Month: March 2012

Broad Ripple – The Sinking Ship

Spending some time on my on this week I decided to start checking out all of my “wish list” items on Urban Spoon.  The Sinking Ship jumped out at me that Sunday morning and I decided to head down to Broad Ripple for lunch to check it out.

With a tagline claiming they’re “Putting the fun in functional alcoholic since 2011” how can you go wrong? To be honest, I’ve driven by this place for a while now & just never noticed it.  My first exposure to The Sinking Ship was an online petition to the Marion County Alcoholic Beverage Board:

The Sinking Ship needs your help! The liquor license of the bar is up for renewal and a local group (Meridian Kessler Neighbors Helping Neighbors) is trying to protest their license renewal. If the license goes, the business goes too. The Sinking Ship has had NO violations and is a great asset to the community!

Being well over 21 I immediately noticed several signs in the entrance advising patrons to stay out unless they have a valid ID.  When I ordered a beer (served in a mason jar) I was carded (been a long time since that’s happened).  In fact, they were carding everyone.  I guess it’s a good way to keep out of trouble if you make it a policy to card everyone.

There’s a lot of unique artwork on the walls and I’m going to spend more time checking them out on my next visit.  This is a smoking establishment so if that’s going to bother you be forewarned.

I was waited on by Chris who had a pair of the biggest ear gauges I’ve ever seen.  He was a really attentive and towards the end of my lunch he put on some really good tunes that kept me there for another beer. Overall the service here was really good and very friendly.

The Sinking Ship looks like a neat local bar to hang out at.  There were several people sitting around with their laptops chatting it up with the bartender and surfing the web (free WI-Fi is available).

The menu has some interesting items, such as Cajun Corn Fritters and Cajun Green Beans.  I chose the “Build Your Own Damn Burger” ($7.50) and selected mushrooms and swiss cheese.  The sandwich came with the normal setup of onion, tomato pickle and lettuce (bib lettuce!).  I choose Mac N’ Cheese for my side (at Chris’ suggestion) and it was awesome.  I could have made a meal out of the Mac N’ Cheese alone.

The burger was cooked well but could have used a little more seasoning.  The freshness of the produce was nice, especially the tomato and bib lettuce.  I was definitely pleased with the prices too.  2 beers and the food totaled $15, not bad for lunch in Broad Ripple!

If you’re looking for a nice place to hang out and you’re in the SoBro area, be sure to check out The Sinking Ship and enjoy the artwork!  I’m really digging the “Sid Vicious Clown” in the images below.

 

 

 

The Sinking Ship on Urbanspoon

 

25 Hottest Urban Legends – In (semi) Real Time!

The online fact checking and rumor busting site called Snopes has a real-time (as in updated daily) list of the latest Urban Legends.

Snopes is one of those sites on the internet that can become a real time suck if you’re not careful.  I use it as a reference when someone forwards me an email about some odd warning/hoax, etc.  You can usually get the truth about it and I’ve been known to reply with a link to the site (in the hopes they might do some research before blindly passing on bogus info).

The Checkershadow Illusion

I love optical illusions and I found this one the other day while reading up on the new Adobe Lightroom photo editing application.  The Checkershadow Illusion shows how you just can’t trust your eyes when working with images.  You need to use tools to make sure you get things just right.

The object of the illusion is to show how lighting can make the same color look completely different.  in this case the “A” box is the same shade of grey as the “B” box.  Pretty hard to believe but it’s true!

If you like these, there are more examples on the Lightness Perception and Lightness Illusions page.,

America’s Dead Sea

Salton Sea in the Colorado Desert of Southern California is a former tourist destination that has turned into an environmental disaster. Born by accident 100 years ago when the Colorado River breached an irrigation canal, the lake soon became a popular resort. Yet with no outflow, and with agricultural runoff serving as its only inflow, the lake’s waters grew increasingly toxic. Though the resort towns were soon abandoned, the skeletons of these structures are still there; ghost towns encrusted in salt.

America’s Dead Sea from Jim Lo Scalzo on Vimeo.

Dollar Shave Club – Delivery

One of the guys at work told me about the Dollar Shave Club a few weeks ago.  After watching the funny website video I knew I had to give this a try.

Within 3 days of my order I received the following email:

Wow. We’re blushing.

Over the past week, you have validated more than 18 months of hard work & preparation. We are thrilled you think there’s a better way to shop for a shave, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to prove you right.

Safe to say, we weren’t expecting the demand we saw. After all, this was our label printer last week:

Well, I’m happy to report my order arrived today & everything looks pretty good.  More updates after I try these razors out for a few days.

 

 

 

 

Wow. We’re blushing.

Over the past week, you have validated more than 18 months of hard work & preparation. We are thrilled you think there’s a better way to shop for a shave, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to prove you right.

Safe to say, we weren’t expecting the demand we saw. After all, this was our label printer last week:

Carmel – Zacky’s Hot Dogs & Smokehouse BBQ

Trying my hand at some Mobile Blogging today with the iPod Touch (pictures) and Blackberry (text).

While visiting Carmel Saturday afternoon I realized it was lunch time and I was hungry. This occurred almost exactly as I was passing Zacky’s. Since I’ve wanted to check this place out, and a Chicago style hot dog sounded good, I turned in.

Seating is minimal at Zacky’s and the place was full.  They had a lot of people behind the county all performing their assigned and being directed by , I assume, the owner.  I ordered my Chicago Dog with everything and made the order to go (I had a good place to sit in the car). 

I dug in and almost forgot to take a picture, so there’s a bite missing.  This is the real deal folks.  From the poppy seeded (and steamed) bun to the neon green relish and sport peppers.  I quickly realized I should have ordered two as this one was going to be gone pretty quickly.

If you’re in the area and are craving a good Chicago Dog, check this place out.  I think you’ll be happy you did!

Zacky's Hot Dogs & Smokehouse BBQ on Urbanspoon