"Put a Bird on It"

"Put a Bird on It" opens with an artist reception and open studio from 6 to 10 p.m. 2 March in the Harrison Center for the Arts, 1505 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis.

Fans of Portlandia will recognize the title of this show from the skit of the same name that pokes fun at hipster-crafters who will seemingly put a bird on just about anything.

With the help of over 75 artists, the Harrison Center will indeed be "putting a bird on it" as four of our exhibit spaces combine to form a giant art aviary. Click here for a list of participating artists. Their work hangs through 30 March.

Also that night:

In the City Gallery - new work by Erin Drew.

Representatives will be on hand with information about great urban Indy neighborhoods including Watson McCord, home of the Watson Bird Sanctuary.

Throughout the building, there'll be 23 HCA artist open studios, and, in the gym, demonstrations by Rock Steady Boxing, a program designed to improve the quality of life for people battling Parkinson's disease through non-contact, boxing training.

"Awaken Your Senses" book signing with author, Beth Booram.

At VSA Indiana : "Celebrating Community" with clay and 2D work made by Community Arts Class students and Urban Artisans. Show hangs through 28 March.

It's all a part of First Friday (of course) sponsored by IDADA (Indianapolis Downtown Artists & Dealers Association).

"Vote fraud retires shameless GOP official"

Charles "White has yet to accept responsibility for intentionally defrauding the state of Indiana as two different judges, in two different cases, have now found that he did."

Yep. Our former Secretary of State, now convicted felon, is excoriated in the national press, again.

"A lot of Republicans complain about voter fraud. [Republican] Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White actually committed it."

Read it all here.

International Women's Day

Join members and guests of the Association of International Women in celebrating International Women's Day 23 March in the Marriott North, 3645 River Crossing Parkway, Indianapolis.

The gala event begins with a social hour at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and then dancing until midnight.

Tickets are $50 per person. Attire is "black tie optional" with ethnic dress encouraged.

Arts & Antiques Show

It's hard to believe that a quarter of a century has passed, but, yes, folks, get ready for the 25th anniversary of the Indianapolis Arts & Antiques Show.

It'll be held 9-11 March in the Marsh Blue Ribbon Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 East 38th Street, Indianapolis. General admission is $12 at the door.

The show is presented by the Methodist Hospital Task Core in partnership with Methodist Health Foundation in support of Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital (say that three times, fast).

(Photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Art & Antiques Show)

Dang! We're in the National News Again

This time, for not "believing" in vaccination.

"Indiana has had 14 cases of measles since the game, and 13 of those have been confirmed as occurring in anti-vaccination families. The outbreak started with two infected people who went to the Super Bowl village...".

Read it all here

Yup. Not only do we think the Girl Scouts are the spawn of Satan and that the Indiana Secretary of State (whose job is elections) shouldn't have to follow election laws himself, we don't believe in vaccinating our kids.

Sometimes this Indianapolis Observer is ashamed to be a Hoosier.

Book & Author Luncheon Set

Tiffany Baker, Cara Black, Beth Gutcheon, Bret Lott and Stewart O'Nan are the book authors speaking at the 32nd annual luncheon sponsored by the Christamore House Guild.

The Book & Author Benefit Luncheon begins with book sales and signing at 10 a.m. 20 April and finishes up around 2 p.m. in the Indiana Roof Ballroom, 140 West Washington Street, Indianapolis.

Tickets are $85 ($55 of which is tax deductible: proceeds support the Frances Carter Coburn Scholarship Fund and educational programs offered through Christamore House).

For more information, contact Lisa Goldenberg.

"Amusing Ambiguities"

When playwright Georges Feydeau (pictured, at left) presented his farcical plays in fin de siècle Paris, France, patrons typically threw tomatoes and cabbages, and reviewers showed no mercy in relegating his plays to those enjoyed by the less cultured of society.

His plays often involved a mistaken motive or a mistaken identity, and were filled with misunderstandings and great coincidences. Though dismissed in his day, he is now considered one of the great playwrights of the Edwardian era.

In keeping with Feydeau’s flair for people turning up in the wrong places, the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, 1230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, will be the host of the Victorian Theatre by Candlelight’s spring production of “Amusing Ambiguities.”

To view this montage of three of Feydeau’s short plays, patrons will rotate among three different rooms of the presidential mansion to experience each play in a different setting. The Harrison’s furnishings, antiques, candlelight recreate the ambiance of 19th Century salon theatres.

In “Ladies’ Man,” staged in the master bedroom, a young woman seeks the counsel of her older cousin regarding how to deal with her gentleman suitor who is pressing marriage. However, both women are in for a surprise when they learn new things about this enigmatic young man.

