Gavin Tartowski hosts The Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine

GEORGE MALICH, THE STAR OF LOCAL INDIE MOVIE “A. ANONYMOUS", HOSTS THE NONPROPHETS' SHOW as they return to Off Broadway!

WHO: The NonProphet Theater Company’s comedy show, The Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine!
WHAT: Critically acclaimed sketch comedy, right here in St. Louis!
WHEN: Sunday, August 3 at 8:00pm
WHERE: Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118
HOW (MUCH): $10 admission at the door
WHY: Why not? AND we have special guest host, George Malich!

St Louis, MO -- On Sunday, August 3, The NonProphet Theater Company returns to Off Broadway with their hit sketch comedy show, The Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine! The group will also perform at Off Broadway on Friday, September 5.

The sketch show takes 24 original sketches and pits them against the backdrop of a twisted bingo game in which the audience controls the order of the show, and prizes are won by a lucky few. The show is a non-stop evening of break-neck comedy that will leave you exhausted and hoarse by night's end.

The guest host for the August 3 show will be George Malich of Improv Trick, reprising his hilarious improv’ed role as Gavin Tartowski, from the locally produced indie: “A. (Anonymous)”

Off Broadway (located at 3509 Lemp Avenue in the Historic Cherokee-Lemp District in South City) is one of St. Louis' legendary music venues and boasts some of the best bartenders and ambiance in town. The bar, which recently went smoke-free, hearkens back the atmosphere created by the NonProphets' previous home, the late, lamented Hi Pointe Café. Off Broadway is a 21+ venue

Directing the show will be NonProphet founder and Artistic Director Robert A. Mitchell, and cast members include: Brendan Allen, Nicole Angeli, Aaron Orion Baker, Paula Stoff-Dean, Jonathan Ellison, Chris "Mr." Jones, Theresa Masters, Ben Ritchie, Suzanne Roussin and B. Weller. The multi-talented Sarah Holt runs the show as Stage Manager.

Reservations are not necessary, but more info can be obtained by visiting our website at http://www.nptco.org or by calling 314-752-5075.

On the road

A while back, Thomas Crone of 52nd City asked if I would be interested in writing a piece for their Food issue about eating while on the road. I jumped at the opportunity, and today, I was excited to find that it had been accepted and published.

I had a lot of fun recounting my tour memories while writing this piece, and I realized that the experiences that resulted from this tour were innumerable. From getting to live on the road for three months, to getting to know some friends a bit better, to discovering the quirks of Missouri, to making little kids laugh and learn, the whole experience is just amazing. The pay ain't too bad, either!

Anyway, you can read the article here.

Pictures from the tour can be found here.

Post-Dispatch finally takes an interest in preservation. Kind of...

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch today has a series of articles posted on stltoday.com that deal with the architectural preservation of endangered buildings in the metro area.

The only beef I have with these aticles is that it seems like the editors of the P-D approached this in a way that made it seem like they were more interested in the story itself, rather than the subject of the story. I mean, this isn't exactly "news" in the strictest sense of the word... so some journalistic editorializing would've been acceptable in this case. I would have liked to see reporter Diane Toroian Keaggy inject just a wee bit o' personality into her articles in this set. The story she wrote about Thomas Crone and Michael Allen's recent trip to the Armour Meat Packing Plant in East STL was interesting, but her writing was very flat and uninspired. Writer David Bonetti got it a bit more right with his articles. His articles seem to have a little more meat, and therefore make the avereage reader really want to care about these endangered and crumbling buildings.

But really, the fact that the P-D is doing a story, let alone six plus a video, is pretty cool.

Here's a slideshow of some endangered and demolished buildings in the area.

Video of Thomas and Micheal's trip to the Armour Meat Packing facility.

The accompanying story by Diane Toroian Keaggy.

Keaggy's other story about brick thieves on the North Side.

David Bonetti's article about the quest for preservation.

