Category Archives: Hondo Thompson

04/11/2014
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Benjamin Loudermilk, Bloom Magazine, Carolyn VandeWiele, Comedy Attic, Friends of WFHB, Hondo Thompson, Jared Thompson, Joe Estivill, Kevin Culbertson, Limestone Comedy Festival, Matt Pierce, Patton Oswald, Richard Fish, Sarah Borden, Tig Notaro, WFHB, William Morris

Hot Air

Make Me Laugh

Can’t wait to get my hands on the new issue of Bloom mag.

Bloom Mag Cover

Ha.

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The Comedy Attic‘s Jared Thompson graces the cover. Inside, you’ll find out all about funny business in this town, natch, so grab one when you get a chance. You know, of course, that the Limestone Comedy Fest is fast approaching. This year the fest features as a headliner Patton Oswald.

Sure, he’s good, but can he rival last year’s appearance by Tig Notaro for getting Bloomington’s laugh-addicted pumped to the sky? Time will tell.

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Spring Can Stink, Too

So I’ve been bragging and crowing about how fab these recent spring days have been. Y’know, sunshine, warmth, daffodils, forsythia, breezes, short pants, and the ebbing of crushing winter depression.

All true. Life has taken a decidedly more positive turn of late.

In fact, I threw every window in the house open yesterday. The months-old atmosphere redolent of garlic, olive oil, my socks, me, dog, cat, and other foulings of air were swept out forthwith and, within minutes, the joint smelled like a delightful cabin in the woods.

It was so warm last night that most of the windows were still open when Steve the Dog, Sally the Dog, Kofi the Cat, and I all fell asleep on the two living room sofas. It was as peaceful a sleep as four creatures could experience together, all of us lulled by the rustling of budding trees and bushes in the soft wind and the occasional distant hoot of an owl.

But then an unseen skunk shot a blast of self-defense at some threatening critter and the first wave of reek blasted the four of us out of the arms of Morpheus. Steve and Sally began barking and howling like mad dogs, my eyes began watering, and Kofi went so far as to stir, stretch, and resume his snooze.

Skunk

Sleep Wrecker

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I had to slam shut every single window in the house and somehow explain to the hounds that they weren’t going out no matter how much they begged and whined. My explanation consisting solely of the repeated words, “Shut the f_k up!”

So, I’m still pretty deliriously happy about spring, only I’m now reminded nothing’s perfect.

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WFHB Board News

The WFHB Board of Directors will have a new look after the station’s annual meeting June 7. That’s when the general membership will vote to fill three open spots.

Current Board members Carolyn VandeWiele and Matt Pierce (also state representative from the 61st District) are giving up their seats and Hondo Thompson quit the Board a while back, with his seat filled on an interim basis by Richard Fish. Fish is running for a full term this time.

Here are thumbnail descriptions of the four candidates for the three open spots, as selected by the current Board’s nominating committee.

Sarah Borden is new to the WFHB  family but has been seeking the best way to volunteer her skills at the station for some time. She has a business background and offers skills in accounting, bookkeeping, tax filing, payroll, budget preparation and monitoring, financial planning, grant research, writing, submission, and management and specific HR duties which could be very useful to the station.

Richard Fish has served on the WFHB Board since March 2013 when he was appointed by the board to finish out the term of a member who resigned and is seeking re-election.  Richard is a founding member of Bloomington Community Radio and long time host of Bloomington Beware and The Firehouse Theatre. Richard states that he feels that he can “help most in the area of planning and visioning. WFHB is — and will be — facing some serious challenges and changes in the foreseeable future.”

Benjamin Loudermilk comes to us through the on-air appeal for persons interested in applying for the WFHB Board of Directors. He writes “I have been a proud supporter and listener of WFHB since it was launched on the airwaves 20 plus years ago. When I learned of the upcoming open seats, I was excited at the prospective opportunity to seek candidacy to serve on WFHB’s Board of Directors.” Benjamin is a native Bloomingtonian, currently employed as a Paraeducator at BHSNorth, and an IU alumnus. He has been active in the local Arts community for over 30 years. He feels his strongest skills are in communication, research and networking.

William Morris has been associated with WFHB for nearly five years – as a DJ (“Brother William”) on several music shows, as a roving reporter and news reader with the Daily Local News, and as an interviewer/producer on Interchange. He states “Now, I’d like to participate in a broader, more-constructive and (hopefully) more productive way as a member of the Board of Directors….  As an attorney, I believe I can help the station think through and resolve legal matters that it will face in the next several years. As a former journalist and big-time music fan, I hope I can help the station look at programmatic, artistic and creative decisions.  And, as a five-year member/volunteer of the station, I hope I can share my enthusiasm for WFHB with others in a way that fosters greater community, camaraderie and achievement.

Other candidates can still get in on the fun through a petition process. One of those is Maryll Jones, who started the Friends of WFHB Facebook group. The Friends arose in reaction to the Board’s selection of Kevin Culbertson as general manager last fall. Culbertson’s nod sparked a firestorm of controversy when it was revealed he’d been instrumental in operating a number of Christian radio stations out west and that he wasn’t a member of the Bloomington community. Jones is collecting signatures at this time.

Speaking of Jones, she applied to the nominating committee but was rejected. Word is the Board is keeping its distance from her because she’s the boss of Friends. Because of the negative reaction to Culbertson’s hiring in Friends and his subsequent decision not to accept the position, there’s been talk he could, if he so chose, institute some type of legal action against the station. If anything, the scuttlebutt goes, Culbertson could claim something on the order of workplace religious discrimination. When he informed Board President Joe Estivill he wouldn’t be taking the job in a letter dated November 20th, 2013, Culbertson wrote:

Never in my 30 plus years of working in broadcasting and media have I seen such hostility in a work environment.  The slanderous statements and cyber bullying have passed the point, in my opinion, which any reasonable person would believe there would be an expectation of being able to accomplish the objectives of the station in due course.

WFHB honchos are hyper-sensitive to the possibility that Culbertson might file suit. Even a suit without much legal basis would have to be answered in court, meaning the station would incur potentially devastating expenses. It’s been decided that since Friends is an independent entity, the station shouldn’t have any connection with it as long as WFHB still has exposure to legal action. Ergo, Maryll Jones won’t be getting an official imprimatur from anybody connected with Firehouse Broadcasting any time soon.

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11/11/2013
6 Comments
Firehouse Broadcasting, Friends of WFHB, Hondo Thompson, Joy Shayne Laughter, Kevin Culbertson, WFHB

Hot Air-waves III

WFHB: A Spot Of Joy In The GM Dust-up

Everybody’s got a dog in this race.

