52nd City: August 2007

Adam Franklin @ Vintage V.

Okay. Last item of the day, but I've been holding this one for a bit and I'd like to help the world that Adam Franklin of the immortal Swervedriver will be at Vintage Vinyl in October. The date and time are below, along with some notes from VV PR czar Jim Utz. I cannot wait.

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Former Swervedriver vocalist
Adam Franklin
www.toshackhighway.com

October 13th
5:00PM

Special afternoon set from former Swervedriver vocalist Adam Franklin

Though the music world lost the amazing Swervedriver many years ago thankfully the main voice and songwriter of the group Adam Franklin didn't throw in the towel like most of the other dead shoegazers. Free of the band dynamic and the expectations of such a loved band, Adam Franklin used this freedom to his advantage to explore various approaches to performing music again. Sometimes acoustic, sometimes with band, dabbling with electronics or stripped down to the super basics...whatever the approach beautiful and catchy pop music was the core. Finally releasing his first "proper" solo album under his own name, Adam Franklin has made an amazing record that incorporates all of the above approaches that blends the perfect amounts of rock, country and psychedelia. See Adam Franklin live at Vintage Vinyl on October 13th beginning at 5:00PM as he promotes his brand new record "Bolts Of Melody".

Mississippi Nights

Knocked down.

Who's got pics of the demo?

Sketch All-Star Team Forms

So we really dig the Art Outside festival and we also enjoy a bit of sketch comedy. Why not help promote the birth of a new trio (or is it sextet?), which will be debuting at the next AO?

Hard to believe the event's coming up so quickly, but it, in fact, is:

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THE FINGERBREAKER BROTHERS, a new sketch comedy group created by some of the St. Louis' top sketch writers and performers, are set to debut September 7 & 8 at Art Outside at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, MO.

THE FINGERBREAKER BROTHERS COMEDY SHOW—co-founded by and starring Tyson Blanquart, Christian Lawrence, and Drew Somervell— will debut their new show, which is an homage of sorts to legendary comedy shows such as The Smothers Brothers Variety Hour, The Muppet Show, and Robot Chicken. The show will also feature Laura Coppinger, Leah Schumacher and Joey Walsh. The show was written by Blanquart, Lawrence, Somervell and Jim Caskanett.

With a fast paced tempo and irreverent tone, THE FINGERBREAKER BROTHERS COMEDY SHOW will make you laugh 'til your socks fall off. Every comedic line is freshly squeezed for maximum effect, nothing is taboo, and oh yes, there will be a giant rabbit! The show will integrate a live stage show with pre-taped segments, all flowing seamlessly into one half-hour long show that is set to make you chortle a bit.

Tyson Blanquart has been a writer and cast member of the NonProphet Theater Company's award-winning sketch comedy show THE MILITANT PROPAGANDA BINGO MACHINE since 2002. Christian Lawrence co-founded, co-wrote, and co-starred in the sketch comedy group The Zim Zam Kok Show, which offered up award-worthy theme based shows since its inception in 2004. Drew Somervell is the unifying factor, as he has been a member of both groups since 2005, and a darn nice guy.

The FINGERBREAKER BROTHERS will be performing two shows each night. The show times are:

Friday, September 7 at 7:00pm and at 8:30pm & Saturday, September 8 at 6:00pm and at 8:30pm.

Admission is FREE!!

The show will take place in the Crown Room inside Schlafly Bottleworks, located at 7260 Southwest Avenue at Manchester in Maplewood, MO 63143.

For more information on THE FINGERBREAKER BROTHERS, visit their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/fingerbreakerbrothers.

For more information about Art Outside, please visit http://www.schlafly.com/.

Crafters United

The spate of craft-induced shows and fests continues unabated, but the original RnR Crafters will be back in December. (Personally, my kinitting is really coming around, so this is quite exciting.) A call for Crafters has been announced and here're the details:

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You may already be crafty, or you may be unknowingly craftier than you think!

Your town's favorite craft show beckons... check it out at www.rocknrollcraftshow.com, and submit your application today!

Some Fine Madness

Looks like a primo line-up Saturday September 9 at Lemp Arts Center (and their shows generally start after Rough Riders games ... GO ROUGH RIDERS! There's nothing I love more than hearing a newly-assembled high school marching band practicing before a game).

So, this I gotta see: the headliner is HARPTALLICA!, a Metallica tribute harp duo. Adding to the madness is the loveable but terrifying one-man band, Super Fun Yeah Yeah
Rocketship; Dank Saturday, which I know nothing about - it doesn't pop up in a search engine; and drummer Robert Fishbone. I've marched with this guy in Mardi Gras drum corps during the Grand Parade, and was rather intimidated by his percussive chops. Fishbone's an amazing guy - he makes his own instruments and even though I have watched him play more than once, I've never been able to figure out how he gets the sounds he does. He's also the guy that invented those inflatable Edvard Munch "The Scream" dolls, as well as a "Pin the Ear on Van Gogh" party game. Now, how could I make this show more appealing than it already is? The only thing that would make it totally perfect is if the Rough Riders marching band also made an appearance, but hopefully it will be possilbe to catch some of their tunes floating out of the schoolyard earlier that afternoon ...

High School Football Fever

Okay, so games in the PHL don't exactly rival those of "Friday Night Lights," but I'm not sure I'd like to live in that alternate universe, either. My State Rep, Jeannette Mott-Oxford, sent out a note this week, reminding locals that the Roosevelt Rough Riders will be in action a few days hence, versus the rival Vashon Wolverines. When these teams meet, throw out the records, people.

With the Roosevelt stadium about a 30-second walk away, this old-school PHL matchup is actually sounding rather... doable.

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Roosevelt High School's first 2007 football game is this Saturday, and it would mean a lot to student athletes and their families if area residents came out for the game. Red T-Shirts would be good spectator apparel. Here's the info:

Game starts at 1:30pm on Saturday, September 1st against Vashon High School.

