COLOR FOR COLOR'S SAKE

 

Rainbows everywhere, but I guess that's part of the point. Probably the last photo from Tower Grove Pride. Artica is this weekend and we hope to go today. Usually get some good pictures and the weather should be good for the bonfire.                   

DDARE BIONIC

 

More color and fun at Tower Grove Pride. I know who this person is without looking at the festival website, since we've crossed paths through the St. Lou Fringe, where I'm the photographer and board prez. It's Darrious Varner. who performs as DDare Bionic. Darrious also works in the newsroom at St. Louis Public Radio.                    

DJ

 

Not sure who was sponsoring this tent at Tower Grove Pride. There was a sign to the left of the crop inviting people to dance but no one was. No idea how these machines work but it's not my kind of music anyway. Not into the piercings, either.                   

THE WORKERS OF THE WORLD AREN'T INTERESTED

 

A booth at Tower Grove Pride that was getting absolutely no traffic. They had enough capital for a nice tent and printed materials. Now, in current terminology, my politics could be described as pretty out on the progressive side and I'm good with the idea that unrestrained capitalism is predatory and destructive, while communism has been an abject failure. Some nations have shown that there is a middle way. Still, I'm happy that this country lets these people be there to have their say.             

CHACON A SON GOUT

 

It is not unusual in this country to see people who are simply covered with tattoos. Mrs. C and I think they are abhorrent and disfiguring. Both of our children got them, one all over, one more discretely (the route of the Chicago Marathon he ran on his calf). Skin belongs to the owner. Each to their own taste. https://youtu.be/WtTnCeuYkgI?si=Rj_RzNRPB9p3tAyN                    

THE PASSING SCENE

 

What with my creaky spine, sometimes I'll sit or lean on something at the side of an event, flip up the LED screen on my camera leaving it on my lap, and shoot what goes by. When the camera is not up to my face, people don't know I'm taking pictures. This trio swung over by me and I had quite a conversation with the man on the right. He noticed my Fujifilm camera. He's a FF shooter, too, and we had a chat about why they are so wonderful.                 

TOWER GROVE PRIDE

 

Change of scene. Metro St. Louis has a few Pride festivals, and, even though you could compare me to the shortest distance between two points on a plane, you could not find more colorful subject matter. This one is in Tower Grove Park, our second largest. (STL City has a lot of parks.) These folks told me they were family. Mom and the kids?                   

FURRY FRIENDS

 

Another from Tower Grove Pride. I suspect that there characters represent something specific but I have no idea what. (Suggestions?)

Artica starts today. Hope my spine holds up.                      

I ALWAYS RUN INTO HER

 

More Tower Grove Pride. Whenever I go to these events, I'm always running into the wonderfully named Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, all the more meaningful for my Catholic background. They wear these little plastic name tags, just like Mormon missionaries. 

Artica is this weekend. Still listless but gotta pull it together.                   

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW

 

Another late post. This bug has still got me down. And my creaky back is bad enough that I’m seeing pain management next week. The joys of getting old, but we must press on. So, another pic from Tower Grove Pride. Want to accept a dare?                

HELP OUT SOME PUNKS

That’s what the sign in the lower right says, and it seems appropriate. Things on the blog have been moving slowly. Mrs. C and I came down with a nasty bug, possibly acquired in the mega airports we passed through recently. These three were selling artwork at Tower Grove Pride. Good attitude.                               

TOWER GROVE PRIDE

 

Back home and a big change of scene. There is more to edit from Scotland but I’ll put those on Flickr.

There are two major Pride festivals in STL, a big parade downtown in June and a stationary event in Tower Grove Park in September. There were lots of folks who were out there. As happens often, it got so crowded it was hard to pick out individual people with my camera. This makes for a nice start, though.                

TOWER GROVE PRIDE

 

We have two major annual Pride events. There is a big parade downtown in June, which I was not able to attend this year. This weekend we have what is called the Tower Grove Pride Festival, named for the city's second-largest (and my favorite) park. Stages, entertainers, food, artists, craftspeople, churches, healthcare, politics (guess what kind), social services, clothing (some provocative), and lots and lots of interesting strollers. This dad and I are like the shortest distance between two points on a plane, but we are open minded and sympathetic.                     

KISS A PARROT

But I have to say I'm not certain that this is a parrot. It's colorful enough but smaller than I would think. If any avian experts out there can provide any help I'd welcome it.

Another scene from Tower Grove Pride. I'm pretty hard up for material but Artica is this weekend, which is an image gold mine.          

I THOUGHT SOMETHING SILLY WAS NEEDED

Late post. I'm surprised by how busy some days can get for a retired person. Anyway, after the last two days of posts about political extremism, I thought that something decidedly unserious was called for. This is one of those inflatables that gyrates wildly, usually to attract attention  to a business. Seen at Tower Grove Pride.            

OUT THERE POLITICS, PART 1 OF 2

Well, good luck. The concept hasn't worked very well in countries who've gone for it whole hog. Even the Chinese Communist Party backed way off. Although, IMHO, there are some things better run by society as a whole than by predatory capitalism (like healthcare, although mixed private-public systems can work). But come back tomorrow for the opposite end of the spectrum. It's much scarier.

Seen at Tower Grove Pride. 

I SURE HOPE SO

Sadly, not everyone is. Seen at Tower Grove Pride.                     

SQUAWK

STL has a couple of annual events that come in twos, a big, official one involving a mass parade downtown and a smaller celebration that's more fun in one of the neighborhoods. St. Patrick's Day is one. The other is Pride Fest. There is a huge thing in the city center (I was out of town for this year's) and a smaller, more informal affair in Tower Grove Park. Everybody is friendly, the crowds aren't onerous, and people are happy to talk and be photographed.

I learned that this macaw was cared for at a wild bird shelter. Its handler said that it doesn't talk but will bite if provoked (note taken). She also said that it was found during a bust at a drug house. How it got there is anyone's guess.