university city
Restaurants have popped up and vanished like daylilies at 7401 Pershing in U. City. I heard the tale of four ladies stopping in to eat one day, lo these many years ago, when a nice ladies-lunch restaurant occupied the space. The server timidly confided that the cook had just quit, adding apologetically that they still had soup. Then she drifted away. Flummoxed, ‘the girls’ waited a while … but their server did not return. Cursed? Why; yes indeedy! Cursed Bikes & Coffee (pictured at top) opened at the hapless corner a month or so ago, and when we dropped in for a nonfat latte over the July 4 weekend, two women cyclists were enjoying their brews outside under an umbrella. We’d just noticed the new place (silently making the sign of the cross) one June night on our way home from visiting friends in the CWE, because the corner has always been such a curiosity. The black awning had us at ‘Cursed’—new owners Jeff and Erin Gerhardt obviously scoff at superstition. If eateries have failed here, it’s the perfect place to start a leisurely cycling adventure—or to relax before, during or after a jaunt. Another challenge of the building is logistical: The dining room is up and away from the kitchen, about 40 steps, which includes three ramps, one of them long and pretty steep. Imagine negotiating that with a tray of soup. Cursed’s logo is a whimsical Jolly Roger skull and crossbones; the ‘bones’ are bike wrenches, the ‘skull’ is a stylized coffee cup with sash over one eye. Bike rentals are available … until a grand piano lands on the building. We still think it might be wise for Jeff and Erin to have a priest, rabbi, imam and the Dalai Lama in for blessings, just in case. But meanwhile, let’s raise a cup of cursed, yet delicious, java to toast the couple’s moxie!
clayton
Americans worried sick about losing their Obama-era health care are mad as hornets, and demonstrating that they just aren’t going to stand for all this lollygagging by Congress about a campaign-promise issue that has yet to be resolved. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has been the target of his constituents’ fears and frustrations. There were nine arrests for trespassing during a July 6 healthcare protest, Clayton police said. The civil disobeyers reportedly refused to leave the building lobby at 7700 Bonhomme Ave. unless Blunt (who was not in Clayton that day) agreed to vote ‘No’ on the languishing bill to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare. Outside on the sidewalk, demonstrators carried signs and banners, one saying: ‘Sen. Blunt: People’s Health Or Corporate Wealth … Choose One.’ Another protester, pictured here with her sign, was not arrested either, nor were her husband and friend. Her whimsical message about this polarizing issue riffed on the lyrics to ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The demonstrations were part of a nationwide effort during the July 4 Congressional recess to give legislators something to think about before returning to Washington. A similar, smaller protest was held that Friday (July 7).
brentwood
Do we need to start a GoFundMe page so Enterprise Bank & Trust Co. can buy some desperately needed signage? I drove south on Brentwood Boulevard July 10, looking for the alleged branch on the west side just north of Manchester Road, but only saw Eagle Bank while using my GPS. I finally drove past Manchester and pulled into a lot to check the address. Yep, right next to Erwin F. Schwarz Ltd.—that cool luxury car place—is what is supposed to be an Eagle Bank. (I fantasized about trading my wheezing 2002 Odyssey van for a new Rolls or Bentley. Then reality beckoned.) Hesitantly, I entered the building and asked whether I was, indeed, at Enterprise Bank? A personal banker smiled and nodded. Still uncertain, I approached the teller windows, behind them a convincing metal Eagle Bank sign affixed to the wood paneling. Then, at my teller window—Eureka!—was a stack of deposit envelopes with the logo and tagline for Enterprise Bank & Trust (Talent-Strength-Passion). Still incredulous, I asked my teller when the bank had changed hands. “May,” he responded, a little sheepishly. “Wouldn’t you think a bank would have the money to pay for signage?” I exclaimed. Still, before I left, I looked hard at my receipt. Yes, I was at the right bank. But … who knew for sure? Fortunately that was my wife’s bank; I’ve been a faithful customer of Allegiant Bank … I mean National City … I mean PNC … I mean the bank on the northwest corner of Forsyth and Bemiston! I’ve banked there for 20 years—at whatever the heck bank it’s been, or is by the time you read this. Meanwhile, Boatmen’s, I mean NationsBank, is still right across Forsyth. I think.
ladue
To many, Canada geese are a tad annoying. To others, they’re obnoxious pests. And some folks think they’re just kind of funny. The species became particularly notorious on Jan. 15, 2009, when a group of the 12-pound birds got sucked into both engines of a commercial airliner, forcing the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’: Pilot ‘Sully’ Sullenberger famously landed in the river. All aboard were rescued, none with life-threatening injuries. The big birds cause no such dramatic problems here, but at least in Tilles Park, it appears there’s been a population explosion. Runners and dog-walkers have noticed that more of the birds are permanent residents, poking their beaks into the grass and pooping everywhere. If they migrate at all nowadays, maybe it’s only as far as Town and Country or Creve Coeur. Or anywhere there’s water and good grass to eat. Rush-hour traffic has had to stop in both directions on Brentwood Boulevard at I-64 to let a mama goose lead her fuzzy goslings from the big pond on the east side to a smaller one on the west side. They were in no hurry, as geese have no sense of time (unlike frustrated commuters, who wanted to get from point A to point B without this extended wait). We thought Canadians were supposed to be more polite.
st. louis
Think you could sing the National Anthem at a pro sports event? No, not like that disgraceful rendition by comedienne Roseanne Barr at an MLB game a while back, where she spat like any baseball player after she was finished. Yeah, Roseanne sure nailed it that time—right to the foul pole. That was not ‘a winner,’ with apologies to Jack Buck. Anyhow, let’s take off the spikes and lace up some hockey skates, because the St. Louis Blues and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra are joining forces to showcase the vocal talent—or gymnastics, at least—of fans throughout the metro at an upcoming Blues game. The Blues and SLSO will hold two rounds of auditions to select a local singer or musician to perform ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ on the ice prior to a 2017-18 season Blues home game. Performers of all ages are encouraged to enter, including soloists, vocal groups, instrumentalists and small groups. To be considered for an audition, hopefuls must submit an online entry at stlouisblues.com before midnight Aug. 11. Finalists will be invited to an in-person audition at Powell Hall to perform live in front of a panel of judges. Auditions will be judged by Blues anthem singer Charles Glenn and two SLSO representatives. For more information and to submit an online entry, visit the website. Anyhow, think you can carry a tune? I still can … in a bucket. In sixth grade as a boy soprano, however, I played the lead in a production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, by the Children’s Opera Company in the Baltimore-Washington area. Thank the little baby Jesus there weren’t camera phones or YouTube in those days. Today? I probably sound like the late, great British blues singer Joe Cocker … only off-key, with bronchitis.