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

Wall Art

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It's a cold, gray weekend in St. Louis so I thought I go for a bit of brightness. This is a wall of my office on a sunny autumn late afternoon.

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY: I was in my office on Saturday cleaning up paperwork (and browsing the portal) when I saw something going on in the plaza below. What was it? Come back...

TOMORROW: who do you love?

THERE'S A NEW ARCH PHOTO ON GATEWAY MONDAY

Upper Deck

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The view straight down from my office window to the top level of a big garage, about 18 floors down.

WHAT BLOGS I'M RECOMMENDING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS: Strobist, the bottomless font of knowledge for those of us who use small flashes rather than studio lights - more possibilities than you ever imagined. They had a feature a couple of days ago about Drew Gardner, a photographer of enormous creativity, humor and technical skill. He's started a blog, Photography - The Dark Art. Check out his professional web site, too. You will enjoy it. I met Gardner a few summers back at the Maine Photography Workshops and have enjoyed his work ever since.

TOMORROW: patterns on the wall.

THERE IS A NEW POST TODAY ON GATEWAY, MY PHOTOBLOG ABOUT THE ST. LOUIS ARCH

The Last Frame

.Like these models of old-fashioned pin boys who vanished with changing times, the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame has slipped into our city's past. If it interests you, go look it up in Texas in a couple of years. Everything is bigger in Texas.

WHAT THERE IS TO SHOOT IN ST. LOUIS THIS WEEKEND: nothing that I know of. Better put my thinking cap on.

TOMORROW: upper deck.

Thursday Arch Series - And Something New

If you looked at the Thursday Arch Series post last week, you heard me whining about how I was getting burned out with the project. How to find something a little different week after week, how to keep it going? Well, Friend Of The Blog PJ from Pensacola Daily Photo had a great idea: start a new blog just for the Arch.

And thus we are happy to announce GATEWAY, http://gatewayarch.blogspot.com/, all Arch, all the time. I'm putting the finishing touches on the design but it will be full of my photos of St. Louis' great monument, links and fun facts about the Arch and, in a few days, an opportunity to buy prints of my images (the perfect gift for all occasions). Stop by, leave a comment, sign up to be a follower (there are three already!) and return from time to time to see what's new.

WHAT'S THE SILLIEST THING TIME-STRESSED ME COULD DO: start a new blog.

TOMORROW: a last few pins and then lights out.

A 4-sided regular polygon with all sides equal and all internal angles 90°

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Yeah yeah yeah, it's stereotyping and prejudicial and it would feel completely normal if you lived in that time and place. But, having admitted my bias, aren't these people square? I mean, bowling in a dress shirt and tie? Beaming over a baroque but cheesy multi-tiered trophy with a clock in it? (If you really need to know the time, become a bowling champion.) Heavy-set, middle aged Polska mama knockin' 'em down while someone who looks just like Edward G. Robinson leers lustfully over her shoulder? I mean, really. These are display panels of Great Moments In Bowling History or something at the dear departed International Bowling Museum, which recently closed its doors in downtown St. Louis.

WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS: a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens, which lets you shoot portraits with unsurpassed clarity. But, um, then there's the price, so fat chance.

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch series WITH A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.

Queenpins

.One of the most interesting things about the late International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame is the large area devoted to women bowlers and the Women' International Bowling Congress. The greater part of it contains scores of portraits like the ones you see here. They are all formulaic but there are interesting little differences. Who gets blue and who gets gray backgrounds? What's with the one in pink? What if anything do these paintings tell us about the subject? I think the best one is the Italian-looking woman on the right of the top photo, who looks like she is about to leap out of the plane of the picture. By the way, IMHO the last photo is the best image I've made in some time. Your results may vary. Which portrait appeals to you the most? Why?

WHAT I FOUND OUT TODAY: St. Louis has an ambitious little semi-pro opera company, New Opera St. Louis, that puts on one or two productions a year in church halls or school auditoriums. We just heard that they are doing a rarely performed gem this weekend, Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson and Delilah, in the sanctuary of a local Jewish temple. We say: be there or be square. This burgh has three opera companies. How about that?

TOMORROW: they say white men can't jump. But they sure can bowl.

COME BACK THURSDAY FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT