IndyGo vendors are still working to deploy two key features that were supposed to be in place when the Red Line launched Sept. 1—and the delays are both disrupting Red Line operations and hurting IndyGo’s bottom line.
The post IndyGo says vendors causing missed Red Line deadlines appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.
How has Indiana gone from a blue-blood to wandering far from college basketball's elite?
In his tenure from 1987 to 2001, Leppard led the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on international tours and focused on producing recordings and radio broadcasts.
The post ISO’s Leppard dies at 92 appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.
Real estate developers and experts suspect the firm couldn’t get access to enough capital to move forward with the massive, 103-acre development. Opinions are mixed on whether the site should remain intact or be split into multiple projects.
The post Ambrose is mum, but experts say it likely ran into financing problems for $1.4B Waterside appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.
My latest piece is online at CityLab. It’s a look at the transit improvement plans in Indianapolis as the city’s first Bus Rapid Transit line on September 1st. Indy’s system is a model for how lower density cities with auto-centric cultures can start making major improvements in their transit offerings in a capital efficient way. (Transport guru Yonah Freemark likewise holds the Indy system in high regard, writing in Streetsblog back in 2017 that it is going to be “like launching a brand new transit system.”).
Indy is upgrading its system in several ways:
The whole thing is set to be delivered by 2025 (about five years). And the price tag is reasonable. The BRT system at full buildout in Marion County is only $500 million. The first line was 80% federally funded, and if future lines achieve the targeted 50% federal funding, the total local cost will only be $220 million. And that will include massive street improvements the city desperately needs – drainage, pavement, sidewalks, signals, and many miles of new sidewalks where none currently exist.
This is a much, much better approach to getting in the transit game than trying to just straight to a multi-billion dollar light rail system.
Here’s an excerpt from my piece.
The BRT buses themselves—all-electric articulated coaches from BYD—are a major upgrade over the standard models. Riders will get amenities like Wi-Fi, USB ports, and automated announcements; a series of attractive new bus stations will feature arrival time information and an integrated snow melt system. But while the Red Line will be America’s first all-electric BRT line and only the third system with fare capping, the features alone are not groundbreaking. What stands to be transformative is the overall impact the improvements could have on Indianapolis, which is currently saddled with a little-used bus system featuring lines running every 30 or 60 minutes.
The BRT line is just one part of an improved overall bus network redesigned by Jarrett Walker & Associates, the firm led by transit consultant (and occasional CityLab contributor) Jarrett Walker. This future high frequency grid will be rolled out incrementally once the Red Line goes live. Walker senior associate Michelle Poyourow, who worked on the Indy network, says, “Indy is about to demonstrate that when you invest in the whole network rather than just a handful of rapid transit lines, you can spread the benefits of rapid transit far across the whole city.”
Horne promises that this new network will have “a better span of service, with every route running every day of the week.” Currently, many bus routes take weekends off. Buses will also run more frequently on many core routes, with more non-radial lines providing additional transfer opportunities. That should be a game-changer for riders, Horne says. “Having that frequent, fast, reliable bus service is really essential.”
Click through to read the whole thing.
If you didn’t already listen, please check out my podcast on transit improvements with Jerome Horne of Indy’s transit agency IndyGo.
The post Indy’s Cost Effective Transit Improvement Plan Is a Model for Low Density Cities appeared first on Aaron M. Renn.
JakienleThe answer is yes.
Historic preservationists and midtown neighborhood leaders don’t want to lose the Drake apartment building that its owner, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, plans to raze.
The post Should this building be saved? appeared first on Indianapolis Business Journal.
For the people living in Washington, D.C.'s only houseboat community, the easy rhythms and rituals of their days on the water are a stark contrast to the U.S. capital's reputation as a swamp.
(Image credit: Becky Harlan)
Bloomington native soul-rock collective Durand Jones & the Indications made a stop in their home state of Indiana along with Michigan based band Major Murphy on Sunday July 28 at the Hi-Fi. It was the Indications’ last tour date in the United States before embarking on a three week tour in Europe in August. Both bands played for a sold out crowd at the Hi-Fi, marking the first time the Indications sold out the venue.
Major Murphy started the night off by playing a 45 minute opening set. They had been on the road with the Indications for the last handful of shows across the Midwest, but Indy was the last one on the docket for them. The four piece group played an eclectic set, using their jangly guitar techniques and a well mixed set of percussion instruments, including drums, bongos, the tambourine and even hints of the triangle. Lead vocalist Jacob Bullard’s voice clashed beautifully with the band. Their mixture of modern indie sounds with progressive and classic rock elements was refreshing to hear. They were the perfect complementary band to play with Durand Jones & the Indications.
The crowd erupted when the Indications took the stage, opening up with a short jam as the crowd waited eagerly for Durand to join them. “Please welcome to the stage, the man of the hour, Mr. Durand Jones,” drummer and vocalist Aaron Frazer gracefully said over the mic. Durand took the stage and he voiced his happiness to be back in his home state before they began playing “Circles,” a fan favorite track off their new record American Love Call. They played a mixture of the new record and their self-titled debut album that was released in 2018 via Dead Oceans Records.
As the set progressed, it seemed the band became more energetic and comfortable on stage. This was noticeable once they broke into the uppity track “Groovy Babe,” as Durand danced, stomped and sang his heart out, holding nothing back. Sweat dripped from Durand’s face to his shoes as the song finished. He continuously told the crowd how much he loved them and appreciated them throughout the night and always had a smile across his face.
The night closed with a soulful cover of the Beatles “Don’t Let Me Down.” Major Murphy joined the Indications on stage for the closer as the two bands wrapped up their short run together. It was clear that the Indications were looking forward to their show back in their home state, and the crowd was happy to have them home. You can stream Major Murphy’s discography here and Durand Jones & the Indications discography here.
Photos by Michael Cottone
Construction in the Short North, Columbus, Ohio
My latest post is online at City Journal. I actually wrote it prior to the Indy op-ed I just put up, but for scheduling reasons they came out in the reverse order. This contains some of the background information against which that op-ed was written. It’s about the resorting of population that’s occurring within US states in the Midwest. Here’s an excerpt:
America’s transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy resulted in a spatial shift in population, from rural to urban. As the economy continues to adapt from industrial to service- and knowledge-based sectors, we’re witnessing another population change—this time, in the country’s former industrial heartland. Residents of Rust Belt states are migrating to larger cities that have emerged as centers of success in the modern economy. But the Rust Belt’s urban resurgence disguises the reality that regional cities remain weak magnets for new residents on a national basis.
The Midwest and the northeastern Frost Belt are home to numerous stagnant and shrinking cities such as Flint, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio; Rockford, Illinois; Muncie, Indiana; and Erie, Pennsylvania. But other cities within those states are booming. Metro hubs like Columbus, Kansas City, Des Moines, Grand Rapids, Madison, and Minneapolis-St. Paul are growing and thriving. These large cities are complemented by smaller success stories, including Iowa City; Lafayette, Indiana; and Traverse City, Michigan.
Click through to read the whole thing.
The post Population Shifting in the Midwest appeared first on Aaron M. Renn.
My latest column is online in the Indianapolis Business Journal. Obviously it’s about Indianapolis, but similar arguments apply to basically every other basically well-performing Midwest city. They are completely parochial talent sheds and need to attract from further afield. Here’s an excerpt:
Nashville won 5,000 Amazon jobs despite being smaller and having fewer tech jobs than Indianapolis. One reason is that Nashville draws people from all over the country, while Indianapolis overwhelmingly draws from just Indiana. Metro Indy actually loses people on a net basis to the rest of the country outside of Indiana. It’s even losing people to California.
Indy has plenty of company. No major Midwest city is a national draw – yet. Changing this is the biggest imperative – and biggest opportunity – for the city.