Tickets at the gate are $4.00 and $2.00 at Roosevelt beginning Friday morning.

A tail-gate party will be held beginning at 11:30am on Saturday morning.

For more info, call the school at 314-776-6040.

Fest, Fest, and Fest Some More

One of the things I love about St. Louis is the spazz-out at the end of August, where suddenly, there's a festival almost every day - it almost seems like a collective reluctance to let summer go. (Which as a person who never acclimated to the cold, even though I grew up in a climate with four distinct seasons, I can appreciate.) I was at the Festival of Nations on Sunday, and was really pleased to see the park crammed with people, eating tibs wat and burek and boat drinks (served in hollowed-out coconuts) and watching Farshid Etniko play Persian music. If you stood in the shade, the temperature was absolutely pleasant; I couldn't quite muster the fortitude to go last year because it was a skull-splitting 100 degrees. (Even us heat-loving maniacs have our thresholds.)

Now, the finale comes over Labor Day weekend, with the Japanese Festival at MoBot, the St. Nicholas Greek Festival in the West End and the Big Muddy Blues Festival on the Landing. There's probably a baseball game in there somewhere, too. I remember hitting every single one of these things the first summer I moved here, in '01, on the freakin' bus. I don't know how I did it, but I remember dashing across Forest Park to catch a MetroLink downtown and feeling a little dizzy because it was, once again, about 99 or 100 degrees outside. In fact, right before my last bus ride home, standing at the bus stop near the old Busch Stadium, I spied a hot and weary Fredbird, leaning over the balcony, trying to get some air in that beak as fireworks exploded and black smoke hung in the air. Ah, good times, good times. Well, maybe not for Fredbird on that particular day. Now that I'm a lazy girl with a car, it seems almost incomprehensible to me that I managed to do so much without wheels, but Father Time is a public-transit traveling festival-goer year-round; in fact, I have no doubts that he's probably on Metro's site, plotting his route for Labor Day weekend.

Cementland Project in NYTimes

Today's New York Times Art & Design section has a nice article and snazzy slideshow on Bob Cassilly's Cementland project. I love the last line of the article.

The goal, he said, is similar to that of the City Museum: to create an unmistakable place “where people can come and do things they’re not supposed to.”

I like to think of all of St. Louis as that sort of creative playground.

The Lot

While it's certainly late-notice, you're probably already booked and lord knows that the hits counts are smaller on the weekends... The Lot music festival is happening today at the parking lot of the Schlafly Tap Room. 52nd City will be sharing a tent with our pals from Firecracker Press, so if you come down to the event, do drop by and say hello. Buy 10 mags for the Christmas season. And check out the new FCP coasters, whydoncha?

Another Keaggy Book

In the understated, even cryptic style we associate with Bill Keaggy, he's noting on flickr the arrival of a new book, based on his "Sad Chairs" imagery:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bk/1231966124/

Vital Voice Launches AE Product

Here's some info for an event at the Atomic Cowboy, offered up by our pal Rocky McCalla:

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Who: Vital VOICE
What: Arts & Entertainment Launch Party
Where: Atomic Cowboy (4140 Manchester )
Why: To find out what’s what in the coming Arts & Entertainment Season!
Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Cost: Free (includes complimentary snacks and copy of the guide!)
Web: www.thevitalvoice.com

The Vital Voice announces its
Arts & Entertainment Guide Launch Party

( St. Louis , Missouri ) August, 2007 Join the Vital Voice and hundreds of St. Louis Arts and Entertainment agencies on Friday, August. 24, 2007 at the Atomic Cowboy (4140 Manchester ) from 6-9 p.m. as we celebrate our annual Arts and Entertainment Guide Launch!

Get complimentary snacks, dance to the sounds of DJ Mark and be the first to get your free Arts and Entertainment Guide! The Guide previews everything you'll want to experience in the St. Louis arts community for the coming season, from theater to art, dance to live music and more. So stop by, pick up your copy and start planning—it's going to be an exciting season!

About the Vital VOICE – Vital VOICE is the bi-weekly regional newspaper providing an independent, progressive VOICE throughout St. Louis and Missouri , as well as Southern Illinois .

The Gramophone?

So it's late, a bit too late to do much digging, but the ol' Myspace page has yielded a new friend for 52nd City: the Gramophone.

Sounds like a new club, it does:

The Gramophone will be a gathering place for people who live music. If you are a jazz enthusiast, a blues lover, a renegade of funk or just a live music junkie, you can find your groove at the Gramophone. And whether you prefer to enjoy live acts from our full-service bar, in a private seating area or at a stage-front table, the Gramophone will be a comfortable place to take in great live music or just relax with friends.

Tentatively scheduled to open in February 2008, the Gramophone will be open five nights a week and will feature live music of rotating genres (including--but not limited to -- jazz, blues, hip hop, rock, bluegrass, funk and pop), along with some of the finest DJs from St. Louis and beyond. Our full bar will serve beers on tap, wine, classic cocktails and a menu of specialty cocktails. The Gramophone will also be available for private parties and special events.

We look forward to joining St. Louis' vibrant music scene. More information, including a calendar of events, will be coming soon! Please check back for updates, and in the meantime, you can email us at info@thegramophonelive.com.

A Gaslight Preview

William Rother, co-founder of the St. Louis Actors' Studio and developer of the Gaslight Theatre, sends us a note about a unique open house taking place this Friday. Fans of the old entertainment, local theatre and some venerable St. Louis musicians will want to take notice:

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If you are contemplating buying season tickets for the inaugural season of the St. Louis Actors’ Studio, then please come on by the offices of The Eleven this Friday:

360 N Boyle
6 – 8 pm
Valet parking
Food and drink
See the progress of the new Gaslight Theatre

And best of all...

Musical guest and Gaslight Square celeb, Jeanne Trevor with special guest Willie Akins!!

