52nd City: March 2008

46th State

Oklahoma! The musical. With the singing and dancing and cowboys and pretty women in big dresses.

The Webster University Department of Theatre and Dance is putting on the show, and this time the students get the main stage at the Loretto-Hiliton Center (home of the St. Louis Rep and parking space theft).

I love the student shows. I love them more than professional shows. Maybe it's because I see the actors on campus? That might be it, but the quality of the student shows are on par with professional productions at Webster. As a student, I can get into shows for much less than the actual ticket price, so I take advantage of it. Over the past few years I've developed a habit for picking student productions over the others, even if the story doesn't greatly appeal to my interests. I don't care much for musicals, but putting that dislike aside for a night won't hurt (much).

Oklahoma
April 23 - 27
7:30 p.m. all days, except 2 p.m. on Sunday

Not sure about the ticket prices, but it's not much. Maybe $10? Will edit with actual price later.

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To Do

An assortment of happenings happening in the next week or so....

Today 1:30-4pm
Family Farm Lobby Day
State Capitol Building – Jefferson City
Citizens concerned about legislation that affects small farmers and locally grown food will be gathering to speak with legislators at the Capitol about these issues today. If you would like to learn more about what is going on, please refer to
www.slowfoodstl.org/2008/03/17/family-farm-lobby-day

The Washington University Assembly Series presents...
(free and open to the public)

April 2, 4pm @ Graham Chapel
Ken Paulson
“In 2004 the veteran newspaper executive became editor of USA TODAY. Prior to that position, he ran the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center, a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press and free speech for all.”

April 3, 4pm @ Steinberg Hall Auditorium
Calvin Trillin
“Combining a reporter’s eye with a wicked sense of humor, Trillin turns every subject into masterful pieces. With more than 30 years of writing books, essays, columns, articles, novels and poetry on an astounding array of topics, he is an extraordinary chronicler of American culture.”

Over the past 50 years The Assembly Series ( http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu/ ) has presented a number of tremendously interesting people to St. Louis including: Shirley Chisolm, Studs Terkel, Cornel West, BF Skinner, Margaret Mead, Gwendolyn Brooks, Elie Wiesel, Edward Albee, Ed Muskie, Harold Ramis, Nikki Giovanni, Uta Hagen, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Saul Williams, and Susan Sontag, to name a few. The full list of past speakers can be found here - (http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu/biglist/speakerindex.html )

April 4-6
Les Pays des Illinois Colonial Trade Faire & Musket and Rifle Frolic
Fort des Chartres
Prairie du Rocher, IL
Cool fort over in southern Illinois. A piece of our French heritage lovingly restored. Every so often they put on 18th Century period/reenactment type events. Period-dressed people doing period things. Not my usual bag, but I dig the fort and the drive over is beautiful. Something out-of-the-ordinary to do on a spring afternoon.
http://chasseurs.homestead.com/TradeFaire.html

April 4–6
St. Louis Marathon
Runners impress me. Particularly marathon runners. How can a non-bionic, regular person possibly run 26+ miles? At The St. Louis Marathon next weekend people will be gathering to accomplish that great feat and I salute them. For info on the marathon, and the many other events that make up marathon weekend, please go to http://www.gostlouis.org/

April 4 – 19
Italian Film Festival
Brown Hall 100
George Warren Brown School of Social Work on Washington University's Danforth Campus.
“Screenings are free and open to the general public. In Italian with English subtitles. All films in 35mm.” Another interesting thing in St. Louis that is free and open to the public. For film schedules and descriptions please go to http://www.italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com/

April 6
The Black Artists Group (BAG) Presents..
“Rivers of Women, a National Poetry
Month Tribute to Women featuring Shirley Bradley
LeFlore, Marsha Cann, Blue-Mashibini and more!
BAG honors women and the spoken word in what promises
to be a lively and diverse offering of spoken word and
poetry in performance on Sunday from 7-9pm, in the Rosebud Café
at Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, 2658 Delmar Blvd. This free event
will feature original BAG poet Shirley Bradley LeFlore
whose mark on the St. Louis and East Coast creative
scenes spans five decades.”

April 16
Dr. Peter Raven, renown Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, will be the final speaker of the season in the Social Justice Speaker Series at Manchester United Methodist Church. From the series' website...“In its debut season, from September to April, the Social Justice Speakers Series invites you to expand your understanding of our global impact through five free evenings of intellect, wit, insight, experience and discussion with internationally recognized leaders, trail blazers, and authors. At the end of each evening the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and sign up for further discussion and action opportunities related to the evening's topic.” For directions and other series info, please visit http://www.manchesterumc.org/article93992.htm

Please refer to event websites to confirm all details. Have a great week!

