La Vita Non E Bella

More from the Webster Groves holiday fair. Look at the man's expression. He needs a life-changing experience, like one of those beverages or cars that claim they can put you on top of the world. At the very least, a recording of Bobby McFerrin singing Don't Worry, Be Happy.

And on the subject of states of mind, I swear that the second photo was not composed under the influence of any drugs other than those prescribed by my physician. (I have a really great doctor.)

TOMORROW:

He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row.

- Bob Dylan, Desolation Row, 1965

Thursday Arch Series

No comment necessary.

TOMORROW: It's supposed to be fun. Lots of fun. Why isn't the man having fun?

Fourth of July Mid-Day Update

I was out shooting the big parade in downtown St. Louis when the Bluetooth phone gizmo in my ear rang. A call from Dick Cheney! He said to tell everyone that America is not chicken, that we are not a a bunch of pussies! So watch out! Grrrrrr

Happy Fourth of July From St. Louis

It's our national holiday: summertime, barbecue, beer, parades and red, white and blue everything: tee shirts, porch decorations, silly hats, lawn chairs, dog jackets. Even Budweiser cans are kinda red, white and blue. I'm off Wednesday morning to shoot the big parade downtown. Going to the Cardinals baseball game tonight. The game time is set to lead into the fireworks over the Mississippi River and the stadium, which has a perfect view, will stay open through the show. I'll be there with lenses blazing.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series - a special one if I'm kucky

An American Tradition

The American Fourth of July: flags, parades, carnivals, fairs, patriotism (and jingoism) and fireworks. John Phillip Sousa marches: The Stars and Stripes Forever (have a listen!). Yay for us! I just learned that The Stars and Stripes Forever is the official march of the United States of America. For my legal colleagues, check 36 USC 304. It's a toe-tapper for sure.

These pictures were taken at the Independence Day carnival in the suburb of St. Louis where I live, Webster Groves. It's an older town by our standards (more than a century - wow). It has town streets rather than the closed systems of subdivisions now typical in newer suburban areas. I like that a lot. Factoid: in 1966, CBS Television produced a documentary called 16 In Webster Groves, purporting to show the shallow materialism of suburban American youth. Geez, we are so far from the worst in that department. Time magazine revisited Webster Groves High School in an cover-story article and photo essay in 1999. My two kids both bailed on WGHS and attended Crossroads School, the only private, non-sectarian high school in the City of St. Louis proper. They both went on to the University of Chicago, so maybe they made the right choice.

Like I sometimes say, chacun a son gout.


TOMORROW: Oh, probably more of the same kind of stuff

Life On the Mississippi: the Floodwall

Life On the Mississippi is a book published in 1883 by Mark Twain, a memoir of of his of his youth as an apprentice river pilot and a voyage as an adult from St. Louis to New Orleans, observing life on and around this great waterway. It is a good theme for the occasional posts I begin today about St. Louis' main artery.

Like all great rivers, the Mississippi is prone to disastrous floods. Click here for a facsinating photo essay about why we need floodwalls and levees and what happens when they fail. The downtown business district sits up on a bluff but much of the city slides gently down to the water's edge. These areas are protected by a huge concrete floodwall with sections that slide open and closed on rails. The section of floodwall just south of the Arch is reserved for graffiti artists, where the most people can see it.. These are just a couple of sections - there's lots more great stuff. The background of the bottom to these pictures makes me think of a Hans Hoffman abstract expressionist painting I saw in a museum somewhere.

I wonder if you need a city permit for a time and place to paint.

Gee-whiz bonus factoid - they say that Life On the Mississippi was the first book composed on a typewriter.

TOMORROW: America's Fourth of July festivities begin

Theme Day: Red

Neat, or on the rocks? It is a gratuitous sexist comment, but former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath, once said, "I like my women blond and my Johnnie Walker red." Look where it got you, Joe.

By the way, I seem to be one of the very few people in the US who really likes Campari. On a visit to Italy, I became entranced by the cocktail called a negroni, made from equal parts Campari, gin and sweet vermouth. I think my wife once took a sip from my glass and spit it out. Lots of American bartenders have never heard of it. It's one of those special pleasures.

So, as they used to say in the Old West (or old Western movies), what's your poison?

TOMORROW: Life On the Mississippi Series

IT'S RED DAY AROUND THE WORLD ON CDPB. PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR PIXELS! L'étandard sanglant est levé! CHECK THESE BLOGS THAT ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT:

Shanghai, China - Mumbai, India - New York City (NY), USA - Manila, Philippines - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Hamburg, Germany - Stayton (OR), USA - Los Angeles (CA), USA - Hyde, UK - Oslo, Norway - Brookville (OH), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Stavanger, Norway - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Joplin (MO), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Selma (AL), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Seattle (WA), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Arradon, France - Evry, France - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Grenoble, France - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Hilo (HI), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - La Antigua, Guatemala - Brisbane (QLD), Australia - Singapore, Singapore - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hong Kong, China - Sequim (WA), USA - Paderborn, Germany - Saarbrücken, Germany - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Tenerife, Spain - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Sydney, Australia - Naples (FL), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Mainz, Germany - Toruń, Poland - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - North Bay (ON), Canada - Jakarta, Indonesia - Montréal (QC), Canada - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Baziège, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - New York (NY), USA - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Sharon (CT), USA - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Villigen, Switzerland - Chicago (IL), USA - Torquay, UK - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Paris, France - Seoul, Korea - Manila, Philippines - Milano, Italy - Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India - Austin (TX), USA - Chennai, India - Madrid, Spain - Seoul, South Korea - Wailea (HI), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Ajaccio, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Zurich, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Budapest, Hungary