52nd City: February 2006

The Pleasures of Urban Comics

Ben Katchor's comic, "Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer" is set in New York, but I have always seen more St. Louis in it than Manhattan. For instance, his book The Beauty Supply District always reminded me of the Miss Elaine Nightgown Factory downtown and the Ill-Mo Cosmetics Factory off Broadway, down by the floodwall.

Now, tell me if I'm crazy, but: Doesn't this remind you of our dear departed Salad Bowl Cafeteria on Lindell? This one reminds me of my ENT's office on Chippewa; this one reminds me of the large manufacturing concerns down in Carondolet, where god knows what is routed off the barges and poured into little aluminum gutters that feed into the pasta factory's silos. And this one reminds me of Soulard in the dead of winter.

I hope that certain aspects of this city's lovely, dark and magical urban landscapes are never snuffed out. I'll take chocolate toasted ravioli and fried brain sandwiches over double-espresso mochachinos and discoteques any day of the week.

Speed Art Meet & Greet

In the process of looking for a new house, I stumbled upon this great happening in Ferguson this Saturday. The Speed Art Meet & Greet is being billed as “a collaborative art experience and fabulous Saturday soiree”. In this one-night event designed for fun and fellowship, artists of all skill levels are invited to produce unique, collaborative works of art, moving from one station to the next as they meet new people and lend their special touch to at least ten masterpieces.

The event is being produced by the Northern Arts Council (NAC), a registered non-profit “comprised of artists, writers, educators, community organizers, hobbyists, musicians, and other creative minds, drawing its members from Ferguson, Florissant, Hazelwood, unincorporated St. Louis County, and everywhere in between.” The organization’s goals are to bring artists and others together for fun and community, to host ongoing exhibits with a variety of curators, and to offer studio space for working artists. All great causes, to be sure.

Shannon Howard, one of the founders of Old Ferguson West Neighbors is a member of NAC, along with Janice Nesser-Chu, an amazing artist and art educator, who I met through Mad Art Gallery. With these two go getters involved…I’m all over it people! You should be too.

DETAILS
What: NAC Speed Art Meet & Greet
Where: 486 Airport Road
Date: Saturday, March 4, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Admission: FREE, but register for tickets in advance. Visit the website or call (314) 324-4298.
Visit the NAC website for more information, including directions.

Related Reading: CommonSpace article about Old Ferguson West Neighbors

Buying at Borders (and the end of the world)

It's halfway across town in the Brentwood/Richmond Heights Buyoplex, but I often finding myself guiltily leafing through the stacks of magazines at Borders, to me, the best mag stand in town, right now. With all due respect to my favorite indies, the simple variety of the magazine section there is worth the extra trip. Remarkably, the space is undergoing a makeover, with an expansion into the neighboring storefront. (Was this the former Orbis? And what is Orbis, exactly?) The window sheets promise "more" for the consumer, as if that's possible.

Now, the reason for this posting isn't to shill for the national book chain. Instead, it's to send some attention to the magazine "Tastes Like Chicken," which focuses a longish interview with two STL expats: actress Jenna Fischer ("Lost," "The Office") and screenwriter/author James Gunn ("Scooby-Doo" among his former credits, "The Toy Collector" the latter). The piece centers on the release of the pair's film "LolliLove," which was an indie hit last year and is enjoying a bit of DVD distribution. Well, good luck to them!

And while we don't normally talk about national (or, heck, international) topics here, a flier on the car upon departure, noted "MASS SUICIDE," with a two-sheet religious tract noting that religious prophet Tony Alamo is calling for some great changes upcoming. "Any time now, a worldquake and a series of prophesied catastrophes will shockingly awaken the entire global population to a horrible, God-sent, unparalleled nighmare." Etc. That would seemingly affect St. Louis, as well, so we pass along Mr. Alamo's thoughts in a nutshell.