Missed it.

I knew I was missing something this weekend. Friday it seemed like I had places to be... and so today I check on Anime St. Louis. It goes from the 28-30...

Well then, fine then! Maybe next year. I missed all the events I was interested in. But, uh, what exactly is Anime St. Louis?

It's a fine, fine weekend of anime, video games, comic books and gaming all put into one place for a few days. San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con and Otakon are the biggest conventions of them all, but I'm probably missing a few.

Anime St. Louis has been around for a couple years, and will hopefully go on. It's a joint venture between the Webster University Anime Society and the Maryville University Anime Club. And maybe it will get bigger? There's no large anime conventions in the midwest remotely close to St. Louis, so Anime St. Louis seems to have the market cornered.

So the "anime" part of the convention doesn't appeal to me that much. I liked Japanese cartoons and movies, but the interest died as soon as I discovered good manga (Japanese comics). Although it made sense for me to watch them, since I studied the language for three years. (Still not sure why.) Anime, however, is not the only thing present at the conventions, but it is rather prominent and colorful and sometimes extremely confusing/annoying/just plain weird -- it depends on its presentation.

Perhaps around this time next year you can catch me at Anime St. Louis. I'm sorry I missed this year, but I had to work today anyway.

The U = Food for SLU

Ah, Myspace, great giver of blessings.

Just today, that fine site supplied 52nd City with a new digital friend: The U. We suppose that The U will be best appreciated by those on the SLU campus, who forget their lunch or work well into the dinner hour.

Yes, that's our thought. Thanks, Myspace.

What a great idea

from the incomparable Toby Weiss...

Roth Joins P-D Editorial Page

Former St. Louis attorney and community activist Eddie Roth, who made much news as a member of the Board of Police Commissioners, will be dropping that "former" tag soon, returning to St. Louis this spring. Originally leaving here to take a job on the editorial page of the Dayton Daily News, he'll be back for the same purpose: a job in journalism, this time on the op/ed page of the Post-Dispatch.

We welcome him back.

Welcome, Apollo

After a Lent without pizza, a joyous reconciliation was had at Mangia Italiano yesterday. The new, vegetarian "Apollo" is on the menu, after serving as a kitchen test case for a bit. It's got: a very thin crust, mozzarella cheese, honey artichoke hearts, cream cheese, red onion and spinach.

Trust me, fellow veggies: you need this pie in your life.

Photo Show Closure: Friday

After thinking, "what is it that I'm supposed to blog?" for, oh, about five days, I was just reminded, thanks to an e-mail from one of the photographers in the show detailed below. This Friday night, the Obscure Postcards show has a closing party, with an evening get-together at Fort Gondo, near the intersection of Cherokee and Compton. Info to follow, compliments of BB:

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Obscure Postcards - March 28th

Obscure Postcards presents local photographers Brett Beckemeyer and Alan Palmer with photographs from around the world.

Themes focusing on urban formation, urban decay, and the built environment unite a variety of photographic vantage points ranging from the photojournalistic to the abstract.

Bangkok, Chicago, Montreal, Tokyo, and Quebec are among the cities represented in the respective works.

Early in the Morning

If forced to pick a favorite DJ in town - please don't make me, it can only yield trouble!!! - Mark Early'd be high on the list. He's involved with a few musical projects outside of the strict realm of the ones-and-two. Some of those different spins and things will be on display in the coming week:

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Friday March 28th - Post-Punk Funk-Junk - 10pm til 1:30ish am - The Royale

Mark Early will be joined by special guest Jamie Hayes from Chicago. You may remember Jamie from when she worked at the old Zeizo and Meshuga Coffee locations.

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Tuesday April 1st - Modulation Monthly Edition 3 - 10 pm til 3 am - Upstairs Lounge

The long delayed third edition hits at the Upstairs Lounge next Tuesday. Join your editors Matty Coonfield and Mark Early as they bring the best shit they own for you to dance and get drunk to. PBR specials. Josh behind the bar.

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Thursday April 3rd - Nerve Parade/Glass Teeth - 10ish til 3ish - Mangia

Free show featuring your two favorite bands featuring members of way too many other bands. Come out and connect the dots to virtually every other band who has played in the St. Louis scene.

