they've finished all songs beginning with "All." I fully realize that I will get made fun of for posting this, since three writers on our IndyScribe team are in a alt/punk band, but somebody needed to put something in the "Music" category.

Hidden Indy: The Mystery Tao on Delaware

Topic: Hoosier Oddities | Indianapolis Living

Posted: Mon, Jan 10, 2005 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Back in the early nineties, I lived in the Marleigh Apartment building in the 1400 block of Delaware in downtown Indianapolis, which is in Old Northside neighborhood. Across the street was an impressive array of old Victorian houses with all the gingerbread and other bling they put on houses back in the 1800's. I used to walk down the street and daydream about owning one of them. One day on a walk, I stumbled across something really strange.

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The Claddagh Irish Pub

Topic: Restaurants

Posted: Sun, Jan 9, 2005 | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

The Claddagh Irish Pub is a midwestern chain of restaurants that approxmiates -- with a degree of authenticity -- the genuine Irish Pub exerience. That said, there are a few key differences.

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Shalimar-velous

Topic: Restaurants

Posted: Sun, Jan 9, 2005 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

A long-time favorite of mine, the Indian Restaurant Shalimar never disappoints, with tasty preparations made with high-quality ingredients, and one of the more delicious all-you-can-eat lunch buffets in town.

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Downtown Rocked by Underground Blasts, Again

By bmundy

See a map of the explosions

Posted: Sun, Jan 9, 2005 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Late Saturday morning, downtown Indy was hit by another underground explosion. This was the third in the past nine days. Three people were injured, no one died. Although the cause of the explosions is unknown, the Fire Department thinks they are related to the frequent freezing and thawing that has occurred over the past two weeks. It is believed the temperature changes are triggering electrical arcs that ultimately cause the explosions. A number of downtown businesses have been effected by the blasts. Read more about the latest blast in the Indy Star.

Mini Allows Registration Transfers for the First Time

Topic: Events & Festivals | Sports

Posted: Fri, Jan 7, 2005 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Are you kicking yourself because you didn't register for the 500 Festival Mini Marathon before it sold out on Dec. 13? This year it's allowing transfers for the first time. To find out more visit their Web site.

Event: Library Book Sale

Topic: Books | Events & Festivals

Posted: Fri, Jan 7, 2005 | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

From January 14-16, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library will hold the first of its 2005 book sales at the Library Services Center on 24th and Meridian.

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Steph Mineart: Indiana Giants

By bmundy

Topic: Local Celebrities

Posted: Wed, Jan 5, 2005 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

IndyScribe blogger Steph Mineart is on the cover of Nuvo this week talking about her photo collection of Big Things in and around Indianapolis. The article chronicles some her adventures while taking pictures of giant animals, furniture, people, and things (my favorite is the story of the sundial at the nudist colony). So go out, get a copy of Nuvo. Or read the article at Nuvo.

See Steph's Photo's of Big Things

Spamalot

By Michael Packer

Topic: Day Trips | Theater

Posted: Wed, Jan 5, 2005 | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

You simply can't grow up a geek and not have been exposed to Monty Python in some form or another. It's also more than likely that you have sat through endless viewings of their classic movie, The Holy Grail, and even have recited lines from the film back and forth with your friends.

So who would have thought that this cinema masterpiece of high absurdity from 1975 would make its way to Broadway? Hell, who would have thought that people would travel hundreds of miles just to see a musical adaptation of the movie that they have chiseled into their subconscious? Well, I did for one.

Continue reading "Spamalot"

Michael's Great House Hunt

By Michael Packer

Topic: Indianapolis Living

Posted: Wed, Jan 5, 2005 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Perhaps I'm a little typical of my Gen-X slacker brethren. I'm already into my 30s and I've just now decided that apartment living is not the coolest and the idea of "equity" is something that is appealing to me. Plus I would like to stop sharing my wall space with drug dealers, 3 A.M. vacuum sweepers and the occasional cockroach.

So I've been looking at houses.

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First Homicide of the Year

By bmundy

Posted: Wed, Jan 5, 2005 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The Indianapolis Star broke the story of the city's first homicide of the year. Daniel Baltarza Alejandres died in the hospital after being shot numerous time on the 28th of December. The crime took place near his apartment on the west side (map).

The IPD is still working on the 2004 homicide report, but 2003's is available online. 2003 followed the down trend established after the record-high homicide rates in '96 and '97 -130 homicides in each of those years (which if I remember correctly was on par with Washington D.C.). At the 2003 homicide rate, an Indianapolis resident was murdered every 4.5 days.

Book Review: The Martian Chronicles

Topic: Books

Posted: Tue, Jan 4, 2005 | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles are a collection of scenes from life on a newly colonized Mars, with a few glimpses back toward a war-shattered Earth. Written in 1950, these tales tell of the initial landings and early colonization from 1999-2005, and the effects of some of those actions 20 years later.

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Movie Review: Sideways

Topic: Film & TV

Posted: Tue, Jan 4, 2005 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

On New Year's Day, I saw Alexander Payne's Sideways. Somehow this movie has made it onto many critics' Top Ten lists for 2004. I disagree — I just don't see it as a wholly successful movie, no matter how good a few of its parts may be.

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Dangerous Intersections

By bmundy

Topic: Indianapolis Living | Local Attractions | Photos

Posted: Tue, Jan 4, 2005 | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

As part of their program to promote safer driving, State Farm Insurance compiled a list of the 10 most dangerous intersections in Indiana, using data determined by the number of crashes at various intersections, how many of those crashes involved injury and the severity of those crashes.

Eight of these dangerous intersections are in or around metropolitan Indianapolis, so we daredevils here at IndyScribe, along with co-workers and friends, decided it would be fun to pick one local dangerous intersection per week to photograph on our lunch break.

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Book Review: Indiana Curiosities

Topic: Books | Hoosier Oddities | Local Celebrities

Posted: Tue, Jan 4, 2005 | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Indiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff, by local media celebrity Dick Wolfsie. You'll enjoy this book even if you don't live in Indiana -- and you'll definitely enjoy it if you do. Packed with the odd and unusual, this book was filled with surprises even for me, and I've lived in Indiana for almost 20 years. Strange things you'll see along the road, folks who collect or build weird stuff, bizarre legends and history... Dick Wolfsie explains them all with both wit and respect, and turns in a first-rate book that you should have with you on any daytrip you take around the Hoosier state.

Giant Red Arrow Coming to Indianapolis

Topic: Events & Festivals

Posted: Mon, Jan 3, 2005 | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

A 750-pound, 10-foot-high, 18-foot-long and 8-foot-wide red arrow will travel around Indianapolis to major events throughout the year, to highlight arts and sporting events, building projects and other big attractions, according to Grant County's Chronicle Tribune, which provides a list of events where the giant red arrow is scheduled to appear. There's also a list on the Indianapolis Convention and Visitor's Association site.

Indy Star's "2005 hotlist" is really not that hot

Topic: Events & Festivals | Indianapolis Living | Local Attractions

Posted: Mon, Jan 3, 2005 | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

The Indianapolis Star put together a list of "what and who will be noteworthy in the Indianapolis arts scene this year." And it's a big yawner, to say the least. My favorite noteworthy event is that Deer Creek (I refuse to use the corporate name for the concert facility, and you can't make me) is getting another gateway and expanded roads to ease traffic snarls at the venue north of Indianapolis. I'm not denying that it needs to happen, but is it one of the hot events of 2005?

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IMA Closes for 4 Months