Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Grovefest 2009

A few pics from this year's Grovefest at Atomic Cowboy:

Lola van Ella and the Seven Shot Screamer's Deano and Mikey


Craig Daddy of Trip Daddys

Red Light Runners

Seven Shot Screamers

TJ Morrissey of Trip Daddys


Saturday, August 22, 2009

I'll be DJing at The Royale on 8/23

I'll be spinning a lovely little set of soul, punk, rock, pop and country tomorrow night (Sunday, August 23, 2009) at The Royale from 9pm until midnight under my stage name, DJ Bacon Shadow.

There's no cover, the dining room is now smoke-free and the kitchen is open until 10pm.

The Royale is located at 3132 South Kingshighway in South St. Louis.

Amidst all the stuff I'll be playing, local bands will have their moment in the sun, too. Hope to see you there!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Band Scramble!


The Chippewa Chapel Traveling Guitar Circle and Musicians Network is gearing up for the next Band Scramble, to be held Saturday, August 29, 2009 at Off Broadway in South St. Louis. The Band Scramble was an event started at Frederick’s Music Lounge. As in previous scrambles, musicians are invited to sign up for random assignment into a brand new band. Each band will have 5 members: guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and the catch-all category “other”. Signups have concluded and the bands are dilligently rehearsing. The bands will have just over three weeks to compose and learn three original songs. The showdown will happen at Off Broadway on August 29th. Tickets are $10, $13 if you're under 21. Show time is at 9pm with doors opening at 7:30.

In an effort to ensure that St. Louis’s local music scene will never fade away, the hosts of the Chippewa Chapel want to use the proceeds from the Band Scramble to send kids to rock band camp. The last Band Scramble raised enough money to provide scholarships to four young musicians. They hope to beat that record this time.


I'll be participating this year, playing drums and percussion for Band #5 (we don't have a name yet). This is going to be a lot of fun. Who knows? There could be some cool bands that come out of this. Hope to see you there.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Laura Hamlett: Musing On Music


Laura Hamlett doesn’t know precisely where her love of music originated, but she has definitely parlayed her passion into ventures that have allowed that love to grow and blossom.

Hamlett has racked up some pretty impressive credentials. Once a fledgling writer for the defunct NoisyPaper magazine, she co-founded PLAYBACK:stl (then called Playback St. Louis) with her husband Jim Dunn and enlisted the help of a few other music journalists from the former zine.

“We had been working on NoisyPaper when it suddenly folded. We then felt we/St. Louis needed an outlet. We thought, ‘We can do that,’ not realizing that, well, to do it right, it was a hell of a lot more work/expense than NoisyPaper ever was. It's probably good we didn't know that going in or we never would have started PLAYBACK:stl,” says Hamlett.

But start it they did, and from the start, PLAYBACK:stl has provided St. Louis with the necessary, in-the-know info that our creative arts scene needs. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, your trusty blogger worked for PLAYBACK:stl from 2004 to 2007 as a music and theater reviewer and eventually as the Theater Editor. The magazine and I parted ways amicably.

When the magazine first started publication, its pulpy, black and white pages focused almost exclusively on local music. The magazine covered national acts, too, but its St. Louis roots were at the forefront.

“We were fairly St. Louis-centric, that's true, but if you'll remember, our very first cover story was They Might Be Giants. From the outset, we thought of ourselves as St. Louis-based but not just about St. Louis. Shortly after the magazine's creation, we began mailing it out to venues across the country.”

As the months and years wore on and the staff of writers and editors became more accustomed to running their own publication, the magazine then expanded its scope and included art and theater reviews and, eventually, comic book reviews. In 2005, PLAYBACK:stl adopted a more professional, glossy look, and the quality of the printing was eye catching. Getting the magazine into more and more venues across the country was getting easier, but wrangling consistent advertisers proved to be challenging. Eventually, the battle to keep the magazine afloat took a painful turn. By September of 2006, the magazine ceased print publication altogether, citing a shortage of ad sales. Not to mention the mental stress of running the magazine was beginning to take its toll on Hamlett and Dunn who exhausted themselves month after month to get the magazine to the public.