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Friday April 4th - Macro Meltdown/.e/Broken Letters/Shiny Around the Edges - 8pm - Camp Concentration under APOP

Mark, Liz, Ben, Joe and Matt bring their version of lo-fi analog/digital to the confines of Camp Concentration.

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Saturday April 5th - Wall Ball & Wall Ball After Party - 7 til 11 pm & 10 pm til 3 am - Third Degree Glass Factory & Atomic Cowboy

Wall Ball 2008
When: 7-11 pm on Saturday, April 5, 2008
Where: Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar, St. Louis
Cost: $30 per ticket

Pulsating. Hypnotic. Electrifying. Wall Ball is arguably one of St. Louis' most notorious annual events, engaging an eclectic mix of artists, patrons and admirers. The cornerstone fundraiser for St. Louis City Open Studio and Gallery (SCOSAG),
Wall Ball 08 will be from 7-11pm on Saturday, April 5, 2008
at Third Degree Glass Factory, located at 5200 Delmar.

Wall Ball is an interactive event that features more than 40 artists working live on pieces of artwork that guests bid on throughout the evening's festivities. In its fifth year, Wall Ball will overtake Third Degree Glass Factory for one night. Expect energizing DJ mixes by DJ INNOVATION, Barbara Cliffe, Mark Early and KDHX's Doug Morgan, savory appetizers courtesy of L'Ecole Culinaire and satiating cocktails from Cooranbong Vodka. All proceeds benefit SCOSAG, including the cash bar, so show your support by sharing the news or buying tickets today.

Join The After Party
Where: Atomic Cowboy
What: More cocktails, art and music!
Cost: $3 after 10pm or FREE with your Wall Ball wrist band

Mark Early and Barbara Cliffe will be spinning. Jumbling Towers will be playing.

East Saint: Pillbugs!

East Saint: Pillbugs!
Originally uploaded by AkitaSan.

Don't let pillbugs get you down. Snakes, neither.

Rock the Belz

Okay, before you do anything else, go get your calendar. Or your Blackberry. Or at least get a pen so you can write these dates on your hand for future reference.

Okay, you got your pen, plus your calendar/hand/scrap of paper? Now, write down April 1 and April 3.

Here's why:

First, on April 1, the superlative & brilliant Aaron Belz will be reading from his new book, The Bird Hoverer (of which I have a copy, a well-read copy, so I can vouch for its brilliance). You may or may not know that Mr. Belz is the curator of the Observable poetry series at Schlafly Bottleworks, and that he is personally responsible for bringing poets like Robin Schiff and Gabriel Gudding to St. Louis. Mr. Belz's fine taste in poetry springs from his own poetic genius, and you'll get a first-hand taste of that on April Fool's Day. Where, you ask? At the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar, at 8 p.m.

Then, two days later on April 3, you can see for yourself what a great poetic curator Aaron is, at this month's Observable reading (which, as I mentioned before, takes place at the Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest - also at 8 p.m.) Yep, this is the blowout first-name reading for 2008. EIGHT KATES. As one of the participants in the first first-name reading back in '04 (the legendary Three Stephanies Reading) I can also vouch for the brillance of this particular school of poetic categorization. Here's the skinny on the eight Kates, lifted from the Observable website:

April 3 – Eight Kates: Colby, Marvin, Ford, Greenstreet, Peterson, Pringle, Schapira, Lederer

Kate Colby is author of Unbecoming Behavior (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2007) and Fruitlands (Litmus Press, 2006). Recent work can be found in Bay Poetics, New American Writing and Vanitas. She lives in Providence.

Cate Marvin's first book, World's Tallest Disaster (Sarabande, 2001), was awarded the Kathryn A. Morton Prize by Robert Pinksy. She is co-editor with Michael Dumanis of Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (Sarabande, January 2006). Her poems have appeared in The Paris Review, Poetry, Slate, and elsewhere.

Katie Ford is the author of Deposition and Colosseum (Graywolf Press, 2002 and 2008), as well as a chapbook, Storm (Marick Press, 2007). Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poets & Writers, Partisan Review, Seneca Review, and Ploughshares. She is Poetry Editor of New Orleans Review and currently teaches at Franklin & Marshall College.

Kate Greenstreet is the author of case sensitive (Ahsahta Press, 2006) and Learning the Language (Etherdome Press, 2005). Visit her online at kickingwind.com.

