MADELEINE MONDAY

The kid is back in these pages. On Saturday her school put on a Halloween event called Trunk Or Treat. Parents and staff set up a line of cars in the parking lot, rear side outward, with decorated trunks and loads of kid loot. Ellie and her friends attacked the line twice, stashing enough sugar in their bags to cause a diabetic coma. She wore her Hermione outfit from the Harry Potter series and clutched a stuffed Hedwig the owl, obtained by her doting grandparents at the real Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross station, London.

These events didn't exist when my kids were young. They are everywhere now.          

ROLLERS

Once again at the City Museum in St. Louis. Many of the balustrades are made of rollers from industrial conveyor systems. They are painted every way you could imagine. It makes me wonder who did it and how the designs were made.                 

WELL, BACK IN LONDON

With the American elections just over a week away, Mrs. C encouraged me to post this picture of a statue of the Bard located in Leicester Square. Um, conspiracy theorists? Enemies of democracy? (Recall that another Englishman, Mr. Churchill, said that democracy is the worst form of government ever invented, except for all the others.)

We might also think of the sentence the playwright gave Puck, What fools these mortals be.             

TIME TO COME HOME AND LOOK AT A GIANT STEEL PRAYING MANTIS

There are more pix from London that I should edit but it's time to come home. (London album at https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobcrowe/albums/72177720302907668 with more to add.)  Two days after we returned Ellie had a fall break four day weekend. We took her to STL's unique, wacky City Museum. The uppermost roof deck is topped with a huge metal praying mantis. After all, why not.        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - EROS

The famous statue of Eros in London's Piccadilly Circus. It's not that big and a little hard to see high up its pedestal. It has an interesting story. It was the first cast aluminum statue. One source says the figure is actually not Eros but his brother Anteros. Interesting description at https://www.thepiccadillywestend.co.uk/blog/london-icon-eros-statue-piccadilly-circus/               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HOW CROWDED WAS IT?

This crowded. Maybe it's because we have generally visited Portobello Road in the winter but we've never seen such a dense mob. I had more trouble standing and walking a long time on this trip, possibly because the joints in my feet have been more messed up by RA. I got my new orthotics yesterday and I'm hopeful they will help. Still, you need good weaving skills, some verbal courtesy and the occasional gently applied sharp elbow to get through.           

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - METALLICA

Another vendor in Portobello Road. I don't know if all of this is silver, plate, stainless steel or what. Awfully bright and it would have been better if there were a polarizing filter on my lens. 

There are dozens and dozens of stalls set up on Saturdays, plus the physical stores behind them. Amazing that there are buyers for all this but the streets were packed.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - THAT ICY STARE

Another find in the Saturday market along Portobello Road. I don't know if this expression is emotionless or hostile. The hand on the left is that of the vendor, who can barely be seen in the shadows. And the old gent in the mirror is not me.           

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH...

...not in your hands. That's the famous slogan of M&Ms, sold in vast quantities at the company's store in London's Leicester Square. The photo is deliberately as over-saturated as the candy. From what we saw of the shopping bags up and down the street, the pellets were flying out the door.                      

BULL'S EYE

In and out of the King's Cross - St. Pancras Underground station in London. Whoever created the famous logo was a graphics genius. Note that most of the travelers are walking on the same side of the road as the British drive. Someone, however, is an individualist.

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WHERE TO GO HARRY SPOTTING

 

The plaza outside busy King's Cross railway station in London. This side looks very different from the old 19th Century facade. This is the station where the famous Mr. Potter would find the mysterious Platform 9 3/4 to board the train to Hogwarts.             

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - MISERY

This show has been playing in this theater for decades. It's a wonder that it still sells tickets but it does. The image brought back a memory.

August 1989. I had a big herniated lumbar disc and was scheduled for surgery the next month. Bad pain down my left leg when I was up very much. Our family had scheduled a trip to London and Ireland before my injury. I asked my surgeon whether I could go. He gave me a prescription for Vicodin and said to do what I wanted.

So off we went with a rented wheelchair. We went to this show, with me sitting in a handicapped area at the back. I have a strong memory of sitting in my chair on this corner in the West End swirl after the show, trying to wave down a taxi from a position where I was very hard to see. Let's say it took a while.

There were some benefits from this situation. My wife and I got into the London Zoo for free because I was an "invalid" and she was my "pusher." And later, when we got to Ireland, I found that Vicodin and Guinness was the perfect pain cocktail.             