Turning Indianapolis to a national, not just a state or regional talent magnet can happen. Indy will never compare to the coastal giants, but it very much can replicate the success of Southern boomtowns like Nashville. As someone who has traveled to Nashville for years and really likes that city, I can tell you it has no intrinsic advantages over Indy and has its own serious flaws.
Even just a decade ago, Nashville businesses could struggle to recruit out of state talent just like Midwest cities do. Two or three decades ago the city was a backwater, an overgrown small town. But they figured out how to change that.
Click through to read the whole thing.
LEO Weekly, Louisville’s alt-weekly, also just republished a version of my blog post from last year about what a boondoggle the Louisville bridges project was.
The post High Performing Midwest Cities Need to Learn How to Attract National Talent appeared first on Aaron M. Renn.
There’s a story behind every iconic song. In the case of “Broadripple is Burning” by now-defunct Indianapolis rock band Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, that story is uniquely tied to the song’s geographic birthplace.
With mentions of neighborhoods like Broad Ripple, where the band played shows, and Fountain Square, where the band lived and partied, the song has touched listeners far beyond Interstate 465, even making its way onto Season 15 of American Idol. Now with more than 17 million plays on Spotify, the tune has a personal meaning to every individual, and that especially rings true to those who played it countless times over the years.
Through this oral history, the complicated story of “Broadripple is Burning” is told via the voices of former Margot members, along with those who were around during the mid-to-late 2000s when the song came into being. From lyric changes to complete chord shifts, “Broadripple is Burning” ultimately became an animal of its own in the end, forever leaving an imprint on the city it came from.
THE PLAYERS
Richard Edwards: Current solo artist and former frontman of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Tyler Watkins: Former bassist of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Chris Fry: Former drummer of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Erik Kang: Former multi-instrumentalist of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Kristen Reilly: Sings on Not Aminal version of “Broadripple is Burning”
Kenny Childers: Bloomington-based songwriter, founder of Gentleman Caller, and late-era member of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
Heidi Gluck: Longtime musician and late-era member of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
David “Moose” Adamson: Former member of Edwards’ band before Margot (Archer Avenue) and longtime Indy musician with projects like Sedcairn Archives, DMA, and Jookabox
Benny Sanders: Former member of Indy-based bands Jookabox and Everthus the Deadbeats
Todd Robinson: Owner and founder of LUNA Music
Rhett Miller: Frontman of Dallas-based alt-country band Old 97’s
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’sCourtesy Chris Fry
CONCEPTION
Children, Broadripple is burning
And girls are getting sick
Off huffin’ glue up in the bathroom
While their boyfriends pick up chicks
KENNY CHILDERS: I had written a song called “Broadripple Nightclubs,” which was a pretty dumb song. It had the line, “Broad Ripple nightclubs don’t burn down by themselves / They need your help,” which I had stolen from a Vulgar Boatmen flyer. I thought it would be pretty funny to sing that in Indianapolis, just for the purpose of antagonizing people, and I had Richard come in and sing on it.
RICHARD EDWARDS: Kenny asked me to sing on a song of his that featured a line about burning down Broad Ripple nightclubs, so I did that at some point while writing these records. I’m sure the seeds were planted there. Kenny’s song is so wonderfully bratty, and as usual, I wrote something a bit more dour.
CHRIS FRY: As I recall, we had played a couple shows with Gentleman Caller, and they had a song called “Broadripple Nightclubs.” The Margot song was, at least in part, a nod to that song.
RICHARD EDWARDS: I wrote the song in the parking lot of our old studio while waiting for whoever it was that had the keys to show up and let me in to start rehearsal, or recording, or whatever it was we happened to be doing that night. Maybe I putzed with a tiny bit of lyrics later, but the whole thing was basically done in that 10-minute period, more or less.
KENNY CHILDERS: I remember loving that he was singing about “the kids” in “Broadripple is Burning,” as if he were apart from them, which I suppose he was. He always had kind of an old man vibe, which is why we get along so well.
CHRIS FRY: The first version [of “Broadripple is Burning”] that came out around 2006. We were insane with big dreams in 2006. We did tours with no tour support, taking seven or eight musicians on the road. I remember losing band members on the road that didn’t have cellphones. Every night on tour, we’d have to try to make friends with fans with hopes that we could sleep on their couches or floors.
TODD ROBINSON: I first heard the song, when Richard brought the Artemis Records 7” single in for us at LUNA. That was around 2006 or 2007, I believe. My initial reaction was how much I liked the song and how it seemed to capture the feeling of the neighborhoods at the time.
RICHARD EDWARDS: I had moved out of Broad Ripple and into Fountain Square pretty early on in the Margot experience. I just kind of remember Fountain Square being filthy but fun. Broad Ripple was already becoming kind of not our scene. Older folks and college kids. It felt like a place where the culture was sort of dying and giving way to something much less interesting. It had that newly dead smell. There was no spark; it was all fizzle. We had moved there after high school because we thought it was happening, and we felt totally swindled. Especially coming from playing Muncie a lot, where it was all youth, passion, bad decision-making, fun, and inspiration.
DAVID “MOOSE” ADAMSON: Like any street with a bunch of bars, there are goofy aggressive drunks looking to mess with people. You can go there in a pretty good mood and come back feeling worse about the world. That’s the part of Broad Ripple that the song reminds me of.
CHRIS FRY: When the song was written, the Patio had already announced that they were selling and closing up shop. I remember the sentiment in the original music scene at the time was that Broad Ripple was going to lose the best part of its culture and replace it with another place to take Jello shots or smoke a hookah.
TYLER WATKINS: I definitely witnessed the demise of Broad Ripple with Richard while he lived in Broad Ripple in the Archer Avenue days. For the most part, the demise was in our heads. I don’t think any less of the neighborhood today, but at the time, it felt as if the musicians were moving out and the fraternities were moving in to Broad Ripple. It was somewhat of an exodus to the more affordable Fountain Square for us musician-types. Also, the Patio, Margot’s hometown venue that helped launch our career, closed its doors, leaving only the Vogue as a proper rock venue in Broad Ripple. And small Indy indie-rock bands could much more easily fill the Patio at 200 capacity than the Vogue at 800.
RICHARD EDWARDS: That [the Patio] is the first place I saw people really respond to it [“Broadripple is Burning”], and us. After the first time we played it there, the band wanted to go party at the Alley Cat. I didn’t want to go, so I decided to walk back to Fountain Square. I remember six hours of reflecting on how I’d just experienced something I’d been striving for since I was a little kid, and wondering why it hadn’t made me happier than it did.
And darling, I’m lost
I heard you whispering that night in Fountain Square
The trash-filled streets made me wish
We were headed home
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s perform at The Vogue in Broad RippleCourtesy Chris Fry
RICHARD EDWARDS: We played the Patio and Vogue pretty much exclusively, but our hanging out took place in Fountain Square. It wasn’t goofy brunch joints and killer Asian street food then—just crumbling bars and desperate people. Neighbors would set each other’s houses on fire over disputes of minuscule importance. They’d douse mattresses in gasoline, lean ‘em up against the house, and light ‘em on up. We always had these weirdo neighborhood folk breaching our parties, and it became a problem because they would try to make ladies uncomfortable and just be general assholes. We almost bought the joint that became the Brass Ring. Anyhow, mostly people just hung at our house all night, which was horrible and wonderful.
CHRIS FRY: Fountain Square was just starting to be on the radar for people in the original music scene due in large part to Radio Radio opening. The majority of Margot would migrate into living at my brother’s house near Fountain Square. In the early 2000s, that neighborhood was like the Wild West. Three of our neighbors houses were burned down by a gang called The 2-1 Fatals. Our cars were getting their catalytic converters and stereos stolen, and neighbors would show up unannounced to our parties with their house arrest anklets. Sometimes we would wake to cars exploding for either insurance fraud or someone exacting revenge. There was always a little bit of tension, excitement, and fear wrapped together. I think you get a good sense of that in the song. Fountain Square has come a long way since then.