But the saving grace came in the form of the publication’s Web site. Always on the cutting edge with a sharp design and easy navigation, Jim Dunn’s digital creation became the backbone of the magazine, and when print publication ceased, their efforts on the site were stepped up a notch. No longer having to meet grueling deadlines for print, more and more reviews and features became easier to manage, and now PLAYBACK:stl is able to cover just about every cultural event taking place in St. Louis and beyond.

Now that she has a little more free time, Hamlett has taken on booking duties for Cicero’s in the University City Loop and occasionally does promotions for musical artists. But why does she do it? I talked to Hamlett recently to find out.

PTSTL: Where do you think your love of music originated?
LH: Honestly, I'm not sure. I don't play music, but have always been into it. Neither of my parents played either, though I do remember my mom playing records: George Benson, Lou Rawls, Leon Redbone, Stevie Wonder, Bread. I suppose I got it from her, though way more intensely.

What was the first record you ever bought of your choosing?
Oh, this is embarrassing. Probably either Donny & Marie or Shaun Cassidy.

Do you play an instrument? Were you ever in a band?
See #1 for the first question. As for the second, I was in a band in high school. It was a joke, mostly an excuse for five of us to get together and goof off. I played keyboards (funny because, well, see #1...though I did do OK at it. I probably could have done well with piano lessons had I taken any). We had a few practices, nothing much. Had the greatest name ever, though: Half Apology.

Who is your favorite artist?
I have four, each from different countries: Matthew Good (Canada), Bluebottle Kiss (Australia), a-ha (Norway...and yes, they are still around. Just released something like their 9th studio album), Morrissey (England). Were I hard-pressed I would go with Matthew Good as my favorite.

Do you think that digital media has overall been a good thing for fledgling bands? Or has it led to music overload and oversaturation? Do you ever have any trouble keeping up with new music?
Honestly, I am in the latter camp: overload and oversaturation. Keeping up with it all is overwhelming, to be sure. I mean, it's leveled the playing field, so to speak, in that anyone can produce a quality recording and sell it for themselves. But there is just so much out there; it's kind of overwhelming. It's as if there is no longer anyone manning the gate of what's actually good music and what's not. And believe me, there's a lot that's not.

When did you start booking for Cicero’s?
I started booking Tuesday nights in December 2005, I believe. Did that for a couple years, then the booking agent left and I was hired to take his place. Been doing it full time for just over a year.

I’m guessing that the contacts you make with PLAYBACK:stl help out when booking. Have you ever had any difficulty getting that one act that you just really had to have?
It all feeds into itself, all the things I do. (I also do PR for musicians, but only the ones I really love.) I'm still in the process of getting Cicero's name out there, of convincing people that its days as jam-band central are no more. Variety is the name of the game! Due to our size (we're a 225-capacity venue), we can't possibly book all my dream bands. I try not to set my sights on out-of-reach acts; it doesn't do either of us any good. Besides, what I'm bringing in is rather good.

What was the biggest show you had the pleasure of booking?
Hmm...maybe a Margot & the Nuclear So and So's. Semi Precious Weapons is always good; I totally broke those guys in St. Louis.

You get sent a lot of demo CDs and sample discs as part of both jobs. Is there one in particular that stands out as being the worst?
I would have to go with the worst MySpace bio I have ever read; I couldn't even attempt to listen to the music after reading it. I won't name names, but here it is verbatim: "I'm a 25 year old male. I've got 4 piercings, 20 some odd tattoos. Currently going through a divorce. I have a son who'll be 6 this year with 1 ex. A daughter who'll be 2 this year with my soon to be ex-wife, and 1 daughter I don't believe to be mine with my ex-wife. Jesus I almost sound like a country song. If u wanna get to know more about me I guess write back." #1, this isn't about his music AT ALL, and #2, wtf???

You get to cover a lot of special concerts and festivals for the magazine. Do you have a favorite?
South by Southwest, hands down. It's springtime in Austin, the entire city is overrun with music folk; it's like summer camp for music people. It's given us a chance to see a lot of bands we otherwise never would.

If you could open up the perfect music club, what would it be like?
Like Cicero's but twice the size. I'm definitely on the "introducing new bands to you" side of the fence; would like to be able to book a little more up-and-coming artists for a larger audience. In the small-sized venue, though, I absolutely love everything about Cicero's. Well, maybe except for the jazzy artwork on the walls of my rock club.

Where do you see your love of music taking you?
If you'd have asked me this a year ago, I would have gone with the artist management side of things. Now, I'm not so sure. I want to do more writing about music, especially the ways it has influenced me/affected my life. I want to continue working with artists on the PR side of things, and also helping to advance their careers through licensing, publishing, touring opportunities. My heart is really into helping bands I love; unfortunately, it takes a lot out of you, especially when things don't work out. For now, I'm enjoying learning more about booking every day and booking shows; ultimately, I'm making things happen. Which is a pretty cool way to be.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

No Wading

Tour 2008 (317)


No Wading - Riverfront, Hannibal, MO - April 2008

Friday, July 17, 2009

BAC Cinema


Now this, my friends, is a sign! I was browsing through pics on Flickr not too long ago and came across this beauty in plasticfootball's photostream. The sign was for what was then the BAC Quad Cinema in Belleville, IL. At night, it would light up with brilliant red, orange and yellow neon lights. Prior to a Belleville ordinance that banned motion in large signage (an ordinance that has since been repealed as far as I know), the flames would shoot out of the torches. This sign was pretty cool. Unfortunately, sometime in 1997, 30 years after it's debut, the sign was taken down.

This photo makes me feel nostalgic. First off, Belleville is my home town (well, Swansea, actually, but it might as well be Belleville). Secondly, I used to work at this theater. It was my second job when I was 16 back in 1993. And finally, I saw the best movies of my childhood here: the entire Star Wars Trilogy, all the Indiana Jones movies, E.T., Star Trek II, Fantasia and several others. This photo brings back a lot of memories.

The cinema opened in 1966 as a single screen movie house with an impressively huge auditorium. Seating capacity was 800, and it boasted what was then the largest movie screen East of the Mississippi. The huge, curved screen was adorned with gold curtains, and when the movie started, they would open to reveal movie heaven. The seats were plush and comfy and they reclined a bit.

The lobby had this awesome concession stand. It was tight to work in and was kind of obsolete by the 90s, but it certainly had style.

In 1985, to compete with Wehrenberg's St. Clair 10 Cine that was getting ready to open in Fairview Heights, BAC added a new lobby and three additional screens on the West side of the original building. It then became the BAC Quad Cine. The new lobby was more spacious, and the concession counter was more accommodating to the workers who schlepped behind there. Additionally, the box office was moved from the old side to the new side. By the time I was working there, the old concession was no longer used on a regular basis, but we did open it once or twice for big openings, and on one particularly big film, we even reopened the old box office.

The theater was leased to Kerasotes Theaters in the mid 1990s. But unfortunately the annex was having some structural issues, and by 2000, the entire building was shut down for good. The sign was dismantled and scrapped in 1997.

Its sad to see this theater sitting empty. I would actually support the demolition of the newer structure, but the main house still has plenty of life left in it. I really hope someone comes along and buys it and returns it to its former glory.

Oh, and one small bit of my personal history with this place: when I was a kid, I remembered seeing a giant mural hanging on the wall in the main theater when Return of the Jedi came out. The mural was from a local painter, and depicted a collage of Star Wars characters and scenes. It was really amazing. When I worked there, the guy training me took me behind the screen in the big auditorium and showed me the painting. There it was... just sitting there collecting dust. It had been back there for literally ten years! In 1999, when Phantom Menace came out, I went here to see it at midnight. Much to my surprise, they had cleaned it off and re-hung it on the lobby wall. Where it is now, I'd like to know

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

All-Star Week!

