67/365: On The Run

.

Well, here I am sitting in a conference room in Los Angeles, listening to both my colleagues and the planes zooming in and out of LAX just down the street. I'm going to grow roots into this chair. Maybe I should have gone running with teams from the Idiotarod.

66/365: Black Swans

.

Yeah, yeah, more Idiotarod pictures but I have to keep squeezing this until I get home. Next Saturday is the St. Patrick's day parade, a photographer's feast. This is the Black Swan entry in the contest. I don't get all the referenceds- I didn't see the movie. (I see hardly any movies.) Still, those smiles look malevolent to me.

Scenes from the Getty Center in LA on St. Louis Daily Photo today.

65/365: Mixed Media

.

Greetings from Los Angeles and sorry for the late posting. It was a late evening yesterday.

I think the Albert Pujols imitator was the funniest participant in the Idiotarod. At one point he rolled a few lines at Flamingo Bowl downtown. It's not clear whether he is going to throw or roll the ball, or maybe toss it in the air (it wouldn't go up very high) and try to hit it toward the pins.

We have a night at the LA Opera on St. Louis Daily Photo.

64/365: Tests Of Athletic Skill At The Idiotarod

.

I mentioned that the teams were required to perform stunts at some of the checkpoints during the Idiotarod. This is the back patio at Mike Shannon's restaurant, essentially the hose-down bar area a block from Busch Stadium. It's packed before and after baseball games. Anyway, contestants were required to throw tennis balls through holes of various sizes cut into a big sheet of plywood. The smaller the hole, the more points. Note that there is a bar in the right background to loosen up everyone's throwing arms.

Today St. Louis Daily Photo is naughti and nice.

63/365: Idiotarod Idolatry

.

Seen at one of the Idiotarod checkpoints. It has the look of a mysterious religious ceremony: five men in strange colorful robes surround a dominating, exultant and eyeless statue. Does anyone else feel the need to venerate Jim Dine and his creations?

St. Louis Daily Photo has the first in a series of snaps from Naughti Gras today.

62/365: Idiotarod Weirdos

.

There were some people at the Idiotarod in costumes and themes that I just couldn't figure out, like the guy above. Sure, he has a pool float around his middle but what's with the cycling suit advertising a strangely named beer?

The people below were easier to understand: murderous clowns. They all are, really.

Thursday Arch Series with an Egyptian touch on St. Louis Daily Photo today.

61/365: Faces In The Crowd At The Idiotarod

.

It's late Monday night as I write this. I'm tired. So what we get are street portraits, faces in the crowd at the Idiotarod. Isn't it wonderful to let yourself be silly?

We look at the dignity of the oppressed today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

The Idiotarod: Albert Pujols' Contract Negotiations

.

Albert Pujols is the biggest star on the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. At 31, he might be the best player active today. Some think he is one of the greatest of all time. Pujols has played the first 10 years of his major league career here and is about to start his 11th. He will become a free agent at the end of the season. Rumor has it he is asking for a 10 year contract at $30 million per season, easily the biggest contract in baseball history. Players at 41 are not what they were at 31.

A lot of people think this is an absurd, even obscene amount of money for an athlete, however good. One of the teams at The Idiotarod took this as its theme. If obscenity were still a crime (thank you, Lenny Bruce), maybe Albert would get busted for it. He says it's just business. Maybe so.

Freedom for Egypt - coverage of the pan-Arab pro-democracy rally continues today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

59/365: Baby, Look At You Now

.

This is one of the shopping carts from the Idiotarod. The contestants were bold enough to reveal the upscale grocery the vehicle was, um, borrowed from. The idea is that these things are supposed to be analogous to the dog sleds in the Iditarod with four dogs and a driver. Hence five contestants on a team. This cart had placards with the word mom on the front and sides. No other clues about the theme.

I was thinking about putting the Idiotarod on St. Louis Daily Photo today but I stumbled upon a pan-Arab rally for freedom and democracy yesterday afternoon. It's worthy of our attention and support.

58/365: The Idiotarod

.

This weekend brought the second annual St. Louis Idiotarod (click the link for an explanation of the name). It is a fund-raiser for Operation Food Search, a wonderful bunch of people who fight hunger in the St. Louis area. Teams of five people dress up for some theme, decorate a shopping cart to match, and race around downtown to designated checkpoints. Some of them require stunts. Some of them have a bar. You get the point.

I got a ton of good pix I'll show here and on St. Louis Daily Photo in the coming days. Pharoh & Friends here were shooting out of the starting area. For better or worse, Tahrir Square was not among the checkpoints.

We're finishing gun weekend today on St. Louis Daily Photo.