52nd City: Miscellaneous & Eclectic

Sports of all sorts: bad sports and good sports

I have a talk radio problem, which I've noted to friends, family and students. Why it is that I wind up listening to 20-minutes of Lou Dobbs during the evening hours, I just don't know. Why my finger pushes 1120 AM during Rush Limbaugh's show, I cannot tell you. But it happens. Relatively often.

Not as often as I find myself shaking my head over sports talk programming. The recent loss of my first iPod and the bike's-staying-inside-kinda-temperatures has stimulated more in-car radio listening.

Now, I love the Foxhole on 1380 AM, from 10 a.m.-noon. Nominated them for a Kick Ass Award, in fact. But that's because the trio of hosts only use sports as a jumping off point for multiple other topics. According to Dan Caeser of the Post-Dispatch, the show may be on the move. Come next April, my clock/radio alarm might find a new home. Wherever the show turns up, we wish the Foxhole boys well.

On the other hand, I never feel particularly good about myself when tuning into the Kevin Slaten Show on the same station. This nightmare of a human being keeps it simple: bang on three or four topics a day, incite the angry-man contingent of listeners and take on beloved icons, whether it's logical, or not, to target them.

Yesterday, around 2:45, I happened to catch the balance of his show, which included listeners responding to his daily "rant," a feature he's been running with for quite a time. During the segment, a caller named "Trevor" (clearly affecting a stereotypically "gay" voice quality) rang up and said that Rams coach Jim Haslett was sexy, as was Slaten's voice. This, of course, lead to the predictable banter you'd expect, with Slaten eventually noting that he doesn't like gays calling and doesn't like gays.

I'd love to point to the audio clips of the show for direct confirmation of this, but links into Slaten's archive are dead today. Yesterday, the clips were up, but wouldn't play. (A common scenario with 1380's site.) Alas, as I wanted to pass along the clips to some local GLBT activists, along with the digits to KSLG's "fan line," 314-969-1380. So that people could, you know, call during noon - 3 p.m.

========

As our comments section has been on the fritz for some time, the local GLBT rights organization ShowMeNoHate passed along this note for publication.

From: ShowMeNoHate
Email: ShowMeNoHate@Gmail.com
Website: ShowMeNoHate.com

Comment

I have a call into the Station Manager John Helmkamp telling him he lost a listener and will lose more listeners to his station if folks like Mr. Slaten continue their tone of hate speech.

Now before you go and jump on my back about Mr. Slaten's rights to speak freely I totally agree Mr. Slaten can use his First Amendment here - it is a talk show, I understand. But the station must weigh in if they subscribe to Mr. Slaten's policy of not liking gay people to call in the show. Just substitute Mr. Slaten's word "gay" to "Jew", "Irish" or "I just don't like Catholics." People would raise their eyebrows.

We have Free Speech but we must remember "if we make a bigot's bed, we got to sleep with them too." Kevin Slaten just opened a can of worms for the advertisers (some who many are gay friendly, I know because I frequent them); the other listeners who have gay siblings, family members or who are maybe - gay! Call the station manager John Helmkamp 314-436-3283 and tell him this leaves a bad mark on their station.

Thanks.

Barack On!

This morning the polling center was busier than I've ever experienced in my 20+ years of voting. At 6:00 a.m. everyone was in good spirits and the line moved quickly. Inside, there were at leat 30 stations for our precinct--a mix of paper ballot stations and electronic voting stations with far fewer of the latter. It was a very mixed demographic, but there did seem to be A LOT of younger voters. Very anxious and excited about the day...

Happy birthday to our own Thomas Crone. If you see him out and about today, wish him well. It is a milestone birthday for him.

Piasa Film Festival

Would not have guessed such a thing existed, but... it does.

Details below:

========

Join us on October 25th, 2008 at the Piasa Film Festival. The festival will present the Illinois Premiere of "Shadowland" - a Thriller full length feature filmed in St. Charles, Missouri. This film was written and directed by Wyatt Weed and produced by Pirate Pictures. The film has received awards from the St. Louis Film Showcase for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film, Best Director, Wyatt Weed and Best Actress, Catilin McIntosh.

The festival will also showcase two aspiring filmmakers from Webster University. Former student, Dan Allen will present the action film, "101 Damnations" and current student, John Richter will present "ULTRA" a sci-fi film.

A panel of judges will present awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography. The audience will be able to vote on their favorite film of the night for the PIASA Award. This award is presented for Best Artistic Imagery.

Scott Stoltz, the producer said, "We are very excited to present a festival that is being so well received. The festival is already booked years in advance for locations in Edwardsville (2009), Grafton (2010) and Alton (2011). We intend for the festival to grow, to offer many films over the course of 3-5 nights and multiple screening locations and to offer a broad spectrum of film genres in the future."

The Piasa Film Festival is a regional film festival that focuses on the talents of independent filmmakers in the St. Louis Metro Area. The evening festival spotlights 10-15 short films, showcases a feature film and presents awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography, as well as the PIASA Award for Best Artistic Imagery.

We hope to see you there with your friends as we continue to bring our community together!

R.I.P.: Stan Kann

Just saw word that Stan Kann, the venerable concert and theatrical organist, TV entertainer and bon vivant, passed away earlier today. There's a short tribute up at the St. Louis Theatre Organ Society's webpage, which reads:

"Former concert organist and television star Stan Kann has died at St. Louis University Hospital. He was 83-years-old.

"Kann began his performing career at Washington University where he planed the organ. He went on to become the best known concert organist in North America. Kann played the Fox Theatre for 22 years before moving to Los "Angeles in 1975. Before the move, he appeared on the local program, "Charlotte Peter's Show." Following that, Kann co-hosted The Noon Show with Marty Bronson. For that work, he received the Silver Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1997 and the Avis Blewett Award in 2001. Kann was inducted into the ATOS Hall of Fame in 1999 and was named ATOS Organist of the Year for 2003. Kann was also well known for his comedy. He appeared 77 times on "The Tonight Show" and 89 times on the "Mike Douglas" show as well as dozens of other programs. Kann was also known as an enthusiastic collector of vacuums. A memorial service is being planned to take place at the Fox Theatre. More information will follow. A Stan Kann Scholarship Fund is being established to encourage and promote young theatre organ talent. Contributions can be sent to the fund in care of the Fox Theatre, 539 North Grand Boulevard, St. Louis MO 63103.

"This is just a small tribute to Stan Kann. For more on Stan visit StanKann.com sponsored by the Lincoln Theatre in Belleville Illinois. Stan Kann known to many as the guy with all the gadgets that don't work from his 77 visits to the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson".

"For the rest of us it's been his ability at the Theatre Pipe Organ."

========

I had a chance to see the man play in person just once, at a New Music Circle production on The Hill, where he played the organ, then watched the NMC players perform with (a small portion of) his collection of vacuums. It was a magical night, with a silent film playing, numerous bats literally flying through the open-air venue and Kann at the keys.

Mike Steinberg's definitive, 70-minute documentary, "The Happiest Man in the World" should also be noted. It deserves another showing on local TV in the near future, as a nod to the showman depicted.

=========

Photographer David Torrence sends along a note, with pics of Kann found at his blog. Here's the address for his nice note on Stan Kann: http://davidtorrence.blogspot.com/2008/09/stan-kann.html.

WB11 Cancels "Fan Show"

All things must pass.

Larry

A lot of people in Tower Grove East might not know Larry by name, but would know him to see him. Usually, he's found in the alleyways or sidestreets, his shopping cart weighed down by six-to-eight sacks of teeming trash bags, filled with scrap metal and aluminum cans.

I used to see Larry at a local watering hole, where he had taken up nightly residence, sipping at a canned beer, dancing furiously with no one in particular, often sliding through the bar and clearing a path in his wake. No offense to the homeless, but showering and old, well-worn clothes can be major issues and the cat usually would wind up with a five-foot berth around him, before he'd inevitably pass out on a barstool. "Ah, that Larry."

Once, I stopped my vehicle when Larry was pushing his cart down Louisiana Street. I keep a recycling bin in the trunk of my car and he went through it for the cans, though I alarmed when he began firing the glass and plastic into the street. While doing this, he kept up a steady patter about how he lived in New Orleans (or was it Memphis?) and how he'd lost a good woman. It was the kind of stuff straight off the pages of a piece of blues sheet music, but felt more compelling when told in the middle of a South City sidestreet; it was interesting, though lacked brevity, as we stood there a good 12-15 minutes.

Last weekend, while taking my daily constitutional through the neighborhood, Larry hailed me at half-a-block, a bit to my surprise.

"How are we today?"

"I'm doing real well, thanks."

He began wheeling the car into the alleyway, now a couple feet behind me.

"Sure is hot."

"No doubt about it."

He paused. And then delivered his next line with perfect comedic timing.

"It's George Bush!"

Another pause.

"That white fucker!"

Beatle Bob vs. Bluebird, Redux

Figured as much.

A Crispin Glover Weekend

On Friday afternoon, I sat in the KDHX control room, playing music on my new show, minding my own business Suddenly, it dawned on me that Crispin Glover was in town, and that I had good contacts at the Webster University Film Series, which had brought him in for a three-night stand at the Wini Moore. Two phone calls and six-minutes later, I was on the phone with Crispin Glover, broadcasting the man over 42,000 watts.

It was fantastic. Though I was a nervous, stammering wreck. It was just fantastic.

Though I wasn't able to make Friday or Saturday night showings of his mixed-media performances, I was able to get to campus last night, joining maybe 60 other people. Apparently, three nights and a $20 ticket price cost a few attendees. Instead of a sold-out, single-night stand like his last visit, this time he spread his audience out over three, equally-wacky evenings.

The engaging show began with his newest slideshow, featuring readings from six of his home-made art books, including the infamous "Oak Mot." The lead piece, though, "An Egg Farm," was the most humorous, with Glover's occasionally-yelled "NO!" worth the price of admission alone. Each sub-reading had moments, moments of pure weirdness and hilarity. In what he claimed was only his third performance of the rearranged show, Glover struggled just a touch with the material, maybe due to the crowd's low energy or the newness of the slideshow. But as a live performer he is unbelievably compelling, his pure, unadulterated, freaky charisma more than making up for a few missed words.

We'll skip ahead a moment to... the third portion of the evening, in which Glover answered only about six questions, with a full-hour's worth of answers given. They were intriguing and compelling answers, sure, almost all dealing with the second portion of the show, the screening of his newest film, "It is Fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." By the time he finished his answers, I was ready to anoint the work as one of the great feats in modern cinema, with deceased actor/screenwriter Steven C. Stewart a latter-day Welles.

See, Crispin's a convincing speaker.

During the film, though, I was probably as surprised, perplexed and spaced-out as everyone else in the house, the greatest blend of weirdos and hipsters I'd come across in some time. (To think of all these mixed nuts in one sold-out house, instead; oh, Crispin! why did you overbook?!) From the opening moments of the film, a credit roll nodding to '30s-era "Frankenstein" films, the project was out to establish oddity.

It worked. And it would continue.

Stewart's revenge-fantasy script, which called for the cerebral palsy-affected actor to speak about a third of the film's lines in a voice nearly-impossible for most to decipher, found him wooing and killing an assortment of impossibly-beautiful women. With spoiler alert firmly noted, near the end of the work, he engages one actress in a full-on moment of sexual passion, an image intended to jar, which it did aplenty. (Glover indicated that even more of these amorous scenes were in Stewart's script, though they had to be nixed, due to a lack of actresses willing to take part in such a shoot. Understandable.)

The surreal eroticism was only one part of the film's visual pop, though. The sets were a smart combination of 1950's sitcom and graphic novel-style irony; think "I Love Lucy" meets "Sin City." The actors offered some of the most curious faces and looks you'll ever see onscreen, with veteran b-actors working alongside clear amateurs. And trying to make the connections to his first film in the "It Triology" (the truly nuts "What is it?") proved somewhat vexing throughout. Rather than a sequel, this was a completely different movie, with only some touches of continuity between the two, mostly involving the late Stewart's, er, manhood.

In fact, let's go ahead and just say it: Steven C. Stewart, even in his 60s, suffering from a collapsed lung and the lifelong case of cerebral palsy, was as endowed, willing and randy as a porn star. And Glover figured out and used those characteristics for maximum shock value in the waning minutes of the film, throwing in some cartoon-ish, over-the-top violence, to boot. He probably did stay true to Stewart's strange vision. Yeah, he probably did.

Where irony fits into any of it... we'll just have to wait for Part Three. I'll go ahead and book my ticket now.

Readin' Around Wednesday

Some days, the e-mail box is bit more interesting than the last day. Seems to have been that way for the entire week. So, to get some topics and events out there, a compendium on notable bits follows.

========

There's a show coming at Subterranean Books. Tim Lane, known by many for his fantastic bits in the RFT is featured. Some details:

Subterranean Books is so excited to be hosting a gallery viewing of original pen & ink drawings and book signing for Tim Lane’s fist book Abandoned Cars, published by the highly regarded graphic novel and comic publisher Fantagraphics. The free opening reception and book signing will take place at Subterranean Books on Friday, September 26, from 7 to 9pm. The show will be up through Sunday, November 9. Reception is co-sponsored by Schlafly Beer.

Tim Lane is known locally as the illustrator of the semi-regular column in the Riverfront Times entitled You are Here, as well as other RFT serials.

========

Jason Deem sends along word of some new web endeavors for the Cherokee Street set:

Now that we have the kinks worked out and some content up, we'd like to invite you to check out the new Cherokee community news and photo sites:

www.cherokeestreetnews.org

www.cherokeestreetphotos.org

We hope these resources will be a useful and accessible way to stay informed, engage in public discussion, archive images that describe the life and history of our neighborhood, and celebrate the energy of so many who are working to rebuild and heal the neighborhood.

========

For those of you who remember the whole saga over the Miss Rockaway Armada and its STL riverfront demise, some of the creators have begun a new project, with a similar vibe. We won't be seeing them, since they're working the Hudson River Valley. But interesting, nonetheless. The story, compliments of the New York Times.

========

A Metropolis member sends along word of the MSTL flagship event, The Lot, happening this weekend:

Here's the schedule for the Lot this year. Starting at 4:30 - The Monads, Alivn Jett and Phay noiZ, LOGOS, Earthworms and Fresh Heir, The Funky Butt Brass Band, The Feed, Victoria, So Many Dynamos (midnight).

This year, in addition to Schlafly Beer, food will be available from vendors at the Lot. This will be a nice addition to the festival, as it will alleviate overcrowding in the Tap Room and allow people to stay for longer periods of time and enjoy all the music. Vitos, David Bailey (chocolate bar/Rooster), Beso Mexican Cantina, Cooks on Call and Emack & Bolio's will all have booths. Lots of other local business and non-profits will be showcasing, including STL-Style, LiveFeed, Animal House Fund, Hair of the Dog and more

========

Justin Visnesky, who has shot for a couple recent editions of 52nd City, writes us with news of a worthy project, at one of our favorite venues, Snowflake:

Hello All,

I've been busy curating a show for my friends Dave and Bevin at Snowflake/Citystock.The show is called "Here and There" and is a marriage of my life here in St. Louis and the life I still have in my native Pennsylvania. More info, including the list of artists can be found on the blog.

To help fund my endeavor, I'm offering up an 8"x10" print in an edition of 20 for the ridiculous price of $30 (including shipping to where ever you'd like it shipped). The photo is one of two 30"x40"s I'll have in the show. This is the mini version at a mini price. If you're interested, go to the blog for more info and to purchase. Thanks in advance for the support. And I hope you're all enjoying your summer.

Justin
justinvisnesky.com
justinvisneskyphotography.blogspot.com

CRISPIN GLOVER!

It's not every day that I get a chance to trade e-mails with CRISPIN GLOVER, so I'm choosing to bold his NAME early on here. To show my EXCITEMENT. Seriously. How cool is life some days?

This weekend, CRISPIN GLOVER will be appearing at Webster University's Film Series for a three-night engagement, featuring a couple of different films and his slide show, along with Q-and-A sessions. Here's a link to the WUFS page. At that site, you can specific info about showtimes and the run of works this weekend.

Giving an overview of his weekend below, CRISPIN GLOVER discusses his provocative films, his upcoming projects and some misecellany. Enjoy.

========

For your last visit to Webster, you had an overflow crowd. I know you have a second program to screen, but I take it that the popularity of the last event spurred your three-night run this time out?

The last visit to Webster was something that was added in after I had already scheduled another event that I had right after it. They had contacted me and wanted to know if I would be willing to come in that day before so I thought I would. I usually do not play for less than at least two days in a row for precisely the reason of what happened last time which was a sell out and many people had to be turned away. We really needed a two night event last time. We knew that the next time I came back would do the show at least two nights. So now this time people will have the opportunity to see the two entirely different shows and films. My original one hour live dramatic narration of eight different books I will perform before part one of the IT trilogy "What is it?" on Friday August 22. On Saturday and Sunday I will perform four completely different books in a new performance and show part two of the IT trilogy titled "It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE."

