Sometimes a building’s architectural style is so identified with its original business that it’s hard to shake the association, even when the business is long gone. Here’s a photo gallery of bad building conversions around Indianapolis. Let me know about the ones you’ve spotted around town…
This Indian Restaurant on east 38th Street doesn’t disguise its former existence as a Pizza Hut very well. Pizza Hut
Woo hoo! Let’s go to the Taco Bell Dentist! Taco Bell Dentistry
Peggy’s Restaurant can try all it wants, but it’s no Lums Restaurant. Lums
It’s not really that obvious at first, but if you look at Rancho Grande Restaurant near 86th and Ditch, you can see it used to be a Chinese Restaurant Rancho Grande Chinese Buffet
The Fox Photo at 86th and Ditch is now Joey’s Produce. They should probably take down the digital services sign to make the complete transformation. Produce Fox Photo
Jen’s theory that this lighting store on 38th Street might be a former Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips is close, but I think it might not be the case after comparing the signs. (Update – it was a Laughner’s Cafeteria!)
Treachers Lantern?
Arthur Treachers
They tried adding some Asian design adornment to the windows, but it’s pretty obvious that Tokyo Joe’s started life as a Noble Roman’s. Tokyo Joes
However, they do have a great “Lunh Buffet.” Lunh Buffet
I’m not certain, but I think this Pawn shop used to be a Steak place. Pawn Shop/Steak
Indianapolis residents were devastated when the Roslyns Bakeries all over town closed, and even more upset when their classic “googie” style signs were converted to Cash and Go signs. Roslyn’s Bakery/Cash N Go
This former Ponderosa on east Washington now serves up Chinese food Ponderosa China Buffet 2
As does this one on 10th and Shadeland. Notice the nice Ponderosa landscape image still in place. Ponderosa China Buffet
This Long John Silvers ended up being an auto service place/tax preparer. Long John Silver’s Auto Repair & taxes
The Blockbuster sign doesn’t quite hide that this building used to be a Papa John’s Restaurant. Blockbuster Papa John’s Pizza
I recognize the original building as a restaurant, but can’t quite put a name to it. It wasn’t a Napa Auto Parts, though. Was it a steakhouse? Denny’s Napa Auto Parts
Fill out this survey and enter my site on questions 15 and 16 to give me some more exposure… It’s being done by blogads.com, which I will be putting in place on my site soon to help defray costs.
I had my test yesterday, but I don’t find out the results of it for a couple more days. It went really smoothly, though, I think. It was very interesting and I want to write more about it when I get some time. I’m hoping that I can write enough about it to make a decent article for IndyScribe.
In November of this year, two young Indiana college students, Sarah Kessans and Emily Kohl, will attempt to row across the Atlantic Ocean in a 2,900 nautical mile rowing race from the Canary Islands to the West Indies. The race is one of the most extreme physical sports challenges in the world; more people have climbed Mount Everest than have rowed across an ocean.
If they can achieve their goal, Kessans and Kohl will be the youngest American women to do so. The boat they will use, The American Fire, has no motor or sail of any kind, and is solely powered by the two rowers, who trade off rowing in 2 hour shifts. The vessel must contain everything they need for a possible 75 day trip, including meals, a reverse osmosis water machine to provide drinking water, and radio and navigation equipment.
The Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race in 2005 will be the fourth such event, and will be comprised of 41 rowing teams of two. The race begins in La Gomera, Canary Islands, and follows prevailing winds and currents across the Atlantic to Antigua, West Indies. Two support yachts follow the fleet for emergency assistance. Rowers face extraordinary physical and mental challenges on their 60 day journey, encountering storms, sharks and physical exhaustion.
Lifelong athletes, twenty-something Kessans and Kohl are both award-winning veteran rowers on Purdue Universities’ rowing team. They are hoping to raise the funding for their entry into the event by garnering donations and corporate sponsorship from their website. The total cost of their entry in the race is around $200,000.
These are jokes, and not intended to be taken seriously. Please view the site disclaimer.
Sing along at the opera.
Go to a poetry recital and ask why each poem doesn’t rhyme.
Holler random numbers while someone is counting.
Make beeping noises when a large person backs up.
In the memo field of all your checks, write "for sensual massage."
Learn Morse code, and have conversations with friends in public consisting entirely of "Beeeep Bip Bip Beeeep Bip…"
If you have a glass eye, tap on it occasionally with your pen while talking to others.
Push all the flat Lego pieces together tightly.
Stomp on little plastic ketchup packets.
Sniffle incessantly.
Reply to everything someone says with "that’s what YOU think."
Declare your apartment an independent nation, and sue your neighbors upstairs for "violating your airspace."
Forget the punchline to a long joke, but assure the listener it was a "real hoot."
Invent nonsense computer jargon in conversations, and see if people play along to avoid the appearance of ignorance.
Finish all your sentences with the words "in accordance with prophesy."
Wear a special hip holster for your remote control.
Do not add any inflection to the end of your sentences, producing awkward silences with the impression that you’ll be saying more any moment.
Signal that a conversation is over by clamping your hands over your ears.
Give a play-by-play account of a persons every action in a nasal Howard Cosell voice.
Adjust the tint on your TV so that all the people are green, and insist to others that you "like it that way."
Ask 1-800 operators for dates.
Produce a rental video consisting entirely of dire FBI copyright warnings.
Sew anti-theft detector strips into peoples backpacks.
Check out a novel from the library and write the surprise ending on its first page.
Order a side of pork rinds with your filet mignon.
Dress only in clothes colored Hunters Orange.
Change channels five minutes before the end of every show.
Tape pieces of "Sweating to the Oldies" over climactic parts of rental movies.
Decline to be seated at a restaurant, and simply eat their complimentary mints by the cash register.