TODD ROBINSON: I can hear that song and think about Mpozi‘s gallery in the Murphy Building, one of Big Car’s first spaces. I also remember Margot occasionally staging shows at Radio Radio, well before there was anyplace besides Peppy’s to get a bite to eat.
THE MARGOT HOUSE
There was love inside the basement
Where that woman used to lie
In a sleeping bag we shared upon
The floor almost every night
And darling I’m drunk
And everything that I have loved has turned to stone
So pack your bags and come back home
RICHARD EDWARDS: We were working and playing at night and sleeping by day back then. Living on top of each other. I was finally doing what I’d been trying to do my whole life, but I was not really enjoying myself. Our first record had come out, and we were touring, playing to pretty full clubs, meeting girls, and staying up all night talking about the future. I was writing a lot of songs, and they all happened real quick. “Broadripple” is a staying-up-all-night-and-talking kind of song.
Members of the band asleep inside the Margot house in Fountain SquareCourtesy Chris Fry
KRISTEN REILLY: They had built walls between the existing rooms in the [Margot] house to create sub-rooms for each band member. Our room was the size of the mattress that took up the entire floor and had shelves above us where our clothes were hung. Most of the nights in that house were spent drinking whiskey and wine on the back porch, listening to music, and talking until we crashed back in the cubby with a fan blowing on us so we didn’t sweat to death. Although it sounds rough, I was 20 years old and enjoying every second of the freedom that came with living in a house full of artists and musicians.
ERIK KANG: I always think more about the stretch between Broad Ripple and Fountain Square. We had a lot of events and parties up in that area, usually at the Vogue or at friends’ houses. And we’d eventually after-party or crash back at the Margot house in Fountain Square. The song has a sense of desperation to it, and that’s how I usually felt when someone was driving me back to the Margot house … desperate to find a place to go to sleep and get away from everyone for a bit of peace, in a house regularly occupied by 10+ people.
KRISTEN REILLY: The feeling of the song is a pretty accurate depiction of my memories in both of those neighborhoods. Booze-infused interactions and young, lost people falling in and out of love/infatuation, confusion, etc. My relationship to these places was mostly nights of drinking wine and trying to figure out who I was. Early 20’s are full of a lot of strong emotions about your surroundings and the people surrounding you. These neighborhoods served as the backdrop for my formative years and most of my mistake making.
RICHARD EDWARDS: My favorite thing about the song is how it’s rendered that neighborhood [of Broad Ripple] fiction. I love when people who love the song pilgrimage there and are totally let down. That is a wonderful feeling. I know that’ll come off as obnoxious, but I’m so pleased that, as far as the internet is concerned, I destroyed a place that somewhere along the line decided a bunch of Brothers nightclubs were more important than the Patio, and turned it into some weird emo mecca that some kids have actually sought out, only to be completely disillusioned once they arrive. I can’t tell you how much that tickles me. Maybe that’s the song’s ultimate lesson. Take the place in which you live and turn it into somewhere you’d rather be.
A NUCLEAR EVOLUTION
If my woman was a fire
She’d burn out before I wake
And be replaced by pints of whiskey
Cigarettes, and outer space
Then somebody moves
And everything you thought you had will go to shit
We’ve got a lot
Don’t ever forget thatChorus:
And I’m wasted
You can taste it
Don’t look at me that way
‘Cause I’ll be hanging from a rope
I will haunt you like a ghost
RICHARD EDWARDS: I hated the song almost instantly, so by the time we recorded it (initially on our own before we signed with Sony) I was basically instructing the band to try and murder it, or at least strangle all of the longing and vulnerability out of it. That version is on the rarities box set, I believe. I remember feeling very disturbed that the chorus was getting big applause and cheers when we played it live. It didn’t seem like something to hoot and holler over. I would hate it if young people thought I was glorifying depression and anxiety or advocating for the escape from those maladies through substances. In the instance of this song, it felt as if the audience and I weren’t on the same page, maybe. I also just thought the song came too easily and was musically simple. It was the kind of song I could write without effort, and I tend to distrust those.
CHRIS FRY: The song has had many versions, different tempos, a major/minor key change, and at least two lyrical changes.
TYLER WATKINS: Initially, the dark tune impressed me, to say the least. As a band, we tackled the song with a rumpus folk explosion. Everyone’s first instinct was to make it a rocker, with heavy hitting quarter-note hits throughout. “Broadripple” bounced along with Richard shouting lyrics over garage rock, a Wurlitzer, and a swooning cello. We played the song that way while we toured as a baby band for the following year or so.
ERIK KANG: I think everyone around Margot felt it could be a popular song for the band, so there was a lot of emphasis on getting the recordings right. In part due to that pressure, and in part due to the numerous ideas we had for the song, we cut all sorts of versions. The biggest change was when it took on a totally different chord progression. I think we debuted that version at the Irving Theater, and people were so confused … and pissed. There was also a period of time when the song became an audience sing-a-long, which prompted Richard to change some of the lyrics. Maybe it was coincidental, but I think he enjoyed catching people off guard with things like that.
And I wrote this on an airplane where the people looked like eggs
And when a woman that you loved was gone
She was bombing East Japan
And don’t fucking move
‘Cause everything you thought you had will go to shit
We’ve got a lot
Don’t you dare forget that
CHRIS FRY: Lyrically, there was a change “I wrote this on an airplane, where the people look like ants” to “where the people look like eggs.” That change came when we were on tour with the British band South in 2006. South had a very charismatic roadie/merch seller that went by “Little J.” Little J had misheard the lyric and approached Richard. He said, “The line about people look like eggs is brilliant!” From then on, the line was eggs.
RICHARD EDWARDS: I think this is true. If someone English liked a line, we figured it was more Beatles-y. But I’ve always tried to turn phrases into unexpected and weird what-have-you’s, so who knows.
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s perform on the main stage of Broad Ripple Music FestivalCourtesy Chris Fry
CHRIS FRY: Another lyric change was from “snortin’ coke up in the bathroom” to “huffin’ glue up in the bathroom.” My memory of that change is that it had something to do with how certain people in the crowd were interpreting the lyric. Like, there would be some bros fist-pumping and screaming “snortin’ coke!” Like it was some kind of party anthem to them. The change to “huffin’ glue” definitely stopped the fist-pump, drug reference excitement.
RICHARD EDWARDS: Coke felt like some kind of fucked-up applause line. And since I think coke, and in general the people who enjoy lots of coke, are about as gross as it gets, it felt right to change it once we saw how it was going down amongst a certain contingent.
TYLER WATKINS: We eventually signed with Epic Records and relocated our recording efforts to Engine Studios in Chicago. Richard, Andy, and myself lived in the studio apartment for about five months through the album’s completion. I ended up with the task of mixing “Broadripple.” This version was mellow with Richard and his acoustic guitar being in the forefront. Emily Fry and Kristen Reilly chimed in with angelic vocal harmonies.
KRISTEN REILLY: To be honest, I remember being surprised that Richard asked me to come to Chicago to sing on it. He and I have always had the kind of friendship where you can really piss each other off, even to the point where you don’t talk for a while. But we always come back around and laugh about it. We’re both very stubborn. Leading up to these recording sessions, I remember we were in one of our spells of being pretty irritated with each other. One day out of the blue, he sent a typical Richard text that was something to the effect of, “Get your ass up here and sing,” which meant things were fine and we probably forgot why we were pissed off in the first place. So I drove up to Chicago and sang.
