TALK OF THE TOWNS

The Metro

What would you do to save the life of a friend or family member? OK, you might not jump in front of a bus and push your Uncle Larry to safety, but would you donate a kidney to your kid brother or your mom? You just might. But how about getting vaccinated against COVID-19? No? It might save the life of someone you love or that of a complete stranger. No way … not under any circumstances? Well, how ’bout a free beer? Hey, now you’re talking! Over the July 4 weekend, Belgian brewer AB InBev let U.S. consumers pop a few cold ones on the conglomerate’s dime to mark its advertised goal of 70 million Americans becoming at least partially vaccinated before the holiday. Each drinker with proof of vaccination who’d sent in a selfie at their favorite watering hole, be it the pub down the block or in the man cave at home, received a $5 voucher for beer, seltzer, nonalcoholic beverages or other AB products (maybe a pennant or a T-shirt?). I’ve been out of the beer-drinking loop for a while and don’t know what other tchotchkes might be available under the AB InBev umbrella. But don’t get too excited. The vouchers expired July 5. Similar incentives have happened nationwide, some much larger than a $5 voucher. Since not everyone is a brew aficionado, but most everybody likes money, Ohio is one state that let folks with proof of vaccination enter a $5 million lottery. Illinois gave away a boatload of Six Flags tickets. Some residents of states that don’t start with ‘Show Me’ won full-ride scholarships. Wow—you read down to here! Your reward? Some new news: The St. Louis County Council has approved $875,000 for gift cards so the inoculated can buy gas and groceries. So, don’t be an ostrich. Pull your head out, roll up your sleeve. That shot in the arm is for all of us.

talk

OF THE TOWNS

by bill beggs jr.

Lemay

What do you mean, you don’t gamble? Ever buy a lottery ticket? Throw a couple bucks into the 50-50 at a church picnic? Ask someone out on a date—or for their hand in marriage? See? We run rings around you logically! Here are a couple of opportunities to take a different type of chance at one of the region’s favorite casinos, right there in River City! You can find out whether two huge hitmakers of the 1970s are still worth seeing in concert, or whether they’re as pleasant to listen to as your old, scratched-up 45 RPM records. You remember “Delta Dawn” and “YMCA,” right? You couldn’t get away from Helen Reddy’s No. 1 version of the former in the summer of 1973, and it was a hit on country radio a year earlier for Tanya Tucker, age 13. Reddy was a huge star in the 1970s. Tucker still is—her show might be like a night at the honky-tonk. And, like it or not, at the next wedding reception you attend, the DJ will play “YMCA,” released in 1978 by The Village People. They can be seen Friday, Oct 8, at 8 p.m.; Tucker is in concert Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m.

U. City

Yolanda Newson had a blank slate to work with—a silver headless and armless mannequin to transform for the 12th annual iteration of Mannequins on the Loop, a ‘creative recycling’ event staged last month along the sidewalks of Delmar Boulevard. She was among about two dozen other contestants, and felt out of the loop, if you will: It was her first time, but her timing was perfect. The judges awarded her piece second place, and she also won $1,000 for being named the No. 2 audience favorite. The unique exhibition is an opportunity for artists, designers and all manner of their creative ilk to develop a fun and sensible outfit for their mannequin—well, fashion may not always be sensible, but it should be fun. Even beautiful. Long-time readers of the metro’s finest magazine may remember our Notable Neighbors profile of Newson (Yoro to her family, friends and public) and her St. Peters-based business, Yoro Creations. She still makes jewelry and purses out of her home but has expanded to include personal styling and set design. (Say you have trouble finding clear plastic napkin rings anywhere? Gold or silver chains? You may have to talk to Yoro. They might be part of her latest accessory ensembles, including necklaces, bracelets and earrings. But you may find you prefer them in those configurations anyhow.) Back to her mannequin, which she describes as a fashion warrior clad in black, swooping nylon lumbar supports and straps and chicken wire, with black springy notebook spirals serving as dreads. The lumbar supports are ‘wings’ that render her a medieval African ninja. Can’t imagine what the getup would look like on an actual person? Yoro is one step ahead, having planned a shoot for last week on a model wearing the outfit while swathed in silver body paint. What’s it like to be a bit of a fashion neophyte? “It can be cliquish,” Yoro acknowledges. “Many people won’t go outside the rim of what they know.”

☛TT trivia

WHERE IS THE NORTH AMERICAN HEADQUARTERS OF AB INBEV? (SOFTBALL QUESTION, WE REALIZE.) IN WHAT YEAR WAS THE COMPANY’S GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-(ETC.) GRANDPARENT FOUNDED, AND IN WHAT TOWN IS IT BASED TODAY?

LAST ISSUE’S Q&A

What is Marilyn Manson’s real name? Despite characterizations to the contrary, notorious shock-rocker Marilyn Manson is not the evil spawn of Satan. Manson was born Brian Warner in Canton, Ohio. Today, an investigation continues into allegations by more than a dozen women that he abused them emotionally, physically and/or sexually.

Downtown

Right after I moved in with Cate, my Heinz 57 mutt—he looks kinda like a Wheaten terrier got cozy with a cocker spaniel—welcomed the letter carrier. His greeting was frantic barking, followed by growling and slobbering while he pulled the mail through the slot right as she was trying to sneak it through. That was five years ago. Andrea Vadner has become one of our favorite humans, although the dog still doesn’t seem too sure. So, how much does she love him? Well, her can of Mace has remained idle; but, as a dog owner herself, Vadner knows you can only be so friendly. One day in our mess of junk mail, we found an invitation to Vadner’s appearance in a show at Art St. Louis downtown (a few dozen footsteps west of Tucker Boulevard). We didn’t make it. Then, COVID-19 put the kibosh on a 2020 show. The 2021 invitation is intriguing, for lack of a better word. Her paintings are a crowded riot of colors and shapes that are not all that soothing. Still, they draw you in and challenge you to look away. I recently met with Vadner at the gallery where 10 of her works are on exhibit through tomorrow, July 15. Her masterpiece took 400 hours to complete, she estimates. It’s titled, simply, “Wall.” “It was signed,” she says. “Then I realized I wasn’t satisfied.” We’ve included a detail of “Wall” that shows its few square inches of green space at top right. Vadner realized she needed less of that and more of her white pickup trucks, which represent unbridled commerce, construction, ‘busyness.’ “The trucks are coming for you,” she says with a wan smile. So she went back in, attacking it with brushes, fingers and what-have you. She won’t change it any further. “I finished it,” she says flatly—her statement has been made. Vadner earned a BFA in printmaking from WashU in 1980 and has done a little of this and a bunch of that since working as a bar-back at Blueberry Hill while in school. “I’m service-driven,” she says. “My calling is to interact with people.” And since she started carrying mail in 2007, she’s tried getting to know as many people as possible—without being pesky—on her 6-mile route. She’s suffered through bad knees while trudging under the sun and in the rain, through sleet and hail, until gloom of night. One thing she knows for sure, at 64, is that she’ll keep creating art as long as she can hold a brush. Visit vadner.com. &