IMA Grounds = IMAwesome!

We haven't been inside the Indiana Art Museum yet (even though it's free!), but we did wander around the grounds last week with my dad. As far as I am concerned, the building could be filled with packing peanuts and it's still an asset to the city. The grounds even have Redwoods (though they seem small and sad in the Indiana climate). Here are some pictures of our ambling.

A very cool sundial (not on daylights savings or "stupid" time)

A wide shot of the sundial

Fountain action

The famous sculpture

And the Band Played On

About a month ago, my mom sent out an email with her thoughts on the 25 years that have passed since HIV was isolated. There's an article in Nature about it (which requires a subscription). [The first 'diagnosis' of AIDS/HIV came June 6, 1981.]

An excerpt from her email (my mom was the health coordinator for the school system and taught high school health):

"to think one of my professors in the school of Public Health had said, infectious disease has been conquered. You will work with chronic illness in your practice. Lucky they taught us how to manage diseases anyway. Looking back it was a fascinating sad time. I remember of my students (not known for his academics or for being a quiet kid) saying to a guest with HIV--"you let me know if anyone bothers you...I will take care of him." (the student was a high school karate champion). And another one who defied his family and took care of his aunt who had HIV after learning about it in health class. He could hardly read. I waived his exam."

Her email led to me putting the HBO movie And the Band Played On near the top of our netflix queue. We've been slow with our movie watching, so we just got around to it. I hadn't seen it in years, and Andy had never seen it. The movie chronicles the discovery of AIDS (originally called GRID or gay related immune disorder). It really is an entertaining and fascinating film (though I admit I am more interested in public health and epidemiology than some). I recommend checking it out if you haven't seen it (e.g., if you didn't have my mom for health in high school!). We've come along way in our understanding of AIDS since the early 80's but we certainly haven't conquered the disease. More than 33 million people have AIDS worldwide, and there still isn't a vaccine.

Lou Pinella (feat. Ozzy Guillen)

OMG. They rap. I wonder whose idea this was.

Funny Video

There are a couple of things I would legitimately like to post, but I'm short on time. So instead I'll post this newsclip about a very weak police officer. It is funny.

You stay classy, Bruce Weber.

Andy here. I know it is about as far from college basketball season as you can possibly get, but most people who know me realize that I'm pretty much always checking Peegs, no matter what time of year it is. There are a couple of basketball items that I feel compelled to post about, even out of season.

First of all, Elizabeth's Tar Heel squad had three players put their name in for the draft (Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, and Ty Lawson). Amazingly, all three decided to return. And that is in addition to Tyler "Psycho T" Hansbrough, who is in about as much hurry to leave college as Matt Leinert was. This is obviously good for UNC, who returns all starters from last year's Final Four team. The only problem with this is that it will essentially render the entire 2008-09 season useless for North Carolina. They are definitely going to make the NCAA tournament, and whatever achievements the attain, the season will be deemed a failure if they don't win the Championship. Those are some tough expectations. So good luck to all you Yankee...um...Tar Heel fans out there.

Now onto the business of less successful college teams. This article appeared in the Peoria Journal-Star on Friday. If you've already heard Bruce Weber's inane mumblings enough in your life, let me save you the trouble and copy the last comment he made in the article regarding the Big Ten race: "The league should be wide open and we can be right in the middle of it. I do know one thing, though. I think Indiana will suck. Don't put that on the Internet."

Weber is still mad about the whole Eric Gordon saga, which may have been a little fishier than I first assumed given how slimy Kelvin Sanctions ended up being. However, the point here is that Bruce should really worry about his own team and keep his thoughts on Indiana to himself. Maybe that way he wouldn't have players getting arrested for dUI, players leaving their teammates for dead, and only getting redshirted as a "punishment." Or breaking and entering and still helping the team to the National Title game.

And there's also the fact that Illinois just came off their lowest win total (16) in the past decade, and their second lowest win total of the last 30 years. After loosing two starters and only adding a few decent players, I don't see them breaking 20 wins next season, either. In spite of all of this, I hope he stays the Illinois coach for a long time, because with the coaching upgrades the Big Ten has made in the past two years, that will put Illinois securely in the bottom half of the league annually. Unfortunately, I think he'll likely get fired sometime in the next few seasons. I hope he just stays classy while it's happening.

The Coolest Music Video Ever Made

Out of town friends, you better start making your reservations to come visit, because after you watch the following video, you will not be able to escape the gravity NapTown.

Chris & Caroline...maybe you shouldn't watch this. Narwold, don't watch this unless your prepared to move to Indy immediately.

Good Ole' Terre Haute

Some guy tried to rob a lemonade stand that some kids were running. What a great guy.

On a related note, I found a place to play the computer game Lemonade Stand online. They've upgraded it, but there are no dudes that try to rob you, so it isn't very realistic. Or it doesn't take place in Terre Haute.

Elizabeth reviews a movie or at least promotes one

Andy's reviewing The Happening this week (check here tomorrow for a review). So, what's a good wife to do but suggest we go see something else (from Andy's initial comments, I am the big winner!).

We went to the Landmark's Keystone Art Theater to watch The Visitor. All I knew about it was that it was written and directed by the guy who created The Station Agent, my favorite film of 2003. If you haven't seen The Station Agent, I recommend you rectify that mistake quickly.

The ticket salesman gave us props for our selection and declared "everyone should see this movie."

The main character of the film, Walter, is played by Richard Jenkins, who was the dad on Six Feet Under, one of my favorite shows of all time. Walter is coasting through his boring life in Connecticut, until he returns to the apartment he owns in NYC. There, he finds his apartment rented out to a couple, a Syrian drummer (Tarek) and a Senegalese jewelry maker (Zaineb). The movie is a character piece, much like The Station Agent, and its success is largely due to the nuanced performances by Jenkins and the rest of the cast.