A LASTING LEGACY
And I’m wasted
You can taste it
Don’t look at me that way
‘Cause I’ll be hanging from a rope
I will haunt you like a ghost
CHRIS FRY: Man, that song has legs. I was more than a little surprised when it made it onto American Idol. It’s kind of funny that that song never had a music video, or was ever really promoted. It is a viral phenomenon that is hard to explain.
ERIK KANG: People still send me texts when Pandora or some other streaming service plays it. I get nostalgic when the song comes on because I remember random events from that era.
BENNY SANDERS: It’s not radio-friendly, but it’s such a cult little song that got out to everyone. Even recently, I was sitting at a bar in Joshua Tree, California, and the song came on their playlist. I remember crying. It’s a song that had legs beyond the city.
KENNY CHILDERS: It was a great song then, and it’s a great song now. I have no idea why it’s continued to have a presence that has grown over the years. It’s a pleasant surprise. It just seems like it keeps getting passed from one YouTuber to another. I hope it keeps going so Rich can get him a sweet hot tub.
KRISTEN REILLY: Richard is a great songwriter. He painted a picture well and put it to a great melody, and that’s why it was successful. When a writer has the ability to convey something from a true place, it resonates with people, and that’s what he did.
TODD ROBINSON: Like all good/great art—it speaks to and touches on the universal themes of love and loss that we can all relate to. Truly a timeless articulation.
HEIDI GLUCK: People might love that song because humans love to wail things like, “I’m wasted.” But really, I think it’s just one of many examples of a perfect Richard Edwards song—a gorgeous wistful melody. He’s probably got 30 more like it that he never put out.
TYLER WATKINS: I’m not sure if the song “Broadripple is Burning” had a heavy influence on our moderate success level. But, in the studio, we often joked with Richard about some day being the cliché rock dude who people would talk about and say, “You know, that ‘Broadripple is Burning’ guy.” We were totally messing around with him, but maybe a tiny bit serious. So yeah. We all knew the tune was one for the books.
RHETT MILLER: This is one of my favorite songs in the whole world, and I’m lucky enough to be friends with Richard. When I first became friends with him and asked him about the song, he dismissed it for having been too easy to compose. He said he just dashed it off. In his mind, I think that is an indicator of some shallowness maybe. But maybe that is part of what makes it so great. It was born of the incredible instincts of a great writer, not overly filtered, reworked, or thought out. Just brought into being, fully realized. He said he was just sitting in a parking lot, waiting for a rehearsal to start. And there it was. I think this song is a real testament to Richard’s natural genius.
RICHARD EDWARDS: I don’t ever think about it. I’m happy when it does stuff for people I love. It has, on occasion, put clothes on my kid’s back or paid for her soccer gear. It paid for the down payment on a house I shouldn’t have bought. It’s bought me plane tickets to Los Angeles or New York, where I’ve gotten into wonderful trouble. It was a kick seeing it on American Idol because my daughter and her mother watched that show and that felt neat. It’s helped finance better subsequent music. But it doesn’t mean anything to me. However, I love that it holds meaning for a lot of young kids who are starting to feel that feeling of being lost in the world and not quite knowing why. If anything I make helps make a young person feel less alone or more understood, I can’t imagine anything better than that.
The post The Oral History Of “Broadripple is Burning” appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.
Major League Baseball seems to be on an unstoppable pathway to more and more strikeouts. After a record share of plate appearances ended in a strikeout last season (22.3 percent), this season is winding up to set another record: If the to-date strikeout rate of 23 percent holds or increases over the season, it would mark the 12th straight year of a record set for strikeout rate.
Fastball velocity is often cited as the source of the strikeout surge, along with hitters willing to trade contact for power. The constantly increasing fastball velocities of recent years are such a concern that MLB is partnering with the independent Atlantic League next year to move the mound back by 2 feet — to 62 feet, 6 inches from home plate. Still, there may be another culprit behind all of the K’s: Breaking balls have never moved more. According to a FiveThirtyEight analysis of PITCHf/x and Statcast data at Baseball Prospectus, sliders and curveballs this season are darting away from bats at their greatest levels in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
Breaking balls typically have greater whiff rates than fastballs, and breaking balls are being thrown more frequently.
On sliders, pitchers are often looking for more horizontal break — and less vertical movement — than on a curveball. They’re getting both this season:
Velocity is still certainly at play in these nastier breaking balls: Increased velocity generally leads to an increase in spin rate. (The average curveball spin rate this year is 2,536 rpms, up from 2,315 rpms in 2015). More spin (specifically, transverse spin) creates more of the phenomenon known as Magnus Effect, which plays a key role in determining a pitch’s movement.
But velocity hasn’t surged as dramatically as pitch movement has in recent seasons. And it isn’t just that fresh faces with killer breaking balls have replaced older, craftier pitchers: 86 pitchers who threw at least 50 curves in 2017 and 2019 averaged an increase of 1.4 inches of greater vertical break, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis. Something else must be at work.
One possibility is that new methods of training, and new technologies, are playing a role in creating better breaking balls. For example, when Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer revamped his slider in the 2017-18 offseason, he wanted a pitch with zero inches of vertical movement and an elite level of horizontal movement. At Driveline Baseball, a data-based training center, he used new pitch-tracking technology, allowing for improved feedback of the pitch-in-progress. Specifically, he wanted to create a certain spin axis, which determines the direction the ball moves, while spin rate determines how much the pitch can move.
When @BauerOutage throws a pitch, there's a lot of possible ways that the ball could go.
recreated 3D visual of Bauer's Arsenal with axes and movement profile paths deviating from center
FB = red
Cut = green
SL = blue
CH = yellow
CB = orange@PitchingNinja pic.twitter.com/Uyo3MluwqW— Anthony Brady MS, CSCS (@BaseballFreak_9) March 13, 2019
The technology allowed him to monitor the spin rate and spin axis of the pitch. High-speed cameras showed him how his grip was imparting spin on the ball. The work paid off: In 2017, Bauer saw just 2.83 inches of horizontal movement on his slider, which ranked him 131st in baseball. But this season, he’s up to 11.1 inches, putting him third.
Detroit Tigers starter Matt Boyd, who also designed a slider at Driveline, has quietly become one of the top pitchers in baseball. His slider ranks as the game’s seventh best since 2018, in terms of runs saved compared to the major league average per pitch type. “I’ve worked on it at Driveline a ton in recent years,” Boyd told FanGraphs. “At Driveline, we were on the Rapsodo [pitch-tracking tech] and the Edgertronic [high-speed camera] a lot. … Again, we were working that thing, working that thing.”
White Sox left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer became yet another pitcher to look into designing a pitch this winter. In a Driveline-like facility called Dynamic Velocity in Omaha, Nebraska, he created a cut fastball to better combat right-handed hitters. After righties hit .338 against him last year, they are batting .095 this season. Bummer has allowed only one earned run in his first 11⅓ innings this season. His cutter and fastball rank among the best in the game.
“It’s actual proof that your ball is moving, not someone sitting behind you and saying, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s a great pitch. That looks really good,’” Bummer said of the tech-aided pitch development. “You have instant feedback that tells you, ‘Did that pitch do what it’s supposed to do?’ To me that was a huge deal. The belief behind it.”
While the effort to create better pitches began with curious (and/or motivated) players going outside the game to independent facilities, teams are hiring more and more outsiders to pitch-design roles within their organizations. Over the offseason, the San Francisco Giants hired former Driveline pitch-design guru Matt Daniels, and the Philadelphia Phillies hired another design specialist in Eric Jagers. The industry is so interested in pitch design that the Edgertronic SC1, the most common high-speed camera, is selling more quickly than Sanstreak can produce it. This year, the Edgetronic and Rapsodo devices were seen in spring training bullpen mounds all over Arizona and Florida. The Orioles held “mandatory group spin axis seminars” this spring.