Here is a more detailed description of the show and films:

I definitely have been aware of the element of utilizing the fact that I am known from work in the corporate media I have done in the last 25 years or so. This is something I rely on for when I go on tour with my films. It lets me go to various places and have the local media cover the fact that I will be performing a one hour live dramatic narration of eight different books which are profusely illustrated and projected as I go through them, then show the film either What is it? Being 72 minutes or "It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." being 74 minutes. Then having a Q-and-A and then a book signing. As I funded the films I knew that this is how I would recoup my investment even if it a slow process.

The books are taken from old books from the 1800's that have been changed in to different books from what they originally were. They are heavily illustrated with original drawings and reworked images and photographs. When I first started publishing the books in 1987 people said I should have book readings. But the book are so heavily illustrated and they way the illustrations are used within the books they help to tell the story so the only way for the books to make sense was to have visually representations of the images. This is why I knew a slide show was necessary. It took a while but in 1992 I started performing what I used to call "Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Side Show." People get confused as to what that is so now I always let it be known that it is a one hour dramatic narration of eight different books that I have made over the years.

Also after I show the film I have a Q-and-A session with the audience. This has become an extremely important part of the show particularly after showing "What is it?" "What is it?" Deals with many taboo elements and audiences can have very strong questioning after the film and it is important to not explain the film to people in terms of symbols and meaning, but it is important to put the film in context of what it it reacting to and let people know that this is not just an exercise in something random, but there are specific reason why what is being reacted to with these films is important.

I make it quite clear that What is it? is not a film about Down's Syndrome but my psychological reaction to the corporate restraints that have happened in the last 20 to 30 years in film making. Specifically anything that can possibly make an audience uncomfortable is necessarily excised or the film will not be corporately funded or distributed. This is damaging to the culture because it is the very moment when an audience member sits back in their chair looks up at the screen and thinks to their self "Is this right what I am watching? Is this wrong what I am watching? Should I be here? Should the filmmaker have made this? What is it?" - and that is the title of the film. What is it that is taboo in the culture? What does it mean that taboo has been ubiquitously excised in this culture's media? What does it mean to the culture when it does not properly process taboo in it's media? It is a bad thing because when questions are not being asked because these kinds of questions are when people are having a truly educational experience. For the culture to not be able to ask questions leads towards a non educational experience and that is what is happening in this culture. This stupefies this culture and that is of course a bad thing. So "What is it?" Is a direct reaction to the contents this culture's media. I would like for people to think for themselves.

I will also show "It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." It is important to show "What is it?" first because it sets up going in to taboo subject matter to the extent so that when people view "It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." The taboo element is not what becomes important but the emotional content of the film. The two films have thematic similarities but are very different kinds of film. "It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." very much deals with the emotional catharsis of the main character is played by the author of the screenplay Steven C. Stewart who was born with a severe case of cerebral palsy. I put Steven C. Stewart in to "What is it?" When I turned "What is it?" in to a feature from what was originally going to be a short film. Steve had written his screenplay in in the late 1970's. I read it in 1986 and as soon as I had read it I knew I had to produce the film. Steve had been locked in a nursing home for about ten years when his mother died. As previously stated he had been born with a severe case of cerebral palsy and was very difficult to understand. People that were caring for him in the nursing home would derisively call him an "M.R." short for "Mental Retard." This is not a nice thing to say to anyone, but Steve was of normal intelligence. When he did get out he wrote his screenplay. Although it is written in the genre of a murder detective thriller truths of his own existence come through much more clearly than if he had written it as a standard autobiography. We shot "It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." while I was still completing "What is it?" And this is partly why What is it? took a long time to complete. I am very proud of the film as I am of "What is it?" "I feel It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE." will probably be the best film I will have anything to do with in my entire career. People who are interested in when I will be back should join up on the e mail list at CrispinGlover.com as it e mail them when I will be where with whatever film I tour with. It is by far the best way to know how to see the films.

Seeing your audience at that show, I was struck by the youth of it. It was much younger audience than I might have expected. What's the range of your fanbase? Do you see certain patterns emerge from city-to-city, in terms of who is at the gig?

I get a very wide range of people that come to the shows. I get young people older people families and individuals all kinds of backgrounds and physical types. There is not a specific type of person physically but I do notice that as I speak with the people during the Q-and-A and when I am doing the book signings that people are curious about a lot of things and seem to enjoy things that are more unusual and thought provoking. That is why it is a varied amount of people because people in general come to the show because true human curiosity and thoughtfulness has no physical boundary!

Are there other performers who've taken on this type of touring roadshow? It's hard to believe there's another artist showing movies, playing a slideshow and signing autographs until after midnight, but perhaps you know of some contemporaries to your style or approach?

Most live performance right now is music, so this is quite different from that kind of live performance. I would say the largest difference in what I do is the part that was not mentioned in the question. It is the live dramatic narration I perform before I show the film that is the most unusual portion of the show in terms of how films are usually presented. I would classify what I am doing as vaudeville. By mixing live performance and with a feature film and audience interaction it is harkening back to what was happening one hundred years ago in the entertainment field.

I also seem to recall that you were ill during that show. What's the challenge of working a live show when not feeling your best, and with knowing that your audience may've traveled some way to catch the gig?

You are right in that I was losing my voice when I performed last time at Webster. This is also a vaudeville sentiment - "The show must go on!"

One of my most-enduring images of you is in the Michael Almereyda film "Twister." Is that a reference point for many folks? What are the films and projects that people wish to discuss on a frequent basis?

Now after having acted in over 40 films it really is never about a single film when people come to the shows. People have usually seen a variety of the films I have acted in. I have had I believe two people who came up to me during the book signings that had not ever seen me in anything and their first experience was seeing me in my own film "What is it?" That was very interesting to me and I was quite satisfied that both of those people enjoyed the live show and the film. I liked that because it meant the works stood on their own without a preconceived notion. But in any case what combination people have seen me in what things is incalculable for me. I sign a lot of different DVD covers for films I have been and Twister is definitely one of them!

Are you working on any projects/possible projects of, let's say, a mainstream nature? Any cable, network or film roles, outside of your own works?

Upcoming in release are "The Wizard of Gore," "9," "Freezer Burn," and "The Forlorn." "The Forlorn" is about the Donner Party incident that happened when people got stuck on their journey to California in the 1840's and it resulted in cannibalism.

Also, are there any book projects that you're undertaking at present?

I made most of the books in the 1980's and very early 90's. The new slide show has some books that are more recently reworked and some older ones. I will continue publishing my books but right now my money is tied up in the film and I need to recoup me investments in the films before I publish more books. I will do this though and people can find out more about this and where and when I will be touring by signing up for the e mail list on CrispinGlover.com.

Did you have any impressions of St. Louis, based on your quick visit to town last time? And what are your feeling about the Winifred Moore Auditorium as a venue?

I liked St. Louis but I did not get out much. I know it sounds very touristy but this time I will definitely go to the big arch and probably to some museums. The Winifred Moore Auditorium is one of the finest I have been to in the country and the sounds and projection systems are to notch. The community has a great venue in its midst with excellent programming and definitely deserves to be visited. I look forward to coming back with the my two different films and shows and look forward to meeting people there!

Thank you for the excellent questions. I appreciate it!
Crispin

Art Sandler: R.I.P.

A popular professor at Webster University and a frequent attendee and organizer of activist efforts around town, Art Sandler, has passed. Just received the news today, the same day as a memorial service at Central Reform Congregation.

Here's a link to a Webster University release, which outlines many, though not all, of his accomplishments.

He, himself, was a link to a different Webster University, namely the artistic, activist, eclectic, free-wheeling Webster College of the 1970s and '80s. He was always there for students and I truly wish that I would've taken his courses. As it was, I saw him speak several times, interviewed him frequently for the WU Journal, but literally only had one class with him, a single afternoon of Intro to Western Civ, before dropping the course. Knowing him later, I always wished that I'd shown some diligence and stuck it out.

My/our condolences to friends and family.

Paint smears on everything I own

Jessica and I saw this personalized plate while idling at a red light on Jameison. I guess 'Ms. Unique' was already taken, but if, in fact, the title 'Ms. Unique' is gracing someone else's license plate, isn't there a lesson to be learned? Jessica suggested the plate read 'Ms. Eunuch,' which actually is kind of unique.

P.S. Rifling through the request-off book at work, I noticed two of my co-workers had requested the evening off in order to attend a Slipknot/DragonForce concert. Time to find a new job?

Time Out Chicago, Giving STL Props

Wow. So we see that Chicago is STILL sore about losing the 1904 Olympics to us, yet is still willing to give us some nice ink? It's so. See it for yourself on Time Out Chicago's website.

We're STILL 52

Today, a headline in the St. Louis Post Dispatch claims, "We're 52".

Um, here at 52nd City, we've known this for a while.

From the article, "The latest estimates for municipalities released today by the U.S. Census Bureau show that St. Louis is sandwiched between Wichita, Kan., and Santa Ana, Calif., holding a rank of 52."

I'd rather be sandwiched between Austin, TX and Madison, WI...but that's just me.

Interesting: U. News in the News

The long-simmering battle over the University News at SLU has been given an interesting treatment in the Post-Dispatch. It's here.

Some recommendations for today

Baby, you don't have to be a picture in a magazine: Comedienne Amy Sedaris, best known for her role as 46-year-old former "user, boozer and loser" Jerri Blank on Comedy Central's Strangers With Candy, graces the cover of Bust magazine's June/July issue. The issue, which marks Bust's 15th year of publication, also features an interview with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody, a peek into the studios of sewn art seamstresses, a brief history of women in magic and summer fashion tips.

Viva Zapata!: In the early '90s, Seattle punk band The Gits was starting to attract mainstream attention when its singer Mia Zapata was raped and murdered on her way home from a friend's house. The band dissolved, and Zapata's murder remained unsolved until 2004. Director Kerri O' Kane's 2008 documentary, aptly titled The Gits, follows the band's formation, rise to stardom and tragic ending, even capturing the conviction of Jesus Mezquia, Zapata's killer. For more information on The Gits, a documentary worth watching, visit www.thegitsmovie.com or www.myspace.com/thegitsmovie. To read a review of The Gits documentary, visit http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-06-25/news/getting-the-gits.php/full.

Revisiting Green Gables: I'm re-reading the books I loved growing up, particularly the 'Alice' series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, the 'Weetzie Bat' series by Francesca Lia Block, the 'Ramona Quimby' series by Beverly Cleary, Anne of Green Gable by L.M. Montgomery, Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade by Barthe DeClements and Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I'm, like, 11 years old, but at least, I haven't started writing Babysitters' Club fan fiction or dreaming up alternate endings to Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.

"Stick a fork in it": For unique barbecue recipes (Ever think to grill a peach? How about a banana leaf burrito?), visit the best food blog on the Internet, Girl on Grill Action.

"Ghetto Palms"

I love actually learning things when online.

Ghetto palms. Classic.

James Weber: Stylin'

Why had no one sent me this?

Oh no, a UFO!

This picture was taken from the window of an Amtrak train, the least reliable mode of mass transit ever ridden. Note the giant, black UFO flying through the Arch! Unlike Amtrak, spacecrafts are probably always punctual.

Jammin' on the one

Forget Baton Bob, Beetle Bob and Ponytail Bob. My favorite St. Louis micro-celebrity is Raynard Nebbitt, the guy who rides a ten-speed bicycle with a model of the Rock Hill overpass mounted on its handlebars. I'm sure you've seen him pedaling furiously down Arsenal or Lansdowne. My friends and I used to compare sightings, wondering if Raynard had a miniature replica of the whole town of St. Louis. At lunch with my friend Breanna, I asked her if she'd ever had a Raynard sighting. Being the kind of girl who knows about everything, Breanna had not only seen Raynard, she informed me there is a grassroots campaign to rename the Rock Hill overpass after him. We then shared the regret that everytime we see Raynard we're either in our cars or on foot. "He's an original. I wish more people could be like that," Breanna observed wistfully.

Ghost Riders

Ghost Bike installations, bikes painted white and installed at the locations of bicycle accidents, was the topic of an article in Sunday’s New York Magazine. These installations were started in St. Louis by cycling advocate Patrick Van Der Tuin, a board member of Bike Works. Bike Works received a Kick Ass Award in 2006. There are some really stunning photographs that accompany the article. Check out the slideshow too. Great to see these projects getting mentioned.

My landlord says I jam too loud

When I tell people I just moved to Maplewood, their response is always the same: "Maplewood's an up and coming area." I'm not sure what they mean by "up and coming." All I know is that, since trading my South City apartment for what Craig's List described as a "darling domicile," I live closer to Mr. Wizard's than Ted Drewes and can get a citation for neglecting to mow my lawn. Bummer.
Still, these are sacrifices I'm willing to make to enjoy the luxury of living in a house, where I can play music as loud as I want without incurring the wrath of, well, anyone. In fact, I actually like my new residence. The only real downside to ditching my apartment was painting over the giant glow-in-the-dark Crimson Ghost that adorned one of the dining room walls. Last fall, fueled by Steak 'n' Shake milkshakes and an ESG album, my friend Michelle and I spent an entire evening painting the ghost, our home and garden-style tribute to the Misfits. What took us hours to complete took my boyfriend a whopping 15 minutes to paint over. Though it was painful to see the ghost disappear under multiple coats of KILZ primer, the paint job was for the best. My landlord, a man who may well have inspired the saying "If it's too loud, you're too old," would have killed me had he ever laid eyes on the ghost. Miss you, glow-in-the-dark ghoul! You were a good roommate.

Wente Out @ KWMU

So says... KWMU.

Missed Connection

6/4/08
My friend Michelle and I were trolling through Tower Grove Park, scarfing sun-softened Whatchamacallits when you and a car full of your friends sped by. You were at the wheel, dressed in full clown regalia -- a neon orange wig, polka dot suit with ruffle around the neck and painted-on smile. I couldn't see them, but I bet your feet were encased in some oversized rubber tuxedo shoes. Your friends were similarly attired. As you passed us, you leaned out of the window and yipped. You startled Michelle, but I screeched after you, "I'm not impressed, carnival cretin!" I really wasn't.
I wanted to stop you and trade clown stories, tell you about the time my boyfriend and I swallowed tabs of ecstasy, dressed up as the Insane Clown Posse (If memory serves, he was Violent J, and I was Shaggy 2 Dope.) and hit every grocery store in the metropolitan area in search of Faygo, America's favorite off-brand soda. Sure, we later realized that the only stores that carry Faygo are the ones we failed to visit: Family Dollar and the Dollar Tree, but I'm willing to bet our corpse paint-smeared faces and drug-induced thirst for cheap soda were received with more alacrity than any of the balloon animals you've proffered. Jus' sayin'.

Poetry Scores Experiential Auction: Postponed

For those of you (bless you) who purchased a copy of our newest issue, SEXY, you may have noted that in the back - yes, with the ads - there was a notice for something called the "Experiential Auction," a fundraiser for Poetry Scores (who I also work with, FYI). Due to all kinds of factors, we're now bumping that event from June 1 to September, hard date TBA soon - always good to spend a breezy Sunday on the patio at Atomic Cowboy, but you won't have a chance to bid on experiences until the fall. So if you have June 1 in your Month-at-glance naugahyde calendar, scratch that out for Sunday. We'll keep you posted on the date in September. Namaste!

Also want to take this chance to note: it's only been a week or so with DSL after moving (and houseguests mixed up in there somewhere) so more poetry posts coming soon from yours truly.

Wente/KWMU in Current

At least one writer here at the ol' 52nd City office is fascinated by the continuing discussions about the role of station topper Patty Wente of KWMU. A national publication covering public TV and radio stations - did you know such an animal existed? - has weighed in on the subject. And we have a link to that "Current" piece right here.

Blogger Roundtable on Topic A Tonight

From 7:30 - 8:00 p.m., Topic A is dedicated to a local blogger roundtable. This is notable not only for the content, but for the fact that we found enough people to take time out from the BBQ rounds to take part. In the mix is yours truly, special guest co-host Maddie Earnest of the Local Harvest Dish, Bill Streeter of the Lofisessions and Lofistl and Michael R. Allen of the Ecology of Absence. Tune in, or find yourself a podcast in coming days.

Passings

Steve Smith and I put heads together at the Royale last night and decided to drop into the Black Thorn, to toast the recently-departed Miko Fleming. Upon entering, though, we were struck by the fact that there weren't any regulars on-hand, per se. A softball team in one corner. A couple of random drinkers in another. A modest house, all-in-all.

Behind the bar: an employee working her first shift. And: Dave Difani, the landmark's longtime owner. We ordered a round, clinked glasses, then found ourselves unsure of what to say, or do. We heard a few details, random scraps of info gleaned from conversations and phone-calls. Nothing to pass along, really, nothing that would add good thoughts to the memory of a good guy.

Miko and I ran in some of the same circles, though we weren't friends-friends, if you know what I mean. We both worked the door at the old Frederick's and laughed when we had to card one another, per management's orders. A few weeks ago, I waived that formality when he walked into the Royale, smiling. He sold me many shirts and ties during his Vintage Hab days and I recall talking about softball with him for a period; I guess we played against one another in Tower Grove Park, and it was a reference point for a bit. If there wasn't any new thing to say, we always could chat about bands or the people in those bands.