Cheeky "interview" with The Moolah Theater. Not the manager or owner... the actual building.

Bonetti's other article on developer Craig Heller and his vision for downtown living.

What's also cool is that the P-D gives a shout out for Ecolgy of Absence and Built St. Louis, two of my favorite sites dedicated to documenting the city in which we live.

Hopefully more people will understand just what is at stake here, and demand more from our elected officials. Better still, let's hope that the residents of STL realize that a large part of the solution rests in their hands. The politicians can only do so much. We as a community need to attack the problem of decay and entropy together, in addition to fighting vociferously any plans to tear down historic buildings so that Walgreens can build yet another store. And above all else, let's hope that more and more people document- either by photo, video or the written word- this beautiful city and its beautiful landscape.

Now if you'll excuse me... I'm off to take some pictures.

Its going to get weird...

Chief Mokwa is no Commissioner Gordon

It has come to light that here in STL, the police force has been using a local towing company as their personal car lot. Things started coming to light after Police Chief Joe Mokwa's daughter Aimie was reported to have bought several cars from the lot after their rightful owners failed to show up and claim them. The prices paid ranged from 75% of market value to, um, free, apparently.

Here's today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about the brewing scandal.

To make things interesting, Aimie- who apparently has a history of substance abuse- has wrecked three of these cars, one of the times blowing a .17 BAC, but she has yet to be charged with a crime.

Mokwa says he knows of no arrangement with the tow yard and his daughter or the several officers who allegedly used the lot to drive unclaimed cars for weeks or sometimes months, and is now facing a federal investigation regarding the matter.

So, he may carry a badge and gun just like Commissioner Gordon, he might wear glasses just like Commissioner Gordon, he might have a mustache just like Commissioner Gordon and he might hold the highest office of law enforcement in the metropolitan area just like Commissioner Gordon. But my friends, Chief Mokwa is no Commissioner Gordon.

Be more serious

I took in a viewing of the much-hyped "The Dark Knight" last night at the Hi Pointe Theater (yes, the place has re-opened, and in a brilliant move, booked the hottest movie of the summer). The crowd was surprisingly light and, more importantly, very enthusiastic. Most of the crowd were Hi Pointe regulars, as you could hear the owners of the theater greeting them by name as they walked in the door.

I grabbed a large popcorn with extra butter topping (layered, please), a large Cherry Coke and a box of Dots (hey, you gotta have the whole movie-going experience, right?) and found a great seat about six rows back, right in the center.

The movie started almost ten minutes late, but that made everyone anticipate it that much more. Once the film began, the crowd's patience was rewarded. From the opening moments of a pan across Gotham City, to Jim Gordon's soliloquy at the end, the film delivered on so many levels.

I will pause here to say that I love film. Movies, pictures, film... whatever you want to call it. I love it. Everything from smart indie-house films to big-budget popcorn flicks. As long as it has a good story and plot, good direction, good writing and good acting, it doesn't matter to me if the film appeals to the masses or a few nerds secluded in a particular niche. From "Miller's Crossing" to "Harold & Kumar go to White Castle," if its entertaining and somewhat clever, I'm there.

That said, "The Dark Knight" is one of the best films I've seen in a long while. Never mind that its a hugely anticipated film. Forget that its a "comic book movie". All of that doesn't matter. Its a good movie. From the direction and pacing, to the dialogue and acting, to the story and plot, on down to the emotion and action, director Christopher Nolan and crew nailed this one shut.

This is a comic book movie for those who hate comic book movies.

The cast and director makes you feel as if all of this improbable action is actually possible. They take a realistic approach to the caped crusader and his arch villains. So much so, that at times you forget that you're watching a guy dressed up as a bat and a guy in clown makeup. There is is not a single weak link in the entire cast. Everything and everyone is firing on all cylinders. The special effects and CGI are minimal, and totally believable in the context of the film.

