Search results matching tag 'Indianapolis'

I Love Our Statehouse!

StephF — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:47:00 GMT

Today I went downtown to the Statehouse on a little field trip to learn more about careers in government....which was pretty interesting. It was sponsored by Internship & Career Services and the Exploratory Program, and basically what we did is we went to the statehouse, and got to talk to the Auditor of State, the internship directors for the House & Senate, and a Legal Clerk for the Supreme Justice for Indiana. So my favorite part of the whole thing was probably our tour guide, and just the things that she told us about our statehouse. Not that the informational parts weren't interesting, I just really thought that she was the most A+ tour guide ever. She told us TONS of really cool facts about the statehouse, like that it is considered one of the most beautiful statehouses in the country, and it is one of the only statehouses that houses all 3 branches of government under one roof. So for that, good job Indiana. I'm glad that I am a citizen of you. :) On the topic of our statehouse being beautiful, check out this photo of the rotunda.....this is the original stained glass that has been in the statehouse since it was bult 121 years ago. So check out how gorgeous it is!!!

So thats the ceiling in the very middle of the statehouse....which I LOVE! :) So some other crazy things that she told us was that the Governor's mansion was once located on monument circle....which if you haven't been to Indy, it is right in the middle of the city, downtown...close to everything. It was there until the Governor's wife absolutely refused to live there because everyone could see their laundry hanging out to dry, and she didn't think that was how a Governor's home should be viewed. (The Governor's mansion is now located at 46th St. and Meridian...aka a few blocks from Butler!) Monument circle is exactly what it sounds like, a circle. So basically if you are going anywhere downtown on Meridian, you are going to go around the circle.....so look at this photo and imagine the house and the awkward laundry in the place of what is now the monument.....

So the last thing that I thought that was pretty cool about her little presentation was that Indianapolis was designed solely for the purpose of being Indiana's captial. They modeled it after Washington D.C., so I guess they look pretty similar. But I thought that was cool, that Indianapolis wasn't already a thriving city, so they thought, let's move the state capital there! They basically made it the capital, and then it just took off by itself after that! Soo....good job Indy! :)

Ballet, bagels, and other things that start with B

BUOlivia — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:09:00 GMT

Studio Dress was yesterday--the Nutcracker has finally been assembled! Now come the daily run-throughs. Maybe I'll put a schedule up of what we did during Studio Dress, but now I want to talk about my friend's birthday and what's going to happen today.

So my friend turned twenty! It was incredibly exciting. We went to the near-by Broad Ripple and ate dinner at Ripple Bagel and Deli. I had a hard time deciding what to pick, because the store looks like this:

That's not even the full menu, since I couldn't fit it all in one shot. You can also order the items that are written on pieces of paper tacked up around the blackboard, so the possibilities are sort of overwhelming. But I decided on the Blonde Bombshell, a turkey and lettuce sandwich with veggie cream cheese and not-creamed cheese. I put it on an apple bagel, and they steamed it (their signature thing-y), and it was awesome.

We also got cupcakes from The Flying Cupcake.

Today we are driving to Chicago with Sigma Rho Delta (honorary dance fraternity) to see Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. So I've got to get a move on, but you can watch this video if you want to know more about one of the pieces we'll be seeing.

Didy Veldman Rehearsal Video from Caleb Custer on Vimeo.

Circle Time! A Weekend Spent in the Center of Indy

ChristinaL — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:52:00 GMT

You may have heard that Indianapolis is the Circle City but do you know where this name comes from? One reason is that our city is centered around a circle that features the 284 foot tall Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. In case you were wondering, that is only 21 feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty (kind of a big deal) so maybe it's not surprising that this weekend, all my plans were unconciously centered on the Circle.

On Friday night, my sorority had our formal dance for the semester. We usually rent out hotel banquet rooms for these events, and if you've been in many hotel banquet rooms, you may remember that they usually have zero windows and no view. However, for this formal we went back to our favorite location at the downtown Sheraton, which is not only surrounded by windows, but windows that overlook Monument Circle on one side and Veteran's Plaza with the War Memorial on the other side. Both monuments are even more impressive at night under the lights. We definitely enjoyed taking our pictures in front of Indy's famous sights.