For whatever reason, I didn't go to the Thorn much over the last year, though I was in on Tuesday night. Saw Miko. Ordered a round. Exchanged a warm greeting. Ordered another round. Paid the tab and put the receipt in my wallet. Didn't think that the moment was anything but a random moment.

My sympathies go out to those who knew him so-much-better.

And my hopes are that this every-other-year-or-so storyline doesn't visit us again anytime soon.

(Link to STLtoday.com update. Link to Riverfront Times update.)

========

It might not compare with the passing of a man, but there's been word that the Alternative Music Pub, almost universally-known as AMP, has departed our Grove rounds. After the experience at Black Thorn, we decided to head over for a peek, maybe ask the bartenders what was in the club's future. Too late? Drove up, ten-ish on a Wednesday. No lights were on. No chairs were on the floor. No people to ask anything.

If true, this'd be a bit of a shot to the Grove, as AMP predated the rush of businesses to the area, a solitary magnet at the corner of Manchester and Boyle, drawing on the coolest set of people you could imagine. Though owned by a gay male couple, the bar drew every kind of person and that was a credit to the owners' personalities, to their musical tastes and to the dark, dark interior which always seemed to exude a certain ever-so-slightly-dangerous cool.

If I were to put together a personal list of the 10 best clubs I've known in St. Louis, the old AMP would make the list. I can't recall a time there when I didn't enjoy the stay. And though the new AMP never grabbed me in quite the same way, the staff was still excellent and the clientele was the best mix of St. Louis: young, old, black, white, hip, square. A club like AMP brings diverse people together. Hopefully, it'll do so again.

Maybe this departure's just a fleeting hiatus, not a permanent one. I do hope so.

Brewer; Wrestlers

If you just walk around and talk to enough people, blog entries write themselves. In what we'll call "people news"...

* Lori White, St. Louis reigning Queen of Omnipresence, will be given a run for the title of Most There St. Louisan with the re-arrival of Ray Brewer, who's back in the STL, after some time in Indiana. The improv comic, commercial actor and world-class roustabout was spied at both Soulard Market and the garden patio of Hammerstone's this morning; in the former case, clinging to a bag of alligator-on-a-stick. Of course. Hail, Ray.

* Little birdy tells us that... Broadway is now the block for professional underground wrestling. And we're not talking about the long-running, monthly show at the SBAC. Nope, we're talking some type of wildcat, women's only bouts at the Iron Horse (way down on South Broadway) on Tuesday nights; and at the On Broadway Bistro (way up on North Broadway) on Thursdays. Don't know the promoters, the staging, the plotlines - don't know nothin'! - but we aim to find out for you, the reader. That is our commitment to you!

An Unreasonable Woman

Author, Activist and Shrimp Boat Captain, Diane Wilson, to Speak at Webster University

What/Who:
A shrimp boat captain by trade, Diane Wilson turned to activism to fight devastating pollution from plastics and chemical manufacturers that she witnessed firsthand on the Texas Gulf Coast. Wilson's talk is based on her 2005 book, "An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas."

When:
Friday, April 25,2008, 6 p.m.

Where:
Sverdrup Business and Technology Complex, Webster University
Room 101
8300 Big Bend

Cost:
Free and open to the public- Seating available first come/first serve basis

More Info:
Paul Moriarty
paulmoriarty88@webster.edu

Sponsors:
College of Arts & Sciences, the Human Rights Education Project and the Environmental Studies Program

--
Maybe I am stereotyping shrimp boat captains. I think of Bubba, Lt. Dan or Forrest Gump when I think Boats + Shrimp.

I'm going because after googling her name and reading a few interviews, she sounds like an interesting person. I'd like to say that I think every speaker that Webster hosts is interesting, however...

I'll expand the little knowledge of environmental activists I know and maybe pick up her book if she has it with her. This interview from 2006 is the one that confirmed my seat at the talk. http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/58/18695

Bernie Hayes Understands: April 4, 1968

Reprinted with the permission of author:

========

April 4, 1968 - A Peaceful Night in St. Louis!
By Bernie Hayes

April 4, 2008, marked the fortieth anniversary of the assignation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There were thousands of ceremonies around the nation memorializing the event. On 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down in Memphis, Tennessee. He was undoubtedly the most famous and influential leader of the Peace and Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

In the wake of the assassination of Dr. King, riots raged in 85 cities and continued into the next week, ending with more than 40 people killed, mostly African Americans, as well as 2,500 injured and 21,000 arrested.

While elsewhere in the nation, the violent reaction to King's killing was spreading, St. Louis was relatively peaceful and calm during the four nights of sporadic arson, looting and vandalism in the largely African-American communities. Why? When the defender and supporter of peace had fallen, where were the militants and other who were torn apart by bitterness and a desire for revenge?

St. Louis today is considered by many a racially polarized and sometimes violent city, by way of its many protests and demonstrations, but why was it so quiet when Dr. King was killed? How and why did we somehow remain peaceful and nonviolent? There were many public gatherings and solemn observances, and although crowds gathered, they remained and dispersed peacefully. Why?

Civil rights activists Norman Seay said "the threat of violence led to an increase in tension, and as the riots in Newark, Chicago and the other cities burned, some how we remained solemn but vigilant, for we knew what could have happened in St. Louis throughout that riotous and turbulent night. While the attention of the state and region and possibly the nation were on us, the tolerance of smaller-scale violence and illegality by those who wanted to start trouble were convinced by the greater majority that such acts would not be tolerated. Therefore the evening passed without many serious incidents."

Percy Green in 1968 was considered one of the major Black nationalists and civil rights activist of the area, and he contends the only reason is that St. Louis was lucky because "we had every for rioting but the area did not have the proper chemistry." Green said "although St. Louis had more than its fair share of police brutality incidents," not one of those incidents occurred at a time to provide a 'perfect storm' to ignite a riot.

"High unemployment, under employment, employment racial discrimination against African American men was the stagnant agent that made the city ready to explode."

Johnny Scott, president of the E. St. Louis chapter of the NAACP believed his city in 1968 had never been a disruptive place because of racial divisions. He asserted their problems were with St. Clair and Madison County officials. He said "our city didn’t have much to burn, because most of the businesses were owned by African Americans and the rebel rousers were not ready to burn down their own." Scott stressed the towns’ faith and understanding of the Martin Luther King 'I Have a Dream' speech was their guide and the reason the city remained peaceful.

Former KATZ radio personality Doug Eason was on the air when the King murder was announced and he claims he was not allowed to play the recording "Burn Baby Burn." Eason said "management was afraid the recording would cause an escalation of vandalism and violence, and episodes of civil disobedience. They feared acts of wrongdoing would lead to more serious crime, and acts of lawlessness would cause more serious problems."

As violent as the city is today it should make us wonder why some of our children are killing themselves are. In 1965, only a few weeks before he was killed, Malcolm X said about self hatred "We didn't want anybody to tell us anything about Africa, and much less call us an African. And in hating Africa and hating the Africans, we end up hating ourselves, without even realizing it because you can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree. You can't hate Africa and not hate yourself."

Our children, the elderly, along with poor and homeless people, must join with the clergy and the community-at-large to show that we are appalled at the killing that is taking place in our village and the depth of depravity of which some are capable. It must stop and we must stop it.

Dr. King left an immense void in our community so we must remain vigilant and we must be inclusive by affirming but respecting our cultural differences, especially with appreciation to color, class, sexual orientation, faith, age and ethnicity.

Where Did Ambre Lake Go To High School?

I am class prepping.

And watching the finale of "Rock of Love 2."

Both are going well, thanks.

While searching Google for, well, "Rock of Love 2" tidbits (and class prep!), I noticed that finalist Ambre Lake is a St. Louis native.

I did not know this, but want to hear some stories.

Politics sure can be a dangerous business

On this date in 1893 John Buttermore, 26th Ward Committeeman, died of complications from a bite on the ear. The biter was a former Committeeman named Gus Vogel. Here is how the whole thing went down according to The New York Times...

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A0CE3D61731E033A25757C1A9629C94629ED7CF

J.U.

Last night, I was lucky enough to spin records at The Halo Bar, doing a split shift with the inimitable Jim Utz. After tossing on some Hoodoo Gurus after midnight, Mr. Utz tagged in and took the night home, first informing me that (what was now) Thursday was, in fact, his birthday.

To the Vintage Vinyl promotions man, DJ and 2006 Kick-Ass Award winner... happy 31st birthday from 52nd City!

How are you going to celebrate Ronald Reagan Day?

Maybe I am just feeling grumpy, but during the session today the Missouri House of Representatives approved (98-44) the establishment of February 6th as Ronald Reagan Day in the State of Missouri and I am completely bugged by it.

Setting aside that I come from a long line of Reagan dislikers, it frustrates me when a legislative body wastes time on something so unnecessary, and so subjective. I would imagine a number of the legislators who had to sit through the debate feel the same way. There is no general consensus that Ronald Reagan was a hero so why push such a thing? Why even bring it up at all? In 1980 Reagan garnered 50.7% of the popular vote, and in 1984, 58.8%. Healthy percentages to be sure, but those numbers still mean that half to almost half of the voters voted AGAINST him. We already have a President's Day on the calendar. Doesn't that cover it? He already has an airport named after him – something else that bugs me. Isn't that enough?

Ok, end of rant. Thank you for indulging me.

When listening to the House floor debate (Yes, I often listen to the floor debate live via the computer -- and yes, everyone makes fun of me.) I usually focus on things of greater significance, but sometimes the little things really irritate - and Ronald Reagan Day sure got under my skin today. Here is the Resolution language:

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 23
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
4832L.01I
 
AN ACT
Relating to the observance of Ronald Reagan Day in Missouri.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

           Whereas, President Ronald Wilson Reagan, a man of humble background, worked throughout his life serving freedom and advancing the public good, having been employed as an entertainer, Union leader, corporate spokesman, Governor of California, and President of the United States; and

             Whereas, Ronald Reagan served with honor and distinction for two terms as the 40th President of the United States of America, the second of which he earned the confidence of 60% of the electorate and was victorious in 49 of the 50 states in the general election - a record unsurpassed in the history of American presidential elections; and

             Whereas, in 1981, when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated President, he inherited a disillusioned nation shackled by rampant inflation and high unemployment; and

             Whereas, during Mr. Reagan's presidency, he worked in a bipartisan manner to enact his bold agenda of restoring accountability and common sense to government which led to an unprecedented economic expansion and opportunity for millions of Americans; and

             Whereas, Mr Reagan's commitment to an active social policy agenda for the nation's children helped lower crime and drug use in our neighborhoods; and

             Whereas, President Reagan's commitment to our armed forces contributed to the restoration of pride in America, her values and those cherished by the free world, and prepared America's Armed Forces to meet 21st Century challenges; and

             Whereas, President Reagan's vision of "peace through strength" led to the end of the Cold War and the ultimate demise of the Soviet Union, guaranteeing basic human rights for millions of people; and

             Whereas, February 6, 2008, will be the 97th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth, and the third since his passing:

             Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-fourth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby declare February 6th of each year to be "Ronald Reagan Day" in Missouri and urge all citizens of Missouri to recognize this event and participate fittingly in its observance; and

             Be it further resolved that this resolution be sent to the Governor for his approval or rejection pursuant to the Missouri Constitution.

Miss Rockaway Update

A few months back, I became vaguely obsessed with following the travails of the Miss Rockaway crew. If you recall, they were grounded by waterlogged crafts in a rough Mississippi River incident, just north of Downtown. Though I never actually saw the boats, I do remember sliding down a hill of coal residue in the attempt, a memorable recollection, indeed.

The update of the Miss Rockaway, comes via another interested observer, who noted some news on the crew's blog. Clickey here.

Patterson as Ombudsman

In a move that's caused eyebrows to raise among our town's civic-minded set, local blogger and urban activist Steve Patterson will reportedly join Room 200 as a Mayoral staffer in coming months, in a role tentatively being titled as Civic Ombudsman.

Currently recovering from a stroke at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mount Vernon, MO, Patterson has bounced back to his prolific blogging rate in the past week, with a recent post – "A Changed Man" – signaling his continued resolve to affect positive change in local development practices. Perhaps hinting at the new role, Patterson wrote on March 28th that his recent brush with mortality only hardened his resolve.

"Simply breathing everyday just isn't enough. I am going to be far more demanding of a quality environment than before," he keystroked into his trusted Apple, before asking, "Every year in our region we spend hundreds of millions if not billions on new infrastructure and buildings — are we getting our money's worth?"

Apparently, that brand of questioning will now be taking place on City Hall's second floor, where Mayor Slay's Chief of Staff, Jeff Rainford, admits in a bit of characteristic understatement that, "It's a… unique fit. Steve's been an ardent critic of regional leaders in the past few years and he's shot a few arrows in the general direction of Tucker and Clark."

But alluding to those past disagreements, while continuing the analogy, Rainford says that "we're going to leave those arrows where they are, scaling them, if you will, scaling them to new heights."

Patterson's quiver, the popular urbanreviewstl.com weblog, will be stored in a new home, within a drop-down menu of nascent features on the MayorSlay.com site.

While the Post's Jake Wagman was initially disbelieving of the move (opting to not blog on the then-rumor, while calling the presumed hire "a little too fanciful of a scenario for my tastes") the paper's newest editorial writer, Eddie Roth, has already prepped an early essay on the topic. Writing his initial piece as a staffer with a bylined "Commentary" article in this coming Friday's P-D, Roth elegantly indicates that the unexpected move is "symbolic of a wider trend of civic connectiveness in our region, borne through synergies both mysterious and evocative of a new faith in divergent decision-making.

"I felt the pull of home, all the way in western Ohio, which is not inconsiderably far," Roth continues. "I sensed the deep current of our wedded waterways and that of hearts which beat with the rhythm of the Three to the One to the Four. I heard the voices of change ringing from the region's varied haunts, echoing from down-at-the-heel alleyway to tony suburban curb cut. I heeded the call of a bi-state area that prides itself on a block-by-block sense of bootstrap municipal independence. And I felt that any City that would hire its own most active dissenters would be a City bold enough to accept all types of change, both mercurial and lasting. That all adds up to: a new City, if you will; a City of considerable power, yet surprising suppleness; a City, in short, for the rest of us."

Patterson's first day on the job will depend upon his continued, steady progress in Mount Vernon, though it's expected that he could see his name on the City's payroll around July 1, roughly a month after fellow civic activist Doug Duckworth's supervisory debut with the Land Reutilization Authority. (See Pubdef.net for video on that story.)

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.

East Saint: Pillbugs!

East Saint: Pillbugs!
Originally uploaded by AkitaSan.

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

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...

Wow: Deb Peterson on Apop Records

I don't believe it, but I must.

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.)

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!

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.

========

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.

Oof

I suppose it was a matter of time for a local rock band to attach themselves somehow, someway to this name:

Devilins Kids (sic)

Would link to a Myspace page for Devilins Kids (sic), but they don't appear to have one.

The band's playing at Lemmons on Friday, March 7 with Celebrity Autopsy and The Hot Atomics. Should we take bets on either: a) protesters outside the classic South City bar'n'pub; or b) Channel 4's Mike O'Connell reporting from outside the club.

Devilins Kids (sic). Man.

Tickets

We're all walking around with our own sets of accumulated knowledge, yes? That's why trivia nights are such fun, when the right combination sits together. Someone might know Rod Carew's career batting average. Another might be able to recite the entire Star-Spangled Banner. A third may have uncanny abilities to memorize the national capitols of South America. Bravo to all three!

My own gaps in knowledge are great. Occasionally, they're filled, through any variety of means. For instance, today, Office K. Hudson of the St. Louis City Metropolitan Police Department taught me that parking within 10-feet of a US mailbox will draw a city fine of $25. I did not know that.

The spot was just outside of Hartford Coffee Company. Over the past four or five years, I've seen dozens, if not hundreds, of cars parked there, never noticing a ticket hitting a windshield. My creeping sense is that I'm not the only person that doesn't know about the 10-foot rule and that enforcement's a selective, day-to-day endeavor. The lack of signage or striping reinforces that theory.

Honestly, I'm okay with most indignities that befall me as a City resident. Every so often, someone will mess with myself or my property. I'll hear car horns blaring and I'll see trash deposited in the street. I'll scratch my head over civic decisions, brought on by either knucklehead voters or elected officials. I'm willing to deal with all that. I love the City, warts and all.

But these tickets! Ayie! I'd just as soon pay the City, say, $40 a month for a ticket tax, which would eliminate the ticket-to-ticket stress that's brought to my life, thanks to forgetting the street-sweeping day or parking too far away from the curb or getting dangerously close to a mailbox.

Today's transgression, that one. Today's ticket. Today's $25.

City folks, esp. those of you working in the 15th Ward, please allow me this request: I have a lot on my mind and I forget things. Some things I simply don't know. Painting a thick f'ing yellow line along the f'ing curb next to the f'ing mailbox at Roger and Hartford would go a LONG, LONG way in making sure that I remember to be at least 11-feet from said mailbox.

