MOsanthrope

After ticking a few non-air-conditioned local destinations off our list, the boys and I hit the St. Louis Science Center this afternoon. While there, we took in the IMAX presentation of Tom Hanks’ “Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon”. The film was stunning on the massive IMAX wrap-around screen; it was well […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Family, Science, Film

We love our kindergartener’s school. This occurred at a magnet school, one of a group of “top tier” facilities in the St. Louis City public school system.
The renaissance occurring in St. Louis City is amazing, but the city will never thrive until it completely revamps its deplorable public school system.

Filed under: St. Louis, Children, Education, Missouri

Black Jack, Missouri, one of roughly 100 municipalities which make up metropolitan St. Louis, has rejected an attempt to repeal an ordinance which effectively prohibits unmarried couples with children from living together:

BLACK JACK, Mo. — The city council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Politics, Culture, Missouri

Back in my college days, my family and I once traveled to Toronto to take in what was then called the Canadian Open tennis tournament. Our visit happened to correspond with the Toronto opening of “The Last Temptation of Christ,” and protests of the film were front page news.
One of the local […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Religion, Culture, U.S., Film

Our backyard deck is covered with quarter-sized cinders and every digital clock in our house is flashing 12:00 because of this:

(Wayne Crosslin/Post-Dispatch)
 
It’s too bad. The development looked promising and construction was coming along nicely.

Filed under: St. Louis

I’m conflicted about the immigration issue. I just can’t get too excited about it.
Suffice it to say that there are far more pressing issues facing the country, and I find it interesting that Washington and its media accomplices picked the present time to grab a stick and head out to this particular […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Politics, U.S.

I am so not ready for this:

St. Louis Sets New High Temperature
The National Weather Service says St. Louis broke a record high temperature today as the mercury soared past 90 degrees. The previous record was 87 set in 2003.
The mercury hit 92 today.
NWS Meteorologist Ben Miller says we also broke another record. […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Environment

My oldest son’s Easter vacation began today, so I’m charged with entertaining two whippersnappers for the next week. It’s a great day in Saint Louis; we plan to hit the zoo after naps. My five-year-old is lobbying hard for Six Flags tomorrow.
After cleaning up the fourth cataclysmic juice spill this morning, this struck […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Politics, U.S., Michigan

Via The Nose Knows, I learned of the biggest waste of $270.00 in recorded history.
I’m thankful that I read this long after consuming this evening’s grilled sausage dinner.

Filed under: St. Louis, Sports, Culture, Food & Drink

Although I’m a relatively new immigrant to Saint Louis – I’ve lived in the city for about fifteen years – I’ve come to share in the sense of pride felt by many lifelong Saint Louisans in work done by the folks at Saint Louis’ 50,000-watt AM blow torch, KMOX radio. My neighborhood’s community radio […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Politics, U.S., World, Media

Last night, our local Fox affiliate was all over a story about a fight involving a large group of teenagers at a West St. Louis County shopping mall. KTVI repeatedly interrupted programming to bring us breaking news of the melee which, we ultimately learned, resulted in no injuries.
Seriously, guys — I know that Sean […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Culture, Media

Yesterday evening, my wife and I dropped off the kids at grandma’s house so that we might enjoy a meal at a restaurant which offers no entrees accompanied by injection molded cross-marketing trinkets.
We chose Aya Sofia (6671 Chippewa St., St. Louis, MO 63109, 314-645-9919), a relatively new “Turkish/Mediterranean” place located in the small south city […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Culture, Food & Drink

St. Louis based Anheuser-Busch Cos. has purchased the naming rights to the bleacher section at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs:

The stands beyond the ballpark’s ivy-covered brick outfield wall are undergoing a $13.5 million renovation to add about 1,800 seats and a 100-person private lounge and will be called the “Bud Light Bleachers” under […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Sports, Business

A KTRS radio personality was fired after he used the word “coon” while discussing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during his morning show today:

Dave Lenihan was dismissed after what he called an inadvertent slip of the tongue. Within 20 minutes, station CEO Tim Dorsey apologized on the air to listeners and announced that Lenihan, who […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Media

To mark the third anniversary of the war in Iraq, KMOX radio Vice President and General Manager Dave Ervin read a 1972 editorial by former General Manager Robert Hyland. It was Hyland’s passionate plea to President Richard Nixon to withdraw our forces from Vietnam.
In an email to Ervin, I told him that his editorial […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Politics, U.S., Media

Justin discusses the distinction with some good links.
Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s are great; however, I prefer the Soulard Farmer’s Market. Unfortunately, it’s open only a few days each week.