Pitchers’ pitches will likely keep getting better, moving faster and with more movement. There is seemingly no end to the increasing frequency of strikeouts. While the home run surge has masked other areas of offensive decline, technology and training is giving pitchers a new edge.
Check out our latest MLB predictions.
Filmed in Napa Valley and featuring an all-star, female cast of Saturday Night Live alum, including Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Tina Fey, and Paula Pell, Wine Country hits Netflix on Friday 10th May 2019.
It’s a familiar scene. A rowdy group of women—perhaps they’re celebrating a bachelorette party, or in this case, a milestone birthday—walk into a winery.
They’re there to drink and have a good time, to catch up with each other on topics of relationships, children, and work, to reminisce about old times, and temporarily escape from whatever tough times they may be going through.
‘Wine Country serves to remind us all that wine doesn’t have to be so serious.’
As for the wine? It’s simply the match that fires up these deep, meaningful, and yes, sometimes silly conversations.
‘I do not want to learn about wine on this trip,’ groans Jenny (played by writer Emily Spivey), cutting off the bus driver midway through his history of wine spiel, and the women turn the music up over him.
Groups like this can be a tasting room’s worst nightmare, but these longtime girlfriends act surprisingly tame – I had expected something that really crossed the line.
Instead, their worst offenses in the film were anticlimactic: chugging – not savouring – a reserve Cabernet (the horror!) and walking through an organic vineyard after they were specifically instructed not to.
The real joke, it turns out, is on the wine educators. They come off as patronizing, treating these mature, middle-aged women as if they’re dimwit children, speaking slowly to them with exaggerated annunciation.
One employee attempts to educate by quizzing them on advanced wine terms that the average wine consumer wouldn’t know, like tartrates. She then refers to them as “wine diamonds,” as though making it sound shiny will reverse their obvious disinterest.
At another winery, a male employee asks the women what aromas they’re smelling in the wine.
‘There are no wrong answers,’ he says, until Rebecca, Rachel Dratch’s character, throws out canned peaches and jasmine.
‘No. That’s egregious,’ he says, shaking his head in disgust.
‘Pinot-gregious,’ Rebecca claps back.
This stereotype of wineries operating with a touch of snobbery and pretension isn’t new.
These satirical scenarios may be the extreme, but Wine Country serves to remind us all that wine doesn’t have to be so serious.
The post Wine Country film review: Parodying the ‘snobby’ side of wine appeared first on Decanter.
I’ve long considered the day after the Masters to be the official beginning of the amateur golf season (unless you live in CA, AZ, FL or Hawaii that is). With Tiger back on top, every dad in America laced-up his 990s yesterday and headed to the local golf shop —frothing at the mouth— to gear-up and get back out there. Maybe instead of hitting the range a more interesting thing to do with your golf fever would be to plan a trip to Scotland. Nothing is Scotland remotely resembles the lush and perfect conditions at Augusta, but it is just as pure in its own way.
There are two big challenges with a long golf trip in Scotland: logistics and walking 12 miles a day for more than a week straight. The logistics just takes some research and planning. The walking bit just is what it is. If you walk when you play normally — you are obviously going to be better prepared for the physical endurance needed.
There are a few different ways to successfully explore the fountainhead of golf. One way is to hire a tour organizer who makes the itinerary, drives the van and greases the starters to get your tee times. This is the easiest way to do it, but also the most expensive. I would argue that it is considerably more fun, and a lot less expensive if you plan the trip yourself. The big caveat here is that you have to do all of the driving —on the left side of the road — which is the stuff of nightmares for Americans. After two rounds of golf in the rain and dozens of miles walking the driving becomes even more difficult than you might think. Though on our trip, the driving insanity only served to heighten the adventure.
To help with planning we were lucky to have the assistance of our friend, mentor, and Scotsman Graeme Russell. Graeme spent years playing golf and drinking whisky all over Scotland (and America!) while he was a brand ambassador for The Macallan (come here young man, let’s talk about what you want to be when you grow up) so he’s as much of an expert as you are going to find and it’s quite obvious that he is uniquely qualified to help build an itinerary. We asked for his advice and Graeme quickly shot back a rough game plan. “There are four main areas of golf as follows: St. Andrews and Fife: The Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie being the main courses. East Lothian: Muirfield and North Berwick the two classics. Visitor days for Muirfield are on a Tuesday and Thursday and these are the only days you can play your own ball,” he told us.
It’s as if he has thought about this a bit. His golden advice was just flowing free and easy. “On the West Coast, you’ve got Prestwick, Troon, and Turnberry. Prestwick is a historic club and the home of The Open Championship. Finally, the North, Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Castle Stuart, Royal Aberdeen are all great courses.” What I didn’t know at the time was that what Graeme was recommended was akin to someone playing 10 of the top 50 courses in the U.S. back-to-back-to-back over the timespan of a little more than a week. “At your age it is unlikely that this will be a ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to Scotland so there is no need to try and play every championship course — since it is pretty much impossible to do all at once.” So we narrowed it all down to 3 of the 4 golf regions and started to plan for tee times and hotels. It takes some research and a lot of time on Google Maps, but eventually, we got every hotel booked and as many tee times arranged as possible.
Being the most famous golf course in the world, it was expected that everyone (including Graeme) told us that we have to play the Old Course. If you hit one links in Scotland this is the one. As the name suggests, it is historic and old, famous, and unbelievably fun. Even though it can be tough to secure a tee time — there are a few possible points of entry. The first thing you can do is plan extremely far in advance and book your tee time a calendar-year out. There’s also a “local ballot” where you can try for a close-in reservation based on what the tee sheet looks like the next day. These spots are rare, but it could work out for you. The failsafe way (outside of bribery or actually being a member) to get on (if you have a little bit of flexibility) is to stay at the Macdonald Rusacks Hotel which sits right on the 18th green. They don’t have any special access per se, but the property is so close to the Old Course that there’s a bit of a workaround for those willing to wake up early and wait a bit.
When I say early, I mean early. Our phone rang at 3:30am. It was the night-manager Ian on the line. “It’s time to go gentleman.” We quickly get dressed and took a drowsy jaunt across the 18th fairway to the Old Pavilion to get in line. When we arrived at 3:45 am there were about 15 people who had arrived before us. One man said he queued up at 1 am. (Good god, that is nutty.) The group was mostly American and every new arrival was greeted with exuberance and some relief that we aren’t the only crazy ones. We waited for a few hours for the office to open and filed in one group at a time. There were several openings for the day and it was first come, first served. If you are flexible with when you can play there shouldn’t be a problem getting a time that day. We snagged a 7:30 tee time which gave us time to walk back over to the Rusacks to get breakfast and grab our gear.
Why go to such trouble to travel so far and spend so much for this experience? Part of it is about exploring the traditions of the game and part of it is about camaraderie. There’s a certain bond that can only form with the help of pot bunkers, tall grass, weather and post-round drinks. There’s also a certain friendliness and charm to the people, plus the quirk of the land that is magical. Out on the local Elie links (which was a small but highly recommended excursion from our plan)— we noticed a father and son out playing together. They were walking (nearly all golf in Scotland is played under your own power) and they had the family dog tethered to their pushcart. My pal Randy and I both looked at each other and right then and there we realized that golf in Scotland is a much more casual affair than in the states. It’s all part of the allure. The historic courses that serve as the templates for thousands of courses everywhere, the friendly people, the beautiful wild terrain, life-threatening adventures in a rental car and all of those punishing bunkers. It makes for an adventure of a lifetime that should be revisited every summer if possible.
STAY
Macdonald Rusacks. If it weren’t for Ian we wouldn’t have been able to play the Old Course, and that would have been a real disappointment. The days are long out there sometimes playing (and walking) two rounds in a day. You want a nice hotel like the Russacks to rest your weary bones. On top of being the most perfectly situated hotel to the Old Course, the Rusacks is a really nice place to stay. Our room had insane views of the golf course and a great breakfast. I never plan to stay anywhere else in St. Andrews.
