Motsart

 

It’s a lounge. No I don’t frequent them so I can’t tell you what’s inside. I will add that ‘q’ is not followed by ‘u’ so that it is disconcerting to encounter names like Qarli. The usual English spelling conventions are non existent. Somewhere someone has casually used the phonetic spelling and it usually works out. But as you well know there’s quite a difference between ‘foul’ and ‘fowl’ if you refer to chicken. Likewise the idea of what constitutes art is very different. I have so far not seen too much other than outdoor sculpture and 3D pieces. Paint and print media are not too much in evidence.

Art

 

Eh? Everyone seems to like sculpture. There are many fountains and outdoor art pieces. Some things just pop up with any rhyme or reason. They tucked this metal sphere in a corner and surrounded it with a mirror. It’s also fashionable to put up sculptures at traffic circles.

Easter, New York Style

I have come to believe that in New York City people like to dress up. And an opportunity to strut is an irresistible calling. What I wonder is that folks seem to pay no mind that their outfits must look pretty outrageous as they travel about on mass transit getting to the venue. And the tourists, what do they make of a world seemingly gone mad. I remember one Halloween when a couple of tourists were cowering in their seats peering cautiously over the top of their map at all the outlandish costumed riders that clambered onto the subway car.

Astro-turf man

Easter festivities are on Fifth Avenue near St Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Center. Made famous from movie and song, everyone’s mission is to wear a hat and parade your stuff. There is no form and the crowd is ‘come as you like.’ So from about 11AM until dusk anyone can wander up or down Fifth Avenue. Come early, most of the photographers are there and you can be assured of being photographed into internet immortality. The headdress varied from simple bunny ears to virtual gardens atop some of the more ambitious participants. There are no rules.

Some old standbys appear. It seems that several people make it a habit to be in every parade gathering. Same costume, same shtick, it’s familiar but beginning to get worn – different day same person.

At all parades - see Chinese New Year

No themes and no organizers so there is little in the way of coherence. Some folks were really decked out. One thing I noticed this year, there were a lot of period costumes from the turn of the century. And for some reason it is attractive as a great venue for gays to be able to parade in front of St Patrick’s. There were many transvestites. Be sure to watch closely as it’s hard to tell some of them. Others were too obvious. Because you are virtually ‘eyeball to eyeball,’ a wide angle lens and close cropping were needed to isolate people. This year’s crowd was larger than I remember, perhaps because of the good weather. It was great entertainment and rich with photo ops.

You can fool some people

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St Louis

This is the second recent trip for me to St Louis. I took time to visit the City Garden which has sculptures. I went around to the Delmar Loop and saw the shops but was uninspired in my quest to whittle down my Xmas shopping. And finally I made my way over to the arch for holiday night shots. You will see the full moon rising through the arch. The fountains were not operating but there were some great reflections.

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