Follow Up

A follow up to yesterday's post, seen at a street festival a few weeks ago. There is a meme in this country (and perhaps elsewhere) about women who get enormous pleasure from shopping, and therefore from consumption. It must briefly fill some hole in their spirits, a place so insecure that it must be filled by stuff. Of course, none of it provides lasting satisfaction. And, as John Lennon said, fun is the one thing that money can't buy.

You might enjoy this little video, The Story Of Stuff.

                              

The Band

We CDP regulars find this work satisfying but sometimes difficult. At least one photo a day, every single day. The blog is a hungry beast that demands constant feeding. Sometimes we're out of new material and are forced to look back in the archives. I'm always surprised at the shiny nuggets to be found there. This is an example, images that didn't grab my attention the first time through. Turned out okay.

I am just sickened by last night's events in Paris, a place I love. It illustrates the deep streak of brutality, stupidity and cruelty woven into our species. Not everyone, not everywhere, but never-ending and not going away.                    

Pig Says Hi

When you are totally hard up for material, I recommend finding someone in a pig suit hustling a crowd. It's not that hard on Cherokee Street.                    

Some Concert Pix

I don't know of anyone on CDP who does concert photography as well as my friend Olivier in Evry, France. (An example here.) I don't get to many performances where you can take pictures (the St. Louis Symphony, where we usually hang out, doesn't permit it). But Grovefest had a stage at one end of Manchester Avenue, happily facing southwest, where I stopped at the end of the afternoon. I don't remember the name of the group but they were terrific.

And hey, this week is the Gateway Arch's 50th anniversary! There's a party today in Kiener Plaza. Mrs. C, Emily, Madeleine and I will be attending.                      

Bubbles and Bull

They had a mechanical bull at Grovefest. An operator ran the thing with a joystick, making it gyrate wildly. I think you got a prize if you lasted a couple of minutes. No one did.

Note the broken left horn on this contraption. Someone who slid forward could be seriously injured. The lawyer side of me wonders how much insurance the owner has.                  

Paint By Numbers

It is a bit surprising but I'm seeing adult coloring books around these days. Hard to see the reason. Maybe people who never learned to draw want to make their own graphic novel.

The idea was extended at Grovefest. There are lots of wall paintings around the neighborhood. Someone put up the lines for a new one and filled in the spaces with color coded numbers. The public was invited to fill in the tones. Not very creative work but fun in its way and the result was pleasing.                

DWI Lawyer?

This person got my attention at Grovefest. Was he promoting a lawyer who does drunk driving cases? The sweatshirt was hard to parse. But look closely and notice the walkie talkie clipped to the back of his jeans. The white stripe near the bottom is a label - I can read it when I zoom in - that says that he's a very plain clothes security guard.

His disguise might be more credible if he cracked open the can in the second picture.                       

Roller Derby

Always lots to see at Grovefest out of the mainstream. There is an active roller derby scene here with both women's and men's teams.  Never been to one of their matches but they show up at lots of events.          

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

You have to be of a certain age to understand the reference in the title.

So there was this van at Grovefest that I suppose you could hire for your kid's birthday; someone's graduation, confirmation or bar mitzvah; or maybe the end of a Federal Reserve meeting. It had machines that blew huge volumes of bubbles over the street. The kids loved it. So did I. It would be hilarious to sneak this in backstage at the next Republican debate.
              

Some Street Portraits

Found at Grovefest.                   

Human Foosball

Back in STL with some photos from the oddball Grovefest in the (who would have guessed?) Grove neighborhood. Never seen human foosball before but it looks organized, with rules and officials and all that. These were just pickup games with anyone in the crowd who wanted to have a try. I can't play regular foosball to save my live so I stayed on the back side of the lens. 
                       

An American Pastime

There are actually people in this country who  think this is a great way to enjoy a day. I find that scary. What shall we perforate, the beer cans or the people?

The idea is sometimes fueled by the product in the second picture. PBR, as we often call it, used to be just another cheap beer. It was adopted by hipsters as a bit of an ironic gesture. Now so many hipsters suck it up that the brand has raised its prices. Note that the inflatable model can says "established in Milwaukee." The company is now based in Los Angeles. 

        

Imitation of Life

Representations of the world, each in his own way, from Grovefest. So how come the mime isn't shooting an imaginary camera?

It's unusual to see a left-eyed shooter. When I zoomed way in I saw he was using some high end equipment, a Canon 5D Mark III and, I think, a 16-35mm L Series f 2.8.          

Angular Momentum

         

just isn't poetic enough. Angular momentum, rotation, hula hoops, what does it matter? In this case, the main interest is the axis of rotation, the center around which elliptical movement occurs. Found over the weekend at Grovefest on Manchester Avenue in the funky Grove neighborhood along with other interesting images. Stay tuned.
                  

Madeleine Monday
                 

It's not like Vladimir Horowitz showed up for dinner but there's plenty of time for development. Note the cross-hand technique. After a strenuous practice session it's time to kick back with a soft little lamb provided by Auntie Virginia.