MADELEINE MONDAY

On Saturday afternoon we took the kid to the local children's' museum, The Magic House. One feature we haven't gone to in awhile is the Van de Graff generator (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graff_generator ). It produces high voltage with low current and makes your hair go frizzz. (I don't have enough hair to go anywhere.) Ellie was afraid of it in the past. No more.           

PROMISE

Found on the back wall of the Improv Club's building. What's the guarantee?

           

PHENOMINALLY MEXICANA

More from Heraldo at the improv festival. The show was almost non-stop movement, which helped overcome the language issue. I've been to a half dozen Spanish speaking countries and know a bit about the considerable differences in diction. To my ear, Mexicans speak very quickly, making it harder for me to follow. Costa Rica, the Hispanic country where I've spent the most time, has a more leisurely pace. The cast threw in a few clues in English - one bit was based on the Dancing With Stars TV show. The show proved that for us humans, funny transcends language.         

SPANISH IMPROV FOR ANGLO AUDIENCES

The headline act at the improv festival last weekend was a group from Chicago called Heraldo. They performed in Spanish with a bit of English here and there to set the direction. I got maybe 15% of the Spanish. There was lots of physical comedy. I don't think the audience was very Hispanic but they couldn't stop laughing. More of this tomorrow.      

IN THE GREEN ROOM

Off line again for a couple of days due to way too much work. You would think that after 45 years of doing essentially the same job the world would cut me some slack, but no.          

There is usually a place in a theater called the green room, a place for performers to hang out and relax before and after their time on stage. It was traditionally painted green but now it's anything the house wants. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_room . My friend Pete who managed the improv festival said I could go in and bother people, so I did. As usual, I didn't write down the name of this group. It's probably too small to read in this image but note the sign on the left of the second picture. It instructs the show hosts not to address the audience as ladies and gentlemen and offers some alternatives. I don't think there are a lot of ladies and gentlemen at improv clubs anyway.

VARIATION ON A THEME - ATLAS ANYTIME

Regular readers know that I often post pictures of my granddaughter Madeleine (Ellie to us) on Monday. She lives here in STL and is over all the time. My other two grandchildren, Audrey, 4, and Atlas, 7 months, live in central Michigan. We see them too rarely.

My son, Andy, and his wife, Claire, took the kids to Midland, Michigan, over the weekend. It is a small city about a half hour drive from their home. I've been there and the place looks very prosperous. It's the headquarters of Dow Chemical and evidence of the family's wealth is everywhere. 

They visited the Alden B. Dow Museum of Science & Art. Part of it contains children's science and technology exhibits. Atlas (who, by the way, is huge for his age) got a tryout as a train engineer. He looks befuddled.

Back to improv tomorrow.

           

MAKE IT UP AS YOU GO ALONG

I've shot improv a couple of times before but Friday night's shows were the funniest ever. Would that I had as many arms and hands as Vishnu so I could take notes while I'm shooting. It's hard to remember what the action was about (although I think the top one was a dying dog). My friends from Compass Improv will remind us of the names of the groups.  

       

BACK IN THE LOU - COMPASS IMPROV FESTIVAL

There is a lively improv comedy scene in STL. One of the annual events I shoot is the Compass Improv Festival, taking place this weekend at the Improv Shop. There are more performances tonight, Saturday, but I have another obligation. Locals - GO! It's just a little hard to find, sort on tucked in behind the White Castle at Vandeventer and Chouteau.

Lots more images to come.         

FRANCO-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP

I haven't been online much this week. Too much work and my back has been bothering me more. The nice folks at the Washington University pain management clinic have made some suggestions, including a new way to zap me. I get by but I'm getting less done.

So I have to pull out another image from New Orleans. This is the interior of St. Louis Cathedral (yep, same saint as ours, but this building is not to be confused with the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica here). The US acquired vast territories west of the Mississippi from France in 1803. The proceeds helped finance Napoleon's war machine. We got the better deal.    

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - REDUCED TO POSTING IMAGES OF LIQUOR MARKETING

No posts for a couple of days. I got back from New Orleans, went back to work and felt like I walked into a fan. More people and things want a piece of me than there is me to go around. I really want to retire but the plan is for next year after I turn 70.

Anyway, I don't have any new local material  (although I do have an improv festival to shoot Friday night). So, back to the Big Easy. I can't think of anyplace that promotes alcohol abuse and binge drinking like Bourbon Street. Many Americans will recognize this figure as the personification of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. I've never tasted the stuff but its marketing is inescapable.

