Indy Film Festival July 15-25

"Barry Munday", the story of a would-be Lothario whose road to discovering his true manhood begins with the loss of his testicles in a freak movie-house attack, kicks off the seventh annual Indianapolis International Film Festival this Thursday night at 7pm.  Held at the Indianapolis Museum of Art's Toby Theater, this year's film fest features more than 100 independent flicks, including several films made by and about Hoosiers, and shot here in corn country.

Lodge Design and the IMA are presenting sponsors of this year's festival, with  help from Fifth Third Bank, Stella Artois and NUVO.

Thursday, July 15

Barry Munday (7:00 pm)

Friday, July 16

The Cutting Room Floor Filmmaking Workshop (3:00 pm)

Lights, Camera, Action! Filmmaking Workshop (4:00 pm)

"And the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay Goes to . . . " Scriptwriting Workshop (5:00 pm)

When I Rise (5:15 pm)

Art House (7:15 pm)

Heavy Hitters * (7:30 pm)

Do It Again (9:30 pm)

My Year Without Sex (9:45 pm)

Saturday, July 17

The Next Big Buzz : Kids' Filmmaking Workshop (9:00 am)

LaPorte, Indiana (12:00 pm)

Love Bites * (1:00 pm)

Dirty Mind (2:00 pm)

Meet Our Filmmakers : Panel Discussion (3:00 pm)

Fish Out Of Water (3:15 pm)

Jeffie Was Here (4:15 pm)

It Takes Two * (4:45 pm)

The Taqwacores (6:45 pm)

A Mixed Bag * (7:00 pm)

American: The Bill Hicks Story (8:45 pm)

Twisted Roots (9:30 pm)

Jimmy Tupper VS. The Goatman of Bowie (11:00 pm)

Sunday, July 18

One Hour, Ten Films * (12:15 pm)

A Little Help (1:00 pm)

Art House (2:00 pm)

Life on Screen : Panel Discussion (2:00 pm)

Meet the Critics : Panel Discussion (3:00 pm)

Ballhawks (3:15 pm)

Matter of Fact * (4:15 pm)

A NY Thing (5:15 pm)

Paulista (6:45 pm)

NoNames (7:00 pm)

Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You Mommy) (8:30 pm)

The Things We Carry (9:15 pm)

Monday, July 19

Dirty Mind (3:15 pm)

Fish Out Of Water (3:15 pm)

Exit 117 (4:45 pm)

Love Bites * (5:15 pm)

The Wayman Tisdale Story (7:00 pm)

Somewhere Between Here and Now (7:15 pm)

Everyone Says I Look Just Like Her (8:45 pm)

When I Rise (9:00 pm)

Tuesday, July 20

The Things We Carry (3:00 pm)

Paulista (3:15 pm)

World's Largest (4:45 pm)

The Kid Stays In The Picture * (5:00 pm)

Peepers (6:30 pm)

A Little Help (7:00 pm)

The Wildest Dream (7:30 pm)

Special When Lit (8:30 pm)

Amanda (9:15 pm)

Wednesday, July 21

The Wayman Tisdale Story (3:15 pm)

Jeffie Was Here (4:30 pm)

A NY Thing (4:45 pm)

Heavy Hitters * (6:30 pm)

Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You Mommy) (6:45 pm)

Critics vs. Filmmakers : Panel Discussion (7:00 pm)

It's a Woman's World * (8:30 pm)

New Low (9:00 pm)

Thursday, July 22

LaPorte, Indiana (3:00 pm)

The Kid Stays In The Picture * (3:15 pm)

Everyone Says I Look Just Like Her (5:00 pm)

One Hour, Ten Films * (5:15 pm)

Phillip The Fossil (6:45 pm)

World's Largest (7:00 pm)

One Hundred Mornings (8:30 pm)

Jimmy Tupper VS. The Goatman of Bowie (9:00 pm)

Friday, July 23

Peepers (3:00 pm)

Do It Again (3:15 pm)

Only When I Dance (5:00 pm)

NoNames (5:15 pm)

Twisted Roots (6:45 pm)

Ballhawks (7:15 pm)

Somewhere Between Here and Now (8:30 pm)

What Just Happened? * (9:00 pm)

Saturday, July 24

11/4/08 (12:00 pm)

A Mixed Bag * (12:15 pm)

New Low (1:45 pm)

Movers and Stakers: Stories along the Indiana National Road (2:45 pm)

Phillip The Fossil (5:00 pm)

Skateland (7:00 pm)

Sunday, July 25

Winner: Best Matter of Fact Feature & Short (1:00 pm)

Winner: Audience Award Feature and Short (3:00 pm)

Winner: Best American Spectrum Feature & Short (5:00 pm)

Winner: Best World Cinema Feature & Short (7:00 pm)

Benefit at Birdy's Tonight

photo courtesy Stacy Kagiwada

The fabulous Cara Jean Wahlers joins Jamison Harrison, Tybalt, 19 Clark 25, Chris Claire and Lines of Nazca for a benefit for Mike Gashti at Birdy's tonight, July 9th, 2010.