Unless, of course, the idea all along was to bleed one more sucker another $25, while they're spending time and money inside a nearby, independent City business.

Thanks. I feel better, already.

Gay on Chop Suey

Earlier today, we were sent a long list of events taking place at Saint Louis University in relation to Black History Month. Maybe the quirkiest - and most interesting of the lot - is one featuring Malcolm Gay, a freelancer writer and former staffer at the Riverfront Times:

========

Diversity Noon Series: "St. Louie Chop Suey"

(Mr. Malcolm Gay, a former writer at the Riverfront Times, will present a video presentation and speak about Chinese immigration to St. Louis and the unique relationship in St. Louis with the African-American community. He will discuss how the relationship began and has evolved.)

Noon
Wednesday, Feb. 13
Cross Cultural Center

Vital Voice Relaunches

There's been a fair bit of behind-the-scenes work going on the The Vital Voice in recent months and the efforts will be seen shortly. Following's some info from the Voice on a happy-hour and unveiling on the new concept for the paper:

--------

New Format! New Content! New Attitude!

On January 11, 2008, the Vital VOICE will start the year anew and re-launch with a redesigned front page, improved content, new sections and guest columnists through out the year. The first themed issue (January 11) will coincide with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday and focuses on civil rights, racism, diversity and the upcoming elections.

At 5:30 p.m., publisher, Pam Schneider will host a RE-LAUNCH PARTY at Atomic Cowboy located at 4140 Manchester Ave., in the Grove. There will be complimentary drinks provided by Bombora Vodka and snacks provided by Atomic Cowboy.

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Times: 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Date: Friday, January 11, 2008
Location: 4140 Manchester Ave., In the Grove
Info: 314-289-2999

Saturday Mix

Mix? A different option than the ACC's "Stew," but is it better? We continue to fool with the concept, yes. But so many odds/ends to report that we've got to sum 'em up in a neat, little compendium. Here we go.

********

Perhaps it's a matter of not reading the right blogs, but I hadn't seen anything on this around town: Lucas Hudson is the new editor of the Vital Voice. Ran into the former ACC editor last night and he confirmed the news, which coincides with the publication's retooling of editorial content in early 2008.

********

Ordinarily, the Observable Readings are held the first Thursday of the month at the Schlafly Bottleworks, but in January, they're staggered by a week. Here's the announcement of the next event, compliments of series curator Aaron Belz:

Thursday, January 10, 8-10 PM
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Observable Readings Presents
Poets Dana Goodyear and Aliki Barnstone

Dana Goodyear is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Honey and Junk (Norton, 2005), of which Publishers Weekly writes: “All the poems are short and well-calibrated … her poems perfectly reproduce the claustrophobic atmosphere of love among the ruins of plenty." Goodyear, a native St. Louisan, now lives in Los Angeles.

Aliki Barnstone's most recent books are The Collected Poems of C.P. Cavafy: A New Translation (W.W. Norton, 2006), Blue Earth (Iris Press, 2004), Wild With It (Sheep Meadow Press 2002), and Changing Rapture: Emily Dickinson's Poetic Development (University Press of New England, 2007). A new book of poems, Pique, is forthcoming with Sheep Meadow. She is Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Now in its fifth season, Observable Readings was recently named BEST READING SERIES 2007 by the Riverfront Times. It is supported by grants from Missouri Arts Council and Regional Arts Commission.

********

This might be the longest link I've ever come across, but it'll yield interesting results. Reader Patrick Landewe's, expat and lighthouse keeper, was kind enough to send along word of a site that allows you to zoom in-and-out of an 1875 map of St. Louis, by neighborhood. Interesting stuff:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/addItemLink.pl?tourl=/gmd/gmd416m/g4164m/g4164sm/gpm00001/gpm00001.html&style=gmd&itemLink=r?ammem/gmd:@field(NUMBER+@band(g4164sm+gpm00001))

Christmas Creepin' II: Venice & Brooklyn

So, let's say you've explored the tunnels under Tucker and you've still got some Xmas time to kill before the familial needs kick in. What to do? What to do? Well, one option: to keep creepin'.

Let's say, though, that your first target winds up buttoned-down by security. The Venice High School demolition is well underway, but whatever agency is in charge of this effort is leaving nothing to chance. On a quick visit, a security vehicle is parked directly behind the school on Xmas and a Venice police cruiser's not far away. Man! What gives? What's in that joint that's in need of such protection? Or is the threat of arson just to high? In any event, that one's a no-go.

So, let's say you're heading back down Route 3 and what catches your eye is that the entire parking lot for Brooklyn's sin bins is... empty. One car, with a flat tire, but not another vehicle (or human being) around. And the you notice that the Fantasyland complex, burned into non-business a few years back, is wide open and ready for some quick photos. Whatcha gonna do when there's nobody, nowhere in sight? Well, you gotta go in. Then you duck when the local gendarmes show up. And you wash your darned clothes, that's for sure.

A couple minutes, a couple pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51252573@N00/?saved=1.

Christmas Creepin' I: Subterranean Tucker

Tipped off by a blog posting at urbanreviewstl.com and irritated by the sudden loss of the Venice High School as a travel spot - more on that tomorrow - a couple of us headed to the subterranean neighborhood under Tucker Boulevard for Christmas. Now closed to through traffic, the above-ground section of Tucker, near St. Patrick's Center and the Post-Dispatch, offers not a lot to look at: a McDonald's, the City's vermin control facility and the Greyhound bus station. An area not exactly in the tourist manuals.

Under Tucker, though... that's a different story. Also not part of the RCGA guides, we're certain, the tunnels under Tucker offer a bizarre group of odd sights - and, occasionally, sounds.

Directly under the Post-Dispatch, for example, is a Hooverville. If you were to scale a 20-foot wall of dirt, you'd find a homeless encampment of some size. Though, truth be told, there's a wide variety of smaller shanties, mattresses and box houses. So the next time the P-D editorializes about homelessness, remember that they have the community living six floors under the computer used for the piece. How about that?

Down there, former entry points into the P-D building are found lit by quirky, orange lights.

Also there: a huge pile of books, including a nearly a dozen copies of the STL classic "Hoodlum's Priest."

Maybe you'd be surprised to find a noose, hanging about seven-feet above the ground?

Or a wall of graffiti dedicated to the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals?

All along the walking route, easily accessible via Cass, or several, other, less-hospitable point-of-entry (which we took, initially), you'd come across the usual run of debris left by the homeless, along with the accompanying spate of graffiti, frequently found in such places. And you'd understand why the City needed to shut this area down, with generations of different attempts at stabilization running the gamut from complete to half-assed.

What struck us most of all, though, was the notion that if the P-D wanted to do an interesting piece on the homeless crisis or the underground STL that many of find fairly interesting, the staff photographers just need to go into the basement in crack the sliding doors. It's right there.

In the meantime, check stlstreets.com in the near future.

Or punch up some pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51252573@N00/.

Capote for Christmas

Ann Haubrich of Literature for the Halibut sends along word that this week's show has a special, seasonal tilt. One of the truly one-of-a-kind shows on KDHX, we're always happy to note their programming twists:

--------

Happy Holidays,

Hope you are swell and that the smell of Christmas cookies permeates your homes.

Wanted to give you a holiday tip:

Tune into KDHX this coming Thursday, December 20 from 7-8 pm and you'll hear Janie and me doing our annual reading of Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" – if you've never heard it, you'll be dancing around the Christmas tree… if you have heard it, catch it again... it's better than that Jimmy Stewart movie at putting one in a proper holiday mood.

KDHX FM 88.1
December 20
7 to 8 o'clock in the evening
Literature for the Halibut
www.kdhx.org

Fishbone's Angelo Moore: City Museum Residency

Let's just say this intriguing note was passed along by the ultimate City Museum insider. We is busting the news:

---

Just wanted to let you know that Angelo Moore will be running around the Museum with his sax on January 4, 5, 6 performing his "Dr. Madd Vibe" and will more than likely be playing the cave organ all weekend.

Mmmelt this Saturday

Can it be December already? Really? It can?

Wow.

In that case, I am so going to this event:

----------------------------------

CD release party for MOMBASA by mmmelt on Saturday, December, 1 from 6 p.m. until midnight at Jackson Pianos, 3138 Cherokee St. The first two hours will be a sociable party. The next four hours will be a meditative chill zone.

Don't expect new-age white-light bliss. We'll visit the brightest and the darkest corners of sonic splendour, and a full video explosion of projectile lumens striking like weapons and rendering solid witnesses into gelatinous liquids pools of awe. The performance will feature ambient electronic soundscapes broadcast on a micro-transmitter to a receiver planted inside a full grand piano with video mixed live and projected onto the piano. Tea will be served throughout the
performance, and visitors are encouraged to bring a prayer rug, meditation mat, sleeping bag, pillow, or whatever other deep listening enhancing technologies they see fit.

MOMBASA is a mmmelt first, a full-length solo album. It is a theatrical A/V explosion of dark ambience, glistening noise, rolling thunderous basslines, bouncy beats, electronic mandalas, digital noir cinema, and video feeds from the Free City of Mombasa, where cyborgs are not slaves. It features the poetry of Stefene Russell and Brett Lars Underwood on three tracks. Available in stores and online Dec. 1.

http://mmmelt.us/
http://myspace.com/mmmeltus

Nader @ SLU

A couple of election cycles back I saw Ralph Nader speak at SLU and the thing that still stands out is the fact that the man talked.... for no small amount of time. It was a packed room and his candidacy was taking on a certain flourish at that point, but I've seldom seen a speaker less attuned to an audience than he, the man going well-and-far beyond the point at which could process what he was saying. The applause was dying, the feet were shifting and watches were being checked. Man had a lot to say.

All that aside, it was a fascinating address, at points, and certainly gave pause to some of the students who were certainly there for "class purposes" only, as well as for the diehards who thought he could spearhead an effective, third-party launch after that race.

Well, Nader's back at SLU next week. My over/under on his lecture and Q/A? Mmm, let's go two-hours and fifty.

----------------------------

Great Issues Committee Hosts Consumer Advocate, Former Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader

Event Details: 7:00 p.m., November 14, Busch Student Center Multipurpose Room, 20 N Grand Blvd., Room 200, Lower Level, St. Louis, MO, 63103-2051

Saint Louis University 's Great Issues Committee will host a special event with political activist, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, in the multipurpose room of Busch Student Center . The event is free and open to the public.

Nader's topic for the evening is "Don't Waste Your 20s! Take on the Little Things and the Big Things."

About Ralph Nader: An attorney and political activist in the areas of consumer rights, humanitarianism, environmentalism and democratic government, Nader also has been a staunch critic of corporations, which he believes wield too much power and are undermining the fundamental American values of democracy and human rights. Nader helped found many governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Public Citizen, and several Public Interest Research Groups. Nader was the Green Party presidential nominee in 1996 and 2000, and ran as an independent candidate in 2004.

About the Great Issues Committee: A component of the Student Government Association (SGA) at Saint Louis University , the Great Issues Committee is a student-initiated group that strives to stimulate insightful, provocative debate on current issues. Recently, the committee has brought many notable speakers to campus, including Watergate journalist Bob Woodward, famed filmmaker Spike Lee, and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

CM's 10 on 88.1

City Museum's upcoming 10th anniversary will be the topic of conversation on The Wire this Monday evening, as we're joined by Rick Erwin, the CM Director and their promotional chief Kara Wall. This blogger and Amanda Doyle will be on with them on: KDHX, 88.1 fm, Monday, 7:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Granite Vintage (-1), Cabin Inn (+1)

Granite City Vintage Vinyl

I always liked the Granite City Vintage Vinyl, though I liked it much more in theory than in practice, as I seldom actually went to the store. But I enjoyed the notion that when in Granite City, I could enjoy the same quality record buying-experience that I enjoyed on my more frequent trips to University City. More importantly, the store gave countless Ill-Side kids a chance to buy quality music at a real record store, instead of whatever chain was nearest.

On October 1, though, the store shuttered quietly. No sale. No hoopla. A shame, in that my video collection is compiled from the bones of dying video stores and I never felt bad enough about taking advantage of a retailer's woes to not buy from their going-out-of-business stock. Alas. In a node to the late Granite's employees and long life, I bought $56 of very-needed music in U. City yesterday. (And might I say, Vintage is radically altering the price of many used CDs. Yesterday, I picked up various bits for $3.99 and $5.99.) In short, support your local record retailer.

The Cabin Inn

Little birdy say: The Cabin Inn will be reborn (yay!) on October 26, during the 10th anniversary celebration of the City Museum. The club will apparently be booked and managed by Peter Venezia (yay!), founder of the Atomic Cowboy's original location, and a partner in the Grove venue. Don't know much beyond this, but City Museum types are known readers of this site, so we're hopeful for some added insight/corrections/additions.

Cannot wait.

Soccer on the Radio

Just got this note about a new soccer show on the radio, which will air weekends on KSLG, better known as ESPN 1380 on the AM dial.

Here's the intercepted note, from co-host/producer Tony Hubert, a longtime fixture on local sports radio and a true, dyed-in-the-wool soccer fan:

------------------------------------

Tomorrow I am beginning a new radio show called the Saturday Soccer Report on 1380 ESPN. It will air at 1:00 this Saturday, and we have a special 2-hour show next Saturday the 20th from 4 until 6. I will be hosting along with my partner Joe Pelusi. We definitely would like to get some phone calls so tell people not to be shy.

Everything soccer is what the show is. Tomorrow's guests will include Lori Chalupny and Jeff Cooper. Lori is scheduled for 1:15. The show is sponsored by St. Louis Soccer United.

Illinois

Yesterday morning, I enjoyed Illinois.

Given a tip by a friend that a last-second trip to the Spivey Building was coming together, I drove over to the deserted ESL landmark. That meant jumping on the PSB, exiting at 4th Street in East Saint and then driving about two more blocks onto the Spivey's sunken parking lot. Simple. Direct. Easy.

Yesterday evening, I didn't enjoy Illinois.

Intending to get directions to Liederkranz Park in Millstadt, IL, via Mapquest, I was told that such directions existed. Uh-oh. I tried the superior ("true dat, double true") Google Maps and it did offer some thoughts, but my trip to see Fragile Porcelain Mice's outdoor set was snuffed where so many dreams die: Route 3 in Sauget. There, I couldn't located Tudor Avenue and no combination of map consultations, questions at QT's and educated (if bad) guesses righted me. I saw cornfields and subdivisions and Our Lady of the Snows, but never sniffed Millstadt.

I found myself on every type of road: city street, rural route and highway, none of them given over to especially good signage. I was stopped by a train. And I eventually wound up passing the Spivey again, at about 11:30, a half-hour after FPM's set was scheduled to start; amazingly, in the civic planning disaster that is downtown ESL, hundreds of partiers were clogging the streets, on the way to clubs. People out having fun, great.

On October 12, the relatively-reclusive Mice will play a show in Columbia, IL, at a club called Topshooters. I give myself a 50/50 shot of making it.

Big Read, Small Press, Great Guns!

As members of the small press ourselves, we'd be remiss in not noting these upcoming events, which came through my box via the Star Clipper newsletter. Not only does Star Clipper carry books and mags you won't find elsewhere (I'd also be remiss in not thanking them for carrying our little mag) they're constantly organizing events that help expand audiences for little magazines and comics. Not to make it sound medicinal or something you "should" do; au contraire, things like their annual Munny Show are exciting and just plain fun.

STAR CLIPPER AT BIG READ IN CLAYTON
Comics Discussion Panel and Booth

The Big Read, presented by Centene Corporation, is Saturday, October 6, 2007, 9 AM to 5 PM! The Big Read festival features publishers,book-sellers, national authors, readings, book signings, panel discussions, workshops, demonstrations and an interactive children's area with readings, costumed characters and projects that engage the young reader. It is free and open to the public.

Star Clipper will be a Big Exhibitor at the Big Read in Clayton's Central Business District. Additionally, owner A.J. Trujillo will join local comics creators Dan Zettwoch (Ironclad), and Ted May (Ted May's Injury) on a panel discussion about comics moderated by Cliff Froehlich, current director of Cinema St. Louis and former executive editor of the Riverfront Times and arts-and-entertainment editor of
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The panel and demonstration will run from 4:15-5 p.m. Saturday, October 6, at the McCarthy Building Companies Big Bee Stage.

JOHN PORCELLINO AND ST. LOUIS INDIES
Small Press Heavyweights October 17

John Porcellino, Kevin Huizenga, Ted May and Dan Zettwoch are coming to Star Clipper Wednesday, October 17! These four trailblazers of independent comics will be available from 5 to 8 PM to sign their work and original art in this extraordinary gathering of young talent. Small-press icon John Porcellino (King-Cat Comics and Stories) will be giving a formal presentation in the Star Clipper Gallery at 6 PM.

John Porcellino was born in Chicago, in 1968. He began writing and drawing at an early age, compiling his work into small, handmade booklets. His first photocopied "zine" was produced in 1982 at age 14, and he began his current series, King-Cat Comics and Stories, in 1989. Since then, King-Cat has been his predominant means of expression. Porcellino's most recent book collection King-Cat Classix ("A comprehensive introduction to the work of a great living artist as well as a tribute to the foundational efforts of an icon." - Library Journal) is a splendid overview of his zine's first fifty issues.

