Hoosier Daddy

Dixon to Bring Home Second 500 Win

Time for my annual Indianapolis 500 predictions -- and if I do say so myself, my prediction usually out-perform those you hear on television or read in the newspapers.  So here goes:

The real question is:  Can anyone but Penske or Ganassi win?  The straight answer is, barring some peculiar happenings, probably not.  Those two teams have won every oval track race since July, 2008.  They have the best engineers, the most professional teams, and drivers that can win. 

There are only three things that can keep one of the five Penske/Ganassi drivers from winning. 

1.  An unforeseen combination of accidents & mechanical failures that eliminate them from  the race - or put them a lap or more down.  While such misfortune may strike 2 or 3 of these cars, in this day of virtually indestructible Honda engines, it is unlikely that maladies of mechanical breakdown and accidents will strike so heavily as to take all 5 of these cars out of the race.

2.  A quirky fuel-mileage ending.  Getting off-sequence on pit strategies, then fortuitous yellows near the end could put a team that has no choice but to gamble, in victory lane.  Think Andretti Motorsports (Kanaan, Mutoh, Patrick & Hunter-Reay), Dreyer-Reinbold (Justin Wilson, Tomas Sheckter), or Panther Racing (Dan Weldon, Ed Carpenter)

3.  Against all odds, a team that puts together the right combination and can match the late race speed of Penske and Ganassi.  This is where the true dark horse team of the month comes in.  The only team which I think can compete with Penske and Ganassi drivers on the track.  The new FAAZT Racing team of Alex Tagliani and Bruno Junqueira.  These cars have been consistently fast all month.  If Tagliani and Junqueira can be patient, not make mistakes, and be in the running the last 40 laps, they could actually outrace the big boys to Victory Lane. 

I'd love to pick the upset.  But I just don't think Tagliani or Junqueira have shown the patience needed to win this race -- not yet.

So with all that said, here's my picks:

Winner:  Scott Dixon.  Smooth, talented, and more patient than a few years ago.  He pulls in to Victory Lane for the second time.

Second:  Will Power.  While Castroneves "owns" the 500, Power has been the strongest driver on the Penske team for the past year.  If there is a first-time winner, he's likely the guy.

Third:  Helio Castroneves:  He'll be in the running all day long, but no one has won two-in-a-row twice - and I think Helio will just miss -- like he just missed by 1 position winning three-in-a-row.

Fourth:  Dario Franchiti:  He's been to Victory Lane before, and would like to be there without the rainstorm, but I think he will come up short.

Fifth:  Dan Weldon.  Panther's lead driver is outstanding in the 500, but he won't have the speed to be at the very top.

Sixth Bruno Junqueiro.  Bruno will make his way through the field, but his young team is likely to make mistakes that will keep him from a top 5 finish -- but not by much

Seventh:  Ed Carpenter.  He knows this track and how to race here.  And he would love to get a little vendication for his step-dad, Tony George, who was unceremoniously booted from his position running the Speedway by his mother and his two sister-uglies.

Eighth:  Ryan Hunter-Reay.  The most consistent of the Andretti cars will never challenge for the lead, but will soldier through to the end.

Ninth:  Justin Wilson -- He always runs well at Indy

Tenth:  John Andretti -- Just because he deserves a top 10 finish.

The dark horse:  If you really want to take a dark horse to win -- Bruno Junqueira.  While he's been under the radar, Junqueira has experience.  He's a three-time runner up in the CART championship, and don't forget he won the pole position at Indianapolis in 2002, and finished 5th.  If the FAAZT team makes the right strategy calls, and doesn't make any mistakes in the pits, Bruno could be the next Brazilian drinking milk in Victory Lane.

My 10 Most Important Events / Accomplishments of the past decade

Here's my list -- in chronological order

1.    April graduates from Bryn Mawr

2.    Co-founder of Indiana' State Bar Association's Solo & Small Firm Conference, and serve as its chair for 8 years, during which it grows to be the larges ISBA annual event next to the Annual Meeting.  

3.     Open my own law office

4.     Run for Small Claims Judge, then Indianapolis City County Council  (unsuccessful, but gratifying)

5.     Buy a Honda VTX-R 1300 CC motorcycle, and put 25,000 miles on to date.    

6.     Alex graduates from Decatur Central High School

7.     Receive Indiana State Bar Association "GP Hall of Fame Award"

8.     April marries Domenic Giandomenico

9.    Emily graduates from Decatur Central High School

10.    Write my novel -- now I'm ready to look for an agent and/or publisher

20 Best Movies of the Decade

Here’s my selection for the 20 best movies of the past decade.  

1.      The Hours  - Powerful exploration of life, death and choice.  Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris deliver amazing performances.

