my gallery show opens this thursday

my first-ever solo gallery show—which i've alluded to in prior posts—opens this thursday (april 2) at 111 arts gallery in downtown muncie.

the show will feature nine databent prints and several poster-sized collages. all art will be priced affordably (nothing higher than $50–$60), because even in these hard times it's nice to have some cool art on your walls.

come on by and say hi! or if you can't make it thursday, my stuff will be up all month.

we has a new kitteh

meet our new kitten. she's a six-month-old blue tabby. we're calling her lily.

we just adopted her last night and she's still a bit shy, but she's also adorable.

still more IMPD embarrassments

seems like hardly a month can go by without at least one IMPD officer getting busted for doing something shady if not outright illegal. first there's this guy:

A Marion County correction officer was in court Friday facing newly filed charges of child molesting, incest and sexual misconduct with a minor.

Richard B. Alsup, 39, faces a dozen counts involving accusations of improper sexual conduct with a female relative younger than 16, lasting as long as two years. Alsup, who also was a reserve officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, told a judge he is on administrative leave from the Sheriff's Department.

The Indianapolis Star generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual assaults.

Alsup told police he had been having nightmares about having sex with the girl, according to a probable cause affidavit. He told an investigator "he didn't want to believe he could do those things to (the girl), but that he could not say those things didn't happen," the affidavit says.

it's a nightmare all right, but surely much worse for the girl he's allegedly molested.

then today there's this story:

The commander of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's North District is being stripped of his position in the wake of an investigation into moonlighting by off-duty officers, public safety officials said Friday.

Maj. David Allender -- one of 51 officers who worked part-time security jobs for a metal-recycling firm linked to allegations that its workers knowingly purchased stolen metal -- will be busted to his merit rank of captain and reassigned to new duties within a week, public safety officials said in an e-mail to The Indianapolis Star.

[...]

"Having gathered new information about the deployment of precious police resources in the context of competing demands for officer time by private employers," Newman wrote in the e-mail, "we were no longer confident that only (the public's) interests were being served at all times."

Newman said the department expects to soon name Allender's replacement.

Deputy Chief John Conley stressed that Allender's demotion "was not related to any scrap-metal investigation and has no criminal violations or implications."

Rather, Conley wrote, the change came because of "time management and management of resources that should have been designated full-time to the public."

allender's name had come up previously in earlier stories about the omnisource bust. and while he's not being charged for being an accessory to scrap metal theft—at least at this time—the IMPD apparently did find that his moonlighting at omnisource had corrupted him to the point that he scheduled his fellow moonlighters according to what was best at omnisource, not what was best for the city or for the police department.

when will the police scandals end? ¶

shorter post-revolt wrap-up

shorter gary welsh: despite what you may have heard, my speech totally rocked yesterday, and anyone who tells you different is a dishonest sellout.

shorter paul k ogden: i don't understand why reporters and liberal bloggers keep mocking my event, just because it lacked focus and a lot of the people there were fringe types and crackpots. they should thanks me—nay, exalt and praise me!

shorter melyssa donaghy: they laugh at us because they're scared!

bonus shorter indiana barrister comments:

shorter gary welsh: i don't care if abdul mocks me, because his radio show sucks.

shorter abdul hakim shabazz: oh yeah? well gary has bad taste in clothes.

shorter paul k ogden: i admit there were a lot of crazies in attendance, but surely everyone can agree that gary welsh is awesome.

shorter gary welsh: actually, my taste in clothes is impeccable. also, abdul is fat.¶

if they held a protest and nobody knew what it was about, would it make a sound?

so that right-wing protest, "revolt at the state house", was this morning. it warranted a whopping three-paragraph AP story. here's the story in its entirety (and yes, i'm going against my "no quoting the AP" policy):

An eclectic group of nearly 200 people gathered at the Indiana Statehouse today to show lawmakers that they are generally "fed up" with government.

Some at the rally held signs urging lawmakers to retire or be voted out of office. Others wanted to repeal property taxes or stop what they considered eminent domain abuse. Other signs supported a state immigration law and a revolt against socialism.

