The Long Awaited...Indy

Alright. Had an afternoon off, already got a movie review in for the day, time for a little personal writing. I think its time we revisited the sunny city of Indianapolis. Join me, will you? (smoking jacket, slippers)


Pretty much done writing about Gencon. At least on this venue. 


Heroclix was the majority of my time spent there, anyway. Day 1 of the Heroclix world championships was glorious. Poor booster pull, but the competition was fierce, and I was on top of my game. 4-1, with one loss in the final round. 
Day 2 , the dice lost all of their power. Dropped at 1-2. Still fun was had, though I didn't do as well as I'd liked. Really wanted to at least hit top 16, just to know I could. Had a great team lined up for that as well. Whatchagonnado?


But really, just felt like chronicling the adventures my uncle and I had in the city itself, and, specifically, the haunted tour we took.


Indianapolis itself is a pretty nice city. Its got a good mix of new construction, and antique architecture. The city has a clean appearance, but also an anachronistic visual, a conglomeration of times and styles. My favorite point in the city has to the be the war veteran's memorial, a giant obelisk reaching to the sky, a wonderful piece of architecture, a touch of European class in the middle of down-town America.


There's a few other oddities about the town. Things like the lack of separation between the industrial, the commercial, and the residential. There's a huge steel plant in the middle of town, marring the skyline by the stadium and the convention center. Old, dead railways cross from the city center into the little residential communities between downtown and the airport, which still have their small-town, midwestern feel. Well, except for the tremendous Hispanic community.


Also noticeable is the huge homeless population. At least around the convention center, the homeless dot all the sidewalks, two or three to each side of each block, all with signs asking for change... mostly stenciled. The city keeps a clean appearance but the poor population has to be pretty big all around.


Day 2 we went to a little bar, Average Joe's Pub. Sadly it was more like Subpar Joe's. But there were locals, and we asked them, "What's to do in this town?" "Oh, nothin' really. Come here, mostly." "Yeah?" "Yeah. You go outside, you're likely to get shot." "..."


Well, in our quest to find entertainment without getting shot, we found a couple restaurants. Hit up the Hard Rock Cafe, which has a good burger, and some delicious cheesecake, but a bland and tasteless bbq. Kazablanca turned out to also have a great deluxe pizza, India Palace isn't quite as good as the one in Lawrence and is a lot milder but still good, and then there was the Slippery Noodle...


On night 3, we were feelin' a little antsy for adventure. We'd been out to an asylum in the middle of the city. Its supposed to be haunted. It was pretty interesting, took the grounds tour, but the city is supposed to be selling it so they really don't talk about the haunting, for fear that it would deter the buyers (also, according to the groundskeeper in an off-the-record meeting *oops* the real sale deterrent will probably be the fact that the asylum was never really destroyed, just pushed down into the grounds, making the enormous land purchase unstable and unfit for building). So, we lit up when we found that a group at Gencon offers tours of haunted landmarks. 


Um... yeah. What crap.


Now, when you're on a haunted tour of the city, you hope to see some ghosts. Sure, its a longshot, but you think maybe you can snap some pictures of places, maybe get some orbs on film. Of course, that might require you to go INSIDE the buildings. I'm going to grant the tour group 2 things. First, I realize it might be hard to find a bunch of interesting places within walking distance of the convention site, and second, we might not be able to go into all of the places he finds. Permission and all that. But at least put some showmanship into it, fercrissakes. 


First stop, Union Station. Is this place haunted? Um... maybe? Our tour guide didn't even give us any concrete stories. "This is Union Station, it was build in the 20's and blah blah blah. Soldiers left from here to be deployed in the war. Also, their loved ones would often wait here for their GI's, some of whom would never come home, blah blah, negative energy."
So... what did the soldiers die here? Did some lover of a dead GI throw herself on the tracks? Why the hell do you think someone's actually haunting this place? Is there a story?
"Some people have said they hear noises. Others have seen lights go on and off," and other vague reports. End of story... wow, pretty lame. 