I really don't want to give much away because I feel the movie will be better the less you know, but pretty much everyone should see this movie.

Death Cab for Indy

Last night, Sarah, Mike, Ryan, Andy, and I went to the whitelies.tv lawn at White River State Park to see Death Cab for Cutie and Rogue Wave. We bought tickets at the 'door' avoiding paying a $10 convenience fee from ticketmaster.

Unfortunately, we missed most of Rogue Wave but what we heard was good...guess we could have seen them if we had bought our tickets online in advance...

Andy and I have both seen Death Cab at indoor venues before a couple of time (at the Paramount, where a very old-looking Eddie Vedder made a guest appearance and at the Showbox). This show definitely did not hold up to previous shows, though I am heavily biased against outdoors shows. Their set was decent, relying mainly on tracks from the new album and Transatlanticism. But the band was so far away, and there was so much grass and sunlight to distract from the music. I like my bands in a dark, cramped, preferably smoke-free box, where I can focus on the music. For an outdoor venue, White River State Park was fairly intimate, and they gave you lawn chairs as you entered, so you can't front on that. We had a good time, but it didn't feel like a rock show.

Plus, Andy and I were distracted by how fit and hip Ben Gibbard has gotten.
Check out Ben in 2004.
And then, him last night.

Is this what happens when you go from Barsuk to Atlantic? They certainly aren't the same guys who recorded in a sketchy looking house in our old 'hood. For fun, check out these pictures of Gibbard in high school and a young Gibbard singing. For more on last night's show, check here.

Legs

I saw the video for Legs on VH1 Classic today and thought I'd share the joy. I certainly wouldn't describe myself as a ZZ Top fan*, but I really enjoy this video. I think I am going to try out the pink frilly socks with hot pink high heels look.



*though I must admit they are recognizable. Plus, a friend described Andy's dad as that "ZZ Top looking dude" after seeing him at our wedding.

Two Unrelated Topics

First of all, after the last two weeks, I'd like to redact my "I missed thunderstorms" thinking. As the central part of the state keeps getting hammered with storms, much worse than any during my lifetime, perhaps I was a bit too eager on the t-storm front. Below is a picture taken of the inside of the Columbus East High School gymnasium. I cannot even comprehend the amount of damage that school has seen, and that is just one of hundreds of buildings in Columbus that are pretty much ruined.

On a lighter note, I caught this article from MSN about a team of 125 scientist stationed in Antarctica, where they are about to experience total darkness until the first sunrise on August 20th. And what was included in the last shipment they received before winter? 16,500 condoms, of course! Antarctic scientist sex does not sound very pretty, but sometimes you do, in fact, come across a hot scientist. If you are really lucky, you can even marry one. Until next time...

Mike Gravel Rocks

I caught this video on a pretty funny site called barelypolitical.com. It's worth checking out. Anyway, the ObamaGirl part of the video is just okay, but in the middle he raps and does the Souljah Boy dance, and it's pretty awesome. Check it!

Indy Rock Show

Thanks to a tip from Shawn, who was heavily involved in the Indianapolis music scene, Ryan, Mike, Andy, and I went to Birdy's to see Red Light Driver, Miranda Sound, and Loretta. The show was a cd release/farewell show for Loretta, who decided to call it quits after 9 years of playing indie rock in Indianapolis. It was fairly odd for us to see this band for the first time since it was their last time ever playing (allegedly).

Red Light Driver was fun; they had great energy and played music much to my liking. The consensus among the four of us was that we'd go see them again.

Miranda Sound (alternatively called Matilda Song by Mike much of the evening) did not impress. They were obviously talented, but I didn't dig them. They were not fun to listen to at all. We ended up standing outside in the rain for much of their set.

Described to us as "the Radiohead of Indianapolis," we were unsure what to expect from Loretta. Though we must admit that we didn't stay for too much of Loretta's set (we are old and lame), we were impressed. I am sorry that we will not get another chance to see them live (unless, as Andy overheard one of the Red Light Driver guys say to one of the Loretta guys, they get back together and play as "Reba"), but it's nice to know that high quality music exists in Indianapolis, even if Samsell broke up before we got here.

To summarize the evening, a la Mike, it was a shitty sandwich with good bread (I may be paraphrasing).

Owning the Plate

Just a quick post today for baseball fans. Apparently this umpire in a Georgia high school baseball game was making some questionable calls, so the pitcher and catcher decided to hit him with a pitch! The high school was later fined $1,000 for the action that was deemed intentional, and it does seem pretty intentional.



In other high school baseball news, there is an article in the Star today about Greensburg's own Alex Meyer, who is likely to be picked in the first round of the MLB draft. Unfortunately, people seem to think he's going to end up going to Kentucky.

Also, the Cubs finally had their 9-game winning streak broken last night by the San Diego Dads. However, they do still have the best record in baseball. Huzzah!

The Big Shabasko

As most Indiana people know, there was a pretty major thunderstorm / tornado that rolled through Indianapolis on Friday night. We lost power a little before midnight and didn't get it back until around noon the next day. For all of the 10,000 lightning strikes recorded in the area, Ramona didn't react to the thunder once, even when lightning downed half of a tree 1 block over from us.

I took the picture above around 1:00 A.M. It was such a constant stream of lightening that it was inevitable that I actually caught a little of it in a randomly snapped photo.

Note: As I write this I see that storms are knocking around the southern part of the state today. I have to confess...I missed thunderstorms while we lived in the PNW.