Well, here it is... A second issue of NDT. This one features a bit more work from friends, and a bit less work from myself, which was kind of the whole point to begin with. Please accept my formal apology here as to why this has taken so long. I guess I was so busy with my two-day-a-week job that I couldnt get it done. This one is really cool though, and possibly even worth the wait. See for yourself.
I
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Max, like myself and most 20 somethings our age, liked to explore abandoned buildings in the city. Luckily for him, Saint Louis has an excess of old places to get into, photograph, and possibly vandalize. Near the brewery in Soulard there are a handful of partially accessible buildings that are relativly low risk and seem to fit the bill as far as asbestos filled buildings go. One such building is Shephard school, that while being home to one of Saint Louis’ oldest and most well known DIY skatespots, consists of a multilevel gradeschool that at one time was accesible at night. From what I remember, him and a friend, decied to make their way into the school late one night. They looked around for a bit until they noticed the building still had power, a red flag for exploring meaning that the bulding is still in use, and may also be home to some kind of alarm system. I imagine they continued to look around, lest their efforts of trespassing be fruitless, until one of them spotted a group of cop cars pull up and suround the exit to the building. At this point, the two had no where to go but up. They climbed the stairs all the way up to the top floor and found a small attic just as they heard the rustling of officers entering the building. They squeezed into the crawlspace in the dark and sat still, awaiting their inevitable doom as the officers searched floor by floor. The panic grew as the two heard the officers getting closer and closer, and now accompanied by a small chainlike sound, search dogs. From what Max tells me, they literally held their breath as the police and dogs made their way to the top floor, hearing the sounds of the dogs panting on the other side of the door. But then, miraculously, and for no apparent reason, the officers retreated. The pair waited for the officers to make their way back down to the squad cars, load up the dogs, and take off. Once they did, Max said, they were gone and back at their car in less than a minute. The following images dont have anything to do with that story at all, but Max didnt give me anything to say about them. He lives in Oakland now, and according to these pictures, he’s got some good stories from there too.
II
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Brian is one of the many people I’ve been lucky enough to meet through skateboarding. He is as skilled a photographer as he is at skateboarding, which is, to say, extremely good. Brian also went to the same school as me and studied photography, but he was a few years behind me so we never really got to work together until now. The following are just a few snapshots from a trip he recently took to the southwest, all shot on film on a Ricoh GR1s.
III
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“LOVE LETTERS”
Hey. Some stuff just stays with you man. Like after school one day in middle school it was me and Andrea doing homework and watching tv, and I don’t know mom might’ve even been there and it might’ve been later in the night and my sis and I were prob drinking all my mom’s cup of Pepsi. But I know that my sis had Gilmore Girls on tv and I was being a snot and I got up and I prob bit one of the ice cubes in my moms Pepsi cup and spit it back in the cup and I said: “Why do you even watch Gilmore Girls? This is so stupid.” Her response broke me. Stabbed me in the back. And the front too. Felt like one of those times where if you are a dude and you are peeing in a urinal at school then Brandon Richards or Colton Doss pushes you and you get pee all over your pants and then have to go back to French class after trying to run the hand dryer on your pants but not drying them just burning a thigh or two. Thats what it felt like. Embarrassed. Exposed. She got me. “Well why do you watch wrestling?!” she said.