Medicine Show for the Smarting Ones

After our Time-Saver Trivia, for those of you still a-sorrowing over the demise of Freddy's Music Lounge, some succor. This from Paul Stark, via the nonoise list:

You are cordially invited to attend the first outing of
"The Chippewa Chapel Traveling Guitar Circle & Medicine Show"
Thursday 9 pm.
Feb 23, 2006
This week's stop:
Riley's Pub
3458 Arsenal
(Corner of Arsenal & Arkansas)
one block east of Grand
314-664-7474

Bring your acoustic guitar
(or spoons, or what-ever)
no amps, no mics.
Check in with Tommy Halloran when you get there.

Riley's is just a stone's throw from Hartford (well, okay, maybe if you're the Hulk) so maybe if there's still a crowd gathered later into the night, I'll stop in, Friday morning be damned. I won't be bringing my jaw-harp, though - I get stage fright something awful & I'm afraid I'd boing the twanger too hard I'd take out my front teeth...

R.E.D. @ Duck Room

This is bold step. The local pop/rock group Red Eyed Driver is venturing outside of the city limits - though only just - for a musical concert at the Duck Room, part of the Blueberry Hill megaplex in University City. This "gig" will take place on Saturday, Feburary 25, with the group joined by fellow yeomen in rock: Miles of Wire and the Transmitters. There will be a cover exacted by a doorperson, no doubt a modest fee. And the band will be offering their newest sound recording, "End of Restrictions," utilizing the popular compact disc format.

To familiarize yourself with the groupo spectacularo, please consult:

The bands website: www.redeyeddriver.com.

A stellar new feature story: www.saucemagazine.com/article/9.

They used to love me, but now it seems they just don't care...

Bill Streeter: Live x Two

Gaining an added dose of notoriety with a recent appearance on the cover of the Riverfront Times, Bill Streeter's been vlogging about St. Louis for a bit now, at his well-populated site www.lofistl.com. (And isn't it just fun to type, speak or even think about the word "vlogging"?)

This week, Streeter will be heard on the KDHX talk show "The Wire" on Monday, February 20, at 7:30 p.m. And on Saturday, the 25th, he'll be playing about an hour's worth of material at Philip Slein Gallery, with KDHX's Kopper playing a DJ set prior to the video.

Seeking Books/52nd City Events

We're looking for books. To sell. At the patio garden of The Royale on Saturday, April 15. The books we've collected so far are a pretty good lot, with plenty of non-fiction and civically-oriented texts, along with poetry, coffee table-worthy art books and even some comic stylings from Woody Allen. Subterranean Books in the Loop has even offered some titles, thanksverymuch.

If you're looking to unload some dusty jackets on us, please let us know via e-mail: thomas@52ndcity.com.

Here are the upcoming 52nd City events:

Thursday, February 23: Timesaver Trivia @ Hartford Coffee Company, 6:30 doors, 7:00 game (a few tables still available; $20 per four-player team; 314-776-6929 for details)

Wednesday, April 12: Magazine issue #1 release @ Atomic Cowboy, time TBA

Saturday, April 15: 52nd City Book Sale @ The Royale, 11:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., 3132 So. Kingshighway

And in the fall, with time/location TBA, the Third Annual St. Louis Kick-Ass Awards.

World Saxophone Quartet @ the Bistro

Sometimes it's good to be simply lucky, as I happened to be when securing an eleventh-hour ticket to the World Saxophone Quartet's first performance at Jazz at the Bistro last night. Here for a four-night run, the group includes Lovejoy's Hamiet Bluiett, fellow co-foudner and STL expat Oliver Lake, and relatively newer members James Carter and Bruce Williams. The debut set of the weekend-long run was well-attended with a full house downstairs, along with old-school hipsters like Jorge Martinze and Tony Patti hugging the rail on the second floor, possibly the room's better seating option.

With Lake in town for the Black Artist Group symposia and workshops at Washington University, the group was able to string this series of dates together, bringing both new and old fans into the venue. In fact, it was amusing to hear one patron chatting up Blueitt between sets, noting a Westport Playhouse date in 1979. Though the fan was wound up about whether, or not, it was a '79 peformance, pressing the baritone sax palyer on which year was right, the unusually non-plussed Blueitt chirped, "I don't know, you tell me!"

