As our first project page for the new It’s Evansville Wiki I thought it’d be wise to leverage the knowledge of our vast photographer community to highlight some of the best destinations for capturing the essence of life in the Evansville area. In addition to just listing the locations, creating or updating a page for each destination with a sample photo from the location would go a long way towards improving the content on the site.

If you’d like to participate in this week’s project, you will need to setup an account on pbwiki.com (our wiki host) and request access to the It’s Evansville Wiki . Once I accept you as an author, you’ll be able to edit this page and any other page.

Happy editing!

It’s Evansville Wiki: Photography Hotspots

If you have suggestions for future pages you’d like to see updated on the wiki, email justin at itsevansville dot com

Rice Library from the side by Sierra Koch

In Focus spotlights a photograph taken by a reader of It’s Evansville. If you’d like a chance to have your photo featured, upload your photo to Flickr and tag it with “itsevansville”.

In between all the pancaked students and various other hit & runs in town recently, there’s been some actual legitimate stuff happening. Let’s wrap it up.

• Holiday World is expanding by adding the world’s tallest water ride. The Pilgrims Plunge will descend 131 feet at a 45-degree angle, which will make a big splash and give you a bad hair day. Also, please tell me the video above was made using Rollercoaster Tycoon.
• The EVSC loves the environment and is disposing of their out of date computer equipment properly. Don’t just toss that old CRT into the dumpster, people.
• If your car is set on fire in the next week, it’s most likely a copycat because the EPD arrested the guy who set the previous 20 cars on fire. He was apparently a mild-mannered guy who worked at Pearl cleaners. No one would suspect him to be a total pyro.
• If you protesters want to assault the I-69 offices in the future, take note that they have moved

I’ve been thinking about ways to expand the reach of It’s Evansville for the past few months. Traffic to the site has been growing steadily over the past six months, which I think can be seen by the uptick in user participation in the comments. Thanks for reading and telling your friends about the site.

With the influx in new readership, I’ve tossed a few ideas around about how to expand the site while still keeping the majority of the focus on the actual It’s Evansville site itself. I’ve toyed with expanding to add a video or audio element to the site, but the cost is a bit prohibitive. I’m not one to just plug in a USB mic and start yapping. I need a professional setup so that it sounds or looks professional.

My other idea, which I’m announcing today, is to build a wiki around our city. A wiki is a user-developed database of information about a variety of subjects. Probably the most known wiki is the Wikipedia. My goal is to build a smaller-scale Wikipedia that focuses on the Evansville area: history, local attractions, restaurants and more. Think of it as a mixture of a history book and a Frommer’s City Guide.

I don’t think we necessarily need a three page article for each thing in the city, but giving it enough information to make it a useful resource. Here’s an example page I put together for the Four Freedoms Monument. If someone knew more about the subject, I’d love for them to contribute an update to the page with their knowledge.

This is definitely a long-term undertaking and I need your help to make it a success. This will be a very boring, useless project without participation by third-parties who can contribute fresh content, update existing content and correct mistakes where appropriate. To help with the contribution part, each week I’m going to suggest a general page that everyone can work on to improve the content. I’ll announce our first page in a followup post.

The Wiki is still in its very early stages, but we’ve tried to stub out a bit of content to get it started. I will continue to update it as I have time, but I also hope that others will want to contribute about topics they are knowledgeable on so we can have a reference database for our city that is useful to not only us, but people visiting the city.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for the wiki project, let me know. I want to build something that is useful to everyone in the city, not just the people reading It’s Evansville.

The It’s Evansville Wiki: http://wiki.itsevansville.com/

Craigslist is a centralized network of online community classifieds, job postings, personals and more started by a guy named Craig. Evansville has had its own Craigslist site for a few years now and one of it’s most useful features is missed connections

Sometimes you are out at a local bar or restaurant, and catch the eye of something across the room. You might even pick up a conversation with the person and hit it off. Unfortunately, the night ends without you getting contact information: sometimes not even a name. That’s where craigslist comes in and It’s Evansville come in. To help you out, we periodically spot some of the missed connections that are posted locally, and hopefully help some poor guy or gal out in their attempts to find true love.