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - SELF PORTRAIT WITH BLUE TAPE

We're sitting in a lounge at O'Hare Airport in Chicago as I write this.  I spent much of the flight from London editing pictures and there are still more to go. This is in the Tate Modern museum, which is full of cutting edge stuff. One room had mirrors of various sizes hung from the ceiling. The mirrors and walls were edged with blue masking tape in two widths. That's it. And then I walked into the scene.                

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY

Here we are in the American Airlines lounge at beautiful (not) Heathrow Airport, waiting for a flight to Chicago and then home. Paris is definitely off. Besides, my back has not been doing well at all and trekking through another set of museums would be really hard. We may try it again in the spring.

We returned to the National Gallery to catch some of the stuff we didn't get the first time. This is the central rotunda. But for now I'm actually looking forward to a nice nine hour sit.                

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - THE EASY PART OF PORTOBELLO ROAD

Portobello Road, in the Notting Hill area of London, is known for its antiques dealers. On Saturdays, everything you could imagine is sold in stalls in the street in front of the usual shops. It turns right from this viewpoint, becoming much narrower and horribly crowded. We used to go to London in the winter to avoid the crowds but on a mild October day the hoard was too much for us.

As I mentioned on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10160630841302313&set=a.128314812312 , we have canceled the Paris half of our trip. Mass French labor protests could slow life to a crawl. There is a risk the air traffic controllers could go out on strike, which could leave thousands stranded. We're playing safe and going home from London on Tuesday.             

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - FREEDOM FOR IRAN

   

Yesterday looked like it was going to be a tough day physically for me. I'm getting old and my back is not in great condition. We started the day walking the length of the Portobello Road Saturday market. It was so crowded that if you stumbled you might be trampled. So we thought the National Gallery would be a nice change but I was so tired that after a while I thought that if I looked at one more Tintoretto I was gonna - well, you know.

We stepped out on the portico so I could get some wide shots of Trafalgar Square and found a large demonstration for freedom and democracy in Iran. That perked me up. It was pretty intense.

               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - EVERYBODY TAKES THIS PHOTO

Or almost everybody with a real camera when they visit the British Museum. That's what we did yesterday, to the point of exhaustion, on our first full day here. The central courtyard was covered with this eye-popping roof some years ago. The geometry is irresistible.

Parts of the place, particularly the famous Egyptian galleries, were impossibly crowded. On a weekday in October. Lots and lots of school groups with small children. People from all over the world. We still don't have our clocks reset and it wore us out.

We are still figuring out what to do today, depending on the typically damp autumn weather. Tosca at the English National Opera tonight. 

And we still don't know if we will get to Paris on Tuesday. Much of France is in another labor dispute meltdown and there may be a general strike on our travel day. There are worse places to get stuck than London but the hotel is fully booked and we don't have a place to stay after Monday night.                         

BURN, BABY

Our Lady of Artica, in flagrante, as you might say. I'd guess the top of the head was 50 - 60 feet / 15 - 10 meters tall, not counting the wings, if that's the proper term.

London tomorrow.          

PRELUDE TO THE BONFIRE

When this post goes up at midnight in our home time zone we will be somewhere over the northeastern U.S. or eastern Canada. Heathrow awaits at the other end.

Longtime readers of this blog know that Artica ends on Sunday night with a bonfire of a huge wooden effigy known as Our Lady of Artica. Current and recovering Catholics will get the reference. It is preceded by fire dancers. I'll get a pic of the bonfire posted before I start with images from London.               

DEDICATED TO ART AND FREE TO ALL

Those words are inscribed in the granite lintel over the entrance to the Saint Louis Art Museum. The same could be said for Artica, which is completely commerce free. Someone set up this long line of plywood panels, supplied paint, brushes and drop cloths, and invited everyone to have a go at it. The mural changed form a number of times during the two days of the festival. This was the scene late Sunday afternoon. 

Big adventures await us beginning tonight.              

THE THINGS PEOPLE DO WHEN THERE IS A LENS POINTED AT THEM

Someone brought an old piano to Artica. What a great idea! I've seen outdoor public pianos only in a few places, particularly in Belfast, Northern Ireland. People love them.

Anyone who could play was invited to have a go at it. This chap was improvising until he saw me and my big lens when he, shall we say, struck a pose. He had more piercings than I have prescription medications, which is saying something.

More of this tomorrow. Big travel this week.        