Even though the group's set of just over an hour warmed up at points, there was a sense that this was just the initial show of many and that any of the rest of them could be the one that just goes off, levitating the veteran group and the audience to another place. Having had the fortune to catch Blueitt in five different musical settings, in four different venues, over to the past year-and-change, that possibility is always there. You can't predict when it's going to fly into outer space, but you know when you're in the middle of it.

Jazz shows and venues are rightly needled, at times, for pricing potential fans out of the house and the $25-30 ticket for this show is maybe a little uncomfortable for some. But it's not out of line for a ducat to see a legendary group, really, and last night's show indicated that this act's not content to play it safe for a supper-club room. They're there for business and bring a passionate set of standards and new material.

When you're in the presence of genius, yeah, "lucky" is the way to go. It's what you are, cost no longer a worry.

Rare Russian Cinema at... SLU?

True enough. Our network of moles at SLU passes along word that there's an interesting doc on the Russian Revolution coming to St. Louis's most conversative college campus this week, thanks to the campus' most progressive student organization. Right on.

The Students for Social Equality (SSE) is hosting a movie night. "From Tsar to Lenin" is a documentary that offers a rare look inside the Russian Revolution, its leaders, the leaders of the opposition, and, of course, the context under which it occurred. It contains footage that was smuggled out of the USSR in 1936 and is directed by Herman Axelbank and narrated by Max Eastman, the famed American radical. It will be held on Wednesday, February 15 at 6:00 p.m. in the Kelley Auditorium.

Nada Surf @ Vintage Vinyl

It might be physically impossible for someone to write about the NYC band Nada Surf without noting that the group had one quasi-novelty hit on modern rock radio - "Popular" - then wound up without a record contract within the span of the couple years. Working with European and indie labels, though, the group's soldiered on, remarkably with the same trio intact, releasing a series of winning pop-rock, replete with catchy hooks and slightly-snotty, eminently clever lyrical content.

The group's got a pricier gig at a local venue this week, but why not check out the band for free at Vintage Vinyl this evening, with a start time of roughly 6 p.m.? It'll supposedly be a "stripped-down" gig, whatever that may mean, though the group will be tying into the PA, so expect some... rock!

And if anyone happened to be lucky enough to catch them at the old Side Door with the NYC-French trio Ivy a few years back, you know they can rock a bit. Ah, memories.

See ya there, fellow geeks.

Cine 16: This Week's Sked

Ded Bugs Turn Japanese

DeSoto's favorite sons, the pop-punk band Ded Bugs, are currently packing their bags for a short Japanese tour. If you happen to have friends in any of the cities below, drop them a line and tell them that one of our area's finest acts are on the way. And dig these club names and sites. How very Japanese!

2/7 Tuesday @ Four Valley (Yotsuya, Japan)
http://www.fourvalley.co.jp/fv/top.html

2/8 Wednesday @ K's Dream (Chiba, Japan)
http://www.ks-dream.com/

2/9 Thursday @ Club Goodman (Akihabara, Japan)
http://www.clubgoodman.com/

2/10 Friday @ Vuenos (Shibuya, Japan)
http://www.clubasia.co.jp/clubasia_html3/vuenos/vuenos_512l.html

2/11 Saturday @ L@N (Akasaka, Japan)
http://www.explosionworks.net/lan/

2/13 Monday @ Lizard (Yokohama, Japan)
http://www.fad-music.com/club_lizard/

2/14 Tuesday @ Wall (Hatsudai, Japan)
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/wall/

BTW: If you're not familiar with the Bugs, get acquainted. They rock. Best band merch in town, too.

Creepy Crawl to Grand Center?

