Yearly Archives: 2005

The RCA Dome blows

I was reading this entry from the Indy Star blog’s “In Touch” section where people are arguing over increasing taxes and building a new Colts stadium. I had reservations about a new stadium, too, until we went to a Colts game earlier in the season. I discovered at the game that the RCA Dome blows chunks. Compared to the experience of seeing sports at Conseco Fieldhouse, seeing a game at the RCA Dome just isn’t fun. The halls are too narrow and dark, the bathrooms are tiny, the stadium seats are too small. You can’t see the scoreboard; it’s hard to see the game. It’s a pain to park. A pain to get in. A pain to find your seat. This Dome sucks. We need a new stadium. If it will bring revenue to the city, all the better.

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Brokeback Mountain does well at box office

According to the Associated Press, Brokeback Moutain is doing well at the box office in limited release, and may appeal to audiences in wide release as well. The movie is playing here at Keystone Art Cinemas at the Keystone at the Crossing mall.
We’re planning on seeing it this evening…

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The “Where Should I live?” quiz

Rowhouse ‘Hood

You scored 32 out of 40 on urban-rural and 24 out of 40 land intensity.
People know you as: The Bohemian Gentrifier
Quote: “That crack house just needed a little paint.”

Your score indicates that you are a city-dweller of the old-school. You like a dense, finely grained neighborhood with restaurants, churches and brothels all on the same block. Although you’ve never spoken to him personally, you know that guy Eddie down the street is a pimp and you’re sure to tell your lame suburban friends about him at every opportunity, just to freak them out.

The bad news is that as more and more people like you move into your neighborhood it gradually becomes less cool and more expensive. Enjoy things while you can, because in 5 years you’re going to have to move to the next ‘hood uptown.

Examples of places you should live: Baltimore, Philadelphia

All Categories
Secluded Hideaway / Farm or Ranch / Small Town / Little City / Suburb / Streetcar Suburb / Rowhouse ‘Hood / Downtown Loft

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
You scored higher than 86% on urban-rural
You scored higher than 62% on land intensity

Link: The Where Should You Live Test written by TwelveFloorsUp on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Sorry, dude. Anywhere I live is automatically cool.

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Scott’s White Chili

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From the kitchen of: Scott Barnes.

  • 1 pound ground chicken or turkey breast
  • 1 white onion, diced finely
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons cumin
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder (or to taste)
  • 30 oz. can of great northern beans, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz. can creamed-style corn
  • 15 oz. can hominy
  • 7 oz. can green chilies, diced, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 to 1 cup water
  • 8 to 12 ounces Monterey Jack cheese
  • Blue corn chips

Brown the meat and diced onion in your cook pot. Drain excess fat, stir in spices and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the beans, hominy and chilies. Add just enough water to cover the mixture. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and adding more water when necessary, 45 minutes to one hour until the beans are soft and the chili is thick. Add more spices if necessary.

Cube the cheese and drop it into the pot. Stir until cheese is well-blended. Serve with corn chips.

Scott's White Chicken Chili
Scott’s White Chicken Chili
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Indiana Bill Watch

If you’re at all curious about the Indiana State Legislature, you may find the Bill Watch section of the state’s website interesting. It posts text of the bills that are currently being considered in the State legislature. You can also search for particular bills if you know the number if them, and do keyword searches. (For fun, try searching on the word “sex”.)

This is how NUVO Newsweekly reporters discovered Pat Miller’s strange, Orwellian bill about unauthorized reproduction. Back in the olden days, when I did some lobbying in the state legislature, you had to go to a room in the Statehouse and look this kind of stuff up, and it was tedious and time-consuming. But it was important to do it, because legislators would hide a lot of anti-gay shit in amendments and bills that were only semi-related, and if you weren’t aware of it, there were a lot of really crappy laws created.

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What I Read in 2005 (51 Titles)

I’m going to change around a bit how I record the books I’ve read. This coming year, I’ll log titles by doing a short blog entry about them, instead of doing a running list as I have in years past. I’m shifting my past lists of books read over into my blog, as well under the category of “Books I’ve Read.”

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blowing up commuter trains, weddings, and churches?

Really? When did this happen?

In Crawford, Texas, where Bush is spending the holidays, his spokesman, Trent Duffy, defended what he called a “limited program.”
“This is not about monitoring phone calls designed to arrange Little League practice or what to bring to a potluck dinner,” he told reporters. “These are designed to monitor calls from very bad people to very bad people who have a history of blowing up commuter trains, weddings, and churches.”

I don’t remember any churches or weddings getting blown up around here? Do you? If they are doing this, why are we just spying on them? Why aren’t we arresting them?
And the real question: why not get a warrant? Warrants to eavesdrop are really easy to get, and they’re even allowed to get them after the fact, so why not get warrants if people are blowing up weddings? Why break the law and avoid the warrants? Possibly because he’s not spying on terrorists at all?
I call bullshit.
The only terrorists in the US are the right-wing terrorists who sent anthrax and blow up gay bars and planned parenthood clinics. Osama bin Laden is not hiding under your bed. No one is out there trying to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge, or the Golden Gate Bridge, or Wall Drugs in South Dakota. You have more to fear from the price of natural gas than from Muslims. The War on Terror is just as fake as the made-up War on Christmas. It’s all about scaring you into giving up your freedom.

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Gourmet Amigurumi

I’ve mentioned before Gourmet Amigurumi, the business run by Beth Doherty that makes great crochet animal dolls. I had Beth make this figure skating monkey for Christmas for Stephanie… along with a monkey for me, too.

If you look at Beth’s Flickr photos of her work, she’s got some really amazing dolls. She just recently created a really cute Chihuahua and an adorable penguin. Some of my favorites, though, are Angus the Monster, the Punk Bunny Rabbit, and the Hep Cat.

What’s really cool is how quickly she gets them done. She whipped up the monkey really quickly, and she hadn’t ever done ice skates before, so she had to figure them out. Even so, it was just a few weeks between the time I ordered and she got them to me. She seems to be getting a lot of business lately, so it might take a bit longer.

You can contact her through Flickr, or you can buy things from her shop.
Along the same lines, Jessica Hutch makes knitted dolls, including Robots.

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