52nd City: July 2007

Q'n'A w/ Sir Jesse Irwin

52nd City has bestowed knighthood upon Jesse Irwin, that lovable rake from the South Side, via Desoto, MO. He's been kind enough to work out a BBQ Benefit for us at Off Broadway this Thursday night. We'll be kicking things off at 8 p.m., for an early edition of the Chippewa Chapel. Come on down!

We sent Sir Irwin a list of questions earlier today and between his day job, homework and happy hour commitments, the young feller made time for us, with these here answers to our questions about the Chapel, its new home and his recording plans:

You have some pretty ambitious goals for the Chippewa Chapel. What are you looking to do in the coming year?

We are seeking sponshorship from an unnamed beer company to promote the chapel through print and radio ads. We are coming out with chapel merch and starting an 8 p.m. free concert series featuring chapel performers. We will have our own Mardi Gras float. we are planning on getting an intern from Webster University.

How has the composition of the players changed since you began going? And since the venue moved from Frederick's?

There is less randomness than at Frederick's, but that will all come back once the word gets out. Some of the old Frederick's crowd will show up, and sometimes people that we met while traveling. There are some new faces since we've been at Off Boadway and it's good to see things growing. People fade in and out, but we almost never see anyone just once.

What's fun about playing at a set place, week-after-week, as opposed to the older system of rotating through clubs?

We have the best room in town at Off Broadway, killer sound, and all we have to do is host. That frees us up to make the changeovers smoother and make sure our guests are comfortable. When it's time to go home we don't have to haul a PA system. It's great. We are getting much bigger crowds since we've been staying put.

How's your songwriting going these days?

Slowly. I'm doing everything but writing songs. I'm having a lot of fun, though.

Any releases upcoming for you, solo or with Dock Ellis?

My new CD should be done in October. Loof for something from Dock Ellis by December

T-Shirt for Sale

I'm still not entirely sure how the hell Woot.com works, but I'm assured it's a legitimate enterprise, with some local roots. Again, I'm not disparaging the Woots, just having a bit of trouble figuring out a website that sells... things... for just a day. It's too clever, is what it is!

Well, our friend Barbara Cliffe is selling gear there today. As in right now, as I'm blogging after midnight. Here's a note from Barb, and know that a click-through to the shirt's page yields a whole lot more info:

Dearest friends and loved ones,

Starting at midnight (7/30/07), you can buy my new, freshly designed
t-shirt for only $10 at: http://www.shirt.woot.com/

The shirt's called, "This here is my unicorn huntin' gun", and well, that should just about explain it. Buy one and look pretty!

Thanks,
Barbara

Q'n'A w/ LJ Lindhurst

On Friday night, my old pal LJ Lindhurst will be coming back to town, to show at Mad Art Gallery. The three-person gig called "Flight Risk" will feature performance from Jennifer Weigel and paintings by Tim Meehan and Lindhurst. Owing to the digital age we live in, I checked in with the former Webster University Journal film critic via ELECTRONIC MAIL!

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Here we go!

You've visited Mad Art while on a trip back home to St. Louis. What were your impressions?

Why, 52nd City's own Thomas Crone introduced me to Mad Art. I was also a bit familiar with it because my sister worked as the bartender at the Hi-Way Bar next door. (If you ever go to the Hi-Way Bar, please do not forget to wear your top hat and monocle, and please extend your pinky while sipping your champagne, because that place is freakin high class all the way.)

My first impression of Mad Art was, I have to show my work here! The space is completely gorgeous; it's worth visiting just to see the Art Deco architecture and the remains of the old police station. It is just a really cool gallery.

What's the focus of your work in this show?

I'll be showing ten paintings from my Lock Series. These are Photorealistic paintings of padlocks and chains in various states of decay, glimmering in bright sunlight. These are meditations on truly seeing one's surroundings, and taking a moment to find beauty in the details of even the most stark urban landscape. They are also devout works of Photorealism; I'm an old-school Gearhart Richter-style Photorealist, devoted to rendering the photographed image as accurately as possible in paint. We're kind of a cult amongst painters, so this is a fine opportunity for the St. Louis arts community to get to see a type of art that goes beyond your typical gallery offerings of landscapes, Abstract Expressionism, or even Contemporary Realism. (Not that there's anything wrong with those genres! I'm just saying, this is something you don't get to see every day.)

