If You Liked Yesterday's Post, How About Some More?

Well, yesterday's post went down very well by my standards. I posted the first image on the Fujifilm X-T2 users FB page and got, as of this writing, 100 likes, loves, wows and comments, blowing the doors off all past photos. There is lots more to do from the Theatre Crawl but I'm short on time so here are a few more fireworks shots. More minimalist approach.        

Okay, Now I've Got It

Wednesday night's shots of the NYC fireworks weren't so great. The Fujifilm X-T2 I'm shooting with these days does the same things as my big Canon DSLR but the controls are often very different. I think I've figured out the settings for fireworks. We have a big Fourth Of July festival under the Arch, Fair St. Louis, with fireworks Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week. The family went downtown for it last night.  This time it worked.      

Thursday Arch Series

The big wicket hasn't been on the blog for a while. This was taken in color from Kiener Plaza last weekend, then converted in Photoshop. Still exploring what the Fujifilm X-T2 can do. I just got orange filters for my two most used lenses. Not expensive. If I use them correctly shots like these should be even more dramatic.    

Passion

Walking around downtown late yesterday afternoon after the baseball game let out. (The Cardinals are doing better lately.) Found this on the eastern side of Gio's Restaurant on 7th Street. I don't know if baseball is more a passion or an obsession in this town.       

Nice Light

Sunset yesterday at the Old Court House downtown. It was quiet on Broadway late on a Saturday afternoon.

So, some odds and ends for a few days. An adventure starts on Wednesday.            

The Classics

What with the demands of work, family and, um, this blog, I have way too little time to read. A partial solution is audio books I listen to while driving. I'm most of the way through Cambridge classicist Mary Beard's SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, a superb work if you are interested in history. 

The Romans' architectural achievements come round and round again through the centuries. This is St. Louis' Old Court House, seen many time on these pages. If this ain't Roman, I'll eat my galerum.                

Oh Say Can You See (Through)

Back in the Old Court House. It was shadowy under the dome with shafts of light breaking through the windows and portals. The huge flag looked solid until you viewed it straight on. Then some interesting tableaux appeared.                              

Okay, I Made It Two Days

Some break. But I really, really need to slow down for a bit, um, maybe just post occasionally. There was finally time to edit a set of pix I took a month ago inside the Old Court House. The exterior has been on this blog many times but in all my decades in STL I had never gone inside. Pretty cool. There ought to be patriotic marches playing in the background.                       

Thursday Arch Series (Two-Fer)

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A pretty standard (non to mention back-lit) picture of the Arch, but someone dumped red dye into the Kiener Plaza fountain. It made the spray run pink for the breast cancer fundraiser. Sorry about the scaffolding around the Old Courthouse, but when you're that old you may need a facelift.

Below, the view 14 blocks straight west of the top pic from the far side of Milles Fountain. Good place to cool off for all the runners and walkers.

There won't be much outdoor shooting from now through the weekend unless I want to photograph people dying in the streets. It was 99 F / 37 C yesterday. The forecast for today is 108 F / 42 C. Saturday it cools off to 105 F / 40.5 C. My plan is to stay indoors and start posting pix from last Sunday's Pridefest Parade. It was a jaw-dropper, as usual.

Thursday Arch Series

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The TAS returns. I sometimes think I've exhausted the possibilities but there are always variations on old themes. I have shot views like this from Kiener Plaza many times. This one is a three-shot HDR (from a tripod for a change) processed in Photoshop's HDR Pro, which is much more natural than the results from Photomatix. Then it was run through PhotoTools to get a sort of Holga-like effect. ISO 100 for clarity, f 7.1.

Old Court House and Contrail

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Out here in the Midwest we're in flyover country, as jet airplanes float across our skies from east to west coast and back, literally looking down on us here in the middle. I love contrails, though. They are magical clouds that can create symbols in the heavens.

WHAT'S KEEPING ME FROM POSTING COMMENTS ON MY FRIENDS' POSTS: time! How did I get myself into this? Zooming around the office Tuesday, two hour drive down here to Carbondale, Illinois in the evening, a full day of hearings here Wednesday, drive back to my office in St. Louis this afternoon - you get the picture. No rest for the wicked. I haven't forgotten you

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series.

Blinded By The Light

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A downtown office building clad in stainless steel and mirror glass, blasted by the late afternoon sun. It looked to me like the first building on earth to be vaporized by Vogon Constructor Fleet when they needed to get us out of the way for an interstellar bypass. I also like what it does to the color of the grass at the Old Court House.

WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: the Saint Louis Symphony orchestra is performing Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony, a big favorite (it's really intense). Listen to the ending, in which the composer contemplates his approaching death, with comments by Leonard Bernstein - click here.

TOMORROW: so soon? Somebody must be trying to sell something.

There is a new Arch photo
today on GATEWAY

It's All About The Light. Well, Maybe The Lens. Could Be The Software.

