ATTENTION SEEKING

We have all met people who want to draw attention to themselves. Dress and style is a traditional way to do it and these ladies may be good examples. Looking at the picture again made me think of some of the lyrics from Laurie Anderson's Language Is A Virus: 

Well I dreamed there was an island that rose up from the sea. And everybody on the island was somebody from TV. And there was a beautiful view but nobody could see. Cause everybody on the island was saying: Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!

As a photographer, I dress to avoid attention. I don't want people to notice me. Wear a lot of black, blue and gray.
         

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS IS REALLY LAURIE ANDERSON

Under all this Nanook Of The North clothing and a mask, facing a couple of MacBooks and a mixer board, is one of my cultural idols, Laurie Anderson. For those who don't know her, see https://laurieanderson.com/, but it's hard to understand if you aren't a devotee. I think I've seen her perform in St. Louis twice. She was the host of Philip Glass' birthday party but I think she spent most of her time being cold. As did we.         

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILIP GLASS

So here's what was going on: not long ago I saw something on Laurie Anderson's Facebook feed about an 85th birthday party for Philip Glass that she was hosting. I'm a huge fan of both. It was a ticketed event at the ice rink in Rockefeller Center in New York. I looked at Mrs. C and said, "I'd go to that!" So, given the freedom of retirement, off we went (not that I need much of a reason to visit my beloved home town). It was as wacky as I expected.         

YOU COULD BE AN OCARINA PLAYER GOING FROM DOOR TO DOOR

Okay, I may be going off the deep end here. While I edit this picture and write this post I've been watching a lecture, if you can call it that, on Zoom by my artistic hero, Laurie Anderson ( https://laurieanderson.com/). I won't try to describe the program. It's impossible. The photo is another from the performance of songbirdsongs with members of the St. Louis Symphony playing ocarinas to imitate owls. It made me think of Anderson's song Monkey's Paw, which contains the a line with the words in the caption. You can listen to it at https://youtu.be/4S8rtxPmHTA.                  

Dark Angels

This picture makes me think of Laurie Anderson's bittersweet song, Dark Angel (brief mp3 clip here). This another of the reflecting pools at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The darkness of the day is underscored by the fact that this was shot looking north in mid-afternoon.

TOMORROW: Cute kids. Who can resist?