In the back parlor, the audience will enjoy, “Romance in A Flat.” A young music student awaits her new maestro to instruct her in piano. However, the play takes a most amusing twist when we learn that the music teacher has appeared at the wrong flat and was indeed expecting someone quite different.

A comedy of errors unfolds in the dining room in “Wooed and Viewed.” An hysterical woman calls on her lawyer neighbor with a most unusual request for dealing with her jealous husband. The lawyer believes she wants a divorce, but she has other plans for retaliation.

“Amusing Ambiguities” opens on 20 April, and will be performed every Friday and Saturday evening through 5 May. There is a matinee at 2 p.m. 29 April. Tickets are $20 per person. Needless to say, reservations are highly recommended.

The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, a 16-room Italianate style house, was constructed by Harrison in 1874 and is a National Historical Landmark recognized by the United States Department of the Interior.

We're in the National News Again. Sigh!

An Indiana legislator has accused the Girl Scouts of America of teaching girls to want lesbian sex and revering Communists as role models.

Sounds like a joke? This Indianapolis Observer wishes it were!

However, Indiana state Rep. Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne) is deadly serious. He actually wrote a letter to his fellow legislators explaining his refusal to sign a House Resolution recognizing the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts of America (you can read it here).

It includes this statement: "I have been told that, as of today, I am the only member not supporting the Girl Scout Resolution."

Well, no kidding, Rep. Morris! That's because you're out on this shaky limb all by your lonesome.

Time for another Thin Mint, or maybe a Savannah!

"Indiana is clearly a state with a lot of political excitement."

New York Times columnist Gail Collins takes on Indiana's residency flap today.

As she writes, "Of all the issues you can raise in a political campaign, the dumbest is whether a member of Congress has moved his/her family to Washington."

She continues, "The issue of voting addresses is particularly sensitive in Indiana, where the secretary of state, Charlie White, was recently tossed out of office after being convicted of registering to vote at his former wife’s address while he actually lived with his fiancée. White, who once worked as a family law attorney, said his private life was 'complicated', which I’m sure we’re all prepared to believe."

And, she concludes: "These residency flaps are generally bogus. If we want a Congress that looks at least minimally like the country at large — including women, men with working wives, and parents of young children — we can’t carp if they want to keep their families within commuting distance."

Read it all here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/opinion/collins-anywhere-i-hang-my-hat.html

Zahn to Depart Indy Downtown Inc.

"Tamara Zahn, the first and only president of Indianapolis Downtown Inc., announced today her plan to step down from her position once a successor has been named and the transition is in place. The target date for the transition is June."

Indianapolis Downtown, Inc. Takes Over Georgia Street

File this one under "gee, you gave me a lot of notice, guys!"
Yes, I received the notice this morning -- and the meeting is in like 5 minutes.

A meeting of Georgia Street stakeholders and businesses will be held at 3 p.m. TODAY in Bankers Life Fieldhouse to discuss the operations and maintenance, sidewalk cafe applications and event applications.

Discussion of the documentary “Invisible Children”

(Thanks to Provocate.org for this item:)

In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure became much more when Jason, Laren, and Bobby stumbled upon Africa’s longest-running war–a conflict where children were both the weapons and the victims.

The result was Invisible Children, a film that launched a campaign by high school and college students across the US to address the issue of child soldiers.

Join the discussion at noon, 27 February, in room MS B26, Van Nuys Medical Science Building, Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis (map and more).

This lunch time discussion is sponsored by the Global Health Student Interest Group and is free and open to all.

The Global Health SIG was founded by medical students at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis and aims to facilitate opportunities for global health service, encourage study abroad in medicine, and increase awareness of global health care needs. The organization currently includes undergraduate, graduate, and medical students from a variety of backgrounds, including biology, pre-med, philanthropy, social work, health law, nursing, public health, and many others.

Peyton's Brother's Team Won

This Indianapolis Observer thinks Indy's the true winner of the Super Bowl. As Cory Schouten notes on IBJ.com, discussing sales, "the top seller by a mile, outselling the Super Bowl teams combined: Indianapolis-specific gear, sold primarily to Hoosiers. MainGate's sales at shops at Greenwood Park and Castleton Square malls were more than 100 percent ahead of expectations, outperforming even downtown outposts."

Eat Your Heart Out, Baltimore!

Hate to admit it but Indianapolis has been best Super Bowl site ever

February 03, 2012

by Nestor Aparicio
WNST - AM 1570 Baltimore

Hate to admit it but Indianapolis has been best Super Bowl site ever...having to spend eight days here watching Patriots and Giants fans revel in their good fortune.

But I’m here to say that after spending the last five nights here and walking through the streets of Indianapolis every night that I’ve never seen a Super Bowl celebration like the one that’s going on here this week.