Filed under: St. Louis, Food & Drink, Health, Environment

Last fall, the St. Louis Cardinals severed the club’s broadcasting deal with KMOX radio, the station which had broadcast Cards games for more than fifty years with legends like Harry Caray and Jack Buck at the microphone. The fact that Cardinal Nation was built with KMOX’s 50,000 watt signal didn’t count for much to […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Sports, Business, Media

As a Catholic, I must confess to occasionally mocking the dietary restrictions imposed on my conservative Jewish friends by their faith. At least kosher dietary laws have a clear scriptural basis. The same may not be said of Catholicism’s Lenten dining prohibitions, which have morphed from a mandate requiring reverent fasting to pan-seared […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Religion, Food & Drink

The latest acquisition of a major St. Louis company by an out-of-state corporation, the purchase of The May Department Stores Company by Federated Department Stores, Inc., is nearing completion.
At this hour, KMOX radio is reporting that employees of May’s historic downtown Famous-Barr department store are currently filling three construction site size dumpsters with racks of […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Business, Missouri

Run along and cast your ballot in The Nose Knows’ “My State Is Crazier than Yours” contest. My fellow Missourians, we’ve got this one licked, and not just because of this guy.
My nomination speech:

Oh it’s Missouri (pronounced “mi-zuhr-RA” outside metro St. Louis), allright. In an odd way, my adopted home state is a microcosm […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Culture, U.S., Humor, Missouri

The U.S. Conference for the World Council of Churches, which represents Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and other Christian churches in more than 100 countries, feels duped:

The statement from the U.S. group accused the Bush administration of “raining down terror on the truly vulnerable among our global neighbors,” saying the United States “has done much in these […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Politics, Religion, U.S.

(KSDK-TV, ksdk.com)

A billboard promising to change homosexuals has caught the attention of several drivers on local highways. The billboards are associated with Focus on the Family-an organization calling itself a Christian group promoting family values.
The billboards are positioned along major interstates in the St. Louis area. They are sponsored by a group tied to the […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Religion, Culture, U.S., Missouri

Prior to my current career as executive in charge of diapers and spilled juice, I practiced law. (My oldest son is now enrolled in kindergarten and my wife is ready to take a stab at domestic engineering; if you know of a law firm in Metro St. Louis in need of an experienced litigator, […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Culture, Law, Missouri

Last week the St. Louis City Board of Alderman passed legislation designed to combat the nuisance of loud car stereo systems.

The trunk-rattling sounds of souped-up stereo systems may be [sic] thing of the past if the Board of Aldermen have anything to say about it.
The Board passed BB 81 today that not only […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Culture, Law

You may recall that we recently had a minor incident involving a 1994 Oldsmobile, our car and our front porch. On Wednesday, I wrote our Alderman to request that something be done about the dangerous intersection across the street.
Today, we received a letter from the City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety, in […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Family

We live in a great neighborhood. Its population is diverse, generally progressive and disproportionately young. It’s filled with rehabbed historic homes, ethnic restaurants, corner bars and eclectic shops all within walking distance. These days it seems that a cool new place opens its doors every month. We love […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Family

It doesn’t get much better than this: Two outs in the ninth. Cards down by two. Eckstein singled on a 1-2 pitch. Edmonds took a walk. The best closer in the game was facing the best hitter in the game.
I just woke up everyone in the house. […]

Filed under: St. Louis, Sports

Filed under: St. Louis, Sports