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.

1980s Shoot out: DeLorean versus the World.

So, it's Saturday morning, as usual, I am looking at DeLoreans and Ferrari 308's on for sale on eBay.  Starting to actually look at the practical ramifications, I come across an Car and Driver article that I actually remember from 1981:  De Lorean vs. Chevy Corvette, Datsun 280-ZX, Ferrari 308GTS, Porsche 911 - Comparison Tests - or -De Lorean Versus the World: Four on one in a three-round GT title bout. (By Larry Griffin)
As the authors put the *new* DeLorean through its paces, they compare it to four other 1980s dream cars:

• Corvette
• Datsun 280-ZX 
• Ferrari 308 GTS
• Porsche 911

The 4 - Hour Work Week

Just started reading the revised edition Tim Ferris’ 4 Hour Work Week.  I already read the first edition, but it is now permanently on loan to one friend or another.
I loaned my old one to my friend Kevin.  He devoured my first edition and bought the update version.  He apparently loved the new version so much, he couldn’t loan it to me, but bought me a copy instead!  (Thanks, Bro!)
So let’s start by pointing out the obvious:  you probably won’t be able to do all the stuff in this book.  But apparently the author, Tim Ferris apparently can, but he’s got a little superhero in him.

Fender's answer to the Gretsch White Falcon: the WHITE CHICKEN

I usually like when two ideas are combined to create something better.  I am not sure the Fender White Chicken is better that the fabled Gretsch White Falcon, but it is sure is nice to look at!

I love telecasters, and I think I would probably dig a Gretsch if I had one some day.

This is truly beautiful.  Charley Likey!

iBamboo Speaker uses NO Electricity

This is about the coolest thing I have seen all week.

From this article: "The bamboo speaker is essentially a 1-foot length of bamboo with a slot carved out of the top for the iPhone to snuggle into. The sound reverberates through the pipe and amplifies the tunes you're listening to."

The Ultimate Automobile: Ferrari 308

Almost every guy fantasizes about cars at one time or another.  For me, the object of my affection is the Ferrari 308.  Probably a result of my age and certain influences from my childhood, but the 308 epitomizes the combination of elegance, power, sexy curves, and aggressively executed aesthetics.  I occasionally browse the ones for sale on ebay.

Moleskine Notebooks

One hipster fad I embraced a few years ago was using a Moleskine notebook.  I don't remember exactly what turned me on to them, but ever since first trying one, it just felt right.  Probably something about famous artists and writers using them back in the day.


Solid construction,  smooth writing paper, easy to carry around, and it lays flat from the get-go.  It has the feel of something that will outlast you.

Never Iron Shirts Again! Ironing Sucks!

   

Ironing Sucks!
Three steps to free you from having to iron or dry-clean dress shirts.

There are three steps to living this dream of not ironing or pro-laundering:

North Carolina Barbecue Panini

I work in the second largest Federal Building in the country. We have a cafeteria, run by, presumably, the lowest bidding food vendor. Eating there usually results from a dubious trade off between convenience and marginally nourishing sustenance versus higher quality dining. However, today's grilled sandwich bar knocked my socks off.  Sourdough, dry east coast barbecue,  just a little sauce, and coleslaw.  The differentiator is the coleslaw, grilled into the panini.  Granted, the ingredients are doubtlessly mass produced in a factory somewhere (don't even want to think about that too much), but the result is delicious sandwitchy goodness.  One of the high points of my day.
Charley Likey!

Peanut Butter MoonPies FTW!

So I recently discovered Peanut Butter MoonPies!  "Awesome" in a nearly biblical sense. They come in a box of 10 or 12 and their near the Little Debbie aisle of you local grocery emporium. They are about 2/3 the size of the standard MoonPie and the grahamcracka is crisp as contrast to normal sponginess of a normal MoonPies.

If you know much about the South, you know the MoonPies and RC Cola will go together like trailerparks and wifebeaters. One can only speculate how the the South would be culturally and economically different if we had had these 40 years ago.  Now all we need is Bacon & Lime RC Cola. (kidding Momma:)

(BTW, I mumbled this blog post into the Dragon Dictation iPhone app. It was originally about 85% correct before I mucked it up.)

Dungeons and Dragons

A really well-written article on old-school Dungeons and Dragons.  Written by and posted on the blog of two girls I had crushes on in high school.  It's a trifecta of nerdy nostalgic wistfullness!

Reposting the first bit with permission.  For the whole thing, go to http://www.liketotally80s.com/dungeons-dragons.html

Dungeons and Dragons

By Julie Anderson

1984. A little girl eavesdrops outside her older brother’s bedroom. Inside, he and three of his teenage friends are clustered around a card table littered with exotic dice, tiny metal figurines and complicated hand-drawn papers.
She listens. They talk about “hit points” and “melee rounds” and the all-powerful “Dungeon Master.” They visit the “elemental plane.” They encounter a “water weird” and a “gray slime.” She’s fascinated. The door to his room opens slowly and –

She’s busted.

Hey, let’s get Julie to play! We need a thief! Come on, we’ll teach you.

(for the full experience... follow this link)

Stuff I may write about in this blog.

• Not ironing
• Not wearing neckties
• All things Lebowski
• Gadgets
• Great services I have found
• Apple computers (old ones, new ones, getting stuff for cheap)
• Google products and philosophy
• Guitars and guitar stuff
• Old Ferraris
• Shaving
• Gear bags
• Beverages
• Note taking systems and practices
• Vacations
• Organizational tips
• Boats
• DropZones
• The Marks System
• Web cloud stuff (dropbox / amazon / google / MS skydrive / Netflix)
• Tide Pens
• Movies and TV Shows: Office Space, Star Wars, Arrested Development, Firefly / Serenity, The Wire,  etc
• Software: X-Plane, OS X, Linux, Google Sketch-up, JoliCloud
• Games: Half-Life2, Portal, Cranston’s Manner, Basement Tycoon
• Books:  e.g. Cryptonomicon, Ender’s Game, LOTR
• Shangri-La Diet
• Disney World / Universal / theme park science and culture
• iPhone / iPad / Android apps
• Carpooling
• Building and maintaining a house
• Cars (VWs / Saabs / Thunderbirds)
• Private Island Ownership
• Airplanes and Helicopters
• Oddly-proportioned dogs

Wish me luck and motivation!

Hello whirled

Hi Imaginary Reader,

I am (maybe) starting a blog where I talk about all the stuff in my life that I think is cool enough to recommend to others. I am a pretty smart guy, but I am very confused about stuff like AdSense, affiliate marketing, trackbacks, twitterbombs, and other higher-level interweb money-making schemes. Please be patient while I figure this stuff out as I go along.

What I do know about is stuff that makes life a little simpler, more fun, cooler, or slightly less dumb. I will do my best to be honest, forthright, and comprehensive. I hope that someday, someone enjoys reading this and maybe makes their own life a little more enjoyable.