What do you know of the other artists on this bill?

I actually don't know too much about them. I'm sharing the bill with Tim Meehan and Jennifer Weigel. Tim Meehan is showing work that has multiple layers of imagery and meaning; he uses overlapping textures, images of birds, and the natural landscape to explore childhood memories, and his impressions of nature. This work sounds like it will be a nice relief for the eye after viewing my intensely-focused, somewhat claustrophobic paintings.

Jennifer Weigel is going to be doing a performance piece called Sustenance. Apparently, this is part of a series of pieces that attempt to dissect the very nature of the art opening. From what I gather, the opening itself will be the subject of this piece. I'm very curious to see how this plays out; the interaction of the people with the art, the food, the drink, and each other, will all be part of the performance. Jennifer's work is quite interesting--you can check out her Web site to see more: http://home.earthlink.net/~cwilbur202/ It's nice to see artists who are willing to go out on a limb like this, and do something completely avant-garde--it is also nice that St. Louis has a gallery like Mad Art that will host that kind of performance art.

I may have an irrational dislike of New York. Are you okay with that?

What's the matter? Did someone make fun of your pants? AGAIN?

What should visitors to the show say to your family? Things like "I remember going to school with Little Jackie?" or the like?

I don't understand why people should be saying ANYTHING--they should all be too busy writing checks! to me me meeeeeeeee!

And anyway, it's not a good idea to harass my dad; he doesn't like hippies, and he will likely be carrying several concealed weapons. (I forgot to ask, does Mad Art have a metal detector?)

What's next for you?

I guess I'll go back to my old routine of getting rejected by every gallery in New York City. It's a lot of fun!

But seriously, I am working on a series of smaller paintings based on these creepy Mickey Mouse Club dolls my sister found at a flea market in Lafayette Square. If she only knew how obsessed I'd become with these dolls, she may have thought twice about giving them to me! (I'm also starting to think that maybe they get up and walk around my apartment while I'm asleep, but I have no concrete evidence.) Hopefully, I can paint a number of these pieces for a show I'll be having at Brooklyn Collective (http://www.brooklyncollective.com) in October.

I'm also working on a large Xerox collage installation based on The Unabomber Manifesto, entitled, Today Seemed Like a Good Day to Write To All of My Dead Friends. I'm fascinated by the Unabomber Manifesto, and by Theodore Kaczynski. His manifesto is just amazing and terrifying; it perfectly encapsulates intellectual impotence in an overwhelmingly chaotic world that is feeding on itself through out-of-control technology, science, religion, and oppressive government. It's ripe for exploration, and I feel such a natural response to it. I'm also fascinated by the fact that just about everyone I discuss this idea with tells me, "That is not a good idea." I love how even now, people find his words and ideas actually dangerous, like they could do someone harm. The whole thing is just crazy.

Where can people find your work?

Right now I've got work at two galleries in Brooklyn: the fabulous Jan Larsen Fine Art/Gallerie at theXpo (http://www.thexpo.com) down in DUMBO, and Jack The Pelican Presents (http://www.jackthepelicanpresents.com) in Williamsburg. At the risk of sounding like a hopeless ass-kisser, I have to praise both of these galleries for their unique sensibilities, and I am really proud to be a part of their collections.

What am I missing?

Well, you DID forget to ask questions that praise me in a roundabout way. Where are the questions like, "How did you get to be so amazingly awesome?" or "How could you be so beautiful AND so talented? I just don't get it!"

Target : Rats

Target : Rats
Originally uploaded by AkitaSan.

Time for Trivia with Poetry Scores

One of our own, Stefene Russell, is involved in the following note, so I'm betting that she's not going to toot the horn on this event. But Poetry Scores is hosting a trivia event in a couple weekends, with proceeds slated to help produce the latest CD and film from that nascent organization. Recently, the group offered up the CD and feature "Blind Cat Black"; next up will be Russell's "Go South for Animal Index" for similar treatment.