Downtown on Wednesday at D-Patrick Ford - m4m - 39

I saw you by D-Patrick Ford downtown a little after 5pm today, we looked at each other……thought there was something there……you were cute. Tell me what I was driving if it was you and lets see what happens……

Christian Bale lover at the Book and Music Exchange - m4w - 21

I had my phone number, ready to give to you after I asked your friend if you were single. You had a batman pendant around your neck and we talked about Interview with the Vampire and American Psycho for a bit.

I’m really interested in getting in touch with you and maybe hanging out sometime.

Construction Worker - m4m

Your helping rebuild Droste’s on Green River Rd. Monday you were wearing a black tank top. Would love to meet you

young med student from IU - m4m - 43

brian, med student in evansville thursday, i am sure you are not gay, and if you were, you would not be interested in me, but i think you might be the most handsome man i have ever seen, and that smile! priceless, i wish you well in your profession, i just had to blow off some steam, you just had an affect on me like ive never felt.

Schnucks/Greenriver on Sunday afternoon - m4m - 39

You were lean, tan and wearing tan shorts and t-shirt. I found you very attractive and handsome. You were in the checkout line by me and then drove off in a red jeep. We traded glances, but could’t tell if you were interested. If you were, I would really like to know more about you. Thanks,

Starbucks yesterday - m4m - 23

You were reading a paper but looked up and then we ended up chatting for an hour but i didn’t get your number so i sent you a message on DowntownDudes.com. Hit me up here or there..I’d like to talk more

HUCKS ON WASHINGTON - m4w

HOTTIE IN WHITE MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE REMEMBER ME IN THE JEEP? ANY INTEREST?

Downtown by the Art Gallery - m4m - 47

You where across the strret from an Art gallery and we more than glanced. You then got a call on your cell, I waited to see if we could talk, but it didn’t happen. You had a Orange type shirt on , and tan pants. Very nice looking. Great Smile…I was in my car…would you like to meet?

garage sale on Covert Ave - m4m - 20

i was in the wheelchair that was negotiating the price on a small pinball game, and you walked up with your girl friend. you tried on a pair of “mom jeans” out in the driveway. they had stains all over the buttocks and you got them for free. surely you remember seeing me because you paid while i was nearby. i said ‘hi’. sorry about my fart it smelled like rotten hard-boiled eggs that had just been thrown in a furnace that hadn’t been turned on in 20+ years hehe

~Written with the help of Courtney Ann Stodgill~add her to myspace :-)

Jogger on Bellemeade - m4m - 26

You were jogging without a shirt on Bellemeade right in front of St. Mary’s. We caught eyes. You had a hot body. Please message me and I will do whatever!

green river road saturday morning - m4w - 22

2 hott gurls in ford tarus where making eye contact with me turned in to dennys if wanting to meet up drop a line

Couple Walking in Wesselmans - 28

Seen you and a friend doing laps around the jogging trail several late afternoons. You both have black hair, nice asses, sure would love to make a sandwich out of you both. You’ve glanced over to catch me watching, and smiled, so I get the feeling you’d both be up for it. Msg me with the color and model of my car and let’s have some fun!

your name was jessica - m4w - 24

I used to see you out, I would always try to make my pressence known. I bought you a drink once and we talked for hours. I didn’t want to keep you from your friends so I tried to be polite and say good bye. You were dating a guy in the military and you were upset that he left you. The las memmory you have of your father is your mother coming in to tell you he was there while you were playing nintendo. I hope this doesn’t sound cheap…. I think about you when I think of a girl that could make me happy…I would say its been 3 years since we spoke..But I don’t think that ghost will ever leave my head…you worked at a liquor store, im not much of a drinker but every time I go in one I hope for that off chance that I can see you again. Maybe this will find its way.

