The Pacers opening victory, new game innovations at Conseco Fieldhouse and retaining Danny Granger are bright spots in the
city’s vast sports scene.
A commission that has drawn $12.5 million in grants and public money to promote Indianapolis’ artistic side is awaiting word
on its future.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
This week, two attempts at stage bawdiness — “Lysistrata,” and “The Wild Party,” come up short.
Vivity Labs has developed a Web
site called
Fit Brains (www.fitbrains.com), which features engaging games and activities that exercise the five key cognitive
areas of the brain: memory, language, concentration, executive functions, and visual and spatial skills.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Over the years, the city has made a name for itself by hosting a handful of large conventions and a bevy of small and midsize
gatherings. But as companies and other organizations tighten their belts, the number of conventions
held nationwide is expected to shrink in the months ahead.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
