Mother Nature's Art

This photo was taken at Black Brook in Andover, Maine by Helene's friend Nancy Palmer. The perfectly round disc you see was naturally formed by the circulation of the stream.

Howdy Neighbor

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new neighbor.
The word on the street was confirmed by this Miami Herald story.
Another apparent victim of condo conversions on the island, it seems The Chicken Store
will be relocating just down the block from us on Southard between the Honda shop and Island Joe's coffee shop..

Photofriday Challenge:Textured

This is my Photofriday Challenge entry for this week. The challenge was: textured.

Eric von Schmidt 1931-2007

Since we like to say the Parrot is your "Center for Blues Culture of All Kinds", I thought a a homage of sorts was appropriate here. Eric von Scmidt passed away on February 2nd and will be remembered for many contributions to music and art.
He was a key part of the folk/blues revival of the sixties that included Bob Dylan and our friend Spider John Koerner, and was perhaps best known for penning the song "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" that went on to become part of Dylan's early folk canon.
To be honest, I only discovered his paintings when I stumbled on his obituary, and as you see, they are impressive. In addition to his blues-inspired themes he used the American West as a setting for many of his works. His father, Harold Von Schmidt, was a painter of western landscapes who worked for The Saturday Evening Post. Among his last works before he passed was an epic painting depicting the siege of The Alamo and another of the Lewis and Clark's Corp of Discovery honoring its bicentennial, chronicled here, along with many of both his and his father's other works. His illustrated discography appears here.


Pictured above is "Blues Last Judgement (after Michaelangelo"part of series of paintings "Giants of the Blues 1920 to 1950" which honors and immortalizes the creators of the blues, those responsible for performing and preserving Black-American folk music. The paintings depict the rich history of the people who handed down the blues sounds that influence popular music today.


Delta Dawn


Henry Thomas' Dream

In addition, He painted dozens of album covers for Joan Baez, Odetta, John Renbourn, and many other folk musicians, as well as many book jacket illustrations. Pictured below is the jacket for a Richard Farina novel and a self portrait on one of his own album covers.

photofriday challenge: self portrait

This is my first entry into the photofriday challenge, a photo contest I regularly visit. I was feeling a little outrageous so I thought I'd enter this self portrait.

A Class Act

Here's an email I recieved yesterday fololwing Bryan Lee's cancelation of his Parrot gig and subsequent Tonight Show appearance with Jay Leno on Wednesday night. I post it just to show what kind of hairpin he is. A class act.
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:43:42 -0500
Subject: Bryan Lee

Hello John
Bryan requested I email you . He wanted to apologize personally for the
canceling the 2 gigs this week. Bryan has always enjoyed performing at
your club. The management, service and the fans have always treated him
so great! And I too, would like to thank you and your staff for treating
me so kindly when I accompanied Bryan last fall. Everyone was extremely
respectful to me and remembered my name. I was so impressed with that!
Bryan felt as though he was in a tough spot and had to make a career
decision and fast. He hopes you understand and will invite him and the
band back again soon.

thank you and sincere apologies,
Bryan and Bethany, Bryan's fiancé

The Captain's Outrageous Exit

Boros Family Album

I just recieved this email from the Boros family with the message"Don't turn your back on this guy!!!" and a picture of Lucas and Jimmy.

Dan's Tiramisu

The Greens

Eric's Civil War Adventure

A moment from Civil War enactments of the past with a Green Parrot connection.
This photo hangs in the Parrot and shows former bartender and next-door neighbor Eric Bissell lettin' a civil war era black powder cannon rip one off from the ramparts of Fort Zachary Taylor.
While I wouldn't want to characterize Eric as a gun nut we all knew he liked a good KABOOM once in a while whether it was throwing a lit string of firecrackers behind the bar or rolling his little caisson out on his second floor balcony for his idea of reveille.
His wife, Terri, more than anyone painfully aware of his fondness for ordnance, nevertheless arranged with the Civil War reenactors to allow Eric to pull the trigger on this cannon while she snapped the photo. That's Eric in the middle and it's a great picture but can not convey just how god-awful loud that concussion was, eliciting a "HOLY SHIT" from anyone standing within 30 feet while leaving our ears ringing all the way back to the bar.
Eric loved it. Way to go, Terri.

Civil War Reenactors Salute Parrot

The Union Color Guard Marches to The Green Parrot

They all stop, eyes left, and each one, including The President of The Republic, salutes their favorite saloon

The Old Railsplitter says "It's All You, Annie"

Abe agrees to meet later for a cold one under his portrait in the bar.


The ladies auxilliary

Our friend from The Fort, Harry

A Civil War sawbones perhaps

Happy Birthday Lew

So a Guy Walks into a Bar

Stop me if you've heard this one...so a guy walks into a bar,
and says, "Hey, that picture on the wall behind me is a picture of my grandpa..."

...and it was stolen from
a bar on Stock Island...and "I want it back."

now I KNOW this is bullshit because I brought that picture to the Parrot myself, from Sharkey's Tavern, my old man's bar, but this guy's shirt does have an embroidered image of the old guy on the pocket, complete with the flies on his hat and everything, and it does does match the picture on the wall... so he does have me goin' for a minute...and then he says how he gave that picture to Pat from "Nobody Knows" on Stock Island and that name... "Pat", .... opens up a floodgate of incredulity until finally the guy says...

.... "never mind...that's not my grandapa" .
Fuckin' Pat
.

Good News, Bad News

We just got word that Bryan Lee would be unable to play the Parrot dates he was booked for next Tuesday and Wednesday. That's the bad news.

The reason he can't make it is he just got a call to perform Wednesday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, arguably the most important launching pad for talent there is.That's the good news.

Young Buskers

Here's a few young buskers/musicians set up just across the street from the Banyan tree last year.

A Fiddler Under The Banyan Tree

Here's a fiidler/busker playing under the huge rubber tree just a few blocks down from the bar on whitehead Street.

Good Morning America Visits Parrot

A film crew from ABC's morning show dropped in to sample a bit of the local color this morning.

Bill Weir , the show's weekend anchor seemed right at home as did the crew. They all said they remembered the Parrot well having visited the bar in the past under less formal circumstances.

The real star of the show for me was the High Def digital camera priced at 100 grand plus.


The segment on Key West will be aired Sunday, February 17th beginning at 7 AM.
If you're up, let me know how it is.