MC Shammers

God Made Robots – http://godmaderobots.com/

Creme de les Femmes – http://www.facebook.com/cremedelesfemmes

Five Year Mission – http://fiveyearmission.net/

Photos by Benjamin Swisher

Photos by Jedediah Johnson

Photos by Kimberly Duncan

The Whigs returned with a tense show of rock and roll fury. Joining them were Marvich (ex-Bloomington rockers Jim Fix frontman Jim Rawlins is the ringleader here) and Company Of Thieves who will return to Indianapolis for the 2011 Indianapolis Music and Arts Festival, June 11.

Maravich

Company Of Thieves

The Whigs

To celebrate the release of their 7 inch on Third Man Records, the band spent a Friday evening at Luna. Introduced by a little fan adorning a We Are Hex T-shirt, the band wasted no time. It was loud…real loud. CDs toppled from the vibrations and the band performed their songs the best way they knew…in a frenzy and artfully expressed.

Link: http://www.midlandathome.com/

When I heard that I was going to see a show at the Hard Rock Cafe, my first thought was, “This is going to be awful”. When I arrived downtown and couldn’t find parking for less than $14, I almost went home. But then a car pulled out of a big beautiful free-of-charge street space mere feet from the Hard Rock and I thought , “Well today must be my birthday.” When I walked in the door of the Hard Rock and saw the stage I thought, “Wow, this is actually going to be more awful than I could have possibly imagined.” The room is basically a long wide hallway with a stage about three quarters of the way down. It wasn’t exactly ideal for watching a band. To top it off the stage was surrounded by a wooden balustrade which made viewing the bands from a seated position nearly impossible. Not that the people sitting would have minded. Everyone seemed to be pretty into their food. It seemed like it was going to be a disastrous experience.

But then I had a little bourbon and a little American style Lager and loosened up a little. I noticed that that last quarter of the restaurant was setup really nicely to view the stage. And that there was ample room to stand and watch the band. And even though the wait staff had to walk through the crowd to serve people no one seemed to complain or even notice their movement. It actually was a totally decent way to see a show. The stage is backed by am exposed brick wall with a big brass Hard Rock Cafe Indianapolis logo. Colored lights washed over the performers in a very pleasing non-distracting way. And the sound was the best I’ve heard at a live music venue in a while. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised really. It’s a rock and roll themed restaurant with a huge pool of resources backing it. It actually makes sense that they would know what they’re doing.

Xero Sum – http://www.myspace.com/xerosum

Fe Fe Dobson – http://fefedobson.com/

Deluka – http://www.deluka.com/

Every First Friday is unique. Here is an example of the sites from the first First Friday of 2011.

Cultural Cannibals ‘Haiti – Toussaint L’Ouverture’ Shirt Release at the Atheneum ArtSpace

IndySwank at Fountain Square

Britt DeMaris Leiendecker at The Murphy Building, Fountain Square.

People For Urban Progress at The Murphy Building, Fountain Square.

Art Studio at the Murphy Building, Fountain Square.

K. Sabroso at Voir Art de Fletcher, Fountain Sqaure.

Art Display at Voir Art De Fletcher, Fountain Square.

Bob Brown of Fishers, Indiana is attempting to establish a Guinness World Record, and with his impressive assortment of 29 handmade shadow boxes filled with a total of 770 chocolate bars that meet the requirements stated by Guinness; such as different weights, being in a rectangular or oblong shape, and chocolate being the main ingredient, along with a notarized witness statement and a very detailed spreadsheet, I would say he has it in the bag.

It was a cool autumn weekend, which not only provided ideal weather conditions for transporting his chocolate collection from his home in Fishers to the Castleton Square Mall, but also brought many curious on-lookers to the indoor event.  I would say just in the hour or so that I was there, around 100 people came by to take it all in. I overheard many gasps and statements such as, “I forgot all about that one!” and “I wonder where he found that?”
Brown is proud, excited and anxious to be attempting something as profound as a Guinness World Record.  When asked what gave him the idea to collect candy bars, Brown said, “Aside from my love for chocolate, in January of 2006 I discovered that my favorite candy bar from my childhood, the Marathon bar, was no longer made. So I began to wonder how many other chocolate bars have been discontinued, and how many from the present day will no longer be available 20 years from now?”

What has emerged from that very question is an awe-inspiring array of chocolate bars from all around the world, in colorful wrappers and neat little boxes skillfully incased in wooden display boxes that Brown made with his own hands.

Good luck, Bob Brown. The city of Indianapolis is rooting for you.

This photo series was taken in and around Baltimore, MD this spring.  These images of reflections were taken in an effort to try and view these places from a new perspective.  Reflections have always seemed to have an amazing power to change and alter the things they reveal.  At the same time, our minds and eyes find comfort when they are able to recognize the source of the distortion.

I recently had the chance to explore an abandoned industrial facility in downtown Indianapolis and am here to share some of my initial shots from the day. This is part II in the Abandoned Indianapolis series; look for more photos to be published as time allows!

Please check out Abandoned Indiapaolis I for the initial installment.