All of it was there. She knew that I watched it in secret, watching it on tv only when no one else was in the room and quickly changing the channel before otherwise. But you know my dad heard Kane chokeslamming Shane McMahon on tv before he walked up the stairs. She, like every got damned body, knew it was fake and thought I’s a baby for watching anything pretending to be real that the whole world knew was fake. And, my mom laughed when Andrea said it and I think they high fived? I dont know. But yeah. I think about that moment anytime I watch WWE. And I thought about it when Dan and I stood in line outside for over an hour to watch Wrestlemania 31 with a bunch of other wrestling fans in a bar. One old lady in line thought wrestling was real. Thought she was cheesy and charming for thinking that. Also thought she was pretty dumb for it. I started watching wrestling in elementary school. Don’t know how I got in to it. But I got super in to it. I was Sting the wrestler for Halloween. Jokes about it being the singer aren’t funny Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! :) I was black and white face paint Sting, and red and black face paint Sting for two different nights. Months later, my Maw-Maw or my Aunt Martha made me a Sting birthday cake in 2nd grade, but I was too busy looking at my wrestling trading cards to even eat it. Feel bad bout that still. Can’t remember who made it to apologize to one of ‘em. My 2nd grade ‘girlfriend’ (Strictly over the shirt stuff.) got me a wrestling magazine. My dad got mad at me during baseball practice cause I was doing Diamond Dallas Page’s Diamond hand sign instead of fielding ground balls. But my dad also took me to a live WCW show where this wrestler named Scott Steiner yelled that Mark Mcguire sucked and Sammy Sosa was better. My mom and dad would just make sure though: “You do know it is fake right? Okay.” I nodded, but still almost cried when Sting got beat up with his own baseball bat by Bret Hart one time. I wrote Sting a letter once saying that he was my favorite wrestler, and that I was sorry that happened to him. He didn’t write back. I got tired of wrestling for awhile. Then started again at the end of middle school and beginning of high school when my sister started watching Gilmore Girls. Instead of going to see more superhero movies with my sixth grade friend Keegan Johns, I would just stay in and play my wrestling vieo game on PS2. My mom got mad cause I told Keegan that my mom wouldn’t let me go out, but really I just would rather play the game than go out. She thought I threw her under the bus. I would let my freshman year girlfriend talk on the phone while I paid attention to Monday Night Raw and not her. Never really told anyone that I watched it. Got pretty savvy on the terminology even, but to everyone else, I thought wrestling was “so silly!!”. Was a big fibber.
I don’t think it’s that lame. It’s real fun. But I was embarrassed still. I wish I never had felt bad about liking a thing like I did then. Wish I was a cool kid who didn’t care what people thought. Like those girls in middle school who loved horses and had horse folders and horse books and horse t-shirts. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t like those “I dont give a fuck horse girls from middle school”. Pretty lame. I stopped watching in high school. But now I’m a grown! assman! and I watch what is entertaining. Game of Thrones. The Bachelor. Curb Your Enthusiasm bloopers on YouTube. Dr. Gonstead Chiropractic vidoes on YouTube. Biggest Booger Removal videos on YouTube. And wrestling. All of these have compelling stories. Heroes and villains to love. Especially wrestling. And I don’t do it ironically either. I don’t make fun of it, or the people watching it. Sometimes I do. I don’t know. Its cool to like stuff. Sorry. Wrestlemania is basically the Super Bowl for WWE. Or like a season finale. Except more dope. All these big matches. It was a packed house at this bar. A lot of people knew each other. Some were by themselves. That old lady was by herself. But then sat with this other random woman with protruding gums and two guys who were taking pulls of vodka in the line outside before going in. Everybody kinda just crams in and sits wherever they can and people are cool for the most part about it.
Dan and I sat with this one maybe autistic type guy who thought it was wild that he was in a bar even though he didnt drink. Don’t think it was that wild! He ordered a burger and nachos and an ice cream and a soda. In the middle of a really fun 4 way tag team match he told Dan that a guy in the current match’s sister died that day. RIP Kofi’s sister. Also in this match a busty woman put a midget dressed like a bull in a leg lock. (on the tv, not in the bar). I think Dan gurts off to that woman too. Her name is Natalya. She’s groovy. The bull’s name is El Torito. I don’t think either of us gurt to the bull midget named El Torito. Before I get to the other matches, in line to go in, I watched this lady walking a really cool dog. When they walked past me I turned my head to keep looking at the dog. But this lady turned her head too and thought I was checking out her butt which was probably nice and shaky and juicy but I wasnt even looking at it and she made a disgusted face. Dan and I thought up the term ‘dog pervert’ when a lady thinks your looking at her butt but you are looking at her dog. Even for the first match (the one with the Kofi guy and the woman and midget and other cool guys), people were just losing their minds chanting at tv screens and cheering. It was like a sporting event but fun. People yell “HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT!” whenever Randy Orton throws a guy off his back and RKO’s him in mid air or when Dean Ambrose gets thrown through a goddamned ladder or when a guy was bragging that John Cena won to everybody who didn’t want John Cena to win and then some guy says “SHUT UP VIRGIN!” A whole bar yelled “HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT” for like a minute because of that. Whatever, if that guys a virgin, fine. But don’t be a person who likes John Cena and don’t have “Yeah well its not just me! Steven is a virgin too!” as a comeback. Not very nice. I was in a long line for the bathroom and offered a lady to go in front of me in line and she consequently walked away because of it. I tell ya there’s a lot of goobers here. There ARE a lot of weird goobers that watch wrestling. But there are a lot of weirdos that like...I don’t know...comic book movie shit. There are a lot of weirdos who like the Bachelorette. A lot of weirdos like things. For this, it was a surreal and beautiful world of all sorts of people who just kinda say “Fuck it” and revel in all of the entertaining pageantry and athletics of a scripted wrestling show. Everyone’s got each other’s backs, unless you like John Cena, or are me just trying to be nice but scare a woman so much she don’t got to pee no more.