In a scenario that's so unlikely that it's akin to, say swine taking flight or Brian Marston leading a Metropolis event, Grand Center's seemingly picking up a live music venue. According to Wayne St. Wayne - spied while holding up the bar at Saturday's wrestling night at the SBAC - Creepy Crawl will be moving to 3524 Washington, a building that used to be Club Riviera. The new venue'll be about a block east of the Fox Theatre, just off of Leon Strauss Park, a situation that should make for some interesting passings-in-the-night, as the Fox/Powell crowd mingle with the Creepy Kids. The old Creepy space, according to the P-D's Deb Peterson, will be the new home of Gus' Fashions, sans Gus, who is rumored to be retiring.

Now, unless this is only a blurry, inaccurate memory (quite possible), I once went to the Club Riveria, when the venue was in a point of inactivity. Someone rented the room for an art show/concert. (Was Jerald Ieans showing?) A couple bands - a debuting Bent and Voice of God - played sets. The space was overrun by artists of all sorts. Someone wanted to take a poke at me, for reasons unmemorable. And there was a woman wandering through the crowd, cradling a baby kangaroo in a blanket. Perhaps that's tangental to the possible "news" above, but somehow, talking to Wayne St. Wayne seems to bring up odd recollections.

Saturday's Liquid Lunch

Perhaps a shuttle could eventually be put into place for two bars along Arsenal Street, one just east of the magical Grand dividing line, the other just a few paces away on Kingshighway.

Down Kingshighway-way The Royale is serving a hangover brunch on Saturdays, with a Bloody Mary buffet and live DJ, from 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Yum.

Riley's, at Arkansas and Arsenal (you know, the place you thought was never going to open, but eventually it did), is offering a noon opening and nothing less than free turtle soup on Saturdays. Thus this blog's first chance to type and publish the phrase, "free turtle soup," which we'll use at least once more.

If you're in the neighborhood, bouyed by Bloody Marys and free turtle soup, you may as well pop into the new-look Mangia Italiano. The mysterious red wall has come down and - word has it - the second room will be open by the end of the weekend. My lungs applaud the new, smoke-free haunt.

Ivy Cooper Kicks Ass

You knew this already, surely, as Ivy Cooper was celebrated among St. Louis' Ass-Kicking'est citizens last fall. She's also a frequent speaker at the Contemporary Art Museum, we learn, thanks to a marvelously colorful flyer snagged from some wall, somewhere or another.

Perhaps you went to the recent Great Rivers Biennial opening and inadvertent fashion show. Maybe you're heading down to Washington and Spring tonight, to hear Randall Roberts spin and to gaze at the Wash U. student-built rotating dance floor. Or, perhaps, you'd be interested in this:

Lunch & Learn Series: The Role of the Critic
Wednesday, February 8, 2006, noon-1 p.m.

The talk will be limited to an hour. If you want to linger, or come in early and tour the museum, we'll have free docent tours of the Great Biennial 2006 exhibitions at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Cost is not mentioned on this artfully-executed flyer. Our best guess, then, is that lunch and lecture will about $2,000.

Rock Star Rags: Clothes by the Pound

If you've not been to Rock Star Rags, tucked away in (big) corner of a sprawling warehouse just off of North Broadway, you're missing out on one of St. Louis more unique shopping experiences. First, you select your vintage wear from giant tubs, rifling through the wearables with a sharp eye and sharp elbow, since you need to occasionally jockey with another clothing cheapskate. You drop the stuff in your trashbag; they'll provide one, or bring your own. And then you check out by placing your score on a giant industrial scale, with your price rung up by the sheer weight of your trash sack. It's a simple process and a beautiful thing.

Word's getting around that this weekend, one of RSR's every-so-often sales will be taking place, with very specific hours. As I'm in need of a new line of spring Fat Guy Gear, I'll be in there, greedily eyeing the XLs, while gangly, smart-ass youths next to me listen to Death Cab for Cutie b-side collections on their iPods. (It could happen. It will happen.)

Anyway, the details:

Rock Star Rags Warehouse Sale
Saturday and Sunday, February 4th and 5th
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
$1.50 per pound, we accept cash-VISA-MC

Rock Star Rags
2820 North Ninth Street
Corner of Ninth and St. Louis Ave.
St. Louis MO 63147
314-621-0318
email: rockstarrags @ sbcglobal.net