We're number 13!

This kid is not going to sugar-coat it. I have always suffered from Triskaidekaphobia. I will never keep thirteen dollars in my wallet. If I have change of 13 cents, I will discard a penny. I will never end reading a book for the night on a page ending in thirteen or the thirteenth chapter.

So I did not meet today's news with much glee. Indianapolis--until today the 12th largest city in the US--now has fallen to the most unlucky of numbers: 13. Damn Jacksonville, the city that never ends, passed the Circle City based on new census numbers. Jacksonville's population has increased to 794,555 while our very own Indy increased to 785,597. But the Southern cities' populations have increased at a much faster rate than the rest of the country. For example, my roommate claims that on NPR today they reported Phoenix had a population of 100,000. Today it stands at over a million and half.

So what does a man with this affliction supposed to do when he resides and works in the 13th city in the US? I guess I will have to pack up and live in central Indiana's strip mall hell: Carmel. At the rate they are absorbing property around it, Carmel should find itself in the top ten in the country soon enough. I figure once Carmel picks up Madison County, Delaware County and Ft. Wayne they will give Jacksonville a run for their money.

Ann Coulter on John Edwards

If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot. -- Ann Coulter

Elizabeth Edwards called into the Chris Matthews show yesterday when Coulter was a guest and this exchange occurred:

Paris shall rise again

Our national nightmare will end tomorrow. Paris Hilton, national merit scholar, amateur poet, and the social conscience of Southern California--oh hell the world--will finally have her persecution end tomorrow with her release from a Los Angeles jail. I am thrilled that my hunger strike will finally come to an end.

Paris has promised that she will leave the jail a better and more grateful person. I got to tell you this is a new Paris. That five thousand dollars she earns in appearance fees at parties will really be put in perspective for this little lady. She might even stay a few extra minutes. Maybe she will donate a few bucks to some prison reform organization. Or she can hook up with Angelina Joile and take up some obscure African country as a cause. When Paris puts her mind to something the sky is the limit.

I can't wait to see her on Larry King live. I am just thrilled Larry could make time for Paris given Larry Burkhead's schedule on the show. ABC and CBS don't know what they are going to miss by turning her down. It is going to be Shawshank Redemption meets Gucci.

So Paris enjoy your freedom. Please just walk a straight line. How else is our nation to stay on track without your guidance?

Give 'til it hurts...

Oh, and read The Kid's post on F1

Hey US we don't need you....that much

I love Bob Kravitz. I don't know why readers seem to give him so much grief. Today's column was right on. He wrote that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway should tell F-1 to take a hike. They should but I doubt very seriously that will happen.

Today was the seventh United State Grand Prix. It was held at the greatest race track in the universe: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But the week was mired with various persons from the F-1--everyone from drivers to administration-- acting as though they have done us a favor by gracing us with their presence.

I have to admit I don't get F-1. I lost any interest in the race when a few years ago Michael Schumacher pulled aside to let his team-mate win. So I don't understand people's fascination with the sport. It seems a little too civilized for racing. Do any of the drivers duke it out in the pits? No. And how can these teams spend upwards of 800 million dollars every two years to field a team. What do these cars do--fly to the moon?

F-1 is probably right. They don't need the US market. But you know the NFL or the NBA doesn't need the international market either. You know why they go after it. The all mighty dollar.

But the race is definitely good for the city. It has an economic impact of 100 to 150 million. That is staggering considering the race is attended by one hundred thousand people. That amount of money spent per person is incredible. Tony George seems like a pretty good guy to me. Not withstanding the 50 million the IMS invested to hold the race, I get the sense that he is willing to swallow his pride and indulge these ass clowns from F-1 for the betterment of the Circle City.

My gut is telling me that F-1 will try to find greener pastures in the US. I have seen a few reports that F-1 is considering Las Vegas. So after a couple of years of running their fancy race in the parking lot of a casino and having an attendance of a 1/3 of Indy they will come crawling back. I hope like Kravitz says in his column today that IMS will then tell F-1 to take a hike.

The Indiana Fever

The girls of summer, your Indiana Fever, were victorious last night. They defeated the then undefeated Detroit Shock 77-67. At 9-2 the Indiana Fever stand as one of the best teams in the WNBA.