2.      Juno - Bright, original.  Ellen Page is sensational, but so is the entire cast

3.     O Brother Where Art Thou -- George Clooney & the Coen Brothers at their best -- set to a stunning soundtrack of "ol' timey music"  

4.      Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  - Jim Carey & Kate Winslet in quirky romance about love that cannot be erased - "How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot.  Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd "

5.      Sideways  - Wine tasting will never be the same

6.      City of God - Stunning glimpse into the slums of Rio,

7.      Capote - Phillip Seymour Hoffman exposes Capote for all wit, narcissism,  cruelty and greatness. 

8.      The Reader - Kate Winslet is remarkable in a story about the imprint and sacrifice of love, however unlikely

9.      Lord of the Rings (trilogy) - Epic movie-making

10.      Chicago -- Jazz, sex, tabloids, murder, and lawyers - set to great music and dancing.  A rare great transition from stage to screen.

11.    Casino Royale -- Bond is back. 

12.    Pan’s Labyrynth - Wonderful imagery - a magical world to which a girl must escape to save herself from her brutal reality. (Spanish)  

13.    The Diving Bell and the Butterfly --  The true story of a French magazine editor struck down with a stroke that leaves his mind in tact, but with only the ability to blink one eye.  Only the most skilled actor and director could make this movie-  

14.    Up - In the first 10 minutes you know this is not an ordinary animated feature.     

15.    Slumdog Millionaire -- Bollywood comes to the American mainstream with this tale of children from the streets.  

16.    The Incredibles -- Mid-life crisis, fashion faux pas, and family conflicts meet the world of animation.            

17.    The Hangover -  Outrageous.  Pee-your-pants funny.   

18.    28 Days Later - Intense. An original horror/thriller of the first rank.      

19.    Michael Clayton -- The "fixer" lawyer struggles with what he has become.  

20.    Million Dollar Baby  -- Clint Eastwood filled the decade with great movies from Mystic River to Grand Torino, but the performances by Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman made this the best of the lot -- but not by much.

 

10 Most Important News Stories of the Decade

Here’s my selection for the 10 most important news events of the past decade.

 

1.      9/11     It changed us as a nation and as people.

 

2.      2000 Presidential Election.   The closest presidential election in history came down to maybe 300 votes in Florida.    There were recounts, accusations and court cases, but no tanks in the street , a true testament to our Constitution and the people of the United States.

3.      The election of the nation’s first African-American President.   Just 50 years ago, blacks were fighting and dying for the right to vote.  Barack Obama’s election was a milestone in the history of our nation, made even more significant by the fact that his top competitor for the nomination was Hilary Clinton, and his opponent in the fall selected a woman vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

 

4.      .War in Iraq.   George W. Bush’s fateful decision looked so easy in the first weeks.  Mission Accomplished.  But not hardly.  Thousands of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars, and corporate pilfering in the name of security – and all for a trumped up case for weapons of mass destruction that never existed.

 

5.      The bankruptcy of General Motors.   So much a symbol of   American industrial and economic strength that in the 1950s, the Secretary of Commerce said, “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.”  GM fell victim to globalization and its own monolithic inability or unwillingness to adapt.  The collapse of the world economy sealed its fate 

 

6.    Corporate greed.    Enron, World Com, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Arthur Anderson, and for gosh sake Martha frickin’ Stewart.  Sub-primes and credit default swaps.  Hundred million dollar bonuses and golden parachutes.   Greed and corporate cheating were everywhere and Wall Street ran amuck.  Then in 2008 the house of cards tumbled, nearly bringing down the entire American economy.

 

7.      War in Afghanistan.  The forgotten war has become America’s longest war.  And as the decade draws to a close, tens of thousands more American soldiers are destined for the “graveyard of empires.”

 

8.      Tsunami.  The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastated coastal villages, towns and resorts from Indonesia, to Thailand and India, to Madagascar and west coast of Africa.  In its wake it left an estimated 230,000 dead, the deadliest tsunami in history.

 

9.      Katrina.  Never could we have envisioned a great American city crumbling before our eyes.   Even worse, thousands of people were left in the ruins, without food, water or sanitation – and it took four days for the federal government to organize and get help to them.

 

10.    Anthrax attacks.  Following so closely on 9/11, we suddenly found postal workers, Congress and news agencies being attacked by traces of white powder in seemingly harmless mail.  The anthrax attacks raised the annx of  the entire nation.  We were at risk in our very homes, our offices, in the routine of just opening the mail.  No longer were we  secure.

Hoosier Vampire Going to Jail

I thought I'd seen almost everything, but this is about as strange as it gets.  According to the Indianapolis Star, an Indiana man who claims to lead a vampire clan has been sentenced to jail for threatening an Indiana judge.

