Hail, Hail Rock n' Roll

The statue of St. Louisan Chuck Berry along the Delmar Loop. He doesn't care how cold it is. He keeps rockin' day and night, every day of the year. Note how carefully made the work is, with all the weight perfectly balanced on one forefoot.

The statue is across the street from the locally renowned Blueberry Hill. It is a restaurant, bar and music venue. Downstairs there is a performance space named the Duck Room, named after Berry's signature walk. He played there a lot. I am casually acquainted with the sculptor, Harry Webber, who got me into the place after the dedication of the statue. That's when I got this picture.       

Frozen Chuck

I don't remember the exact temperature but it was really cold (for us) when I visited the ice carnival. Walking by the statue of St. Louis' Chuck Berry across the street from Blueberry Hill, where he performed regularly until he died last year, I couldn't help but think how frigid the bronze was. The man himself was a complete contrast.

I never met Berry as such but I attended the dedication of the statue in 2011. A casual acquaintance with the sculptor, Harry Weber, got me into the room at Blueberry Hill where Chuck was hanging out. That got me this picture, one of my all-time favorites.

Mrs. C and I are attending a fundraiser later today for Senator Claire McCaskill, who is up for reelection this year in this red-leaning state. We need her. Hope I get a couple of pictures while I'm at it.    

Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Cardinal Greats

There were two votes to continue this series and none opposed. Onward, then.

Two more members of the Cardinals' pantheon. They were active recently enough that I saw them play. 

The first is Ozzie Smith, one of the greatest shortstops ever to take the field. His athleticism was so magical, the catches he made so improbable, that he was known as The Wizard. Every year at the opening home game he would go to his position and do a standing back flip. I saw it, more than once. 

The second is Lou Brock, one of the finest base stealers there ever was. (Non-baseball fans and non-Americans: move along. There's nothing to see here.) Look at the intense gaze, watching the pitcher's motion, the catcher and the batter from his own team. When the moment was right, he would zoom from first to second base before his opponents could catch him.          

Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Meeting Of The Waters 3

Two days without a post. That's rare for me. New dimensions in overwork (well, not so new) and computer problems. At least the latter issue is solved. We had freezing drizzle most of yesterday so it was time to stay indoors and catch up. 

Another nice piece from the Milles Fountain. The figure looks like she might be squirting shampoo on her hair but it's just a fish. The whole grouping is on river themes. The pipe sticking out of its mouth is a water jet, now off for the winter.  

Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Bob Gibson

Another dripping chin and pair of intense eyes: Bob Gibson, perhaps the greatest pitcher in the history of the Cardinals, although there is some serious competition. (Remember that Dean guy a few days ago?) One of our New England CDP colleagues has already complained about the job he did on the Boston Red Sox in the 1967 World Series. Gee, I would have been a freshman at St. Louis University that fall and I dont remember it. I do remember him in Game 5 of the 1964 World Series against the New York Yankees. My father somehow got tickets for my brother and me. I was a rabid Yankees fan and cursed the Cardinals' win. Little did I realize . . .       

Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Meeting Of The Waters 2

I don't know the meaning of each of the individual statues that make up The Meeting Of The Waters. This one has always been striking. The hair looks like feathers, parted perfectly to peek through with those intense eyes.              

Faces Of Statues In The Rain: Dizzy Dean

Outside of Busch Stadium are a group of statues of the greatest Cardinal baseball players. Many of the names will be unfamiliar to people from other places. This is Jan Dean (not to be confused with Jan and Dean), known to all as Dizzy Dean, a pitcher during the 30s and 40s. The droplets on his skin could be from a miserable St. Louis summer day.

Before this series is over we'll get to Bob Gibson, the best Cardinal pitcher of all time.          

Never Noticed

I've walked by this spot innumerable times. It's the plinth of the great statue of Louis himself in Forest Park. The monument and the Art Museum behind it are on the top of a hill (which, with a flash of imagination, we call Art Hill) so there is unbroken sky behind it. 

But I never noticed the obvious composition. It sort of says: welcome to my world.                

The Big Guy

This odd little event I've drawn from the last two days was right by the art museum and the grand statue of Louis IX. Haven't shot the big guy in a while. The light wasn't great but that's why we have Photomatix, Photoshop and all those other toys.

You know, it's a wonder the king doesn't have saddle sores by now. Or does he?                     

The Light

I didn't intend to run this today. There was some color and a Monday Madeleine planned but what the family was doing last night took soooo long that I didn't have time to edit the pictures (or get many comments written). This is the beginning of a series I planned to start on Tuesday.

So anyway . . .

More black and white - it's calling to me. I was wandering around the somewhat barren Aloe Plaza (obviously a good place to go if you have a sunburn) taking snaps of the Milles Fountain, seen here many times before. The title is The Meeting of The Waters, an artistic monument to the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers just north of here.  The light didn't look great until I noticed the wonderful highlights and shadows from the back-lit side of the pieces. It looks like arising from the depths into the sun.

More of this later in the week.

                                               

Louie And The Rainbow

The town's favorite saint and king on his perch atop Art Hill, ordering a bit of extra color in the sky.         

Give Her A Ride

Statue of Juno, apparently hitchhiking her way across the Missouri Botanical Garden.

       

When You Live In St. Louis And Have Nothing To Post...

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... you can always post a picture of St. Louis. And, of course, he was King of France and, according to plan, in ten days we'll be in France. Yippie!.

Hope to do better today. There is a restaurant and bar on the far south side called Iron Barley that has its annual Tomato Fest today. They will attempt to create the world's largest BLT. At 1 o'clock there's tomato dodgeball. Your inquiring photographer plans to watch it all go splat.