respublica

Another walk

When you walk west on Ellenwood, you end up leaving the neighborhood and enter the Washington University dormitories on the South 40.  It is an obvious entry or exit.

If you should turn and look back you'll see the longest, straightest, sidewalk ever.  Well, maybe not the longest, but it's among the straightest.

Back onto Wydown, the parkway between the east and west driving lanes are being watered tonight.

Storm water planters

At a recent meeting of Clayton's EEAC committee, we were shown a large poster which had a rendering of the planned changes to downtown.  One of the items of note was the addition of storm water planters which will be placed next to storm drain openings.  Storm water planters are used to catch much of the rain water runoff before it gets to the drain. 

The water goes into the planter's soil and is contained.  Any water which flows out of the planter when the soil is saturated, is much less that without the planter and, has had many of the bad chemicals filtered out. This link shows how they are used in Portland, Oregon.

This is an especially good idea for Clayton, a city in which many of the storm and sewer lines are combined.

Irritated by Fourth of July events

The MAtH (man about the house)and I and see the always relevant Dianne Isbell staying right on current events in her Monday Etiquette column in the Belleville News-Democrat today.

Me:  Dianne is highlighting letters from people about the 4th of July today.

MAtH:  Always on the cutting edge of current events, that's Dianne.  It's nice to know we don't have to read about weddings again today.

Me:  Well....not so fast concluding that.

MAtH:  You're kidding, right?

Me:  Nope.

Are you a bread knife buying chump?

Bill Burge of Stl. Bites, has an informative post on cooking knives and bread knifes in particular. 

The bread knife, "a knife people either don't own or a knife they get bamboozled on."

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

What's happening on the Washington Mall these days?  The Smithsonian is holding their annual Folklife Festivals and today was given over to Texas.  Texas music, Texas food, Texas wine.  Our older daughter and son-in-law took the two little boys to celebrate the Texas half of their heritage.

Christian found the only weed growing on the Washington Mall.  Unless that is one of the famous Texas Blue Bonnets.

No Shiner Bock for Connor.  Are we noticing a pattern here?  Cardinal fans!  Both boys. 

Texas is so much fun.

Where will the price of oil go?

Via Jerry Pournelle:  Scroll down to June 28

Five years ago we were told that increased refinery and oil pumping capability in the US would do no good because it would take five years for those to affect gas pump prices. Query: if we had greatly increased supply over the past five years, would not oil be at about $75/bbl, still high, but not headed to $200? And if we do nothing to increase supply now, where will oil go?

What will happen to the US economy in a time of $7/gallon gasoline and diesel fuel? And how long can we continue to send trillions to the Near East where it is used to buy the most profitable parts of the United States?

Are any politicians actually addressing these problems? Obama would hit the oil companies with new taxes. I do not recall a time when increasing a tax on a business caused a lowering of prices for that  business's goods.

The US does not need to be crippled. We have enormous energy resources in the US. We need to develop them: or we will soon have a very green, very clean, US -- only we won't own much of it. And as energy prices rise, we won't commute and we can't afford to change jobs. Like peasants.

Top 50 travel destinations

For the Fourth of July .  Via Priceline

St. Louis is number 7.  Fair St. Louis and Live on the Levee gave the city its high marks.

We're ahead of Boston which came in at number 8.  How surprising great is that?

Private golf courses-the last bastion of male only

The New York Times has a story on the Phoenix Country Club, a private golf club which remains tightly bound to its traditional "men only" grill.  The grill appears to be the only place a golfer can get a drink and talk with others.  There is a dining room which is only open during meal times and women may eat there.  But the rest of the time women members are relegated to a womens grill room:

"As teenage boys saunter into the sumptuously appointed men’s grill room, their mothers are relegated to the ladies’ grill, down the hall with a hot plate, some card tables and no bar."  Additionally, "Women at the club are not permitted to have lunch in the men’s grill room with their husbands after a round of golf; they have been barred from trophy ceremonies after tournaments, even ones they have sponsored, and may not participate in one of the most sacred rituals of the men’s grill room — sealing a deal over a beer with a client."

Augusta National is well known for not allowing women as members, but Phoenix does.  However, they are made to feel less than welcome.  Women are involved in everything these days, working in every possible occupation, running for highest office, but yet, private golf courses seem to be the last places on earth where they may not participate fully.

This is just such a weird golfing community philosophy.

Candy bar quiz

How many candy bars can you identify by looking a a cross cut of each?

I did pretty good, it's almost embarrassing to admit I know candy bars.

Oak Knoll Park

Tonight's walk was a trip through Clayton's Oak Knoll Park at the corner of Big Bend and Clayton Road.  It is the home of the St. Louis Artists Guild exhibits.

There are a few pieces of sculpture on the grounds, this one can be purchased for $6000.  I like this one very much and if I had a spare $6000, I might be tempted.

We had no idea about this one and it does not appear to be for sale.