The Caddie Closets at the Greywall’s Hotel is a fantastic hotel that overlooks Muirfield. They have a super cozy bar and excellent views of one of the most historic clubs in all of the U.K. It’s close to the town of Gullane —which in addition to its own great golf course— has a few nice restaurants and pubs.
GEAR
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.” This is especially true out on a wet and windy golf course.
Even in summer, the weather in Scotland can be touch-and-go. Be prepared for chilly temps and the possibility of rain. The number one most important thing is waterproof shoes. You need to bring two pairs. It’s like Lieutenant Dan said. “Try and keep your feet dry when we’re out humpin’. The Mekong will eat a grunt’s feet right off his legs.” These Ecco waterproof shoes will be the difference between an enjoyable trip and a miserable one. Good shoes are worth the upgrade. I suggest bringing two pairs that you have already broken in. You’re out there walking 13 miles a day, you have to have good shoes. Don’t cheap out here or all you will remember about historic golf courses is how miserable you were.
The other critical thing you need to pack is waterproof clothing. Skip the umbrella and hit up Galvin Green who makes the best golf rain gear. Buy Goretex pants and jacket from them and make sure to pack a layering program as the weather can be erratic. I wear the Patagonia Capilene base layer shirt and pants. They are light, easy to wear under khakis or rain pants and dry out easily. Dunning makes the most technical golf fabrics out there and the layering pieces are excellent. Don’t forget a knit winter hat — it’s going to come in handy more than you might think for a summer trip. Nike Golf has comfortable shoes and good layering pieces as well. And buy a rain hat at a club when you get there — it’s the perfect souvenir.
COMFORT
There’s not much by way of refreshments on the course. Bring a water bottle, some protein bars and definitely a flask. You’ll want a nip depending on wind or rain. (Not having a flask was my one big regret.) Or you might need a drink because of your putting.
The other thing is balls, both your own and the little ones with the Titleist logo. Again, you’ll be walking a dozen miles a day. You’ll be getting close to a half marathon’s dose of chafe daily. You need this stuff, trust me. Secondly, golf balls are really expensive in the UK. Bring a few dozen for your trip and save some money for branded club merch.
COURSES
Our itinerary went like this. Warm-up round at the Eden Course at St Andrews Links. Next, we went to Elie – which was a recommendation of a Scottish woman on the bus at Heathrow, seriously. It ended up being one of our favorites. After that, we played at Kingsbarns. People seem to really love it, but we found it a bit too American for our liking. It was still great don’t get me wrong, but not as pure as some of the other Scottish golf we played. The next morning was the early call at the Old Course. Obviously, it is a fantastic and truly special experience. It lives up to every bit of the hype you have heard. That opening tee shot definitely gets your heart racing! After we played the Old Course in the morning we went to Carnoustie in the afternoon. This was sub-optimal timing, but the fact that our Old Course round was sort of up-in-the-air we had to do it like this. Turns out playing Carnoustie in the second half of a double-header is ill-advised. We got affiliated there — with the highlight being fishing multiple balls out of the burn and the sausage roll.
After a much needed night’s rest we drove out to North Berwick for a blue sky morning at the famed North Berwick West Links. This place is truly special and there are so many memorable (and famous) holes — the 15th Redan being the most famous. When you visit North Berwick as a guest they make you a member for the day and allow access to the clubhouse. This is a nice perk and a great place for post-round beers. The following day we played Gullane 1 and 2 back-to-back. Last summer Gullane hosted the Scottish open and it was awesome to see the pros playing there on TV. These courses are both highly recommended.
After a good sleep at Greywall’s we headed to the west coast for our final swing. The first stop was Western Gailes. This golf course was probably the most punishing after Carnoustie, but it was probably in my top 3 for the trip. The whole course is only 200 yards wide — tucked between a rail line and the sea. This meant the place is super tight and the grass is quite long and unforgiving. You need to really make shots to score here. Also, the bacon roll for breakfast was delicious — don’t miss that. On from Gailes we headed to Turnberry. The Ailsa course was our pick for the most beautiful round on our trip. What a stunner with incredible coastal views.
Our last stop was at the historic Prestwick Golf Club. Even though we had played so much golf, we were both really excited to get a chance at such an amazing place. Everything had come together for us by the time we tee’d off at Prestwick. We were used to walking. We were playing the ground as one does in Scotland and we had learned that it doesn’t matter how you score, it’s just great to have a chance to play these iconic courses.
Find more at ACL GOLF.
INDIANAPOLIS — If there’s one thing that’s become almost painstakingly clear about the Indiana Pacers this season, it’s that they’re an acquired taste among basketball fans.
Unless you’re from the state of Indiana, chances are you’re not going to find this club all that sexy. In a league flush with pace, dunks and threes, the Pacers rank near the bottom in all three. Their franchise player, high-flying All-Star Victor Oladipo, went down with a devastating, season-ending injury in January, supposedly ruining whatever chance the club had of making a deep playoff run — if it could even finish the job and reach the postseason to begin with.
But focusing on what the Pacers don’t have, or won’t accomplish, might make you miss something important: Indiana possesses perhaps more grit than any NBA team.
Of course there are two concerns with a statement like that. First, as numbers-heavy as we are at this site, we couldn’t quite come up with anything to measure the Pacers’ heart (although we pieced together a number of things to make a solid argument). Second, and perhaps more important for the time being: For all the heart Indiana possesses, looking at the team’s recent results might lead you to believe the struggling team is on life support.
Before their home win here over the Pistons on Monday night, the Pacers had lost seven of their past eight and were coming off a dismal 4-10 record in March, by far their worst month of the campaign. They’ll head into Detroit on Wednesday in the midst of a 10-game road-losing streak — concerning for a team in danger of falling to the fifth seed and losing home-court advantage in the first round.
Aside from a much tougher schedule lately (of those 10-straight road defeats, nine have come to teams that will make the playoffs),12 Indiana has struggled to generate consistent offense in Oladipo’s absence. The team logged just 106.5 points per 100 possessions during the month of March, the league’s fourth-worst scoring attack during that span, according to NBA Advanced Stats.
More and more, the Pacers’ hardscrabble offense has been putting too much pressure on the team’s third-ranked defense. Before Oladipo’s injury ended his season, Indiana was 16-12 when giving up 100 points or more. But since he left the lineup, and the team’s margin for error shrank immeasurably, the Pacers have gone just 6-17 when surrendering 100 or more.
Understandably, the team was a mess immediately after Oladipo’s injury, which required him to be carried off on a stretcher before the home crowd. General manager Kevin Pritchard gave an emotional rallying cry in the locker room after the game, reminding the players that they’d gone 7-4 without Oladipo already this season (as opposed to 0-7 the season before) and were still 5 points per 100 possessions better than their opponents with him off the floor. But that didn’t stop Indiana from falling into a season-worst four-game skid. Adjustments were needed.
“It’s a totally different thing to play those 11 games without him when you know in the back of your mind that you’re going to get him back healthy,” coach Nate McMillan said of Oladipo, who was also an All-NBA defender. “But after the injury, we knew he wasn’t coming back. So we had to change everything [in our offense] and hit the reset button.”
That meant shifting from a relatively open system — one that often encouraged players (especially Oladipo) to take midrange shots if opponents sagged off — to one that’s more heavily synchronized. Indiana has tripled its number of ball screens for Bojan Bogdanovic,13 giving him a downhill advantage to set up open teammates if and when defenses collapse into the paint.