Katie Peterson is the author of This One Tree, published by New Issues. Beginning in the Fall of 2007, she will be the Robert Aird Professor of Humanities and Poet in Residence at Deep Springs College. She was born in California.

Kate Pringle has one chapbook: Temper and Felicity are Lovers, out on TAXT. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Fourteen Hills, 42opus, Alice Blue, Denver Quarterly, Dusie, foursquare, & more.

Kate Schapira lives and writes in Providence, where she organizes the Publicly Complex reading series, and teaches throughout Rhode Island. Her chapbook, Phoenix Memory, is available from horse less press.

Katy Lederer is the author of Winter Sex (Verse Press, 2002) and The Heaven-Sent Leaf (BOA Editions, forthcoming 2008), as well as the memoir Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers (Crown, 2003).

Whew. If that isn't a tour de force, I don't know what is. Now, go read some Aaron Belz poems at meaningless.com and prepare to be steamrollered by them, in a good way. If you think poetry readings are boring (I agree with you there, most of the time) I'll say that I have quite a few friends who don't even like poetry, or poetry readings, who refuse to miss the first Thursday at Bottleworks...

Drinks and Mortar : Thursday : Duff's

Details here.

Media Makers: Medical Report

Photographer and KDHX host Bob Reuter discusses his upcoming open-heart surgery (set for Wednesday) at his Myspace blog. Link here.

Urbanreviewslt.com's Steve Patterson has a video update on his site, produced by Antonio D. French, detailing his recovery for a recent stroke. That vid's here.

Our best to all parties involved.

One Ring Zero: 2 STL Shows

Sent by a New York reader, this note. Thanks!

If ever I read a band description and thought, "Hmm, this is up the alley of Thom Fletcher and/or Brett Underwood," well, this'd be the one:

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Thursday, March 27th, 2008 (7:00pm)
One Ring Zero
at
VINTAGE VINYL
6610 Delmar Blvd
St. Louis, MO

Friday, March 28th, 2008 (7:00pm)
One Ring Zero
at
ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM
1 Fine Arts Dr
St. Louis, MO

Also, we still have a few copies of the limited edition "One Ring Zero - Ten Years Of Extra Stuff" cdr.
*****ONLY 300 COPIES MADE, EACH COPY NUMBERED*****
Only $7 … or free with any other CD you purchase from www.oneringzero.com ... while supplies last!

More on Arena/Checkerdome

A kind reader and fellow blogger sent along a link detailing some of the colorful history of the old Checkerdome/Arena. It's here.

There's some fun stuff, especially if you're of the generation that looks over at the Highlands development thinking, "ah, the Arena." If that's you, click.

Young Beano on The NEW St. Louis

In this clip, St. Louis born Hip-Hop artist Young Beano and his friend from East Saint talk about unity in The NEW St. Louis. I'm not exactly sure what it all means, but I like this clip.

Young Beano (a.k.a. Joe Vence) grew up in Cochran Gardens, and of his home neighborhood he writes on his My Space page that it was “...a place filled with gangs, drugs, alchohol, and many other negative influences” but that “did not stop Young Beano from progressing.”

Here he is...

Water please.

So I've been going to this Thai place a couple times a month since early January and each time I go I love it more and more. It's constantly mentioned in the food issues of the RFT and Sauce Magazine, but that's because the King and I really does deserve it. The service is usually good -- the staff has their less-than-pleasant days, I don't really blame them though, restaurant work is frustrating, but I've never had a bad visit. It's usually fast service, too.

The important part! Food is good. Wonderfully spicy and good. The first few times I went I got something a little hot for my own good, but finished it anyway. I learned my lesson, after the third... or fifth visit...

I tend to order from the vegetarian menu because spicy noodles and vegetebles = love.

Parking on South Grand is frustrating and I hate it, which is the only thing I dread about going there. I dread parking in the city because each time I do I narrowly avoid getting a ticket. I dislike meters.

I like to edit things:
Side street parking was brought to my attention. I know it exists, and its very convenient when it's available. Thankfully though, it is when I'm not the one driving. My car is cursed, I tell ye.

Writing Workshop Interest Ya?

Ryan Miller, who'll be contributing to the upcoming "Sexy" issue of 52nd City - keep your late April eyes open for that - is going to be offering a very affordable, seven-week writing workshop, with a rather centralized location, to boot. If your Wednesday nights in April and May are open and if you've wanted to take on a creative project and if you don't wish to pay a mint for the opportunity... well, this may be an option for you.

