Articles Written in January 2006

First, let me get this off my chest. I really want to add an apostrophe to the name of this restaurant, but Steven Oakley doesn't put it there, so I won't either.

By the look of the crowds at lunch and dinner, Oakleys seems to be in no danger of succumbing to the fate of many other independents. Oakleys serves excellent, fresh, originally prepared food in an elegant atmosphere and at very good prices. It's one of the best restaurants in Indy.

Continue reading "Oakleys Bistro"

I read in the Star recently that Kerasotes Theaters has a special "club" where you can see certain movies for $5 at any time of day. This applies generally to movies that have been playing for at least two weeks.

Sign up online and they'll mail you a card, which you can present along with $5 for admission. It allows one admission per card, so families need one card per person. See details and a list of participating theaters at www.fivebuckclub.net.

I frequent the Kerasotes Showplace 12 at Glendale, where the usual matinee price is something like $6.25, with evening showings at $8.75 – so this will save you money no matter what time of day you go!

One weekday just before Christmas, fellow IndyScriber Rachel Wolfe told me about this little Vietnamese place tucked in a strip mall behind Castleton, and she and I decided to head there for lunch.

If you like fresh ingredients and lustrous flavors and don't have any phobias relating to rice noodles, then this is definitely a place worth visiting.

Continue reading "Viet Bistro"

In a word: loud.

More words would be helpful? Well, okay.

Continue reading "Maggiano's Little Italy"

So you only turn 250 once; you might as well celebrate. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and friends made it a special occasion for Mozart—birthday cupcakes and all!—on his actual birthday, as part of their ongoing Mozart Festival. Together with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and four soloists, the ISO performed an all-Mozart program including his final masterpiece, the Requiem.

Continue reading "Symphony Review: Mozart's Requiem (and Birthday!)"

Here's a nice website that displays old penny postcards of Indianapolis landmarks, some of which are no longer around. I have a nice collection of these that I purchased from both eBay and from antique stores around town. Some of the really fun ones are of Broadripple Park, which used to contain an amusement park and miniature "White City" like Chicago's World's Fair, and Garfield Park, which had a small Zoo, complete with bear cages.

The really interesting (and more expensive) postcards to look for are real photo postcards like this one, which are one-of-a-kind.

One of the buildings I wish were still around is this one: The Pythian Building, which was the home of one of the many men's clubs in Indy in the 1900's.

The Indy Racing League recently announced that it's hired KISS front man Gene Simmons to promote the 2006 racing season, the campaign is called "I Am Indy" and will feature a song of that name by Simmons, as well as ads in TV, print, radio and the internet. You can hear the song here.

Yep, sounds like a winning campaign to me.

For weeks now (months maybe?) I have been driving by a little spot of construction just north of Broad Ripple on College. The construction was located on the south side of the bridge over White River. When I passed by a couple days ago, a gorgeous blue sculpture was standing there!

Unfortunately, I haven't found much information about it, just a small sign on the www.mybroadripple.com sign at the corner of 62nd and Collage: "Tim Ryan Sculpture Unveiling Wed 4 PM" and some pics for a 'Gateway Presentation'.

Anybody got more information about this sculpture?

The latest selection in the "One Book, One City" program, sponsored by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the Office of the Mayor, is Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale. This book was adapted into the screenplay for the 2002 movie of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Library's website hosts a downloadable discussion guide (66 KB .pdf), whose last three pages are specific to this title. The rest of that document is basic info on how to organize and lead a book group.

See the 25 finalists (out of 270 entries) for the One Book, One City program, and read the official announcement.