He is supposed to be a pirate, a dishonorable profession. How much sea water do you think could build up  in those cuffs?        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - A CHIHUAHUA WITH RED SUNGLASSES

We met this man on Bourbon Street in front of renowned Galatoire's restaurant, where one of the staff was helping him onto the sidewalk. Our best guess was that he had suffered a stroke. The blanket with the logo of the New Orleans Saints football team covered his wheelchair.  He had the sunniest personality of anyone I've met in a long time.

Yes, he was out hustling some income but he was simply charming. He had trained the dog on top to take off its sunglasses with its left front paw after a series of word commands. The crowd went wild.        

STLDPB ON THE ROAD - PALADAR 511

It is hard to eat poorly in New Orleans as long as you stay away from fast food (much easier to find than in Paris). We got out of the French Quarter and more out into the neighborhoods of the city.  Our server at the superb Gabrielle's in Uptown recommended Paladar 511. It's in the Marigny district. I had to look up the name. It's Spanish for palate or, in Cuba, an owner-operator restaurant. 511 is the street address. Oh wow.

I had my wonderful little Fujifilm X-T30 with me. It is black, small, and with a flip-out screen you can photograph people without being noticed. It was a young, hip scene.            

 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF NEW ORLEANS THEY THINK OF . . .

Bourbon Street. This place makes the Las Vegas Strip look classy. One of the main marketing themes seems to be getting blotto drunk, although I don't know how much the bar owners and police actually tolerate. I'm not even sure if some of the bars ever close. 

On the other hand, Preservation Hall is just a few steps off Bourbon. Its motto is "dedicated to the preservation of jazz." It's old-style, traditional Dixieland. The inside is a bit of a dump but listening to those old musicians in unforgettable.          

STL DPB ON THE ROAD AGAIN - AW SHUCKS

It seems like I've hardly slept in my own bed lately. Back from Paris a few days ago, work as fast as I can, than down to New Orleans for a conference in my legal specialty. It's a big deal for me. The organization was founded and had its first meeting in this city 40 years ago. There are four of us at this meeting who were at the first one. I'm one of them. I thought they were going to give us something like the Legion of Honor, but no.

So Mrs. C and I went out for a walk today in the famous, historic and, in spots, quite tawdry French Quarter, or Vieux Carre. We stopped into an old place called Felix's for lunch. It's an oyster house. Somebody has to shuck all those oysters for the famous po' boy sandwiches. These guys were amazing for the speed at which they worked and the retention of all their fingers.           

MADELEINE MONDAY

There are more pictures of Paris. I could bore you with them for weeks but I think it's time to move on.

On Saturday we took the kid to a local attraction known as Grant's Farm. That takes some explaining. Civil War general and US president Ulysses S. Grant retired there when his public service was over. The property came into the hands of the Busch family, as in Anheuser-Busch. Adolphus Busch established a great estate a day's ride from the brewery (now a 30 minute drive at most). It stayed in the hands of the same family. In recent decades it became sort of a petting zoo-animal ride-little amusement park for kids. Plus the grown-ups get two free draws of AB products.

Madeleine liked it all. No horsemanship problems on the carousel.     

AT THE POMPIDOU

Posts have been hit and miss. We got home Wednesday night, I was buried at work and we go out of town again Tuesday for a professional conference. At least there will be plenty to photograph there.

Anyway, we made our obligatory visit to the Pompidou, the museum of modern and contemporary art with its still-shocking architecture. It is as well known for the views from its terrace as for the works on display. There are breathtaking views of the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre with Sacre Coeur on top.        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - MARCHE AUX PUCES

The original flea market of them all is the Marche des Puces-literally flea market- just outside the old north gate of Paris. It is open weekends and mobbed with tourists and locals looking for a bargain. You never know what you will  find but last Saturday it was heavy on sneakers and sports stuff. Someone offered to sell me a child size Kansas City Royals jersey with the patch from their championship year for €30, about $33. I took a pass. Sometimes the mannequins were as interesting as the clothes.

Back home now but just for six days.

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STL DPB ON THE ROAD - SIGNS

Home Wednesday night. I'm pooped. The procedure I had two weeks ago helped the back pain but my gait is awkward and I still need the cane but I've walked 3.5 to 5 miles a day. A nine hour sit today should help.

Anyway, the first picture is city hall. Noble aspirations. We in the US do okay on the liberty but we're a little short on the equality and fraternity. In the second, epicerie means grocery store. The others are self-explanatory. And then there is the midnight laundromat.