Let's send you here, to Ryan's blog, for the full skinny. (In fact, there are some interesting things on that blog, including a cameo by local civic treasure The Ubiquitous Lori White.)

Arena Fans: Take Note

So I just spent the last eight-hours scouring the web for fan sites dedicated to the old St. Louis Arena and - lo! - I came across this one.

Or...

I simply happened into it five-minutes ago.

Either way, enjoy. I will.

Download "Bus Stop"

A sharp-eyed reader sends along word that Oliver Sain's classic album "Bus Stop" is available via a soul download site. This one's a bit hard to find in the old-fashioned vinyl form, so the tech-sound and thrifty may want to visit the space for an essentiall piece of STL music.

Here's the full link:

http://funkydisposition2.blogspot.com/2008/03/oliver-sain-bus-stop-1974-abet.html

Broadcasting From CoffeeHouseLand

Monday, March 16, 8:38 p.m.: St. Louis isn't a Monday night kind of town. The options are limited, severely. Even in CoffeeHouseLand, that's true. The Grind, closed. 6 North, closed. Bread Co., closing at 9. So, it's off to Kayak's, a bit of a haul for the South City-centric, but an open place to study and grade. Strangely, I'd never been to the joint, but the results are exactly what I'd imagined. The clientele a mix of Wash U. students and the occasional "character" blown in from the rainstorm outside. The weird, Canadian wilderness-inspired motif is just as odd on the inside as it looks from the outside, but the tea's warm and the ANTM barrista's got a certain, "Wash U. boys worship at my altar" sass. Might not be a regular stop, but it's good to have options, especially on these damned Monday nights.

Tuesday, March 17, 10:13 a.m.: The rain's still falling and Hartford Coffee's got that soggy day feel. Save for the one cat, who's got the need to shout out his coding directions from back at the office, which is enjoyed by everyone in the room, for sure! Thank goodness this isn't a personal call. Babies roll in with parents. The volume rises a touch, with Shouty McShoutington competing with youthful squeals. And what's that other, loud sound? Ah! The tiny Hartford stereo, playing Heart's hits from the 1980s. It's weird to remember every track. Every note of every track. ("Never! No, never! Never! Never run away!") Uh-oh, the Heart's off and a mix CD goes in. Some St. Etienne, nice. Some other, sorta anonymous disco-lite. Okay, it's a blah day, let's go with it. Suddenly, the volume jumps. HIGH. It's a remix/reversion of "It's Raining Men." Apt on a drizzly day? Dunno, oh, sure. Loud? Kinda, come to think of it. Funny, oh, yeah!

Wednesday, March 19, 11:30 a.m.: Quiet in Dogtown and at Cardeiras. A few customers in-and-out. (Hey, Andy Strickland!) Some nice stuff on the PA and a barrista who's starred in multiple horror films. Really. The quiet tip-tap of keys on a laptop. In fact, the first post from this blogger via laptop. Sweet. Just... hit... Save...

Wow: Deb Peterson on Apop Records

I don't believe it, but I must.

John Doe At Vintage Vinyl Tonight

John Doe of X, and movie fame (Roadhouse, Boogie Nights), will be "in-store" at Vintage Vinyl tonight performing selections from his body of solo work. 7pm. X plays over at Pop's later in the evening.

Here is the info from Vintage Vinyl - "St. Patrick's Day is always a day filled with massive celebrations and Vintage Vinyl wants to add to your joy that day by hosting an instore with punk rock legend John Doe. Founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk rock band X, John Doe has also had a substantial solo career and will be stopping in at Vintage Vinyl on Monday, March 17th at 7:00PM to perform some tracks from that live before his show later that evening at Pop's with X. After his instore performance he will be hanging out and signing records including his latest Yep Roc Records release "A Year in the Wilderness"."

Perfect for a rainy Monday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

http://www.vintagevinyl.com/instores.asp
http://www.popsrocks.com/calendar/x.php

"Come On, Benny!"

New Blues farmhand Ben Bishop just signed on with the team's Peoria affiliate. The STL-bred kid stands a crisp 6'7, pretty doggone tall for a hockey goalie. Though this highlight catches him in mostly (non-)hockey action it's worth viewing for the announcer's call, about 1:10 into the clip. Which is, basically, the greatest call ever. Enjoy.