Please come and help fill the Gaslight!!

New "Space Parlour" CD from KDHX

Popped over to the KDHX website and saw that the show "Space Parlour," hosted by Nick Acquisto, has compiled a KDHX CD, with 18 cuts. You can find ordering info there, but here's the track list, to whet your appetite:

1. Dos Dedos - Lil Possum
2. Casey Reid - Untitled
3. The Monads - The Man In Town
4. Grace Basement - Rest Of The World
5. The Hibernauts - Sleeping In Space
6. Adversary Workers - Half Passionless
7. Rats & People - Filthy Little River
8. Strawfoot - The Lord's Wrath
9. Bad Folk - Dead Trees
10. Bravo Co. - Theory of Theron
11. Adversary Workers - Stumble
12. Bug - White Lobster
13. That's My Daughter - Girl Candy
14. Dos dedos - Tiptoe Through The Pistachios
15. The Hibernauts - Go Go Go
16. Bravo Co. - Drink For That Sun
17. Casey Reid - Underbelly Limbo
18. Grace Basement - Green Machine
19. Bad Folk - Mechanical Lions
20. Strawfoot - Fiddle & Jug
21. Rats & People - Vomitting Blood
22. That's My Daughter - Butch In Springtime (Sexicolor)
23. Bug - The Police
24. The Monads - One For The Law

St. Pius School

With plenty of friends in the parish, I've heard more than a few things about the St. Pius School (located just off of Grand, on Utah) being considered for some type of development. While demolition seems off the table, the parish leaders are looking at all options for a thorough remodel of the building. Having attended school there, briefly, and as the building's in my neighborhood, I'm hoping for a deft renovation of the structure, as it stands.

Currently, the building houses small homes for a variety of social service agencies and ethnic concerns, with the old school rooms used as office space.

In fact, if we're hoping for a wish list recreation of that block, it'd be nice to see actual development on the back side of the property, along McKean. Save for two days a year of the parish picnic and a couple of summer flea market dates, the space is just too large for the amount of cars that routinely use it. And without the school using it as a defacto, concrete-enveloped play yard, the size and scope of that lot is tragic.

Anyway, idle musings for a Saturday.

King on Sporty

Since Chris King went to the trouble of writing up a mock-release on our new issue, and since it entered the world in the form of an e-mail, may as well close the self-refentialist loop by tossing it on here. Thanks for the kind words, CK.

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Good ‘Sporty’
52nd City has got game

By Chris King

The most entertaining piece, for me, in "Sporty," the latest publication by
52nd City, is a two-liner included in the end-note thumbnail contributor bios:

"Thom Fletcher is a pneumatic fitting salesman from Ferguson, Missouri. He
once won $120 in Detroit betting on a horse named 'Party Bus.'"

I adore the quirky, dry modesty and the suggestion of a life and mind – what
was he doing in Detroit? why did "Party Bus" engage him? – that won't be
revealed to us completely; that will be left, mostly, to our imaginations. This is the difficult art of the fragment, the miniature, the epigram, the short story, even; and, printed on expensive, glossy paper by a startup St. Louis arts group (that is not likely to be included in the regional arts tax district within our lifetime), 52nd City has to content itself with things that don’t take up too much space.

As with its previous publications (which include one CD, the sublime "Sound"), 52nd City defines a theme with the title of "Sporty." The pneumatic fitting salesman from Ferguson remembers his winning wager on Party Bus with its fetching name when writing his bio because his submission, "A Rose is a Rose, Of Course Of Course," concerns the sport of horseracing – more specifically, the names of horses that have won The Belmont Stakes. Presumably art director Caroline Huth (who, we are told, has moved up 50 cities to Chicago) is responsible for the illustration of these horse names fanned out around the image of a rose, interlineated with the names of the American Rose Society's 2006 National Rose Show winners, with silhouettes of horses circling the perimeter of the rose. You can't tell the roses from the racehorses by name alone, and that’s the point, though it seems exceedingly crude and unFletcherian to look for a point in his peculiar, pleasant sport.

Andrea Day also is up to horses, or cows, or bulls – some animal involved in
the leathery and dusty sporting life of cowboys, for her submission is a beautifully lit and shaded photograph of five cowboys (four white hats and
one black) caught from behind, peering into a corral. Other than a small
glut of baseball meditations, each of which also isn’t really about baseball
at all – "Second Case," Aaron Belz in his funnyman mode, writing about
clichés and the strutting cliché that is Barry Bonds; "Fastball," Greg Ott on refinements and their discontents; "St. Louie Louie," K. Curtis Lyle on our town and its juiciest African-American dynasty, the Troupes; and "Sporting Pain," Brett Underwood on the art of the hangover and the illusion of resolutions – the editors seem to have made an effort to include as many sports as possible and repeat none.

K.E. Luther, in the nimblest writing in the slim volume, tracks her fascination with NASCAR. Emily Shea Fisher, in another personal favorite, remembers games we play in the street (and performs the impossible feat of getting a completely fresh laugh out of the poorest sport of our day, K-Fed). Franklin Jennings, rumored to be a 52nd City regular wearing the fake moustache and rubber nose of a nom de plume, snags a wincer from the archives: "Anthropology Days," native peoples on display as primitive
athletic curiosities in St. Louis in 1904, throwing rocks, fighting in the mud and, yes, chucking spears. Dana Smith paints skateboarders (and really makes me wish a Pulitzer would give these guys enough money, occasionally, to print in color). Stefene Russell takes a swing at lady’s golf outfits, I think; I seldom understand her poems, though I always "get" them (I think). I can't help you, however, with Jessica Baran's "The Narrative of Nagel Messenger of Acme, IN.," of which I am certain of nothing except that it starts with a skating rink. Richard Newman, from the hoops-centric state of Indiana himself, plays a game of "Horse" while talking shit with a playmate. Yours truly writes about getting chased by a bully out of sex and drugs and into soccer and safety. (It’s fiction; I dislike soccer and play it very poorly.)