Stop two, The Slippery Noodle. I'd heard of this place. Also heard it was one of the most popular bars in town. I was skeptical. The story started off well, "Slippery Noodle was actually Indianapolis's most active brothel at one point. John Dillinger stayed here, and there were numerous gunfights." Okay, now we're getting somewhere, "Hold on, let me check my notes *flip flip*.... .... ... okay, so lots of paranormal sightings here. They think bodies had been buried here after gunfights, and it was said a crew found skeletons when putting new foundation in the basement. One time a worker went downstairs, and a guy was cleaning up. And the worker came back up, and he was like, 'Hey, who's the new guy?' and they were like 'No one else was down there.' ... Celebrities have been here like Gene Simmons from Kiss and... and John Dillinger, once, I think... one time there was a concert, and the guy cleaning up heard footsteps above him. He ran and they seemed to follow him... and one time... b-bones. I think they found bones.... how are we for time?"


Gaaah! I wanted to scream this guy was so lame. All of us tourees were just standing around in stunned silence. The above story took about twenty minutes to tell, as he read it off of his papers. No panache. Where's the magic, guy? Where's our chance to look at some of the old whore rooms in the bar? Nothin?... 


So, anyway, the Slippery Noodle's ghosts claimed two more victims that night. We were right behind the tourguide when he started to the next location, and when he turned around again... we were gone! The mystery of the vanishing tourists. No easy feat, considering my Uncle's size. 


So we slipped, appropriately enough, into the Slippery Noodle. This place was cool, and will be a Gencon regular stop. Good bar food in addition to some good restaurant dishes at dinner time. They had a nice laid back interior, big and spacious to boot, and some low-key live jazz goin in the back room. We stayed in the front where the music lazily echoed down the halls, and it set up a nice atmosphere. Had a couple good beers for a decent price. I can see why all the bands hang there after their concerts. No ghosts though.


On the way out, we crossed paths with the tour guide on his way back from the group. He probably thought we were ghosts. 
... and in retrospect, shit, that tour was $12 per person. There were a couple dozen of us in the group. That guy pulled in like $270 off of us. For an hour of walking a circle around the convention center. Could he really not arrange to get us inside someplace?


So, anyway, we also went to a stripclub that evening. In a word: rough. Well, not the crowd, the boys were all pretty sedated. The ladies were kind of rough. 
I did appreciate that the cute girls had no boobs of anykind, though. Its nice to see some natural, even curveless girls. I'm a sucker for a pretty face, anyway. 
But, everyone seemed half asleep, and none of the girls really put any effort into the dances. But the were cheap, Don got a lapdance for like $10. 
I'd promised my favorite girl to look but not touch, anyway, so lapdances weren't happening... not that I really spend money at stripclubs anyway. I'm cheap. I spent the evening texting back and forth with the lovely Miss JJ, a higher caliber of lady, and more entertaining and alluring, even with her top on. 


The last night in Indy, we were really treated to just how slow and sleepy the city was. We went to a sports bar, where we were the only patrons inside. After a few tense moments with the lone old lady bartender, we snuck out to a more happenin' country bar. We had a good time people watching, examining the ladies going around getting free drinks and playing up jealousies, the tough guys, the desperate guys, and all the ways people played their games. Same in the BIble Belt as it is anywhere else. 


We bid Indianapolis a fond farewell at last. But really, we'd sucked all the life out of the city. Decent food, sleepy bars, humble midwesterners afraid of the homeless people, and lackluster strippers (at least, compared to my California girls). Another day would have been too much. 


But, it was better than Springfield. Fuck Springfield. 

Road Trippin: The Incredible Journey

"Sandra Bullock could fly out on a jet, come over and fuck me silly, and it still wouldn't top this moment. Here in the car, listening to this music, eating this gigantic Nut Log, this is the best moment of the day. Its all downhill from here."

