THE WRITERS OF THE CWE: T. S. ELIOT

 

Euclid and McPherson Avenues is a major intersection in The Lou’s trendy Central West End neighborhood, or CWE. Each of the four corners has a bust of a famous native writer or, in one case, an author with major ties here. This is Thomas Stearns Eliot. His image is that of the consummate English intellectual, High Church Anglican and all that. Well, not quite. He was born and raised in St. Louis, living here until he went to school in Massachusetts at age 16. He’s the one who told us that the world ends not with a bang but a whimper. Got my doubts about that.                     

ROUND IN CIRCLES

Pre-party entertainment in Maryland Plaza before the Central West End’s main Halloween festivities. This person is there every year, doing tricks that are hard to photograph. He fully rotates, twists and spirals, somehow not squashing his hands. Where do you learn this?              

BOO

 

A candy store for local photographers: on the Saturday before Halloween, our Central West End neighborhood has a big public Halloween party in Maryland Plaza. The strange side of St. Louis shows up in force. Curbside bars line the surrounding streets. Costumes range from simple to wildly creative, and there is a contest that we will come to. Plenty of things that go bump in the night.                  

Silly People

I'm running through some more Central West End Halloween pictures before I head to New York for the weekend tomorrow. You have to wonder whether these people are simply being creative or expressing something about themselves that doesn't have another outlet. Probably some of both.    

Don't We All Have Days Like This?

I do, or at least I feel like this looks. Checking at the picture more closely, I wonder if this man is supposed to be a stalk of broccoli. Don't much like that although people say it's good for you. Maybe if this person ate more of what he's dressed like he'd feel better. 

No mistaking the second costume. If I feel that nasty I usually cover it up.          

Serious Business

  

The American version of Halloween is supposed to be fun - dress up in silly clothing, whip up some mock fear, play some jokes. However, when I was shooting in Maryland Plaza Saturday night, I noticed how dead serious many of the participants were. Grim stares, few smiles. Maybe that was their spin on the scary themes of the day.

By the way, the pun three sentences back was intentional.

Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler

The title of this post is a Cajun French phrase most Americans know: let the good times roll. It is often associated with Mardi Gras in New Orleans. However, I'm told it is almost meaningless in France. The roll was amazing in Maryland Plaza Saturday night but it was tough to get all the motion in low light, not to mention understanding how it is done. Being poorly coordinated in general, I could only watch in awe.         

Boo In The Lou

There is a big outdoor party on the Saturday night before Halloween in Maryland Plaza, part of the Central West End neighborhood. I go shoot the monsters and wraiths if I'm in town and the weather is tolerable. Not as crowded last night as some years and everyone is happy to pose. We'll go with this for a while.                

Christmas Day In The Lou

This is the ghost of Christmas present. Chilly and damp. Fog, thicker and thicker as you approach the river. Not approved by Charles Dickens, Santa Claus or Macy's. But, hey, it's home and we're together.

Top to bottom: Forest Park, Maryland Plaza, Citygarden.         

Boo 2: How Rude

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The usual social conventions about good taste are not enforced at St. Louis' Halloween street party. Maybe that's what the wilder costumes are about: for one night you have a license to be as outrageous as you want. You can go back to your job as an insurance clerk and no one will think differently of you. It was just Halloween.

Boo

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Halloween is so popular in this country anymore (all shaped by insidious corporate marketing, do doubt). People pretend to be everything from hobgoblins to hookers, parade about in public or at parties and, in the current version of the practice, drink rather a lot. It wasn't like this when I was a kid. We just slapped on whatever your mom bought at Woolworth's and went out in bands of little beggars. It was simply about the candy.

I go shoot the big Halloween street party in our Central West End neighborhood every year. The crush of bodies can become intolerable, unless you get a rise out of close physical contact with the Super Mario Brothers. Obviously we are in a substantial minority, but Mrs. C and I just don't get it. I'd have about as much fun spending a Saturday night dressed as a pirate than as a trial lawyer. The last time I went to a costume party about 25 years ago, I got a Los Angeles Angels baseball jersey and made a paperboard miter that said "We Accept Visa And MasterCard" on it and went as the pope.