And does it seem that the trivia craze has slowed a touch? If so, get back in the game with this one:

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Sunday, August 12, 2-5 p.m.

Poetry Scores will host a trivia contest fundraiser upstairs at The Schlafly Tap Room, 21st and Locust Downtown. Original questions are being written now by the quirky gang at Poetry Scores on topics such as sex, beer, baseball and St. Louis.

Tickets for the trivia event are $10 per person, with tables of 10 preferred. You can contact any Poetry Scores board member (Robert Goetz, Jenna Bauer, Stefene Russell, K. Curtis Lyle, Charlois Lumpkin, Rookery T. and King) for tickets. King is at brodog@hotmail.com or 265-1435 and is standing by to take your order now.

Poetry Scores, formerly Hoobellatoo, is an arts group based in St. Louis dedicated to the translation of poetry into other media. The money will be used to fund the group’s fall release of Go South for Animal Index, an eclectic CD in the genre of “poetry score” – a long poem scored as one scores a film. Go South for Animal Index, scored to a poem by St. Louis poet Stefene Russell, will be released Friday, November 9 at Hoffman LaChance Contemporary (3100 Sutton in Maplewood), in conjunction with an Art Invitational of pieces that respond to the poem.

Poetry Scores’ previous releases, Crossing America and Blind Cat Black, have been featured on NPR, BBC Radio 3 and in many St. Louis media. The score to Blind Cat Black is now the subject of an independent feature film produced by Poetry Scores, starring Toyy Davis, Jason Wallace Triefenbach and Don Erickson which was recently featured as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase. http://www.myspace.com/blindcatblack

Ahleuchatistas, this Weekend

A band that creates its monkier by atom-smashing the name of a Charlie Parker tune and combining it with the term "Zapatista" is a band after my own heart. And Ahleuchatistas lives up to its name: it's half jazz, half hardcore. Conveniently, they'll be in town on the days when we are *not* having our "Sporty" B-B-Q, that is tomorrow and Sunday. See this wee review from Exclaim! if you have a knack for reading music-geek speak:

"Oh my God. These guys reinstated my love for double-kick bass drums, that’s for sure. The Ahleuchatistas are a band of math/thrash/prog/punk whatchamacallits from North Carolina that have distinct political spins (check out 'Remember Rumsfeld At Abu Ghraib' as a flash back to Mingus’s 'Remember Rockefeller At Attica') and a frantic, powerful delivery. The music definitely has its feet in the Ruins (minus the dizzyingly hilarious vocals), as well as Fantômas and the Ex but takes off from there with sheer inventiveness and fearless precision. Songs like 'Sometimes There’s A Buggy' and 'Before The Law' shift away from the relentless prog/math acrobatics into pools of free improv and reflection, while 'Shell in Ogoniland' and 'Maybe Orange' happily pummel you with under two-minute assaults. This CD also includes a rather dark rec room trio of vids, which are kind of neat and makes one see the attraction of this band live. This is happy, jumping around music!"

And a more straightforward descrip, per their label, Cuneiform Records:

Ahleuchatistas has received great reviews nationally and internationally for their last album “What You Will”. They have also been invited to play at such festivals and South By Southwest, MAC Rock, and the International Jazz Festival in Austria (impressive for an experimental rock band).

The band’s concerts in Missouri:

Friday, July 27th 2007
The Scallywag
805 Francis Street
Saint Joseph, MO 64501-1915
www.myspace.com/thescallywagmusic

Sunday, July 29th 2007
8 pm, All Ages, and $5.00
LEMP Neighborhood Arts Center
3301 Lemp Ave
St. Louis, MO 63118
For Information: 314.771.1096
www.lemp-arts.org

See you there ...

Nostalgia Alert: Kennedy's Reunion Show

This event almost borders on the unbelievable for me, with a squadron of my favorite (or, at least, most-seen-and-heard) bands of the 1980s and 1990s all playing on one stage. Maybe it'll just be a player, or two, from each band, but some type of music from all these groups will be heard the Old Rock House on Friday, August 3: The Urge, The Unconscious, Pale Divine, The Nukes, Son of Starchyld and Sinister Dane.