As with the other 52nd City productions, I find myself sitting with "Sporty" and flipping through it at odd times, rereading and savoring passages and images, proud of its editors Andrea Avery, Thomas Crone and Stefene Russell and happy with this puzzling city where we all have washed up, together.

I"ve no choice but to close with the inevitable groaner: "Sporty" is a winner.

(See www.52ndcity.com on how to order and where to buy "Sporty" and the other 52nd City releases. Collect them all!)

Water Films Sought by PFA and Cinema St. Louis

In these modern times, all type of calls-for-video-and-film are placed, with varying degrees of, let's say, "interest factor." A new call, though, has a variety of interesting twists, with the Pulitzer Foundation and Cinema St. Louis combining for a really neat project involving silent films that incorporate water. Let's allow CStL to explain the event:

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Call for Entries: Water Works

Cinema St. Louis and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts invite St. Louis-area filmmakers to project their imaginations on the Pulitzer building by creating short silent films that employ water as a key element.

In conjunction with the upcoming exhibit "Water," which opens July 20, the Pulitzer will hold an event in September 2007 that features locally created, water-related short films. These "water works" will be digitally projected on several exterior surfaces at the Pulitzer Foundation.

Cinema St. Louis will then choose one of the films to screen as part of the AT&T St. Louis International Film Festival, held from Nov. 8-18, 2007. The film will be part of a silent-film program and receive live musical accompaniment.

"Water" Exhibit Info

This exhibition engages the prevalence of water in the Pulitzer building and addresses the range of responses that water has elicited from modern and contemporary artists. Works will be exhibited in relation to the building's prominent watercourt and the space itself, which was conceived by Tadao Ando as a fluid substance directed by walls. Specific juxtapositions within the exhibition will encourage the visitors to think about the artwork in different and unexpected ways. Artists include Alvar Aalto, Max Beckmann, Robert Gober, Roni Horn, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Long, Henri Matisse, Claes Oldenburg, Cy Twombly, and more.

Contest Details

St. Louis-area filmmakers interested in participating must create silent shorts that meet the following three criteria:

Incorporate water as an important aspect of the work.
Run a maximum of 5 minutes (no minimum running time).
Exclude ALL sound, including music, effects and dialogue.

Experimental, narrative, animated, and documentary approaches are all acceptable. The shorts can be shot in any film or video format, in either color or black-and-white.

Filmmakers must live within a 120-mile radius of St. Louis .

All films must be submitted on DVD.

There is no entry fee. Deadline is Aug. 31, 2007.

Submission of a short does not guarantee its use at the Pulitzer event.

To view the Pulitzer building, visit the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Web site at www.pulitzerarts.org.

For more information, call Cinema St. Louis at 314-289-4150

DVD and entry form should be sent to: Cinema St. Louis

Kitchen K @ 4

Justifably, a lot of hullaballoo accompanied the arrival of Kitchen K on Washington Avenue four years back. The restaurant and bar was generallyl considered the first, new-build eatery in that end of Downtown, at least, the first to accompany the rush of commercial and residential construction near the Convention Center. Since then, of course, there's been no shortage of new spaces opening along that corridor, but Kitchen K, lead by the inimitable Pablo Weiss, hits the four-year mark next week.

To celebrate, the restaurant's bringing in hosts each night of the week, with 20% of the proceeds going to the favorite organization of each. A couple of gems orgs in this bunch, too: Monday, Steven Smith, St. Francis Cabrini Athletics; Tuesday, Pablo Weiss, KDHX; Wednesday, Steve Bosse, Brent Bosse Foundation; Thursday, Paul Ha, Contemporary Art Museum St. Lous; Friday, Mike McMillan and Tom Carnahn, Vashon Initiative; and Saturday, The Favazz, Habitat for Humanity.

Soccer!

I really do try to curb my personal enthusiasm for the world's game, but it's hard to do so. My posting here figures on a couple things: the arrival of (a hobbled) David Beckham has energized a certain, casual fanbase of sports fans towards the game; and the possible (even probable) granting of an MLS franchise to St. Louis has added to the soccer discussion locally. (Seems that there's been more soccer coverage in the P-D in the last week than in the last year.)

I fairly regularly head up to OB Clark's in Brentwood to see games, in a communal setting, extra necessary as I lack cable. Here's the rundown of some games upcoming. Because the I-40 construction is going to be running hot this weekend, find your way there through the backdoor:

Sat Aug 18 08:25AM Central
Length: 2 hr 5 min LIVE
GolTV (US)
German Bundesliga
Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munich

Sat Aug 18 08:55AM Central
Length: 2 hr 5 min LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
English Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur vs Derby County

Sat Aug 18 11:00AM Central
Length: 2 hr 30 min LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
English Football League "Championship"
Stoke City vs Charlton Athletic

Sat Aug 18 06:30PM Central
Length: 2 hr LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel (FSC) - US
Major League Soccer (MLS)
New York vs Los Angeles Galaxy

Sun Aug 19 07:25AM Central
Length: 2 hr 5 min LIVE
Setanta Sports USA
English Premier League
Manchester City vs Manchester United

Sun Aug 19 10:00AM Central
Length: 2 hr LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel (FSC) - US
English Premier League
Liverpool vs Chelsea

Wed Aug 22 01:30PM Central
Length: 2 hr 30 min LIVE
FOX Soccer Channel (FSC) - US
International Friendly/Amistoso - UEFA/CONCACAF
Sweden vs United States

Wed Aug 22 04:00PM Central
Length: 2 hr SDD
FOX Soccer Channel (FSC) - US
International Friendly - UEFA
England vs Germany

Thu Aug 23 02:45AM Central
Length: 2 hr 15 min LIVE
ESPN2 (US)
FIFA Under-17 World Cup
United States vs Tunisia

Tom Lampe Addresses Vinyl

Weeks ago, now, we hosted a spirited competition for some Y-98 vinyl, the 45s capturing the morning show of the station covering a version of "I Love LA" called, well, "I Love St. Lou." We promised two winners a 45 apiece and we had... two contestants! So, thanks to Gabe Bullard and Tom Lampe, the latter a co-conspirator on the STL Syndicate.

