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March 30, 2005

FOOD BLOGGING IN INDIANAPOLIS

Today's edition of The Indianapolis Star includes a 761-word article on Indianapolis-area bloggers who write in part or exclusively about food. The journalist who wrote the piece, Abe Aamidor, contacted me about two weeks ago, asking if he could interview me for the story, which is titled Bite by Byte, and can be read by clicking here.

As the article points out, Indianapolis doesn't have a lot of food bloggers, but there are few good ones (and no, I don't consider mine to be among them). In addition to this one, three other blogs were profiled:

- Scott Hutcheson's My Life in Words
- Jennifer Bortel's Contributions to IndyScribe
- Renee Wilmeth's Feed Me/Drink Me

With so many great restaurants and food markets in Indianapolis, it's actually a bit surprising that there aren't more food-related blogs, but with blogging still very much in its infancy, there's still lots of time for local residents to pick up the slack.

As for my own food-related postings, there aren't a whole ton them, but some can found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, as well as here, here, here, here, and here.

Posted by Mikal at 6:16 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

March 29, 2005

OF BURGERS, FLAGS, AND BK's NEW BREAKFAST SANDWICH

Best Burger in Indianapolis: Almost universally, whenever I see a 'best of' list in a local newspaper or magazine, I find myself reacting with something like, "How on earth can they be that wrong?" Let me tell you... if you live in Indianapolis and you're a fan of the hamburger, look no further than Urban Element for your fix. Generous hand-made patties, cooked over an open flame to the degree of your liking, sided up freshly cut tomatoes and a toasted bun that's out of this world, and you'll be asking yourself, "How in the world can a place this hip--yet still relatively unknown to the city's 'in' crowd, make a burger this good?" Urban Element is located on 9th and Pennsylvania, and if you're jonesing for a burger, you have gotta stop by!

Flags in Classrooms: Yesterday, word came that our beloved Indiana state legislature approved--by a vote of 86 to 6--legislation requiring public schools to display US flags in each classroom, provide time for a daily moment of silence, as well as require schools to lead students in the pledge of allegiance. Upon hearing the news, I was surprised to learn that approximately 35 states already have laws on the books requiring schools to lead children in the pledge of allegiance. In 2002, a federal appeals court ruled that reciting the pledge of allegiance in public schools was an unconstitutional "endorsement of religion" because of the addition of the phrase "under G-d" in 1954 by Congress. Our money says "In G-d we trust." Every single day that the US Supreme Court is in session, it's marshal begins by saying, "G-d save this honorable court." What on earth does G-d have to do with any of it? Despite the references, our nation has had a long history of separating religious matters from government, and our forefathers were wise enough to codify that into the First Amendment of the Constitution. This separation not only protects religion from government intrusion, it also protects government from the intrusion of religion. It affords all of our citizen the safety to worship or not worship as they see fit, and to keep their religion, or lack of it, private and personal. Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense," one of the most influential periodicals of the revolutionary period, wrote in 1776, "As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of government to protect all conscientious protestors thereof. " School children are an easily impressionable group, and requiring them to choose whether to stand with their classmates, or sit apart in silence, causes discomfort and confusion, not only about themselves and their relationship to their classmates, but towards G-d and their family's belief, or non-belief, in G-d. When they are old enough, I feel, then they can worship, or not worship, as they so choose. Requiring them to choose at such a young age does them and our society a grave disservice, I feel.

Burger King's New Breakfast Sandwich is a Real Whopper: Have you heard about this one yet? Burger King has unveiled two new breakfast sandwiches, one of which contains 730 calories and 47 grams of fat. The Enormous Omelet Sandwich (yes, that's its real name) comes with two eggs, sausage, three strips of bacon, two slices of melted cheese, and a nicely toasted bun, and contains more calories than any other single non-speciality item on the fast food chain's menu. It's other new breakfast sandwich, the Western Omelet Croissanwich, contains 320 calories and 17 grams of fat. It includes grilled onions, ham, and melted cheese inside of one folded egg on a fluffy croissant. Hey, if I want 700+ calories from a meal, I'll get it with Indianapolis' best order of fries on the side over at Urban Element, not with grease dripping onto my lap courtesy of Burger King before I even get to the office.

Posted by Mikal at 7:42 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

March 27, 2005

In recognition and celebration of Easter, here are the words to a very swedish flash-animated Easter greeting available by clicking here:

Click here to see and hear these words in action (note: sound card required).

March 25, 2005

Q1: When eating a meal, do you eat a little of each item until you're done with everything on your plate, or do you eat each item one at a time until that item has been completely consumed, and then move on to the next item on your plate? Regardless of which way you do it, do you think it's odd when you see someone else doing it the other way?