With more playmaking responsibilities, Bogdanovic has upped his scoring average from 16 points before the Oladipo injury to almost 22 per game since then. He and Wes Matthews, who signed with the Pacers after being bought out following the trade deadline, have replaced the vast majority of Oladipo’s shot attempts. Thaddeus Young’s play has been noteworthy, too, as he has basically doubled his assist average since Oladipo went down. All three players factored into Indiana turning things around in February, winning eight of nine — albeit against suspect competition.
Effort has been one of Indiana’s defining traits, both this season and in previous years. After posting that 0-7 mark without Oladipo in 2017-18, the Pacers now stand 21-21 in games without their star this season. They’re highly physical, almost always preferring to fight through screens as opposed to switching on defense, like most teams do. They dive on the floor for extra possessions and rank near the top in recovering loose balls on D. And they’ve developed an attitude that suggests that no deficit is too big for them to overcome. In one of their best wins of the season, the Pacers rallied from 19 down last month to beat ex-Indiana star Paul George and the Thunder. It marked a league-high 19th time over the past three seasons that Indiana had come back to win a game it once trailed by 15 points or more, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information Group.
But the struggles over the past month and change have illustrated that effort, which these Pacers are built on, can take you only so far — especially now that Indiana’s foes are bona fide playoff clubs again.
“When you’re struggling offensively, it’s hard to grind on these guys and yell, ‘C’mon guys: Keep guarding! Get your intensity up!’ when you can just see their confidence oozing out of them and slipping away with each missed shot,” Pacers assistant coach Dan Burke told me.
Put another way: At a certain point, you can only get so much defense out of a team that isn’t producing anything on offense.
That isn’t to suggest there isn’t talent on the roster, because there is. It just hasn’t been reliable from top to bottom. Take the two biggest acquisitions from last summer: Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott. Evans, who figured to be an enormous insurance policy as a ball-handler in case anything happened to Oladipo, has been the NBA’s worst finisher at the rim.14 And while McDermott has been fine, he’s had unusually wild shooting swings, depending on whether he’s playing at home (just over 30 percent from 3-point range) or on the road (where he’s slightly better than 48 percent from 3-point range).
Indiana uses cutters better than most teams. But the Pacers are often slow to identify the mismatches they have when opposing defenses counter their screen-and-roll action with a switch. In fact, no team generates less efficient offense than the Pacers (who score a minuscule 0.81 points per possession) do when getting a switch, according to data from Second Spectrum.
And as you might guess, crunch-time offense has often been a struggle for Indiana, one of a handful of teams to average less than 1 point per possession in those scenarios since Oladipo’s injury.
There are obviously plenty of things the Pacers do well, and they still somehow have an outside chance of reaching the 50-win mark. Domantas Sabonis has become one of the NBA’s most efficient bench scorers. Indy shoots very well from three; they simply don’t take many (29th in attempt rate). Yet the team’s bread and butter is its defense, where players like Young and block machine Myles Turner (both of whom deserve All-Defensive Team consideration)15 frequently force opponents into mistakes. Indiana has occasional breakdowns, too, of course. But the fact remains that the Pacers usually keep themselves in games on that end of the floor.
Whether their defense will keep them in the playoffs for long is a separate question. But even if it doesn’t, we can rest assured that the Pacers — warts and all — will leave whatever they’ve got on the court.
Check out our latest NBA predictions.
JakienleAll I know is I tasted Sagamore's Ryes and they are excellent.
The craft of winemaking has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to leave city life for the country. For many, having a winery is a life-long dream.
On the surface, winemaking looks simple enough: you gather grapes, throw them in a tank, and then wait. After some time has passed, “voila!” You have wine.
But what is winemaking really like?
In truth, winemaking is an arduous process of observations, sanitization, and practices all for the purpose of shepherding billions of microbes through the bewildering process of fermentation.
So, let’s walk through the actual process of winemaking from start to finish.
There is no single recipe for making wine. That said, there are a lot of well-known processes and techniques that produce the major styles of wine.
It all starts with picking grapes.
Unlike avocados or bananas, grapes don’t ripen once they’re picked. So, they’ve got to be picked just at the right moment.
During the harvest season, this means “all hands on deck.” Harvest jobs are plentiful but they are hard work!
After the grapes are picked, they’re delivered to the winery.
The winery’s first step is to process the grapes. Wine grapes are never washed. (It would ruin the fruit-quality concentration!) So instead, they are sorted, squeezed, and prodded into submission.
Many types of red wine grapes (like Cabernet Sauvignon) are put on sorting tables to remove “MOG” (materials other than grapes).
Red wine grapes with thinner skins and soft tannins (such as Pinot Noir) are often fermented with their stems to add tannin and phenolics.
Thicker-skinned grapes (like Monastrell) are often destemmed to reduce bitter phenolics and harsh tannins.
White wines are typically not fermented with their skins and seeds attached. Most white wine grapes go directly into a pneumatic wine press which gently squeezes the grapes with an elastic membrane. This is how it works:
The stuff leftover after squeezing the grapes is called pomace. Grape pomace has many potential uses beyond the winery, including cosmetics and food products.
Some white wines soak with the skins and seeds for a short period of time. This adds phenolics (like tannin) but overall, it increases the richness of white wines. (BTW, this is how orange wine is made!)
Juice and grape must is now transferred to fermentation vessels.
There are many different kinds of fermentation tanks. The three most popular types are wood, stainless steel, and concrete. Each has their own unique traits that affect how the wine ferments.
Next comes the most important part: the yeast.
Many winemakers opt to use commercial yeasts to better control the outcome of the fermentation.
Other winemakers develop their own local yeast strains or let nature take its course and allow “wild” yeasts ferment the wine naturally.
Either way, here’s essentially how it works:
Yeast consumes the sugar in the grape must and then poops out ethanol.
Grape must sweetness is measured in Brix and very basically, 1 Brix results in 0.6% of alcohol by volume.
For example, if you pick grapes at 24º Brix, you’ll get a wine with 14.5% alcohol by volume. (The actual concept is a bit more complicated, but this dirty fast version works!)
Red wines ferment a bit hotter than whites, usually between 80º – 90º F (27º – 32º C). Some winemakers allow fermentations to rise even higher to tweak the flavor.
White wines, on the other hand, need to preserve the delicate floral and fruit aromas, so they’re often fermented a lot cooler, around 50º F (10º C) and up.
This is especially true for the aromatic wine varieties (those with high terpene content), such as Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Muscat Blanc, and Torrontés.
While the wine is fermenting, carbon dioxide is released, which causes grape seeds and skins to rise to the surface.
Some winemakers control this by punching down the “cap” three times a day.
Other winemakers prefer to use “pump overs,” where juice from the bottom is gently poured over the top of the skins and seeds.
The choice of “punch down” vs “pump over” really depends on the type of wine grape and desired taste profile. Generally speaking, lighter wines use punch downs and bolder wines use pump overs. But, as with all things wine, exceptions abound!
When the fermentation is done, it’s time to rack the wine out of the fermentation vessel.
The juice that runs free (without being pressed) is generally considered the purest, highest quality wine. It’s called “free run” wine and is kind of like the “extra virgin” wine.
The rest of the wine is “press wine” and is generally slightly more rustic, with harsher-tasting phenolics.
Press wine is typically blended back into the free run wine. (Remember: the less waste, the better!)
Finally, the wine moves into what the French call “élevage.” Élevage is like a fancy way of saying, “waiting around.”
That said, a lot happens in the winery while we wait for wine to cure into something great.
Wines go into barrels, bottles, or storage tanks. Some wines will wait for five years before being released; others, just a few weeks.
During this time, wines are racked, tested, tasted, stirred (lees stirring), and often blended together to create a final wine.
Also, most red wines (and some white wines – like Chardonnay) go through Malolactic Fermentation (MLF), which is where microbes eat sour acids and produce softer, more buttery acids.
So, next time you look at a bottle, think of all the work that went into making it.
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A nice conclusion to the initial letter from Nicolas last month.