Rocky Flash,  who apparently was known as Jonathan Sharkey before becoming a vampire, claims to be head of "Vampyre Nation."  (Vampires not being known for their spelling prowess).  He was sentenced to two years for threatening to "torture, impale, dismember and decapitate"  Judge David Certo. In case you are wondering, Flash is not some disturbed or misdirected youth.  He's 45 years old. 

Do you think we should tell him all that vampire stuff is, well, made up?

Happy Thanksgiving -- Remembering the WKRP Turnkey Drop

With Thanksgiving upon us, it's time to remember  WKRP in Cincinnati's classic 1978 episode, "The Turkey Drop".     Les Nesbit described the ill-fated radio-station promo as "The turkeys are hitting the ground like bags of wet cement."  The episode ended with station manager Arthur Carlson's mea culpa:  "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

Hoosier Grinch Dentist "Steals" Halloween

Madison (IN) dentist Ben Canida became the Grinch Dentist who stole Halloween this week -- sort of.

The Indianapolis Star reported (click here for story)that Canida dressed up as a giant tube of toothpaste and paid kids to turn in their Halloween candy.  It's a cute idea, but . . .

Some of my best childhood memories -- and even my best memories as a parent -- are dressing up and marching door-to-door on Halloween, then at night's end upending the bag of candy searching for bite-size Snickers and mini Reese's Cups.  

Surely, a once-a-year stash of candy does more good for a kid's soul than turning hard candy into hard cash. 

BEST MOVIES FOR HALLOWEEN

'm never acquired a taste for slasher movies, so here's my list of 10 favorite movies to watch Halloween night.

1. Young Frankenstein.    Okay, its not scary.  But its full of classic lines:  "What knockers"  "Thank you, Doctor";   "Frau Blucher"  "Neeiiiiiiggghhh;  "Werewolf"  "There wolf" -- and of course the blind man serving boiling soup to the monster.
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show.   Okay, its not scary either.  But Tim Curry is simply amazing.  Let's toast the bride and all do the Time Warp.
3. Night of the Living Dead.   The original black and white zombie horror movie is simply made for dark and stormy nights.
4. The Exorcist.  The head-turning, pea-soup spewing movie has become such a part of our pop culture that we sometimes overlook that it was a well-done movie where the real horror may not be Satan, but may be what is inside all of us.
5. 28 Days Later.   This is a great take on the zombie, sole survivor movie.  Only thing that would have made it better -- if the rescue plane at the end would have been manned by zombies.
6. Alien / Aliens.  Intense.  The only movie I've ever had to leave the room from to catch my breath.
7. From Dusk Till Dawn.  One of the strangest movies ever made.  A bad guys gone wild movie, that turns into a stripper movie, that turns into a vampire movie.  And George Clooney with a bad ass tattoo!
8. Dracula -- the original is still great.  But also check out the hard-to-find public television version with Louis Jourdan.  His Dracula is attractive, sensual and romantic, and finally you understand why Lucy gives herself to him.  His appeal makes him even move evil and frightening
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  Both the 1950s version and the later remake are excellent.  But the 50s version maintains a closer connection to its symbolism of McCarthyism -- which is perhaps scarier than any of these movies
10. The Ring.  What's better than a movie that takes every day acts of watching a video on TV and turns it into a horrific tale of pre-destination and fate. 

Stupid Criminal Tricks -- Hoosier Style

Seems Hoosiers aren't imune to stupid criminals. 

Dwayne Roberts decided to rob an Indianapolis bank -- the one where he worked.  To conceal his theft of $200,000, Dwayne decided to set fire to a box of money inside the bank vault, then seal it.  It was only after he sealed the vault that he realized that he left his truck keys inside.

Looks like Ol' Dwayne will have about 10 years to think over that age-old question:  "Where did I leave my keys."

Click HERE for the story in the Indianapolis Star.

THE OVERLOOK -- Perfect Place for an October Afternoon Getaway

The Overlook Restaurant sits high atop a bluff overlooking the Ohio River (hence it's name).  It is the absolutely perfect place to spend a beautiful fall afternoon.

The Overlook is located in Leavenworth, about 35 miles east of Jeffersonville.  You can get there by I-65, to 264, to 64 West.  But the better route is straight south on SR 37 through Bloomington, Bedford & Paoli.  At English, avoid the right turn and keep going straight south on 237 through some of Indiana's most gorgeous scenery.  At the intersection of with highways 66 & 62, go west 8 miles to Leavenworth.

The drive alone is worth it.  But the view from the restaurant's deck is simply awe-inspiring.  You look out on a horseshoe in the river as it flows between tree-covered hills.  Ocassionally a barge passes by. 

The food is traditional southern Indiana fare -- fried chicken & mashed potatoes.  But that's not why you make the drive.

And if you want a closer view of the river, head about a mile east and follow the road down to Old Leavenworth and The Dock, a local bar/restaurant right on the river.  It's popular with motorcycles, but its a worthwhile stop even if you aren't on your hog.