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It is only through Hegelianism that we are to know that between Saint Louis (thesis) and Chicago and its great fire (antithesis) we will find “The future great city of the world”; although a baseball philosopher might also be able to make similar deductions, Yogi Berra has yet to make this observation.  To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Hegelians in St. Louis, Webster University has taken it upon themselves to confer not just local philosophers and historians, but has called a national conference to reexamine the philosophical movements spurred by St. Louis Hegelians.  For those of you less familiar with the movement:

The St. Louis Hegelians are one of the most important movements of American cultural history. Founded in the 19th century by an eclectic set of St. Louis school teachers and amateur philosophers, this group helped bring German philosophy (especially the philosophy of Hegel) to the American continent. By adding their own unique American twist to this philosophy, the group is also responsible for taking the first major steps toward producing America’s wholly distinct philosophical tradition of Pragmatism.

Celebrating might not be pragmatic, especially given other social opportunities that Saturday, but it would be amiable to attend the lectures on Saturday April 12th which will begin at 9 in the morning.  And what location to hold this conference would be more appropriate than the Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis, which was a new fixture in the time of the Saint Louis Philosophical Society and today stands restored as a monument to pragmatic reuse.

“Theatre should show, not tell.”

I don’t know if anyone wise ever said that, but maybe they should have. There is a certain style of playwriting that, in my view, comes closer to storytelling than to theatre. And Mary’s Wedding by Stephen Massicotte, currently being staged by the Echo Theatre Company, is one of those plays. Which is not necessarily a criticism, if you like that sort of thing. The play depicts a dreamscape in which two young Canadians fall in love in the early days of the Great War (that’s World War I for the historically challenged). Both characters, Charlie the farm boy, portrayed by Ben Nordstrom, and Mary the well-bred immigrant from England, portrayed by Magan Wiles, describe most of the action verbally, creating more of a picture in your mind rather than before your eyes. The result is mixed, as there are times when you are starkly aware that you are being talked to by an actor, whereas at other times you are completely absorbed and entranced by the story.

Despite the limits of the style, Nordstrom and Wiles are absolutely two of the finest actors St. Louis has to offer, and they do marvelously with the script given them. They make full use of the beautifully minimalist set, as well as clever and evocative use of their bodies. The chemistry between Charlie and Mary is believable and palpable. Nordstrom and Wiles both succeed in endearing themselves to the audience with a mixture of humor, sadness and the awkward delightfulness of new love. I was particularly charmed, and convinced, by the delicate Wiles’ portrayal of the crusty old Sergeant.

Mary’s Wedding runs through April 20^th at the Johnson Hall Theatre in the Third Baptist Church. Tickets can be purchased online, for more information call 314.225.4329.

We found this flyer from iClips.net around Webster University, and even though it was probably meant to solicit student applications I think it might be of interest to you, our loyal readers.  iClips is a source of original, high-quality videos online, available for public consumption, who are suprisingly active in the St. Louis music scene.  I also happen to know they have their foot deep within the campus of Webster University.

For graduates looking for work as a developer, iClips is looking for add to their team someone who has:

• Fluency in C++
• Ability to make use of object oriented design
• Interest in game programming
• Ability to work well with a team.

If this sounds like you, or you’re interested in another job at iClips.net (and there are more than few of them), you might consider applying. Please consider this as part of 61revised.com’s public service to employable students all over the St. Louis area.

Democracy - it is a rather simple proposition, for which considerable participation is necessary.  Alongside legal propositions, 61revised.com would propose you vote this Tuesday April 8th, when many counties and municipalities in Missouri will be voting for candidates and plans.  And since you have the power to determine your own future through this process, we want all of our readers (and students in particular) to put their votes where they count - in the ballot box.

It is your responsibility to vote using your best judgment.  It is also the obligation for which a free press is protected constitutionally - to inform a citizenry so that they may make their choice electorally - for which we are responsible to make sure you know what you’re voting on.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (as usual) has created a valuable Voter Guide, with which we’re sure you can make informed decisions when you are voting.  Please vote responsibly.

April 7th, 2008 marks the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the 18th amendment, which prohibited the importation, distilation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States.  We would like to propose a toast on this holiday, led by former Highway 61 contributor Mr. Ben Stegmann, to our constitutionally protected right to consume beverages in which alcohol constitutes over .5% per volume.