Do you recognize that guy? My date for this formal was none other than fellow Butler Blogger Seitu! Seitu and I originally met at a salsa dance freshmen year and later became friends when we started blogging together in 2007, so I think it's fitting that we danced again now that we're old (aka seniors).

On Saturday night, Kappa Kappa Psi (my band fraternity) had a night out on the town capped off with a music nerd's delight: an Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concert! The ISO actually plays at Hilbert Circle Theatre, which - you guessed it - is located on Monument Circle. Student tickets were only $5 which was a total steal. The concert featured Time for Three, a trio of two violins and a bass that like to call themselves "a classically-trained garage band" with jazz and bluegrass influences. The three guys appear to be in their late twenties and started the trio when they used to jam together in music school. Now one of the violinists, Zach DePue, is the concertmaster for the ISO, so Time for Three will be making lots more appearances in Indy. I definitely recommend you check them out! You can listen to the concerto we heard them record last night by clicking here.

This is what the Hilbert Circle Theatre looks like during the intermission. Below are all the brothers in my row.

After the concert, all the KKPsi brothers headed out to the center of the Circle for one of our favorite traditions - singing our fraternity hymn at the base of the monument! We haven't done this since I was a freshman, so it was a very cool experience to be back again with the next generation of brothers. Of course, we couldn't resist taking some photos with the monument!

As you can tell, the Circle was the center of my weekend (I'm repeating the pun in case you didn't catch it the first time). I did a little research on this interesting sight for this blog post, and I definitely encourage you to read more about it! The two most impressive things I learned:

1. It has been estimated that building a similar structure today would cost more than five hundred million dollars.

2. Until the 1960s, there were apparently laws that no building could be taller than the monument. Check out how different the center of downtown looked without skyscrapers!

In addition to being the site of a sweet photo opp, there is actually a musuem inside the monument and 300 steps visitors can climb to the top, so I am adding the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument to my Indy Must-Do List before I graduate in May!

I hope you have enjoyed this Indy history lesson. Next time you're near Butler, have a tourist moment and check out the Circle!

Take back the city tonight

BUKevin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:18:00 GMT

Last weekend I decided to forgo the customary Halloween activities, and instead spend a bit of time with my cousin and his wife who came up from Missouri. My older brother decided to take us on a tour of downtown, and out to eat at St. Elmo Steakhouse. Even though I've visited my brother in Indianapolis several times, and have lived here the last few months, I haven't spent much time downtown. Spending Saturday evening on a walking tour of the city gave me a new love and appreciation for the city. We drove and walked by everything from Circle Center Mall to Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the 7-0 Indianapolis Colts! While not everything is perfect, there is poverty and hurting people in the city and we saw a few homeless people sleeping under an overpass right next to Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis is beautiful, and is one of the best city for reaching out to its needy population. Our evening culminated in dinner at St. Elmo's, a great steakhouse famous for their shrimp cocktail that is so hot it will make you cry. And although Indianapolis is no Chicago or New York City, it is a great city in the heart of the nation, and home to the best football team and University! And even though I didn't dress up and participate in typical college student Halloween activities, the evening was great, and more than I could have asked for!

The large Circle Center Mall right in downtown is always a great place to stop and walk around for awhile.

Monument Circle, in the center of downtown Indy is especially neat at night and you can take carriage rides through the streets or walk around to small shops and stores.

The brand new (and perhaps unnecessary?) Lucas Oil Stadium is an imposing structure gracing the downtown scene.

St. Elmo's. A good place to eat once,unless you like to spend a lot of money.

Until next time.

Butler + Drag Queens = Standing Room Only!

ChristinaL — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:52:00 GMT

Last Friday, Butler Gay Straight Alliance put on their second annual event. The first one took place while I was away from campus studying abroad, so I'm really glad I got to attend this year. Nine different acts of drag queens and kings took the stage for all sorts of performances from the Temptations to the Pussycat Dolls to Michael Jackson! The event was a fundraiser for the Damien Center's efforts to help people with HIV and AIDS, but instead of paying an entry fee, everyone brought $1 bills to donate as tips to their favorite performers! The Reilly Room in our student union was COMPLETELY packed, with tons of people standing all around the edges of the room, watching with excitment as the performers burst through a red glittery door to strut their stuff.

