The Dassler Effect

Hawk in Forest Park – St. Louis, Missouri

Neil E. Das — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:56:42 +0000

Several years ago, when I was following my friend Edward Crim’s Forest Park 365 project (which I highly recommend to you), through his images and words I became more aware of just how much wildlife there is that calls Forest Park home. At the end of last year, on a lunch time walk, I came across this little guy sitting in a tree. I call him a “little guy” because in the third picture he certainly appears, to this untrained eye, to be a juvenile, which may be one explanation for his odd behavior of just sitting in a tree branch for a long while and not flying away immediately upon my approach. He did fly away a couple of times and once I chased him down, before he flew away too far. Alas, I only had a little 50mm lens with me, so these images involved a fair amount of cropping. Not that I actually have a fantastic wildlife lens mind you At any rate, some of these turned out fairly decently.

Koi in Dingy Water and the Glory That Was Union Station – St. Louis, Missouri

Neil E. Das — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:33:40 +0000

Several weeks ago I went with my brother’s family to St. Louis Union Station and his sorrow at seeing its decline was rather pronounced. I had seen it several times in the past few years and so was not as shocked. The glory that we recalled was not its old, old glory, which must have been even more amazing, when the huge, amazing roof could have ensconced whole trains it seems. I imagine it must have been a steamy, noisy, exciting place to be when St. Louis was a world class city.

No, we were remembering the ’80s and ’90s when the coolest thing for us to do for our guests visiting us in the small, truly dingy village of East Alton was to bring them over to St. Louis, take them to and up to the top of the Arch, then maybe to the McDonalds which was on a riverboat, and then perhaps over to Union Station to take in all the shops, listen to the singing of the workers at the Fudgery, and perhaps get a sample.

In truth, in more ways than not, I believe downtown St. Louis is thriving far more than it did in the 80′s and I share no real sorrow in seeing another casualty in the slow retreat of American mall culture. It just makes one wistful and a little sad, especially when this building has such grand architecture and potential. I would love to see an indoor ice rink in the winter under that roof, though I don’t know where the koi would go to live. Perhaps at the botanical gardens!

Even given the state of the mall, I bet the Marriott at the station would still warrant a stay. I always plan on going to the restaurant there or to just go and sit for a while in the grand hall, but never seem to manage to make it. There are so many other places to go!

East, North, South, West – South Dakota Farm at Dawn – Weather Vane and Mail Box

Neil E. Das — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:08:29 +0000

das Haus it is! With a Rosenheim Room

Neil E. Das — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:22:09 +0000

Well, the reason there have been slim pickings on the Dassler Effect recently is principally because I have been (and will continue to be for some time) setting up my new house which was the subject of this naming post. I’ve been so busy that I have not even taken pictures of the house itself. So this one from the nosy Google-cars will have to do.

Below is the title which got the most votes, but also the one which seems to be the cleverest and most catchy. I should note here that the emphasis, as it is in German, should be on Haus and not das.

A sweet part of this whole process, though, has been to see the things that I kept from my father’s house after he passed away– which jammed my little apartment, which dear brother-friends came over to help me sort through and organize when I did not have the emotional energy to do so–are now finding lovely places to brighten–the hutches, the brasses from Pakistan, the furniture. Indeed a friend just this morning described the process as almost like flowering. So I’ll put some of photos of roses up (#3) perhaps even plant a few in the garden, and surely give a nod to Rosenheim, too.

Well, without further ado. Here are a couple of designs for a little sign to paint at the base of the left pillar of the porch with the blue color from the fascia (though judging from the picture above it will need to be a little greener).

Design one has the same sized letters on each side of the “H.” Design two has a generally larger “Haus.”

Oh, and if you are ever in St. Louis and want to see the sign in person and give the guest room a whirl, just give me a shout.

In the Spray of the Downspout – A Day After Freezing Rain – Icicles and Ivy

Neil E. Das — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:06:08 +0000

Skating on Water – A Warm Day at Steinberg Ice Rink – Forest Park – St. Louis

Neil E. Das — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:36:28 +0000

Glazed Block Silo – Viborg, South Dakota – Three Views

Neil E. Das — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:31:22 +0000

Apologies. I do rather need to clean this lens, which I am only using because my favorite has bit the dust and I am a little at a loss because I used it so much.

Anticipating the Snow – Midnight and Dawn – Cityscape – St. Louis

Neil E. Das — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:45:00 +0000

These shots are taken from my south-facing third floor room, which during the day is flooded with lovely light. I set up the camera on a step-ladder and wanted to record the scene before and after a snowfall. Alas, there was not much snow to be shot. Nonetheless, I do like the panorama these windows afford, no matter the weather. On larger versions of these shots you can see the wavy distortion created from the old glass of this old abode (you can see a little even in these shots if you look at the roof of the house on the right), this house that is named….drum roll please…… das Haus or Rosenheim. You still have time to vote, though I have narrowed the field to two! Rationale for each name here.

Grasses on a Bright Snowy Morning – From the Hard Drive

Neil E. Das — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 04:56:30 +0000

Well, it is 11 days into the new year and I have not opened my shutter upon it at all as yet. Apologies, dear readers. This shot is from last year, from the only snowfall we have had this winter in St. Louis, and is posted in hopes that tomorrow will dawn on another one (even though we are not predicted to get much accumulation). I hope the flow of images here will not be as paltry as our snows, but moving houses and beginning to take care of a much larger one may, in truth, make for a more intermittent publishing schedule.

2011 in review – Thank You So Much, Faithful Readers!

Neil E. Das — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:13:25 +0000

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 35,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.