TCB > September 2004

More national attention for our sad, sad elections process...now, international observers are coming here to check up on the fairness and so forth of American elections, and NPR selected St. Louis as a place to highlight the need. Listen here.

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Mon., Sep 27, 2004 at 4:59 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | STL in the News

Nelly's new "Sweat" and "Suit" albums debuted at the No. 2 and No. 1 slots, respectively, on The Billboard 200 this week. Together, they sold 737,000 copies.

Guns N' Roses is the only other act to debut in the top two positions. They did it back in '91 with "Use Your Illusion" I and II, which I eagerly bought the day they came out. I think I still have the "Use Your Illusion" album slicks somewhere in the basement.

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Sep 24, 2004 at 2:51 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Other

The quiet period has been lifted: Mary Lisa Penilla and Dave Drebes are infanticipating! Word is that the wee one is the size of a large almond, or perhaps some other species of nut.

Posted by Brian Marston on Thu., Sep 23, 2004 at 2:08 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

We thought about starting this off with a rousing rendition of "To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn) There Is a Season," but it's usually best if we don't sing. So we'll try prose instead.

It has been an incredible two years on North Grand: we've held many events that have brought thousands of people together to experience grassroots civics and culture at The Commonspace...and that's not even including the countless meetings, book groups, Meetups and other informal gatherings that it's been our pleasure to host. We've been lucky to get connected to some amazing groups doing amazing work for our city and our community, and to spend time getting to know many of you.

As September comes to a close, we find that another season is ending, too, and this one is bittersweet: The Commonspace will close the doors at its current location in Grand Center at the end of September. It has been our privilege to offer two years of our time and energy, on a completely volunteer basis, as our gift to St. Louis. However, the character flaw known as "lack of moderation" has meant that we've been single-mindedly focused on this project and have put some important personal priorities on indefinite hold during that time; now we're feeling the need to return some of them to the top of the life list.

The Commonspace, as an outlet and promoter of grassroots civics and culture in St. Louis, will not cease to exist: we plan to return to regular publication of our web magazine (remember that little thing? We miss it, too) and hope that our "real world" events and projects will find a reincarnation in the future, too.

We have more events still planned for the remainder of September, and of course hope that you will be able to attend one or more. We will continue to hold our regular open hours on Tuesdays (6-10 p.m.), Thursdays (6-10 p.m.), Saturdays (11 a.m.-4 p.m.) and Sundays (noon-4 p.m.) until the end of September, so stop by and see us.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the hard-working third member of our board, Jason McClelland, and to everyone who heads up a project that found its home at The Commonspace.

And finally, please accept our sincere thanks, from the bottom of our little St. Louis-lovin' hearts, for all the support you have given us: your money, your time and your welcome words of encouragement. This has been an amazing experience for us, made more so by all of you.

We will be in touch with more information about future projects of The Commonspace; 'til then, we encourage you to get out and do something bold for your community!

Viva St. Louis!
Amanda Doyle & Brian Marston
For The Commonspace

Posted by Brian Marston on Thu., Sep 23, 2004 at 1:58 AM
Link & Discuss (4 comments) | The Commonspace

Lemme channel Deb P. here: Contemporary Art 's development diva Susan Werremeyer and hubbie Rob W. welcome the newest addition to their collection...John Arthur "Jack" weighed in at 6 lbs., 15 oz., and joined their family on Sept. 9, 2004. We hear he may be headed for a career as a professional kicker of some sort.

Congratulations!

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Tue., Sep 21, 2004 at 4:20 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

Within the next two weeks, SLU is hoping to send out an RFP to develop the property on the northeast corner of Grand and Lindell. Below is a photo of that corner taken in May 2001 before the two-story building that housed the Golden Dynasty restaurant was demolished. It's currently a vacant lot.

Posted by Brian Marston on Mon., Sep 20, 2004 at 7:49 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Business District

Shouts out to my fellow Commonspace - Bike Fed teammates who rode the MS 150 in Columbia: Jeanne Fitzler, Bob Foster, Katy Gordon, Martin Jansky, Dave Luecking, Jason McClelland, Matt O'Leary, Wes Ridgeway, Kent Shaw, Sara Shipley, Amy Stringer, John Sweet, Darryl Swint, Joe Tank, Russ Willis, Tim Woodcock and Ralph Zuke.

Special thanks to Jason McClelland for serving as team captain and den mother, Swint Design for designing our team jerseys, Big Shark for subsidizing the jerseys, Steve Patterson for sponsoring the pre-party at The Commonspace, Vito's for giving us a discount on the pizzas, Dave Luecking for picking up the bill at Shakespeare's (and making us look really cool to the cashier who was a Blues fan; that's right, buddy: Dave Luecking is buying our pizza!), and everyone who sponsored me and all the other riders.

Congrats to the few, the proud, the double-century riders: Jason McClelland, Kent Shaw, Bob Foster and me.

Who's in for next year?

Posted by Brian Marston on Mon., Sep 20, 2004 at 5:23 PM
Link & Discuss (4 comments) | The Commonspace

Because you can never have enough breakdancing videos on the web, here's a clip from the "Show Me St. Louis" show that aired on Monday, July 19 on KSDK (NBC, channel 5). It also includes some plugs for The Commonspace.

Posted by Brian Marston on Mon., Sep 20, 2004 at 1:41 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Commonspace

Roll the tape of the bboy performance at the Zoo.

Shouts out to Ryan "Opie" McCoy for the camerawork, DJ Espi and DJ Trackstar for the turntable work and the dancers for the footwork.

Posted by Brian Marston on Mon., Sep 20, 2004 at 1:18 PM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | The Commonspace

2004:
First day attendance: 28,804 (79.5%)
Enrollment: 36,230 (projected)

2003:
First day attendance: 30,100 (76.4%)
Enrollment: 39,398

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Sep 14, 2004 at 1:02 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Other

If you know somebody who's looking to get into the café business or to expand an existing business, let us know. We're looking for someone to share our space in Grand Center with us.

Posted by Brian Marston on Thu., Sep 9, 2004 at 1:12 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Commonspace

The Commonspace's new regular hours are:

Tuesdays, 6-10 p.m.
Thursdays, 6-10 p.m.
Saturdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Sundays, noon-4 p.m.

Posted by Brian Marston on Thu., Sep 9, 2004 at 1:11 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | The Commonspace

The Moolah Theatre is set to open at Lindell and Vandeventer in Grand Center this fall. It will be in the Moolah Shrine building, which is being developed by Amy and Amrit Gill. The theatre will feature the biggest movie screen in St. Louis (25 feet by 60 feet) and couch and stadium seating for 500 people. (Not to be outdone, The Commonspace will host its inaugural Bad Movie Night on Tues., Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. We have a five-foot screen and couch seating.) The Moolah Theatre will be operated by Harman Moseley's St. Louis Cinemas, which runs the theaters at Chase Park Plaza and the Galleria. The building will also be home to a bar, a bowling alley, a dining area and apartments.

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Sep 7, 2004 at 10:56 AM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Business District