No Direction Home: “the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

May 22, 2019

Michael, Mark and Pat

Brass Against

James Hinchcliffe

“the companions of our childhood always possess a certain power over our minds which hardly any later friend can obtain.”
― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

I am very fortunate to have remained close with almost all of my friends from my childhood and one of the best things about returning to Indianapolis each year to attend the Indy 500, is the chance to see, spend time with and catch up with so many of the people who remain so very important in my life. Many of these friends I have known literally for 40 or 50 years and getting to see them is always a highlight of my time in Indiana.

Kevin

Savannah and Shannon

Johnna and Michael

Kevin, Michael, Mark, and Pat

Merle

Rizzo

Michele and I departed Chicago and headed back to Indianapolis after a fun, whirlwind three day adventure there. On the trip back, I suggested a stop at one of the coolest little unknown gems in Indiana, Wolf Park which is located near Lafayette. I am fairly certain that my sister would never have suggested a stop there, but I think she found it worthwhile.

Located well off the beaten path in the town of Battle Ground, Indiana, Wolf Park is a nonprofit education and research facility that carries out research and seminars on wolf behavior, particularly reproductive and inter-pack social behavior, they also provide interpretive programs to school groups throughout the year. They are open to the public during certain portions of the year and happily, this marked one of those times.

The park is home to several packs of wolves, plus coyotes, foxes, and bison. The animals are given large open enclosures to live in, not like a zoo, so visitors may or may not have the opportunity to see them when visiting. The Bison remained, for example, out of sight during our visit, but we were able to see a number of the facilities wolves and other animals and were treated to an excellent tour by a young summer intern.

Once back in Indianapolis, I had an exceedingly full social calendar before the actual Indy 500, which included yet another fun concert at the Hi Fi, the annual Last Row Party at the Speedway, a visit from the Today show to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a fun tortoise race at the Indianapolis Zoo and a few really fun nights out with old friends to cap off the week.

Lindy

The latest show at the Hi Fi was yet another band that I was not familiar with, but that sounded so interesting that I just had to check out. The band is called Brass Against and it is basically a horn driven band that plays mostly covers of Rage Against the Machine and similar bands. It was another fascinating concept that was really well done and exciting.

Brass Against is a collective of artists, led and curated by Brad Hammonds, who share in the goal of creating brass protest music that calls fans to action. We want the music we perform to sound inspiring and resonate with people’s emotions, encouraging them to act. We combine rock and edgy hip-hop to play music that's powerful and empowering. Brass Against is exceptional music with a political edge.

Brass Against

The show was the most crowded and energetic of the trio that I saw at the Hi Fi this month. After the show, I headed out to meet up with a collection of old friends who were gathering in Broad Ripple, some of them I had not seen in more than twenty-five years, others who I see every year. I had a few evenings out with friends this week and it was really amazing to catch up and hang out with such a great group of friends.

James

Becky, James and Michele

The other big events that were race related this week included the annual Last Row Party, which is put on each year by the Indianapolis Press Club to “honor” the final three qualifiers for the Indy 500 who make up the eleventh and last row of the starting grid. The drivers are on hand to collect checks for .31 cents, .32 cents and .33 cents and this year included Sage Karam, James Hinchcliffe and Kyle Kaiser.

Michael and Lindy

My sister Michele and friends Kevin and Tracy joined me to attend the festivities which are held in the Pagoda and features delicious Jug’s Catering and short interviews of each of the drivers by my friend journalist, Lindy Thackston. It is always a really fun evening and you get to hang out with drivers in the Pagoda which is always a pretty cool thing.

James and Becky

Michael and Kyle Kaiser

The other big event at the Speedway this week was the broadcast of NBC’s “Today” show from the Speedway. Since NBC is broadcasting the race for the first time this year, they are pulling out all the stops and the Today show broadcast, which featured an appearance by actor Tom Hanks and a performance by Sheryl Crow was part of that effort. Finally the annual tortoise race was held this week at the Indianapolis Zoo. This event has been going on for many years and I remember as a kid watching the old JR and AJ tortoises face off. This year Ed (named after Ed Carpenter) defeated

Simon (Pagenaud) to take the glory.

Sheryl Crow