This is my friend Pat as a member of the winning "Bulldog Dolls" group. I'm kind of jealous that he makes such a pretty woman!

Check out a clip from the Bulldog Dolls winning dance!

I loved the fun costumes and performances, but what I loved the most was the way this event built community. I'm not sure what your high school was like, but mine had a few events every year that everyone really seemed to rally around. That was one of the things I loved most about high school - that sense of coming together - and because Butler is about the same size as my large suburban high school, many of our all-campus events have a similar feel. Because of the great turnout and incredibly diverse audience, Alliance's Drag Show was the most outstanding example of this that I have witnessed at Butler.

The performers were not just students - staff members also got involved, and the emcee was a real drag queen from Indy - Veronica Storme, Miss Gay Pride Indiana. I was really impressed to see not only veterans of last year's drag show on the stage, but also some new faces. 5 freshmen women from the marching band performed as the Village People in front of all their peers. I thought that was an incredibly brave thing to do in their first semester at BU!

Here's Veronica Storme, the hostess for the evening:

The judging panel included a history professor, the Dean of Students, a music professor, a young alumna who had been involved in Alliance before she graduated in '08, and a current student who is serving as the VP of Diversity for our Student Government Association. Obviously they had representation from pretty much every population at Butler.

The audience was most impressive to me, though. Everyone I know was talking about the drag show on Friday, and when I showed up, I saw friends of every sort. Gay friends, straight friends, Greek friends, independent friends,conservative friends, extremely liberal feminist friends, band friends, freshmen friends, senior friends, friends who live off campus. Even though it was 8 pm on a Friday evening, lots of faculty came, and some brought their kids. People from the community that work with GLBT organizations or groups like Planned Parenthood even showed up to support Alliance, and a local hair salon did all the hair and makeup for the show. I think that audience was a real representation of Butler students and the community that we live in, and that was a very cool feeling to have us all in one room.

Be sure to check out our Youtube page to see the fun finale and the standing ovation that all the performers got!

The best news is that for all their hard work, Alliance's 2009 Drag Show raised $1145.06 for the Damien Center, which fights HIV and AIDS and supports those affected by these diseases in the Indianapolis area. This was a big jump from the $800 Alliance raised last year, and as the faculty judges said, this shows how much more open, accepting and supportive of GLBTQ community members Butler has become over the years. I am so proud of all my friends who made this event happen and all my classmates who supported it! Hopefully this event will grow even more and continue to be a great fundraiser and community gathering in years to come. Congratulations on your success, Alliance!

Travel Season-By the Numbers

BUClint — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:52:00 GMT

Hello Everyone! I apologize for the delay since my last post, but now that I am ALMOST finished traveling and FINALLY back in Indianapolis, I will be posting updates on a more frequent basis. It's hard to believe that I am almost finished with my 5th travel season. This is one of my favorite parts about being an Admission Counselor. I enjoy the opportunity I have to visit high schools and attend college fairs to meet with you all and your families to talk about Butler University!

Instead of sharing all of my stories from the road (many of which you would probably find boring), I've decided to compile a list of 'TRAVEL STATS' that you might find interesting.

Since Septemper 9th, 2009 I have:

- drove over 4700 miles across Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
- attended 16 College Fairs and visited 55 High Schools.
- crossed the Ohio River 21 times over 7 different bridges.
- only spent 7 days in Indianapolis.
- made 15 trips to Panera Bread. (Free wireless internet on the road is key)
- only been to The Fresh Market ONCE!

I hope everyone is having a great Fall thus far! I know many of you have been busy working on college applications as I have many of them in my office now that I'm back in Indianapolis. Just a quick reminder for any Seniors intersted in applying to Butler for next fall, our first application deadline is just over three weeks away on Novermber 15th. You can complete your application for free at go.butler.edu/apply.