Monon Gets Its Groove On

Riffing on the girl in the black ribbon in the front row, serenading a sleeping baby, and using a bottle of (very good) Brother Thelonius Micro Brew as an impromptu slide, Lafayette's Michael Kelsey was at his best as he played the guitar, and the enthusiastic audience at Monon Food Company last Saturday, kicking off the debut of the MoFoCo Summer Music Series.

A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall

The wind began to pitch, the house, to twitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch... No, there were no flying monkeys raining down from the ominous sky over Chateau Thomas Winery last Friday night, but the clouds did turn dark and threatening, as a classic Indiana thunderstorm cut short an enjoyable evening of live music with Tim Brickley and the Bleeding Hearts.

Bandleader Brickley, under an illuminated tent alongside  his fellow Bleeding Hearts -- guitarist Larry DeMyer, bassist Scott Sanders and drummer Robin Reuter -- treated the date night audience to a mix of classic rock renditions (Stones, Dylan, Beatles, Neil Young, Donovan) as well as a few original compositions written by Brickley and longtime songwriting partner, David Rheins.

Until the elements sent the masses scrambling for cover, the audience members spread out on the winery grounds -- on blankets, under umbrellas,  or hunkered down in camping chairs -- sipped wine, politely snacked and enthusiastically shouted out requests from a mimeographed sheet of more than a hundred crowd favorites.  #66 Satisfaction.

Some of the more energetic attendees were even moved to their feet,  where a variety of classic Hoosier tail-feather shaking was demonstrated to the wide approval of all those in attendance.

Neon Love Life Rocks Indy Social Media Breakfast

Girls Rock. That was the theme of the 5th Indy Social Media Breakfast, held this morning at the The Indianapolis Children's Museum. More than 80 local social media marketers and communicators gathered for the event, which took place at the new "Rock Stars Cars & Guitars" exhibition.

Amidst life-size "Kiss" mannequins, vintage rocker muscle cars and memorabilia once owned by the likes of David Lee Roth, Elton John and Michael Jackson,  the all-girl rock band Neon Love Life talked about how the band is using social media and word-of-mouth marketing tactics to launch a non-profit organization designed to empower young girls through rock music.

Members of the band, Sharon Rickson, Tasha Blackman, Lindsay Manfredi, and Ashley Plummer treated the audience to an acoustic performance of some of their original songs, and talked about how Girls Rock Indy was created, and thanked the Indianapolis community for its support in donating instruments and helping to drive membership around its Facebook page and attendance at the Girls Rock Camp.

Panera Bread and the Children's Museum were co-sponsors of the networking event. The Rock Stars Cars & Guitars exhibit runs through September 12th.

What to do this weekend in Indy: Talbot Street Art Fair

For more than a half a century, the Talbot Street Art Fair  has been delighting local art fans with its mix of funky but family-friendly arts and crafts. All manner of painting, pottery, folk and fanciful art can be found, along with a host of other entertainments and food vendors.  We grew up eating BBQ from neighborhood kettle-drums, and look forward to checking out the cool local works of art and handicrafts from around the state, and around the country. 

The 55th iteration of the event takes place this weekend, Saturday June 12th & Sunday June 13th, with more than 270 artists expected to participate.

Hours are Saturday 10 - 6, and Sunday 10 - 5.

Talbot Street Art Fair is located between 16th & 20th / Delaware & Pennsylvania - Indianapolis in the historic Herron-Morton Neighborhood.

Best "Tees" in Broad Ripple?

Monon Food Company staffer Karoline models one of the stylish new tee shirts available at the Monon Food Company.  The Broad Ripple restaurant, fast gaining a reputation for "the best fish tacos" in Indy, California vibe and a huge selection of Micro Brews, will be rolling out its Summer Music Festival the evening of June 19th, with a performance by Lafayette uber-guitarist Michael Kelsey.