Sting even wrestled at Wrestlemania 31. My favorite wrestler when I was a kid. And he lost. People were mad that they made him lose. Especially this man and woman couple that wore Sting facepaint (and got real drunk and I think melted in to the ground and have no bones anymore). But I wasn’t. I always knew he’d lose. He never wrote me back. Dan and I would look at each other and squeeze each other and cheese so hard whenever something rad happened. We felt like kids...in a bar...watching wrestling. Especially when Seth Rollins cashed in this thing called Money In The Bank contract which constitutes that you get a WWE World Heavyweight championship match whenever you want. He cashed in during a match where Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns beat each other up real bad and he curb stomped Roman Reigns and pinned him 1-2-3 and the bar exploded. It’s even cooler cause my cousin went to high school with Seth Rollins and even though he may be a wiener and you can see his actual wiener online cause his girlfriend leaked it, he is the best wrestler. It was a perfect season finale. Dan and I left the bar and went home. And it was probably the most fun I’ve had in New York. Wrestling is cool. Now I love wrestling AND Gilmore Girls more than I love my sister.
(Sorry I wrote about wrestling even though there was a story about wrestling in Dan’s last thing. We are pretty drunk off it.) (Youtube: biggest booger removal. It is STELLAR tv)
IV
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Mariano is the man. Originally from Peru, we met in Saint Louis. I believe we met at the hands of Reggie Colvin, a mutual friend and my former roommate. Mariano is also a big part of the skate community. He is constantly taking pictures, and isn’t afraid to photograph anyone, anywhere. Some of the following images were captured in East St. Louis, a place you just don’t go with a camera, or even at all. I’m stoked that he’s now living in NYC, which means we’ll be working together again soon.
V
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BUILDINGS AND BEERS WITH JACK STEIN
Jack is one of my oldest friends. He bailed on Saint Louis long before any of us even finished college, which means our meetings since then have been few and far between. He moved to Minneapolis, where I imagine he’s been ever since, I don’t really know. I was happy to hear that he would be spending a few days in New York, away from work and away from shows. When he got here we took it pretty easy, and aimlesssly explored the city the same way we would back in the day. We climbed into some old buildings, we bought cheap beer, and we shot the shit. I gave him a call a few weeks after his visit to catch up, and reflect on the time he spent while in NYC.
What have you been up to since the last time I saw you? Uh, last time I saw you was at your house in New York. I did the rest of that tour with the band, and that was fun. I saw you like halfway through the tour, so we probably had like another week after that. Been doing that, practicing, working, washing other people’s dirty dishes for minimum wage. Speaking of your band, how’s that going, and also where’s my shirt? Oh yeah, shirt I can get in the mail, I completely forgot about that because I’m a crippling alcoholic. Um, bands going good, played a show last night, I was hitting myself with my belt a bunch and now my chest hurts today. It’s been good. That’s good, why were you hitting yourself in the chest? I don’t really know why I did that, I kind of regret it today cause my body hurts. At the time it seemed like a good idea. You should have choked yourself with it, that would’ve been cooler. I did that too. Oh, ok good. It just looked like I was choking myself, I didn’t actually choke myself cause I’m a wimp. Do you remember when we went to that Manhattan bar? Yeah, yeah. Oh, I just wanted to say thanks for that. It was a weird experience. Yeah, I’m glad we did that. Are you guys gonna tour again, or what? We’re talking about going on tour again in September, but I don’t know, some people wanted to do it, but now they’re all on the fence. I’m finna move to New Orleans here in a few months so I don’t really care. Whats the name of the band again? Lard Boys, pretty original huh? You guys just been playing shows at home or what? Yeah, we kind of took a month break, but we just played two shows this past week. I don’t know when the next one is but…I don’t know, I kinda just show up and yell into a microphone I don’t really do anything.