I liked Tom's piece and asked if we could run it. Tom said, "yes," and then I... misfiled his post to us, twice. Yikes. But it's been found and it reads like this:

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It was the summer of 1981 and my grandfather had just died. My grandma, who had been the firecracker of the family, was coping the best she could. She was trying to keep herself busy, and that involved taking me and my brother shopping.

Backing up just a bit, my grandma had fallen in love with a song that had been in heavy rotation on the radio. She did not know the name of the song, nor the artist. And she couldn't remember any of the lyrics. All that she knew was that it said exactly what she wanted to say if she had been given one more day with my grandpa.

For the past few weeks, she had been trying to hear it again... trying to see if one of us knew the song, so she could buy the record and make it hers. But the song had fallen off the charts, therefore radio had all but forgotten it. The only hint she could give us was that it was what she'd say to my grandpa if they had another day together.

So there we were at South County Mall. As was always the case, she gave each of us a dollar to go buy a 45 at the record store. When we got to the store, we stealthily browsed to make sure we each made the perfect selection. The choice for me was easy... Rick James, bitch. While I bagged up the Superfreak single, my brother grabbed Bette Davis Eyes. We got to the counter, and my brother emptied his pockets with no sign of cash. Somehow, between Pope's cafeteria, and the record store, he had lost his dollar bill.

When we caught up with grandma, she wanted to know what we'd bought. I spoke up for my bro and told her of the lost bill. As he waited to be scolded, she promptly grabbed another dollar from her pocket book and gave it to him, and he knew he wouldn't lose this one.

When we got back to the store, he went to find Kim Carnes ode to the eyes of the starlet, but it was not there. He approached the wrap stand, and was crushed to learn that, in the short time we were away, they had sold the last copy. Reluctantly, he picked up his second choice.

Back at grandma's house, she asked us if we wanted to play our records while she made us a snack. I declined knowing she probably wouldn't appreciate the art of Rick James, bitch. My brother put his record on. Emerging from the tinny speakers came the warbling words, "Now the night has gone away... Doesn't seem that long, we hardly had two words to say... Hold me in your arms for just another day... I promise this one will go slow..." And as we turned around we saw our grandma enter the room with tears streaming down her cheeks, we knew "The One That I Love" by Air Supply was the song she wished, if she had one more day with him, that she would sing to Grandpa.

Mad Music: Sunday, Aug. 19

A note from Brett Underwood reminded me to note this gig at Mad Art, coming up on Sunday evening. Attending this event would mean missing my weekly trip to the Casino Queen for Channel 11's "Fan Show," but I may have to succumb to the freakout sounds of this trio of acts:

Mad Art
9 pm Sunday August 19, 2007
$5 All Ages

Dylan Posa And Three Cheers For One Dead Man
(member of Cheer-Accident, Bobby Conn, The Flying Luttenbachers, Brise-Glace, etc.)
dylanposa.com

Skarekrauradio
(members of Quief Quota, Shed Shot, and Two Lips)
myspace.com/skarekrauradio

Peanuts
(Jeremy Brantlinger, Eric Hall, and Nazeer Sadeeq Holmes)
myspace.com/ehallstl

Mad Art
9 pm Sunday August 19, 2007
$5 All Ages

Variety Park of 52nd City Updates

Greetings. A few different notes for a hot Saturday afternoon:

1. 52nd City will be splitting a merchandise table with our friends at Firecracker Press on Saturday, August 25, for the Metropolis Lot festival. You can find the lineup of The Lot here. If you happen by the event, drop by our booth and say "hello."

2. By the end of the weekend, we hope to be selling magazines at the wonderful new-ish coffeehouse the Mississippi Mud House, located at 2101 Cherokee, in the heart of the antique district there. The venue, which is applying for a liquor license to sell wine, has breakfast, lunch and light dinner, with hours now stretching to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, one of the few businesses with the lights on in that part of town on the weekend. You can also find former Hartford Coffee all-star barrista Kal there during those long afternoon shifts. Stop by. You'll be impressed.

3. We also welcome Christopher Thiemet of Circa Properties as a web advertiser. Thanks, much, CT. And if you want to check out: a) a house for sale in the Tower Grove Heights/Fanning neighborhood; and b) how far a website can go in promoting a single property, see this website, about 3618 McDonald. Very sharp.

Yay! Judge Nothing on Myspace

One of the great bands of St. Louis during the 1980s and 1990s, Judge Nothing, is now found on myspace: www.myspace.com/judgenothing.

Music, trivia, links and the rest. Alton's finest, 10 years gone. Nice to see and hear from them again.

(The last time I of thought of the band Skin Yard? Or Corndolly? Prior to just now? Wow... uh... the internet is weird.)

More for Friday: Cherokee & Jason W.T.

Our pals at Snowflake send along word of a Jason Wallace Triefenbach joint taking place at both Snowflake and Fort Gondo this Friday night. If nothing else - and we'd not suggesting there's not already plenty to see and hear - any JWT project brings out the most intriguing, interesting, edgy crowd in town. Throw in the usual funky vibes of the Cherokee strip and you've got the makings of something fun to start the weekend.

Thanks to David Early fort the following note:

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FRIDAY, August 10th
6-10 pm

FREE CHURCH INTERNATIONAL presents...

Two exhibitions by Jason Wallace Triefenbach occuring across Cherokee Street from one another. The two separate yet parallel bodies of work offer a complex web of personal and social philosophical meanderings which raise more questions than they answer. The viewer is invited to complete the equation for herself.