WFHB Button

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The selection of Kevin Culbertson as new general manager of WFHB touched plenty of raw nerves among the community radio station’s volunteer membership. Those who host shows or otherwise contribute to the on-air product at Firehouse Broadcasting have mixed it up with each other as well as with folks who haven’t really thought much about the 20-year old Bloomington non-profit until now.

The good news is people are thinking about WFHB more than ever before. Those who love the station hope that will translate into more participation and — gasp! — more contributions.

The Pencil broke the news Friday morning that Culbertson had been hired. WFHB’s Board of Directors followed a few hours later with its official announcement. Activist volunteer member and former Board member himself Hondo Thompson didn’t like the selection one little bit. His bill of particulars against Culbertson ran here as well.

The next thing anybody knew, a new Facebook group called Friends of WFHB had been started. As of this morning, it has about 150 members with that number growing by the minute. WFHB is the talk of the town.

Friends of WFHB

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And the Pencil aims to keep it that way. We’ve been covered the GM search for months. Stay tuned here and on Friends of WFHB for further developments.

Our good friend Joy Shayne Laughter told the Pencil she was working on a response to Hondo Saturday night. We invited her to run it here and she’s graciously agreed to do so. Here it is:

I have a feeling that friends and volunteers at WFHB are learning more about their participation rights this week than they ever have before.

Of course the fuel for this blaze of interest has been the drawn-out search for a new General Manager, and the match tossed into the tank was Hondo Thompson’s essay published here on November 6.

I am glad Hondo did his digging and paid for a company to do a background check on the finalist candidate for WFHB General Manager. The piece stirred up a lot of questions for me, since I am a longtime WFHB volunteer, news reporter, and was on the GM Search Committee, just as Hondo was.  Just like Hondo, I had privileged, confidential access to Culbertson’s resume. Unlike Hondo, I was present at both of Culbertson’s interviews.

I sorely wish these issues had been made available to the Search Committee and the Board BEFORE the Board’s hiring decision on October 28th, and not AFTER.  I have had a few conversations with WFHB Board President Joe Estivill, and he said he received the results of Hondo’s digging on November 5th — more than a week after the Board’s vote. It would have been completely appropriate and welcome for a member of the Search Committee to say, “Hey, wait a minute,” much earlier, and make us aware of further questions to ask our candidate, either at the final interview or the Board’s hiring discussion. I really wish that had happened.

Estivill made a call to Culbertson on the night of November 5th, and asked direct, hard questions about everything Hondo found. Estivill relayed the issues and Culbertson’s answers to the rest of the Board within 24 hours. According to Estivill, the Board felt that the facts behind these issues did not affect their decision, so no further action was taken.  
That being the case, it’s possible that the facts of the matter — coming from the source — mean things are not as dire as Hondo wants all of us to believe.

Here is the troubling matter for me. While Estivill was still informing the Board of the issues and Culbertson’s responses, Hondo submitted his piece to the Electron Pencil – without having any knowledge of Culbertson’s side of the story.

That makes Hondo’s piece an op-ed, a highly personal and emotional response — not journalism, not reporting, and just barely factual.

As Big Mike told us in the opening paragraph of that post, the piece is “non-authoritative … impressions” about a decision that had not even been made public yet — it was still a close secret among the WFHB Board, set for release that afternoon.

Everyone is free to have an opinion. Everyone is free to express an opinion. Everyone is free to have emotions about a situation they are involved in. Everyone is free to make a call to action that they believe is necessary.

Those who read or hear that opinion and that call have the responsibility to read with discernment and thought. And they have the right to question what they read.

Of course my own initial reaction to Hondo’s piece was sharp dismay, as I was one who interviewed Culbertson initially and had highly positive impressions of his resume, experience and personality. I went through all of Hondo’s links and was left wondering. None of the linked articles gives any account of Culbertson’s actions that support Hondo’s narrative and warning call.

How does Hondo know, to such an intimate degree, what Culbertson’s motives and moves were, during his 30 year career and the failure of a few small, low-power station ventures? (I would like to know what the WFHB Board heard from Culbertson that reconciled them with these failures, I really would. I hope I do.)

Only the KHHB articles from Hilo, HI quote Culbertson at all. The first two are complimentary, and the last three describe the murky legalities around the sale of the station and the disappointment that Culbertson’s plans for a hyper-local TV station just didn’t pan out. (I hope to hear that sale deal explained in detail, because it sounded like it anticipated an expected FCC ruling that would relax regulations and make it legal. I know businesses of a certain size conduct deals this way all the time, but still.)

The KEEN link is to a Wikipedia entry that doesn’t even mention Culbertson. The KEEN FCC violation notice says that KEEN “was late by six days in filing its children’s television programming report for the second quarter of 2004.”

This is a hanging offense? Or would it sharpen Culbertson’s resolve to make damn sure it never happened again on his watch? What would you do, as a professional, with this on your record?

The WXOC links only show general market data and that the station’s license was cancelled.  
The current Google result for WXOC reads:

“WXOC-LP is a low-power television station in Ocean City, Maryland, broadcasting on local UHF channel 63 and virtual channel 26. Founded in 2003, it licensed to WXOC, LLC. It is an affiliate of Me-TV, a television network that airs classic television sitcoms, dramas and classic commercials from the 1950s through the 1980s. Started in Chicago, Illinois in 2005, Me-TV’s classic TV format was created to present a wide variety of the iconic series, stars and genres that have defined pop culture and television for decades. Its sitcom program list includes “M*A*S*H,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “I Love Lucy” and “The Bob Newhart Show.” Dramas on the network include “Perry Mason,” “The Big Valley,” and the original “Hawaii Five-O” series.   Visit the TV station’s website Network: Me-TV WXOC-LP Digital Channel: 63”

There is no factual indication in any of this that WXOC “was operating just fine” (as Hondo asserts) for eight years before Culbertson became its owner. There are no archived articles anywhere on the net that show it had any kind of relationship with its market. So what did the station ever do? What was the license that was cancelled? Possibly an analog broadcasting license, I don’t know.  We will have to ask Culbertson about that in person. If we do ask, he will probably also explain why WXOC is not on his resume. That would be nice to know. Still, I’m not sure why a station’s change of platform and ownership justify such harsh judgment on the former owner.

Hondo also holds these details as grounds for suspicion (his words):

◗ 17 different addresses in seven separate states
◗ A filed Chapter 7 (full liquidation) bankruptcy in Arizona in 2010

Me, I’ve lived in three separate states at more than 20 different addresses (ten in Indiana, ten or twelve in Washington, and three in New York). I also filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and I bet many readers of this blog have been there as well. If traveling around for work and school and hitting a rough financial patch are so common, why should they be criminal indicators when Culbertson does them?

Then there’s the whole Christian broadcasting scare. You know what?

I could not care less.

