Latest Blogs
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Kim and Todd Saxton: Go for the gold! But maybe not every time.
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Q&A: What you need to know about the CDC’s new mask guidance
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Carmel distiller turns hand sanitizer pivot into a community fundraising platform
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Lebanon considering creating $13.7M in trails, green space for business park
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Local senior-living complex more than doubles assisted-living units in $5M expansion
You-review-it Monday
So, did you go Spirit-and-Place-ing this weekend? (I got to the “Madness and Creativity” conversation at Butler University and the remarkable “Whirl of the Divine” performance at the Central Library.)
Do some First Friday gallery hopping? (Maybe we crossed paths at IMOCA or the…
Review: B.J. Novak at Clowes
At his strongest when addressing the largely student audience on generationally-specific subjects, stand-up B.J. Novak–best known from his role as Ryan on NBC’s “The Office”–riffed smartly on OnStar, iTunes, Bill Nye, Wikipedia and GoogleMaps during his Thursday night set at…
IBJ movie nights: Bond, etc.
In the past, I’ve hosted a wide range of IBJ Night at the Movies screenings.
The next two, however, are a little different. The tickets I’m giving away are, to be accurate, for IBJ LATE Nights at the Movies. Midnight, to be specific.
First…
Cultural two-fers
One of the more convenient excuses given for not going to cultural events is the cost.
Well, with the 25th anniversary Zoobook now in release, that excuse has once again been mitigated.
Yes, I know that there are those of you…
Fictional Presidential match-ups
Here, for your entertainment, some fictional election match-ups (ignoring party affiliations). Who gets your vote?
Peter Sellers in “Dr. Strangelove” vs. Michael Douglas in “The American President” vs. Morgan Freeman in “Deep Impact”?
Next round:
Martin Sheen on “The West Wing” vs. Donald…
You-review-it Monday
For me, the weekend included catching up with shows at the Phoenix and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It also involved stealing moments to read, flipping between David Wild’s goofy new “He Is…I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying…
Random tricks/random treats
Some random thoughts on cultural horrors.
–Boris Karloff may be Hollywood’s most underrated golden-era star. Watch him in “Son of Frankenstein” if you get a chance (although the film itself isn’t as good as the perversely fun “Bride of Frankenstein”).
–When we…
Bookstore booze to be tested
According to the Western Michigan Business Review, Schuler Books and Music in Grand Rapids (an outstanding locally owned chain) is looking to go beyond the cafe-and-sweet-treats ammenities that have become stapes in bookshops.
The downtown store has applied for a…
Film: Can ‘best’ = ‘most popular’?
Interesting stat in today’s New York Times: The last four winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture (“No Country for Old Men,” “The Departed,” “Crash,” and “Million Dollar Baby”) combined didn’t bring in the box office money of 2003’s…
On celebrity interviews
Peter Bart, one of the smarter guys in Hollywood, has an interesting blog over at Variety. His topic: Celebrity interviews. (Find it here.)
In the piece, Bart elequently points out something I’ve felt for a long time now: That most…
You-review-it Monday
There was a lot to choose from this weekend.
Did you pick Hubbard Street Dance or David Byrne at Clowes? Or Gregory Hancock’s “Oh My Goth”? Stop in at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, or the…
Emptying the arts notebook
Today, some random notes from around the arts world:
–Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune has an interesting item today about customer service in theaters. See it here. Have you had any overwhelming negative or positive experiences from the front-of-the-house…
Haunt-ing for real reporting
This is the time of year that otherwise respectable news outlets begin publishing or broadcasting stories about haunted houses–not just the “guy jumps out at you with a chainsaw” haunted houses but also the allegedly real ones.
Problem is, many of…
Were ‘Great Books’ a great idea?
The 54-volume Great Books of the Western World series, a set of books that sold more than a million copies in the 1950s and ’60s, was:
a. an empowering, groundbreaking effort to bring brilliant writing to the masses.
b. a sales stunt perpetrated by Encyclopedia…
High school musical memories
Between the upcoming release of Disney’s “High School Musical 3” in theaters–as both an arts journalist and the father of teenage girls, I know a lot about HSM–and my kid’s own real life high school musical (Pike High School’s production…
You-review-it Monday
Truly moved by anything at the Heartland Film Festival? Catch Dance Kaleidoscope’s season opener? Visit a haunted house or, like me, were you part of the jury at the trial at the Benjamin Harrison Home?
So what did you get to…
Review: ‘Striped Pajamas’
The Heartland Film Festival kicks off tonight with the North American premiere (which I incorrectly stated was a World Premiere in my weekly e-mail) of “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”
Landing a major studio premiere is a coup for Heartland…
Review: “Avenue Q”
A few month’s back, I travelled to Louisville to catch the national tour of “Avenue Q.” Not only was I anxious to see the Tony-winning show, but I also wanted to catch it before it came to Indy, the better to…