Your Face Here

Everyone has seen these, boards painted with people in goofy costumes, cartoon characters or politicians (note the similarities). These are vaguely Latin outfits. Stick your face in the hole and pretend you speak better Spanish than I do.
                           

Masquerade

It's a long time until Mardi Gras. These people were watching the mechanical bull at our little Hispanic Festival. I think the masks came from the children's activity area.

How Clever. A Bike Rack Shaped Like The Arch.

I've been unexpectedly under the weather. Didn't get up a post or any shooting done on Saturday. Hopefully out and about today.

A few of these bike racks are scattered around Kiener Plaza. I've noticed them but never really paid any attention. It has both of our symbols, the Arch and Louis IX's fleur-de-lys.        

Upon Reflection

The things we get in the surface of the Equitable Building downtown.           

Thursday Arch Series Two-Fer

Arch views from the climate change rally. The earth flag in the plaza takes the eye away from the national flag high on the Old Courthouse. Below, the monument frames the guitarist who provided entertainment between speeches. He was often the better choice.            

Turn Down The Heat

I'm sure it's obvious by now but this week's photos have been of Sunday's climate change rally, one of many around the world. There were a few hundred people at this one, a droplet compared to the - what was it? - 400,000 in New York. Ours was ironic since the offices of a huge coal company are across the street.

My view of our species' future is pessimistic. It is clear that short-term greed is winning out over our descendant's survival. Nothing is certain but it seems likely that our southwest will become dessicated and blow away. Parts of our Atlantic and Gulf coasts will become inundated and suffer more violent storms. It would not surprise me to see terrible conflict over water and food. I am horrified that so many people in this country declare that this is fiction. My granddaughter's future could be a hard one.            

Getting Closer

I don't know why I'm being coy about the nature of this event. Probably has something to do with a lack of better ideas. In any event, this gets closer to the theme of the rally but still doesn't reveal it. It's likely that many people have guessed since similar events took place around the world.

The sign and shirt draw some sympathy from me but they might be a bit naive. Remember, Big Brother is watching you. America's largest privately owned coal company has its headquarters just across the street.

Today's Puzzler

There was an event downtown yesterday worth photographing. These pictures do not provide much help identifying it. Nothing to do with animal testing or vegetarianism. Questions, though. Why would anyone dress as a fork almost six weeks before Halloween? And won't meat turn green if you leave it sitting out long enough? All or most questions will be answered in time.

The balloon race didn't work out. The nighttime balloon glow was Friday evening but we had tickets to a performance of the Moth Radio Hour ("true stories told live"), definitely the better choice. I went to the launch field on Saturday but there were gusts, the Energizer Bunny was scratched as the target balloon, many of the aircraft would remain tethered, the whole thing was running way late and I had to meet Mrs. C to go to dinner at our daughter's home. So I blew it off and no post yesterday. If you would like to look at some old race pix click here.              

Proof That The Ancient Romans Played Baseball

This is a city daily photo blog. I have no new stuff for my city so I have to use another one. How about back to Paris? Can't go wrong.

This was taken in a Greco-Roman sculpture hall at the Louvre. The subject is about to throw a mean split-finger fastball. I don't see another possible interpretation.

So okay, I'm desperate, but the Great Forest Park Balloon Race is today. 
          

What It Feels Like To Be Back At Work After Two Weeks In France

Being a lawyer can be such fun. As we start law school in this country they teach us a bunch of old English legal maxims, since that's the basis of our system. One has it that the law is a jealous mistress. Enough said.

Just A Pretty Face

Neither Olay or Revlon is a sponsor of the Color Run.

Poof

There is a stage at the end of the Color Run where the participants gather. The organizers throw little packets of colored powder to the crowd. After a countdown, the runners toss them into the air. This is the result.

The crowd at this event was tiny compared to the past. Look at the number of people in the second picture - these were the participants at the end - and compare the mob there in 2012. The organizers ran one of these here in April. Maybe too often. Maybe a fad that is past its time. 

Colorful Personalities

The Color Run must have taken place almost everywhere in the world by now, except maybe North Korea. I've shot it twice, both in 2012, in The Lou and Birmingham, AL (scroll down in the set). I'm sure it's a for-profit deal. People pay a significant fee to run 5 km while occasionally being pelted with brightly colored powder. They seem  to have a good time.

These are just some very stained faces in the crowd. More to come.

The Occasional Madeleine Photo

 Baby's first visit to the Apple Store. She looks as befuddled as many of the customers. Taken on my iPhone, of course.

How It's Done

I took another swing by the Paint Louis flood wall yesterday afternoon and met Adam Sherman. He is one of the artists and was putting some finishing touches on a panel. I've never seen anyone working on wall painting so I stopped and introduced myself.

Sherman is part of a three-artist group called O-U-R, Operation Urban Renewal (Facebook page here). They don't paint in inappropriate places and deface property. Much of it is mural work done under contract.

How is the complex work put up on a wall? I may have some of this wrong (if so, Adam, please correct me). It starts with a drawing, which is then rendered with computer graphics. The color scheme is added in Photoshop. Then the whole design is printed on a grid, with each square representing a square foot of wall. The three of them work together to execute the finished product. They use special German spray paint. It costs three times what you pay in the local hardware store.

The whole work is shown in the last picture. Pretty cool.

The Things You Miss When You Visit France

Paint Louis took place two weekends while we were wandering around Provence. It's the annual re-decoration of a section of the Mississippi River flood wall by graffiti and street artists. It would have been fun to photograph it in progress but, hey, we were having lunch at Nathalie's near Beaumes de Venise. I had time for just a brief swing by yesterday. These examples announce the event. More later.                      

The Most Beautiful Village In France

Well, it's not like I've seem all of them but Gorbio has to be a serious competitor. Just a few hundred people in the town proper. Everyone knows everyone. The huge old tree in the center has been there for centuries. There is an informal cafe, a fine restaurant, a church and a post office. If there is a food shop I didn't see it. You just have to go 7.4 km / 4.5 miles down the mountain road to Menton but  you try driving that slalom course.

Our colleague Jilly, who does Menton Daily Photo, actually lives just down the mountain from Gorbio. She is the village's de facto photographer. Look over her blog for wonderful examples.

Back to STL posts soon. We may get to the Cardinals game tonight. The Color Run is Sunday morning.  There are many more pictures from France to edit. I'll mention it as they go up on Flickr.

Wouldn't It Be Nice

There's nothing quite like it in the US. I love the French custom of row after row of restaurants with outdoor seating, squeezed into old, narrow streets. It's just ideal for people watching and photo sniping, like here in the Old City of Nice.

Let's Review, Then

Back home, back at work, body clock still not reset. A good night's sleep should do it.

I won't be able to shoot new STL material until the weekend at best. Until then, back through some images of two wonderful weeks in France. These photos are from the Old City of Nice.

Dans La Rue

Home now. We've been up for about 23 hours. Time to let consciousness slide.

This is something I caught on Rue Cler during the market on Sunday.

Au Revoir, Paris

It's Monday afternoon US Central Time as I write this in an American Airlines lounge in Chicago. Long ride home. One more short leg to go.

I'm glad to be back. It was a long trip for us, maybe a little too long. We love France and will return again but age is catching up and it's getting hard to trudge for hour after hour through tourist-choked cities. Maybe it's time for slower paced holidays. Hey, we're going to Tamarindo in February. That ought to work. 

I tried to shoot some non-postcard Eiffel Tower pictures yesterday. You, gentle reader, will decide if they work. Since I won't have any new local material for several days, I will sprinkle these pages with memories of La Belle France for a while longer.