Where are you living right now? Yeah, I’m living in Minneapolis, the same house I’ve lived in. I’m on the porch right now. How’s your family doing? You talked to them at all? I called my mom today, but she didn’t pick up. She never picks up when I call. Last I heard they’re doing good. Their still just middling around South Saint Louis, hanging out. Those buildings we got into when you were here, what did you think of that? Yeah, that was pretty cool. I was actually talking to this guy in Chicago about that and he knew exactly what I was talking about, the ones in the Navy Yard, he used to live in New York. You’re just dishwashing? Is that what you’re doing for work right now? Yeah, just washing other people’s dirty dishes like a chump. I work two days a week selling rosaries to old ladies. Yeah dude, I work three days a week. I gotta find something else. Me too, think I might try to do dog walking. Yeah that would be cool, gotta pick up that dump. Can’t leave that shit on the sidewalk. No way, that’s what New York is all about. Do people still call you “bugman?” Yeah my friend, yesterday was talking about starting a band called “Bugman and The Bats.” So we’ll see if that happens. Make an album called “Echolocation.” Like “Echo and the Buggyman,” we should call it that instead it’s way better. Do you think you’ll keep living where you’re at? I’m gonna live at the house I’m at until the end of September and then I’m talking about driving to New Orleans and live there for the winter. It’s tight, I got my own bedroom, I can get out onto the roof and smoke cigarettes out there, I got a model train, its tight.
“HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED WITH A MODEL TRAIN?” You got a model train? Yeah, I did this med study, or, a smoking study, they were paying me to smoke e-cigs and I got like 2000 bucks, this is way before that tour. I went to this model train store called “Choo-choo Bob’s.” You can rent it out for kid’s birthdays. Anyway I bought this model train. It’s fucking tight. At our house, I have a window that faces the street, and on the other side of the house, theres a another bedroom next to mine and my friend, we call him Hotdog, his window faces the street too. I wanna get a bunch more track and send the train out the window and into his room so we can put, I don’t know, Triscuits and shit on there and send them to each other. I didn’t know you liked model trains. Have you ever played with a model train? I mean, chooches are pretty sick, but I’ve never played with a model train. They’re fucking tight. It only sucks though because they’re on the floor, and sometimes I’ll forget its there and I’ll kick it over and it’s SUCH A BITCH to put the trains back on the track. It takes forever. Other than that, it’s tight.
I wouldn’t move out of a place where I got a model train, no way. Yeah, if I move what am I gonna do? Are you getting a lot of girls with that model train in your room? Nada man, nada. You haven’t fallen in love with any girls lately? No man, it’s hard to work a model train into a conversation with somebody. Remember in high school we always talked about like “not getting laid?” It’s still like that. I still don’t know how to talk to women. I mean, I don’t really wanna talk to anybody, let alone someone I’m attracted to. I usually just try to stand around and look attractive, which usually doesn’t work, and hope they come up and talk to me.
Sorry for making you sleep on my floor that whole time you were here. We walked like 15 miles that one day on accident. Yeah, we walked so much. We walked to that cemetery and then to Chinatown. I still tell people about that dumpling deal, its like the greatest food deal I’ve ever heard of in my life. 10 for 2 bucks. That’s like a day and a half of food for me. You still drinking soda? I’m on this Mexican Coke trip.
Jacks cousin, Kait, went to high school with the WWE world Heavyweight champion. They’re friends on Facebook, so we always look at his pictures. That’s cool man, at least he made something happen with his life. All the meathead douchebags we went to high school with are just eating Velveeta in their mom’s basement right now. Yeah if they’re not dead, most of them are dead. Just big chunks of velvetta, no crackers.
I wish, if I had the money for that, that’s how you know youve made it, when youre drinking mexican cokes. I just use change I find.
Not warmed up? Not even warmed up, that shits not even real food, you don’t have to refrigerate it or anything. You ever eaten that? It’s like wax man, it’s gross.
I just used all mine today doing laundry. I brought all my quarters to the laundromat and realized most of them were tokens for the Tower Tee batting cages and I couldn’t use them. Dude I’m wearing white pants right now cause its the only pants I got.
