Crater Bricks - For Michael

I've covered this city extensively and thought I'd never encounter another intriguing brick. On a recent drive around TGS with Andrew I spied this building from his car and excitedly gasped, Look at those bricks!

Andrew laughed.

Please. Look at these bricks with their exceptional design and range of soft color. Was some of that clay imported? Most likely it was treated before being fired. And why haven't I encountered these bricks any place else in STL?

If you're a long time visitor here you know I invent names for bricks and these present as crater.

The building still retains the original stained black mortar with tiny flecks of feldspar and quartz and - gratefully - has not been repointed. Look closely and you'll see that some of the mortar had to be finger tooled into the 'craters' of the bricks.

The building counts as a Triple Arch Alert post.

For Michael who told me a fascinating story yesterday about the old tunnel under Sublette Ave.

So long, Gen!

Another light goes out in the neighborhood with friend Gen Obata and family moving to the NW.

1962 Bomb Shelter

You know I sell vintage online via Etsy, right? I'm finally loading up my vintage catalogs and spotted this page on Pre-Fab Survival Shelters which were usually referred to as Bomb Shelters. Check out the trash can. Like who gets the job of hauling that out daily, little Chris? And how about those endorsements?

Tinged Buff Bricks

The heat has prevented scouting but I managed to capture these outstanding orange tinged buff bricks while roaming TGS with Andrew on our reporting graffiti tour.

Former Lustron Service Station

Located on Roger Pl. in Tower Grove South.

Marti's Garden - Update

The Marti Frumhoff Memorial Garden is my primary volunteer project and I've been on it since 2008. I like to think Marti would approve since it's on the site of the old Parker-Russell brick yards. Marti was a fellow brick hugger. I miss her.

What's the fate of the garden I wondered three weeks ago when I noticed the street was being prepared to be repaved. Black asphalt.

Now it's a heat island with a 60% increase of radiant heat. Walking across the street to turn on the rain bird sprinklers - I do that by hand, there's no timer - is a scorching stroll. If five trees in the garden were much larger they would cast some shade to help decrease the ambient temperature. Maybe in 15 years.

I'm always removing yard sale sings from the garden but when I spotted this one today - placed over the 4 way beneath the stop sign along with their address - I decided karma may be lurking in the intersection.

All the roses are diseased with rose rosette and must be removed.

Rose rosette is also called witches broom:

Yours truly working with loyal garden volunteer Don:

Jan, married to Don and friend of the garden:

Don working it:

My hella cool neighbor Brian stopped by to help haul and spread mulch:

Escape Artist

I like fire escapes!

Knowing this my dear friend, talented artist, and fellow Doors fan, Leslie Caldera sent the below this morning:

Christian, I've been keeping my eye out for fire escapes for you. Here are a few I shot on a walkabout in L.A. this week. The Morrison Hotel is the very same which inspired the title of the Doors 5th album. There were two sets of ladders. Street side was in glorious late afternoon sunlight, but the alley set was behind a big metal gate and hard to get a good angle on, so I went for an artsy look.

Unfortunately the building is vacant, and all signage is removed. Even the window the boys posed in was converted into a separate business entry, and it is boarded and gated now.

The other fire escape is in Long Beach, on my bicycle route to the Metro train I take into the city.

Below the photos is a link to a cool Youtube video telling the story of how that album title and cover photo came about.

Video Link to the Morrison Hotel Cover: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1381f7c91b5c7fb2

My Sidewalk Saga Part 1

Below are photos of the sidewalk in front of the building next door to me. I've been reporting it for over 10 years to CSB. There's literally chunks of concrete missing. Last summer I was astonished to find a city employee in front of my house looking at my perfectly sound sidewalk. He told me there had been a complaint about my sidewalk and that it was going to be replaced. We then had a discussion about an obvious mistake and looked at both sidewalks together. He insisted a slightly raised edge of pavement was due to tree roots from a city tree in front of my house and that the entire sidewalk must be replaced due to a complaint. I explained it was my complaint about the condition of the adjoining sidewalk and someone had made a mistake. He disagreed.

OK.

I received a letter asking for a 39.00 payment. I paid and one moth ago the drama ensued.

To be Continued

White Bricks & Original Mortar

Interesting texture treatment on matte white bricks spotted in the South Hampton neighborhood. Feast on that incredible mortar mix with itty bitty pieces of feldspar and quartz. You know how I love the stuff.

Marti's Garden Now and Then

My volunteer project is the Marti Frumhoff Memorial Garden on Morgan Ford and Utah here in Tower Grove South. Five years ago I presented this plan to my Alderman, Joe Vollmer who supported my vision and helped create the garden. This is the only city sponsored memorial garden and after five years of work it's a gem. Before and after the ground breaking I met with a total of 26 various City employees on site to discuss the plans. After the curbs and sidewalks went in I stood at the garden, 2,300 square feet, marveled at the scale of it, and wondered at the enormity of my plan. It was intimidating. With the help of Christopher Thiemet we raised the funds to provide the plants for the area. The Tin Can and The Royale provided us with a venue for fundraising events. Remains on Morgan Ford hosted clothing drives for fundraising (and still does). State Rep Mike Daus donated 1,500 and countless other friends of Marti's contributed. TGS resident Peggy Hoelting did the initial drawing for the garden design and Bad Tim designed the site. Sean Heim found boulders and hauled them to the site as well as hauling recent trunk loads of mulch. TGS neighbors came out to help and they still do. We tilled. We mulched. I personally planted over 96% of what's in the garden while hand aggravating soil into the clay.

I did a lot of whining.

Scroll down to see what the original site and photos of the groundbreaking then scroll back up to enjoy the lushness. And should you personally stop by feel free to pull some weeds. While on site say hello to Marti.

I miss her and she still inspires me.

Fall 2008 photos of the original site and ground breaking:

Tim Moffit (left) and John Kohler from the St. Louis Dept. of Public Service. I had asked them to pose on the spot where Marti's Garden would begin on the east end. Behind them is the former very small intersection garden. Marti's garden is triple the size at 2,300 sq feet.

An employee of The Parks Dept who created the sign which was donated to the garden:

Clifton Heights

Weekend drive through Clifton Heights on the way to meet Gus for dinner. No time for text but please, marvel at the dimensional bricks on this building with the odd updated facade.

Are you an artist, one of these boys asked. What makes you ask that? The tattoos on your arms. A lot of people have tattoos I said smiling. Not like those, he solemnly said.