When you think about American Indians, images from some of the old epic John Ford western movies is what comes to mind. Larger than life scenery in the plains of Texas, Colorado, Utah or Arizona. So when I first learned there was going to be a museum that celebrates and chronicles the lives and culture of native Americans Indians located here, my first reaction was that it felt a bit out of place. Then it dawns on you that you live in a state called Indiana, which essentially means “land of the Indians”. So when you think about it, what could be more appropriate? In reality, native Americans resided in every part of our great country, from the southern Gulf to the Great Lakes. From the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. I like to think that they especially liked living in Indiana. We do.. right?

If you haven’t been to the Eiteljorg Museum in a while and certainly if you have never been there, you might consider visiting there sometime soon. Some absolute treasures await you. It helps us to connect with the original Americans who’s sophisticated and advanced culture was one with the spirit and realities of our great land.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also be interested in:

1. Eiteljorge Fountain
2. Wall of Windows

This place is going to be humming tonight. If you have been listening to the radio, watching television or reading the newspapers lately, you would think that the Playoff Finals or the Superbowl was today. But nope…just game nine out of sixteen…New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts home, Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s a semi-important game because it’s an AFC matchup and it could possibly have playoff implications…but clearly though, the hype has permeated every source of media coverage here. It’s hard to stay out of the way of it. I also got a text message from a friend of mine a couple days ago who lives near the Boston area predicting a slim victory for the Patriots. My text response was “We’ll see”.  (As you can see I’m efficient and not long winded when it comes to texting) Apparently the media out there is whipped into a frenzy over this game too. But, that’s their job, right? I’d be shocked if they weren’t. Another friend here told me that ticket resellers are paying over three times their face value for tickets to this game, to be sold again for even more. Wow.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Colts fan and have had this game mentally circled for a long time too…and of course nothing will get in my way of watching it come game time. Not even an offer on a two million dollar home would entice me away from watching. Well…maybe. I guess I could work on it a bit during halftime.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also be interested in:

1. Colts 2009…the Beginning
2. The Day After
3. Colt’s secret weapon revealed

I was downtown a couple days ago visting a bookstore really close to the Madam Walker Building, and grabbed an opportunity to snap this photo. I wish I had a photo to show of the Madam Walker Theater inside too. It’s really beautifully done.

The real Madam Walker who this theater is named for, was truly a pioneer for successful women in business, women as political activists and African-Americans. Her success and involvement in the early 19th century in Indianapolis forever has left a legacy that will never be forgotten.

The theater located at the corner of Indiana Ave and Martin Luther King Blvd just northwest of center of downtown has been a landmark for many decades, and now hosts a varied lineup of interesting cultural events. The site is now a national historic landmark and is registered on both the state and national registers of historic places. After an immense amount of work restoring and improving the building beginning in the 1980′s, it has been transformed into a magnificent facility for the performing arts and other events.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also be interested in:

1. The American Story
2. Military Park
3. Memorial mystery unveiled

So, I’m driving north on Illinois Street and as I approach 30th Street, my auto-defense mechanism immediately received a jolt. Astoundingly enough, a humongous dinosaur with an obvious attitude has just broken through the walls of a building and a couple of it’s dino-buddies are bolting toward the street. Automatically I check to make sure the doors are locked… and then instantly compute the futility of such a move. If it can break through a building then flattening my car would be like squashing a watermelon. I’m about ready to punch the accelerator to run the red stoplight when it dawns on me… Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years! OK…never mind.

If you were a kid, or even a grown-up kid like we all are, the view of the rampaging dinos plus the look of rest of the exterior would certainly intrigue you to go inside. Something tells you from the look of this place that there is interesting fun going on inside.

If you haven’t been to the Children’s Museum before or if it’s been a while since you’ve been there, it might be time for a visit. They have a special King Tut-Egyptian exhibit going on there now too in addition to the thousands of other sights and sounds. Have fun!

If you enjoyed this post, you may also be interested in:

1. State House
2. Well-rounded View
3. Eiteljorge Treasures

Since the Indiana State Fair was right here in town and I had a couple hours, I just had to stop by. Even though I don’t go every year, I couldn’t stay away this time. I’ve been adventurous lately and figured too that it would be a target-rich environment for photographs. I was right. One spectacle after another. What struck me after looking around a bit is the Fair doesn’t change very much. It could have been 1989 instead of 2009 and I bet it would have looked almost the same. The only difference might be that the tractor-powered trams are now being run on soy bio-diesel. I was thinking that even though I could take photographs and videos with sound, there is no way I can record the smells that are there to share with others. Grill smoke and food odors wafting from food vendors of every kind, mixed with the exhaust from tractors and carnival rides, intermingling with livestock, etc. It’s a unique State Fair experience for the olfactory senses that you just have to encounter firsthand to appreciate.

There’s a lot of different things to do at the Fair and everyone has their own favorites…but eating has got to be one of those things that just about everyone likes. The food vendors always seem to do well. People everywhere partaking in Corn Dogs, Elephant Ears and Curly Fries and just about anything else you can think of.  The Midway seemed to be popular too. But I guess there are certain things that I’d rather see when I go. I like seeing some of the exhibits in Pioneer Village. For some reason, viewing images of days gone by is interesting to me. Part of our Indiana heritage. There was a blacksmith at work…and a horse powered sorghum mill. But to me the coolest thing was watching some guys run a sawmill that was being powered by a 100 ft long drive-belt hooked up to the flywheel of an antique coal-fired steam-powered tractor. And for some reason, I always get a kick out of walking through the cattle, hog and horse barns. I suppose as a city boy, seeing animals real time up close somehow grounds me again back to reality. And of course, I had to have a Lemon Shake-Up…even though they are $3 and I can make one for a fraction of that at home. It’s one of those things that you must have when you go to the Fair. I think it’s a state law?

The Fair runs through August 23rd. Plenty of time for you still to run over there. If so, you might check out the coal-powered tractor-driven sawmill. That still gets my vote.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also be interested in:

1. Talbot Street Art Fair
2. State House
3. We’ll See