This is the brainiest, brawniest, most engrossing action flick I've ever seen. And its actually a disservice to refer to it merely as "an action flick". No, this movie rises above that moniker. That pathos and humanity shine through, giving it a level of realism that any previous Batman movie (or for that matter, any super-hero based film) only dreamed about.

And, of course, you have Heath Ledger. Now, I'm not one for speculation. I was as skeptical about the film as I was about the early buzz floating around about his "Oscar worthy" performance. Well, my friends, I can say that both the hype about the movie, as well as Ledger's performance are, if anything, understated.

Yes. Its that good.

Ledger's performance of The Joker is mesmerizing. He creates a Joker so psychotic, so evil and so bereft of humanity, that it will rank up there with the other great movie villains of all time. From his mannerisms to his appearance, Ledger not only creates a new take on the Joker, but he redefines the Joker and makes him his own. He delves so far into character, that you almost can't even recognize him. The serpentine tongue licks, the nasally voice and the disheveled look create a Joker that is so terrifying that I found myself wishing that I'd never come face to face with him. Then I remembered that he's a fictional character, and felt a bit silly for thinking it.

So, if you're going to let the economy and high gas prices limit your summer entertainment expenditures, make it a point to put "The Dark Knight" on you list of things to do this summer. You'll be happy that you did.

I'm giving it four and a half stars out of five.

Someone Cares

Found on a recent trip to Old North.



By the way, in case you didn't know... the McKinley Bridge has been reopened. Apparently it reopened in December of 2007, but I was unawares of it until just about a month ago. Read up on its history at Ecology of Absence. I have a few pics located in the series linked to above. Hopefully there will be more soon.

NL disappints yet again

After a 15 inning All Star game, the National League has disappointed yet again. In a 4-3 final, the American League triumphed- yet again- over the NL. It was the longest All Star Game of all time, and didn't end until about 1:00am central time.

The NL hasn't won a challenge against the AL since 1996 (there apparently was a tie some years ago, but I haven't bothered to find out how there can possibly be a tie in baseball). So, our beloved STL Cardinals and the few players that appeared in the game tonight weren't really able to make much of a difference.

To be fair, it wasn't really an interesting game until about the seventh inning when the AL tied things up. After that, it was a nail biting game that just kept going, and going, and going. Finally, with a runner on base in the bottom of the 15th, Michael Young of the Rangers hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Justin Morneau for the win.

It was over.

Not being a huge fan of baseball, I don't normally get to into your average game. If I happen to catch the Cards playing, I'll watch. But I don't go out of my way to sit and watch a baseball game. The All Star game is a bit different. After watching most of the All Star games for the last several years, I just really wanted to see the NL pull it out for the in this year. We haven't been doing too well the last 12 years, and I thought that this was our year.

On the upside, JD Drew- late of the STL Cardinals- gave a great performance, and subsequently won the All Star MVP. Good for him.

On a side note, this is last season that the historic Yankee Stadium will be in existence, and the All Star game was held at this classic ball park. Pre-game festivities included a gathering of all living Hall of Fame players, which included four Cardinals (Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, Bruce Sutter and Bob Gibson) and the Pride of the Hill, Yogi Berra. It was the largest gathering of living Hall of Famers of all time, and there was apparently a lot of crying involved. Apparently.

Anyway, its now 1:30am, I just watched the news (including an interesting piece about how John McCain was interviewed by the Fox 2 news team, where they were restricted to certain camera angles approved by McCain's staff, lest the interview got canceled), and now its time to hit the hay.

Its been a long day, and I have yet another long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Until next time, cheers.

The Germans and the Belgians are allies

According to a CNN article, it looks like InBev has acquired Anheuser-Busch.

I suppose it won't make a huge difference, as they will continue brewing here in St. Louis, but it'll mean less money going into the local economy (or so I've been told), and it somehow feels like we're losing a small (OK, not so small...) piece of our heritage.

