Enter Game Face, an opportunity for voyeurs to focus on a more dignified portion of the female anatomy -- the face. The exhibit of more than 100 photographs depicting women athletes straining, smiling in victory and groaning in defeat and is on view at the St. Louis Science Center (5050 Oakland Avenue) through February 9.
The show is kicked off by the famous 1999 snapshot of World Cup-winning soccer player Brandi Chastain on her knees, fists raised and jersey ripped off, revealing her sports bra. Photos of Mary Lou Retton, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Amelia Earhart and Martina Navratilova are also included, but most of the shots are of amateurs flush with triumph. The images pay homage to Title IX, a law passed by Congress in 1972 mandating equality for women and girls in schools -- and changing the face of sports forever. Game Face is free and open during Science Center hours. Call 314-289-4444 or visit www.slsc.org for more information. -- Mallarie Zimmer
Kwanzaa Extravaganzaa
Harvest this!
SAT 12/27
Apparently the folks at the Missouri Botanical Garden believe in the principle of equal time. After honoring Christmas and Chanukah, they'll complete the trifecta of December holidays with "Kwanzaa: Celebration of the Harvest." Created 37 years ago by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga, Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration of African-American achievements and heritage. The word Kwanzaa is Swahili for "first fruits," and the Science Center will have a feast table of harvest foods, along with traditional African dancing and storytelling (the latter courtesy of Mama Katambwa). Vendors will also be selling last-minute Kwanzaa gifts (4344 Shaw Boulevard, noon to 4 p.m., free with regular admission, 314-577-9400, www.mobot.org). -- Niles Baranowski
Bud Lights
Fermentation illuminated
WED 12/24
You work hard. It's been a long night of holiday-whatever downtown, and you've got a pow'rful hunger for something cheesy and greasy. The line at White Castle on Broadway is twelve cars deep, and you're in no mood for that. Should you call it a night and have a bacon 'n' Cheez Whiz sandwich alone at home?
No, no, no! Get thee, with good cheer, to the Shell station at Lemp and Arsenal. Find something cheesy and greasy. Nuke, pay and leave. Drive over I-55 on Arsenal and continue through the steamy bowels of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, then hang a left on Seventh Street. Proceed for 200 yards and look to your left. The brewery is a village of storybook architecture and landscape outlined in festive light. Take another left on Dorcas Street and drive through the magical gingerbread industrial complex. It's totally allowed, and you probably won't be alone. Most folks view the holiday version of the brewery from the highway, but a few lucky souls know that exploration is encouraged. Park the car, get out and walk around. -- John Goddard
They Grow Up So Quickly
SAT 12/27
You have to envy Raja, the Saint Louis Zoo's star Asian elephant. He's got a bigger room than most other ten-year-olds, two older girlfriends and a following larger than some Cardinals. Now you can help the little big guy celebrate his eleventh birthday at the River's Edge at 11 a.m. Just don't expect any cake -- if past parties are any indication, he'll take out some pre-teen angst by stomping it flat (Forest Park, 314-781-0900, www.stlzoo.org). -- Niles Baranowski
