Family New Year's Eve Celebration

The entire family will enjoy a memorable evening at the Indiana State Museum's Family New Year's Eve Celebration. Magicians and clowns will be on hand to entertain the kids, along with crafts and live music from Dog Talk as well as access to the museum's galleries. Revel in the spectacular balloon drop at 8 p.m. in the Frank J. O'Bannon Great Hall. Enjoy all the fun from 6:30-9 p.m. for $5 per person (ISM members) or $10 per person (non-members). Snacks and drinks may be purchased in the museum's Canal Cafe, which will remain open. For more information: call 317:232-1637 or online.

Take the Kids to See this Exhibit at Herron

There's still time to catch the Bill Peet Storybook Menagerie at Herron School of Art & Design at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, 735 West New York Street, Indianapolis. The exhibit is open through 5 January (closed New Year's Day and Sundays). Gallery Hours are Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (Thursdays until 8 p.m.). Storytime takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday (29 December), next Thursday (3 January) and the following Saturday (5 January). Bill Peet (1915-2002) was an author, illustrator, film maker -- and Herron alumnus.

Indy Makes Google Maps' Street View

A bunch of Indy streets are given their street-level closeup on Google Maps' Street View, including much of Indianapolis, Brownsburg, Lafayette and more. Check it out here, click on "Street View" and then select your town. And, this Indianapolis Observer is interested to note that TakingDownWords.com reported the info at 12:25 p.m., but it wasn't posted to Indystar.com until 1:55 p.m. (somebody at The Star is reading that blog!). (Others tell this Indianapolis Observer that the Street View of Indy has been online for a couple of weeks.)

Imminent Demise of the Blue Line!

IndyGo’s Blue Line Circulator, which links downtown attractions, meeting places, restaurants and shopping areas, makes its last run Dec. 31.

The case of the disappearing blogs

Both IndyUndercover (cop-centric) and IndyFlashover (firefighter-centric) have disappeared from the blogosphere. Inquiring minds want to know...why? why now? This Indianapolis Observer thinks that the kitchen got too hot, and the bloggers have gone into hiding.

ImmuneWorks LLC Wins $1.5 Million Grant

ImmuneWorks LLC announced today that it has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. ImmuneWorks will use these funds to complete preclinical development of its lead product in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. ImmuneWorks LLC is a biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics and diagnostic tests for patients with autoimmune conditions. It was founded in 2006 by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers Drs. David Wilkes and Michael Klemsz. The company is initially developing treatments for pulmonary diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and prevention of lung transplant rejection.

Seven Authors Coming to Butler in 2008

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon (pictured), Nigerian author Chris Abani and poet Terrance Hayes are among seven authors who will speak at Butler University as part of the spring 2008 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series. Antonya Nelson kicks off the series 6 February, followed by Alessandra Lynch (11 February), Don Platt (21 February), Hayes (4 March), Valzhyna Mort (27 March), Abani (9 April) and Chabon (16 April).

Conner Prairie's Gingerbread Village Open for the Holidays

Buy an admission to Discovery Station at Conner Prairie Pioneer Settlement, and you also get admission to the annual Gingerbread Village. Feast your eyes on gingerbread creations of all shapes and sizes from talented professional bakers, pastry chefs and non-professional bakers -- gingerbread houses, churches and historic buildings with intricate designs and colorful trimmings. Through 30 December (except for Mondays, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) you can see all the colorful creations in the holiday competition (hours are Tues.–Sat., 10 am–5 pm and Sun., 11 am–5 pm). Discovery Station is, of course, the INDOOR play and learning area for toddlers and up.

Holiday Trainland Chugs Along

The Hilbert Conservatory at White River Gardens has been transformed into an enchanting holiday get-away with “O” and “G” scale model trains winding in and out of villages and towns constructed throughout the Conservatory floor and running at children's-eye level. Meanwhile, next door at the Indianapolis Zoo, the grounds are covered in holiday lights and sculptures, and special animal activities take place nightly. During the evenings leading up to Christmas, guests can sing along with carolers, listen to local school choirs, meet Mrs. Claus, and even the big guy himself. Kroger Christmas at the Zoo and Indiana Rail Road’s Holiday Trainland are free for members and included with regular Zoo admission. Through 30 December, the Zoo and the Trainland open at noon with holiday activities at the Zoo running from 5-9 p.m. For more information, call 317:630-2001.