Platinum

One of my Fellow Students has produced a movie film.

www.platinumpizzafilm.com

Platinum is premiering at the Winifred Moore Auditorium April 8th at 9:30 p.m.

I was once almost an employee in a pizza place, instead I'm a part-time barista/dishwasher...

Webbies!

I... can't believe... I almost forgot. The Webbies!

And The Journal just did a story on the Webbies Production class being canceled. I hate to perpetuate stereotypes, but I think my hair color is accurate.

The Webbies is an award show for the School of Communication students. The category range covers, fairly well, all the media classes offered at Webster. Even the PR people! Who do some pretty neat work.

The website says it better:
About the Webbies
The Webbies Awards Ceremony provides students with a chance to earn recognition for their work at Webster. Webster University School of Communications students have the opportunity to have their work judged by professionals in the field. This is a great way for students to get feedback from professionals working in the field they wish to work in.

Webster Webbies

When: Monday, April 7th @ 7PM
Where: Loretto-Hilton Center
Hosts: Larry Baden & Bernie Hayes

Anyone is welcome!
It's in the main stage theatre, so there's plenty of room.

This is the first I've heard of Larry being the host. He is my academic advisor, the one who made sure I took all the right classes. He is also one of my favorite professors and people. (I'm not currently enrolled in one of his classes, this will not get me extra credit. Sadface.)

Improv Trick on Cherokee

Bill Chott's moved his Improv Trick classes to a new space in the Cherokee Street Incubator, near the corner of Cherokee and Iowa, in beautiful South St. Louis. The actor and instructor will be jetting off to LA for a resumption of the California half of his life next week, but he's offering a spate of classes this weekend, in the meantime. Here's a rundown of those:

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Improv Basics
Bill Chott teaches "The Trick" to Improv. This highly recommended class is a comfortable and supporting environment, suitable for people who have never been onstage before. Beginning Students find this work easier than they thought and Advanced students find Bill's approach fresh and inspirational. This 2 hour workshop is only $30. Free to Students of The Improv Trick Improv School. Sunday March 16th 4-6

Comedy Writing Workshop
Bill Chott, who has written for Saturday Night Live, The Second City, and countless TV, film and radio projects teaches the basics in comedy writing and coaches you as you create funny, lively and quick copy! This 3 hour workshop is only $50 and only $25 for currently registered students of The Improv Trick Improv School. Sunday March 16th 12-3

Status Sessions
The basis of great characters and great scene work includes building your character’s status and learning how to initiate status transactions and raise or lower your status in an improv scene. This three-hour sampler lays out the process for you, step by step. This 3 hour workshop is only $50 and only $25 for currently registered students of The Improv Trick Improv School.
Saturday March 15th 12-3

Fish Fry Blog

The title above is the title of an e-mail sent to me earlier today and if there's any phrase that is going to stop my non-Catholic eye, that's the one.

Check out the Fish Fry Blog today. Or, tomorrow, Friday. The more apt day, as even we non-Catholics know.

Tanner B's... Open... Sorta

The mysterious closing - and occasional re-opening - of Fox Park's beloved Tanner B's continues. And we'll continue posting until final resolution is achieved.

From Dan Brown:

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Tanner B's will open at 3:00 on Saturday March 15th, after the downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Please check it out with the links below.

http://tannerbs. com/blog/ ?page_id= 3

New Venue Alert?

Has anyone heard of a new live-music venue, located in a converted warehouse, just east of Kingshighway on Beck and owned by a fellow with the initials J.B.?

If so, please tell more!

I bait the hook and await...

Late Word: Mayor Slay on KDHX

Like, tonight: Topic A with Amanda Doyle and Thomas Crone, 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. Or you can listen to the stream or podcast, after midnight tonight via kdhx.org. Don't get much more last-minute than this announcement, nope!

Joe's Cafe: Hiatus

Okay, I really like Joe's Cafe. Have scarcely ever been there, but really liked it each of the couple times there. It's funny to think that Bill Christman's over-sized studio-gallery-drinking spot was able to last as long as it did minus some of the City's paperwork, especially when the Wash U. throngs began to descend on the space. Nonetheless...

It's closed. For now.

And civic treasure Lori White noted this fact, something which I've also not seen in print or online anywhere else. Here's her impassioned plea for a reopening.

New Lo-Fi Debuts

The first video in the relaunched Lofistl.com season is now up, a look at the annual Blab Magazine.