I’ve got some in the pantry right now, I might eat some tonight. My mom sent me all kinds of food in the mail that doesn’t go bad. I ate Vienna Sausages for the first time the other day. Pretty gross. Yeah those are pretty bad, from the can?
I’m sure they’re bright white, I’m sure they’re not fucking disgusting. They’re pretty clean actually, my friend gave them to me, I already put a bunch of rips in them. I think they’re women’s pants, they’re really tight on my penis and shit. You can see my dong through my pants. You gotta wear those to the club. If I was wearing those white pants when we were at that weird Manhattan bar, that was like a fucking New York bar/club out of a movie. It was exactly what I thought a bar was like there. Wait- Did I tell you about my friend in Seattle who built a wrestling ring in his backyard? No. He’s actually trying to become a professional wrestler and my friend who lives with him was just visiting and he told me all he does is train to become a professional wrestler. He showed me this photo on his phone of him in downtown Seattle with this huge crowd in an actual wrestling match. He’s bouncing off the ropes, this guys like 30 years old, it’s ridiculous.
Yeah, not the best. (Shout out to my mom for sending me food.) So when you were here, we brought that basketball to the bar, and we dribbled it home that night? Aw dude! We were bouncing it off cars and shit? We got home in like 3 minutes cause we accidentally ran home. That was probably like 2 miles, we just ran straight home and started watching “Heavyweights.” That was a great night. I was talking about “Heavyweights” the other week at this party, and a people were just like, whatever, then this one guy randomly started quoting it with me, he knew the whole thing maybe more than you and I. It was so fun, I think I’ve seen that movie 100 times. I think I’ve seen that movie almost as much as “Tommy Boy.” “Tommy Boy” is my number one most viewed film of all time. Between my childhood, and my adult life, I’ve seen “Tommy Boy” like 500 times. We watched “Black Sheep” when you were here, “Tommy Boy 2” basically. All the jokes that were too shitty for “Tommy Boy.” They were just like, “I don’t know, we can probably make another movie,” and thats “Black Sheep”
“These shoes are Italian, they’re worth more than your life.” “That doesn’t smell like mud.” I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy of “Sandlot.” It’s like a summer tradition, you gotta watch “Sandlot.” I need to find a VHS copy. What did you think about New York when you were here? That was my third time there, it was probably the most fun I’d had in New York, probably because I had a place to stay and things to do. The first time I went I was 18 and by myself, just midling around like “I guess I’ll go to Coney Island” and then realizing it takes like an hour and a half to get there, like oh shit, it’s seven o clock now, fuck. Going to the Empire State Building like “Oh, thats a tall building, cool.”
I was texting them weeks in advance like, “take off these days, cause its the only days that we’re all in town, we should go swimming or go hiking or something” and they all ended up working all day. You ever been to a place called Hook? It’s a fish and chicken place in the Midwest. No I think it’s like the same company that used to be in Saint Louis called “JJ’s Fish and Chicken.” I went there the other day, my friend Logan was telling me about it, it’s fucking tight dude, it’s really good. Super cheap, like 5 bucks, both got 5 massive pieces of chicken, coleslaw and fries.
When I would work I used to go to this bodega across the street and get like, a burger and fries or something, it was pretty good. Now I’m trying to save money so I have to go to The second time Kaleb’s cousin, or uncle, just hook- Taco Bell and get things off the dollar menu. ing it up super hard. That hot dog joint with that Spend like 3 dollars to feel like absolute shit secret door, that was tight. the rest of the day, which is kinda good because it fills you up for the rest of the day, Then the third time, I stayed at your house for like but only because you feel like you’re gonna 3 nights, we just left at like 1 o’clock and would walk die. all day until like 1 o’clock at night. Just roam around Cause you can’t put anything else in your body or and go to the river, explore those buildings, eat cheap you’re gonna piuke. ass dumplings and go back home and sit and then go get free french fries from Jack. That bartender Really saves you some money. was dribbling the ball behind the bar, just giving us I gotta go, it’s my friend Kate’s birthday, gonna kick it free Coors, giving them away like hotcakes. Then we with her, but uh, can you email me this recording? dribbled that ball under the train and were trying to throw it up to the tracks. That was a good time. Yeah, I’ll fix it up, make us sound smarter in Coors is a pretty good beer, man. the interview. Cool let me know if you plan to visit Saint Louis any Anyway, I think that’s about it. time soon. I’ll try to uh, coincide with that. Cool, Cool. So what’s new with the old gang from high school? I will, have a good rest of your day. Later man. I don’t know, I didn’t really like the old gang from high school. Really though, you talked to them? I was in town a couple weeks ago, everybody’s kinda doing their own thing. I guess we’re the only two who still haven’t grown up. Yeah, that’s probably true. I don’t know why you would want to bust into adult life and just be stressed out all the time? Sounds fucking boring. I don’t think their grown up, I think they’re just doing their own thing. It was good to see them still.
