Yuck

The view from my front porch yesterday morning. Mrs. C's little Prius could get buried. I know, I know, Birdman and other northern friends, it's not much by your standards but it's a big pain in the booty by ours. And bitter cold again last night.

Still, going through this in pleasant Webster Groves is better than living under the I 55 viaduct near downtown. Which some people do.

Happy Birthday, Bill

Oops, forgot about this, leading to a rare second post in a day.

Today is the one hundredth birthday of one of St. Louis' most famous and infamous sons, William S. Burroughs. His writing has the power to shock even today and most of his life was wild, to put it mildly.  My pupils must have dilated hugely when I read The Western Lands and Cities of the Red Night.

He spent his last 13 years in Lawrence, Kansas, not far from Kansas City and home of the University of Kansas, but asked to be buried in the family plot here. They had money - his grandfather invented the adding machine. Now he rests in beautiful Bellefontaine Cemetery, the location marked by only a small stone.

Burroughs often wrote with ripping, outrageous humor. Here's an example with him reading the notorious Dr. Benway bit  from Naked Lunch (see also here). I like the photo that goes with this on YouTube, showing Frank Zappa standing by the writer, smiling with obvious admiration. WARNING - this recording is not for  minors, the easily offended  or people who are certain they know what good literature is.                            

Red Baron

It's snowing again. We're tired of it. Sure, people from Maine and Minnesota will think we're weenies but this has been the worst winter we've had in a long time. Same for most of the eastern two-thirds of the country.

So, to pass the time, some architecture shots. These large, old homes are on Lafayette Square, an historic district near the city center. Many of the beautifully restored homes are French in design, as discussed in the link. These however, are in what's called German Baronial style. Germany was the most important source of immigrants here in the 19th Century. Some of them hit it big (think Adolphus Busch). They built homes designed to impress, usually of red brick, based on patterns familiar to them. Sort an equivalent of today's McMansions way out in nether Chesterfield.                                    

My Kind Of Town

The essentials painted on the flood wall: the Arch, the baseball stadium, the downtown Hilton Hotel for some reason, the Four Seasons Hotel and Lumiere Place casino. Plus some do-dads and ornament. And an unexpected proposal. I like how the sharp lettering appears to break through the Arch's skin.

Sometimes CDP blogs get debates about the value or horror of graffiti. Remember that this appears in a place where it is not only permitted, it is encouraged. I like the boldness, color and fantasy a lot. It is art.

I edited the picture of my granddaughter below since I did yesterday's post. I like it. Kim likes it. We like Seattle. Seattle won the Super Bowl. So there you go. Perhaps if Caravaggio painted pictures of babies one might look like this.
                        

La Vita E Bella

It was a pleasant Stupid Bowl Sunday in St. Louis. Took a drive up to Bellefontaine Cemetery for some pictures of William S. Burroughs' grave for his 100th birthday on Thursday (post to follow). Went by the office and actually got something done without being interrupted. Mrs. C and I attended a performance by our superb St. Louis Symphony, at which the Dutchman Jaap van Zweden set a world land speed record for Beethoven's 5th and led the most exquisite, nuanced interpretation of Shostakovich's 5th (a personal favorite) I've ever heard. Afterward, we had our annual Stupid Bowl dinner at the new restaurant Nathalie's, and it was terrific. La vita e bella.

Nathalie's occupies a a grand old home on Lindell Boulevard near the cathedral. It was formerly the home of Savor and Salt, both very good but relatively short-lived. Nathalie's shares ownership with Overlook Farms, a bit more than an hour north of here. We ordered from the Chinese New Year menu. The bacon-wrapped dates in a red chili sauce were fabulous. I had tangerine duck breast with wild rice and vegetables from the farm. The duck was perfect and the side dish had The Best Broccoli I've Ever Had In My Life - and I've been to France. We will be back. To Nathalie's. And France, too.

BTW, the first pic is from the graffiti-permitted section of the Mississippi flood wall. Whether to take it as literal or ironic is up to you.                         

Lillet martini with gin and vodka

Nathalie's kept some of the charmingly odd decor from Savor, including the Buddhist, ancient Egyptian and Rococo bits

Madeleine Monday

Haven't had much of the granddaughter lately since we've been away. Had dinner at Emily, Brian and Madeleine's home on Saturday. The darn kid keeps getting cuter. We brought her a toy monkey from Costa Rica, which, naturally, she crammed straight in her mouth.        

Gee But It's Great To Be Back Home

Let sunshine be banished. The forecast in Tamarindo every day was 94F/34C and sunny. How monotonous. Let's get back to the Midwest.

This railroad runs near the Mississippi just south of downtown. The smokestacks in the background are across the river in Illinois. The reference in the title is to a very old Simon & Garfunkel song I can't get out of my head today. 

I have no idea why there is a windsock on the pole. Not like helicopters are buzzing in and out of the area. Maybe the sign (hard to read here) that this is an emergency meeting point has something to do with it.                                 

City Daily Photo Monthly Theme Day: Entry

Two Costa Rican entries for the price of one, which is a really great deal since they're free.

The first is the old castle where the music school is located. Mrs. C and our guide, Esteban, approach from the left.

The second is the back entry to the town of Filadelfia. There is a shot of the front entry out on the highway here. There are important archeological sites of pre-Columbian peoples there. The arch shown below refers to roots and identity. The one in the link calls the town "archeological city."