Why? First, if Culbertson were out to evangelize Bloomington through radio, he would have applied to WVNI Spirit 95.

Second — and I said this in the comment thread of Hondo’s piece — WFHB is set up to prevent takeover by a third party. The GM has no ownership rights. The Board elections are set up to keep terms staggered, so no group can swoop in and create an instant majority.  And (as they are already demonstrating) the WFHB membership would be three-deep dead in the streets before they allowed such a takeover to even bubble up.

Third, consider this: One of WFHB’s stalwart news show producers served proudly in the military, and I cannot think of anyone who is less of a warmonger — in fact she is a fighter for peace and tolerance. I know a lot of other military veterans who are peaceniks, and my two decades in corporate administration left me with an allergy to cubicles. So evidently, where you work for a while — even out of interest or conviction — does not mean THAT is what you are, forever after.   

This is where my discerning reading of Hondo’s op-ed turned into critical dissection — because I really dislike witch-hunts. I have seen witch-hunts conducted by Buddhists, Unitarians and LGBT pagans, corporate offices and New-Age fluffbunnies, and the smoky fragrance is familiar.

One thing that I like about Bloomington is that although there is a lot of Christian real estate around here — and individual assholes do emerge — the population by and large is far more invested in service than in sales pitch. Look at Monroe County United Ministries, the Interfaith Shelter, the shelter work at First Christian Church, Shalom’s first home at First Methodist. The walk matters more than the talk.

I have spent time with Kevin Culbertson in interviews and drove him around town to introduce him to Bloomington. My own impression of Culbertson is that he is a Bloomington kind of Christian. Service, not sales pitch.

As an aside, WFHB needs to increase its listener (and donor) base beyond Bloomington into our six-county broadcast area, a region which is awfully rural and deeply-churched. Would it really hurt the station so much if the GM has insight into how this potential listenership thinks?

I have no idea whether Kevin Culbertson will work out in the long run as GM for WFHB. I have a lot of questions remaining, from reading Hondo’s op-ed.  But I am willing to give the guy a chance — mainly because the WFHB Board is populated by grownups with deep experience as responsible professionals in their fields, with a lot of non-profit experience between them. The majority of them are active broadcasters at WFHB. They are not fools, nor are they naïve, and through the development of the Strategic Plan they are well-versed in what the station needs to do to grow and thrive in the next 20 years. Also, there’s that personal contact with Culbertson that I had as part of the Search Committee. I encountered a real human being. I believe that when I ask the questions I need to ask, he’s going to respond like a human being.

Part of the opportunity in this moment is for the WFHB community of volunteers to step up to fill empty Board seats, commit to committees, and actually show up for Membership meetings. Now that we have your attention, the governance and by-laws documents for WFHB are available to all here (scroll down to find the pdfs. Info on the Board is here (at the bottom of the page; note: “Pam Raider” should read “Pam Davidson.”) Volunteer orientation is the first Saturday of every month at 11 am at the Firehouse, Quarterly Meeting minutes are here. Finally, Strategic Plan documents are here. Also see Facebook group Friends of WFHB.

I still think Hondo was right to do his digging. I just wish he had done it a month earlier. As a dear old friend of mine whispered in my ear yesterday, “Bless the agitators – without them, the laundry would never get clean.”

Shayne Laughter
Co-anchor at WFHB Daily Local News

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As of this moment, The Pencil is trying to reach Kevin Culbertson. We hope he’ll agree to introduce himself to the community here.

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11/08/2013
16 Comments
Hondo Thompson, Kevin Culbertson, WFHB

Hot Air-waves II

[MG Note: The Pencil is posting for the second time today to accommodate breaking news.]

[MG Note II (December 17, 2014): The person who submitted the following letter has requested her/his name be redacted. After much wrestling and negotiation, I’ve decided to accommodate this person.]

Culbertson In at WFHB

Kevin Culbertson has accepted the job of general manager at community radio station WFHB.

One of my sources for today’s earlier post about the GM search and selection was [NAME REDACTED]. [S/he] tells me the other two candidates were informed last night that they didn’t get the job.

[S/he] also authorized me to use the following piece. “Feel free to use it in any way you see fit,” [s/he] wrote. [NAME REDACTED] did the work; I’m just providing [her/him] the venue. I do not vouch for any of the research just yet.* The goal is to provide a forum for one respected WFHB volunteer’s non-authoritative investigation into the professional history of the station’s new general manager. Here are [NAME REDACTED]’s impressions:

*[MG Note: Now that I’ve had a chance to look into all the links, [NAME REDACTED]’s research seems to be based on good public documents and previously published newspaper and magazine articles. Ergo, I withdraw my mealy-mouthed distancing from [her/his] work.]

So, it’s official! The WFHB Board of Directors, in the face of the pleadings of many within our community to the contrary, has announced that they have chosen someone who has never been part of our community, to come to our community, and run OUR community radio station.

Well, let’s get to know our new GM, shall we?

First, google: Kevin Culbertson.  Nothing much comes up, does it? Why would that be?  The other candidates come up in dozens of results related to their professional experience.  Also, try to find him on Facebook or any other professional networking sites and you get a similar lack of findings.

Actually if you try really hard, you’ll find extremely little to no association with any of the entities Kevin claimed to be associated with, except for KHHB and KEEN.  So, then, zoom in on those two and you’ll learn who our new GM really is (and you’ll soon find another station he never told us about too!)

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KHHB Launching January 2006

“Culbertson is the general manager of KEEN-TV in Las Vegas, which was named the National Religious Broadcasters 2005 Low Power Television Station of the Year. It is owned by Total Living Network, which airs Christ-centered programming.”

“The (Hilo) TV station, straight up, happens to be owned by Christians,” Culbertson said, but his station won’t merely be a satellite of the Total Living Network.  It will be “safe for the entire family in terms of the values, in the sense of the language and everything else, but it is not necessarily only a Christian product in the sense of promoting or popularizing a specific religion,” he said.

source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 13, 2005

It seems that KHHB was a TV station similar to Indianapolis WTTV-4, not a community station in terms of programming choices or governance. They showed syndicated comedies like “Soap” and “Mad About You.”  Their primary “News” was limited to 30-second news updates. Culbertson promised half-hour newscast but never got beyond 5-minute drop-ins. This is not at all “hyper local” as he claims. In fact, Hilo Hawaii Broadcasting Ltd soon lost its local ties and became Nevada-based under Kevin’s leader/ownership.

source: http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/21/business/engle.html

When Kevin claims to have “sold” KHHB to Stephens Media LLC. His claim is in direct conflict with the statement made by the “purchaser”:

Michael Ferguson, vice president and chief operating officer of Stephens Media, does not consider this a purchase.  “We’ve formed a new company that will manage the station,” said Ferguson, who is president of Hilo LP TV LLC, formed with Culbertson for the deal.