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (62)


The All-Star game was last night, and even though the NL choked AGAIN, the people of St. Louis had a grand old time.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (88)


I didn't get to go to the game, but yesterday afternoon me and my fiance's four year old son went downtown to revel in baseball heaven. We watched the All Star parade, he got to bat some balls, and we even caught a glimpse of a few legendary Cardinals players. After that, we went to the top of the Arch, his first time. Needless to say, the kid was enthralled all day long.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (108)


I also got to experience City Garden for the first time, and I have to say that I really dig the little park. Its an ambitious project, and I hope that it succeeds.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (71)

Even though it was somewhat fleeting, I really think that the All-Star Game brought St. Louis together. For a few days, we were the spotlight of a national audience, and for the most part, we put our best foot forward.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (83)


The excitement in the air was electrifying. I'm not really even a huge baseball fan, but even I caught the spirit once we stepped off the Metrolink at Stadium Station. And even though he's pretty young and doesn't really even know what baseball is, the little dude had a great time. I figured that this might be a once in a lifetime event, and that he might dig on it when he's older.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (70)


It was great to see so many people downtown. City Garden was being enjoyed by children and adults alike. The beautiful sculptures and landscaping are quite impressive and the various fountains are pretty cool, too.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (1)


When we went to the Arch, the little one was highly impressed with himself for getting to look out of the tiny little windows at the top. He seemed to be awestruck the whole time we were there.

All Star Week Downtown 2009 (46)


I really don't get to be a tourist in my own city very often, but when I do, it reminds me of just how much STL has to offer. And it just keeps getting better.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Bob Reuter: Living Ghost

I have less patience for bullshit. I don’t suffer fools gladly.

Amazing photographer. Iconic musician. Legendary radio show host. Crotchety old man. Bob Reuter is a lot of things. He has a lot going for him in his life- a life that he regards with a little more reverence due to a decade of health troubles. But when his time is up, he hopes to be remembered for it all.

Reuter- a staple in South St. Louis- has the kind of life that many dream of but few get to live out: doing what he loves for a living. Though he is unemployed due to health issues, Reuter isn’t just content to lay around the house sucking off the government tit. Between being strapped to a guitar, behind a microphone or spending time in the dark room, he finds plenty to keep him going, and he is gladly taking us along for the ride.

A lifelong St. Louisian, Reuter, 57, grew up in North St. Louis in the 50s and 60s. He turned to music as a child to escape the rough neighborhood’s violent calling.

“I grew up in a bad ass place- North St. Louis City. Well, I was never gonna be a real tough guy… woulda wound up dead for sure. But I COULD rock your ass with a guitar - I COULD be a MUSICAL bad ass! Music was a survival thing.”

Living in a crowded house with extended family also taught him to escape into his own mind when privacy was in short supply.

“My family was pretty screwed up- no real privacy- I'd go inside my head, that interior world to get away.” He would daydream about “songs on this big black plastic radio we had. And at the time, they were songs of Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and some other mad men.”

It would be this music that Reuter would carry with him well into his adult years. If you tune into Bob's Scratchy Records on KDHX 88.1 FM on Fridays at 2pm, you’ll hear Bob spinning the music of that era, something he’s been doing for seven years now. And if you go see him perform, you’ll hear the influence of it in his own music. Music that has garnered the multi-talented Reuter the designation of Best Male Singer/Songwriter by the Riverfront Times in 2009.


PTSTL: Where does the music you make come from?
BR: From deep down in this landscape and deep inside of me. It involves red brick buildings, the river and the flight path of jets on the North Side landing at the airport. It involves my whole life story and comes from the most primitive of sources.

Do you draw on your own musical knowledge for your radio show? Or do you rely on friends and listeners to suggest artists and music?
I'm constantly searching and I do that based on what I already know. I try to stay away from "the usual things" when possible. I hunt for the roots of the roots of stuff and of course it's got to fit this need I have for a slamming back beat or some other kind of primal chord I've got inside me.

What has been the high point of your musical career at this point?
Hmmm. Playing at CBGB's on south Grand a couple of months ago. It was a Monday night and we didn’t even go on till 11:00pm but the place was packed like 19 year olds to about 23, a lot of which were singing along with a song I wrote in 1978- long before they were born- "Rock and Roll Moron" as the name of the song and it features the line, "You can’t close the door on, this rock and roll moron!" It was on a 45 we did it in a band called The Dinosaurs. As I was singing the song I almost felt like I could be in a movie- I kept seeing the faces of all my dead friends! I was really grateful.