Yes, the day topped out early for the Hall boys.

We're on our way out to Gencon, the world's largest gaming convention. Board games that is. Table top. Pen and paper. Dice. Little plastic figures. Nerds. LARP.

Today was all about the journey, however. At 5 AM my uncle Donald and I (Donald not a gamer, just along to help me at and around the convention, so his reaction should be pretty interesting.) left Lawrence in his truck, and plowed through the heart of the Midwest and the Bible Belt.

The first pitstop was the real highlight. An American tradition. Stuckey's.
For those shamefully unaware, Stuckey's is a chain of truckstops that used to pepper the country at exits all along every major highway. Now relegated almost exclusively to the Midwest and deep South, what Stuckey's are left tend to be shacked up with a Diary Queen, and continue to offer their unique blend of nick-nacks, trucker tools, coloring books and snacks.

In particular, the Pecan Nut Log and the Goo Goo. Either one is rich enough to induce a colon explosion upon contact.

So it was that, Nut Logs in hand (an an emergency stash of Goo Goos in the cooler) that we hit the road, led on by the soothing sounds of John Anderson's 'Swingin'. Red letter day, right there.

The Midwest is an odd place. I can say that, having lived in a small town for so long. Mostly, its a bunch of little road stops in a state of disrepair, inhabited by old men and truckers.
But, there's something to be proud of here. Oh, sure the whole 'Bible Belt' protest against everything new and different attitude is kinda creepy... but really, that's just something that's gotten worse in the last ten years or so as the country, especially the Heartland, has begun to falter. People are afraid, they look back to the times when they were happier, not sure exactly why those times seemed better, and they try to use powerful relics like religions to recall them back into existence. I can't blame them.
But, its still friendly folks, hard workers, and green, so much green. And peaceful, restful quiet.

I was sitting in town square in my little hometown of Baldwin the other evening. Despite the lovely new fountain they've installed, and some great public works projects, still a lot of the businesses have closed, a lot of the businesses are in disrepair.
Its all part of the trend of the large business swallowing the small, the large city swallowing the town. The death of small town America. But I've lived in both, and while I love city life, I can't help but also love the quiet of Baldwin. No constant drum of traffic. No endless sirens. No fighting drunks. Just peace.

For a moment, I looked at quiet, slowly dying Baldwin and thought "This used to be a place you could be proud of." But I realized that wasn't right. The truth is that people have just forgotten what to be proud of.
Its really not monuments of capitalism and monsters of industry. Progress shouldn't be measured in mass marketing and production. Progress should be measured in peace and community. And there it was in sleepy little Baldwin.

It may not have the energy I need now, while I'm young and speeding through life. But it was a good place to be born, and it would be a good place to die.

... I'm getting off track. Gencon. We continued our journey, looking for a good Mom and Pop place to get lunch. Donald and I have both come to generally avoid chains when we can, and prefer fresh food (something terribly hard to find in Vegas). We wanted to find someplace delightfully weird, perhaps a "Somali Tamale" or "King Tut's Nut Hut", but to no avail. Finally, we stopped at Country Kitchen, a modest truck stop diner off of I-70 in Effingham (home of The Cross!). Surprisingly good. All you can eat friend chicken and mashed potatoes. Fresh, hot, crispy. Not necessarily exceptional, but probably the best truck stop I've eaten at.

After battling the Itis (and possibly running over a hobo? We'll never know for sure) we made it to Indianapolis.... which is kind of a boring town. For a place as big as it is, there is virtually no nightlife here. Hopefully Gencon will offer up some more interesting nocturnal activities via con events.

But it was good to be among fellow nerds, already gathering for pick-up games in the convention center halls, a full day before the event even started. Looks to be a big turn-out this year. The number of sexy tattooed gamer girls continues to grow, which is always a plus.