DREAM WARFARE 3
Snowflake/Citystock
3156 Cherokee at Compton

This exhibit is comprised of 32 drawings in five thematic groups which partially delineate a harsh and chaotic yet magical world bearing striking resemblance to our own. The drawings set the stage for a challenging 40 minute video piece, DREAM WARFARE 3, to be shown in the gallery at 9pm.

This exhibition will run through the end of August.
Gallery hours are Saturdays 10-2pm.

RELICS, RIMJOBS, ROBBERY, RESONANCE:
More Techniques of Natural Magick
Fort Gondo Compound For the Arts
3156 Cherokee Street

Featuring sculptures, paintings, drawings, photos, found objects, stolen things, and more, this exhibition fills the gallery space with raucous belligerence. Separate works mingle and fuse in a deliberately haphazard fashion, exploring themes of confusion scarcity/abundance, control, media saturation, social infrastructure, and the compulsive, ever-shifting layout of the urban landscape.

BAG in Midtown, Friday

The inimitable Brett Underwood passes along word (via Michael Castro) of an interesting event taking place on Friday night. The event, sponsored and featuring the Black Artists Group, is taking place in the Rosebud Cafe, the newly-reconstructed complement to the Scott Joplin House. Among the readers is K. Curtis Lyle, who has graced the pages of a couple 52nd City's over the past year.

As I will probably not be able to attend, if someone does, please pass along a quick word of recap or review. Thanks.

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BAG Presents: Diverse Creative Voices on the St. Louis Scene

On Friday, August 10th from 7 - 9 PM BAG presents an evening of diverse creative voices featuring musician Zimbabwe Nkenya on mbira and poets Marsha Cann, Michael Castro and Blue-Mashibini in the historic Rosebud Café at Scott Joplin House 2658 Delmar Blvd.). Native Marsha Cann is well-known as an actress, poet, storyteller and educator. Her work has been published in Wordwalkers, Frontlines and the St. Louis Muse. Cann has often been seen on stage in productions with the Black Rep and her association with that group dates back to the origins of the company when she was a theater major at Washington University.

Michael Castro has ten books of poetry, essays, and translations to his credit, most recently Human Rites: Selected Poems (2002) and A Transparent Lion: Selected Poetry of Attila Jozsef (translated from the Hungarian with Gabor G. Gyukics, 2006). Castro is well known as a performance poet throughout the United States and internationally where he has performed in London, Edinburgh, Toronto, Montreal, New Delhi, and Budapest.

Blue-Mashibini is a poetry team (JoyCe Blue & Deborah Mashibini) who first read together at Shirley LeFlore's Creative Arts & Expression Lab (CAEL) in 1982. After a 20-plus year hiatus they have recently re-united and will be reading from their work in progress, Some Things Need to be Said. Blue-Mashibini's poetic narratives weave common stories that attempt to bridge the divides that continue to separate people based on race and misperceptions of one another.

Zimbabwe Nkenya has presented his work in some of the finest performing arts centers in the country including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, and the Knitting Factory. He has performed with Julius Hemphill, Rob Brown, William Parker, Anthony Braxton, Frank Morgan, Floyd LeFlore, Mary Redhouse and countless poets including Shirley LeFlore, Quincy Troupe, Mike '360' Ipiotis, Joy Harjo and Arthur Ray Brown. Currently Zimbabwe is working with Mike Nelson bringing two sacred African instruments, the Bata Drums and the Mbira, together.

The African Mbira, often referred to as a 'thumb piano,' is in fact a multi-octave instrument requiring more than thumbs to achieve its full potential. Nkenya has incorporated the sacred sounds of the Mbira into original jazz-based music for more than 30 years. "In his hands, the Mbira becomes a vibrant channel for spirited, authentic jazz improvisations... using ancient traditions to forge music for today."

This free event is presented by BAG, a collective of artists dedicated to presenting creative work in the tradition of the original BAG (Black Artists Group). Friday's performance is part of an ongoing series that has included internationally known artists Eugene B. Redmond, K. Curtis Lyle, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Shirley LeFlore, Oliver Lake and Mike Nelson.

For more information contact Scott Joplin House at 314-340-5790 or email BAG: bag_blackartistsgroup@yahoo.com

Peter E. Parisi for The Walk

It's always a pleasure to see former students taking on the ills on the world, through media engagement. So, I couldn't be more pleased to note that the late Peter E. Parisi's cause has been taken up by a two-time, former student of mine at Webster, Jim Varagona. The young man's working to assure PEP a place on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

There's a petition and info here:

www.diabetoboy.com

Now, a few thoughts:

1. Joe Edwards - an advertiser in and subscriber to 52nd City, it must be noted - has generally stated that he doesn't like petition drives and public campaigns, ala this one, or that of famed Munchkin Mickey Carroll.

2. He's also implicitly stated that he wants the recipient to be well-known outside of St. Louis, as much as in. PEP may have a cult following in the STL, but outside... hmm. Harder to figure.

3. We'd love to see PEP get recognition, even if this effort to land him on Delmar with his own bronze star proves a non-star(ter). The site already gives a nod to the warped genius of the late videographer.

4. Since members of this town have a habit of, let's say, requisitioning ideas as they own, I have long thought of spearheading an effort to get Lou Thesz the same honor, a Walk of Fame star. If you don't have a knowledge of Thesz, start out with a look at his Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Thesz. To emphasize that we would like like to work on such a thing, I WILL GO WITH ALL CAPS TO SAY THAT WE ARE INTERESTED.

Okay, back to PEP: check Jim's site, read up on PEP, enjoy the memories (and that catchy theme song) of "World Wide Magazine," sign a petition if you wish. Have a good day.

Yourstandardlife.com

Typical. A website featuring music I like - or, assumedly, will come to like - published right here in St. Louis and I'm blissfully unaware of it. Luckily, a myspace note about Ministry ("retiring," boo, sniffle) was enough to get to the site, thusly: "Your Standard Life is for people that still love mixtapes and discovering new music. No music snobs here. Quick, straight and to the point. It's all about sharing the love."

