Friday Night on Washington

After our mini tour of the Fox, we wandered down Washington toward Spring.


We never made it into The Pulitzer or The Contemporary. We stopped to watch the outdoor movie Cinema St. Louis sponsored. Yes, folks, the newly remastered Voltron.

I really like this town.

Friday Night at The Fox

Our free tour was a mini version of the regular $8 tour, but it was still great, largely because of the tiny little man on that giant organ console: Stan Kann.

This organ has to be one of the biggest and most complex in the world. I can't tell you how many pipes it has, or how many stops. I think the Fox website has answers to number questions like that. I just know that it's what I think of when someone says "surround sound." Okay, the fact it plays bells and gongs, well, that really makes me happy, too.

I took these while Mr. Kann played things like Meet me in St. Louis and Climb Every Mountain.





It's really hard to give this stuff any sense of scale. That chandelier is 12 feet in diameter.

After the music, we went backstage to the dressing rooms and gawked at the autographs traveling shows leave behind.



Can anyone make out what Liberace said after the date?

Friday Night @ SLU

Things were looking a little spooky.

Walking to and from Lily's

Adela and Salvador make great flan.

Looking forward to another fun weekend

Tonight we start with the festivities 'round the Grand Arts Center. I want to tour the Fabulous Fox, and then maybe catch some of the Voltron movie they're playing outside. No time to catch the punk show at the Creepy Crawl- I'm expected to stick my head in at the SLU Studio Art Faculty Show. There's an opening at Ellen Curlee tonight, too, but I think we'll skip it. Opening are too tight in that shotgun space. It'll probably be open next week for First Friday, anyway.

Saturday starts off with a StudioSTL roundtable in the morning, followed by a (hopefully) leisurely afternoon, the Alison Bechdel reading at Left Bank Books at 7:00, and maybe some City Museum fun after that.

Sunday? After the weekly call to Mom, we're meeting our friend Ann for a walk around Francis Park and its Art in the Park affair, then we're off to another StudioSTL meeting & BBQ. Maybe after that we'll curl up for some quiet time at home. Maybe. 

Aftermath

We watched the nephew for a couple hours this afternoon. 

Roller Derby Exhibition @ Grovefest

Arch Rival Rollergirls- Good clean vicious fun, and their names are right up there with drag queen names.

I didn't take any pics of the fashion show. I kept thinking the glittery pasties were ruining the lines of the clothes. Yes, I would have thought that even if JD hadn't been sitting right next to me.








The Penalty Mistress and her Wheel


The penalty bonus? Musical chairs!


They had a bit of a scuffle...


...and everyone helped out.


Then, back to the skating.


Fun for all.

Saturday @ Grovefest

Grovefest - I hope this turns into an annual thing.

This strip of Manchester is a weird mix. It has gay bars, straight bars, boarded up shopfronts, fantastic restaurants, homes and warehouses all right next to each other. It's exactly what I thought all city neighborhoods were like when I was a kid.



JulieDill said little about the squirel-friendly vendor.


Put it on your calendar: Red Bull Soap Box Race, October 28


I bought dinner from the gay cowboys.


And yes, I am a sucker for kids with puppies,


Outside the Atomic Coyboy




Watching the crowd,


including this rolling advertisement for the Arch City Rivals.


Nouvelle pirate chic?


Vendors


Visitors


Drinkng at Novak's, waiting for the roller derby to start.


After the Derby, more music.

GroveFest: The Dragon

Someone came up with a great fill-in-the-colors dragon mural for kids to work on.




At the end of the day:

Staunton, Illinois

I'll go back to Staunton sometime when I'm a little more cheerful.