LO-FI SAINT LOUIS » Photo Galleries

Photos From Mad Art’s 10th Anniversary ‘Wedding’ Party

Bill Streeter — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:15:03 +0000

Our good friends at Mad Art Gallery (our favorite art gallery in an 1930′s art deco Police Station) threw a huge party to celebrate 10 Years of being in business (see the video we made about the place a couple of years ago here). And because hosting wedding receptions have played a large part in keeping them in business they decided to throw a wedding themed party. Guests were encouraged to dress in their favorite wedding attire. It was certainly one of the best wedding bashes we’ve ever attended! Here’s to at least another 10 years! (we have video of this party coming soon too–stay tuned)

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Photos from Beat ‘N’ Soul Fest (Night 2)

Bill Streeter — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:15:21 +0000

Here are some photos from the night two of the Beat’n'Soul fest at Off Broadway last night. Unfortunately we weren’t able to attend night one. Videos to come within the next week or so …

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Photos From Off Broadways Big Halloween Show

Bill Streeter — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:18:43 +0000

Here are some photos we took at the big Halloween Show at Off Broadway last night with The Monads, Strawfoot and Kentucky Knife Fight. This also happened to be The Monads very last show. The place was packed, fun was had, costumes were worn. This was a blast!

Enjoy the photos below this video I slapped together:

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Sci-Fi Lounge/Artspace at Crestwood Court

Bill Streeter — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:45:47 +0000

Here are some photos of the opening night of Sci-Fi Lounge and it’s new home, Artspace at Crestwood Court. We think it’s a great use of a dead mall space.

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Things are hoppin’ on Cherokee Street

Bill Streeter — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:17:18 +0000

So far in the last two weeks I’ve spent part of two different weekends on Cherokee Street. Something really cool is happening down there. I think it’s been brewing under the surface for a while, but in the last couple of years it’s really bloomed. My pal (and sometime contributer to Lo-Fi) Steve Smith has been wanting to open another bar on Cherokee for a while, but the peculiar oddities of St. Louis Liquor politics have been blocking him for some time. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

So here I provide you with photographic evidence of Cheorkee’s revival. Most of these photos are from the new little punk rock thrift and nick-nack shop Binge & Purge taken at their grand opening two weeks ago, and at Firecracker Press photographed this weekend during the Cherokee Street Open House event.

Oops! I seem to be having an issue with one of my photo gallery plugins, so … until I get this fixed go check out the Album on Flickr

Fixed!

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Newspaper Memories

Steven Fitzpatrick Smith — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:37:47 +0000

Oh the memories. I was looking for my old sketch pad, for I have been commissioned to make another drawing this year for Art Attack so I dug through some old things in a box underneath my bed. And look what I found. How timely.

You see I saved papers. I know it is corny, but I collect all sorts of paper, especially newspapers. I used to be a paperboy for many years. That was my first good money jobs that I started in the sixth grade. I sold the Post-Dispatch year round for about four years on various Saint Louis street corners selling the Sunday three star edition on Saturday night and also the five star final in front of the Catholic Church my family belonged to on Sunday morning. It was great work, and eventually worked up in the game and worked overnights in the distribution at convenience stores, supermarkets and newspaper stands.

So this particular find brings up all sorts of fond memories. It has been interesting looking at them. I remember this vividly at the time. I was just into my freshman year of high school. There are all sorts of things that could be observed about this market crash. I am not sure where to start, or if I even should comment.

After keeping these on my meeting table for a day just to sort of absorb news of this old paper. I glanced at the headlines and looked at the other headlines of the day. The other thing that popped up is that the US shelled an oil platform in the Persian Gulf. That seems odd. I didn’t remember that at all. I guess that stock market crash distracted me at that tender age. That story did remind me of when our country shot down a normal passenger Iranian airliner over the gulf. And then that reminded me of the Korean airliner that was shot down in Soviet airspace.

That was really effed up. But that is all history now. Sad history.

So just a few minutes ago as I was repairing a few things outside after close, I heard something hit the side gate door. I stepped out to see what it was. It was a copy of the Post-Dispatch. The woman who was delivering the paper was returning to her vehicle.

“Sorry. It was just too light to make it over the fence and it hit the door.”

“No worries. Tell them they need to put some more paper in the paper.”

The woman agreed as she stepped back to her delivery minivan.

I picked up the paper and it indeed was light. It made me a little sad. I used to haul these papers and it felt good tossing around bundles. I would read every inch of the papers. I would read the full team baseball stats in the Sunday paper, the editorial page, Ann Landers and Mark Trail. I would read the whole thing.