Rockaway Sunken?

Getting some interesting calls and text messages, basically indicating that the Rockaway Armada may've suffered some extensive damage near the eastside's riverfront this afternoon, with at least one boat capsized according to a phoned-in, eyewitness report from one of our 52nd City subscribers. Another texted with notes of being at the "wreckage."

Went down late in the afternoon and saw a Coast Guard cruiser leaving the area, but couldn't find the Rockaway. I probably zigged instead of zagged, par for my weekend's drowsy course. Alas.

If anyone has word, we'll keep this the last and the official thread on the subject here. I've actually called into a source at the P-D to see if they'd find and post some multimedia coverage of this on STLtoday.com. If anyone has links from other outlets, post them below.

Ayie. Really wanted to see this self-created armada.

(Update: just home on Sunday night, 'round 11:20. The ships, according to Jim Utz, are between the close McKinley Bridge and north city's rail bridge, on the Venice, IL, side of things. Went by tonight, but it's not exactly a lit and welcoming spot, so hopefully tomorrow will yield results. Did run across Moore's Lounge, the most-intimidating bar in St. Louis. Another post for another evening.)

Miss Rockaway: Any Spottings?

A reader sent a note to us this morning, noting that the Miss Rockaway Armada was set to arrive in St. Louis shortly. A week, or so, back, the Post-Dispatch ran a piece on the anarchist ship, which is charting a crazy path down the Mississippi River, with stops of varying lengths in towns all along the way. If anyone has more info on the Rockaway's arrival, please let us know.

Here's a link to the ship's site.

Bernie Hayes Understands

Every so often, I get an e-mail from Bernie Hayes, the longtime local broadcaster, columnist and Webster U. college prof. They're titled something that's going to make me open them each and every time: "Bernie Hayes Understands." How can you not read a piece labeled that way?

Today, I got one. And within minutes of getting it, reading it, and wondering if Bernie would let us reproduce it here, I got a note back saying to go right ahead. So, here's "Bernie Hayes Understands," no. 357.

----------------------

The Dedicated Widows - Lest we forget!

We are all familiar with the phrase 'behind every great man is a great woman.' Some men often owe their success to women. Over the past few years, St. Louis has lost a number of male celebrities and personalities and I thought it would be interesting to revisit the loved ones they left behind. The purpose of this column is to shed light on the role of the widows of some public figure who recently passed. These women are too often ignored.

We should remember the love and support their mates provided to them in assisting and developing their careers. It is important, and it should be deeply appreciated. Most spent many years helping their husbands, giving him love, support and basic care. Their urging was the inspiration for many songs, arrangements and other works of art. Here are just a few of the soul mates who are continuing to carry on their loved ones work.

Oliver Sain passed 28th October 2003, yet his wife Ruby is continuing to promote the Oliver Sain Band and Revue, and is planning the Oliver Sain Soul Reunion for October. She is also making plans to maintain Sain's Archway Recording Studio and convert it to a museum.

Guitarist Eddie Fisher, one of the most proficient musicians in the world of R&B, jazz and jazz fusion passed away on Monday, July 9, 2007. His widow, Christina continues to teach music and drama at their workshop and theater in Centreville, Illinois and she is collecting her late husband's musical instruments, original compositions and other items to donate to the Arkansas Jazz Museum in Little Rock. She said "I am still recuperating from his death day by day."

Luther Ingram, R&B singer and songwriter joined our ancestors on March 20, 1997. His wife and soul mate Jacqui said she is still grieving but is working to preserve her husband's music and author’s rights. She remains in O'Fallon, Illinois but is very much involved in administering Ingram's catalog.

Johnnie Johnson left us on April 13, 2005. His wife Frances is working with KSDK –TV anchor Art Holliday on a documentary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. Mrs. Johnson is also making public appearances and doing charity work in memory of her husband.

Veteran broadcaster Leo Chears, known to his fans and audiences as 'The Man in the Red Vest,' passed away Jan. 2, 2006 in Barnes-Jewish Hospital of congestive heart failure. His widow Betty is preserving the Chears' music archives and is continuing to teach young people the history and value of jazz and swing music.

Roderick Gerald (Dr. Jockenstein) King expired at the St. Anthony's Medical Center in Saint Louis during the early morning hours of Monday, May 1, 2007. His wife Idella is hoping to help develop a scholarship for young aspiring radio announcers. She said 'Jock left a void in the business that will be hard to fill, and I hope to be an instrument in filling that empty space.'

We also lost Bennie Smith and Henry Townsend, and Barbara Carr lost her husband Charles.

Theses women were a most important and essential part of their husbands lives and we should extend the hand of fellowship and guidance to the widows of these departed public figures that brought us so many hours and years of enjoyment. We should let them know that they are remembered, not forgotten. They all were united by common experiences and shared commitments.

Happy Birthday (September 16) to Attorney Harold Whitfield, Hammett Bluiett and to me. I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.

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:

---------------------------------------------

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.

Target : Rats

Target : Rats
Originally uploaded by AkitaSan.

The Weekend Starts … Now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rabbits

Meant to post this a couple days back, but... didn't.

While enjoying some cocktails on the patio of the Square One Brewery in Lafayette Square - one of the best in town, I'd say - our party noticed something extra and entertaining on the street: rabbits. A real Sunday night festival of critters, this was.

One or two running across Park might be amusing and oh-so-cute, but dozens of them?

Any Lafayette Square readers here? Is this is a common occurence on the business strip? Something lunar at work? Or were we just treated to a random bit of natural amusement?

Say It Ain't So

An all around nice guy and all around nice gal are saying buh-bye to St. Louis. The arts and culture scene will miss them both.

Randall Roberts, longtime writer for the RFT, contributor to our magazine, and DJ at KDHX (and all over town really), is moving to L.A. at the end of this month. He’ll be DJing at the Contemporary this Thursday, June 7th. This will be one of his last spins in St. Louis so if you get a chance, do stop by. 6-10pm. Free admission.

Tracy Varley, former co-director of Mad Art Gallery has relocated to Chicago. Tracy worked behind the scenes at Mad Art since the beginning. She was the heart of that operation and played a huge part in the success of Stray Rescue’s Mad Arf, the Glass Art Society 2006 Conference in St. Louis, and countless charity and art events, including helping 52nd City out a time or two.

We at 52nd City wish both the best.

RIP: James Deakin

I was reading the P-D's obituary of former, longtime reporter James Deakin today, thinking that the name was familiar. When I ran across this paragraph in Aisha Sultan's piece, it clicked:

Mr. Deakin also wrote several books, including "The Lobbyists," "Lyndon Johnson's Credibility Gap," "Straight Stuff: The Reporters, The White House and the Truth," and "A Grave for Bobby," a heavily researched look at the 1953 kidnapping and murder of 6-year-old Bobby Greenlease of Kansas City.

If you've not had the chance, seek out "A Grave for Bobby." About a year back, Christian Saller handed me a copy and I jumped right in, reading the book in just a couple nights. Colorfully describing the infamous Greenlease case, Deakin struck a perfect noir-ish, mid-century feel in describing the bumbling, ill-fated rogues surrounding the story. In doing so, he wrote about the working class St. Louis of that time, putting you right into the barrooms, four-family flats and taxi cabs of that moment, with even a few, memorable sidetrips to the late, lamented Coral Court Motel.

Obvisouly, James Deakin wrote about a lot more than just that celebrated case, but if he'd only done that book, I'd still have to say "thanks."

Skate Battle - Who's In?

So DJ G-Wiz was kind enough to give Amanda Doyle and I invitations to the Midwest Skate Battle Championships, on Saturday, June 16 at Skate King, 2700 Kienlen, Pine Lawn. The event runs from the family-friendly time of 11 p.m. until 2 in the a.m., which says to me that a "boisterous affair" can be expected. G-Wiz and and his KDHX co-host DJ Needles will provide the soundtrack to the event, which will crown (or belt) male, female and couples champions. Though I have a previous engagement that evening, I am sorely, sorely tempted to bust up to Pine Lawn prior to close for this one.

Anyone?

Barack Obama and the Man Who Carves Cranes

Compliments of frequent 52nd City contributor Chris King and his myspace page:

Barack Obama and The Man Who Carves Canes

By Chris King

When I climbed into Frank DiPiazza's vehicle, really cool music was spinning out of his stereo. Warbly pulses of melody played on the musical saw. Frank is cool, I thought. Not for the first time.

"Have you heard this, the 52nd City CD?" Frank asked. "'Sound'?"

Of course, I had heard "Sound." It's a homegrown, St. Louis thing. Good friends of mine run the operation at 52nd City. I had produced a track on the CD and received a contributor's copy of it. It's an ambitious journey in sound that goes everywhere, sometimes within a single track, and for some reason this musical saw piece – Track 11 on the CD, a collaboration between Derrick Mosley and Eric Hall situated deep within a suite of collaborations by Eric and friends – wasn't yet printed on my memory. But it certainly was an evocative and haunting piece of music. St. Louis is cool, I thought. Not for the first time.

"I've got a song on the CD," Frank said, jumping ahead to his track, "A Simple Song." Though it is an aching solo acoustic track, just Frank strumming a guitar and singing, he used a band name, Cold War, for the artist credit.

"That's funny," I said. "I started to write a review of this CD, just to send to my friends, one of my fake praise releases, but it was too self-absorbed. It's like I know every single person on this record, and that's all I could write about, how I know all these talented people and how lucky I am to know them. Before I gave up on finishing the piece, I actually wrote that there were probably even more friends on the CD, lurking under band names I didn't recognize. And there you are!"

Frank's song is raw and powerful. I asked him to turn it up.

I had known Frank since he was a very young man, an impetuous kid from New York who fronted a band called The Imps that my old friend and colleague Adam Long had produced. Adam has keen, picky ears and no taste whatsoever for rock music, but the year he produced The Imps he ran around giving a copy of their record to everybody he knew, he was so excited by it. I still have the record in my collection, and once in a blue moon I pull it out and still enjoy listening to it. It's one of those local records which, given the right push, shown the right outside interest, taken on the road for the right unexpected industry hand-off, maybe could have done something. Oh, well.

Now Frank was, among other things, a photojournalist, which explained what I was doing in his vehicle today. He had drawn the assignment to shoot pictures of a guy I had profiled for St. Louis Magazine. The subject of my story, David Goodwin, apparently had switched cell phones, leaving no forwarding phone number, so we were driving to his house in the States Streets neighborhood down by the river, hoping to catch him at home.

"So, how is the movie going?" Frank asked me, to keep the conversation rolling as we drove down to the river.

I explained that the movie, actually, was why I knew David Goodwin existed and that he carved these meticulous canes. The guy who had set out to shoot "Blind Cat Black" with me, who goes by the artist name Chizmo, dropped in on David one day when we were in his neighborhood scouting locations for the movie. David is the father of Chizmo's girlfriend. He lives in a spooky 18th century stone house on far south Minnesota, which we seized upon as the location for the hotel where our hero, played by Toyy Davis, turns a trick with The Dirty Old Man, played by Don Erickson. While we were shooting that scene at David's house, I saw all these hand-carved canes lying around. Given that he also needed a cane to walk, I figured there was a story in him. I was right. Now he magazine needed a picture to go with that story.

David was, in fact, home, though not for long. He had sold the old stone house nd was packing up to move away. But, today, he was still there and his canes were still there, and Frank set about photographing the carver and his canes in a way that would look evocative in a full-color mainstream magazine.

Frank first thought to use a battered and dirty U.S. flag as a backdrop for the hot, until I suggested it might offend some readers, since the flag had not been properly maintained, and some people get touchy about that. It was fitting that e had focussed on the flag for a minute, though. As Frank and David moved outside onto a balcony, to take advantage of the natural light and a neighbor's gritty brick wall, I went down to Frank's vehicle to sit in the quiet and wait for a call from a man who is running for president of the United States.

"Did Barack call yet?" Frank asked, when he returned to the vehicle after wrapping up the shoot.

"No," I said. "His press agent called to say he's running late."

I really was waiting for a call from Barack Obama. When I can, I do quirky features for St. Louis Magazine, to earn some spending money and to write about the interesting non-black people I know. I earn my living editing an African-American newspaper, The St. Louis American, and Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay's people had patched me together with Obama for an exclusive interview to preview his appearance in St. Louis the following day. I had been surprised to learn from Obama's press secretary that I was the senator's only St. Louis interview today, which in the competitive news business could be considered a big deal. It meant, for one day, at least, we would be ahead of the daily paper, the big radio stations and the local network news stations.

Obama finally did call, and he gave me ten minutes which I used to ask all of the questions you would expect from a black newspaper in St. Louis reporting on a black senator from Illinois running for U.S. president and coming to St. Louis to raise funds. His responses, also, were what you would expect if you know anything about the guy and his platform. I liked his answers enough that I found myself volunteering the information that he had earned my vote. Universal health care, early childhood education, energy efficiency and alternate fuels, a serious approach to climate change and let's get out of Iraq? Obama is cool, I thought. Not for the first time. Where do I sign up?

Frank pulled over and parked near our newspaper offices, so I could finish the interview before getting out of his vehicle. I had asked if Frank would take pictures of me on the phone with Obama, and indeed as the candidate talked about health disparities and the academic achievement gap, Frank was a flurry of activity, running around and shooting from all sides an unremarkable-looking person hunched around a cell phone, scribbling cryptic notes on a pad of paper, with "Sound" by 52nd City faintly playing along as the soundtrack.

SPJ Statement on U. News; Action Planned

In what's becoming a fascinating story to watch from the outside-looking-in, the St. Louis Society of Professional Journalists has weighed in with another statement on the Saint Louis University (near-)decision to change the charter of its student newspaper. An action is planned at SLU tomorrow morning around this topic, which is garnering considerable online and print media play in town.

Having read some comments in the comments sections of various blogs, I'm well aware that the "general public" is not coming in full-square against the SLU administration's stand. That's an odd, but somewhat predictable, thing, as St. Louisans do have a tendency to side with the power sources. The current edition of the U. News is rife with letters to the editor, many from current and former students, which add some necessary, passionate voices to the debate. You can read them at the Unewsonline.com.

Below is the latest statement from STL's SPJ:

Dear fellow journalists,

The Saint Louis University board of trustees will vote Saturday morning on whether to eliminate the existing charter for the University News, the student news at SLU. If approved, the university will then rewrite a new charter. After much public uproar, the administration now says it will solicit input from the newspaper staff, but it will only give them a week to provide opinions, according to Editor in Chief Diana L.Benanti. And the students still have no clear idea what the charter will actually look like once the administration acts.

Basically, the university is giving these students an ultimatum. Thus the students continue to defend their editorial independence and remain opposed to changing the charter for this 86-year-old publication.

Though not allowed to present their ideas to the board of trustees, the students are still hoping the board might be convinced to take no action on the charter. To sway the board, the students will pass out flyers and demonstrate at SLU's DuBourg Hall, 221 N. Grand Avenue, starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday (May 5).

They're asking all other journalists worried about campus free speech to attend and participate.

Greg Cancelada
President, St. Louis Chapter of SPJ

SLU's "U. News" in the News

Saint Louis University's student paper, the University News, is one that I often pick up at Hartford Coffee Company, as the paper's distributed not only on campus, but around town. Over the past semester, I've gotten to know a couple of the staffers on the U. News masthead and had the opportunity to host a one-hour workshop with them earlier this semester.

Right now, there are some serious concerns about the way the paper will be organized in coming terms. Just as the paper isn't exclusively found at the Frost Campus, the lessons of this situation extend beyond SLU (many) gates.

Rather than punching in some press alerts already posted elsewhere, in the spirit of blogs noting other blogs, I'll send you out to a couple sites that have already weighed in on the subject: Frank Absher has touched on this in his new Media Watch column at ArchCityChronicle.com; while Steve Patterson, a SLU gard student, has added more at UrbanReviewSTL.com.

Please read up and, if you feel the need, write a letter.

Happy May Day from 52nd City!

Greetings and salutations to workers, worldwide!

Mayor Slay on The Wire

Sorry to cross-list this blog posting, but Mayor Francis Slay will be the guest of The Wire tomorrow night, 7:30-8:00 on 88.1 fm/kdhx.org. Instead of going with a half-hour pledge pitch, we'll be very modest with our pitches, instead focusing on a variety of City topics. Instead, we're noting, in advance, that we would be honored to be the show on which you pledge!

If you have questions for the Mayor, we won't be taking live calls, but will consider all requests. Please send 'em to: wire @ kdhx.org.

Thanks and please listen, or catch the stream after Monday evening at kdhx.org. Sweet.

Magazine Props

A couple national mags of note weigh in on the locals:

1. Paste Magazine - a really nice music publication, if you're not familiar - gives a nod to the City Museum in the March issue's "The Paste 7" list, with a short blip and a photo of MonstroCity. Reads the text: "For an art museum that's anything but stuffy, plan a trip to City Museum in St. Louis. Housed in the former International Shoe Company, this 600,000-square-foot museum is a Discovery Zone for adults and children alike, artistically crafted from locally reclaimed materials. Marvel at the spectacularly sculpted Enchanted Caves, climb through four-foot-wide wrought-iron slinkies or attend a shark feeding." After reading that, I definitely want to check this place out.