In fact, the application to transfer the license of KHHB refers to a “contribution agreement”, versus the usual asset purchase, or asset sale agreement.  Stephens will pay (donate) $242,000 for its first step into broadcasting, but Culbertson “is still the owner … He’s the TV guy,” Ferguson said.

“Watchdogs are alarmed the deal would decrease diversity in media ownership and potentially silence an independent news voice.”

source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/06/22/business/story01.html & http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/07/19/business/story02.html

FCC records, including an ownership report filed by Kevin himself, indicate that he was still a one-third co-owner years later.

source: https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/cdbs_docs/ef/Form323/323_print/323_101.cfm?form=323_101.cfm&acct=0&appn=101477152&fac_num=126233&formid=322

When Kevin “sold” KHHB to Stephens Media LLC, the ownership transfer application did not disclose that the buyer was a newspaper. He draws widespread criticism in June 2007 for that shady deal that made Hawaii’s only daily newspaper publisher co-owner of KHHB:

Federal law currently prohibits newspaper publishers from buying full-power television stations in their markets, but that law does not extend to low-power stations, which normally have output of less than 1 kilowatt.  Watchdogs were alarmed as the deal would decrease diversity in media ownership and potentially silence an independent news voice. 

Media and telecommunications attorney Chris Conybeare believes cross-ownership, even of a low-power TV station, is a disservice to the community.  “Even if technically there is not a violation, the spirit of the rule is being violated to the detriment of the people of the island of Hawaii,” he said.  Las Vegas-based Stephens Media LLC, which publishes the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, West Hawaii Today as well as the Big Island Weekly, did not disclose that it is a newspaper publisher in the ownership transfer application filed with the Federal Communications Commission.  “It really smacks of hiding the ball,” said Wayne Cahill, administrative officer of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild, which represents newspaper workers.

source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/06/22/business/story01.html

So how did Mr. Culbertson’s five years at KHHB help the station?  Actually it destroyed it.  The last KHHB broadcast occurred on May 6, 2011, and the license was cancelled on July 25, 2012 for failure to transmit a signal for a 12-month period.  (The station’s entire lifespan was just over five years)

source: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/corrp_list.pl?Facility_id=126233

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KEEN

A close review of both KEEN and KHHB shows that Kevin was not a real station manager, had no real radio experience, but was, rather, a MEDIA BROKER;

“VMG Broadcasting Company acquired KEEN in September 2003, transferred control of the station to Christian Communications of Chicagoland two months later, then sold the station outright in September 2004.”

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KEEN-CD

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FCC Violation at KEEN

Legal Name of the Licensee

CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATIONS OF CHICAGO-LAND, INC.

AURORA, IL

KEEN-LP

STATION KEEN-LP WAS LATE BY SIX DAYS IN FILING ITS CHILDREN’S TELEVISION PROGRAMMING REPORT FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2004. THIS REPORT WAS NOT PLACED IN THE PUBLIC FILE UNTIL IT WAS FILED–SIX DAYS AFTER THE JULY 10, 2004, DEADLINE.

source: https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgibin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101154667&formid=303&fac_num=10498

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But Wait, There’s One More Station He Didn’t Tell Us About

Another station comes up in the FCC database related to Kevin’s name — WXOC.  This station seemed to have operated fine for eight years until Kevin came in as the new sole owner to broker another of his deals.  The station was located in Salisbury Maryland. Kevin, in California, was listed as “Owner”.

Their home office contact listed as:

PO Box A,

Santa Ana, CA

92711-2101 / 714-832-2950 /

www.tbn.org  (Trinity Broadcasting Network)

Its license was cancelled in February of 2013.

sources: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=129721 & http://www.tvnewscheck.com/tv-station-directory/station/wxoc-lp

Additionally, a thorough background check reveals:

  • 17 different addresses in seven separate states
  • A filed Chapter 7 (full liquidation) bankruptcy in Arizona in 2010

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So, In A Nutshell:

1997-2000: Kevin is director of operations for Total Living Network, Chicago, Il

2003-2007: Kevin is General Manager for Total Living Network, Las Vegas, Nevada

Total Living Network’s Vision Statement: “To communicate the need for a total relationship with God (body, mind and spirit). We believe each person was created by God, needs God and through God can live a vibrant, healthy and wholesome life that is a blessing to themselves and a positive spiritual influence on others. We consider electronic communications to be a strategic tool for communicating these truths.”

2006-2009: While still General Manager for Total Living Network, Las Vegas, Nevada, Kevin manages to be Co-founder, President, and General Manager of the new KHHB-TV in Hilo, Hawaii.

2007: Though called “hyper-local” Kevin brokers a deal that sells his KHHB-TV to his TLN friends in Las Vegas. He receives a $242,000 “contribution” and retains the management position. The local Hawaii article says “while it was not illegal it was very upsetting that an out of state owner had taken over” and “Watchdogs are alarmed the deal would decrease diversity in media ownership and potentially silence an independent news voice.”

2010: Kevin files a Chapter 7 (full liquidation) bankruptcy in Arizona.

2011: The last KHHB broadcast occurs on May 6.

2012: KHHB license is cancelled on July 25.

Somewhere in all of this (and undisclosed to us) Kevin also acquires, from California, WXOC, a radio station in Maryland. He is owner and the station is now part of the Trinity Broadcasting Family. Yes, TBN, of Jim and Tammy Faye Fame!

TBN’s self-description: “TBN is the world’s largest religious network and America’s most watched faith channel.  TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeal to people in a wide variety of Protestant, Catholic and Messianic Jewish denominations.”

February 2013: WXOC’s license is cancelled.

September 2013: Within months of the collapse of the last known station with which Kevin Culbertson was affiliated, he begins to target WFHB; a little Midwest station without a General Manager; a station that didn’t make their last fund drive goal, and with a board short two people, and the seven that are left not even representative of the volunteers, but rather, either appointed by the board to fill vacant seats or elected to positions in elections that offered volunteers no choice (two openings / two candidates – each selected to run by the board itself). All in all WFHB looks weak, an easy target.

You might be pondering some questions right about now.

Why did our Board, knowing all of this information, select this candidate over two local, highly qualified others? And why did they do so, when so many within the community voiced their support for the board to do otherwise?

And, why would Kevin Culbertson, a man with long standing associations with the most right-winged evangelical broadcasters in our nation want to come here to live and work among us filthy liberals?

Should we really think he is going to stick around WFHB for long?  Or just long enough to do the damage revealed in his history of hopping from project to project, buying/selling stations whenever an opportunity arises.

His very presence in our organization will hurt our credibility. And when that happens, how will it hurt our fund drives? And when we suffer financially to the point that we must begin to seek out big assistance to survive, who will we turn to; Kevin’s financial friends in Las Vegas or Ivy Tech Community College?