What were the nature of your recent health issues?
Quadruple bypass about a year and a half ago. I had lost my license and had to ride my bike for a year. I kept getting out of breath really easy and didn't seem to be able to build up any resistance. The clinic I go to ran a bunch of tests and finally determined I needed the operation. It was fucking gigantic in my life. Scared the fuck out of me. Still kind of does. It's one of those things that makes you feel like you're closer to the end than to the beginning of your life. Makes you think more about what you do- 'bout what's right. It colors everything! Made me feel a certain amount of grief, a certain amount of feeling sorry for myself... Now, a year and a half later I feel like I'm getting in pretty good shape for a guy in my shape! I'm eating good and all that crap. Makes me feel like there's a whole lot more I wanna do- whole lot more I wanna say before it's all over- hell yeah!

Have your health issues played a role in the kind of songs you write these days?

Only in the sense that the feelings are deeper than they'd have been otherwise. I dig deeper into the primordial ooze. I have less patience for bullshit. I don’t suffer fools gladly.

What was your first band/project?
We were called The Group and then the Cough Medicine Company (see the cheap drug reference slip in?) It was 1966 and we played garage rock- still in high school, but we played for college frat parties. It was a kind of education!

What are your thoughts on new media as it relates to spreading music to a wider audience?
Not much. The real stuff will always be confined to a relatively small group of hard core freaks. It only spreads out as it gets more and more watered down, till finally it's getting played by sports enthusiasts in the suburbs and then sold at Wal-Mart.

Who are some of your favorite St. Louis artists/bands from the past and present?
One of the first was a band from 1966 called the Acid Set who played at a teen club called Castaways out on Airport Road. They always seemed like they were grown men from San Francisco or something, but they were from North County. Public Service Blues Band was another really cool band, though they didn’t own their own instruments and they'd have to borrow some to play gigs. I think they opened for Cream one time. Oliver Sain and Black Cat named Cecil Davis who had the Cecil Davis Review were ass kicking soul groups when I was in high school. The Aardvarks were cool. They were like this town's version of the Beatles. More recently I loved the Vultures and the Reactions- two very young bands that broke up way too soon. The Highway Matrons were amazing. They always seemed like they dropped down from some other planet or something!

What was the inspiration behind your recent project, Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost?
Well, I was approached by the kids of Big Muddy Records. They had this idea of bringing me to a wider audience- younger kids who would love my songs, they thought, if I was presented in a little bit different way. The average age in the band is about 23 but in their hearts they're, like, twice that. These boys eat, sleep and drink music- the real stuff. I'm honored they got it in their heads to back me and I'll be eternally grateful to them!

What do you think about the current state of the St. Louis music scene?
Well, it's big. There's probably whole chunks of little scenes that aren't even that aware of each other, but in general I'd say it's really good. Wide ranging and rarely does anyone expect to "hit the big time" so that frees them up to do what's in their hearts instead of what they think they're "supposed to do" in order to "make it!"

If there was one musician you would like to play with, any musician at all, whom would it be? (Time and mortality not being an issue)
Sun House, Skip James, Bob Dylan, Al Wilson (AKA Blind Owl) of Canned Heat, Keith Richards, Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker.

What is your favorite St. Louis venue?
Right this minute, Off Broadway I think. Good sound, comfortable room… Steve and his wife Kit, the current owners- good people.

How do you feel about being an inspiration to St. Louis musicians?
I hope that's true! I'd like that a lot.

What is it about the South St. Louis that it produces so many artists and musicians?
Cheap rents, crumbling old buildings and "like minded others" I think. A lot of kids from small towns in Missouri tend to wind up here cause they can be who they really are, which they couldn’t do in their small towns. We make our own fun in a lot of ways.

What is your favorite thing about St. Louis? Least favorite?
I think St. Louis is the fucking Garden of Eden. At any rate it is what it is- it's home, the only life I've ever known. The St. Louis Cardinals, the parks and trees... What I like least is people who live here and say they hate it. I think they should leave for a little while and come back.