The Old Rock House is another new venue for St. Louis, this one located at 1200 South Seventh. As you might expect, the place is represented on Myspace: www.myspace.com/theoldrockhouse.

It's actually getting kinda crowded in Club Land these days, but that's another posting for another day...

Mullanphy Benefit Planned

Not much in the way of pithy commentary here, just a note that a concert is slated for the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, coming up on August 17:

CONCERT TO BENEFIT HISTORIC MULLANPHY EMIGRANT HOME
Three Local Bands String Up for Endangered North Saint Louis Landmark

On Friday, August 17th at 8:00pm, the Tin Ceiling (3159 Cherokee Street) will host a benefit concert for the historic Mullanphy Emigrant Home, an endangered city landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places and located in the city's Old North Saint Louis neighborhood. Inspired by passion and an appreciation for Saint Louis’s rich urban fabric, urbanites from across the city are banding together to help save one of our greatest treasures. In the spirit of our seasoned Saint Louis heritage, this unique event will celebrate the roots of our city by featuring the bluegrass music of three outstanding local bands: The Monads, Bearded Babies, and The Red Headed Strangers. Concert goers can also stock up on the latest local t-shirts designed by the folks at www.stl-style.com. $7.00 gets you in the door, and a cash bar will be available. All proceeds go towards the preservation of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home.

Once known as "The Ellis Island of the Midwest," the Mullanphy Emigrant Home served as the entrepot for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who flocked to Saint Louis during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Designed in 1867 by renowned Saint Louis architects George Barnett and Albert Piquenard, the aging structure now sits vacant and partially collapsing. To ensure that this important piece of our city's history is not lost, Old North Saint Louis Restoration Group, the building’s owner, needs to raise $350,000.

As one of America's great historic cities, Saint Louis cannot afford to lose the buildings that define its place on the country’s urban tapestry. By attending this event, you can do your part to shape the future of our city by helping to preserve its glorious past.

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"Sporty" Release & BBQ!

Thanks to several local bloggers for posting this info over the past couple days, during the Great Site Blackout of '07. With the blog back online, here are some updates for the next two weeks. We hope to see you at one of them!

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52nd City "Sporty" Release Party
Where: Riley's, 3458 Arsenal, 314-664-7474
When: Saturday, July 28, 3-6 p.m.
No cover, free food and drinks, all ages

This afternoon will mark the release of our fifth print issue, along with our previous effort, the CD "Sound." The new mag features a variety of St. Louis writers, illustrators and photographers musing on the topic of "Sporty" and will be on sale for $8, with all previous issues available, as well. Expect a few sporting events to be held in-and-out of Riley's on Saturday. Owner Bill Kapes is generously offering some free food and drink... while supplies last. Our new web issue will also go live on this day.

Chippewa Chapel BBQ Benefit
Where: Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp, 314-773-3363
When: Thursday, August 2, 8-10 p.m.
No cover, BBQ for sale, 21-up after 10 p.m.

The hosts of the Chippewa Chapel and Off Broadway have generously offered to host a BBQ benefit for 52nd City. Bring a few dollars for BBQ and your guitar: enjoy a bite, then sign up for the Chippewa Chapel's open mic, the most-popular open mic and jam in South City. The open mic ordinarily kicks off at 9 p.m., but we'll have music on the gorgeous Off Broadway stage beginning at 8 p.m. this evening. Some 52nd City giveaways will be peppered through the evening.

No Smoking @ Pop's Blue Moon

Quick one tonight: just returned from Pop's Blue Moon, a club which has gone to a no smoking policy after 8 p.m. There's a small, side courtyard that can accomodate those wanting to puff and the front area is open on the rare nights when no band is playing.

Apparently, the reaction so far has been mixed, with some cusomters lauding the move and others proclaiming that they won't be back.

Our vote: a round of hearty cheers for Pop's Blue Moon!

"Bodybagman: The Movie"

Typewriter Tim Jordan's always up to something.

