Dogs And Owners

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the weirdest of them all?

I must be poorly socialized or full of existential angst or just a snob or something. I would no sooner do something like this than watch an episode of Duck Dynasty.  Everybody here is just out having some fun with their dogs but while I'd shoot the event, I wouldn't walk in it. My shoes are cleaner that way. And besides, I don't have a dog.                                 

Don't know if it's the same in New Orleans, but the Mardi Gras colors here are purple, green and yellow. Seems a bit bilious, which I guess is appropriate for the occasion. The big gigantic crazy parade is this Saturday. There is an other parade next Tuesday night on the actual evening before Ash Wednesday. Never got out to shoot that one before but it starts right in front of our new office building so no excuses.                      

Barkus

It's time for the first event in St. Louis' run-up to Mardi Gras, The Barkus Dog Parade. (Barkus . . . Bacchus . . . get it?).  Fat Tuesday is a surprisingly big deal here. As I have noted before, St. Louis loves an excuse to drink in public during the daytime.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dogs and their owners turn out for the pooch promenade through the Soulard neighborhood. It was packed yesterday with relatively good weather. One group is sillier than the next. The little one above looks to be in an encounter with the Grim Kennel Master. Some people dye their dog's fur. Some put together little floats.

More to come.                   

Madeleine Monday

Floating on her mother's shoulder: La Serenissima.            

Immunity From Prosecution

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The perfect shirt to wear to a rowdy public event. I wonder if it does any good. Seems to me that if I wore a shirt that said "I'm A Lawyer - Don't Mess With Me" the only probable reaction is that someone would try to pick my pocket. I do have a tee shirt with a quote from Diane Arbus on the back: One of the risks of appearing in public is the likelihood of being photographed. It's my favorite.

It occurs to me that next Tuesday, March 22, is the fourth anniversary of this project. Suggestions about how to mark the event are welcome.

Bikers have taken over Downtown St. Louis 365 today.

Just Another Pretty Face

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Just a quick note as I am frantically packing on Monday night. Some people say there is a resemblance between dogs and their owners or that people have pets that are a reflection of them. There are exceptions.

The picture below is my favorite from the Barkus Parade.

I have not forgotten my CDP friends. Like they sing in Rocky Horror, I'm doing the time warp again. I have some sit-arounds in airports today. I hope I can catch up.

Woof

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There is a moderately sized but very enthusiastic Mardi Gras celebration here. Two Saturdays before the great drinkathon we have the Barkus dog parade, a canine extravaganza. There were hundreds and hundreds of people of people and pooches there yesterday. Some web site claimed that this is the biggest dog parade in the country. I don't know if that's right but somebody has to have it.

SO WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? Saturday's schedule was get up, go to the office, go home, eat dinner, go to the symphony (SLSO music director David Robertson conducted a kick-ass Eroica), go home, go to bed. No pictures. Yesterday's was get up, skim the Sunday papers, go to the office, run down to Soulard and shoot the dog parade, go back to the office, go home, download the photos and edit a couple, go out to dinner with my wife for our annual Stupid Bowl party, go home, write this, go to bed. HOW MUCH OF THE STUPID BOWL I WATCHED: none. We think football is appalling, a sport that wrecks the joints and brains of the players, who are thrown in the dumpster after providing mass spectacle. We've had our own private Stupid Bowl party for maybe 25 years, dining out during the game. This year we tried the delicious Persian cuisine of Cafe Natasha on South Grand. WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR THE WEEK? More dogs tomorrow, the Thursday Arch Series on Wednesday just to disrupt the rhythm of the universe, then a special post Thursday from an as-yet undisclosed location. We're off on another junket. You'll never guess where.