FUBAR

A shuttered nightclub in midtown with a shattered city flag. The name is an acronym that I think dates from World War II. The last three letters stand for "beyond any recognition."

I am so out of material. This is the coldest week of the winter here so far. Now, no comments from you people in Canada or Minnesota or Scandinavia or wherever. We're just sitting here in the middle of the country, neither north or south. By the weekend the forecast is for -8 F / -22 C. I get more and more cold intolerant as I grow older. Maybe I can hook up my camera to a periscope out of the top of my car.             

AND ON A DIFFERENT NOTE

The restaurant and nightclub Jazz St. Louis is just over a block from the symphony hall. It's hung in there for a long time. I'm not a big jazz fan. I loved Dave Brubeck when I was in my teens but he and his quartet were experimenting with unusual time signatures and making it work, notably the famous Take Five. (Even the Grateful Dead had an extended number in 11/4). I admire the beauty and occasional fierceness of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. However, the near-constant rigidity of 4/4 time and the variations on a theme format fail to pull me in. I end up back with the symphony.  

There's an event to mark tomorrow.