THURSDAY ARCH SERIES

Haven't had one of these in a while but then there are only so many ways you can depict an upside down catenary arch. The monument is partly concealed by what passes for a skyline around here. 

Some notes about the buildings: The low, saddle-topped building is the hockey arena, home of, if I may say so, the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. The tall building with the dome on the right is the federal courthouse. It precisely blocks the view of the Arch from the main highway coming into downtown from the west. The tall building on the left is vacant. After the anti-trust break up of the original AT&T many regional "baby Bells" were created and Southwestern Bell was headquartered here. It gobbled up some of the other regional phone companies and then bought the rights to the AT&T name. For awhile that building was the headquarter of the new AT&T but then they moved the operation to Dallas. The building, having the greatest amount of floor space of any in the area, has been emptied out. I've read that since it was built for a single tenant it is very difficult to repurpose, so there it sits.          

DERIVATIVE OR INSPIRED

There are lots more pictures from the orchid show at the botanical garden. Some of them are pretty good, IMHO. It's not just about the color, though. I've always admired Robert Mapplethorpe's black and white photos of flowers. They are stripped of their hues and rely on line, form and contrast. They're gorgeous.

So every time I visit this show I try some of that approach in post production. Maybe it's derivative, just imitating Mapplethorpe's style. Maybe he is an inspiration, pushing me to find my own style in this genre. If you like the picture the assessment is up to you.              

Thursday Arch Series

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Say it ain't so.

Well, it's not that bad. There is an entrance to the museum under the Arch at each leg. They are inside the legs and point down and to the center. When this was taken the entrance at the south leg was closed for some kind of maintenance, despite many signs around the grounds directing people this way.

Today is the hundredth anniversary of my father's birth. A toast to the old guy.