2. Meanwhile, Magnet Magzine's Jan./Feb. edition has a single-page piece on Finn's Motel, with a nice write-up and gigantoid photo of Joe Thebeau. Read the piece, in part: "Though Escape Velocity's algebraic derivation may be a little murky, its universal theme of disillusionment and escape come through loud and clear thanks to Thebeau's evocative combination of literate wordplay and Cheap Trick/Guided by Voices-fueled rock." After reading this, I totally want to listen to this band.

South Side Mouse Races

On Saturday, I found myself at a youth basketball game at Ephiphany Parish, that delightful complex over on Ivanhoe, just south of Arsenal and I-44. The place has everything for kid sports competition, including a small soccer field, a very functional gym (with concessions stand) and even a bowling alley. No wonder some South City parishes view them with a bit of non-Biblical envy.

Well, they're working for the money. On Saturday, Feb. 10, Epiphany's gym will host the Sixth Annual Night at the Races, a mouse race event that apparently draws quite the crowd. The ticket price is $12 in advance, $17 the night of the event. Admission includes beer, se-ups and snacks. Info: Don Ferguson, 314-644-0912.

The thought of securing a mouse racing track for the 52nd City "Sporty" issue release has now officially gone from back-burner status to the most important thing I need to think about between now and July. Beyond the above event, any leads?

New Life for the Double Bogey ...

Okay, I can't say I went into the Double Bogey a lot. In fact, I think I was in there exactly twice (but girls with glasses look out of place in sports clubs, even little neighborhoodish sports in South City). But to see the place empty - just a door down off South Grand, 3613 Juniata to be exact - bummed me out. As a resident of the neighborhood, it pains me to see *any* empty storefronts. After the Bogey closed, there was rumor that it was going to be a pet shop. A friend threatened to open a steak house there. And then it sat and sat, with no apparent prospects on the horizon.

Then, a few weeks ago, I saw some guys tinkering with the pipes out back. I didn't want to be too hopeful, because tinkering with water pipes might just mean one of 'em had busted during the cold weather. But lo and behold, on the morning before our "Stuff" party at Snowflake a few weeks ago, I was sitting in a chair at Verve, getting a badly needed haircut, when I learned that there was a new tenant slated to move into the space. That tenant, in fact, is Verve! They should be in the new space long before the spring thaw, though I don't have an exact date (but I have another haircut scheduled for February 10, so I am assuming they will be in the new digs by then). So let your hair grow a little long around your collar and welcome them to their new corner by sitting in a chair and getting a haircut ... or an eyebrow tweeze, as the case may be. No word yet as to what will be going into the Verve space on South Grand, but I do know that the street-facing storefronts will probably be easier to fill than the little side pocket space on Juniata. So ... things are on the move over here in lovely Tower Grove East.

Just Don't Call Me Sweetheart

A combination musical/documentary event will be given life a couple times in upcoming weeks, as Kristy Guttmann, a former member of the band Maid Rite shows a short doc on the group, "You Can Call Me Sweetheart," at a pair of venues. Here's the note from the producer:

I hope you all can make one of the upcoming screenings of my documentary about Maid Rite. This Saturday at Off Broadway we will screen around 9 p.m. before Maid Rite performs. On Valentine's Day at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, I'll show it twice - 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. - with music by Maid Rite (all dressed in red) from 9-11 p.m. in the Crown Room. See you soon.

Haunted STL Locations

Sent along by our art director, Caroline Huth, a list of the most-haunted St. Louis locations. Have been to more than a few of these spots, but not all. A mixed bag of lists and annotations to be sure, but fun browing, all the same:

http://www.strangeusa.com/viewcity.asp?city=St.%20Louis&state=MO

Avalon

According to a piece in the Suburban Journals - pointed at today at www.eco-absence.org, the Avalon Cinema might be looking at demolition in the near future. The shuttered moviehouse, near the intersection of Chippewa and Kingshighway, has certainly known better days, though it'd be interesting - and probably impossible, considering the intractability of owner Greg Tsevis - to hear the results of a thorough study on the viability of the structure.

Alas. For the moment, we can still peer at the CLO E sign on the marquee.

Fun with numbers

Please put these numbers together:

3132
49
34
12/28

Enjoy!

Free Show & No Show

Brett Underwood, he of the soon-to-be-gone No Show on KDHX, notes this free show on South Grand tonight. Wild horses and all that, for me:

A mix of THC and TLC have combined for one magical scheduling mistake at Mangia Italiano tonight. Come on down South Grand and enjoy the music of The Deserters (Mark Stephens and members of Carousel Cowboy: you know Danny, Ethan and Adam...plus Paul Staples, who may do some sort of solo DJ thang in between amp scootin'). Following and closing out the night will be a Sadeeq Holmes project involving Brian Sullivan, Eric Hall and some horns which promises to be wonderfully live and probably a little noisy. How you say, "free jazz"? It all looks good on paper, but lets see what happens when we roll your balls out onto the court and the elements of the night combine and collide into the wee hours. Or stay home and listen to the second-to-last ever episode of The No Show on KDHX. Like Eric Hall said this afternoon, "It takes a lot of teamwork to make this dream work." I can't be in both places but you can, so I think you should even if you have to sneak out and listen to your buzz in the car for a bit.

Brett Underwood
Host of The No Show (Jan. 4th is the final episode)
noshow@kdhx.org;
Writer, Event producer
http://www.myspace.com/brettlarsunderwood

Saving KYMC

I've definitely heard about KYMC far, far more than I've actually heard KYMC. But the left-of-the-dial radio station's been a stalwart of both the Westplex and the local music scene for the better part of three decades, so it's with some concern that there's an open letter/website going live, indicating that 89.7 fm may soon be no longer.

Here's a link to the site: http://www.savekymc.net/.

If so moved, they're looking for letters, e-mails and calls of support to the West County YMCA, to keep the station afloat after the New Year.

In fact, if we're in wish-list mode, it'd be nice to not only hear that the station's still going to be active, but to hear that streaming could go live. Matt Distelrath's "Hindsight" show is probably my favorite on the local airwaves, but the low wattage of KYMC's made hearing it an impossibility. Here's hoping that his show gets picked up elsewhere on the dial. (Can KDHX get cooler? Would the Point invest in a quality rock show? Dunno, dunno.)

Gondolfi for Alderman

Well, well. Having heard some vague rumors to this effect, it wasn't a complete surprise to see that Galen Gondolfi's emerged as an officially announced candidate for the Aldermanic seat in the 20th Ward. (This press release was posted on the archcitychronicle.com site earlier today.) Though I've had pretty good dealings with longtime officeholder Craig Schmid, it's hard not to be intrigued by the possibilities offered up by Gondolfi, one of the key forces in making the Cherokee/Compton arts zone a going/evolving concern.

Below is the text of the message signalling his intent:

(St. Louis) – Community activist Galen Gondolfi is entering the race for alderman of the 20th Ward. Filing Monday at the St. Louis Board of Elections, Gondolfi made official his intention of seeking the post in the March 6, 2007 primary election.

Gondolfi's platform prioritizes affordable housing preservation, small business development and resident participation as critical issues facing the ward. As former president of the Benton Park West Neighborhood Association, Gondolfi is a seasoned community activist with an emphasis on "participatory politics." A Senior Loan Counselor with the local non-profit Justine Petersen Housing and Reinvestment Corporation, Gondolfi links first-time home owners and small business people with local, state and federal resources.

"The ward's greatest assets are its residents," declares Gondolfi. "We need an alderperson who not only listens to our residents, but acts on their behalf."

Gondolfi's campaign committee is co-chaired by Glenn Burleigh and Lizzie Kucharski, with Amber Dover serving as treasurer. The 20th Ward includes, in part, the neighborhoods of Gravois Park, Dutchtown, Marine Villa and Benton Park West.

If The Key Fits

On Arsenal, just a few steps away from what was formerly Alibi's (and prior to that, the Bavarian Inn) there's an unassuming little lock shop, US Lock. I've driven past it lots of times and didn't even register it mentally. My friend the Union sheet metal worker has all of his keys made there - he says it's the only place that doesn't mess them up. I know when I've had to make a key after 5 (or, I'll admit it, when I was lazy or busy) and defaulted to the big-box places, more often than not I took it back because it just didn't work. And it took FOREVER. And standing at the desolate little key station at Home Depot, with people running to and fro carrying buckets of paint or doorknobs or lumber ... ugh.

Like the fishing shop across the street from what was formerly known as Frederick's Music Lounge, US Lock is a little world unto itself. The lady behind the counter made TWO keys in - no hyperbole here - less than 30 seconds. I was hoping it would take a little more time than that, because the place had me awash in nostalgia and I wanted to stay and soak it up. They still use big army-green metal filing cabinets, and there were wire baskets with paper stacked up inside on top; a crosstitch sampler of the locksmith's credo hung above the counter; a pink melamine phone on the display case; they even had the little plastic teardrop-shaped keychains with horoscope signs on them for sale. And there were boxes and boxes of keys, along the back wall. The emotional impact of watching this tiny lady make a key in the time it takes me to sneeze, plus the peculiar feeling of suddenly being thrown into this world of dusty boxes of keys and strangely calibrated machines turned what could have been an onerous chore into a tiny adventure. And the key - both keys - work like butter.

Worth it. Worth it. GO!

It is one hour that you really should not miss. The Mad Art Radio Hour. I saw it tonight and it was highly entertaining. The Martian Hunter was played by the excellent George Malich and was a very well done skit combining the elements of old time gum-shoe detective stories with modern art hyperbole, including hilarious sarcasm about art critics. Former cop Ron Buechele expertly played an Irish police sergeant. The sound effects, executed by Eric Hall and Jeremy Brantlinger, were fantastic. The I Love Sylvia skit, a spin off of I Love Lucy, included especially fun exchanges between poets Sylvia Plath, played by Sarah Jones, and Anne Sexton, played by Soozi Hall. Doug Golden was a very convincing and bombastic Ted Hughes. What made the hour really enjoyable was the attention to detail. The room was more intimate than I’ve ever experienced it. The “applause” and “on air” signs were a great touch. Swing Set provided musical accompaniment and they were the perfect choice. All the details added up to a really special evening. Local establishments, such as Schlafly, The Royale, and Lemmons, sponsored the show and Jaime Gartelos wrote the ads and jingles, with the most memorable and entertaining being for the divorce attorneys Knight and Tomich. The entire program was very well planned out and I cannot recommend highly enough. By the end of the night I was inspired to try my hand at writing a radio show—although I’d love to see more from Gartelos and fellow writer James Foehner. Only $5 and just one hour on a Friday night. Tomorrow’s program is being recorded by KDHX and will be broadcast on Brett Underwood’s The No Show, midnight on Thanksgiving. Doors 7pm/Show 8pm. This kind of thing is really what makes St. Louis special folks. Don’t miss it. More at Mad Art.

Worth it. Worth it. GO!

It is one hour that you really should not miss. The Mad Art Radio Hour. I saw it tonight and it was highly entertaining. The Martian Hunter was played by the excellent George Malich and was a very well done skit combining the elements of old time gum-shoe detective stories with modern art hyperbole, including hilarious sarcasm about art critics. Former cop Ron Buechele expertly played an Irish police sergeant. The sound effects, executed by Eric Hall and Jeremy Brantlinger, were fantastic. The I Love Sylvia skit, a spin off of I Love Lucy, included especially fun exchanges between poets Sylvia Plath, played by Sarah Jones, and Anne Sexton, played by Soozi Hall. Doug Golden was a very convincing and bombastic Ted Hughes. What made the hour really enjoyable was the attention to detail. The room was more intimate than I’ve ever experienced it. The “applause” and “on air” signs were a great touch. Swing Set provided musical accompaniment and they were the perfect choice. All the details added up to a really special evening. Local establishments, such as Schlafly, The Royale, and Lemmons, sponsored the show and Jaime Gartelos wrote the ads and jingles, with the most memorable and entertaining being for the divorce attorneys Knight and Tomich. The entire program was very well planned out and I cannot recommend highly enough. By the end of the night I was inspired to try my hand at writing a radio show—although I’d love to see more from Gartelos and fellow writer James Foehner. Only $5 and just one hour on a Friday night. Tomorrow’s program is being recorded by KDHX and will be broadcast on Brett Underwood’s The No Show, midnight on Thanksgiving. Doors 7pm/Show 8pm. This kind of thing is really what makes St. Louis special folks. Don’t miss it. More at Mad Art.

Releases

The people in St. Louis, they are releasing things.

Over at Observable Books comes news of a new poetry chapbook: "No. 3 is Cole Swensen's Ghosts Are Hope. Cole participated in Observable Readings in Fall, 2004, and mesmerized the audience. Available in December!"

Meanwhile, Maplehood Rekkids says this: "earlier this week, we hammered out the details for our first ever 7-inch! it will be a split featuring MHR's very own indie-rockers The Aquatic Record & the RFT's best new band Rats & People, with release scheduled for early 2007. keep your ear to the ground for more solid information!"

I feel better just knowing these notes, let alone typing them.

One Sexy Voice

Well, Nico Leone may have a sexy voice, but it's apparently not the sexiest voice among American college DJs, according to results of a contest held in New York yesterday. Though we're aware that KDHX isn't a true college station, the CMJ Convention feels that KDHX is in the neighborhood of one, as the KDHX station manager and host of "Coin-Operated Radio" was nominated as one of the five sexiest male voices in American college radio.

According to the Vanguard of Portaland State U., his competitors were: Aaron Reyna (KPSU, Portland), Omar Husain (CJLO, Concordia University in Montreal), Pat Collins (KVCU, University of Colorado at Boulder) and Kody Wynne (WVVS, Valdosta State).

As Nico will be in New York for the weekend, yours truly will be in the KDHX studio this Saturday night, from 6-8 p.m., covering for Nico and doing my best to bring the same sultry energy he brings to the airwaves. Aiding my effort will be Jesse Irwin, who'll be singing songs and making merry during the first set.

Saarinen Road Trip

I’m back from a honeymoon road trip that included a stop in Columbus, Indiana. What makes this little town (population 39,059) 40 miles south of Indianapolis so special is the architecture. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects surveyed 829 of its members and they ranked Columbus sixth among U.S. cities in architectural quality and innovation.

What started it all was the First Christian Church desgined by Eliel Saarinen in 1942. A wealthy businessman in the area agreed to pay the architect fees for public buildings if the entities selected from his list of preferred architects. This arrangement turned out to be quite advantageous to the town, which boasts buildings by many world renowned architects. There are two building, a bank and a church, designed by Eero Saarinen (um, anyone heard of the Arch?). We toured the North Christian Church, which he designed, and it was amazing. Even the parking lot was well designed with rows of gorgeous trees separating many small sublots of chat gravel—so one would feel like they were entering a little picnic place rather than a parking lot. The have a mall in the middle of town which you barely notice, which in my mind, is exactly how one would want a mall designed. It blends perfectly with the surroundings. Everything seemed so well planned—not in a “New Town St. Charles” sort of way—it was more organic and authentic. The town boasts 60+ buildings that are National Historic Landmarks, a huge Henry Moore sculpture in front of an I. M. Pei designed library, and a Chihuly chandelier in the visitor’s center—all big stuff for a small town.

Only 5-1/2 hours from St. Louis, it would make a great weekend trip. Especially in the fall. Visit their website.

Sixty Candles

Sixty Candles (click pic for more)
Originally uploaded by AkitaSan.

R.I.P.: Salad Bowl

R.I.P.: Salad Bowl

Originally uploaded by AkitaSan

As the Venice Turns 18

So I wind up at the Venice Cafe on Saturday night, the second (and much more entertaining) leg of a trip that also included an impromptu stop at Hammerstone's, which was enlivened only by the appearance of a loud, obnoxious bachelor party. Otherwise, it was the picture of a Soulard bar after a Cards game, with passable but lackluster blues, Bud Lights downed everywhere and sprawling parties locking up every nook-and-cranny.

A few blocks away, the mood was more simpatico. At the Venice, the three-piece band, Cowford Eddy, played a set heavy on the rockabilly and the crowd, neither large nor small, seemed to be enjoying their set.

Upstairs, though, the action was in place, as owner Jeff Lockheed dropped a mouse into Pablo's cage behind the bar. The rat snake, twice-escaped during the week prior, went right to work, hunting and eating the prey in a matter of minutes, to the varying states of shock, amusement and conversation of all assembled. And what a crew!

On the 18th birthday of the Venice, Lockheed was enjoying his customary Bud Selects while buying some shots for a group including venerable local entertainer Ralph Butler, Soulard/Benton Park gadfly Dick Pointer and the Mad Russian, who volunteered that his first broadcast on KDHX was the same night as the Venice's: September 2, 1988.

There are too many nights in life when you wind up at the wrong spot, at the wrong time. Makes the opposite happening that much sweeter.