I'm guessing it was hard for A-B's board to turn down the offer. InBev raised its hostile-takeover stakes a bit and offered $70 a share, which amounted to about $52 billion.

So it was either the money, or the fact that the board may have enjoyed one too many of their own products before debating this and arriving at their decision.

Entropy In The City

On a recent trip to the Old North section of St. Louis, I snapped these pics of a house at 1219 Clinton. The Blogger at Ecology of Absence did a much better job than I could at eulogizing this structure, so look to him for more info on the house. But in the meantime, you can check out these four photos I have of the place.

The Hunt Is On

So I'm looking for a job. I hate this part. I hate hitting the bricks and getting rejected time and time again. Once I'm settled in, then its OK.

So why am I seeking employment, you may ask? (I'm just going to pretend you did).

Well, its because I've been in my current job for about five years now and have only received two raises. And before you make assumptions as to my job performance, its not because my job skills are lackluster, its because I work for my mom & pop in a small mom & pop store, and we don't bring in enough money for them to pay me more than they do.

So that, coupled with the fact that I really hate my job. I'm basically a sales associate and I also create appraisals and advertisements. I have to strap on the fancy pants every day, take the Metrolink for a 45 minute commute to Swansea, IL and sit behind my computer until some schlub walks in and wants to get a watch battery changed or buy some gaudy bauble.

Even though its a family business, I have no interest in keeping it going. Once my dad retires, that'll be the end of the business. But right now, I feel like I'm there out of obligation rather than because its what I want to do.

So anyway, the hunt is on, if at least for a part time gig. I'm attempting to ingratiate myself with several local watering holes in hopes of scoring employment. I'm trying to get a job in the bar/restaurant business as either a barback or a server.

I also have another motive with this career move. I really want to go back to school, and getting a job like this will allow me to do this. I'm thinking about studying photography and graphic design, as I have developed a love for both of those things in the last few years.

So, if anyone's out there, and if you have suggestions on where to apply, please let me know. I've already applied at Blueberry Hill, Pin Up Bowl, Cicero's, Fubar and Atomic Cowboy. I'm thinking about hitting the Royale and the new hotel Joe Edwards is putting up in The Loop.

I figure I hang out at these establishments anyway, I might as well get paid for it...

The Insanity Continues

OK, I was watching Spike TV (don't ask why), and the following commercial came on.



I'm sure the world is coming to an end now...

I can't believe my fucking eyes and ears

I feel dirty posting this, but I just saw this advertisement on TV and my reaction was little more than just staring at the TV and saying, "You're you fucking kidding me?"

Just click the post title and it will take you to a most despicable web site hawking silver $20 "coins" that exploit 9/11.

Watch the video commercial and prepare to be horrified.

Little bird, little bird....

Sunrise on the Riverfront with Halley (66), originally uploaded by binkle_28.

Taken the same morning that me and Halley watched the sunrise on the riverfront. Something about this pic makes me smile.

Sunrise on the Riverfront

Sunrise on the Riverfront with Halley (7), originally uploaded by binkle_28.

This pic came after a long, crazy night of alcohol and fun. I found myself on the riverfront with a really cool chick, and we sat and watched the sun come up over the city. The river was just starting to rise at this point, and it made for an interesting morning.

Downtown STL

June 8, 2008 (37), originally uploaded by binkle_28.

Downtown STL from the Eads Bridge on a warm but beautiful day.

Krey's

I've leapt into the 20th Century

I have been incredibly lazy. For far too long have I relied on MySpace as an outlet for capturing my thoughts and images.

How pedestrian, I know.

Anyway, this blog probably won't offer any sort of late-breaking news or terribly insightful commentary, but it it will offer some sights of the city I live in and some random, rambling musings from the depths of my mind. Nothing of major consequence.

But if you're here, and if you decide to come back, thanks. I'll try to make it somewhat interesting.

Cheers.