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. =)

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!

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.

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

Tonight at The Wedge - ME!

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

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.

Spring in Heman Park

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.

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.

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.