Two New Clubs for So. City?

People: let's all realize that any jerk you meet on the street is going to blog your overhead conversation by nightfall. That's the message I was given today, while wearing the hat of the aforementioned jerk.

So, after happening upon (and mildly into) a conversation earlier today: the owners of Molly's in Soulard - and think the new, hipster Molly's, not the old, hippie Molly's - are tackling two new projects.

One would be the Lynch Street Bistro, which ran under that name with a couple ownership groups over the years; this sleek, two-storied affair is located in the shadow of A-B on Lynch, as you'd guess from the name. The other would be the large club at I-55 and Gravois, last known as the short-lived Bobby G's. That joint went up in flames under mysterious circumstances and damage was severe. But the new spot could include a full, newly-constructed second floor, a live music stage and a name other than "Rockstar," which has been scotched because of the recent CBS television show.

Or so we hear...

Anti-Vegas Boxing

For those who went to the Moonlight Ramble last night instead of the Panda boxing exhibition and fundraiser, well, hopefully something spectacular happened. If not, they picked the wrong event to attend.

A few weeks ago, there were rumblings and whispers about a backyard-style boxing match. Another week passed before a smallish group of St. Louisans received an email invitation to “Midnight Boxing and Punk Rock.” The charter members of Hoosierweight boxing were coming out of various stages of retirement to spar for the benefit of their home gym, the Panda AC. No titles were on the line and punches were planned to be in the spirit of brotherhood rather than combat. There was fair warning that it’d be hot.

Flash forward to 12 August 2006.

The promised punk rock revved up at about 10:40. Loud doesn’t even begin to describe the opening act. The second group was less punk and appreciated by all, er, most. Oddly, a third band began to set up and featured one of the boxers in almost full gear. Too bad for them, those assembled were hungry for the main event and the music was scarcely heard, despite the volume.

At this point, fighters began gearing up to get in the ring and there was a tangible change in the atmosphere- a tension. The combination of silenced music and an anticipatory crowd mixed for an eerie calm inside the gym as men in headgear began to pace. They walked inside the gym, outside on the St. Louis streets and rolled their heads around their shoulders. Ordinarily gentle men wore facial expressions of angry concentration and necessary business.

Spectators - young punks, old timers, hipsters - slowly filtered inside from Broadway, the loading dock, from the alleys. The ring lights drew them in with some sitting on the sparse benches and chairs while most stood around the dim perimeter of the ropes and a few lurked in the shadows of the gym. Was there a barely audible hum? A buzzing? Could have been. Pretty sure there was. As the first pair of boxers entered the ring it was as though the collective and sweating crowd stopped breathing for a moment.

The fighting began.

It was stunning, raw, visceral and sexy.

While the rest of St. Louis rode bikes in the dark, a comparative handful were treated to an experience almost indescribable and absolutely unlike any other.

Not Your Mom's Bike Club

It's not the the site exists that suprises me. It's not the group exists that surprises me. It's not that the name of the group surprises me.

And, yet, getting the link, I was surprised.

Play the "I've seen that person" game at: www.fuckingbikeclub.blogspot.com.

At least this explains the variety of skull "FBC 314" skull tattoos I've been seeing recently.

South City: It's All Happening

In tidying up a column for next month's Sauce Magazine, I just ran across a choice quote that won't quite fit in the article. But the sentiment of new Off Broadway owner Steve Pohlman is enough to make me want to share a thought of his, specifically on his feelings toward South City:

"If it's happening in St. Louis, it's happening down here. People here aren't watching from a safe distance."

Right on! That spririt alone makes me wanna spend a couple dollars at the guy's place, that's for sure.

McClelland Mystery Revealed

Here is me with a Schlafly in one hand and another hand on the keyboard saying I hope that you have power, wherever you are. I know that if you are in St. Louis, though, there's only a 66.4 percent chance of that. Our power came on late Friday, and Thom opened the freezer only to find what he described as "a grotesque, fleshy mass with exploded red things all over it." He was ready to scream and run away until he realized it was an exploded Christmas stollen that had sat and sat in our freezer since Xmas because we didn't have a baking pan large enough to accomodate it. The pizzas, too, had grown in size. But I guess monster carbs are one of the less horrible things to find in your three-days-dead freezer after a heat wave.

Anyway, like a lot of folks, we liquidated the contents of the fridge into the trash, so I had no coffee this morning; I zipped down to Bread Co. on Grand to see if I could beg, borrow or steal some java and happened to park behind the power box in the lot, noticed the "Bill McClellan, Motherfuckers!" stencil on it and started to ruminate once again upon its meaning. Googling revealed nothing. And then, serendipity intervened; and I'm an idiot. I guess because I first saw the McClellan stencil during the spate of boneheaded blue spraypaint slogans (BURN DOWN THE PRISONS etc. on Schoemehl pots and houses) I was thinking it was just some sort of political comment on McClellan's choice of tie, or choice of words ... but as I was checking out the Lemp's sched for the next several weeks I discovered that BMMF, as I should've known from day one, is a band.

Don't seek, and you shall find.

Camping Certificates!?

I think it was in David Rakoff's book "Fraud" that I read an essay about being from the big city and trying to go hiking in vinyl loafers and thereafter detesting the outdoors. Though a great fan of Rakoff's snarky style, I don't get him at all, at least not when it comes to avoiding nature. Though I rarely go camping, floating, et cetera (I think because this city is blessed with so much green space) I do get a 19th-century sort of gnawing to go out into the wilderness from time to time. But this offer from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (& I quote)

"Anyone camping at a Missouri state park or historic site campground for at least two consecutive nights on an individual campsite in July will receive a promotional certificate good for a free night of camping at any Missouri state park or historic campground..."

Makes me want to go camping for two consecutive days just to get a good look at this so-called free camping certificate. Is it on parchment? Is there a gold seal affixed to it? Is it signed in calligraphy? Does the watermark feature little trees and deer? My rational brain realizes that it probably looks a lot like a coupon you'd clip out of the Sunday paper, but I like imagining it looking like some sort of royal proclamation. Maybe even folded in thirds, and shut with forest-green sealing wax...

QuikTrip Opposition in Clifton Heights

I attended my first Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association meeting last night. I have officially lived in the neighborhood since Friday night. I wanted to find out what is going on with QuikTrip’s efforts to locate at the corner of Hampton and Columbia, an effort I oppose. It was pretty clear that the other 100+ people in attendance were in agreement. Ballots were cast and then we listened to lengthy speeches by4th District State Senate candidates Jeff Smith and Derio Gambaro while votes were counted. Then 24th Ward Alderman Bill Waterhouse spoke and it was soon thereafter that things turned a little tense. He had received 250 signatures from folks in the neighborhood who supported the QuikTrip. He didn’t even know who had conducted the petition, but several attendees claimed that they had been approached over the weekend by someone claiming to be from the alderman’s office inquiring if they were for or against the store. The alderman claimed no one from his office had been sent to do this. Murmurs…suspicion…things were really starting to boil…especially after it was suggested that we void the vote and instead conduct a petition in opposition. Things got really chaotic after that. The people demanded to know the results of the vote: 6 for and 100 against QuikTrip.

The Mad Russian

Ran into former "World Wide Magazine" star and radio jock Vladimir "The Mad Russian" Noskov outside of Saleem's last night. He mentioned that his deportment hearing would be held this Tuesday, with a district immigration judge coming in from Nawlins to handle the proceedings.

If you wish to burn sage, one way or the other, regarding this case: now's the time.

Water, Water Everywhere

Next time you’re bored and broke or just need a little taste of the absurd, take a short drive.

Hiding in a pocket a bit northeast of the industrial wasteland and neighborhood called Marine Villa is a most remarkable home. I demanded the driver pull over in front of the house, allowing me a few moments to absorb the whole scene.

The house was on the smaller side, single story and sitting up on a low hill. The structure was ordinary. But, there was a fountain built into the sloping lawn. Lighted and huge, the fountain was the size and sort one sees outside large office buildings, only this one was someone’s front yard decoration. Water pumped, jumped and fell, creating a racket plenty loud to be heard through closed car windows.

As an added bonus, the entire interior of the home glowed a fluorescent turquoise color. The blue light poured out every window, outlining the people moving about within and illuminating their eclectic stuff- inside and out.

Directions are approximately thus: Go Chippewa past Broadway to Marine and turn right. The first left is Cahokia. As you follow Cahokia, it’ll force you left onto Kosciusko Street. Watch on your left for the house with the gargantuan fountain. Alas, no street number but it’ll be tough to miss.

Bibbs. Wrestling. Ovah.

South Broadway Athletic Club bad boy and local favorite wrestler Mr. Bibbs will be sitting out the next year's worth of matches.

While defending the MMWA-SICW Heavyweight Title against Jerome Cody during the May show, Mr. Bibbs sustained yet another back injury. Assuming the pain was just another addition to the long list of injuries he's sustained during his professional wrestling career (see the inaugural print edition of 52nd City) Mr. Bibbs planned on a few months out of the ring to recuperate.

Well rasslin' fans, he's more hurt than originally thought. Tests reveal a bulging disc in the lower part of his back, requiring an extended rehabilitation and possible retirement from the sport.

In the words of Mr. Bibbs himself, “You can’t fake gravity.”

One, Rather Disassociated Cross

Just inside the eastern entrance to the Schnuck's "on the Hill" is the Cross from St. Aloysius Church. Assumedly, this was the primary one from behind the altar, though by the time I'd first walked into the place, the old building had been stripped to the studs. A large sign next to the piece only says that the Cross is on display at Schnuck's through August, as a gift from Scott Schnuck and Bellon Wrecking.

Whatever the positive motivations behind the move... this is one WEIRD sight. Yeesh.

Some Things Don't Happen In Ladue

Saturday morning. 6:52. Shop n Save at the corner of Bamberger and Gravois.

I stood in the express line, paying for 80 pounds of ice as two women, a little worse for the wear, placed a Snickers bar and a 2 liter orange soda on the belt behind me. One of the women draped her arms around the other’s shoulders and buried a slurry face into her friend’s neck. She just sort of hung on there.

A well-built man wearing a security uniform approached from the opposite end of the check out lane. Having placed himself in the narrow channel, he edged closer to the pair while boxing me into an inescapable holding pattern. He spoke with a slight accent that I took to be African.

His stance made it clear that he meant business with these women as he demanded, “Is she drunk?” The clinger didn’t budge and her friend pretended not to understand. Security Man changed his wording, but not his tone, “Has she been drinking?” As the de facto spokeswoman for the duo, the one not obviously hammered challenged back. “Beer.” (This was spoken with two syllables and a jutting chin.)

“You don’t come in this store drunk! You got to leave! We don’t have drunks in here! Get out now!” As the man in blue fired off these admonishments, he physically pinned me to the check writing stand in an effort to reach the Snickers/Fanta/Beer ladies. The cashier finally called his attention to my immobility and he let me and my ice pass.

A full on verbal brawl ensued, overflowed into the parking lot and included more beautifully inflected insults from the guard (perhaps he was Caribbean?) and threats of physical harm from the now free standing drunk. It culminated in her throwing her cell phone at him to make calling the police easier and then wavering across the blacktop with a final directive expletive.

Mercy, I love the South Side.

Punks!

A few days back, the Ecology of Absence blog noted that a convergence of punks was organizing via the web, aiming for St. Louis this weekend. The various sites that the blog posting - and its comments - pointed to indicated that this wasn't necessarily an urban legend, but an actual possibility, with the punks arriving for no set reason.

Well, fwiw, there are punks in town, from this place and that, some of whom took up temporary respite at the Way Out Club and CBGB this evening.

Wee-hah! Gonna be interesting on the South Side 'til Monday!

It's called a bandwagon

Eureka ... I have finally succeeded in setting up a bare-bones Myspace page for 52nd City. Please, please add us as a Myspace buddy. I feel creepy with only "Tom" as our friend, too many folks have altered his pic in Photoshop for postin' and I find it very hard to look him in the eye these days. Apparently, we are an Aquarius who hates kids and doesn't smoke or drink. I guess that's the default setting? I like to think we are all default Aquarians. I think the 5th Dimension would be pleased.

The Thaxton

Every so often, you get that feeling. That you've seen all the interesting buildings, lobbies and nooks in town. Then, occasionally, you run across a new one and it's quite an eye-popping sight.

Earlier this week, I got a last-minute invite to a political fundraiser at the Thaxton Building, 1009 Olive. Initially, I was drawn by the promise of catered food, free drinks and good company, but the space itself was quite an interesting add-on. An overtly art deco building that once served as a retail outlet for Eastman-Kodak, the space served a variety of purposes beyond its initial use, including a long stint as a furrier's showroom and cold-storage locale.

Located next to Bussone's, the last of the liquor store/diners in Downtown, the Thaxton's not particularly bursting from the streetscape. It's a modest height and the window decorations almost seem as if they're trying to bely an empty building, taking the popular "art in abandoned storefront approach." True enough, the highest floor of the Thaxton is still under construction, the entirety of the room filled with interesting pieces of of architectural detritus. (It's accessible by a door that... opens.)

Whilt the highest space are still in progress the lobby is done, a nice turn given to restoring the space to a new, art deco splendor, with lots of paintings and pin-up posters dominating the walls. The basement party room, meanwhile, is really a strange affair, with a mix of modern and traditional-nodding touches. It all adds up to a bit of an over-the-top feel, but that only adds to the sense of falling through the rabbit hole and into an odd, new room.

Maybe all 52nd readers have already been through, rendering these musings on this curious space redundant. If you've not been, though, wrangle a ticket to some high-rolling event and explore a bit. You'll be happy you did.

The Wire: Upcoming Lineup

Amanda Doyle of thecommonspace.org and I have been co-hosting a show on KDHX for a bit now, The Wire. Over the next weeks, we've got an eclectic mix of guests, including a fair bit of book talk. Here's the still-in-progress lineup for May and June:

May 1: Jim Shrewsbury, President of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen
May 8: Spring pledge drive (hint, hint)
May 15: Malcolm Gay, staff writer, Riverfront Times
May 22: Richard Rosenfeld and Andrew Scavatto, editor and writer of "Hidden Assets: Connecting the Past to the Future of St. Louis"
May 29: Bernie Hayes, author of "The Death of Black Radio"
June 5: discussion of urban farming, exact guests TBD
June 12: Doug Whyte, KDHX-TV & the 48 Hour Film Project
June 19: TBD
June 26: Wade Rouse, author, "America's Boy"

Happy May Day, fellow proletarians!

At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon

I woke up Sunday morning & went tooling around my neighborhood, little
Tower Grove East. And saw that someone had been really busy the night before with the blue spray paint (and I think some stencils and black spray paint). But this wasn't gang graffitti ... it was anarchy symbols painted on the Shoemehl pots at the end of the street, and on the stone foundations of buildings on South Grand. Also, some Bill McClellands stenciled hither & yon.

Now, the McClellands I actually found pretty amusing (though I have yet to get close enough to inspect the text around 'em). But they were stenciled on replaceable clapboard, and don't look quite as awful as bleeding, scattershot spraypaint letters. Really, ask my poor family, I appreciate anarchy as much as the next girl. But guys! Why on the sides of houses? These people are not the bosses you're railing against. They are your neighbors.

This is the thing that makes the average guy grumble and think that liberal and libertine (and dumbass) belong in the same sentence. Take the high road, boys, take the high road. If this was not just a youthful prank--that is, if you don't grow out of your politics after graduating from high school--learn not to desecrate the common spaces of the very people you claim to stand up for.

War at St. Aloysius Gonzaga

"What's New in Sports, Arts & City Living"

Geez, is there enough juice on this panel?

SLU to Host Discussion on St. Louis Rebirth

For more information or to register, contact the office of alumni relations at (314) 977-2250 or alumni@slu.edu. You can also register online at slu.cops.kintera.org/springevent.

North City Parking Lot Tour '06

So, this one's a bit left field, but stay with me.

I'm at the Missouri History Museum's research library, combing through some old Polk's City Directories. (And, already, don't you all just hate me for having such an exciting Thursday afternoon?) After a bit of cursory reading, I realize I need a better notebook and some materials from home, so I jot down a couple dozen addresses of old STL movie theatres, just so I have some specific places to look for pics while I drive around.

Having shot old moviehouses for an off-on while, I know that many, if not most, are long gone and today's jaunt confirmed that. In fact, I hit about six in a row that were just, pfft, gone. Most of these are North Side, with a couple Midtowns and Sou'siders, too.

Here's a recap:

Douglas, 4201 Finney: demo, parking lot
Gravois, 2631 S. Jefferson: demo, now Lee's Fried Chicken
Midtown, 4819 Delmar: demo, now a state office building
Pageant, 5851 Delmar: demo, now Big Jake's BBQ
Union, 1510 Union: demo, parking lot
Wellston, 6226 MLK: demo, empty lot
Star, 16 So. Jefferson: demo, now MSD HQ
Merry Widow, 1539 Choteau: there, warehouse for Hibdon Hardwood
Empress, 3616 Olive: demo, now a parking garage
Victory/Mikado: there, abandoned and crumbling
Will Rogers, 1217 Union: demo, parking lot
Cirlce, 4472 MLK: missed it, but it's there, now a tire shop

I've got a fair number of dead theatre pics on my flickr site, avialable via www.thomascrone.com, if so inclined. And more on the way, especially once I log in for than 45-minutes at the MoHist library.

