Highway 61

More than ever, in this campaign season:

Made in St. Louis, that means a lot to me. I give my best to you…

To be followed shortly by the Senior Overview Showcase on May 10th. Hosted by the Webster Film & Video Society in the Winifred Moore Auditorium on Webster University starting at 7pm. Admission is FREE and open to the public. Consider this as a Film Geek Weekend.

May 3rd could be the busiest day on your social calendar…if it weren’t also finals season. So here are at least 3 ongoings around St. Louis we meant to write about (and one more we already have) but haven’t gotten around to during finals.

• Webster University will be hosting a Global Ecology Conference, which looks a lot more interesting than that sounds. Starting at 10am learned people will be giving lecture until 5pm, including visiting professor Kumar who has organized the conference. Or you can skip class and show up for vegetarian dinner with local eats, cocktail, and famous vegan and Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich. The whole day is only $15 for students (free for Webster Students) or $25 for the general public.
• Some enterprising business folk have organized a fiesta on Cherokee Street so that we can celebrate Cinco de Mayo (on the 3rd of May). And a couple other spots around town will be hanging up pinatas and serving cervesa this Saturday.
• Free Comic Book Day is on Saturday. Check the site for the closest participating store near you, but we would suggest running but Star Clipper in the Delmar Loop, who will host live appearances by a pair of superheros. And while you’re there, be sure to check out the display from the 3rd annual Munny Show and pick up your free comic book.
• Kinematifest, Webster University’s first animation and interactive media festival.  Films will be screened almost immediately following that Ecology Conference Dinner

Keep up with local events, even when we don’t have time to write about them - subscribe the 61revised.com events calendar.

Act One - The Chapel

There is a new venue in town for musicians and artists: The Chapel, located behind Memorial Presbyterian Church on Skinker, across the street from Forest Park.  According to the website, The Chapel is not-for-profit venue, musician and artist centered, providing a venue (as well as beer, wine and soda) completely free of charge.  That means, if a band charges a cover to get in, they take home 100% of the money they bring in.  All in the spirit of supporting the arts and renewing the city of St. Louis.

Act Two - International Justice Mission

These guys are like the James Bonds of Christian missionaries.  International Justice Mission goes into the darkest corners of the world and does what it can to bring about justice.  In their own words:

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.In the tradition of abolitionist William Wilberforce and transformational leaders like Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr., IJM’s work is founded on the Christian call to justice articulated in the Bible (Isaiah 1:17): Seek justice, protect the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

In practical terms, IJM does stuff like infiltrating sex trafficking rings and busts them up.  Amazing work that is desperately needed.

Act Three - The Cathedrals

Hailing from Chicago, The Cathedrals are Jon Baker and Rachel Stewart, who together create simple and intimate music, in the alt-folk tradition.  Two voices and a guitar, do you really need anything else?

Epilogue

So, how does this all come together?  Quite beautifully in fact.  Find out for yourself tonight, when you can see The Cathedrals play at The Chapel at 7:00pm as a benefit concert for International Justice Mission.  Admission is free, and beer, wine or soda (pick your poison) are included in the price of admission - but we hope that once you are there you will find it in your heart to contribute something to such a worthy cause.

Wanna a sneak peak at the new 61 revised?  But please leave your comments here.

Calling all tree-huggers, earth-muffins, granola-munchers and anyone who just thinks this planet of ours is pretty swell!

The 19th annual St. Louis Earth Day Festival will be held this Saturday, April 20th on the grounds of The Muny in Forest Park.

From the St. Louis Earth Day website:

“In Your Own Back Yard,” this year’s festival theme, highlights local initiatives and practical environmental advice that can be implemented in communities throughout our region. The festival will be a channel to connect festival goers with conservation groups, local and regional energy initiatives, native gardening, local food producers, and promote the ideas of healthy, active, low-impact living!