The wolves are at the door good citizens.

Goodnight, and good luck.

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09/29/2012
1 Comment
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The Pencil Today:

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THE QUOTE

“Am I really cool? You’re telling me I’m cool? Well, that’s good to hear.” — Paul Giamatti

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GET HIP

How cool do you want to be? Cool as me?

Then check out the Friday Night Sound Clash on Louisville’s WFPK-FM Friday nights from 8-11pm.

Matt Anthony

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Show host Matt Anthony is the smoothest, hippest white man this side of the International Date Line. Last night at about 10 o’clock, for instance, he segued from Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” to “Psychotic Reaction” by the Count Five. He mixes in jazz, Afro-Cuban, Chaka Kahn, Beck, Amy Winehouse, dance, trance, chill, funk, ska, the original Parliament, Fela Kuti, Mos Def, and dub step. And he won’t stop there.

I listen every Friday night after Steve the Dog and I take our walk around the boat docks at Paynetown SRA on Lake Monroe.

Steve doesn’t know what a lucky dog he is to be able to hang out with a cool cat like me.

I’m So Cool I’m Blue

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ASTRO-PORN

Speaking of cool, have you heard about the spectacular ice ball that’s hurtling our way through the Solar System yet?

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) is so out there it doesn’t even have a Christian name. Or a Jewish one, for that matter, ala Shoemaker-Levy. It was discovered a week ago last night by a couple of Russkie spies who claim to be astronomers. Yeah, sure.

The Dot In Question, At The Cross Hairs

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Anyway, the two, Artyom Novichonok and Vitaly Nevski, spotted a miniscule dot on some digital images of an area inside the constellation Cancer. They were using a monster telescope that, presumably, can see you inside your bedroom right now, so stop doing that.

The dot, informally dubbed Comet ISON, is too tiny to be seen by the naked eye as yet, considering it’s more than 600 million freaking miles away from Bloomington as we speak.

But by the time of its nearest pass to the Sun in November 2013, it may be bright enough to be seen in broad daylight — no lie! — and at night might be as bright as the full moon.

Passe, Next Year

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It’ll be porn for astro-geeks like me. You’ll get a kick out of it, too, I’m sure.

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SPECIAL PEOPLE

Husbands, wives, girlfriends, and boyfriends of artists have to be remarkable souls.

My mother would say there should be a special place in heaven for them.

That’s because living with a creative sprite can be a special hell.

Think Picasso, Van Gogh, Amy Winehouse, Raymond Carver, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac, Robert Mapplethorpe, or Marilyn Monroe. Those who befriended them, slept with them, or paid the rent once or a million times for them and didn’t murder them have to be saints.

Robert Mapplethorpe Had Patti Smith

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The drama, the poverty, the ego, and, in the case of many rock stars, the bad hair, or, in the case of painters, the incessant odor of linseed oil, might drive the sanest person bats.

Think Jackson Pollock’s wife, Lee Krasner.

The Kinsey Institute Gallery opened a new exhibit last night dedicated to those selfless few who stayed with their photographer spouses and loves through thin and thin. Called “A Place Aside: Artists and Their Partners,” the exhibit features images documenting the lives of partners of photographers from the US, China, Brazil, and Japan.

Photographer Yuhki Touyama’s Mate

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Check it out, especially if you’ve been aggravated by your mate of late. He might only let his toenails grow too long; Jackson Pollock, drunk, drove a car into a grove of trees with his young mistress next to him while Lee Krasner waited for him at home.

The exhibit runs through December 20th.

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BLOGGERS I LIKE: RAWRAHS

The Electron Pencil, of course, is the finest and most sublime utilization of the interwebs since the gossip site dlisted came on the scene nearly eight years ago.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t other sites you can click on now and again.

Check out Rawrahs, a political blog written by a midnight surfer from Forest Park, Illinois. This fellow, whom we’ll call, oh, let’s say Rushdie, was one of the first people I ever knew who got much of his info from the Net. He was online when the prevailing forums were bulletin boards and newsgroups.

✍

In other words, Rushdie was wired as far back as the 1910s. He and Marconi were thick as thieves.

Rushdie’s serious. He doesn’t go for the easy joke (like some people we know.) And he’s got a personal stake in the unionization of public employees.

Go ahead — visit Rawrahs. You have my permission.

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WE’RE ALL SMARTER THAN THE REST

The irreducible Hondo Thompson is grappling these days with a disturbing question.

He asks, “Why can’t we just tell some folks they simply aren’t qualified to participate in this conversation, this government process, this debate, this election? Must every voice really be heard?”

He illustrates his quandary with this clipping from the Letters to the Editor section of some Australian podunk newspaper:

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Yeah, that’s right, the letter writer actually suggests the extra hour of sunlight brought on by Daylight Savings Time might be causing drought. He urges Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) to look into the matter.

Need I explain why this is as mad as the notion that Sharia Law is gaining a foothold in this holy land? Maybe madder. Wait, nah.

Anyway, Hondo’s query, although attractive in a perverse way, smacks a tad of elitism, even fascism. Yet each and every one of us has wondered the same thing at one time or another.

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Ambient 1, 1/1

Brian Eno‘s breathtaking, hypnotizing, groundbreaking first foray into environmental sound. Perfect for a Sunday morning. Try it yourself, you’ll see.

▲

The only events listings you need in Bloomington.

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Saturday, September 29th, 2012

Brought to you by The Electron Pencil: Bloomington Arts, Culture, Politics, and Hot Air. Daily.

FOOD ◗ City Hall, Showers Plaza — Farmers Market; 8am-1pm

FAIR ◗ Monroe County Fairgrounds, Commercial Building West — 29th Annual American Red Cross Book Fair, +100,000 used books, CDs, DVDs, games, maps, sheet music, etc.; 9am-7pm, through October 2nd

CONFERENCE ◗ IU Memorial Union, Walnut Room — “Where’s the ‘World’ in Popular Music?” Interdisciplinary presented by the Colloege of Liberal Arts & Sciences, click link for schedule of events, free and open to the public; 9:30am-4:30pm

SEMINAR ◗ Various venues — The Combine, 3rd annual display of talent , innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, featuring speakers, workshops, idea pitches, and mixers; through Sunday, September 30th, today’s events:

❏ Buskirk Chumley Theater — Main Stage Speaking Event, a full day of speakers; 9am

❏ The Atlas Bar, 209 S. College Ave. — Open Gaming, presented by Studio Cypher; 6:30pm

❏ The Atlas Bar, 209 S. College Ave. — Official Unofficial After Party; 9pm

NATURE ◗ Jackson Creek Trail — Exploring Jackson Creek Trail, guided hike, observe wildlife; 10am-noon

