The Perennials v. James Whitcomb Riley (Also Vonnegut v. Larry Bird)

I'm at my friend's house in Indianapolis and I say, "Hey isn't James Witcomb Riley's house around here?" They point through the window, "It's that one next door." Wow. A hundred years ago, a classic American author and poet wrote almost every single work right next door, and tomorrow, as in Sunday, the creativity continues on this block as the band The Perennials will get high and drunk and make a record on their computer using cool edit pro. I love this band, I love thier sound, I love these dudes. Members of the Mans, Half Rats and Eric from the Happy thoughts. Their verse is music, but maybe not so far from Riley either. On the coffee table, under a ton of empty Pabst and Budweiser cans, play station remotes, and pipes, they uncover a fossil and brush it off. It is an original 1911 printed copy of "Lockerbie Verse of Riley Prose," hard bound. I wonder what it is worth.
Hazel Crosby, a character in Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" is a woman obsessed with naming Hoosiers around the world. Hoosiers of course is a name giving to anyone from Indiana, like Vonnegut himself. "Vonnegut is a Hoosier," you might hear Crosby say. But the fact why this is so funny to me is that Hazel Crosby is actually anyone from Indiana. Everyone that lives in Indiana love to name off Hoosiers and folks with Hoosier ties. They are proud, and rightfully so. What other state can boast, Michael Jackson (Hoosier) Jane Pauly (Hoosier) Dave Letterman(Hoosier) The Coog Mellencamp (Hoosier) James Dean (Hoosier)
I love to exploit this every time I come here. Firing up the proud Hoosiers to talk about other Hoosiers can entertain all night. We came up with a game where we tried to identify each state's Melencamp. "If Melencamp is the Melencamp of Indiana, then Springsteen is the Melencamp of Jersey."
Minnesota's Melencamp- Dylan
Michigan's Melencamp- Seger
Wisconsin's?-- I didn't say it, but everyone agreed. Tabman.

"The house across the back yard is the Riley house, the church across the street is where Jim Jones started his first congregation."
"Jim Jones? Jonestown?"
"Yep, Jim Jones is a Hoosier. The church used to have a sign telling about it, but they took it down."--

"Larry Bird is the greatest basketball player of all time."
"Woody is the best character on Cheers."