Witness:

http://www.youtube.com/user/thebodybagman

Chris King/Blind Cat Black on "The Wire"

Since Chris King obviously went to a bit of trouble to write up a mock press release for his appearance on KDHX's fantabulous "The Wire" tomorrow evening, I figured, "why not post it up?" Good question!

If you don't enjoy the self-referential (or is this post-self-referential?) then wait for our next blog entry, please:

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'Blind Cat Black' director on KDHX Monday 7:30 p.m.
Premiere at Tivoli Tuesday 7 p.m.

Amateur director Chris King will appear on "The Wire" on KDHX 88.1 FM at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 23 to discuss his first feature film, "Blind Cat Black," which premieres at 7 p.m. the following night (Tuesday, July 24) at The Tivoli Theater in the U. City Loop as part of The St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.

The Wire is co-hosted by independent journalists and civic instigators Thomas Crone and Amanda Doyle. KDHX FM 88.1 also streams live on the web at
www.kdhx.org.

"It makes sense to talk about the film on KDHX and especially with Crone," said the amateur filmmaker.

"Crone even appears in the film’s closing credits, because he let me move his garden hose and he himself slightly parted a drape on our behalf when we were scouting his house as an exterior location."

King explained that the crew eventually decided against the Crone domicile (located off of South Grand) on the advice of scenic coordinator Lynn Josse. She could find no environmental motivation for the artificial light they would have needed to cast on the side of Crone’s home to shoot the scene, which happens at dusk.

"I'm sure Crone was deeply relieved that we passed on using the side of his
house as a location, since we scouted it for the back-alley blow job scene,
and Thomas is – how to say? – he is less than flamboyant regarding carnal
matters," King said.

King noted that he considered a wall attached to a dwelling Thomas Crone
calls home for such a sordid scene because they were already set up to shoot
next door, in a building owned by Crone’s mother that is rented to Thom Fletcher and Stefene Russell, who were key players in both the cast and crew
of "Blind Cat Black."

"As it is, if Thomas comes to the premiere, he will possibly want to avert his eyes when he sees some of the, uh, explorations that Jason Wallace Triefenbach embarks upon while sprawled across an antique couch positioned
inside a building owned by his mother," King said.

Triefenbach plays The Flower Shop Boy, who can be understood as either a
confused young man going on a gender bender or as an alter ego to The Absent-Minded Tightrope Walker, played by local rapper Toyy Davis. Toyy's
character is further along in her/his gender experimentation and moral skid.
Both are perched on a social abyss symbolized by the freaks and zombies that
comprise most of the rest of the cast, headed by The King of the Zombies,
played by Ray Brewer.

Two of the zombie actors, in fact, were recruited through a community media
course that KDHX had scheduled to help the fledgling production get off the ground.

"Aaron AuBuchon, the key editor of the film, planned to train some people to help us shoot and edit the film, and we did get two production assistants out of the deal, Serra Bording-Jones and Carla Doss," King said.

"The surprise was that we also turned up people who wanted to act in the movie, and both DMari DiGiovanni and Charlois Lumpkin, who we met through
the KDHX class, ended up with considerable (decayed) face time as zombies."

As an unforeseen bonus, the production company behind the film, the local
arts group Poetry Scores, even found an energetic new board member in Lumpkin.

"Conceptually and visually, this is a disturbing film, but the production was kind of feel-good, and it was way more integrated, in terms of white/black, South/North, rock/hip-hop, than you usually see in St. Louis," King said.

"So, it was fitting that KDHX landed us one black actor and one white
actor – for that matter, one black p.a. and one white p.a. – and that it
helped to diversify Poetry Scores by recruiting us a highly motivated African-American board member in Charlois."

King concluded, "It just goes to show that our movie, despite being about prostitution and death – selling your body and soul – is good for just about everybody."

Tickets for "Blind Cat Black" and the other shows in The St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase are on sale now at The Tivoli box office.

Doki-Doki Says: Saucy CWE Soiree Slated

I've only been to the Maryland House in the CWE one time, despite the fact that I absolutely loved the place. Maybe I felt that because I went just before the joint opened - and I had it feeling it was going to be a very hip, hot place soon after - I shied away.