Artica Outing

Perhaps my West Coast roots show too much in my vast affection for Artica, which pulls its inspiration, somewhat, from the Burning Man festival that takes place each year in an alkalai lake bed in Nevada (but is populated by a goodly number of East Bay folk). The nice thing about having a Burn-type event in the Midwest is that St. Louis pragmatism prevents some of the sillier and more self-indulgent stuff (pink furry cowboy hats, glo-sticks, a psychedelic lack of irony) that seems to manifest when there's a critical mass of Californians about. If you haven't been to Artica, or aren't familiar with Burning Man, Artica's organizers describe the event as "an outdoor multi-media art festival, parade and workshops series developed to provide the people of the St. Louis metropolitan area with the opportunity to come together as a community through creative self-expression." It takes place down the road a piece from the Riverboat casinos, near the old power station, in "an area that has been polluted, neglected and abandoned for far too long. Although our audience is primarily all of the citizens of the St. Louis metropolitan area, the whole world is invited to attend and expected to participate as creators during the festival. Artica's development will be as fluid as the river it celebrates, and its scope will depend greatly upon the emotional involvement of the community."

I remember walking around down near the Riverfront a few years ago during Artica, and noting that it was infused with the same sparkly, magical atmosphere found in the best corners of Burning Man (and I swear I'm not clenching a glo-stick in my teeth as I write this). So it's with great happiness that I note that the organizers are working on breathing new life into their "urban wilderness festival." This Saturday they're inviting interested parties to come down to the Artica site to brainstorm about future events:

"Over the years, the Artica project and festival has manifested in different ways, large and small events throughout the years and seasons. It is time for grassroots resurgence. Come down to the site on Saturday, August 11th, observe the changes the space has experienced, and see how it inspires your creativity. We will be there to BBQ, play and make art. Come join us, plan to be self-sufficient, creative and ready to brainstorm about future events. Enjoy the heat of the day, and come as early as 2pm on Saturday August 11th. If you cannot make it, but are still interested in participating in future activities then e-mail us at artica2005@aol.com. Also, the web site will be undergoing an update and facelift, so perk up your ears and Internet browser with Artica in mind..."

Artica Outing
Saturday August 11th, 2-8pm
Near the Cotton Building
Dixon and Lewis streets
http://www.artica.org

Vegetable Bikinis for a Cause

Last year’s Ditty Bops concert at Mad Art was smashing good fun. The gals return on Thursday, August 23rd for two shows. The promo poster is delicious! From the Mad presses...

“With voices as sweet as honey and harmonies to match, the Ditty Bops call their shows "pagan-vaudeville." Accompanied by guitar, mandolin, piano, fiddle, stand-up bass, and lots of wild costume changes, their music blends ragtime, western swing, bluegrass, and folk. Their 2007 Summer Farm Tour supports Farm Aid and local farm organizations and brings attention to sustainable agriculture. Last summer the pair rode 4,502 miles from Los Angeles to New York on their Moon Over the Freeway Bicycle Tour. The eco-friendly Ditty Bops started a Plastic Reduction Petition targeted to Stephen Johnson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The ladies want 5,000 signatures and plan to wear nothing but plastic until they reach their goal. If they reach their goal by the time they roll into St. Louis, maybe they'll be wearing their vegetable bikinis instead of plastic.”

All the details on times, tickets, etc. can be found at the Mad Art website.

Off Broadway: No to Nic

It must be press release night at the Crone household's e-mail inbox, as I'm suddenly flooded by positive vibes. We alluded to this in a post a few days back, but the message may've been lost in the blizzard of other words.

Below, a note from Kit Kellison of Off Broadway, who notes that the venerable South City club is giving Mr. Cigarette the boot, sending him to the outdoor patio in a few weeks.

On a personal note, I'm thankful for the move -- OB's a particularly bad smoke den when the crowd is thick -- and I'd love to see other clubs follow the lead of Off Broadway, the Atomic Cowboy, Lucas School House and Pop's Blue Moon. And to even my friends who enjoy the puffing: keep that s--t out of my face and lungs, please! Take it outside, at the very least!

Anyway, here's the profanity-free note from Off B.:

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Off Broadway concert venue goes non-smoking on September 1.

St. Louis, Missouri, July 30, 2007 - Steve Pohlman and Kit Kellison are preparing their concert venue, Off Broadway, to go non-smoking on September first.

The decision was made to protect the health of their artists, patrons and employees. An outdoor smoking area will be provided.

According to the Department of Health statistics for 2000, 73% of St. Louis Metro area population is non-smoking. The owners are confident that their business will benefit from the decision to provide a more comfortable environment.

Firecracker Cracks Design Dandys

Sorry about the Beatle Bob-ish title there, but I'm in some sort of state of mind tonight. Just checked my electronic mailbox and saw that our cover printer, The Firecracker Press, had been lauded by the industry and I was so excited that I had to share. And so I do, here, now:

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The Firecracker Press is happy to announce we've been selected for the 2007 Print Magazine Regional Design Annual. We've been picked for 3 awards which will be announced and published in the November issue. We're not shy about patting ourselves on the back a bit. However, we are most proud that the 3 pieces beating out over 20,000 entries are ALL for St. Louis based clients. They are listed as follows...

Entry 1. Business Card for Marie Oberkirsch.
Marie makes wonderful textiles and is a teacher for fiber arts at a few local colleges. She also works for Laumeier Sculpture Park and helps plan their wildly successful art fair each year.

Entry 2. Book Cover for Observable Books Reading Anthology.
This organization is run by Aaron Belz. He holds monthly poetry readings at the Schlafly Bottleworks and publishes a number of books each year. To date Firecracker has done four books for his reading series.

