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Photo by Sam.
The Victorians called them "memory boxes." I don't know what people call them now; it's usually kids who keep them - cigar boxes (or less glamorously, Tupperware) filled with acorns, postcards, movie ticket stubs, photobooth strips, little plastic toys, junk jewelry, letters, what have you. I guess grownups have the same impulse to save little bits of nostalgic junk -- they just aren't forced to sequester it all in a cigar box and allow it to take over their closets and basements. Here's a little jumble of small, nifty and completely unrelated news bits of local and regional importance, suitable for squirreling in a virtual treasure box:
-Check out Variety's review of Second City's Rod Blagojevic, Superstar! That wig is so excellent, I almost feel like I don't need to see the play now.
-Circus Anonymous has posted a very long string of photos of the Zoo's Chimp Show, circa 1954. I am so glad that modern zoos no longer keep monkeys in cement enclosures, bringing them out once a day to wear cowboy costumes and ride unicycles; we sure have come a long way in half a century.
- Speaking of half-century marks, Dean Minderman over at St. Louis Jazz Notes continues to gather reviews of the 50-year-anniversary reissue of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. He's also posted an awesome video blip of Gary Bartz, and shares a link to Alex Ross' blog, The Rest is Noise, where it is reported that the stimulus bill did include money for the arts -- 50 million, to be exact.
--The Missouri History Museum recently launched their really fantastic new Geneaology and Local History Index. I got a preview of this puppy a month or two ago when I was in the MoHist library to do some research. For fun, try looking up your home address (note that their database won't have every single house on every single street, and that entering a street name minus the number often yields better results). Seeing the name of the person who built or lived in your house 100 years ago is a fun little game...almost like spotting the phosphorescent footprints of ghosts. --Stefene Russell