Sagamore Gets Grant from Lilly Endowment

Sagamore Institute for Policy Research has been awarded a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., according to Inside INdiana Business. The grant will allow the local think tank to continue and expand its policy research and community leadership mission in Indianapolis and beyond. The $300,000 award will support a full year of research, programming activity, and general operations through 2008.

"Sing! Choirs of Angels!"

The Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys will perform a holiday concert of traditional and contemporary seasonal carols and medieval songs at 3 p.m. 16 December (Sunday) in the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis. Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for children, and $12 Indiana Historical Society and Christ Church members.

New BMV Rules Are Problematic

The new Indiana law requiring a valid Social Security number in order to obtain (or retain) an Indiana Driver's License is having all sorts of unintended (and negative) consequences. The Japan-America Society of Indiana has issued an information sheet for their members that has relevance to many of us. Check it out here. It may help you resolve your BMV dilemma!

Golden Age of Literature: Meredith Nicholson

Wander over to the Indiana Historical Society at noon on 19 December for a glimpse at one of the Hoosier state's iconic authors. Historian Ralph Gray will discuss his biography of Meredith Nicholson (left) and the ways the IHS Press and Marion County Historical Society hope to introduce a new generation of readers to Nicholson’s brilliance. The author, diplomat and lecturer -- along with Booth Tarkington, George Ade and James Whitcomb Riley -- is considered a leader in creating the "Golden Age of Literature" in Indiana. Open to the public free of charge in the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, it's part of the IHS' Reading Life Series and sponsored by the Stratford at West Clay. For more information, call 317:232-1882.

Movie Premiere at University of Indianapolis

"Prince Among Slaves", a film adapted from the book of the same name, will have its world premiere at 5:30 p.m. Saturday (8 December) in the Ransburg Auditorium of the University of Indianapolis, 1400 East Hanna Avenue, Indianapolis. John Clark notes in his Provocate.org blog that "Prince Among Slaves" is a vivid, dramatic feature film of an extraordinary man (Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori) in extraordinary times, interweaving universal themes of bondage and deliverance, pride and forbearance, guile and providence with the wild and unruly early years of America’s Kingdom of Cotton. There's no charge for admission. Supported with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Black Programming Consortium, this 60-minute film produced by Alex Kronemer is intended for broadcast on PBS in 2008.

Nancy Robertson Reading at IUPUI

A new book by Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis History Professor Nancy Marie Robertson (pictured) explores how the Young Womens Christian Association (YWCA), the nation's first major biracial womens organization, provided a unique venue for women to respond to American race relations during the first half of the twentieth century and laid the groundwork for the subsequent civil rights movement. She'll talk about her book during a lunch on the IUPUI campus from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. 10 December. Prof. Robertson is an Associate Professor in the Department of History in the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts and an Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies. She is also the director of the Womens Studies Program. Cost for the lunch and program, to be held in the University Faculty Club in Indianapolis, is $10 (book available for optional purchase). Space is limited and reservations are required; call Stephanie, 317:274-7014, or contact the sponsors for more information: Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and the IUPUI University Library.

Formula One "Might" Return to Indy!

Talks between Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Formula One officials have continued, despite last summer's announcement that the 2008 U.S. Grand Prix would not take place, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.Those talks have given way to some optimism that the F1 race could be back at the famed Brickyard in 2009, when the IMS will celebrate is centennial. The IMS hosted the U.S. Grand Prix from 2000 to 2007. Attendance for the inaugural race was more than 250,000, but declined over the years until it stabilized just above 100,000 the last couple of years.The event is thought to have generated about $100 million in local tourism revenue, according to the IBJ.