After scoping out the convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium, we succumbed to a road-weary nap, and awoke to a sudden and tremendous lightening storm. I've missed Kansas's tremendous storms, so it was nice to get a little nature show while I was on vacation. The lightening was the entertainment during dinner at Kazablanka, a little Greek restaurant that only had maybe 6 Greek items on the menu. We got Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches, which were really very good.

And then we spent the rest of the night laughing at this:


Overall, a successful and pretty easy trip. Tomorrow marks the first day of the 'con proper, and the Web of Spider-Man release event tournament for me.
Also, some special activities reserved for after the con...

Tune in tomorrow!

Lets Start This Party With a Bang!

The sad news: poparistocrat.com is gone. It wasn't very expensive to run it, but I don't have the funds right now.
The good news: I've started this thing, which is nearly the same thing, in many regards. This simple blog is now the home of my modest writing.

A personal entry to start things off: I've moved to Las Vegas. This move represents a lot of changes in my life, but so far, I have to believe that it is a step in the right direction for me. I've come out here to help one of my oldest and dearest friends retain his sanity as he battles the instituion in law school at UNLV, and also to pursue my own writing career from a vantage point that is closer to the media hub that is California, and find better work in a bustling metropolis.

The hard part, as ever, is the loss of friends and companionship. While I have my good friend and roomie, the lawyer, with me, I've left hundreds of friends back home. Its a shock to the system to exchange so many excellent connections for one, and the larger a city, the more overwhelming it often feels when trying to meet new people. Maybe its true that the human mind cannot handle too many options, and that choice can be as daunting as its unnamed antonym.

Regardless, in the last few weeks, I've managed to gather a writing assignment for the Nevada Film Alliance, putting together a new comedy script for them. I've also just gotten a dayjob working as a middle manager for Godiva Chocolate. Just in time, too, my travel funds are just about gone. And so, my main task remains: wrap my head around the change from modest and conservative Kansas to the most oppulent city in the United States.

A few things are obviously different, the city is more aggressive, the city is more active and less subtle in its plot to seperate you from your money, despite the aggression of the populace its the tourists who really bring the sleaze to the city, the strip is at once beautiful and disgusting. You essentially cannot make a u-turn in this city, there's too much traffic and, again, aggression. There are surprisingly few local eateries, the city is immensely crowded with food and shops, but most of them belong to chains, probably to add a sense of familiarity for travelers. Still, if you want food thats a local invention, you're going to want to go for chinese, or maybe mexican, neither have been very good so far.

One major disappointment has also been the real lack of nerds and nerdy stuff in the area. There is only one real board-game shop in town, and its fair selection can't begin to compete with that of Hometown Games in Lawrence. Most of the comic stores aren't worth writing about with the exception of Comic Oasis, which is the best I've found so far, and has been nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Comic Shop this year. There is a film-watcher group here, but their schedule is too far behind my viewing schedule. I'll have to slow down a lot to join them.

Generally, the town has been pretty good to me, and there's lots of entertainment about. But the charms of home, or even of my one-time stomping grounds Seattle, are missing. There aren't many places to meet worthwhile people, and there aren't many home-grown shops that display local pride. Instead, there's a series of McDonalds and fat poor people running excitedly through their doors to grab burgers and lose all of their savings on slot machines. Its an odd town, built around bilking tourists, and then being bilked yourself, while pumping out new generations that will do the same. And in the midst of it is, well, me.

I did give a homeless lady some cookies today. That made me feel good... no matter what, that option is still there; people always have the ability to do constructive things, even in the sleaziest of environments. We can defy the call of the nihilistic roulette wheel, and follow a path that makes us feel...enlightened.

Its a city of contradictions; gas stations that don't sell gas, and topless pools that are endorsed by the city but ONLY if no one there is celebrating anything. That's right, let those girls hang, but SO HELP ME if I find anyone having fun...
A city of contradictions, but for now, its home.