So I looked at the Post. I am embarrassed to say, but I haven’t been reading the paper. I guess it stopped about three or so years ago but I still get a subscription and also a few other dailies. I have had a subscription to the paper ever since I moved out of my folks house at 18. My apartments used to be littered with the daily paper. I still read magazines, but I don’t read the paper. It makes me rather sad.

But the daily paper is not the same. It feels different. And it looks different. These are superficial, sure, but for certain things I am a sucker for regardless. I like Chevys and shined shoes. I like newspapers that look and feel like newspapers.

The feel is what got me. I was used to heaving bundles of papers. The paper is so much smaller now. Not just in page numbers, but the actual size. I knew there was something wrong, so I put the new paper next to the old Post. I always knew the Post was smaller that the Journal, and it was essentially the same size at the Times, but wow. Look at it now. It is tiny and a former shadow of itself. Sad.

There is so much to learn from both the physical paper as much as there is to learn from the content. The presentation of the stories, the story selection, the presentation of the actual paper, the content of the stories. Perhaps there is more credence to the substantial paper. Perhaps not. Who knows?

I do know that sales of the paper were up during that market crash of 87. I sold out quickly at my news stand. I knew it was hot, so I held on to an extra and I went and bought a Journal and Times for I knew this was the national scope.

I think over the course of the week I will peruse the old Post and the new Post to see what actually makes them different. Hmmm.

Turner’s Nite Club [Urban Exploration]

Bill Streeter — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:17:55 +0000

I’ve been kind of fascinated with the St. Louis Flyer Project on Flickr. Of course, looking at these old flyers doesn’t really bring back many memories for me since I wasn’t living in St. Louis at the time. But they are curious since they are clues as to what the Rock’n'Roll Scene was like here back in the ’80s. Most of the clubs and halls listed on these flyers don’t exist anymore, and one in particular caught my eye; Turner’s Nite Club. It was this flyer of their February 1986 calendar that piqued my interest, mainly because of the map that showed its location, namely on Salisbury near Hyde Park on city’s north side:

Turners Nite Club Calendar from February 1986

Here is another flyer for the place, probably from the same period:

Imagine seeing this show for only $6!!

Now to know why this is interesting to me one might need to understand that St. Louis has a long history of being pretty segregated–not unlike a lot of cities. Where different parts of town are known as the domain of different races. The north side in St. Louis is known as the “black” part of town. So knowing the racist attitudes of some white people in St. Louis, I found it curious that back in the ’80s there was a Rock’n'Roll venue frequented by mostly white kids on the north side. So recently I thought I’d go see if this place was still standing, and discovered (not surprisingly) ruble. Apparently Turner’s Hall suffered a fire in recent years and burned down–but not all the way. From what I hear it was a fairly large venue, and when I saw it I could tell that it was. It seems to have been a repurposed gymnasium building of some sort. Anyway I took these photos on my visit.

About a block away I met this guy who was selling his home made cookies on a nearby corner. He was very personable but too young to remember Turners. His name is Sim and I included a couple of photos of him here, his cookies are awesome, BTW.

If you have any memories of this place please post them in the comments. I really know little more than what I’ve related here.

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The Riverfront Times

Bill Streeter — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 13:26:00 +0000

Hey, thanks to Mike Seely for the great article in this week’s RFT, and to Jennifer Silverberg for the great photos (click on the photo above to read the story online.) It’s a little weird to get this kind of attention. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a behind-the-scenes kinda guy.

So if this is your first time here check out the categories in the sidebar or just browse backwards to view some of the videos here. Or you can see all of the 40 or so videos that I’ve posted on this site here. Most of them I’ve made myself but there are a few that have been made by others. You can subscribe via iTunes and get new stuff delivered to you automatically. Here is the link to my iTunes page:

And if you don’t like iTunes you can try my favorite video aggregator FireAnt. These guys have been working their butts off developing the best video blog viewer around. Use this link to subscribe via FireAnt.

A lot of stuff is available in Flash video, but everything is viewable in QuickTime, and frankly everything looks better in Quicktime anyway so you’d do well to get QuickTime if you don’t have it already (free player).

Also if you are interested in video blogging check out this great tutorial site called Freevlog, where Ryanne Hodson and Michael Verdi will get you started. They also provide links to all kinds of great community sites and vlog directories. You can find these some of these same links in the sidebar too.

Also if you like or hate a video feel free to use the comment links at the bottom of each post to let me know.

Thanks for coming by and enjoy!

Bill Streeter