VI
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THEO is yet another friend from the Darkroom. We worked there together for a few years, and he’s a good friend of Max, which is probably how we became friends in the first place. I remember first seeing some of his work at the school’s gallery. I honestly had never seen anything like it. His style and attitude are unlike anyone else. Theo still works and lives in Saint Louis, shooting a lot for the RFT and other things around town. He rules.
VII
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I was excited about taking a trip home to Saint Louis from the moment I bought the ticket. It didn’t really matter what the weather would be like, or what I did when I got there, it was going ot be a much needed change of pace from New York. There would be free food, friends, bugs, trees, and all the other things I desperately missed. I was careful not to plan or to schedule too much on the trip, and although there were things I wanted to make sure I did, they were limited to driving a car or getting coffee in my old neighborhood. Of course, by the time I actually got to Saint Louis my plans began to get a bit muddled. It rained so much the rivers flooded, friends were busy with work, and I was sleeping on the floor at my parents’ condo. All things considered, it was a memorable trip that reminded me both what made it so great, and why I left in the first place.
The major plan when I got to Saint Louis was a week long vacation with my family in southern Missouri. It’s a trip my family has taken since my Dad was 5 years old. So probably 50 or so straight years of getting my whole extended family to meet in basically the middle of nowhere, a state park outside of Piedmont called Sam A. Baker. I always find it weird that a place that’s so remote, and frankly doesn’t exist to many others, can be so familiar. I’ve been every year of my life. It’s nice. But more on that later.
The next thing on the list was to skate. To many people, NYC is the ultimate skate destination, and while it certainly has it’s perks, seeing as the entire place is paved and covered in spots, skating by myself was getting very old, very quickly. I know I’m biased, but there really is nothing like skating in Saint Louis. The worst weather, the worst spots, the best dudes, hands down.
We met up at the bridge, which would be the last time I would get a chance to skate it before it was torn down a few weeks later. While it didn’t quite mean as much to me I spent the first couple of days at home as it did to others, it was still a great, and catching up with friends. The weather act- very unique place. From there we sweated ed up pretty much the whole time, so any our asses off skating street, and I actualoutdoor activities were pretty shoddy. I was ly got a chance to film a little something able to meet up with my friends Andy and with Gabe. The trick was of course an old John. We went and checked out my favor- standby, but fun nonetheless. ite spot on the river, which was not even existent because of how flooded the river Later that week we got a chance to all meet was. We got into a building nearby that up, this time out in Washington MissouJohn and I had previously gained access via ri. Once again, in the middle of nowhere, sketchy fire escape. This time the front door but so worth it. I was so hyped on the drive was open. The air inside was heavy and down listening to music and looking at trees moist, and smelled like headaches, so we that I had to pull over a couple times to tied our shirts around our faces just in case. take photos. The only picture that turned But really, exposing yourselves to possibly out was one of a dead armadillo that hazordous levels of asbestos is what vaca- smelled really bad. tion is all about. Later that day Andy and I got a chance to take a little hike through a flooded and muggy Castlewood park, a place I had never been, despite living about 20 minutes away my entire life. The river had completely taken over the park, making it look almost like the amazon or something, I don’t know, I’ve never been. We saw some people walking through the still, muddy water with coolers, like they were just following the path that had always been there. I guess they were going to the river even though they were technically already there.