The success of the Fever have, for the most part, been met with a collective yawn. Media coverage of one of the top teams in the league is minimal. Today the Star relegated the Fever's huge win to the last page of the sports section. The list of sports that received more press coverage than the Fever included Chinese Checkers, Statego, Caber Tossing, and Curling.

I wanted to go to the game on Friday. I have attended two games since the Fever's inception and I have had fun each time. But even with my sports mad friends I can't get any takers. Sadly those are the fans that the WNBA and the Fever must reach in order to become mainstream and successful.

I sincerely hope that as the Fever continue to steam-roll their competition that interest increases. You can check out many of their games on FSN Indiana.

Hey buddy can you spare a dime....or 18 million

I have said it once and I will say it again. How can we have a government that allows half of its populace to not have health insurance and how can we have a culture that decries government subsidy to our most needy but will gladly dish out money to multi-million dollar corporations?

The latest recipient to this waste is Cabela's. Cabela's is a Nebraska based company that sells sporting goods of the "outdoors" variety. They plan to add a store in the Castleton of the South-side: Greenwood. Apparently the Gander Mountain and the Dick's Sporting Goods already in the "Wood" do not stock enough sporting goods equipment to tackle the concrete jungle I call home.

Cabela's prides itself as a "destination" retail spot. For example many of the stores have a trout tank for your viewing enjoyment. That's great but I already know of a place where you can see plenty of fish. It's called the Indianapolis Zoo. And our zoo is only one of two in the nation that doesn't receive any tax funds.

Gander Mountain is apparently ticked off. They build their stores without subsidy so why can't Cabela's? It's a fair question and I doubt Cabela's has a very good answer to this question that is grounded in logic and not spin.

But even more important, why is Greenwood providing a subsidy to a company that will at best pay its workers ten bucks an hour? Will the fine city of Greenwood really recoup back their investment?

In the meantime I will go visit the zoo. Hopefully they have a trout tank.

American Super Heroes Museum

I have always thought that the United States has two great original cultural contributions to the world. One is jazz. The other is comic books. Both are completely American originals. As I child I enjoyed comic books. But as I got older with many other factors in the way of my getting laid, I didn't need an additional help in that regard. So I gave them up. My interest in comic book characters is re-heightened every summer when the new superhero movie is released.

One person who never gave up his love for Superheros is Dane Nash. Mr. Nash has built one of the largest collections of Superman memorabilia known. A few months ago he opened a showcase for his large collection of Superman and Batman memorabilia in downtown Indianapolis. The American Super Heroes Museum is located at 20 W. Louisiana Street. It is across from Union Station and the Pacers Academy.

I wanted to make it over there for the last few months but hadn't been able to fit it in. Today with some spare time I finally did. Mr. Nash was the only employee of the Museum and he greeted me with the enthusiasm of a child. Five bucks for admission certainly is not hard on the wallet.

The Museum's collection of Superman memorabilia is amazing. The museum has divided up the various glassware, board games, figurines and the like by decade. But the highlight of the Superman collection are the costumes. The museum has Superman costumes worn by many of the actors that have played the Man of Steel through the years including George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, and Dean Cain.

The Batman collection is admittedly small in comparison to the Superman collection. But it has two highlights of the museum: a replica of the Batmobile from the first Michael Keaton movie and a replica of the Batboat from the campy Batman movie of the 60's. I spoke to Mr. Nash about the replications. He said the studios were reluctant to sell him the originals so he simply had them built. Both look awesome.

Mr. Nash also told me that the museum only holds half of his collection. And admittedly it is fairly small. It took me thirty minutes to go through the whole collection. I gave myself another fifteen minutes to look through some of what I might have missed. But still the collections is worth seeing. And speaking to Mr. Nash about his collection and how he got his hands of the more intriguing pieces was worth the price of admission alone.

The hours of the Museum are great. It is open during the week 10PM to 9PM. It is open on Sunday 10Am to 6PM. Check it out sometime.

Scary Bush Fact of the Day

I just read on a political forum that Pat Roberson's Regent University Law School (ranked as a 4th tier school) has 150 graduates working in the Bush administration. That's a pretty scary thought since I am a lawyer and have not even heard of this law school.