Everything in its right place.

"I feel at home, like I'm with a bunch of hippies." - Steve Price, bass and vocals for Youngstown Parade, New Albany Indiefest 2013, Lloyd's Landing at NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse

Panhandling in the middle of the street about to be abolished. That and porch furniture.

And that's fine by me, with a caveat or two.

Actually, there's no second-guessing the panhandling ordinance. No matter how worthy the cause, empowering people to wade into streets filled with distracted drivers on their iPhones is a profoundly unwelcome clash of the outdated with the post-apocalyptic.

As for the ordinance ridding the city of "indoor" furniture and various appliances arranged tastefully (although usually otherwise) on porches, I'm mostly down with the notion, although (a) it's yet another aesthetic Band-Aid that addresses symptoms, rather than the fundamental rot of slumlordism, and (b) if there's any one thing we've learned during the past decade, such a Band-Aid is meaningless without concrete enforcement plans. I'm told the council discussed enforcement at its work session last week, and that's a positive sign.

I might add (c) that Steve Price won't like it, but then again, that's one impediment we actually did address directly -- with votes. 3rd district councilman Greg Phipps, who handily defeated Price in 2011, is presenting both these measures.

In 2012, Phipps was instrumental in pushing for a reconstituted Human Rights Commission, and he also made a valuable, if largely and intentionally ignored, point that government rushing Caesar-lemming-like to fund church steeple repairs for an active congregation is a genuine church-state separation issue.

The muddy medieval pall of the Price Error is lifting in the 3rd. The council meeting is tonight. The newspaper article is here: New Albany City Council may abolish collections at intersections

Ladies and gentlemen ... Steve Price. He's kicking "99 Red Balloons'" ASS.

(Nena's title cut and photo courtesy of KC)

Last evening's Exclusively New Albany fundraising event featured karaoke by a former councilman. From a balcony above the garage, Steve Price serenaded attendees with a delightfully unexpected medley of smash hits, including "Oh, What A Night" by the Four Seasons and the Monkees' "Daydream Believer," the latter dedicated as a tribute to Davy Jones, the late singer and Harvest Homecoming parade marshal.

By the time Price took us on a one-way trip to the sun with a stone-cold mashup of Engelbert Humperdinck's bewitching "After the Loving," there wasn't a dry eye in the house -- or underwear, for that matter. The only disappointment was when the show ended without a version of "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles, and someone threw rotten fruit at the deck. Price just stuffed it in his longneck Bud.

But here's the rub: Apparently Price allowed Develop New Albany to use his adjacent field for event parking in return for the karaoke gig. His over-the-top, scenery-chewing performance of ridiculously cheesy pop songs was leering parody of the highest magnitude, and if you think I'm exaggerating, consider the audience. It was composed almost entirely of the very same people who scoffed at Price's council tenure.

Last night, he crashed the grownups' party and laughed back, using karaoke to return the favor in spades. No, not altogether so dumb. Not at all. I'd confess to admiring the calculated chutzpah, except that the trauma remains much too fresh.

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ENA notes: Next year's edition will take place in June a week later than the 2012 gala, and will be held at the Ricke residence on the corner of Elm and 10th. Let's hope that King Larry doesn't own a parking lot across the street.

See if you can find the Price in this picture.

That's the beauty of it. You cannot.