Q2: Despite how you feel about the situation itself, do you approve of the U.S. Congress intervening in the Terri Schiavo case?

Q3: How many towels do you use to dry off after showering or bathing?

Q4: An influential committee of UK politicians recently advised that the British government allow couples who use in vitro fertilization to become pregnant to have the option of choosing the sex of their child. Do you think gender selection for social reasons should be allowed? What about for medical reasons?

March 24, 2005

It's been quite a while since I posted one of these, and since I've been a bad blogger as of late, I figured now's as good a time as any to post one. Click on the image below to find out what type of candy you are.

If you're not into candy, click on the image below to discover your Zodiac personality.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Check back tomorrow for a new installment of Four For Friday.

March 21, 2005

Jacked from fellow Indianapolis blogger, Mikerzz, who says he ganked it from his friend Donna who got it from someone named Special K:

1. What time do you get up on your day off? Between 7:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

2. If you could eat lunch with one person, who would it be? Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of NPRís The Splendid Table (she makes anything sound like itíd taste good).

3. Gold or silver? Oh, Silver, definitely.

4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Million Dollar Baby.

5. Favorite TV show? Itís a toss-up between Arrested Development, Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, and The West Wing.

6. What do you have for breakfast? Weekdays: Two Health One MRs (Meal Replacements). Weekends: I usually donít eat breakfast.

7. What is your middle name? Evan.

8. Beach, city or country? All three.

9. Favorite ice cream? Yes!

10. Favorite color? I donít have one, but I do like rich and dark browns and oaks.

11. What kind of car do you drive? Honda Civic.

12. Favorite sandwich? The Slow-roasted Prime Rib from Salvaggioís in Boulder.

13. What characteristic do you despise? Smugness.

14. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Vancouver, BC.

15. What color is your bathroom? Plain Jane white.

16. Favorite brand of clothing? I donít have a favorite brand anymore.

17. Where would you like to retire? Yikes, I have no idea.

18. Favorite day of the week? Thursday (it holds a lot of promise).

19. What did you do for your last birthday? Spent the day with a friend.

20. Where were you born? Back east.

21. What fabric detergent do you use? Tide and Cheer.

22. Coke or Pepsi? Caffeine-free Diet Coke, but only when I eat pizza)

23. Shoe size? 12

24. Do you have any pets? No, but I'm thinking about getting a couple of cats.

March 18, 2005

Q1: Which do you use the most... microwave oven, toaster oven, or conventional oven? Which do you prefer to use?

Q2: If the NCAA Men's or Women's Final Four basketball tournament was played in your hometown arena or within easy driving distance from where you live, would you try to attend one the three games?

Q3: Of all the clothes you own, what do you feel most comfortable wearing, and why?

Q4: On what television showóeither past or presentówould you like to make to make a guest appearance, and what role would you play?

March 17, 2005

I haven't had much to say lately, thus all the silence. I've been working a lot, going to the gym a lot, and sleeping a lot, which has left little time for blogging. I'll be back tomorrow though with a new version of Four For Friday.

March 14, 2005

From Ken Moreland over at the Inkjet Blues Journal (one of the Indianapolis blogs/bloggers profiled in last week's edition of INtake Weekly):

I'm considering sending a request to our legislature to adopt Weekend Savings Time. So many things cut into our weekend time and steal precious hours away from us that we don't get to relax and recreate the way we should. So, I am proposing that we adopt a policy that each Friday night ,as we get to midnight, we turn the clock back 6 hours to 6 pm. This allows us extra sleep time to compensate for rude Saturday early awakenings like band competitions, speech tournaments, athletic events, and other activities. If everyone does this, then all of us will be in sync and have a longer, more enjoyable weekend. Think it will fly?

Brilliant idea. Happy Saturday!

March 11, 2005

Q1: What's the one thing you're proudest of having taught yourself to do?

Q2: Earlier this week, following an internal investigation uncovering the fact that it's President & CEO was engaged in a sexual relationship with another company executive, The Boeing Company announced that its Board of Directors asked for and received the resignation of itís President and CEO, Harry Stonecipher, a 69-year-old man who is separated from his wife and is in the process of filing for divorce. Boeingís Board determined that Stonecipher actions were inconsistent with the companyís Code of Conduct, and that his actions would impair his ability to lead the company. Taking into consideration that Stonecipher and the woman he admitted to sleeping withóDebra Peabody, a 48-year-old divorced Vice President in the company's Government Relations officeóboth signed Boeingís Code of Conduct, which apparently states that having sex with coworkers is against company policy, do you think itís fair that Stonecipher was forced to resign while Peabody remains employed by the company?