WORKSHOP ◗ Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center — Mind Training Through Pain & Disability Series, Presented by Ani Choekye; 10:30am-noon

NATURE ◗ WonderLab — Birds of Prey: A Live Raptor Show, 11am

OKTOBERFEST ◗ Upland Brewing Company, Bloomington Brew Pub — Beer, food, live music; 11am Saturday-1am Sunday

NATURE ◗ Lake Monroe, Paynetown SRA — Harvest Moon Weekend, Family friendly camping weekend, campfire, crafts, & programs; 1pm Saturday-5pm Sunday

STAGE ◗ IU Halls Theatre — Drama, “When the Rain Stops Falling;” 2pm

FILM ◗ IU Cinema — “Petulia,” Directed by Richard Lester; 3pm

MUSIC & WINE ◗ Owen Valley Winery — Music in the Garden: Foster Jones; 5-8pm

FILM ◗ IU Fine Arts Theater — Ryder Film Series: “Meet the Fokkens“; 7pm

SPORTS ◗ IU Gymnasium — Hoosier volleyball vs. Northwestern; 7pm

MUSIC ◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — dw Brykalski; 7-9pm

HALLOWEEN FUN ◗ Haunted Hayride & Stables, 8308 S. Rockport Rd.; 7pm

FILM ◗ IU Cinema — “The Search”; 3pm

STAGE ◗ IU Halls Theatre — Drama, “When the Rain Stops Falling;” 7:30pm

STAGE ◗ Bloomington Playwrights Project — Comedy, “RX,” by Kate Fodor; 7:30pm

FILM ◗ IU Woodburn Hall Theatre — Ryder Film Series: “Neighboring Sounds“; 8pm

BALLET ◗ IU Musical Arts Center — “Light and Shade,” Presented by IU Ballet Theater; 8pm

COMEDY ◗ The Comedy Attic — Greg Behrendt; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ The Player’s Pub — Ritmos Unidos; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ Bear’s Place — Room of Voices; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ Cafe Django — Sam Hoffman Quartet; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ Max’s Place — Wildflower Union, R-Juna, Honors, The Gentle Shades; 8pm

MUSIC ◗ Rachael’s Cafe — The BloomingTones Big Band; 8-10pm

FILM ◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “Katy Perry: Part of Me;” 8pm

FILM ◗ IU Fine Arts Theater — Ryder Film Series: “Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present“; 8:30pm

MUSIC ◗ The Bluebird — Chase Rice, Corey Cox; 9pm

MUSIC & DANCING ◗ The Root Cellar at Farm Bloomington — 70s Disco Party, Meow Disco; 10pm

COMEDY ◗ The Comedy Attic — Greg Behrendt; 10:30pm

FILM ◗ IU Memorial Union, Whittenberger Auditorium — UB Films: “Katy Perry: Part of Me;” 11pm

ONGOING:

ART ◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:

  • “New Acquisitions,” David Hockney; through October 21st
  • “Paragons of Filial Piety,” by Utagawa Kuniyoshi; through December 31st
  • “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers,” by Julia Margaret, Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan; through December 31st
  • “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century;” through December 31st
  • Celebration of Cuban Art & Film: Pop-art by Joe Tilson; through December 31st
  • “Workers of the World, Unite!” through December 31st

ART ◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits:

  • “What It Means to Be Human,” by Michele Heather Pollock; through September 29th
  • “Land and Water,” by Ruth Kelly; through September 29th

ART ◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibit:

  • “Samenwerken,” Interdisciplinary collaborative multi-media works; through October 11th

ART ◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — Exhibits opening September 28th:

  • “A Place Aside: Artists and Their Partners;” through December 20th
  • “Gender Expressions;” through December 20th

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibit:

  • “CUBAmistad” photos

ART ◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Exhibits:

  • “¡Cuba Si! Posters from the Revolution: 1960s and 1970s”
  • “From the Big Bang to the World Wide Web: The Origins of Everything”
  • “Thoughts, Things, and Theories… What Is Culture?”
  • “Picturing Archaeology”
  • “Personal Accents: Accessories from Around the World”
  • “Blended Harmonies: Music and Religion in Nepal”
  • “The Day in Its Color: A Hoosier Photographer’s Journey through Mid-century America”
  • “TOYing with Ideas”
  • “Living Heritage: Performing Arts of Southeast Asia”
  • “On a Wing and a Prayer”

BOOKS ◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibit:

  • “Outsiders and Others:Arkham House, Weird Fiction, and the Legacy of HP Lovecraft;” through November 1st
  • “A World of Puzzles,” selections form the Slocum Puzzle Collection

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ Soup’s On — Exhibit:

  • Celebration of Cuban Art & Culture: “CUBAmistad photos; through October

ART ◗ Boxcar Books — Exhibit:

  • Celebration of Cuban Art & Film: Papercuts by Ned Powell; through September

PHOTOGRAPHY ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibit:

  • “Bloomington: Then and Now,” presented by Bloomington Fading; through October 27th

ARTIFACTS ◗ Monroe County History Center — Exhibit:

  • “Doctors and Dentists: A Look into the Monroe County Medical professions“

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The Electron Pencil. Go there. Read. Like. Share.

08/27/2012
Leave a comment
Flavorwire, Guns, Hondo Thompson, Indiana State University Shooting, Indianapolis Star, Lewis Black, Martin Amis, Muslim Extermists, Nuclear Weapons, Orson Welles, Republican Party, Terre Haute, Vigo County, Zager and Evans

The Pencil Today:

✍

THE QUOTE

“I don’t say we all ought to misbehave, but we ought to look as if we could.” — Orson Welles

▲

ANOTHER SCHOOL SHOOTING — HO HUM

Gotta wonder why the Indiana State University shooting Friday in Terre Haute didn’t make a bigger splash.

Can it be that we’re becoming jaded about school and campus gunplay?

Let’s See — I’ve Got My Hall Pass, My Civics Book & My Pistol

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Apparently, a couple of guys got into a beef with each other at a campus tavern. Next thing anybody knew, one of them pulled out the old equalizer and filled his opponent as well as a couple of bystanders with holes. One man died.

A 21-year-old ISU student is being held in the Vigo County jail on murder charges.

Is this kind of lunacy only newsworthy when a dozen or more poor souls are shot to death per incident?

Adding to the ridiculousness of the whole thing was the Indy Star’s four-graf story yesterday about ISU officials suspending the alleged shooter. Sheesh, I was suspended any number of times when I was a schoolboy for transgressions including ditching class to go to the Cubs game and spitting on the playground (or was it on another kid — I forget which.)

Anyway, blasting a guy into the next world seems to call for something more unpleasant than suspension.