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Wow, the town is looking good. At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere we have nearly day-long Golden Hour. This was taken from Kiener Plaza looking southeast about an hour before sunset. The classical-style building on the left is the Old Court House, scene of the gay rights rally featured in Monday and Tuesday's posts. By the way, since the title refers to how the picture was made, here's the setup: f 6.3, 1/200 sec., ISO 400, Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens with B+W circular polarizing filter, shot in RAW and buffed up in Photoshop. That's an awful lot of bother to go to. I think it's worth it.

WHAT'S ON TV WHILE I'M WRITING THIS: wow (again), Stephen Colbert is really babbling tonight.

TOMORROW: alien death ray strikes office tower?

The People At The Rally

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Faces in the crowd at the rally in support of gay marriage rights and the things they had to say. I agree with their cause. In those countries and (two) American states where this is recognized, it's just no big deal. This may be a generalization, but those who oppose it seem to think that the institution of marriage has had an immutable sameness throughout the ages that must be preserved. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Consider the sweeping changes in Europe (and later North America) from the French Revolution into the 19th Century, when marriage changed from an institution under the control of the Church to one defined by the State. No one thinks about that any more. Then there is the concept of marriage as being a locked-down lifetime bond, no matter how horrible it may become, to today's freedom to divorce. No one thinks about that any more. Like all human institutions, it changes over time, but many of us are shortsighted and don't understand this.

Having said that, I think the two sides do a certain amount of talking across one another. Of course there are hateful wackos, like the counter-protesters found in Eric's Salt Lake City post on Monday. But some of the people in these pictures feel they are hated by the other side. I don't think that's always true. A lot of opponents are motivated by sincere religious belief. However, some of them do seem to think that gay marriage is shameful and practiced by perverts. Read D. C. Confidential's eloquent comment on my Monday post to see why that's just not so. Sometimes we don't listen to one another very well, do we?

WHAT REALLY STUPID: the marked upswing in gun sales in this country over the last couple of weeks. Some people seem to think Obama is going to take them all away so they better stock up.

TOMORROW: Dragon eats Toyota!

A FOOTNOTE ON WEDNESDAY: NYC's Ming the Merciless asks in a comment what the business with the shrimp is all about (see picture below left). A person I live with who is better acquainted with the Bible than I am provided the answer. It's a bit of a parody, comparing the Old Testament injunction against eating shellfish (like shrimp) with Bible verses condemning homosexuality.

In the King James Version, Jude 1:7 is translated as, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." The same verse in the International Standard Version comes out as, "Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities near them, which like them committed sexual sins and engaged in homosexual activities, serve as an example of the punishment of eternal fire." Similarly, in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:9 states that, "You know that wicked people will not inherit the kingdom of God, don't you? Stop deceiving yourselves! Sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals..." (ISV).

Now, as to unclean foods, my correspondent looked up the verses cited on the poster:

Leviticus 11: 9-12 (KJV):

9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.

10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:

11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.

12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Deuteronomy 14: 9-10 (KJV):

9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. 10 But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

So, the point of the shrimp poster seems to be nobody worries about eating shrimp any more except the relatively few people who keep kosher. The rest of the world ignores the prohibition. By implication, the protester in the photo is saying that Bible verses condemning homosexuality are also passé. It is a subtle, witty comment.

The Love That Damn Well Dares To Speak Its Name

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I was at my office Saturday playing the desperate game of catch-up when I walked over to the window. Twenty-three floors down and a couple of blocks away, I saw a rally on the steps of the Old Courthouse spilling over to Kiener Plaza across the street. Grabbed the camera and zipped on over.

As most Americans know, one of the things that happened on Election Day was a referendum in California that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman, which is to say, no gay marriage. It had been legal in California for a brief time after a ruling by the state Supreme Court. Only two other states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, permit it. Gay and lesbian communities without the country reacted to the vote with outrage. Demonstrations were held throughout the country on Saturday. I'm not going to take a position on the issue in this post. Tell us what you think of these images and the questions behind them.

WHAT HAPENED SUNDAY: the sun came out, the temperature moderated and I got some some great pix around downtown, including the big croquet wicket.

TOMORROW: the people at the rally.

THERE IS A NEW ARCH PICTURE FROM
SUNDAY'S SHOOT ON GATEWAY TODAY

Peace and Vigilance: Detail

It's hard to get a good overview of Peace and Vigilance with Eagle, featured yesterday. It's big, it's above eye level and it's indoors. The details show more of the art.

Vigilance is on the ball. She is alert, scanning the horizon. Her posture is relaxed but a sword is ready in her right hand. Peace, on the other hand, is harder to interpret. She holds an olive branch in her left hand (I don't know if the lefty olive has a meaning) but, frankly, she looks depressed rather than peaceful. Maybe her lover left, her dog died and, as the old Commander Cody song has it, she's down to seeds and stems again, too.

The eagle shrieks over the whole scene. Vigilance might appreciate the scouting help but how is Peace going to get any, well, peace with that screaming bird over her head? Maybe that's why she's depressed.

TOMORROW: Treatment for couples with, um, a difficulty.

Thursday Arch Series

An image half-way between two varieties of my Arch photos: reflected in a building but in black and white. The spire and flag pole sit atop the Old Court House. Some history and links to other photos of this historic building are in my post of June 9.

TOMORROW: Wet, very quiet.