Q3: Has the rising cost of gasoline had any impact on the amount of driving you do? If it hasn't, how much would the price of gas have to increase for it to have a profound impact on your driving habits?

Q4: From a Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich to advertising space on cleavage and pregnant bellies, on any given day you're bound to find some nutty stuff being auctioned off to the highest bidder on web sites like eBay and Yahoo! Auctions. What's one outrageous item that you could think to sell on an online auction site, and how much do you think you could get the highest bidder to pay for said item?

March 10, 2005

When Major League Baseball touted the fact that our 'supposed' national pastime was coming back to Washington D.C. this summer, this isn't what I had in mind.

As D.C.'s new team--the Washington Nationals--trains in sunny Florida, some of baseball's biggest names are being asked to make their way to the nation's capital to testify before Congress about an issue which legislators think is so big and so out of control that they need to hold hearings over. I'm talking of course about that really big issue that's plaguing our country right now--the issue of professional athletes using performance-enhancing drugs. Jose Canseco (retired and just wrote a book), Jason Giambi (plays for the NY Yankees), Mark McGwire (this guy doesn't even play anymore), Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, and Frank Thomas have all been asked to testify before Congress, and since this is an issue that's weighing so heavily on the citizenry right now, those who don't agree to voluntarily appear before Congress, well, they've been threatened with subpoenas to do so.

Come on people... be honest... does anyone, aside from the grandstanding politicians, think these hearings are a good use of Congress' time and resources? Would any one of us be more or less likely to follow baseball if it's confirmed that a large number of players used--that's right, I said 'used'--performance-enhancing drugs in the past? Does anyone truly believe that new information about the use of performance-enhancing drugs will come out of these sorts of hearings?

You know, I could give a rat's ass about the use of steroids in professional baseball, or in any other sport for that matter. If an athlete wants to subject him or her self to that sort of thing, go for it. What Congress should be holding hearings on are the outrageous salaries professional athletes earn, fueled by the ridiculously high price of admission you and I have to pay if we want to see them play. And don't even get me started on what the stadiums and arenas get away with charging for a hot dog and soda. Now that's criminal and worthy of a hearing!

March 9, 2005

Astute readers may have already noticed... there's a new feature on all of my main blog postings. As of yesterday morning, every post in the main blog now has a "Filed Under" tag on the line below the "Comment" link. Movable Type--the engine that runs this beast--allows me to enter a list of categories on the backend of the site, then assign one or more categories to each of my entries, which provides a categorization structure for everything I write about.

So, for instance, every Four For Friday post can now be found by clicking on the "Four For Friday" link that immediately follows "Filed Under" on every FFF posting. Granted, this isn't earth-shattering stuff, but for me--and anyone else with an interest--it's now easier to find some of the more common things I write about, i.e., Politics, Health & Weight Management, Family, Splenda, Indianapolis, Commercials, Popular Media, Blogging, Weather, etc.. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be adding categories to all 500+ of my postings (oh joy).

Also, since I've been 'outed' at work by the INtake Weekly article, if you came here looking to see what I think about the company I work for or the people I work with, you're out of luck. As a friend and fellow blogger recently posted to his own site:

"As far as the job goes, there is no blog. As far as the blog goes, there is no job... Getting fired for a blog is just so 2003, and the cliche would destroy me."

March 8, 2005

Two words: Beer Porn. Click here to see for yourself!

March 7, 2005

When does the weekend officially begin for you? An old friend of mine claims it begins on Friday morning, and I suppose if you work a 40-hour week between Monday and Thursday and don't have to work on Friday, that'd be true; but still, this friend of mine has long claimed that the weekend officially begins Friday morning (despite the fact that she has always had to work a traditional Monday thru Friday job). Regardless, here's what I did this weekend...

Friday... together with some co-workers, took a fellow co-worker, who is expecting her first baby next week, out to lunch. Stayed at the office till around 8:30 p.m. or so (I have a lot of stuff to do these days), and when I couldn't see straight anymore, went home and did a couple of loads of laundry and some light housekeeping (there's nothing better, in my opinion, then waking up to a clean house on a Saturday morning).