50 year old camera be damned, about 40 minutes later we all met at the skatepark and stayed until we got kicked out. Devin skated in his underwear, and Charlie karate chopped a watermelon in half. It was really fun. Getting eaten up by bugs, sweating and eating barbecue with my friends, really nothing better than that. But I did end up spilling the charcoal grill in the back of my Dad’s car, sorry Dad. I hung around town a little bit more, got coffee with some folks, drove around a little and listened to 95.5, then headed off to Sam Baker to see my famiy. The drive down is not too bad, usually pretty enjoyable. That is, unless the car is filled to the brim with fishing gear, inflatable rafts and two tons of food from Aldi, which it almost always is. The drive is only about two hours since construction on the roads finished last year, but it can be easy to miss. You pass plenty of cool old stuff on the way, and this time I was by myself and moving at my own pace, so I got a chance to stop by a few places. I pulled over at an old gas station to get some fresh air and stretch my legs. I took a few pictures and explored a little bit. The inside of the first building was noticeably damp, plants and moss had just about taken it over. The second building had a thick layer of broken glass on it’s floor. I walked around for a bit but was a little apprehensive to stay much longer, as not to uncover any dangerous critters or meth labs, it is Missouri, after all.
When we were all younger it would be stressful to get everyone together and organize things to do, but as we’ve all gotten older it’s become a little easier. If you want to wake up at 5 in the morning and go fishing all day, you can, or you can sleep in and eat mush for breakfast, it’s all fair game. The same heavy rains that flooded the rivers in Saint Louis had also effected the rivers near the park. The water was deep and clear, but moved faster than usual, making swimming a little more enjoyable and fishing a little more difficult. One morning I decided to take the family boat, codenamed: “the Unit” out with my Dad and younger cousin to fish the Big River. We didn’t have much luck, and the water moved so fast that we found ourselves a mile or so too far downstream. The small trolling motor we had to bring us back wasn’t even strong enough to keep us pointed upstream, and began to short out. My Dad, my little cousin, and I had to row upstream ourselves the old fashioned way. Several pulled muscles and curse words later we got up river. I had to tie a rope to the boat to pull it up, and across the rapids back to the boat ramp. My hands got all caught up in the rope and I probably almost drowned, but didnt, so it’s all good.
The St. Francis river was also flooded, which worked in our favor this time. Two of my sisters, one of their boyfriends, and my brother in law decided to finally take a kayaking trip from the top of the rivWhen I finally got to Sam Baker and got er down to where we stay. In all our years settled in, things really started to slow coming, I had never had a chance to do down, in a good way. The only thing on the it, and thanks to the rain, the river was at docket is to relax, catch up with family, and a once in a lifetime high, with rapids and just do whatever it is that makes you happy. whitewater.
Everyone flipped their kayaks and Kim and Gwen both got stuck in a tree. I think I’m the only one that didn’t fall out, that’s the way I remember it. That area of the river is seriously impressive, it’s something that doesn’t even register as Missouri for a lot of people; a completely one of a kind spot. I did manage to bring a camera or two with me on the float, but the photos simply don’t do the place justice. It’s probably something that really needs to be seen in person, just take my word for it.
What I wasn’t expecting when I came home was the downtime. Of course, things in Saint Louis had always been pretty slow, and that certainly hadn’t changed, a lot of my stay there was spent killing time. It may have been my vacation, but most everyone else was busy with work, so I mostly flew solo.
The rest of the time there was spent doing more of the same, fishing, generally without luck, eating an insane amount of very unhealthy and very Midwestern food, laughing, playing games, and being excessively loud. All the things I’ve learned to love after a lifetime of vacationing with my family. Soon enough it was time to head back to the city.
This really cemented itself when I paid a visit to one of my favorite places, the Saint Louis Zoo, on my own. I really should have known what to expect, but man, that was a mistake. The zoo is free, and it was summertime, so naturally I found myself shoulder to shoulder with families staring at the animals lifeless eyes as they scream at the giraffes to “do something.” I really could only bear a quick walk around the park in the 100 degree heat before I had to make the trek back to the car. The zoo is a wonderful place, no doubt, but it certainly has it’s days.
I was staying at my parents’ new condo while I was in town, and it certainly was a bit different than what I was used to. When I left for New York, my family was also in the middle of selling our childhood home, and by the time I got back to visit it would be gone. Though the new place contained much of the same furniture and amenities of the old place, I could still tell it was a difficult change for my family. It was different, but for the best.
Soon after that little experience I met up with John at the laundromat and we met a strange homebum named Mark. He talked our ears off about random things that probably weren’t true, like dating Kim Novak, or being a nuclear physicist despite living in his car. It was strange, but we were waiting for John’s clothes to dry and had run out of quarters for the arcade games, so welcome conversation nonetheless.