After last week’s announcement that the Freedom Festival advisory board was dissolving, the future of the summer festival is up in the air. The city has found a new organizer in GAGE, but there are lingering questions on whether they will be putting on the same festival we’ve come to known and love.

With lower than expected attendance, this year’s festival is left with a $90,000 debt. It’s not GAGE’s problem, but they should use that as a signal that the festival is in need of a reboot.

Rather than focusing the festival around an air show and a hydroplane race, focus on what makes Evansville the community it is.

• Taste of Evansville: The Fall Festival has a foothold on the church and fraternity-run food booths, which has left the Freedom Festival to mainly rely on carnival foods. How unoriginal. Rather than inviting these corndog pushers back for another year, turn the riverfront into a sampler platter of all the restaurants that call Evansville home. Not only will it give the festival a local feel, but it will introduce these local businesses to a whole new audience.
• More Local Music: Every year, the Freedom Festival tries to pull in a semi-major name act to headline their music lineup. Headliners are expensive and unnecessary in a musically rich town like Evansville. I’m sure there are dozens of great, local bands that would jump at the opportunity to play in front of thousands of people on a big stage.
• Art: In addition to music, use the 2009 Freedom Festival as a way to showcase local artists. There is a rich art community downtown and around the area. Allow local artists to purchase tents at an affordable price to showcase, and possibly sell, their work. You want to make the festival a showcase of Evansville’s rich culture and community.
• No more buttons: One of the most annoying aspects of the Freedom Festival is the constant pimping of buttons for entry to the festival. Rather than having to run around to a gas station or local business to find the tacky button, distribute food tickets. Each vendor can then charge x number of tickets for their meals rather than cash. The ticket sales can go through GAGE who can then distribute the revenue to each individual vendor based on their ticket count.
• Eliminate the trash: There’s a reason I do Freedom Festival Bingo: it’s too easy. We’ve all seen the shirtless creatures walking the riverfront and it’s unsightly and a poor reflection on our town. By shifting the focus of the festival to be more cultural you are probably going to eliminate some of these types, but the rest need a dress code. Shirts are a must. You don’t walk into a restaurant without a shirt on or some ratty tank top.
• A new name: Rather than just passing the burden of the festivals of the past to a new group, hopefully GAGE and the city of Evansville can use this as an opportunity to implement some much needed upgrades to our summer street festival. To drive home the point that this is a whole new Freedom Festival, give it a new name.

We’re still early in GAGE’s tenure as festival organizer, but I hope someone around there thinks along the same lines as me. Either that, or they forward this post their way. The Freedom Festival can be a great way to showcase our city and step outside the shell of your typical summer carnival.

photo courtesy of Lori Spindler

Just a quick note that we’re a week away from the It’s Evansville Fantasy Football draft. We have room for 3 more teams, so if you’re interested in playing, it would probably be in your best interest to get signed up.

If you’d like to participate, here’s the info:

League ID: 299573
League Name: It’s Evansville
URL: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/itsevansville
Password: amazonia

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Thanks to braindeadly in the comments for the tip

SPOILER ALERT: I don’t really reveal anything too specific, however, I want to warn anyone who hasn’t seen The Dark Knight that I give a pretty in-depth review of performances and character details.

First of all, I must apologize for this long overdue review. However, at this point all of the hype is old news and I think a real discussion can be had about The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight focuses on developing some of the secondary characters in the Batman universe. Police Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) continues his personal quest to rid the city of corruption and greed. We get to see a little more of Gordon’s personal life and his collaboration with District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Dent is also committed to make the city free of organized crime and is called “Gotham’s White Knight” by Lt. Gordon. In the Batman mythology, Dent is a close friend of Bruce Wayne. This relationship is touched on and developed well, however, I hoped they would wait to reveal the villain inside Dent until the next movie. The Dark Knight also introduces Batman’s most famous foe, The Joker (Heath Ledger).