In a month bereft of good news for IU basketball, I figured we could all kind of use this.
Remember the letter to Rob Phinisee from 10 year-old Nicolas Aguilera, who hit a buzzer-beater in his basketball game the same weekend that Phinisee hit one against Butler in the Crossroads Classic? Well, Nicolas’s mother got in touch with us and let us know that the Hoosiers came through and gave Nicolas a chance to meet his favorite player at the Michigan game last Friday.
Nicolas + his friend, @RobPhinisee1.
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) January 26, 2019
: @BreLeinenbach pic.twitter.com/kcsQLL3bea
Sounds like this was a night that the young fan will never forget. Yes, I know this losing streak has been tough for the Hoosiers and it’s easy to become jaded. But I think it’s important to take a step back and remember sometimes that for many people, it’s not always about the wins and losses, but also about the connections the team makes, especially in Indiana, where basketball means so much to so many people. It’s nice to see IU come through for this young fan, and for Phinisee to be back on the court again after missing a few games due to injury as well.
Anyway, in the original post I said Nicolas could write something for us, so he took us up on the offer:
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Nice work! While Nicolas does leave the “S” on Rutger (though I do like referring to them as “The Rutgers”), he is on point about Geo Baker.
The P.S. in this letter will suffice as our entire game preview for Rutger, who Indiana faces on the road tonight at 7.
On Wednesday, the eyes of wine geeks and those in the wine industry will turn to the the Supreme Court. Wine will be on the docket, and, as you might expect, reds and whites do not map on to a political right and left. A love of wine is non-partisan even though no justice has ever proclaimed “I love wine†during confirmation hearings (only beer gets this kind of admiration!). At stake on Wednesday is whether wine shops can ship across state lines.
The biggest wine case the Supreme Court ever decided was Granholm v Heald in 2005. In their decision, the majority ruled that states could not discriminate between out-of-state wineries and in-state wineries—either they had to open up to shipping from all wineries or close the whole thing down. Fortunately for wine enthusiasts, almost all state chose to open up so consumers across the country now at least have the right to order wine from wineries.
But it has remained an open legal question whether this freedom for wineries to ship also applies to wine shops. In fact, only a handful of states allow wine shipments from out-of-state wine shops. It is arguably more important for consumers to be able to have wine shops ship across state lines than it is for wineries: while it is good to be able to receive wines from wineries directly, being able to buy from shops offers more price competition not to mention foreign wines, which account for a third of all wine sales in America.
The case to be argued on Wednesday, formally called Tennessee Wine & Spirits Association vs Blair, on face value is about whether Total Wine, a big box wine retailer with about 200 locations, should be allowed to open a store in the state. Local shop owners sued when Total Wine applied for a permit, arguing that only residents who have lived in the state for two years could own shops in the state, or as one new retailer told Forbes, it’s a “good ol’ boys system–economic protectionism at its worst.” Eric Asimov of the NYT describes the dynamic of how interstate retail sales were effectively stopped:
Urged on by the wholesalers, who lobbied and contributed heavily to state political campaigns, states began to crack down on interstate retail shipping, and carriers like FedEx and United Parcel Service specifically. Those companies have told retailers in recent years that they would no longer accept out-of-state shipments of alcoholic beverages unless they were bound for one of 14 states (along with Washington, D.C.) that explicitly permit such interstate commerce. Interstate wine shopping effectively ended for many people.
Groups such as the National Association of Wine Retailers have filed a brief in the case, as has a group of consumers. Paul D. Clement, they lawyer who filed the consumer brief and a former Solicitor General, had a convincing quote in the NYT:
“Your typical winery has a production function and a retail function, and Granholmâ€
s focus was on the retail side,†Mr. Clement said. “The interstate activity protected by Granholm wasnâ€t production, it was sales.â€
Case details on SCOTUSBLOG
The post Wine spills onto the docket at the Supreme Court appeared first on Dr Vino's wine blog.
Image Credit: Joe Smoker
Recent History
For most of the past 2 decades, Old City Hall was a jack-of-all trades. It was the site of the Indiana State Museum when I arrived here in 1999. Later, it became the temporary home of the Central Library, while the original one undertook an extensive renovation. After the library moved back to its original location, the City Hall saw several other temporary uses. During the 2012 Super Bowl, it housed a large public art exhibit called “Turf“. It was even home to Yelp’s Christmas Bazaar.
Its most recent incarnation was as “The Hall”. The Department of Metropolitan Development moved its planning department there for 1.5 years while executing the launch of Plan2020. During this period, the building hosted all sorts of public events. The Planning Department moved back into the City-County Building, and Old City Hall was widely believed to be the site of a new 21C Hotel. The deal fell through, leaving Old City Hall in limbo once again.
Jack-of-all-Trades, but Master of None?
One of the persistent criticisms of the hall for reuse purposes is also its most prominent feature: The 4 story atrium with glass dome. This makes for a beautiful public space, and it also takes away valuable floor space from three levels. I would argue that it’s a blessing, because if it were just a normal building with normal floors, who’s to say that it wouldn’t already have been gobbled up by a private corporation? The atrium has kept those who think in terms of Floor Area Ratios at bay. The rest of the building is flexible enough, with high ceilings and large rooms, to host any number of uses.
Image Credit: Andrea Watts
Next Step, part I: Hotel?
The 21-C hotel deal fell through, but that doesn’t mean that another hotel deal can’t come along. Downtown appears to be adding a decent amount of hotel rooms, though, and it’s possible that Indy is starting to reach a saturation point. And, speaking for myself, but the only time I hang out in hotel lobbies is when I’m actually staying in that hotel. Any hotel that moves in would likely provide a public realm, and it needs to be thoughtfully dealt with.
Next Step, part II: Old City Hall becomes New City Hall?
Another option that has been bandied about is to bring the City Hall back to its original function, housing the Mayor’s office and other top city departments. I’m intrigued by this, although it’s possible that the parking lot to the north of the City Hall might just stay a parking lot if it’s serving in this role. The current City County Building will soon be almost half empty after the Criminal Justice Center is finished. It could be a valuable structure, and probably easier to convert into apartments or condos than City Hall is.
Next Step, part III: A grab-bag?
What does Indy not have that could be considered public domain? We don’t have a proper science museum. We don’t have a large modern art museum, or aquarium. We do have a lot of convention space, and apparently we are looking to add some more. And we definitely don’t have a public space where citizens can mingle with city planners. That’s what we had, and nothing has really replaced it. I’m sure the city lost money on that configuration. Yet I believe the city also gained in ideas and inspiration, as well as in dialogue. It was probably my favorite thing about Indy for 1.5 years.
Conclusion:
Old City Hall has a unique place in the city’s civic culture. It’s not the State’s building, it’s not a Federal building. It’s not a company or a conglomeration such as the Atheneum. And it’s not Union Station, which is now a non-public hotel space. It’s all ours. It’s Indy’s most prominent link to the city’s original heyday of the late 1800’s-early 1900’s. Therefore, any next steps would do well to keep the public in mind. Any ideas are welcome in the comments.
Let the deceptively simple fermented soybean soup at Ukiyo be a wakeup call to every sushi bar dipping out cups of pallid tofu-studded broth between the hot towels and the seaweed salad. At $5, this generous serving of funky comfort at Neal Brown’s kappo-style restaurant is no throwaway starter. It arrives warm and cloudy, topped with needle-thin shimeji mushrooms and sliced scallions just beginning to turn limp and shiny on the soup’s cumulous surface. Disturb the physics of liquid-and-solid separation with a gentle stir to turn the soup into an opaque slurry of transcendence. The complex salty, nutty, earthy, and mellow flavor bomb will hold your attention until the last slurp. And yes, you will want to—need to—tip the bowl to your lips to get…View Original Post
