Oral Fixation

Thank you for the clinical observation, doctor. You are seeing about one-fourth of the blade of that sword in the first picture. I took a bunch of shots in this sequence and unless the performer was using mirrors, lasers and magic mushrooms to deceive the audience there was only one place for the rest of it to go. Sugoi! as my Japanese teacher used to say when I got something right.

And, by the way, is there a dentist in the house?

There are a couple of good things to shoot today, the street soccer tournament for homeless and formerly homeless people I mentioned yesterday, as well as the Pagan Picnic, the annual gathering of all Wiccans, goddess worshipers, Druids, crystal healers, dream-catchers and telepaths, along with their significant others. It's so great that St. Louis is weird enough to have an event like this. Problem is there is a near-certainty of heavy thunderstorms but no one can say when. Better bring a couple of trash bags  to protect the gear. Maybe for me, too.                                   

Sturm Und Drang

From Tower Grove Park following a thunderstorm. This is my favorite light: sunlight at my back and dark cloud behind the subject. The glowering busts of Beethoven and Wagner are appropriate for the post's title.

I got no new material and may have to string out some more from the Renaissance Faire over the weekend (some good ones still in the bin). However, there is something interesting to shoot tomorrow afternoon if it doesn't pour down rain (which it might), a soccer tournament for homeless people. That's different.                         

Leper

We were sitting on a bench near the end of our visit to the Renaissance Faire, giving Madeleine a snack. When I looked up I saw a man wrapped in bandages, a bell tied to his left hand, walking with what looked like a painful gait. What was this?

It hit me: a leper. This member of the Faire cast was playing a leper. Nothing I will ever see. No idea if this was an ordinary occurrence in Europe half a millennium ago but there I was, gazing at a replica.

I didn't know how to react. It felt cruel to stare but it was just an actor. The man had no actual disease but still it made me cringe. Should I walk over and talk to him about his role? Should I leave him alone? In the end I just sat there and took pictures. Later, I felt ashamed that I hadn't gotten off my rear and made contact.

Note the man on the right, looking through and past the leper-actor. I wonder how he felt.                             

Mysterioso

These two were sitting near the way out of the Ren Faire as we were leaving. They waved - very slowly - at passers-by. The concept was hard to figure out. The first one could be a Venetian carnival costume but I don't know what's up with the second one. The mask looks vaguely like a skull.

Just a bit more from this event to come (I an so short on new material). Tomorrow's post is about something I found very disturbing.                              

Wet Tee Shirt

One of the fixtures at the Renaissance Faire is Ye Olde Dunking Booth. You pay a few dollars, stand in this contraption and a very nice young lady pours a bucket or two of water down a chute and onto your head. Not a contest or a game. You just get soaked.  It seems to be most popular with couples in their late teens and early 20s. 

The allure somehow escapes me but then I'm on the edge of geezerdom. I'd rather shoot it than do it.                     

Special Effects

The Renaissance Faire always has fake jousting and swordplay. When one ne'er-do-well attacked another, the victim ended up with a dagger in the eye and red goo squirting everywhere. Then they get up and do it again two hours later.                                            

Madeleine Monday

My favorite tyke waits patiently for dinner last night while her mom and Mrs. C work the kitchen and grandpa works the Canon. She is rolling around in what the family calls The Tank. Nothing can stop her. 

Her hair-do is something of her own invention, if not her intention. My little punker.
                     

For Jessie and Jilly

A post for my two favorite dog lovers: one whose heart melts for any three-legged pooch in the vicinity of Puget Sound; another who knows the quality and personality of any canine at a glance and was sometimes paid for the skill.

Jessie, I remember visiting some little town north of Seattle with you and Carolyn when you bought your dog a Superman cape. And Jilly, well, what can compare to this?

The dog in this photo may have borrowed the lion's mane from The Wizard of Oz.