PANDEMIC IN SPRINGTIME - FRESH AIR AND EXERCISE

We've been going for walks in Forest Park and it's clear that some of the community really has cabin fever. The young women in the top picture were posing for a friend so I just grabbed the opportunity. Nobody minded but it occurred to me that I couldn't do this when I was 20.

The second photo brings back a memory. If any of you are old and weird enough, you might remember the bit of 70's way-out-there comedy from the Firesign Theatre, High School Madness. Porgy and his pal Mudhead are about to graduate from Morse Science High School. Jughead asks about his friend's plans for the future. Porgy exclaims,"I'm gonna cut the soles off my shoes, sit in a tree and learn to play the flute!" Sounds good to me.

Note the lack of distancing, though.              

The Lowdown

What's the bird's eye low-down on this caper? Whatever that means . . .

      - Nick Danger

      The Further Adventures of Nick Danger

      Firesign Theatre, 1969

Anybody else out there old and strange enough to remember that? One of the funniest and most challenging things I've ever heard. Firesign Theatre was a major influence on the person I became.

This is on the graffiti-permitted section of the Mississippi flood wall.

Firesign Theatre

Is anybody out there old and wacky enough to remember Firesign Theatre, the brilliant, surrealist comedy group from the 60s and 70s? That's what this image from the Ren Faire made me think of. Their deeply-layered, complex audio recordings rearranged my synapses and changed my life. Really. I will never forget the first time I heard them, on a cassette riding around Passaic, New Jersey, with my sister's boyfriend. (That was weird enough.) If you want to know what I'm babbling about listen to this. Two productions, the second of which starts at 28:12.

But I digress. The association carried me away. These are better fire eater pictures than the ones I got at the Shakespeare In The Park green show. Great light, more dramatic. I forgot that I had a polarizing filter on my telephoto lens. Probably wouldn't have put it on if I thought about it but I'm glad it was there.