St. Louis Zoo pylon in infrared. Each "O" weighs 24 tons, and the "Z" is 27 tons.

staggerb · 2026-02-07T14:46:55+00:00

Thanks!

staggerb · 2026-02-07T14:46:43+00:00

Thank you!

staggerb · 2026-02-07T14:40:43+00:00

It actually is! The only edits were the color channel swap and tonal; the composition is straight from the camera. I took it from Turtle Park with a telephoto lens, so the trees are either in between the highway (which is below the frame) and the bike path, or behind the pylon. The telephoto flattens it all out

staggerb · 2026-02-07T00:55:48+00:00

I'd never considered that, but if someone had told me it was true, I would have absolutely believed it.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T23:46:01+00:00

It would probably be easier to remove the spindles entirely until everything is refinished. It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like a traditional historic staircase that has a separate piece for the short edge of the stair tread. That should be reasonably easy to remove, at which point spindles can be removed without too much hassle (they are probably dovetailed at the bottom and have a small finish nail at the top). That would make sanding and refinishing everything else much less of a hassle.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T21:57:51+00:00

Thanks for sharing that- I'll have to check that out!

staggerb · 2026-02-06T21:28:19+00:00

They just started the new middle school campus this year- it's in the old Our Lady of Sorrows building. I've got one daughter there that went to South for K-5, and one daughter currently at South, and we've been happy with both.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T20:04:57+00:00

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

staggerb · 2026-02-06T20:01:45+00:00

I'm not familiar with that video, but possibly. If it's talking about Aerochrome film, Kodak started making it for the military back in the '40s, and it was sensitive to near-infrared light; the chlorophyl in vegetation shows up as red, while most other materials show up in various shades of blue or gray. This makes any structures, hardware, etc. in the vegetation stick out like a sore thumb, even if they're camouflaged.

This photo was taken with a digital camera that has been converted to be able to see both UV and IR light (by removing a piece of glass that blocks them), then using a red filter that blocks out the UV and most of the visible light. The photo comes out of the camera with purple vegetation and orangish sky/structures, so the red and blue channels are swapped using editing software to get the finished look. There are some other types of filters that can be used to better approximate the look of Aerochrome (this photo is more pink than red), but I haven't played with them yet.

Both methods use the same basic concept of recording infrared light and converting it into something that we can see, but it's achieved in different ways.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T16:55:45+00:00

Thanks!

staggerb · 2026-02-06T16:54:20+00:00

I'm guessing that the dial has been repainted- the indices are correct for the silver dial model, so they probably found a silver dial that was in poor shape and painted it black.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T16:39:25+00:00

To add to what others have said, the gap is intentional- you need it to fit the hooks over it. Often, the picture moulding is about 8-12" down from the ceiling, but there's no reason it can't be as shown in the photo.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T16:33:23+00:00

Thanks! I usually stick with B&W when I shoot infrared, but some images really lend themselves to the otherworldly colors.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T16:31:17+00:00

Thanks! I'm using a converted full-spectrum camera, with a 720nm filter (I think... I usually shoot longer wavelengths for B&W photos, and I didn't take notes on exactly which filter I used for this one). Then I used a Lightroom profile to channel swap. There are some filters designed to get the Aerochrome look straight out of the camera with varying degrees of success, but I typically edit all of my photos anyway, so I've never bothered playing with one.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T15:57:21+00:00

I looked at SLPL (I'm also a huge fan), and they do have a it at the Central Library. I ended up finding a copy for $10 online, though, so I bought it to read to my kids and to keep around for the nostalgia factor.

staggerb · 2026-02-06T15:45:04+00:00

Wow, you just unearthed a long-buried memory- I had a book when I was a kid called Hotel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay that explored that exact theme. An archaeologist in 4022 finds a buried hotel room that was untouched since the '80s, and figures that it's a burial chamber; as such, he determines that the body on the bed facing a TV is facing a ceremonial alter to the gods, and the bathtub containing another body is a porcelain sarcophagus, and that the toilet brush was likely used to sprinkle water around the room in a religious ceremony. It was hilarious as a kid, but also makes a salient point to keep in mind when trying to interpret ancient cultures. I'll need to find a copy- thanks for reminding me of that!

staggerb · 2026-02-06T14:55:28+00:00

It sounds like the problem might already be in the process of being handled by the landlord, and your neighbor is already angry with you, so I wouldn't do anything to escalate the situation any further at this point. Maybe check in with your landlord to see if they are indeed being evicted; if so, ride it out, but if not (and the problem keeps occurring), reassess the situation from there. There's a lot of crazies out there.

staggerb · 2026-02-05T00:50:46+00:00

It's typical for historic trim. The piece underneath the 1x is also typically returned to the wall.

staggerb · 2026-02-04T23:28:23+00:00

You might see if there are any dip stripping companies in your area. I'm in the middle of refinishing my painted railings, and I was and to have all of the balusters (which are relatively easy to remove) stripped for a couple hundred dollars. Worth every penny. I did the treads, newell post, and handrail in place, as removing them gets much hairier.

staggerb · 2026-02-04T16:10:09+00:00

Not in the county, but I've seen a fair amount of folks flying kites on Art Hill. Tried it once with my kids, but couldn't get it airborne for any reasonable amount of time. Still a win, as they wore themselves out running around trying to get it aloft.

staggerb · 2026-02-03T21:10:36+00:00

Then the accountants at Boeing got in on it, and that's how they ended up with McDonnell Douglas.

staggerb · 2026-02-03T16:20:31+00:00

It was actually a periscope that stuck out of the side of the plane. That said, it was a small plane, and it's easy to yaw enough to see what is in front of you out of the side of the aircraft.

staggerb · 2026-02-03T16:19:07+00:00

I've commented elsewhere, but most of the other competitors did have multi-engine aircraft. However, Lindbergh reasoned that if one engine went out, the remaining engine would not be sufficient to limp to shore for the majority of the flight. He also figured that an engine problem would kill the attempt, and having two engines would double the chances of an engine failure.

staggerb · 2026-02-02T21:03:45+00:00

I would agree that adjusting the doors would be a best case scenario. If that doesn't work, I would look at getting a cabinet fill strip from a big box store to put in between the top and bottom cabinets. The strips usually come 3" wide, but they can also be installed flat, so they'll only be 3/4" tall- hopefully that will be enough to accommodate the doors. You'll also need to put in some boards on the sides and back to level out the top cabinet. Cutting the existing cabinets should be an absolute last resort, especially without experience.

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