Art In Bloom

I don't see myself as a pretty pictures photographer. More of a street shooter with a taste for irony or the simply odd. Nevertheless, this week is all flowers.

There were two floral events to shoot this weekend. One was the orchid show at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The other was Art In Bloom at the Saint Louis Art Museum. It might be the second year they have done this - a weekend of flower arrangements made to complement the museum's treasures.

Next Saturday is our big, raucous St. Patrick's Day parade. Until then we got les fleurs.                            

Escher Sketch

I had an Etch A Sketch. My kids had an Etch A Sketch. For 55 years, people have been fascinated by this simple yet subtle drawing toy. You don't see them around that much now, though, since the advent of computer graphics. Who wants this when you have Photoshop?

However, there is an homage on Manchester Avenue in The Grove district, playing on the work of the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, specifically his self-portrait in a mirrored sphere. It is painted on a traffic signal switching box. Instead of reflecting the artist, this shows the sign in my post of February 28.

PS for locals: Mrs. C and I attended a program last night at the International Photography Hall of Fame (yes, it's here) by Chris Naffziger, author of the St. Louis Patina blog, a meditation on the joys and sorrows of St. Louis' ephemeral architectural heritage. He documents the glory of the things we have built, along with the consequences of entropy and indifference. Highly recommended.

Afterwards, we had dinner at Sameem, The Lou's only Afghan restaurant.  The charming brothers who run it never fail to provide a wonderful meal. You are likely to see roughly equal numbers of Nikes, hijabs and iPhones among the diners. Also highly recommended.
                            

There's A Billiken In My Pocket!

Another iteration of the Billiken, the bizarre mascot of St. Louis University, where I attended college and law school. There are different stories of its origen and meaning (see here and here). I have personally visited The Billiken Store in Juneau, Alaska, and stayed in a small ryokan in Kyoto that had a Billiken in the sitting room.

One of the Articans had this pair hanging out of his coat pockets, scanning the street for the Tick Tock Tavern. They were successful.

              

Tick Tock Tavern

It was a parade to the Tick Tock Tavern after all. It's a neighborhood bar on Magnolia Avenue just east of Grand Boulevard and Tower Grove Park. Good beer selection (someone asked for Bud Light and was rebuffed), lots of liquor, no food. I didn't even see potato chips or Doritos. Still, it was warm, friendly and full of Articans.

The third picture reminds me of the Toulouse-Lautrec poster of Aristide Bruant.                               

Who Are These People?

I have no idea. We could ask Hap, or maybe check their FBI dossiers.                                   

The Legend Of The Jackalope

Half jackrabbit, half antelope, all mystery. I was introduced to the legend of the jackalope by an old friend in Seattle. Studies indicate that it is native to the western United States. Some claim to have seen it. Some of them were clean and sober.

There was a shrine to the enigmatic animal in the Tiny Totem parade. Not exactly the Great Temple of Rameses II at Abu Simbel but a suitable honor. All hail. You could wear that bonnet in the last picture at the Easter Parade.                                

Totem Pole

What are the tiny totems? Figments of the imagination, trifles and some damn wacky stuff. These are just examples. I might bring around more if I'm hard up for material. The bottom one is radio controlled.

One of these pictures was my 10,000th image on Flickr.