Best Bar-Be-Que in Indy: Black Diamond BBQ

6404 Ruck Blvd S105
Indianapolis, IN, 46220

Move over, GT Souths! My buddies took me to the easily looked-over Black Diamond BBQ and it was by far the best I have had in Indianapolis in my 7+ years here.

Try the pork sammich: hot & sweet. You will NOT be disappointed. Just make sure your afternoon meetings don't require your full alertness!

And the artwork inside is worth the trip!

They Might Be Giants: Join Us

Today They Might Be Giants releases a new album for us grown-up kids, called Join Us. After a couple listens, I dig it pretty good.  I like it better than The Spine but I haven't decided whether it is as good as The Else (got a signed copy at a concert a few years back).

You can pick up the whole kaboodle over at your friendly Amazon store for 8 bones if you are into the whole downloading thing.

Electric Motor for Paper Airplanes

This is about the coolest little gadget I have seen in a while!
It's a little electric motor you clip to your paper airplane. Supposedly runs 90 seconds on a 20 recharge. For $20 you can sign me up for a couple!

Carbon fiber makes the add-on super light.

Makes me wish I was a teacher so I could have whole bunch of these zooming around the classroom.

Charley Likey!

(via Uncrate)

Bubble Map To-Do List

I found this technique about  4 or 5 years ago and have been using it ever since.  Instead of keeping a traditional list, start with a blank sheet and make each to-do item a bubble.  The size of the bubble corresponds to its importance or urgency.  If a task is really important, it gets a larger bubble.  An less important to-do task, conversely gets a smaller bubble.

I find it reduces a lot of stress to take something out of the "worry bin" in my mind and put it down on paper.   And it is very satisfying to scribble out a bubble of a completed task.

I have added my own features:

Ferris Beuller Fight Club Theory

So what if Ferris (and Simone) were only figments of Cameron's delusional imagination, like Tyler Durden in fight club?   What if Cameron was alone throughout the whole Chicago adventure?

This theory has been around for a few years, but I have only recently discovered it.  This post (and many others) explore this posibility.

The Thor Scale: New Movie Rating System

My new movie rating system: 

• Way better than Thor
• Better than Thor
• About like Thor
• Worse than Thor
• Makes Thor look like Pulp Fiction.

(I thought Thor was pretty good.)

My new Ovation Elite TX

For my birthday, I received a Ovation Elite TX 1788 as a gift.   It looks amazing, it is easy to play (with my stubby fingers), and, most importantly, it sounds freaking incredible!  I can't stop playing it.

For a while I have been looking to move up from my starter acoustic Fender guitar to an acoustic with a cutaway that I could plug into an amp.  I had heard dubious things about Ovations in the past.  I started getting interested in them when Charlie Pace found his guitar on LOST (You all Everybody!).  A month or so ago I was lucky enough to see REO Speedwagon live and Kevin Cronin's masterful showmanship on his Ovation made me reconsider the ovations.  A few months ago my son and I were goofing off at the local guitar chain store and I tried out the Ovation TX Elite because it just looked so different.  I was overwhelmed by how full and rich it sounded.  When I found out Ovation Guitars were created and designed by a noted Helicopter Designer, Charlie Kaman, it was pretty much a slam dunk to be a strong candidate for becoming my new acoustic.