Speakers at the "Revolt at the Statehouse" event included taxpayer group leaders and community activists. Organizers said the focus of the rally was the frustration average citizens feel with government at all levels.

well, that sounds like a ragtag bunch. of course, saying the event's "focus" was "the frustration average citizens feel with government at all levels" is a nice way of saying what jim shella said: the event lacked focus.

shella's report is amusing: he plays it for laughs, finding a few fringe types and letting them embarrass themselves on camera. gary welsh, as is his nature, takes shella's criticism personally.

abdul, on the other hand, has no qualms about mocking gary by name, saying that when gary "screams" into a microphone, "he sounds like Godzilla on helium." abdul also writes that "At times it was hard to follow where it all was going. For the next rally, I'd try to stay a little more focused and have a more tangible universal theme that is easy for people to grasp."

compare shella and abdul's complaints with what i wrote a month ago:

i don't see this protest attracting a lot of protesters nor much media attention. the whole thing is too vague and ephemeral for tv reporters, who won't have a clue how to cover the thing. and in today's economy, i don't see the typical taxpayer getting too riled up about "the executive and legislative revolving door"—these days, people are more worried about just finding jobs and making ends meet. if this were a focused protest centered around, say, the mess at the CIB, i could see it being a moderate success. but a kitchen-sink protest of complaining about "corporate welfare" is doomed to failure.

of course, as melyssa loves to remind me, nobody reads this blog, so who cares what i have to say? ¶

the nerve of some people is better than others

shorter abdul hakim-shabazz: how dare the city's poor complain about being treated like second-class citizens?!? the city rightfully treats them like crap because they are crap. now shut up, you stupid poor people! ¶

zot

here's my latest databent illustration. like the arsonist, this is a computer illustration that uses glitched JPEGs for the textures.

both works, as well as many other pieces, will be part of my upcoming gallery show at 111 arts gallery in muncie. opening reception for the show will be april 2.

a study of presidential rankings

shorter gary welsh: obama is a worse president than bush, because making an inappropriate joke about the special olympics is clearly worse than dragging the country into an unjust war or indefinitely detaining innocent people. ¶

hey big spender

mayor greg ballard likes to portray himself—and by extension his administration—as being extremely frugal, as almost pathologically obsessed with cutting the budget. i've mocked him many times (and likely will many more) for his statements on the campaign trail that he would cut $70 million of "fluff" from the budget. and it's only going to get worse, as property tax caps will cause revenues to shrink substantially in coming years. not to mention that whole recession thing.

so it's puzzling to say the least that this guy has been chosen as our new airport CEO:

Airport Chief Executive John D. Clark III earned a reputation in Jacksonville, Fla., for being an anti-union spendthrift, cutting jobs while treating himself lavishly as he traveled the world.

He made separate business trips to Paris, London, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Cairo -- four continents, all paid for by the airport and all within one year.

He once authorized $10,000 for a limousine in Paris for an airport board member and a lawyer, and ended up apologizing for it.

in addition to his lavish spending habits, clark also has a reputation for being hostile to unions and treating employees unfairly. he's also known for his battles with the jacksonville city council and neighborhood residents.

to be clear, clark wasn't chosen by ballard, but by airport authority head randall tobias. tobias himself is no stranger to scandal, having resigned from a federal post in 2007 after the revelation that he'd been paying for high-priced "massages" from prostitutes. perhaps the controversy surrounding clark seems like small potatoes to tobias, who has been shamed at a national level. but ballard loves to talk about leadership (and he'll talk anywhere they'll listen), and part of being in charge is taking the heat for those under you.

what we know about clark suggests he's everything that the ballard administration insists it isn't: wasteful, extravagant, arrogant, hostile toward the public, and a foe of transparency. so why is he being hired?

there is one bit of good news regarding his hiring, though: the people of jacksonville are ecstatic that he's leaving. ¶

journalists need their beauty sleep

shorter post-tribune ed board: there's a bill in the state house to extend indiana's voting hours to 8pm. while this would allow more people with day jobs to vote, overall it would be a horrible mistake, because then journalists like us would have to stay up two hours earlier on election night! ¶

motion to hold our horses on this liberal stuff

shorter senator evan bayh: i know my party controls the white house and both houses of congress, but that's no reason for us to move forward on our economic or environmental agenda. ¶

one county executive to rule them all

shorter star ed board: how dare the democrats in the state house defy us by not passing township consolidation?!? the only possible explanation is that they are evil, despicable people!

shorter gary welsh: i've been saying that all along! ¶

rage, rage against the saving of the daylight

shorter norman cox:

the fact that people are still arguing about daylight saving time pisses me off. i don't care if it doesn't save energy; i just want to be like everyone else! DST is the law now so DISCUSSION IS OVER.

update:
alternate shorter norman cox: if everyone else jumped off a bridge, you're damn right i'd jump too! now get out of my way and let me jump, whiners! ¶

update: tonight at big car

just a quick note about tonight's event at big car gallery:

turns out there won't be a stage at the top of the stairs after all, so i will instead be playing at short set in the main gallery (suite 215 i believe) sometime between 7 and 9 pm. the event is free, with lots of intriguing music, art, and video, so come check it out:

Listen: A Music and Video Experiment
Featuring video art and experimental music throughout the Murphy Art Center -- including Alchemy in Suite 3, Suite 4 next door and multiple spaces upstairs near Big Car.