The weather has been glorious by midwestern standards in February. It’s been in the 60′s most days and in the 40′s most nights. The zipline downtown has been spectacular. The downtown streets have been flooded with locals who have apparently taken the entire week off and are treating this Super Bowl celebration as a “State Fair” of sorts. I’m not even sure any of these people even have jobs based on the late hours and non-stop “Saturday night” celebration I’ve witnessed.

I’ve seen grandmothers and children walking the streets at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night in Peyton Manning jerseys. The buildings are awash in color and tens of thousands of people are here partying, turning an otherwise rather mundane area into a living, breathing Bourbon Street before the fans from Boston and New York even arrive.

It’s been quite the show, like a New Year’s Eve bender that feels like it has no end. Even the coffee shop at the hotel is open 24 hours a day!

Meanwhile, during the day I’ve sat next to our vintage Bob Irsay dummy on Radio Row at the J.W. Marriott and marveled at what those Mayflower vans and that infamous night in March 1984 have begat here in “friendly heart of the Midwest.”

It’s really kind of astonishing, this long tail of events that Irsay’s move has unfurled over the past 28 years from Peyton Manning to the existence of the Ravens to this shiny new Lucas Oil Stadium and now a Super Bowl that has turned Indianapolis into midtown Manhattan for 10 days.

As the rest of my life will unfurl when I return to Baltimore on Monday morning, I will not soon forget the scene here in Indianapolis this week and always regret what our fans would’ve found if the 50,000 of you would’ve made this journey this weekend and found a city that’s in the midst of its own franchise earthquake with the Irsay-Manning-Luck triangle.

I’ve attended 18 Super Bowls. I’ve walked the streets, seen the energy, participated in the revelry at all of them. I’ve broadcast more than 500 hours of radio from Super Bowls from San Diego to Miami, from Detroit to Jacksonville, from Tampa to Minneapolis and I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a better site or a metropolis that’s taken to throwing a party quite the way Indianapolis has this week.

And before you start directing your angst, anger and vitriol my way just realize this — I’m in the business of reporting the facts and being honest.

And if the the great tradition of Howard Cosell of “telling it like it is” is sacred to me then I owe you the truth — I’m here in the land of the Irsays reporting back to Baltimore that this might go down as the greatest Super Bowl site ever.

And, given the tenth of a second that our city came from experiencing this magic and energy, that’s a very, very difficult admission on my part.

AP Reports White Convicted of 6 Felonies

"Indiana's top elections official could lose his job and his freedom after jurors convicted him of multiple voter fraud-related charges on Saturday, leaving in flux the fate of one of the state's most powerful positions.

"Republican Secretary of State Charlie White has held on to his office for more than a year despite being accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms.

"A Hamilton County jury found White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft and two counts of perjury. He was acquitted on one fraud charge."

By Charles Wilson, AP reporter

It May Be in the 60s Now...

The New York Giants take on the New England Patriots this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. EST in the Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The game will take place under a retractable roof, but will the weather wreak havoc on travelers?

"There's a potential storm Saturday and Sunday, but exactly how it's going to take shape, we're still not sure about," said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Michael Pigott. One scenario is that a storm develops in the Plains and stays too far south and west for precipitation to arrive in Indianapolis over the weekend. The second scenario is that the storm is more progressive, sending some rain into Indianapolis by late Saturday and even the possibility of a snow shower on Sunday.

At this point, it appears that there will be a bit of rain in Indianapolis on Saturday, followed by a passing shower or two on Sunday. It is not out of the question that there is enough cooling for a snow shower on game day.

"Depending on which (scenario) is right, it will have a large effect on not only the Super Bowl, but also the following week. We're expecting a big cold shot later," added Pigott.

Some football fans from around the country traveling to the Super Bowl may deal with a snowstorm or severe weather.

A snowstorm will be unfolding across portions of the Plains this weekend. Snow will spread from Colorado into portions of Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma on Saturday. The snow may make it farther into the Midwest, including across Iowa, northern Missouri and southern Minnesota.

On the southern edge of the storm, mild and muggy air from the Gulf of Mexico will fuel locally torrential downpours and severe thunderstorms across the Gulf States. Some steadier rain may also advance across the Tennessee Valley and the Carolinas this weekend.

"The rest of the country shouldn't be too bad, travel-wise," Pigott said. The Northwest, Southwest and Northeast should have pretty clear weather for the weekend of the big game.

After several days of above-normal temperatures, the Indianapolis area will cool down next week.

"Temperatures have been fairly warm this week," said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Adrienne Veilleux. "But things will cool down next week in Indianapolis. They've been above average this week, will start to slide over the weekend and be right around average or even a bit below average by Monday."

With cooler air on the way, any precipitation in the area could fall as freezing rain or snow.

"If there is moisture this weekend, we could definitely see a snow shower," added Veilleux.

Note: written by John Marsh for AccuWeather.com