Reuter is also just as passionate about his photography as he is about his music. His grainy, black and white photos evoke a feeling in the observer of fleeting moments perfectly caught on celluloid. Even with his portraits, he captures the raw in-the-moment-ness of his subjects in such a way that the photo ceases to be a simple two-dimensional object, but rather a living, breathing work of art. His use of light and shadow gives each of his shots an instantly nostalgic and noirish feel and his subject matter represents the underbelly of St. Louis in all her glory.

He has shot his fair share of local personalities- musicians, beautiful women and other people of interest, but he has also been called upon to shoot nationally known artists such as Black Diamond Heavies and Jay Farrar.

When did you first realize that you had a knack for photography?
In 1997 I was diagnosed as having blood clots up and down both legs. I almost died. I NEARLY died. I lost my house ‘cause I couldn’t house paint anymore. The state tested me and said I'd be good in the ARTS. They wanted me to study Graphic Design but I wasn’t that good at making all my lines straight an' shit. Then I took photography as an elective and I felt like I had found my home. They said that they wouldn’t support me doing that ‘cause they said my legs weren’t good enough to be a photographer and I said, "OK, see ya later. Rather see ya than BE ya! Smell ya later!"

Digital or film?
Film and paper in the dark with poisonous chemistry!

What is your favorite subject to shoot?
People. Misfits and such- rock and rollers, artists, pretty young women. Anyone who goes against the system in their way.

Any formal training in photography?
Yeah, I took some classes, but mostly I learned from doing it and talking to other shooters in the dark room over at Forest Park College.

What is your favorite photo that you have taken?
Many that I've taken of my first muse, a rock and roll girl and artist named Shanna Kiel - she touches something moves me deeply and she always comes out looking a little bit different each time

What, if any, legacy do you hope to leave when your time is up?
A large body of work- songs, photos, stories, drawings, whatever!- a lot of which you can check out on my Web site. But I know this one friend of mine- our guitar player, Matt's girlfriend Jen- would probably say, "Well, he was crotchety!"

Current Links:
www.myspace.com/bobreuter
www.bobreuterstl.com

Historic Link:
www.mphase.com/reuter1.htm

All photos by Bob Reuter.

Next week: Gravity Plays Favorites

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

DJ Bacon Shadow (me) To Spin At Halo On Wednesday


I'll be spinning at one of my favorite bars in STL on Wednesday night. Come see/listen to me play some cool tunes at The Halo Bar in the Loop tomorrow from 11pm to 3am. There is no cover to get into Halo.

I'll be spinning an awesome mix of soul, rockabilly, surf, garage, funk, country, pop and rock. You need to come.

The Halo is located in front of The Pageant at 6161 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112.

I'll be spinning under the nom de plume DJ Bacon Shadow. If you want to know the story behind the name, email me. =)

Monday, June 29, 2009

New Feature Coming to Picture This: STL

I decided recently to expand the focus of this blog. Due to the fact that I'm currently unemployed, I decided that I needed more structure in my days and weeks, and as such, I'm going to be interviewing prominent St. Louisians and hope to have a new interview posted each week.

The interviews won't be terribly in-depth or anything... just a quick and dirty Q&A to get a little more insight to those in St. Louis who entertain us.

So far I have interviews lined up with Bob Reuter (musician, host of Bob's Scratchy Records on KDHX), Thomas Crone (writer, blogger and radio host), Laura Hamlett (founder of Playback STL), Dennis Williams (drummer for the Trip Daddys), Matt Harnish (of Bunnygrunt), Bill Chott (local improvisational actor), Mark & Muffy (of Double Mayhem on KDHX), Scott Miller (founder of New Line Theater and many more.

I will be posting a new interview each week right here. The first interview will be with Bob Reuter, and will hopefully be posted sometime next week. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Wedge is Closing

**UPDATE - 06/28/09 - The Wedge is now officially closed***

Jumped on to one of my many social networking sites today and saw the following post by staff at The Wedge:

THE WEDGE WILL BE OPEN FOR ONLY 1 OR 2 MORE WEEKS.....

MY BOSS HAS INFORMED ME THAT WE WILL BE SHUTTING DOWN,HE HOWEVER IS LETTING ME STAY OPEN ONLY FOR DRINKS TILL THE BOOZE IS GONE. PLEASE MAKE THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS OR WEEK AN AMAZING PARTY ....