Now, I'd probably be too shy to attend an event this Thursday at the venue, so it's just as well that I'll be out of town, taunting hipsters in Chicago. For those of you in-town, esp. you ladies in need of drawers, this must be considered the highlight of the week. I'm blushing even typing this, so let's get to the release from Urban Fox...

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WHO: doki doki designs
WHAT: Urban Fox Release Party ~ Lingerie for the Knockout!
WHEN: Thursday, July 19, 2007
WHERE: Maryland House -- Upstairs from Brennan's, 4659-A Maryland Avenue, CWE ~ 314-361-9444
TIME: 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
COST: FREE! Complimentary Schafly Beer and Snacks (while supplies last)!
WEB: www.dokidokidesigns.com

I see England! I see France! I see a new line of underpants!

(Saint Louis) June 26, 2007. Recently featured as one of St. Louis's coolest residents in the June issue of St. Louis Magazine, Megan Power, founder of doki doki designs follows up with Urban Fox, a new line of undies and stockings.

Urban Fox is the result of the fate-kissed meeting of Midwest-natives Megan Power and Lizzie Cook. The two met in 2006 while working in St. Louis as wardrobe stylists on a movie set. They soon realized that together, they had the know-how and sass to create a new line of knock-out lingerie! With over seven years of movie-industry experience, Lizzie brings cinematic flair to the duo, while Megan's clothing line, doki-doki (begun in 2002) brings serious "cred" with its consistent press-coverage and praise.

Can your undies help protect the environment? They can if they're Urban Fox undies! Made from a sustainable bamboo and cotton blend, now you can feel virtuous while wearing these sassy undies and stockings. Urban Fox undies range in size from extra small to extra large-- yep, they're for everyone!

To get a peek at the "unmentionables" head down to one of Saint Louis's hottest venues: Maryland House at Brennan's Wine Shop at 4659-A Maryland Avenue in the Central West End from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. There will be complimentary munchies and live music by the Private Sector, not to mention foxy models wearing the new Urban Fox lingerie — guaranteed to knock you out!! See something you like? All the undies are up for grabs. Get them before they go to the stores!

STL vs. Chicago, Round 826

Read this one, in part, because I'm heading up to Chicago for a couple days, later this week. Also read it because it's a storyline that's rewritten by mid-twenties St. Louisans on a fairly regular basis. That's not a knock on writer Katie Cook of insidestl.com, just a realization that this piece will be penned and re-penned, as every sub-generation of young St. Louisans are faced with the choice of packing up their goods and heading up I-55:

http://www.insidestl.com/stlladies/index.php?storyid=325

If only those stock-house railyards would've...

Mad Art Radio Hours Strikes Again

The Mad Art Radio Hour is back this week with two all new radio plays written by Jaime Gartelos and James Foehner. Last fall’s Radio Hour was a real hit and I expect nothing less this time out as much of the same talent is involved including George Malich, Sarah Jones, Doug Golden, and Soozi Hall. Presented in just one hour will be Intergalactic Space Squad: High Drama in Deep Space AND The Hands of Bret Verlorn: A Tale of Art, Artists and Suspense.

Shows are at 8pm on July 11, 12, 13, 14th with an additional 2pm matinee show on the 14th. The 8pm performance on Saturday, the 14th will be taped for future broadcast on KDHX. All happening at Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th Street in Soulard for just $5.

"I Love St. Lou!" (@ the Record Show)

Instead of simply noting that the St. Louis Record Show is taking place tomorrow at the American Czech Center, 4690 Landowne at Kingshighway, I will spike this post with

A GIVEAWAY

yes, a giveaway. While at KDHX the other night, Amanda Doyle spied a long, cardboard box of worn 45s. Some of them looked, at worst, as if they'd undergone some "light wear." Others seemed as if they'd been plucked up by birds of prey, dropped on rock beaches, left to molder in the sun, then picked back up the offspring of said birds, these second-generation raptors dropping them onto highways, where trucks ran over the singles, only for them to be found by a vinyl fan who wanted to save them for KDHX family members. Or some such. They're beat up, yo.

