Elin, plant goddess

Our friend Elin, the plant goddess, visited us over Memorial Day weekend from Florida (where she has retired, at the young age of 67). She helped us plant our building flower beds, and regaled us with stories from her punk rock days.

Like here

Back in 1977, a Halsted Street gay bar called “La Mere Vipere” brought the punk rock revolution to Chicago. Considered the first Chicago punk bar, the La Mere Vipere met its demise one year later in a mysterious fire. The Artful Dodger in Wicker Park will host a celebration for the 25th anniversary of La Mere Vipere on May 11th beginning at 9:30pm. One of the original La Mere Viper DJs, Rick “Radio” Faust will spin, along with Bob Skafish (WXRT), Morry Barak (WNUR), Rick Addy and Mike Rytie of “Shake Rattle And Read,” and John Babbin of “Windy City Punk.”

and here

Following the demise of Chicago's first punk club, Le Mer Viper in 1977, a new bar by the name of O'Banion's opened up at the northeast corner of Clark & Erie in River North and quickly became a Chicago legend. O'Banion's was not exactly “aesthetically pleasing” or even “clean,” but it did play host to a litany of local talent and national acts like the Dead Kennedys, Hüsker Dü and The Replacements. This was a far cry from its previous incarnations as a gay bar, the largest strip club in Chicago at one point and a “Bugs” Moran hangout. As punk rock yielded to new wave, so did the neighborhood to gentrification and O'Banion's was sold and turned into an upscale restaurant. Though it only existed for four years, it's influence on Chicago music can be felt today in such venues as Metro, the Empty Bottle and Neo.
...

Some of the local bands that played at O'Banion's included: Naked Raygun, Poison Squirrel, Trouts, Strike Under, The Dadistics, Direct Drive/Articles of Faith, Fix, Phil n' the Blanks, Subverts, Skafish, Tense Experts, and Immune System. The scene at O'Banion's also attracted national touring talent like the Dead Kennedys, Hüsker Dü, T.S.O.L., and The Replacements, as well as some of the original British punk bands. After Le Mer Viper succumbed to a mysterious fire ironically in the Year of the Snake, O'Banion's was the place to go for punk rock. It became so popular and well known, that a bevy of other punk rock joints opened up, also in sketchy and/or industrial parts of the city, including Neo, Metro, Artful Dodger, Lucky Number (which later became Club 950 Lucky Number), Lounge Ax, Oz, Gaspar's, West End Club, Tut's, Waves, Stages, Head's Pub, and Misfits. Just because it was ferverous doesn't mean that O'Banion's offered any kind of amenities for performers. According to Frank Eck, “O'Banion's was, bar none, the worst place to play at. There was no stage, no PA system (bands brought their own and played on the floor), no dressing room, virtually no lighting and no one in charge of the place. Worse still, both its restrooms rarely, if ever, functioned (once someone actually crapped on the floor next to my drum kit). However, in spite of all that, I have very fond memories of the place, having played some very fun gigs there.” Near the end, a tiny makeshift stage was added and the give and take of musician interviews and photographs took place downstairs in a tiny room with graffiti on the walls and lit by a 60-watt bulb.

Elin claimed to have sold Joey Ramone some drugs under the stairs.

I thought I took better photos of our planting extravaganza, this was after our second bottle of wine, so who knows what happened.

I wielded the shovel, D helped pick locations, and kept our bellies and glasses full, and Elin did the planting:

click for larger versions

{Personal, Chicago, Photos}

Technorati Tags: Chicago, Personal, Photos