Ta!

Zombie Hunters Want Your Blood

Okay, we encourage you to write your own weisenheimer snaps in the comments section below.

The Zombie Squad is sponsoring a blood drive (there's some material) at the the St. Louis Police Lodge (there's some more) on March 25, between 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Refreshments will be provided and Zombie movies will be screened (ah!). Donations will be collected by the American Red Cross.

You can get the full info, as well as a wacky flyer, at:
http://www.zombiehunters.org/blooddrive.php

My question: if my heart is filled with a great sadness, is my blood still collectable? Or will it be tainted by this overwhelming ennui?

Summer School: Sacred Architecture in St. Louis

I know several folks who would certainly enjoy such a course. Heck, I know several folks who could probably tackle such a course, though this one's locked in to one Dr. Stephen Werner.

This summer at Webster U's OPO campus: "Sacred Architecture in St. Louis"; Mondays-Thursdays, May 15-June 2. The slim flyer boasts that students will "see some amazing places!" while "tour(ing) churches, cathedrals, synagogues and cemetaries in St. Louis."

Where was this course in, say, 1986? Rats!

The Pleasures of Urban Comics

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

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

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

Painful

The new KTRS, eh?

Anyone else wincing?

Photo Fun @ St. Louis Centre!

Our colleague in the STL Syndicate, Tom Lampe of STL Pretty War, recently ran into some unpleasant issues regarding his photography of St. Louis Centre. The flap drew a huge response in the discussion rooms of the archcitychronicle.com and even made Deb Peterson's column this morning.

Since it appears that the Centre is set on no internal photography, we at 52nd City wish to join Tom on Friday, December 23, with a noontime "photo walk" near the Centre. Let's say we meet at Washington and 6th Streets at 12 sharp and see what... er, develops. Perhaps we can post some of the best pics of this urban landmark.

And remember: word has it that some parts of St. Louis Centre are still commercially functioning, so get some holiday shopping done, while engaging in a bit of civic friskiness!

Your in urban impishness,
52nd City

Westward Expansion

I used to think I had itchy feet until I moved to St. Louis. When I lived in Salt Lake City, I found myself on an airplane out of town at least three or four times a year. Denver, New York, Connecticut, San Francisco ... it didn't really matter. At least I was out of Utah. I once had a friend who continually tried to move out of Salt Lake, but something always foiled his plans at the last minute. He compared Utah to God's toilet bowl: As soon as you got to the rim, God flushed. And you were swept down again, never to escape.

Holiday Fluff

All of my holiday shopping is complete. Yes, every last gift has been wrapped and shipped or stuffed in the appropriate stocking. All my cards are in the mail. While I’d like to sit back and coast through the remainder of the year…I can’t. We’re launching a major new application at work and I’m the project manager. My mind is like marshmallow fluff and peanut butter, clogged with all kinds of unrelated thing, good and bad. Here are some.

j.marie purses, crafted by J. Marie Bannerot-McInerney, are precious little beauties—I’m telling you. They were at the Independent Art Market last weekend. There were so many I wanted that I couldn’t decide, which was a good thing since this is not the time of year I like to spend money on myself—but I hope you did. If not, I think you can find her items at The Time on the corner of Manchester and Marshall in Maplewood.

Tiny Showcase offers high quality limited edition teeny tiny prints at teeny tiny prices. A new artist is showcased each week, but they always sell out before I can get one. So I really shouldn’t be letting you all in on my secret, but the idea is too great not to share. I think they are out of Rhode Island.

Rob Stewart, a Rod Stewart tribute act, will be performing at the Casino Queen on New Year’s Eve. I can’t decide if this is hilarious or depressing, but I’m leaning towards depressing. I almost want to go for the people watching. I mean, who rings in the New Year this way? Who?

And finally, rejection letters. I have to write them for Mad Art Gallery. We get submissions from university professors who have shown all over the world along with untrained watercolorists specializing in unicorns high jumping over planets—no lie. I take the time to write something personal to everyone and it is very difficult. I once received a very nasty letter from an acquaintance after spending an inordinate amount of time on a letter that I thought was encouraging, even though we couldn’t show his work in the near term. After that, I found this great article about rejection letters on Picklebird.

Like I said…all sort of unrelated, but things that I’ve been wanting to spill.

Bye-bye Avalon?

Having become obsessed with my new camera over the last week, I've been revisiting an old interest of mine, namely the dead, demolished and readapted movie houses around St. Louis City and near-County. Earlier this afternoon, a bright, breezy Sunday, I stopped by the Avalon, at Kingshighway and Chippewa. After snapping a couple pictures of the south exterior wall, I was amazed to see a head pop over the roofline.

After asking what I was doing, he confessed to being the owner of the building, though "it (won't) be here long now." According to a very informal and unofficial "interview," the fella, still peering out over a small jut in the roof, said that a Sam's Club was going to be built across the street, on the site of the old Kriegshauser Mortuary and the Mary Magdalen sports field, along with a couple of other plots, including a gas station. He said that "it turned out the land was worth a bit of money... it's a busy intersection."

Over the years, I'd heard various people daydream about turning the place into a readapted theatre, especially, a "brew-and-view," popular in other cities as a place to drink and watch campy films. Those idle musings seem to be out the window now, if this quick conversation's to be believed. Meanwhile, mid-City could be seeing more construction, though of the new, chain-style variety. Though not specific about how his aged building would fit in, one would assume that the building wouldn't be remodelled, but would be razed and the plot built anew.

Shame to see the old landmark go, but considering the current, crumbling shape and the continued suburbanization of Southwest City, I wouldn't bet on it being a part of landscape too much longer.

The funniest thing about the meeting, for me, was the fact that I'd tried to reach the owner of the Avalon multiple times, for stories over the years. Could this have been the infamous Greg Tsevis, up there checking the bricks, making sure they weren't going to fall on a passerby? Seems that instead of using the phone, I should've just pointed a camera at the building.

City Shopping: Porn, Redd Foxx, Bongs

When you happen to find yourself in need of a certain combination of products, don't go anywhere else: shop Spectrum's, at 2701.5 (yes, there's a half-digit) Cherokee. For example, you're holiday shopping and you need a t-shirt with the likeness of Redd Foxx, for wacky Uncle Ted. They got it. Meanwhile, Brother Joe likes a bit of blue cinema. Spectrum's has pornographic DVDs available, in a (vaguely) covered shoebox, right there behind the counter. And your Kid Cousin Roger wants a bong that's attached to a gas mask. Clearly, you don't need to make a seperate trip, since Spectrum's has this product available and for-sale.

A combination headshop and urban fashion emporium, Spectrum's has a stranger selection of wares, in one place, than I ever thought possible.

OJ Simpson retro jerseys. Shoelaces. Guyana national soccer team warm-ups in size 5X. Incense. Baby-doll tees. Cardinal caps in red, blue, white, black and green. Bandanas in these colors and more. Crazy sneakers and boots, in all stripes and brands.

I'd not found Spectrum's until earlier this afternoon, happening into the store thanks to the wonderful window display, proudly featuring those Redd Foxx tees. (A bargain at $10 per.)

Can Cherokee Street be any wackier?

Inside, Outside, All Sides Now

Soon, we'll be on the other side of Halloween. Once the rubber skeletons and fiberglass spiderwebs come down, the sparkle lights and pine sprigs go up. If you live in a Victorian mansion, chances are your Xmas decorating scheme is much more elaborate; which is why All Saint's Day marks the start of house and parlor tour season. I haven't actually gone on any house tours in St. Louis yet, though I almost made a valiant effort to make it to the Soulard Holiday Parlor Tour one year.

Part of the reason I haven't been more enthusiastic about going on house tours is that I'm afraid I'll end up with musculoskeletal injuries from the physical stress of being around so many expensive, breakable things. Being near-sighted and clumsy, I always imagine I'lll accidentally stick my elbow through someone's china cabinet window or trip on a rug and take down a whole dining-room table, with many pretty, breakable things on its surface. This is why I feel more comfortable around people who collect rocks, vs. rare china patterns.

Here's my kind of house tour, though, and it's tomorrow: Heartland Renewable Energy Society is throwing a "2005 Sustainable Homes Tour." It's just one house, but it's quite a house: it's solar, with cellulose insulation, landscaped with native wildflowers, trees and grasses. Inside, they've used nontoxic paints, carpets made from recycled soda bottles and bamboo floors. It also has a bat house in the yard, which is my favorite touch. The addy is 744 Ballwin Road, and the house is open from 10am-4pm tomorrow (it's free, too, even better).

Closer to home but no less important is the Market Street 2005 Charrette on October 21-23, sponsored by the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. A Charrette is "a collaborative planning process that combines design professionals with interested citizens." You do have to register, but the form is online and it's only ten bucks. A small price to pay to have some input into one of downtown's major stretches of road, yes?

Haunted by Hardy Mums

Although I received a very healthy pot of mums last year as a house-warming present (and planted them in the yard, where they are now aggresively trying squeeze the lavender out for plot space) it doesn't seem to me that St. Louis was quite as mum-crazy last year. I know they're in season, but...really, it's out of control!

Last Saturday, Soulard, I heard some vendor endlessly hollering "HARDY MUMS...HARDY MUMS...HARDY MUMS!" no matter what building I happened to be in. On Sunday, at the Best of Missouri Market, all the ladies with wheelie shopping carts weren't picking up exotic varieties of dwarf Japanese cherry trees; they were crazy for mums, mums and more mums. Overheard conversations, two or three times, enthusing about mums.

And today, at the Schnuck's in Clayton, I saw a veritable psychedelia garden planted near the front door; of course it was all hardy mums, as out of control as ever, deep purply red and bright white ones, planted in alternating stripes. They were so fluffy and brightly-colored, they didn't look like mums at all. Inside, near the shopping carts, there were dozens and dozens of hardy mums, exploding out of their pots like flowery mushroom clouds. There were some that were large enough I'd worry about fitting them into the back seat of my car.

I'm used to hardy mums that look, well, hardy. Like they have been scrapping it out in an alley somewhere. The yellow ones always look to me like they are coated in three days' worth of car exhaust. They're city flowers, like geraniums and petunias and marigolds. Not that pretty, but they survive the tailpipe fumes and peeing dogs. I'm like most people in that I avoid more delicate plants, at least in the front of the house, and go for the coarse, urban flora, like the humble and hardy Christanthemum. But I'm confused: is this mum love a bit of St. Louis city culture I have totally missed up until now - or is it something new?

SabaH, or Sunrise

While driving aimlessly around Bevo last Sunday, chewing gum and listening to Dr. Zorba on the radio, I spotted a large, colorful poster in a shop window for SabaH. The name means "Sunrise" in Bosnian, and apparently it's one of the largest Balkan papers in the U.S.; they have subscribers all over this country, and in Canada too. The paper was started in New York City in the late '90s, but they're relocating their main offices to St. Louis. It's partly because there's a huge Bosnian population here, but it's also because of the quality of life. Said founder Sukrija Dzidzovic in a South Side Journal piece of a few weeks ago: "Whoever from St. Louis has a dream to go to New York, there's no need for it."

As a non-native (albeit one who came from not quite so far away), I couldn't agree more. Cheers to that, with a big glass of sparkling water & pomegranate juice.

Back To Nature

I don’t know if any one out there has ever worked a Bar Mitzvah, but it isn’t for the weak of heart. Saturday’s party at Mad Art paled in comparison only to last fall’s sorority formal in terms of strangle-factor. I can’t help but find it disturbing to witness 13-year-old children grind against each other while a DJ plays Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back. Call me old fashioned. Or just call me old. By night’s end I was spent.

So on Sunday, in spite of all the festivals, I was determined to flee the city. Lindsey and I jumped in the car and in a mere 35 minutes, we were walking wooded trails, listening to bugs and birds, and basically enjoying ourselves way more than I imagined, at Shaw Nature Reserve. This was only my second visit to SNR and I am so in love with it. There are many lovely spots for quiet contemplation tucked along the trails. Next time I am bringing a little pillow and plan to nap on the bench near the water feature in the wildflower garden…or in the crude gazebo next the frog-filled pond. I’ve yet to decide.

I was sorely disappointed to realize I will be out of town for the Harvest Festival taking place at Shaw Nature Reserve on Sunday, October 9th. This looks like it is going to be a great event—music, farmer’s market, and food from St. Louis restaurants. I encourage you to check it out, especially if you haven’t been.

The Secret Life of Sinks

I was driving down Manchester tonight, and passed a salvage yard (Bill-Jac?) and saw a mound of stainless-steel sinks that could be seen over the top of the fence. A mountain of ripped-out sinks, higher than my house. Where do all these sinks come from? I thought the point of a stainless steel sink was that it was stainless -- and therefore aesthetically pleasing for years after its initial installation!

Ah, but fashions change; this year (I'm sad to report I actually know this) the big trend is the "waterfall sink," which sports a giant, flat, amoeba-shaped basin that, um, waterfalls the H2O when it comes out of the tap. (Sound of me scratching my head). So the plain old two-bowl sinks of yore go to the scrap heap, even though they've always been great for washing dishes or small dogs.

I suppose a mound of sinks would be more depressing if it were casting a shadow over my yard from the back alley, because they'd be headed for the landfill. But where will Bill-Jac take his mountain of sinks?

If anyone can answer this question for geeks like me, it's the intrepid Jean Ponzi, host of Earthworms on KDHX and organizer of the Earthways Home Energy & Recycling Festival, which takes place on September 17 and 18. I plan on being there, if only to overcome my fear of vermiculture bins (I caused the premature death of many, many ants when I accidentally knocked my ant farm off a dresser in 6th grade. I have been reticent about overseeing colonies of creatures since then).

According to the website, there will be plenty of fun widgety stuff on hand (low-watt lightbulbs, hydrogen power demos, kids zipping around in solar cars) but the focus this year is geared towards the humble task of recycling. Recommended reading to inspire you before you go to this event: "Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash," by Elizabeth Royte. That's strong medicine, though, so the weak of stomach might want to opt for Eliot's The Waste Land instead.

BoardLinkStL

I attended a Readiness to Serve workshop presented by BoardLinkStL this week. This pilot program seeks to invigorate St. Louis area nonprofit boards by enhancing governance through innovative recruitment, matching, and education services. We were able to access the beta site where potential board members can create a pretty extensive profile in an effort to be matched with a non-profit organization. Kind of like match.com for do-gooders. Users pay a small fee granting access for one year, giving them plenty of time to find the perfect fit. Non-profit fees are based on a sliding scale. Designed by Bravo:Smart, the beta site was pretty impressive. The fully functioning version is scheduled to launch in mid-September.

I was amazed to learn there are over 9000 non-profit organizations in the St. Louis metropolitan region. The limited exposure I’ve had dealing with non-profit boards hasn’t been that positive, so I am very excited to see some real effort being made at educating both sides. Participating non-profits are required to attend training and the program is being evaluated on the length of the relationships made, not just the initial match. The program is being developed and supported by a variety of institutions including UMSL, Washington University, Focus St. Louis, United Way, RAC, Nonprofit Services Consortium, etc.

I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in taking community involvement a step further. I know so many bright and resourceful people who are already making a positive impact on the city through a variety of informal and formal efforts. Board membership at a non-profit seems like a logical, and fulfilling, next step.

Visit www.BoardLinkStL.org for more information.

Wrestling at the Chase

To listen to sports talk radio is to often hear: overcaffeinated hosts, shouting over one another and the callers; endless pitches for car stereo outlets and cell phone vendors; and round-and-round recitations of the latest transaction. To actually get a long-form, intelligent conversation on any topic is to hope against hope, even as the genre should be loaded with potential for in-depth interviewing.

Today, the midday "R&R" show on KFNS 590 am offered a fabulously entertaining, four-segment interview with Larry Matysik, the longtime voice of Channel 11's legendary "Wrestling at the Chase." Now, some might roll their eyes at the notion of a wrestling interview as being anything other than a campy collection of anecdotes and yarns. And, sure, there were some of those served up by Matysik, as co-hosts Bob Ramsey and Jay Randolph, and fan callers, tossed enthusiastic softballs to Matysik.

But as any St. Louisan of a certain age knows (especially if they're a guy), "Wrestling at the Chase" was a cultural touchstone for St. Louis, first a Satruday night, then a Sunday morning tradition for thousands of weekly viewers. In a day-and-age of regional wrestling federations, few towns enjoyed as active and robust a wrestling scene as St. Louis, where the Kiel Auditorium and the Arena/Checkerdome were regularly filled for matches, each of them smartly previewed and built-up by the weekly TV show.

Matysik's new book, wisely and simply titled "Wrestling at the Chase," will be offered at a signing at Left Bank Books on Thursday, August 11 at 7 p.m. Can't wait to read it and looking forward to more radio chat with Matysik, a great natural storyteller and pitchman.