I had also sold my car on my way to New York, and my parents were nice enough to let me borrow a car while I was there. Much of my time while in Saint Louis was spent aimlessly driving around. I visited some old familiar coffee shops and workplaces and generally just enjoyed the ride.
I finished out the trip by spending some time with my sister and my nephew. I took a quick walk with them and her dog Lola, who had just recently gone blind. To my surprise, she did fine on the walk, but her eyes had become cloudy and she bumped her head on just about everything in the house.
It was hard to watch, but she was still good with the baby and managed to happily coexist with the cat my sister had randomly adopted a few years back. Lola was already pretty uncoardinated, but if you threw some food her way she’d still manage to get it, echolocation maybe.
Not soon after, I started getting that same uneasy feeling in my stomach and knew it was time to go. Saint Louis is full of wonderful people, but sometimes it just feels too small. I said bye to my friends and headed home to catch a few hours of sleep on the floor before heading back to NY.
Later that night I got drinks with some friends at a place that has become a regular hangout for them called Rileys. I had previously spent most of my time in Saint Louis avoiding bars in an attempt to save money, but it’s nothing after now having lived in New York. That same night we landed at the usual 3am hangout that I so lovingly avoided at all costs, but it was my last night and my friend Brock did karaoke, so that was at least some consolation.
While the city and people I had known in Missouri hadn’t remained completely unchanged, it will always feel familiar. But like the weird truck driver my family had contacted via CB radio on a family vacation many years ago used to say “I know’d it, I grow’d up around it.” Despite our differences, it’s home, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
TALES FROM MY UNCLE “THE POINT TOE-CROSS”
At any party, or any get together, my Uncle Don can be found deep in the middle of a story. And even when just commenting off-handedly at something, the topic of his modeling career will surface. My Uncle Don was, for a brief time, a shoe model. No, really, he actually was. Not that it seems entirely impossible, but when you see my uncle, he doesn’t really scream “fashion.” So the story of his famed, and favorite factoid about his life goes as such. As a boy, my Uncle Don and his four brothers were clean cut, catholic boys growing up in a strict family. The very personification of a South Saint Louis family. The boys were all a part of the Cathedral Choir where they would regularly appear on morning television, but more on that another time. So, no stranger to the limelight, my grandmother caught wind of a small commercial being filmed nearby. I believe it was for chocolate milk or something, but I could be totally wrong. Either way, my Uncle and one of his brothers decided to try out for a role in the commercial.At this point in the story, my Un
cle usually points out that their normal haircut was something awful, usually commenting that they looked a bit strange with a close cut “all american” type haircut. My Uncle and his brother auditioned for the commercial, they both were denied, but something interesting happened that day during the audition process. The casting agent noticed something special about my Uncle’s feet. Now, I should stress that this was a different time, and complimenting a young boy’s feet was not something of a Dateline special. So the rest of the story gets sort of blurry in my head, but my Uncle ends up shooting test shots with the shoe guy of him wearing a pair of loafers. In the photo he uses a foot modeling move famous in my family, and referred to as the ”point-toe-cross.” He ended up shooting the ad for the shoes, and as a 12 or 13 year old boy receiving a small check for his first, and last, modeling gig. All of this check of course went to his mother and father, who were the ones responsible for not only his one of a kind feet, but his career as a whole.
After several decades off the circuit, My Uncle still claims to have what it takes. Featured here is the same move, 40 years later.
Jack and I thought it would be a funny idea to watch all 3 films in the famous “Blue Series” in one day. For those that don’t know, they are: Blue Velvet, Blue Valentine, Blue Crush, in that order. We watched them all in one day, taking walks in between, even having to a buy a few of the films because they weren’t on Netflix. In so many words, we went all in. Here are Jack’s notes on the film.
CONTRIBUTORS Max Bouvatte www.lightandtimeblog.com Brian Verbarg Instagram - @bmverbarg Jack Klipsch Instagram - @JackKlipsch Twitter - @runhomejack23 Mariano Cayo Instagram - @cayomariano Jack Stein Instagram - #bugmanlives Theo Welling Instagram - @theorwelling www.theowelling.com Dan Goedeker Instagram - @dan_goedeker www.dangoedeker.com