Friday, March 6, 2009 at 7 p.m.- Midnight.

Big Car's First Friday show for March will feature a bevy of local, regional, national and international video and sound artists. All of the music will accompany video art projections. The night will include a show of Herron video artists in Suite 214 next door to Big Car (see artist statements below), a program of experimental videos from other local artists in Suite 3 and 4 on street level (J. Andrew Salyer, Laura Salyer, Jim Walker, Flounder Lee) and a Microcinema screening (FATELESS, Color + Modulation, SLIDE, Hub Culture Retrospectives: Antarctica, Independent Exposure: Asthmatic Kitty Records Edition 2008, The Collected Films of Ryan Jeffery) also in Suite 214.

The night's musical offerings in Suite 215 (Big Car's regular space) and in other nearby spaces include performances by Butler University's Ensemble 48 (playing a soundtrack to the silent film "Man with the Movie Camera"), Marck Ferrari, Ben Ishmael Revival, Shiny Black Shirt, Sea Krowns, Ensemble 48, Actuel, Playboy Psychonauts, Stallio, Sky Thing and Tonos Triad.

Also in the street level space that night, Big Car also hosts the installation "Unified Fields" that features the interactive music and art of duo Mana2 (Jordan Munson, Michael Drews). This installation is a collaborative composition combining elements from the works Unified Fields (Munson) and Deconstructions (Drews). Themes and gestures from each work interact both with each other and sonic and video material emanating from several interactive stations positioned in the room. These stations will involve both motion and color tracking technologies. During the event, live musical textures will be weaved into the sonic environment being generated.

The event is sponsored by Microcinema and is a partnership with the Toby at the IMA.¶

this friday at big car gallery

i will be performing at an interesting-sounding event this friday at big car in fountain square:

Listen: A Music and Video Experiment
Featuring video art and experimental music throughout the Murphy Art Center -- including Alchemy in Suite 3, Suite 4 next door and multiple spaces upstairs near Big Car.

Friday, March 6, 2009 at 7 p.m.- Midnight.

Big Car's First Friday show for March will feature a bevy of local, regional, national and international video and sound artists. All of the music will accompany video art projections. The night will include a show of Herron video artists in Suite 214 next door to Big Car (see artist statements below), a program of experimental videos from other local artists in Suite 3 and 4 on street level (J. Andrew Salyer, Laura Salyer, Jim Walker, Flounder Lee) and a Microcinema screening (FATELESS, Color + Modulation, SLIDE, Hub Culture Retrospectives: Antarctica, Independent Exposure: Asthmatic Kitty Records Edition 2008, The Collected Films of Ryan Jeffery) also in Suite 214.

The night's musical offerings in Suite 215 (Big Car's regular space) and in other nearby spaces include performances by Butler University's Ensemble 48 (playing a soundtrack to the silent film "Man with the Movie Camera"), Marck Ferrari, Ben Ishmael Revival, Shiny Black Shirt, Sea Krowns, Ensemble 48, Actuel, Playboy Psychonauts, Stallio, Sky Thing and Tonos Triad.

Also in the street level space that night, Big Car also hosts the installation "Unified Fields" that features the interactive music and art of duo Mana2 (Jordan Munson, Michael Drews). This installation is a collaborative composition combining elements from the works Unified Fields (Munson) and Deconstructions (Drews). Themes and gestures from each work interact both with each other and sonic and video material emanating from several interactive stations positioned in the room. These stations will involve both motion and color tracking technologies. During the event, live musical textures will be weaved into the sonic environment being generated.

The event is sponsored by Microcinema and is a partnership with the Toby at the IMA.

it should be a lot of fun—and it's free! i'm currently scheduled to play around 8:30-9:30 near the top of the stairs.

more information at bigcar.org. ¶