I will admit I was skeptical of Ledger playing the Joker. To me, the Joker is Jack Nicholson. I grew up with Tim Burton’s Batman and always saw the Joker as Jacky. However, after seeing The Dark Knight, I think Ledger’s Joker is far superior. Nicholson is an icon and as such, he cannot be replaced. However, when he was the Joker, he was still Jack Nicholson. From the moment the theater darkened, Heath Ledger ceased to be and the Joker was born. It’s the first time I’ve actually been scared of a Batman villain. If you don’t go see this movie for any other reason, go to see a truly great performance.

Bruce Wayne/Batman are again played by Christian Bale. I have heard some people criticize him for the raspy voice he uses during his scenes as Batman, but I find it essential for Batman to strike fear into the hearts of evil-doers throughout Gotham. Plus it’s just really, really cool. I’ve been a fan of Bale’s work for sometime, however, after seeing him reprise his role as Gotham’s Dark Knight, I decided to attempt to watch all of his films. Netflix is making that possible and I might even start writing some reviews about his earlier works. I would recommend this type of movie marathon for anyone who is a fan of a particular actor. It’s interesting to see how an actor changes throughout his or her career.

As for The Dark Knight, I really loved this film. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve been completely consumed by a movie. I look a movies as a way to escape the ordinary and observe an art form in it’s purest form. I’ve always believed that movies exist for the soul purpose of entertaining. Unfortunately, there are some people who make movies to win awards that mean nothing. Luckily for us, directors like Christopher Nolan are making movies and making movies well. It took a very special cast and crew, as well as creative vision to reinvent the Batman franchise. Thankfully, the right people were in the right place at the right time for The Dark Knight.

It’s rare that I write about local politics on It’s Evansville. There’s a few reasons for that. The major reason is that I don’t find it that interesting, and assume that the majority of you don’t either. The other reason is that I don’t think I know enough about it to offer an informed, thoughtful opinion on the subject.

That said, I can’t resist touching on the county commissioners meeting’s recent meeting. At the County Commissioners’ August 5th public meeting, there was an item on the agenda marked as CO.08-08-018 Patient Safety Ordinance. The name doesn’t really say much about the ordinance, but the Thomas B. Langhorne at the Courier sums it up quite nicely.

…the ordinance states a doctor may not perform an abortion in Vanderburgh County without having local hospital admitting privileges in the county or an adjacent county. The doctor also must inform the patient where she can receive follow-up care in case of complications….According to meeting minutes and audio and video tapes of the meeting, Commissioners President Jeff Korb called for a motion to waive second reading on what he called “the patient safety ordinance.” Korb did not use the word “abortion.”

Here’s all 45 seconds of the video thanks to our friends at WNIN:

There are a few things to take note of in the video:

1. There is no mention of the full name of the ordinance An Ordinance Concerning Abortion Provider Patient Safety. Instead, they put it on the agenda with the less controversial Patient Safety Ordinance.
2. There was no reading or discussion of what the ordinance was leaving those that attended the meeting without a clue what was being approved.
3. The issue wasn’t opened up for public discussion.

Whether you agree with the ordinance or not is irrelevant to this argument. My main point of contention is how the whole thing was just slipped into the agenda and passed without any public discussion or reference to what the ordinance is for. Patient Safety is a pretty wide net, and it’s obvious that the commissioners knew tossing the word abortion into the public ring would be a hot button. They even admitted it

Korb and Tornatta traded accusations Friday about which of them was most responsible for passing the ordinance with no debate and no mention of abortion.

“(Korb) asked me if I would be willing to pass it on first and final reading,” Tornatta said. “He didn’t say why, but I knew why. Because it’s too controversial.”

Korb said Tornatta wanted to “keep it on the quiet, down-low side because he didn’t want to experience the wrath of the pro-choice people.”

This is the epitome of political sleaze. Part of being a publicly elected official is dealing with the issues and wrath of those people who may be against it. It is deplorable to try to sneak the issue onto the agenda with an ambiguous name and no public debate, but it’s even worse to openly admit you have an agenda in doing so.

It’s no wonder most people have lost hope in politicians.