To The Indianapolis Star: News Article Comments Suck

I don’t understand why newspapers such as the Indianapolis Star feel like they need to mimic blogs and have comments at the bottom of every news article on their web site.  These comment sections serve no journalistic purpose and are full of stupid people who only understand problems in simple terms.

Today, the Star has an article about the shootings last night during the Black Expo.  As of a short while ago, there were about 140 comments with people literally calling each other “whitey” and “blackie.”  Seriously!  I thought this was 2010!  And then of course, you have the socialism versus capitalism arguments going back and forth.  Blah!  Blah!  Blah!  It’s nothing but drivel with generous sprinkles of bigotry and hatred.

News articles don’t need comments.  Very rarely does a truly productive, worthwhile conversation happen on the Internet when the general public is allowed to anonymously participate in a forum.  So why bother doing it?  Stop worrying about imitating blogs and start innovating better ways to serve the community.  That’s what will keep you in business.

A Day in the City

Today, after visiting with my family, I went downtown with my camera. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent time walking around our many urban green spaces.

On my way home, I dropped by Steph and Stephanie’s house in the Old Northside. My friend Jonathan was there with his two dogs, Jackson and Jefferson, having a cookout with them. Not too long after my arrival, Dan and Doug showed up to pay a visit, too.

As it was getting dark, Stephanie decided to make some brownies. Have I ever talked about how much I love chocolate?

Anyway, at about that time, Steph and I started obsessing over history, architecture, etc. It turns out she has an historic postcard collection of Indianapolis just like me! Sometime soon she and I will have to do some card trading. Nothing fancy — just your average nerd fun.

After getting home tonight, I watched the Darjeeling Limited. I’m definitely a fan of little esoteric films like that. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Music to Share: Recent British Favorites

It’s been a while since I’ve shared any music on here.

Cut Copy – Lights & Music

This is the first single released from Cut Copy’s new album: In Ghost Colours.

Bat For Lashes – What’s A Girl To Do

The bunny masks and bicycles remind me a bit of Donnie Darko.

Goldfrapp – Happiness

This is the second single off of Goldfrapp’s recent album: Seventh Tree. This might very well be my favorite track on the whole album, but I’m not sure yet.

Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor

This is off Hot Chip’s recent album: Made In The Dark.

Beatles in Indianapolis (1964)

In keeping with the British theme, I present to you parts one and two of the Beatles performing here in Indianapolis back in 1964.

Flickr Video

I recall reading some rumors about a year ago that Flickr planned to add video support, so I was not one bit surprised when it finally launched this week.

I think this is a great idea! I love the idea of having my videos and photos in one place.

So, here are a couple of videos I’ve posted. They’re nothing special, but it’s nice to get them archived up somewhere.

Thunder Over Louisville 2005

I was in Louisville with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew for Thunder Over Louisville back in 2005. We were on top of a parking garage in downtown. It offered a pretty good view of the 4th Street Bridge over the Ohio River.

Back Home Again in Indiana by the White River Jazz Band

The White River Jazz Band was performing back in 2005 for the annual Strawberry Festival in downtown Indianapolis. I filmed this on the southern steps of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument.

I went up and talked to the banjo player.

She kept asking me whether she should smile or not while I took her photo. I hope she’s still performing; it was great to see her play and capture the moment in my photo stream.

We’re For Real Real

Google has deemed us worthy. Indianapolis is now on the Google Maps Street View, and they even included many of the other smaller cities in the metropolitan area.

It looks like they were here back in October.