Abandoned Illinois

A reader sends along a site dedicated to abandoned homes, businesses and other structures, with a few pages dedicated to Illinois... but none in Missouri, interestingly enough. The site's abandonedbutnotforgotten.com and here's the page directly heading towards Illinois.

Worth looking at if, you know, you're into this sort of thing. (Thanks LJL for the pass-along.)

Q-Fest

I type up Webster University's calendar page every week that there's a newspaper. It's really boring work, but sometimes I find some interesting things going on. The St. Louis LGBTQ (mouthful!) Film Festival is going on from March 12-16.

QFest, as it has been dubbed, starts out at the Mad Art Gallery in Soulard, but from the 13th-16th the films will be screened at the Winifred Moore Auditorium at WU.

All the information: Walk this way.

I have the bad habit of judging a film by its title, or its IMDB page, whichever I come across first. Jamie Babbit's (The L Word, Gilmore Girls, Ugly Betty, The Riches, etc) film "Itty Bitty Titty Committee" caught my attention. Fun title, sounds like a fun movie. It's being screened at 6 and 8 p.m. on the last day of the festival.

"QFest, a new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer themed film festival, launches in St. Louis March 12-16, 2008. QFest is a cooperative project founded by members of Metropolis St. Louis' Out & Urban committee, Cinema St. Louis, and The Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Community Center of Metropolitan St.Louis. The primary mission of this new film festival is to utilize the art of contemporary gay cinema to spotlight the diversity and inherent complexities of living an alternative lifestyle in today’s society. This inaugural five day event will feature a variety of short subjects and narrative feature films, plus a powerfully moving documentary on gay marriage. The participating filmmakers represent a wide variety of new voices in queer cinema including Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader, The Gilmore Girls) and the out-rageous Minneapolis-based Lesbian filmmaker and punk rock musician Lisa Ganser."

www.stlouisgreen.com Launch Party Tonight

As we all take on the important challenge of trying to lead lives with greater sensitivity to our environment, we are bombarded with “green” this and “green” that. All sorts of things we should or shouldn't do, buy, consume. Various ways we should dispose of the things we use, etc. I am pleased and anxious to do all of the things I can, but sometimes I am unsure of what to do or I don't know where to start.

Many times I have thought to myself how nice it would be to have a central resource or starting point for finding green information, and www.stlouisgreen.com has come along to provide just that.

In their own words - “STLOUISGREEN.COM is Your Online Source for Everything Green in the St. Louis Area. STLOUISGREEN.COM connects you to: green companies and products, green events and activites, green jobs and opportunities, green education, and what ifs."

www.stlouisgreen.com is already up and running, but officially launches tonight with a party from 5:30-9:00pm at Tarlton's extremely green St. Louis Headquarters (5500 West Park Avenue - one block east of the intersection of Manchester and Macklind). The building alone is worth the trip!

For further information about the event, please go to http://www.stlouisgreen.com/WebLaunchParty08.php.

Chicago vs. St. Louis

A topic that never fully runs a course.

Two recent variations, for your discussion, debate and digression. Though I paraphrase the messages of each...

Chicago is for winners, St. Louis is for suckers.

St. Louisans, throw off the yoke of northern oppression!

Enjoy.

Bernie Hayes Understands

Always pleased to see another installment of "Bernie Hayes Understands" in my in-box and always pleased to reprint one, with the BH stamp of approval.

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Bernie Hayes Understands
March 6, 2008
BH 363

Without change there is no hope!

This is a follow-up to my last column 'If ignorance is bliss, we should be very happy!'

I don't want to constantly criticize and complain about local or national media, but the way things are, I find it necessary to devote much more time to the topic, because the radio industry paints a bleak picture as these new so called 'shock jocks,' and conservative talk show hosts infuse and saturate local markets, eroding audiences and alienating listeners. How sad and disappointing it is.

People seem to have had their fill of stupidity on the airwaves. Falling listenership among adults should be a particular concern for the industry, but conventional radio stations are losing their grip on the older generations, particularly African American who yearns for something of substance.

Systematic efforts to control media in the African American community and the community at large have intensified, indicating further erosion of civil liberties and the flow of information. One of the troubling developments I notice is the emergence of so called 'Shock Jocks,' and a number of bigoted, so-called 'conservative talk show hosts,' such as, in my personal opinion, the likes of Bill Cunningham, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Michael Reagan, Glenn Beck and 'The O'Reilly Factor with Bill O’Reilly,' to name a few.