As you might imagine the Saint Louis area was particularly impacted during the prohibition, which has already been well documented for anyone interested in learning the history of Saint Louis brewing.  Those interested in celebrating this milestone offline can do so at any local brewpub.  We have been made aware of at least one particular celebration tonight in the Schlafly Tap Room (aka Saint Louis Brewery), which will continue with a Beer Festival next Saturday.  Alongside Schlafly’s local brew, you can look foward to tasting assorted beers from Indiana, but it will cost you $25 for the revelry on Saturday April 12th from noon-5pm.

No matter how you chose to celebrate, we would like to caution those of legal drinking age to drink responsibly, lest we motivate another temperance movement and another prohibition.  Cheers.

Normally restaurant reviews are something I don’t normally do.  I feel compelled to though for the restaurant that I went to Friday night.

Although I’ve called St. Louis home for two years I had never experienced the Hill and the things it has to offer.  I never knew that there was an area of St. Louis that had so much red, white, and green.  The place of chosen interest for our evening was a restaurant known as Zia’s, a restaurant that has been around since 1984.

Zia’s is an Italian restaurant that tries to make you feel like honored guests instead of customers.  The entire night we were promptly attended to by a very polite server, although he forgot to bring butter when he served us bread.  What caught me was the aroma I got when I first sat down; it was as if I was in a house and I could smell our dinner already cooking.  The air was tantalizing with the smell of different pastas, which was very good, and the Cannelloni that I had was fantastic.  

Pasta is a food I don’t dabble in often, and it was fun to try something new. Unfortunately I felt like the food wasn’t adequate enough quantity wise to justify its cost.  The bill total was actually pretty decent for a nice meal for two, only about twenty-five dollars.  I just expect to get more when I pay more. Still my experience at Zia’s was a positive one and if you are in the mood for some great Italian, or a fun new place to take that significant other, then I definitely suggest giving Zia’s a try.  Being at Zia’s will feel like being right at home.

Despite the water-soaked and unusualkly muddy earth, kickball enthusiasts of all shoes and stripes came out last Sunday afternoon to play. As they’ll be doing every Sunday at 4pm on the fields of Eden Seminary, students of Webster University will play in temas of 6 to 8 in this league organized by Campus Activites and fraternity Delta Upsilon (Webster’s new, first fraternity).  You can sign up for teams at the University Center front desk, or just for kicks show up any Sunday through May 4th 2008 and cheer on your favorite team.

Word on the street is that other kickball teams are forming around the Saint Louis area this spring and summer.  The St. Louis Kickball Association (www.skarocks.org) has already gone through their fourth week of play, bringing htem halfway through the season already.  Residents of Des Peres are starting their own Tuesday evening co-rec Kickball League starting April 8th, although as much as half your team of diamond runners may indeed come from other townships.  And we’ll keep adding games to our calendar as we find them.

The great part about night classes are that they allow you to schedule around your work, especially for grad students.  So even if you missed last Tuesday’s senior thesis lecture from Aaron Belz, you can still study under his tutelage this Thursday for a night class of sorts filed under the course name of Observable Readings.  This class session we’ll be taking notes on a more Socratic style, under the title “Eight Kates: Colby, Marvin, Ford, Greenstreet, Peterson, Pringle, Schapira, Lederer”.  According to Prof. Belz:

Kate Colby, Cate Marvin, Katie Ford, Kate Greenstreet, Katie Peterson, Kate Pringle, Kate Schapira, and Katy Lederer will fly to St. Louis and read together on one unprecedented occasion!!
Okay, so it’s not entirely unprecedented. You may remember the Ten Jens, The Five Aarons, and maybe even the Three Stephanies. But who knew there were so many Kate poets?

For those who have missed Observable Readigns in the past, here’s a copy of our notes.  You may not get any academic credit hours, but the course won’t cost you a dime.  As for the classroom, show up at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood around 8pm if you want to be marked as in attendance this Thursday, April 3rd.

Highway 61 (revised) has received a cease and desist order from MODOT. As of 1:30pm on April 1st, 2008, Highway 61 has only 2 days (or less than 48 hours) left to vacate the title our existing domain and title. According to the court order our intellectual property unduly interferes with the copyrights of the already existing domain of TheNewI64.org , which is MODOT’s website for the construction along that interstate highway. For those who do not know, US Highway 61 continues along part of Interstate 64 in parts of St. Charles and St. Louis Counties. We apologize for the confusion we may have caused.

We had already begun the process of transferring our host, address, and title, but things are moving really fast. You might want to save your favorite posts for yourself, because your bookmarks will no longer work. This couldn’t come at a worse time, since everyone here is crammed working on finals as well.

Anyone interested enough to continue reading from this online magazine can do so by reading 61 Revised at http://www.61revised.com . Thank you for your understanding, we promise to keep writing if you keep reading.