Earth-loving events will include booths from your favorite eco-conscious vendors, hands-on educational activities, an All-Species Parade, a Peace Garden, and various forms of delightful entertainment.  The festival goes from 11:00am to 6:00pm and is free and open to the public, even the “well-behaved and leashed” canine public!

If you feel the earth shaking in St. Louis this Saturday it might not be another aftershock; it might be the walls of racial division crumbling during a moment of silence.  At noon on April 19th there will be a 2-minute moment of silence in St. Louis to honor the memory of MLK and for greater racial and economic justice in this city, as part of a larger fair taking place that day.  St. Louis Dream Keepers is a newly formed coalition of students from several colleges and young professionals dedicated the achieving racial harmony.  You might want to learn more at the fair, which will take place from 11am-5pm on Saturday along Compton Avenue near Laclede around the campus of Harris-Stowe State College.

And if you’re still a little shocked after the quakes, you should take on your fears at the Blood Drive organzied by the Zombie Squad this Saturday April 19th from 11am-4pm.  We’ve detailed Zombie Squad’s proactive approach to disaster awareness before, but even before a natural disaster the supply of blood is already running low in the metro area.  Part of keeping that dream alive is to fight against the undead of course…  We don’t think it’s too much to ask our readers to roll up a sleeve at the St. Louis Police Officers Association building in South Hampton, where we can shake up the status quo for the good this weekend.

Even if you are the kind of person who is normally scared away by the thought of an evening of Shakespeare, you should really consider going to see Mustard Seed Theatre’s production of Measure for Measure.  This show is not to be missed!  Despite being one of Shakespeare’s most problematic plays - both because of its unbelievable plot contrivances and also because of its questionable portrayal of women - Deanna Jent does a marvelous job of keeping the play light and surprisingly hilarious without losing the deeper questions at issue.  In this production, the play has been relocated to a modern city, complete with drug dealers, prostitutes and karaoke bars.  This is Shakespeare at its raunchiest, but also Shakespeare at its most relevant.  At the heart of the story is the contrast between justice and mercy - a tension that deeply affects all of our relationships with friends, enemies, family, country, and even with God.  Images of political sex scandals (Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, the list could go on and on) may be the first to come to mind.  But really, the play touches on every aspect of human corruption and forgiveness, both in the public arena and on the personal level.

I cannot be entirely objective in reviewing this play since my hubby, Jim Butz, has one of the main roles.  I happened to think that the entire show  was utterly fantastic.  But if you don’t want to take my word for it, then read this review or this review.  Apart from Jim Butz’s fabulous performance (I can’t help it), Jason Cannon as the Duke and Jennifer Theby as Isabella were both particularly outstanding.

If you need last minute plans for tonight, Thursday nights at 8:00pm are “Pay What You Can or Pay with a Can” - in other words, pay whatever you can afford, or just bring a canned good which will be given to a food pantry.  Otherwise, tickets are $20 Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 2:00pm.

Measure for Measure runs through April 27th at Fontbonne University’s Theatre.

You’re left with 3 choices tonight as usual: 1.) Go home, 2.) Stay at home, or 3.) Play Rock Paper Scissors to decide what to do. All around the world tonight Thursday April 17th, people will compete in a tournament to decide who’s best, and that is something you can actually do if you play the right hand. One such tournament will take place in the Sunnen Lounge at Webster University via ONE, who remind us that:

No experience is needed to compete, so whether you have used RPS to make major decisions, or you have no idea what we are talking about, come compete for prizes and the chance to be crowned Webster University Rock, Paper, Scissors Champion.
Host and Referee Blake Symphony will kick off the night at 9:30, and Double B will DJ till 11 p.m.
Though RPS is a very competitive and intense sport, it is not as serious as baseball or basketball, so feel free to act a fool or come dressed as your alter ego or whatever!

First you’ll want to study a strategy, and a few online practice rounds couldn’t hurt. The event is definetely open to the public, so bring your A-game and some adhesive bandages for all those paper cuts and bashed hands.

This looks interesting, so I’ll just let this project describe itself.

St. Louis Bloggers Guild