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MAD AS HELL

Martin Amis turned 63 Saturday. The author of the 1984 novel, “Money,” and many others, Amis has a well-earned rep as the most curmudgeonly — if not the angriest — man in the world.

Martin Amis

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Comic Lewis Black bills himself as the angriest man in the world. But Black’s is an act. Amis really is a bastard. Amis has raised hackles by, for instance, calling for draconian measures to be taken against people who appear to be Muslims until the Islamic world polices itself and clears its ranks of radical extremists.

Amis, on the other hand, has long been a loud voice against nuclear weaponry.

So, like the rest of us, Amis is a puzzling, contradictory being.

Anyway, Flavorwire on the Brit’s birthday ran a list of “10 Things Martin Amis Loves to Hate.” Here are a few of them:

  • Growing old
  • Television and the media
  • Religion

I don’t know about you but so far he seems perfectly reasonable.

▲

PRIVATE PARTY

How can you not love the one-in-a-million Hondo Thompson?

He posted this howler this morning:

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IN THE YEAR 2525

This was the Number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

It displaced “Love Them from Romeo and Juliet” by Henry Mancini in the top spot. Just goes to show how diverse pop radio was long, long ago. Now, of course, we can’t have such genre mixing. It isn’t “profitable.”

As a 13-year-old kid, I had to listen to a lot of horrifying crap before I could hear my fave songs like “Crystal Blue Persuasion.” Listening to Henry Mancini at that age was tantamount to hearing to a death knell. But at least I knew Henry Mancini existed.

And I knew my tastes weren’t the only ones that counted.

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Here’s how I waste my time. How about you? Share your fave sites with us via the comments section. Just type in the name of the site, not the url; we’ll find them. If we like them, we’ll include them — if not, we’ll ignore them.

❏ I Love Charts — Life as seen through charts.

❏ XKCD — “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.”

❏ Skepchick — Women scientists look at the world and the universe.

❏ Indexed — All the answers in graph form, on index cards.

❏ I Fucking Love Science — A Facebook community of science geeks.

From I Fucking Love Science

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❏ Present/&/Correct — Fun, compelling, gorgeous and/or scary graphic designs and visual creations throughout the years and from all over the world.

❏ Flip Flop Fly Ball — Baseball as seen through infographics, haikus, song lyrics, and other odd communications devices.

❏ Mental Floss — Facts.

❏ Sodaplay — Create your own models or play with other people’s models.

❏ Eat Sleep Draw — An endless stream of artwork submitted by an endless stream of people.

❏ Big Think — Tapping the brains of notable intellectuals for their opinions, predictions, and diagnoses.

❏ The Daily Puppy — So shoot me.

The Daily Puppy: Liv, The Border Collie Mix

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Electron Pencil event listings: Music, art, movies, lectures, parties, receptions, games, benefits, plays, meetings, fairs, conspiracies, rituals, etc.

Monday, August 27, 2012

◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Music: Rich Groner; 6-8:30pm

◗ Western Skateland — Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls Roller Derby Skills Camp, audition for Bloomington’s WFTDA teams; 6:30pm

◗ City Hall, City Council chambers — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Candidates Forum; 7-9pm

◗ IU Cinema — Film: “Inglorious Basterds”; 7pm

◗ The Player’s Pub — Music: Songwriter Showcase; 8pm

◗ IU Memorial Union, Georgian Room — Free lessons, IU Swing Dance Club; 8pm

◗ The Bishop — Music: Sundress, Living Well; 9pm

◗ The Bluebird — Dave Walters karaoke; 9pm

ONGOING

◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits:

  • “40 Years of Artists from Pygmalion’s”; through September 1st

◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:

  • “A Tribute to William Zimmerman,” wildlife artist; through September 9th

  • Willi Baumeister, “Baumeister in Print”; through September 9th

  • Annibale and Agostino Carracci, “The Bolognese School”; through September 16th

  • “Contemporary Explorations: Paintings by Contemporary Native American Artists”; through October 14th

  • David Hockney, “New Acquisitions”; through October 21st

  • Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Paragons of Filial Piety”; through fall semester 2012

  • Julia Margaret Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan, “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers”; through December 31st

  • “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century”; through December 31st

◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibits:

  • “Media Life,” drawings and animation by Miek von Dongen; through September 15th

  • “Axe of Vengeance: Ghanaian Film Posters and Film Viewing Culture”; through September 15th

◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — “Ephemeral Ink: Selections of Tattoo Art from the Kinsey Institute Collection”; through September 21st

◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibit, “Translating the Canon: Building Special Collections in the 21st Century”; through September 1st

◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Reopens Tuesday, August 21st

◗ Monroe County History Center — Photo exhibit, “Bloomington: Then and Now” by Bloomington Fading; through October 27th

▲

08/12/2012
2 Comments
Charlene Spierer, Craig (Janesville WI) High School, Dan Smith, Guns, Hondo Thompson, Iran, Kelley School of Business, Kilroy's Sports Bar, Lake Monroe, Lauren Spierer, Paul Ryan, Perseids Meteor Shower, Sikh Temple Shooting, WFHB

The Pencil Today:

✍

THE QUOTE

“Biggest ‘Brown-Noser’: Paul Ryan” — From the Joseph A. Craig (Janesville, Wisconsin) High School 1988 yearbook

♢

LOOK TO THE SKIES

Lake Monroe was the place to be last night at midnight.

The middle of Lake Monroe to be a bit more precise.

The Loved One and I lolled on a pontoon boat with friends, all of us craning our necks, watching nature’s spectacular light show, the Perseids meteor shower.

The Perseids

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We were not at all disappointed.

We sat around in a circle, covering a 360-degree visual range, and let the streaks and flashes evoke involuntary oohs and aahs from us. It was 47 times better than a fireworks show.

At one point a massive meteor lit up the sky in the southeast, behind me. I couldn’t see the meteor’s arc myself but I saw the faces of the people facing me illuminated by its glow. Fantastic, I tell you.

Just to show you I’m not a complete religious bigot, I can understand why some might conclude after watching such a display that there must an uber-mighty fellow who put this whole shebang together just for our pleasure.

Many thanks to Hondo Thompson and his saintly bride Les for the invite. And listen to Hondo every Friday afternoon on WFHB from 1 to 3.

♢

DAN SMITH HAS A GREEN THUMB

IU Kelley School of Business Dean Dan Smith is back in town after traipsing around the country this summer.

DAN SMITH

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He’s only going to be the big man at Kelley for another couple of months. He’s been named the new prez of the Indiana University Foundation.

He raised plenty of dough for the Kelley so the U figured, hell, let’s let him raise cash for everybody.

♢

THE PARTY OF GOD

Paul Ryan is a Roman Catholic.

Not This Jesus — The White One!