Three of the rougies were "I Love St. Lou!" a 1985 cut recorded by Phillips and Wall of then-radio superpower Y-98. The track - which is also the b-side - is mostly about baseball, though there's also some general musing about St. Louis, such as the line about "the funny boys in Forest Park."

I simply must keep one copy, but the other two are up for grabs. Write: thomas @ 52ndcity.com with your favorite vinyl memory and a copy is all yours.

STL Expats in NYC

Two completely divergent bits about STL expats in New York.

1. LJ Lindhurst's show at Mad Art Gallery, "Flight Risk," will open on Friday, August 3 with a reception. You can check out work by my college pal at her website: www.ljlindhurst.com.

2. Forgot to check into a recent David Letterman show featuring Morrissey, but our town's chief Morrissey watcher (and, no, that's not me) noted that STL native Kristeen Young was featured in the song "That's How People Grow Up."

Sure enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH2WidSqTYg

If you know other St. Louis-to-New York women doing something in the cultural field, please note them below.

The Weekend Starts … Now

I have a couple of bottle rockets that I did not light. I don’t have any sparklers. I’ve seen a couple of fireworks displays from afar, sparkling on the horizon. I did not go down to the Levee to see Cyndi Lauper or eat kettle corn. I have been very lame as far as celebrating Independence Day (though if my righteous indignation over Scooter Libby’s sentence were transformed into pyrotechnics, it might burn down the block). Holidays in the middle of the week always throw me—mentally, I can’t help but regress into a weekend state of mind. I stayed up late (for a school night) on Tuesday for White Thrash at White Flag, and though I have been pretty useless today, I have crayoned this stuff into my Daily Minder for the rest of the week:

Rob Player: Ten Memories in Every Pack
Maps Contemporary Art Space
225 N.Illinois St., Belleville, Ill.
July 5, 7-10 p.m.

I like Maps. It’s teeny-tiny. At the two exhibits I’ve seen here so far, most of the folks are spilled out onto the street in front of the space, smoking and socializing, but once you go into the gallery, you end up literally rubbing shoulders with other people, which is an interesting experience. And you’re sort of forced to contemplate the art on a slower timetable because the space is so small. To get there, you drive through miles of sparkly strip malls … through Swansea and Fairview Heights … to a weird little corner of old Belleville, a fairly quiet little street, and there’s this little gem. It’s an experience for sure. This month’s exhibit is an “interactive photography exhibition featuring images regarding friendship, social interaction, and the ‘rock star aesthetic.’ How does a camera affect the demeanor of the people on which it is focused? If removed from a group situation, how would a singular close friend interact with a white room, a camera, and me? These are just a few of the questions Mr. Playter posed while creating the work for his exhibition. WE WILL HAVE FREE BEER AT THIS EVENT AS PART OF THE EXHIBITION. (All ages welcome, 21 and over to drink). Also, feel free to document this event with your digital camera, we ask that you forward pics to maps_contemporary_art_space@yahoo.com . They will be placed on our blog; click on the blog to view a digital diary of images from the event. Please stay tuned for announcements of future "events" in coordination with this exhibition!”

Get Born Poetry Collective
C.A.M.P (Community Arts and Media Project)
3022A Cherokee
July 6, 8 p.m.
$2

Okay, I went to college to study poetry, and I will be the first to admit that the reason it’s tough to charge for poetry readings is that most of them are boring as hell. As heard on Literature for the Halibut earlier this summer, Get Born aim to take the must and dust out of poetry readings, keeping the rigor of traditional poetry while upping the performance aspect. I’d like to make clear right now, though, that this is NOT Slam poetry, and unlike the art show, there will NOT be free beer at this event. In fact, it’s a dry, all-ages show. They are also charging a modest fee to get in, but since you won’t hear a whisper of the clichéd Iowa Flat-style recitation, I say: right on! The show features Larva, Mathieu Paul, Joe Wetteroth, Matthew Freeman and Get Born founder, Joseph Sulier', a crew that comes with the glowing recommendation of folks I greatly respect, including Brett Underwood and Phil Gounis.