I'm honestly conflicted about this. On one hand, a small part of me is laughing while screaming "VINDICATION!" Another part of me is sad to see everyone's efforts for that cool little bar go to waste. When I managed the place, I and everyone who worked there tried to make it a place that was worth the drive to deep South City. We stumbled a few times, granted, but we also had some amazing times and amazing shows there. I met my girlfriend there (sort of). I had my first two-day drinking binge there (bad idea). I met some fascinating people there (and some real losers).

So, in the end, color me disappointed with a smirk.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Monster in Raleigh, NC Gets Art Student His Share of Trouble

Here's a story on an art student and urban explorer in Raleigh, NC who's little stunt with parking cones and barrels is netting him some trouble:
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22344/76084-barrel-monster-uliveandyouburn

Subsequent follow up on his arrest and identity:
http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/5339554

Thread on Fark.com from whence I found this:
http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=4444717

Enjoy

Friday, May 22, 2009

Tonight at The Wedge - ME!


I spin at my old bar tonight. Should be fun. Come on down.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

How Brick Thieves Operate

This video is third-hand. I was reading over Michael Allen's Ecology of Abscence blog, and he posted the following video which originally appeared on PubDef.org. It features St. Louis Alderman Sam Moore (D-4th) explaining how brick thieves do their dirty work.



This is fascinating stuff. Especially if there is an insider in the department that's aiding these thieves.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Spivey Lock Down

Reported by the EUE314 Blog today:

http://ueu314.blogspot.com/

Looks like the days of the Spivey and its infiltrators may be numbered.

Here's some Spivey history, compliments of Eco-Absence.

Some photography of the Spivey, compliments of Flickr.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Obama likes our Pi

So President Obama recently had the owners of St. Louis restaurant Pi come to The White House to cater a party with their signature deep dish pizza. (Link- St. Louis Business Journal)

This place is just down the street from me, and while I can't say that I like everything I've tried there, about 95% of what I've had has been killer. Pi makes a deep dish crust that is coated with cornmeal, and it really gives it a great flavor. Thos in Chicago aren't too happy with our new president's choice of deep-dish, but you know what? If we can be known for pizza other than Imo's (nothing against the provel and cracker delight), then right on.

Congrats to the locals.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Why doesn't BND support reuse?

I saw this editorial in the Belleville News Democrat yesterday: http://www.bnd.com/editorial/story/715304.html.

In the article, the paper advocates the demolition of the old Gateway Hospital building in East St. Louis. This building has been an eyesore for quite sometime, but it probably still could be saved. The building would require a massive rehabilitation and solid investment. The newer section could stand to be demolished, but the original structure should be saved. The newer section really doesn't do justice to the original building. The original has an Art Deco look to it that is really quite classic.

But the editorial also advocates the demolition of the Spivey Building and the Majestic Theater. This bother me. Although I have not personally investigated, I believe that its still possible to save these buildings and rehab them for reuse. It bothers me that the BND would take this position. Why would they not advocate investment in the buildings and the reuse of them? East St. Louis is in dire need of help, and a project like the rehabilitation of Collinsville Avenue would yield new jobs and spur economic growth in dying city. It may be a lofty goal, but rather than simply turning the buildings into vacant lots, why not try to make use of the space and bring some life back to this blighted city?

The paper is a servant to the community, and not getting behind reuse of historically important buildings in any of the towns that it serves is simply irresponsible in my opinion. But then again, I wouldn't really expect more from the BND. I've been pretty much opposed the majority of their editorial position over the last fifteen years or so. But then again I'm one of those lame ass bleeding heart lib-ruls.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Back to the blog

So, I recently got laid off from my job. It was a mixed blessing, really. The job was too stressful and I logged too many hours for the amount of money I was being paid.

Not only did it eat my whole existence, but it made updating this blog a real challenge.

Now that I have some free time, I hope to actually add to this on occasion. I haven't been out to photograph in about three months, and my feet are gettin' itchy.

Also, if you happen to know of any place that is hiring a server/bartender/promotions/booking person, please let me know. Cheers.