Have a great weekend!

Clint

Traders Point Creamery

BUTaylorM — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:47:00 GMT

I have lived in Indiana for a total of 10 years (I think) and for the longest time I thought I knew everything there is to know about the Indianapolis area. Then... things like Traders Point Creamery surprise me.

For my Biology class, we have been learning about food production, sustainability, and organic farming. Instead of having a lab in our classroom, Professor Gerecke was cool enough to let us go on a field trip to Traders Point Creamery. First of all, I think it is so great that we go on field trips. I have always found I learned things best when I could experience them first hand. I have another field trip scheduled for another class. That's why Butler is so great (one of the many reasons, really). We are able to experience all of the lovely opportunites that Indianapolis has to offer and use them to enhance our education. How awesome is that?

Traders Point is a fully functioning farm in Zionsville, Indiana (about a 20 minute drive from Butler). I had no idea this little gem of an organic farm existed. Unfortunately, the day was quite dreary but the experience was so neat. The cows they use are grass fed, allowed to roam, and are only milked once a day. The employees really seemed to care about the animals... something I found heartwarming and endearing. I learned about organic farming and cows and cream and all sorts of goodness. I was able to pet calves and try organic whole chocolate milk. It was the best milk I have ever tasted. It was so good, in fact, I bought a bottle and some cheese. I am such a sucker for dairy.

I think the greatest thing about the trip was: (actually there are quite a few things)

1) I was able to get off of campus for a few hours and smell the outdoors... not just Atherton.

2) There were animals to oogle like chickens, cows, and cats. I love animals.

3) I learned that the state of Indiana isn't just corn fields and basketball. There are little gems like Traders Point Creamery who make organic milk and are reverting back to the simpler ways of life. It's nice to be surprised every once and a while, especially in a place that has begun to cease to surprise me. It's nice to know that not everything has to be going at a hundred miles an hour... especially when you have a crazy, hectic, college schedule.

NOTE: Once all the technical issues have been figured out, I will be sure to add pictures.

"Are we still in Indy?" Alternative @ Oranje

ChristinaL — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:19:00 GMT

I'm a big advocate for Indy and our art scene. Think what you want about Indiana, but there is way more creativity here than people might give us credit for! Especially since I have gotten involved with the theatre scene through my internship with IndyFringe this summer, I feel like I can't even keep up with all the cool shows going on, not to mention that all the art galleries have new shows every month and a big opening night for each First Friday. However, I pretty much know what the events are going to be like and don't expect anything totally crazy.

Last weekend, my friend Blake and I decided to go to Oranje, an art and music event with the tagline "Indulge your senses." From the moment we walked through the gate and started looking around, Blake looked at me and said "Did we just step in a portal to New York or San Francisco, or am I still in Indy?"

Oranje is held in a warehouse every year. This year it was about halfway between Butler and downtown in this random building I'd passed a million times but never looked at. There were four or five tents outside and the whole building was full of art and music. There were about 30 visual artists with little areas set up, showing and selling their work. It was all pretty reasonably priced - a lot under $100 which is quite cheap for original artwork - so I got the sense that many of them were young or new artists. That's not a bad thing at all because I really liked almost all of the art! There was a lot of colorful, abstract stuff that I would love to buy for my apartment/home if I a) had an apartment/home and b) wasn't a cheap college student. Here is work from one of the most interesting artists that we saw (courtesy of the Oranje website). He does all his paintings on corrugated cardboard!

A lot of the artists also had different projects you could contribute to, like a collage, or a group painting, or even playdough. There was even one booth that was doing glow in the dark body painting! On the main floor there was a closed off area that had black lights and dancing (for your body paint haha). It was literally a warehouse, so to get upstairs you had to walk up a ramp like in a parking garage. Up there were more artists, a DJ, and a separate room sponsored by My Old Kentucky Blog that had some great rappers when we were there!

Here are some of the musicians from last year's Oranje... you can kind of get the sense of the warehouse setting from this photo:

The tents outside were also quite interesting. There was a house music tent with a DJ and live drummers where we hung out for a little while; there was a tent sponsored by the Indy Jazz Fest that had some great jams; and there was the Basilica.