Pay for your dinner with pennies.
Tie jingle bells to all your clothes.
Repeat everything someone says, as a question.
Repeat the following conversation a dozen times: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it’s gone now."
Wander around a restaurant, asking other diners for their parsley.
At the laundromat, use one dryer for each of your socks.
As much as possible, skip rather than walk.
Stand over someone’s shoulder, mumbling, as they read.
Try playing the William Tell Overture by tapping on the bottom of your chin. When nearly done, announce "no, wait, I messed it up," and repeat.
Ask people what gender they are.
Lick the filling out of all the Oreos, and place the cookie parts back in the tray.
Lie obviously about trivial things such as the time of day..
Change your name to "John Aaaaasmith" for the great glory of being first in the phone book, claim its a Hawaiian name, and demand that people pronounce each "a."
Sit in your front yard pointing a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.
Free association–a psychoanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content–is what this post is all about. Each week, Patricia over at Luna Nina posts ten words to which anyone can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.
I’m googling these things because I have to go get an echo-cardiogram for the first time since I was a kid. I have a congenital heart murmur, which has apparently gotten worse in the last two years.
More specifically, I have two problems: a pulmonary stenosis, which means my pulmonary valve is too narrow and doesn’t pump blood efficiently. And I also have Mitral Valve prolapse, which means my mitral valve doesn’t close completely and allows blood to flow backwards into the previous chamber, causing a whooshing sound or “murmur.”
Apparently my murmur has gone from a grade 1 to a grade 3 on a scale of 6. It’s possible that this increase in the murmur may be a result of age, or as a result of a heart valve infection that occurred when I had my appendix rupture.
Interestingly, this site mentions as symptoms two things that I do recall having: fatigue, exhaustion, and light-headedness (may result from low cardiac output) and shortness of breath when lying down (orthopnea). Hmm.
I read this classic blog post from The Poor Man last year when it was first posted, but it’s won some awards since then and I had a chance to re-read it. Check out the whole post, because it’s one of the funniest things you’ll ever read. Unfortunately, the page is screwed up a bit, but scroll down and you’ll see the whole thing.
Judith Miller: Dick Cheney has revealed a straight flush, confirming his pre-collection claims about beating two pair.
TE: Those cards are of different suits. It’s not a flush.
Mark Steyn: When will it end? Now liberal critics complain that Dick Cheney’s cards are not all the same suit. Naturally, these are the same liberals who are always whining about a lack of diversity in higher education. It seems like segregation is OK with these liberals, as long as it damages Republicans.
MD: ****DRUDGE REPORT EXCLUSIVE****
*****MUST CREDIT THE DRUDGE REPORT*****
A witness has come forward claiming that The Editors engage in racial profiling in blog-linking. Developing …
TE: Wait! It’s not even a straight! You’ve got a eight and ten of hearts, a six of clubs, and the seven and five of diamonds. You have a ten high. That’s nothing.
I will be attending this rally on March 8th, and I’m inviting you all to join me. I will be one of the crowd-control folks in a lovely orange vest. If you want to get together for a sign-making party, please let me know; this event is only a few short days away.
In response to the State Legislature’s current bill (SJR 7) seeking to limit equal marriage rights for same-sex couples by amending the constitution, gay rights advocates and their friends and families are planning a Rally/Silent protest at the east steps of the Indiana Statehouse on March 8 at 11 a.m. to protest this piece of legislation and several others that are currently under consideration. Organizers are expecting over 1,000 supporters to attend the rally.
This rally will also serve as a counter rally to the one taking place on the west side of the statehouse, held by the right-wing organization Advance America, founded by former political candidate and longtime lobbyist Eric Miller.
The Legislation
A number of bills have been introduced into into the Indiana State Legislature this season that will have an effect on the lives of gay and lesbian citizens of Indiana. Here is a synopsis of three of them:
SJR 7 – EQUAL MARRIAGE RIGHTS: This bill seeks to amend the Indiana constitution to limit the possibility of marriage to a definition of one man and one woman, and additionally seeks to prevent any legal arrangements between same-sex couples that are intended to provide the same protections as marriage.
SJR 585 – ADOPTION/FOSTERING: This bill will prohibit gay people from being foster parents and adopting.
SJR 541 – DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS: This bill will limit eligibility under a state university health plan to an employee of the university and to the spouse and dependant children of the employee.
The first legislation, SJR 7 has already passed in the senate and will move on to the house in this legislative session. If it passes the house (it is expected to) it will need to be passed again in a future legislative session, and with then be placed on a ballot referendum for Hoosiers to vote on.
Additional Rally Information
Organizers describe the rally as a silent protest intended to emphasize the attempts by the religious right to silence the gay and lesbian community. They also ask attendees to remember that they want no noise, rude behavior or disorderly conduct, and that rally supporters are asked to stay off the Statehouse grass, to avoid blocking entrances to the Statehouse and foot traffic on the sidewalks. 15 to 20 organizers of the event will be on hand to provide crowd control and to help attendees maintain order.
There will be several speakers, including the possibility of Senators who opposed the legislation.
Attendees of the Rally are encouraged to make signs. Organizers suggestions include: “SJR7 – The Hate Debate” or “SJR7 – Blatant Discrimination” or “Eric Miller -Conservative Approach; Extremist Agenda” or “Hate is Not a Family Value” or “It’s Our Constitution Too”
More information about the rally, including a map of the Statehouse, flyers that can be distributed, and parking information is available at [link deprecated: http://www.stopthebigots.org] Stopthebigots.org.
Parking for the Rally
Attendees of the rally are urged to carpool to the event due to downtown parking and traffic considerations. Parking at Circle Center Mall may provide the best location.
What an echo-cardiogram is.