Don Imus, who was fired from a national syndicated talk show for remarks he made about the athletes of Rutgers University's women's basketball team, is back on the air, thanks to the Citadel Broadcasting Corporation. The self-styled "I-Man" has returned to the airwaves and is as accepted and as admired as he was by his listeners in the past.

Hal Turner of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a history of extremely violent statements in which he calls on his supporters and members of the racist right to consider violent attacks against people of color.

James Edwards is the host of "The Political Cesspool," a blatantly white nationalist radio talk show that broadcast for two hours every weeknight from a studio near Memphis, Tenn.

Local radio host J.C. Corcoran was recently suspended by Emmis Communications for comments he made on his radio show on KHITS 96.3, after he made negative statements toward Ameren UE because he lost his power during the Super Bowl. Corcoran allegedly said, "I swear, I'm gonna get on top of your building with an AK-47 and just start picking people off."

In 1993, Steve and DC were fired by WKBQ (104.1 FM) in St. Louis after they told a black woman caller that she was "acting like a n----r" when she complained about their on-air comments. The jocks told listeners they opposed museums or TV shows devoted to blacks unless there were museums "about exclusive white contributions" or an hour on television devoted to white history. They were eventually returned to the airways a few months later.

Clear Channel Communications’ 100.3-The Beat, fired DJ Kaos and DJ Sylli Asz, for damaging remarks made about law enforcement after the shooting in July, 2005 of Kirkwood Sgt. William McEntee. The deejays later apologized for their comments, but were not rehired.

We should remember that culture affects both the substance and style of communication. People often view conflicts from very different perspectives depending upon such things as cultural background, economic position, and religious beliefs. In order for the parties to communicate effectively, they need to understand the point of view or perception of other parties.

We no longer live and work in a restricted market. For this reason we need every bit of diversity that will make us more creative and open to change. Cultural diversity brings fresh ideas and differing insights to everyone.

With this in mind, I must repeat what I wrote in my previous column, "In 2008, there are no local stations, except for a few hours on Sunday mornings, providing vital news and information directed to African Americans. This is shameful, especially when you realize that Black talk and information radio was responsible for the election of the city's first black mayor, the city's first black police chief, the city’s first black superintendent of public schools and the city's first black fire chief.

I rest my case. Hotep!

Please listen to my radio Internet broadcasts on LouRadio.com.

Open Lot update

Back in October we were introduced to the Open Lot by the wonderful Andrea Avery. I recently sat down with the Open Lot crew on a stormy Tuesday night (knitting night) and talked to them about why they’re doing what they’re doing. It seems most university graduates who are from out of town usually split once they’re finished with school. That’s not the case with these individuals, each hailing from a different part of the country, they decided to remain in St. Louis after graduation to have a go at contributing to the artistic endeavors of the city.

The idea for the Open Lot came from traveling in Europe and seeing how other metropolitan centers were encouraging the creative element in their immediate surroundings. They decided to find a building (and they found a great one), live/create in it’s space and make it available to others for events and performances. The result is a much needed alternative to the usual club/gallery where these type of events are normally held. You have a printmaker, two architects and a painter (as well as BJ Vogt who maintains his sculptor studio in the basement) all sharing the space as roommates and artistic partners.

They have some interesting events coming up in March.

Open Lot
1310 S 18th St
St. Louis, MO 63104
open.lot@gmail.com

March 9th, (all day), Community y(art) sale

March 14th, 7-11pm, Art Opening, Gale Davis new drawings "People Will Know What Kind Of People You Are" & Jonathan Lisenby new paintings (responding to Davis' work) "People Empyrean".

March 18th, Musical Performance, Paul Metzger (12 string improv banjo) and Tim Kaiser

Angela Malchionno, Aaron Jacobson, Jordan Hicks and Jonathan Lisenby of Open Lot
illustration by Dana Smith

The Darkside on Myspace

According to the club's Myspace page, the Darkside ran from 1957-1966, one of the linchpins in the old Gaslight Square. Owner Gayle Tibe's daughter, Kellee O'Brien, has fashioned a look back at the club here, with a few video links and photos, along with a heaping helping of nostalgia. Some pretty hipped-in friends, I might add.

Kellee and I have never met, but have frequently e-mailed, discussing a scene that departed 40 years ago, which is now represented in a digital tribute. It's quite a world, no?

When do we get time travel? I know where I wanna go.