Exploring Power through Cinema: Abel Gance’s Napoleon
Saint Louis Art Museum Auditorium
July 7, 1 p.m.
$5 ($3 Members)

You probably know you can go see the Napoleon exhibit for free on Friday. You probably don’t know that for the wee sum of $5, you can go see Abel Gance’s Napoleon, (1927, 235 minutes) “arguably the most important film of the silent era,” on Saturday. When this film premiered at the Paris Opera house, it was shown on three screens and accompanied by a full orchestra. This screening will be impressive in its own way: it’s a restored 35 mm print with a new soundtrack commissioned by Francis Ford Coppola. From the IMBD description, Napoleon sounds like a beautifully excessive movie, with scenes such as the one where “the child Bonaparte keeps a pet eagle and wins a snow fight while at school in Brienne... In this sequence, the frame splits into nine subliminal images; as Napoleon watches his men entering Italy, the screen expands on each side to form a breathtaking panorama, then changes into three coordinated views.” If 235 minutes sounds like a lot, it is, but how can you tell an epic story in less than two hours? Actually, the version that showed at the Paris Opera ran four! Realizing that squiggly, low-attention-span Americans require an intermission, the museum has scheduled one, complete with complimentary sweets and coffee (hopefully with European rocket-fuel java to help with focus during the second half of the film)!

Beatle Bob on InsideSTL.com

Don't think I need to describe who Beatle Bob is, or why he's known about town. And there's a better-than-decent chance you've gone to InsideSTL.com, even if only to spy your neighbor in a drunken bar pic.

But the merger of Beatle Bob and Tim McKernan's website? Well, I wouldn't have predicted such a thing:

http://www.insidestl.com/stlmusic/index.php?storyid=181

Bluebird Takes Focus

For the past couple weeks, the "what's the Bluebird?" conversation has been a fun one. But it's time to move on to another discussion starter, as we now know that: the venue will be located at Beffa's, long the city's most obscure, yet connected restaurant; it's being booked by a member of The Beureau; and it's not going to be a full-time venue, specializing in select dates, instead.

Located pretty much unto itself near the AG Edwards complex, the room is starting to break some PR info to the press and blogerati.

With apologies to Matt "Skewgee" Hurst, here's the latest:

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St. Louis’ newest concert venue, “The Bluebird,” is devoted to showcasing the best local, regional and national acts. Located at 2706 Olive (just outside of downtown), the 300-capacity venue boasts a professional sound system and free off-street parking. The club differentiates itself from other local nightspots by providing a clean, upscale, rock & roll atmosphere. The Bluebird will have its official grand opening on July 14th.

Contact Mike Cracchiolo for booking at bluebirdstl@gmail.com

There will be a free ticketed open house on July 12th at 8 p.m. with drinks, hors d’oeurves and music from DJ Commiekay and DJ DeadAsDisco. Tickets will be available at area events over the next week or they can be downloaded from: http://www.bluebirdstl.com. Only a limited number of tickets will be available.

Calendar:
7/12/07 - Open House with DJ Commiekay and DJ DeadAsDisco
7/14/07 - Stella Mora, The Feed and Ghost in Light
7/21/07 - Midwest Avengers, Royal Illette and Robb Steele
7/28/07 - Berlin Whale, The Undoing of David Wright , Bunnygrunt, Bears and more
7/29/07 - The Ladybug Transistor, Bound Stems, Jumbling Towers and Say Panther

Visit www.bluebirdstl.com or www.myspace.com/bluebirdstl for more details & updated schedule.

Fourteen Hours of The Three Stooges!

I was honestly wondering what to do on July 4, aside from the usual mid-summer dose of nothing, but an amazing option has emerged: a 14-hour marathon of "The Three Stooges" on July 4, from midnight to 2 p.m. Thank you, Channel 11, thank you!

http://cw11tv.trb.com/kplr-stooges,0,4946619.blurb

ARRG on Wiki

I am most amused by this. It's actually kinda true!:

"Known mostly as a sporting organization, recent developments have revealed that the organization is actually a cult. It is a scientific fact that the average derby girl references the derby 4.7 times during an average six minute conversation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Rival_Rollergirls