Saturday... went to the gym in the morning, found $20.00 in the parking lot afterwards, went into the office from around 10:30 a.m. till 3:30 p.m., spent $8.00 of the $20.00 at the movie theatre (I finally saw Million Dollar Baby... great flick, by the way), came home for a minute, then went over to Urban Element for dinner and some wireless web surfing. While there, I found someone's purse sitting atop one of the outside tables with no one nearby to claim it. When I brought it inside the restaurant to see if anyone owned it, the lady who said it was hers later stuffed $8.00 into my hand (as a reward) and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Sunday... went to the gym again in the morning, and then to the office from 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., followed by a trip over to Trader Joe's where I bought some food with the money leftover from Saturday. I made it home by around 4:30 p.m., had some delicious Chicken Parmesan that I bought at Trader Joe's, and then just vegged for the rest of the day with my roomie and his girlfriend.

All-in-all, not a bad weekend! Going to the gym first thing in the day really helps to make the rest of my day better, even if it means having to come into the office on a weekend day.

Happy Monday (can you tell I hit the gym again this morning? :-)

March 4, 2005

Q1: It's Friday afternoon and you're just about to leave work when your boss approaches and says she has been really impressed with your work as of late, and she'd like for you to take her credit card home for the weekend to be used for a meal and drinks for two at any restaurant of your choice; oh, and by the way... she also tells you to spare no expense, because you've earned it! Taking into consideration that turning her down isn't an option, what restaurant do you go to, and who do you bring along to celebrate.

Q2: If you listen to the radio on your way to and from work, do you tune in to the same station each day? How about on your way home... do you listen to a different station than the one you tune in for the morning commute? If you don't listen to the radio, do you listen to tapes or CDs instead? If you listen to tapes or CDs, are there certain genres that you prefer to listen to in the morning verses on the drive home at the end of the day?

Q3: Kid Rock was arrested last week on charges that he punched a disc jockey at a strip club. Kobe Bryant agreed this week to a settlement with the woman who accused him of raping her. Michael Jackson may or may not have molested children in his California home. Robert Blake stands accused of whacking his wife. Martha Stewart is about to be released from federal prison after serving five-months for insider trading. Honestly, does anything surprise you anymore?

Q4: Do you drink coffee or tea on a daily basis? If so, what brand/flavor is your favorite, and, do you find that you drink it because you like it or because you just canít operate without it?

March 3, 2005

The current edition of INtake Weekly--an independently distributed paper covering lifestyle, entertainment, and news of interest to urban professionals living in and around metropolitan Indianapolis--has an interesting series of articles about Blogs and Indianapolis-based bloggers. From the March 3-9 electronic version of the story (available by clicking on the "Feature Story" tab here:

Mikal Belicove started his blog, Belicove.com, as a way for his friends and family to know what's going in his world -- which means less expensive phone bills and shorter conversations with his mother, who lives in Vermont.

"I'll want to update her on something that's happening in my life, and she'll cut me off midstream and go, 'Honey, I know. I read about that on your blog,' " said Belicove, 39.

While I get the feeling that my Mom is going to give me a lot of gripe for that little dandy of a comment, it is absolutely true. I can't tell you how many times this exact same thing has happened to me, and not just with my Mom. Case in point: I was talking on the phone with an out-of-state friend just last week--someone I hadn't spoken with in over six months--and he gives me one these "Mikal, please; what, you don't think I read your blog?!" comments. If this is the biggest casualty of blogging--that I'm now actually more connected with people than I think--I'll take it.

If you're at all interested in a small slice of the Indianapolis-based blogging scene, pick up a copy of the March 3-9 edition of INtake Weekly (available at various locations throughout the city starting today). Or, if something in that article prompted you to land on this site, welcome... while I'm glad you're here, you should know that there are a ton of other Indy-based blogs not mentioned in the article that are very much worth checking out, including:

- Cindra's Red & Purple Haze
- Hugh's Three Bed, Two Bath
- Doug Meade's Blog
- Sallie's ATtheHEARTofIT
- Mike's Gotta Have a Cup of Mocha
- Blueher's Babblings
- Scott's Sardonic Bomb
- Louis Mahern's Indy Pundit
- Steph's Commonplace Book

Blog On!

March 2, 2005

Approximately 20,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year by land mines and other explosive remnants of war. Farmers, relief workers, and thousands of people displaced by war are most at risk, as are young boys and girls in desperate need of open areas suitable for outdoor recreation. Land mines also hinder reconstruction and development by denying recovering communities access to land that could be used for a variety of purposes, including much needed housing.

With all of this in mind, the United Nations Mine Action Service has been trying since last December to convince television stations across the United States to run a Public Service Announcement underscoring the dangers--and to raise awareness of the increasing use--of land mines. Major cable networks, including CNN and Lifetime, along with network affiliates far and wide, have all refused to run the 60 second advertisement.

Hard-hitting and powerful... CLICK HERE to see for yourself what the networks and their affiliates have deemed as being so inappropriate for us to see.