The Temple

So, we went to the Cardinals baseball game Thursday night. I've referred to the team as St. Louis' state religion. I stand by that statement.

Major League Baseball has 30 teams in cities as large as New York and as small as Tampa. Attendance varies a lot. When you look at some games on TV you see thousands and thousands of empty seats. We went to a Kansas City Royals game a couple of weeks ago and the place was about half full (and KC is in first place in their division at the moment). 

The Cardinals are having a mediocre year. They're playing a pretty bad team this weekend, San Diego, yet the place was sold out on a Thursday night. I looked up some statistics. At the three-quarters point in the season the team with the highest average attendance is the Los Angeles Dodgers - bigger stadium, much bigger metro area. The Cardinals are second, more than the vaunted New York Yankees. But the most striking stat is the percentage of stadium seats sold per game. The Cards are over 99%. No one else comes close. It's a sacred place in this town. 

Note the image of the Arch mowed into the outfield grass.                      

Lush

We got home too late last night from the Cardinals game to post any of those pix (there are a few good ones) so I'll settle for the east entrance to Tower Grove Park. We've had a great summer for the plant kingdom.           

Thursday Arch Series

A pretty dull sky but, hey, you play the hand of cards you are dealt. Citygarden, in the foreground, is wonderfully lush with our relatively mild summer and adequate rain.

We're going to the Cardinals game tonight with a group. First time this season. There's sure to be something colorful.                   

Shoes For Industry

I couldn't help thinking of the classic Firesign Theatre bit while preparing this (click here and scroll down to the sound clip of the same name.) These are the shoes of Pinocchio in Jim Dine's Big White Gloves, Big Four Wheels, above, and the empty pink fashion of Erwin Wurm's Pink Suit. A combination of art and industry in the service of standing.                            

And The Living Is Easy

It's a long way from summer in Citygarden to Catfish Row but everyone seemed relaxed and pleased at one of the fountains in Citygarden the other day. It's wonderful that they let children play in all of the garden's water features rather than shoo them away. In fact, I think this one is designed for kids.
                       

Ah, Grasshopper

I guess it's a grasshopper. I'm not the family naturalist. Where I grew up, we were accustomed to pigeons, squirrels, the odd rat in the shadows of a subway tunnel and not much else.

There was nothing to post, getting kinda burned out on this every-day-for-seven-and-a-half-years blog thing, absolutely no ideas. Went to my office for a while yesterday (typical) and then just drove around downtown. Citygarden looked exceptionally lush so I stopped. Decent find. 

Madeleine Monday

First birthday pretty soon! This is a cheerful, sociable kid.

                                    

Definitions / Dead Bookstore

Do either of these first two signs have anything to do with the activities of this blog?

Downtown St. Louis is a blend of little victories and defeats. The city's finest independent bookseller, Left Bank Books, opened a branch there a little over five years ago. Ongoing conversion of commercial buildings into apartments and condos was bringing population. The store's rent was subsidized at first but that couldn't last forever. The lease was up this spring and sales didn't support the expenses. They even abandoned the shelving. Another empty storefront downtown.