The Basilica was definitely the weirdest part of Oranje and made me wonder whether we really weren't in 1960s New York City! I took a Postmodernism in the Arts class sophomore year for my fine arts credit, so since then I have been really into art history, especially modern art and all the crazy, cool, out-of-the box stuff that post-modernists do. When we walked in the tent, there were electric string instruments playing some discordant music, while images of sheet music (that seemed to be classical and unrelated to what they were playing, as far as I could tell) was projected onto the ceiling of the tent. I saw one girl I recognized from Butler in the tent, and then another. They were both dance majors, so my first thought was, "Oh, of course they would be here. They're artsy people." Then I started looking around, and realized that there were even more Butler people, and they were all dance majors. I looked down at the schedule and saw that there was a "Laban Movement Choir" performance around midnight, which was in just a few minutes. You may have already heard about the Laban theory and Movement Choirs from Olivia, because that's a big project that the Butler dance department has been working on this fall. That's when I knew that this innocently dressed "audience members" were up to no good! : )

Sure enough, when the clock hit midnight, people in normal clothes just started moving at random throughout the tent, pausing to do some improvised dance. It was hard to tell at first if they were all part of the same group, or if people were just dancing as the mood hit them. Then they took off their normal clothes, and they all had white tank tops and black shorts on, so it was pretty obvious that they were part of the same group. The improvised dance continued for about 10 minutes, and then they all made a giant circle around the inside of the tent and started doing the same movements. After a few minutes of that, they went back to different improvised dance moves. Then they all started pulling markers out of their shirts and writing on each others' tank tops and skin as they danced! The improvisation became even more intense until slowly they started exiting the tent one by one. The entire time, computer graphics of 3-D shapes were projected onto the ceiling and moved around by a Nintendo Wii controller while the musicians continued to play, also seemingly improvising. Totally fascinating to watch, and so different from anything I'd ever seen before. The crowd loved it, and I was pretty proud that Butler students were impressing everyone. I only wish I'd had a camera so I could show it to you. This explanation is probably not doing their performance justice!

Alternative and crazy as Oranje may have been, when we walked out the gates we were, indeed, still in Indiana. Don't ever think you've got a place pegged...

Star-struck: the weekend of awesome, part II

BUOlivia — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:48:00 GMT

If you read my last blog post, you'll know I went with some fellow dance majors to see Indianapolis City Ballet's Gala Performance. Indy has been without a ballet company for quite some time, and it was my understanding that Saturday night's show aimed to raise the funds and awareness necessary to help the ICB, an organization that (according to their website) is dedicated to creating a ballet presence in Indianapolis.

So...

Ballet. Ballet. Ballet ballet balletballetballet. Ballet and Julie Kent. Ballet and David Hallberg. Ballet and Alicia Amatriain, Sarah Lane, Tiler Peck, and all the other stars I saw Saturday night. Wow. I'm going to scan in the program. Here it is:

I know.

The show was awesome. Awesome awesome. Of course, there were artistic points I've been cheerfully arguing about with my friends, but overall, the talent on that stage was absolutely breath-taking.

Fascinatin' Rhythm: It was good, and the dancing was good, but I was still disappointed to find it was not the Balanchine version I've come to love.

Diana and Acteon Pas: Their movements were so precise! Anatasia Matvienko was a bit stiff for my liking during her variation, but Denis Matvienko was fearless, flying through the air. When he first took off for some of his tricky jumps, I thought he had miscalculated and was going to die, but he just turned around an extra few times and voila!

Mono Lisa: I've argued a bit with my friends about the artistic merits of this piece, about its musicality, and about its title. Yes, it is "Mono," not "Mona." No, we have not come to a conclusive answer as to why it is titled this way. One pet theory is that it is a mystery as to how Alicia Amatriain can contort her hips in such an extreme display of flexibility. I believe there is a version of this on YouTube, so if you are curious, you can look it up.

Gopak: This was a Russian character dance performed by Gennadi Saveliev. These men are fearless.

Romeo and Juliet with Julie Kent and David Hallberg: Do I really have to say anything here?

Le Grand Pas De Deux: This is not your typical Grand Pas. Much as I enjoy the classical version of this piece (that variation is a killer!), Christian Spuck's choreography was extremely funny. Picture bent legs, twirling arms, a purse, admirable acting, a few crashes, a tutu-ed ballerina spinning on her stomach, etc. The satire was obvious enough (a flexed foot) that everyone could enjoy it, but the details (an extra porte de bras before a pique turn, for example) made it clear that this was a fond satire, poking fun at that which it loves.

Le Corsaire: Once again, I've talked with my dancer friends about the artistic details of this piece (we've not come to a conclusion yet), but Sarah Lane and Gennadi Saveliev were spot on in terms of technique.

Radio and Juliet: Romeo and Juliet choreographed to Radiohead music? Yes.

Manon: Julie Kent and David Hallberg again, and what a treat. The acting was superb (I thought, at least). With her first bourrée back towards the bed, I caught a complete sense of the character Julie Kent had become.

Caught: I really can't describe this one. It's choreographed by David Parsons-go find it and see it. Out of all the pieces, this was the one that made me cry. I feel I could write a book about this piece--about the truth of the human body and the human spirit, about limits and the soul, about the universality of certain longings, about hope and all that mushy stuff. Mushy mushy mushy. Most of all, this just made me sad I have never had a flying dream.

Stars and Stripes: I'd learned parts of the female variation in a pointe class back home in Richmond, but I had never seen the entire pas. Tiler Peck and Joaquin De Luz both seemed so solid as they danced to the cheery, half-familiar Sousa music. It was a great end to a great show.

Ahhh! I still can't believe I was lucky enough to see that. And perhaps they'll have a company up and running before I graduate: That means more jobs!

I'll leave you with a picture of the interior of Indianapolis' Murat Theater and a picture of my friends and I after the show.

The weekend of awesome

BUOlivia — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:27:00 GMT

Hello all! The week is about to start, but I've been running around pretty much non-stop this weekend. I walked to the French Market on Saturday, saw the Indianapolis City Ballet gala performance Saturday night after dinner at Petite Chou, and went grocery shopping on Sunday before church. Then I went to movement choir dress rehearsal. More on movement choir to come. (I was hoping to create an aura of suspense and wonder, but I forgot--I've told everyone and his brother-in-law about the movement choir, including Seitu).

But here is a picture journey through the French Market. We walked to the St. Joan of Arc church where it was held, which is, according to Google Maps, 1.4 miles from Butler's campus. When we got there, it was all food and French fun, as you can see:

We finally arrived at St. Joan of Arc! We got a little lost on the way... These are the lovely ladies who accompanied me (though I was really just tagging along).

And this is a view of the church. It was beautiful, and I'd like to attend Mass there sometime.

I enjoyed the sign beside the entrance to the Market proper. The flowers were gorgeous, and only common sense stopped us from buying a bush to be a dorm-plant.

Here is but a bit of the different French foods we tasted. On offer: French tarte-something (like a pizza, sort of), various French sandwiches, ratatouille (I can't believe I spelled that correctly on the first try), crepes with mushroom and seafood, beignets, éclairs, escargot (love), mussels, macaroons, mousse, gateaux, pork and pasta, quiche, fruit and cheese, wine, iced tea, lemonade... It was a happy time.

And here we all are, enjoying the festivities. I must thank my friend for this picture, so... merci!

My friend and I enjoy French food together! Bon appétit! (Je ne parle qu'un peu de français. Désolé.)

Since this post practically becomes a novel with the description of Saturday night's show, I'm going to leave that out for now and leave you in suspense. In a few days, I'll fill you in on the gala performance. All I can say for now is: Joaquin De Luz, Tiler Peck, Sarah Lane, Alicia Amatriain, Jason Reilly, Gennadi Saveliev, Miquel Quinones, Anastasia and Denis Matvienko, David Hallberg, and Julie Kent.