HOW TO DECORATE A HONDA

The automobile in this picture is a black Honda Accord sedan. Nothing flashy. Comfortable, reliable, affordable transportation, and practical since almost everyone in America needs a car. As it happens, I drive one myself. But, just occasionally, a modest Honda gets kissed by a fairy and ends up looking like this. Obviously, it's the reflection of the Wheel.            

HOW MANY FERRIS WHEELS DOES YOUR CITY CENTER HAVE?

We got two. The one above is the new St. Louis Wheel at Union Station. It has 42 enclosed cars, heated and air conditioned, open 365 days a year. I like how the streetlamp and rising moon seem to spin an invisible cable through its hub.

So okay, the photo below was taken from a long way off, actually while riding the new wheel. The tall broadcast tower draws your attention but just to the left is the small, old fashioned wheel on the roof of the City Museum. I couldn't find a better shot in my archives although there's one around somewhere.          

THE GEOMETRY OF THIRST

This is in the current revision of St. Louis Union Station. You can get water or fizzy flavored sugar water here, but mostly it's about Anheuser-Busch products. Or, more recently, Anheuser-Busch-Inbev, the merged Belgian-Brazilian-American beer behemoth that took over one of our largest employers. Never a shortage of customers.

The photo was taken from the Saint Louis Wheel, the new Ferris wheel installed here. Much more about that soon.

             

BRUNCH AT THE ART MUSEUM

There's a show going on at the St. Louis Art Museum called Dutch Painting In The Age of Rembrandt. There are two works from the great master for comparison but everything else is by other painters of the era, from names you probably know (Frans Hals) to those you've never heard of (uh, I forget). The collection is exquisite and locals should get there before it closes in mid-January.

Afterward we had brunch at the museum's restaurant. Since I had forgotten my photo hard drive at the office (the reason this is a late post) some new material was needed. None of the still lifes in the exhibit were monochrome (that's for sure) and all were very ornate, but maybe I got some of their high contrast style. That roll looks like an asteroid.        

THEY ALSO SERVE WHO ONLY STAND AND WAIT

Or just sit. From John Milton, On His Blindness.  It's short, just a sonnet, and worth a read.

Paralyzed vets at our Veterans Day parade and a fitting statue in front of our Soldiers Memorial building.     

PLEASE SEND TO WASHINGTON

Stat! 

DA COPS

It's not a parade without the police. No crowd control issues here, unlike the St. Patrick's Day parade, where alcohol flows like the Mississippi (well, metaphorically).  

The top picture has similarities to one that generated an eye blink's worth of photography fame a couple of years ago. The Museum of Modern Art in NY used one of my images of STL motorcycle cops in the catalog for a show about fashion. They didn't pay me a dime but at least they gave me a free copy of the book and a ticket when I showed up and demanded my tribute. Click here.