City Daily Monthly Theme Day: Animals

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Hmm. What kind of animal would you associate with St. Louis? A baseball cardinal or football ram? Perhaps the pigeons in Kiener Plaza or a weasel sucking up real estate redevelopment tax credits.

For us locals the choice is clear: the Anheuser-Busch team of huge Clydesdale horses pulling an old-fasioned Budweiser beer wagon. They have been around for many decades and appear at all sorts of public events. And they're always accompanied by a dalmatian sitting by the wagon drivers. What's more, they seem to have a broad sense of humor and enjoy a good horse laugh.

The first three pictures could have been exposed better. Wicked backlight.

You can view the animal traits of all the City Daily Photo members participating in theme day by clicking here.

Who's In Charge

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Another shot from the Park Pacific of a notable downtown building, this time City Hall. Unfortunately, it was taken through a window, not from the rooftop terrace. The building has considerable architectural interest. Its inspiration was Paris' Hôtel de Ville, although ours is rather less grand. (The two cities are easily distinguished.) The interior is impressive, especially the rotunda. Really need to go shoot there some time but the building is only open on weekdays. That's hard for my overloaded schedule.

Below is Mayor Francis Slay. He's been running the show for eleven years and is likely to get another term. I've taken his photo on a number of occasions but I think he's still a little puzzled about who this older guy is in the suit with the big camera. He's always gracious and well-respected in most quarters. (He's a politician - can't please everybody.)