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Willard’s moment of praise for his new bottom: “A faithful Catholic, Paul believes in the worth and dignity of every human life.”

What that’s code for: Ryan’s anti-abortion.

♢

NOT LAUREN

That skull found in the White River in Indy a month ago?

It’s not Lauren Speirer’s.

And the wait goes on for her mother.

In related news, some chucklehead was found in the public parking garage across Walnut Street from Kilroy’s Sports Bar where the missing IU student partied the night she disappeared. The guy was carrying two loaded semi-automatic pistols and had a loaded shotgun in the trunk of his car. He also carried a digital rangefinder, according to the IDS.

America

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So the cops hauled him in and questioned him about Lauren Spierer. Turns out he met her once. When the cops determined he had nothing new to add to the missing person investigation, they turned him over to the psych ward at Bloomington Hospital.

The shrinks there gave him a clean bill of mental health and turned him loose within hours.

Great.

Carrying all that artillery is no crime in this state.

People, we are fked up.

♢

HUMAN ALGEBRA

How do you feel about the earthquakes that hit Iran, killing some 250 and injuring more than 2000?

And be honest with yourself.

How many American deaths in a weather-related event or some other natural catastrophe equal 250 dead Iranians?

Two? Maybe three.

Iranian People

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That’s the way we think.

That’s the way people all over the world think.

♢

SCARY

Click For Entire Article

♢

✍

Here’s how I waste my time. How about you? Share your fave sites with us via the comments section. Just type in the name of the site, not the url; we’ll find them. If we like them, we’ll include them — if not, we’ll ignore them.

❏ I Love Charts — Life as seen through charts.

I Love Charts

✍

❏ XKCD — “A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.”

❏ Skepchick — Women scientists look at the world and the universe.

❏ Indexed — All the answers in graph form, on index cards.

❏ I Fucking Love Science — A Facebook community of science geeks.

❏ Present & Correct — Fun, compelling, gorgeous and/or scary graphic designs and visual creations throughout the years and from all over the world.

❏ Flip Flop Fly Ball — Baseball as seen through infographics, haikus, song lyrics, and other odd communications devices.

❏ Mental Floss — Facts.

Click For Entire Article

✍

❏ Caps Off Please — Comics & fun.

❏ Sodaplay — Create your own models or play with other people’s models.

❏ Eat Sleep Draw — An endless stream of artwork submitted by an endless stream of people.

❏ Big Think — Tapping the brains of notable intellectuals for their opinions, predictions, and diagnoses.

❏ The Daily Puppy — So shoot me.

♢

✍

Electron Pencil event listings: Music, art, movies, lectures, parties, receptions, games, benefits, plays, meetings, fairs, conspiracies, rituals, etc.

◗ Max’s Place — Kid Kazooey, children-friendly tunes; 3-5pm

◗ Bryan Park — Young Professionals of Bloomington mac n’cheese bakeoff, free tasting; 4-6pm

◗ Muddy Boots Cafe, Nashville — Creek Dogs; 5-7pm

◗ Bryan Park — Krista Detor outdoor concert; 6:30pm

◗ Bear’s Place — Ryder Film Series: “The Pigeoneers”; 7pm

Ongoing:

◗ Ivy Tech Waldron Center — Exhibits:

  • “40 Years of Artists from Pygmalion’s”; through September 1st

◗ IU Art Museum — Exhibits:

  • Qiao Xiaoguang, “Urban Landscape: A Selection of Papercuts” ; through August 12th
  • “A Tribute to William Zimmerman,” wildlife artist; through September 9th
  • Willi Baumeister, “Baumeister in Print”; through September 9th
  • Annibale and Agostino Carracci, “The Bolognese School”; through September 16th
  • “Contemporary Explorations: Paintings by Contemporary Native American Artists”; through October 14th
  • David Hockney, “New Acquisitions”; through October 21st
  • Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Paragons of Filial Piety”; through fall semester 2012
  • Julia Margaret Cameron, Edward Weston, & Harry Callahan, “Intimate Models: Photographs of Husbands, Wives, and Lovers”; through December 31st
  • “French Printmaking in the Seventeenth Century”; through December 31st

◗ IU SoFA Grunwald Gallery — Exhibits:

  • Coming — Media Life; August 24th through September 15th
  • Coming — Axe of Vengeance: Ghanaian Film Posters and Film Viewing Culture; August 24th through September 15th

◗ IU Kinsey Institute Gallery — “Ephemeral Ink: Selections of Tattoo Art from the Kinsey Institute Collection”; through September 21st

◗ IU Lilly Library — Exhibit, “Translating the Canon: Building Special Collections in the 21st Century”; through September 1st

◗ IU Mathers Museum of World Cultures — Closed for semester break, reopens Tuesday, August 21st

◗ Monroe County History Center —Photo exhibit, “Bloomington: Then and Now” by Bloomington Fading; through October 27th

♢

06/17/2012
1 Comment
Chicago Style Pizza, Hondo Thompson, Isaac Asimov, Jeb Bush, Republican Party, Restaurant Opportunities Center-United, Rod Serling

The Pencil Today:

✍

THE QUOTE

“I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I’ll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.” — Isaac Asimov

♢

ARBUSTO BUSTLE

A Bush is saying the GOP is whacked out?

The Republicans are “dysfunctional” and “disturbing,” according to Jeb Bush?

At this point the only reason Rod Serling is not the spokesperson for the Republicans is that he’s long dead. Come to think of it, they ought to use old film of him anyway.

“Welcome to the 2012 Republican National Convention….”

♢

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

h/t to Hondo Thompson for the Asimov quote above.

Hondo

♢

PUT ON YOUR SUNDAY BEST

Click.

♢

FLIPPIN’ BURGERS FOR THE MAN

Does this surprise you?

McDonald’s, Applebee’s, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Chuch E. Cheese, and Burger King are among the worst restaurant chains to work for, according to a poll by the Restaurant Opportunities Center-United, an advocacy group for food workers.

Nothing Like Associating Your Restaurant With A Rat

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At the very least, the unflattering, uncomfortable, chintzy-cheap uniforms those outfits make their wage-slaves wear is abusive enough.

I’ll scarf a Big Mac or a Whopper on occasion but I will not — repeat, will not! — allow a Pizza Hut, er, thing to touch my lips.

The inclusion of one restaurant on the list did bum me out, though. Uno Chicago Grill made it. Too bad. Excellent pizza.

♢

NINE REASONS TO KEEP ON LIVING

As long as we’re on the topic, here’s are my fave Chicago pizzas, in no particular order:

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Coalfire Pizza With Basil

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Gino’s East Deep Dish

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Next time you head up north, go to one of these places. Except for Uno’s. Let’s let them treat their people a little better before we toss them any more of our dough.

♢

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