MEOW? CAW?

 

More passing color at Pridefest. I don't think cats and parrots can be friends. Fashion, however, can create all kinds of genial combinations. Look however you like. You may get attention (and maybe that's the point) but no one here will disapprove.                   

TOWER GROVE PRIDE

 

We have two major annual Pride events. There is a big parade downtown in June, which I was not able to attend this year. This weekend we have what is called the Tower Grove Pride Festival, named for the city's second-largest (and my favorite) park. Stages, entertainers, food, artists, craftspeople, churches, healthcare, politics (guess what kind), social services, clothing (some provocative), and lots and lots of interesting strollers. This dad and I are like the shortest distance between two points on a plane, but we are open minded and sympathetic.                     

CROSS-CULTURAL YIN YANG

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe meets Hello Kitty. One could not be more Mexican (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe), the other more Japanese. Everyone has seen advertising on top of taxis, and there was a time when many St. Louis cabs had illuminated signs on the top that said "Our Lady of Guadalupe - Queen of the Americas."  I never figured that out. Hello Kitty might as well be a Shinto demi-god. My granddaughter likes tacos much more than sushi but that has no effect on her fashion sense.                      

HOW’S YOUR AUTOFOCUS?

 

Ooh, this makes my eyes wobbly. Another toy vendor at the Hispanic Festival. Maybe I should have set a greater DOF and higher shutter speed but I was shooting on the fly. Is it okay to inhale this stuff?

I should get out on the street today looking for stuff but it's supposed to pour and pour. The front end of Helene, probably, passing through here while it is devastating northwest Florida and western Georgia. Maybe it will find Ron DeSantis.                

¡QUE LINDA!

 

Pero que triste. Lovely woman, flawless skin, but utterly blank affect. I'd like to know what the story is but the lens does not see all.                                                  

BAND OF GUNNERS

 

Gunners? I think that's how the name of the band, Banda Artillerros, translates into English (corrections invited) but it was more like heavy artillery. This was just a small part of the Mexican orchestra playing in the plaza at the Hispanic Festival. There were these three trumpets, the tuba behind them (with a microphone taped in the bell), two trombones, two clarinets, accordion, drum kit, congas and two singers. My sound app said it reached 110 db in front of the stage, enough to start causing some serious damage. The musicians were not wearing ear plugs. The crowd loved it.            

THE PERFECT SALESMAN

 

There were people hawking all sorts of things and there were plenty of children at the Hispanic Festival. This salesman's dress and demeanor seemed pretty heavy for his wares. It was a good thing my granddaughter wasn't with me. If she had been, she would have pulled the fingers out of my hand if I didn't buy her something, preferably Hello Kitty.