Entry 3. Invitation for 2006 Designer Plate Show at The Firecracker Press.
In 2006 The Firecracker Press and local teacher and artist Michael Kathriner planned a gallery showing of dinner plates designed by local artists. The show also helped to debut the gallery space at Firecracker, now being used to house a portion of our type collection.

If you see any of these fine folks please congratulate them. They're all doing great work and The Firecracker Press is proud to work with such interesting and innovative individuals. Be sure to pick up the Regional Design Annual on newsstands in November.

Quickie Q'n'A w/ Steve Ewing

I'm somewhere between byside myself and over-the-moon about tonight's gig at the Old Rock House, featuring a ton of local bands of yore, in various forms. Steve Ewing, the organizer of the event took a few minutes of his day (on Tuesday, yikes!) to answer questions about this intriguing show.

How long has this show been coming together?

We have been talking about this for a long time and I got STL Sound to really help out on it and they thought is was really cool idea.

Who will take part?

We have various players from a lot of bands. Sinister Dane, Finn Bros., Unconscious, Orange Tree, Son of Starchild, Stranded Lads. I wanted to get the whole bands but it was impossible without a years notice on it.

Do you have a feeling that there will be a high school reunion feel to some of this?

I wanted it to have that high school feel to for sure. It will be a great networking tool for all those musicians who are still out playing these days. This is how bands get formed.

What's the Steve Ewing Band's role in the show?

Steve Ewing Band will do the host set first and the other acts will follow for a couple hours then we do a closing set.

Can you tell us anything about the Old Rock House?

The venue is beautiful: all the production is in-house and it’s in a good location. The bottom line is they cater to the musicians sort of like House Of Blues does.

Free Candy on Sunday

It vexes me greatly that my Free Candy attendance streak is going in reverse, with what looks like two straight misses following a dozen-or-so makes. Alas. My not being there might even be inducement for some to attend this uniuqe, non-broadcast talk show, starring my Wire co-host Amanda Doyle and the ever-excitable Tom Weber.

Here're some additional notes from Amanda re: this weekend's gig:

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Hi, friends:

Okay, just to reiterate, as there has been an unusual volume of, "Now, when is Free Candy, again?" this time around...

Free Candy is this coming Sunday.

Sunday, August 5
7 p.m.
At Hartford Coffee Company, 3974 Hartford (@ Roger)
Early arrival for those eating/drinking is always encouraged.

There will be lots of stuff to talk about, a brand spankin' new musical guest and plenty of surprises. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll say only this:

It ain't over between that fancy Japanese toilet and Free Candy.

See ya Sunday,
Amanda & Tom

Keaggy on National Sandwich Month

"Experience collector" Bill Keaggy celebrates National Sandwich Month every August with a great, daily sequence of photos on his flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bk/

You didn't know it was national sandwich month? Shame!

Peat & Bill Hilly: Video

Peat Wollaeger continues to generate heat around his stencil career. He cannot be stopped. He cannot be contained. The latest media-friendly Peat sighting is a music video launch complementing his recent, limited-edition Mountain Dew bottle. Find the video and other, odd bits of e-ephemera at:

www.stencilbilly.com

Adjust your sound accordingly.

Q'n'A w/ Steve Pohlman of Off Broadway

It's possible that the BBQ we're having at Off Broadway's Chippewa Chapel this Thursday may've been mentioned here, but... no, it has been. Definitely has been. So, just one more time, for good measure: Off Broadway, this Thursday evening, a day hence, 8-ish for BBQ (grilled by Jesse Irwin) and music from Darek Russell. Chip Chap follows, from 9 p.m.-til close.

Caught up with Steve Pohlman at last night's The Schwag concert - yes, it's true - but I'd already e-mailed him some questions about the club, which is facing some stiff competition from other, new, local rooms.

Here's how the e-conversation went, with the new no-smoking policy the biggest news, for sure:

How has the changing landscape of new clubs affectedyour booking?

Too soon to tell really. I think adding venues is a great thing...we need more places for good bands to play in order to keep St. Louis on the radar. Morep eople enjoying live original music is great for everyone involved.

How has booking changed, generally, since you opened?

We have gone from basically three nights of music a week to six, and have begun doing early shows on occasion, resulting in as many as eight shows a week instead of three. Johnny Vegas books Wednesday night Stag Nite, I coordinate the rest. Burt brings in a lot of younger patrons on Saturday afternoons.

You know have two, basically-set nights, with the Chapel and the Schwag. And, for that matter, Stag Night. How's that system going?

Generally very well. Consistency makes it easier for people to come out... whether it's being open every night except Sunday or having the Chapel every Thursday. Stag Nite is a little different... we can bring almost any band in under that umbrella. We have rearranged all of these in order to accommodate good acts who have limited appearance schedules.

There have been so many little-to-large changes at the club since opening. Any more on the immediate horizon?

We will finally go non-smoking September 1st. Currently I have the equivalent of a two pack a day breathing habit that I look forward to kicking. Lucas and Atomic Cowboy are non-smoking, recently Pop's Blue Moon went non-smoking. We are going to have a nice sheltered area outside for people to grab a smoke that we hope will give us the best of both worlds. At that point we’ll be able to display local fine art which we’re looking forward to doing in order to support local artists, bring in a more eclectic crowd and enhance the culture of the venue. We also will continue to make cosmetic improvements to make the club more comfortable as finances allow.

What shows really stand out to you over the past couple months? And which are the ones you're really looking forward to in the next few?

There have been so many good ones... I guess Bobby Bare Jr. with Centromatic was one of my favorites, as was the recent Hibernauts/Gentleman Auction House show as well as the Hold Steady. We had a great time with the Pokey LaFarge - Monads - Johnny O and the Jerks - Vultures show. And of course the Mandonnas and the Stag Nite Live at Leeds show. Upcoming? Looking forward to this Wednesday night's "Concert for Stagladesh" where bands will cover George Harrison songs and on August 28th, Ben Kweller should be good.