SELF EXPRESSION

One of the first acts Saturday on the Artica main stage. I think he calls himself Eldraco but that part of the program was a little confusing. He was a terrific showman (love the coat but I wish more were visible) and had a powerful voice. Something that was odd, though, not seen here, is that there were three female backup singers in a line at the rear of the small stage, just dancing in place and adding musical punctuation. That may have been common in the 60s but I found it disconcerting in today's entertainment world.              

ARTICA 2022

Artica, The Lou's wacky, almost anything goes festival of performing and visual arts, is back with us this weekend. The opening Saturday always has a parade for everyone (there are few spectators except the photographers) at exactly 1:11 PM. The reasons for that are lost in the mists of time. Here, the inimitable Audrey Simes, seen at so many interesting local events, struts out as drum major.

I told her I can never guess what fabulous costume I will see her in next. She said this was something she, oh, just threw together that morning.           

KISS A PARROT

But I have to say I'm not certain that this is a parrot. It's colorful enough but smaller than I would think. If any avian experts out there can provide any help I'd welcome it.

Another scene from Tower Grove Pride. I'm pretty hard up for material but Artica is this weekend, which is an image gold mine.          

I THOUGHT SOMETHING SILLY WAS NEEDED

Late post. I'm surprised by how busy some days can get for a retired person. Anyway, after the last two days of posts about political extremism, I thought that something decidedly unserious was called for. This is one of those inflatables that gyrates wildly, usually to attract attention  to a business. Seen at Tower Grove Pride.            

OUT THERE POLITICS, PART 2 OF 2

I pulled up behind this big SUV at a stoplight and happened to have my camera on the seat beside me. There's more to it than you can see in this low-res version. The red sticker in the bottom center of the window has an outline of Santa and two reindeer with the words Sleighin' Libs. The upper left has a cartoon of an elephant, a symbol of the Republican Party with an assault rifle in its trunk and the words Raised Right. Upper right is a cartoon of Trump in red, white and blue with both middle fingers raised. Lower right has a sticker that says Republicans - Working Like Crazy To Support The Lazy (!). The sticker in the lower left is mostly illegible but has the words We The People, the opening phrase of the U.S. Constitution, in its iconic script.

 

It frightened me. I was not about to cut this person off on the road.

        

OUT THERE POLITICS, PART 1 OF 2

Well, good luck. The concept hasn't worked very well in countries who've gone for it whole hog. Even the Chinese Communist Party backed way off. Although, IMHO, there are some things better run by society as a whole than by predatory capitalism (like healthcare, although mixed private-public systems can work). But come back tomorrow for the opposite end of the spectrum. It's much scarier.

Seen at Tower Grove Pride. 

I SURE HOPE SO

Sadly, not everyone is. Seen at Tower Grove Pride.                     

THREE LETTERS

A sculpture in the plaza opposite the baseball stadium, next to the big cards shown yesterday. These letters, in red with white piping and in this typeface, have been part of the Cardinals logo for as long as records exist. STL has been adopted as the city and region's abbreviation for ages. It's the airport code. There are multitudes of websites that use this or that-STL to create a unique URL.  Nobody here misses the point.                

 

THE END OF THE SEASON AND TWO GREAT CAREERS

We are three days from the end of the Major League Baseball season. Our beloved St. Louis Cardinals have won their division (there are six) and will proceed into the complex system of playoffs.

Two of the team's all-time greats are retiring at the end of the season. Albert Pujols has been one of the greatest hitters in the history of the game. He played here for 11 seasons, went to California for the big bucks where his production tailed off with age. He came back here for one final season and, at age 42, is tearing up the field. He will finish the season fourth on the all time home run list, based on records going back to the late 19th Century. Yadier Molina, Yadi to the fans, has played here for 18 years at one of the most physically demanding positions in sports. By general acclaim, he is one of the greatest defensive players ever to put on the catcher's armor. Both are headed to the baseball Hall of Fame after the minimum waiting period.

The team set up these boards in a plaza across from the stadium for the fans to leave personal notes and memories. I got there just as the line was forming on Friday. They will be presented to the players today.                    

CITY DAILY PHOTO OCTOBER THEME DAY - REST, SLEEP OR RELAXATION

Not St. Louis but meaningful to me. This picture was taken some years ago on Miyajima Island, Japan. If I understood correctly, the whole island is both a Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine. We found this on a path through the woods. The little animals give it an asleep in a manger feel. 

See how other City Daily Photo members chill out at https://citydailyphoto.org/category/theme-days/