Green Parrot Bar No Snivelling Zone: 05/01/2011

Key West Waterfront Park

Since it's Memorial Day I thought I would reprise a post from a few years back that describes The U.S Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk, newly arrived in Key West for display on the waterfront. There's also a little sidebar in this blogpost that describes my fathers role in World War II.

Down the street from the Parrot, on the other side of The Truman Annex gated community is the newly acquired Waterfront Park. The park was given to the city by the Navy and as you can see, there's not much there yet, a few new buildings that look like they might be related to NOAA or some other govt. agency and on the seawall in the inner mole, The Mohawk, a WW II Coast Guard Cutter brought down from The Miami Maritime Museum to be put on permanent display in the new Key West Park.If this were a political blog there would be much to write about here since this property and the acess to it has been embroiled in controversy from the git go. I'll leave that to the other Key West bloggers. I need to post links to them since there are quite a few of late and they give insights into local events that won't be found in the local papers.

Franz Boetes the Directer of the Maritime Museum exhibit

USCG Mohawk

The Mohawk spent it's war years as a sub chaser in the Atlantic

Here's the radio room. My father was a radio operator staitoned in Hawaii during WW II so this room gave me kind of a warm feeling. My father, Staff Seargant Al Vagnoni was the radioman, not unlike the one pictured here, sitting with headphones on in a tiny radio shack in the middle of a pineapple field on the westernmost tip of Oahu when he received the first encoded message of the Japanese surrender which he then passed on to San Francisco to be forwarded to Washington. After he received the message he tore of the piece of tape containing the historic bit of code and I believe that spool of tape sits in a tiny box in a drawer in brother's house today.

Just to kind of complete this thought; Here's a picture of my dad, Al (wearing the hat), shortly after receiving that message I imagine,celebrating with a few buddies.

The caption on the back reads, "Now what do you think we are so sad about.
Presenting myself, Mariani, Gould and Alabama Davis saying hello you all.

a view from the bridge looking out across the inner mole to the main ship channel.

The ship's galley

Durty Birdie Burlesque at The Green Parrot

We are proud to announce that Key West Burlesque will be sharing the Green Parrot stage with The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn on Tuesday, June 14 beginning at 10 PM

When Billy and the rest of The Blue Vipers performed at The Parrot in March some members of The Key West Burlesque were in attendance.

The chemistry between the two ensembles was immediate and undeniable. Plans were laid that night to pick a date for a collaborative effort of these two troupes, throwbacks both, and a perfect fit for a timeless saloon.

The Kids, As You Can Imagine, Are Heartbroken.

In a case of what surely must have been mistaken identity, that is someone mistaking Treasure for Trash, the vintage Boaca Chica Bar sign is missing from The Green Parrot. It appears to have vanished from a pile of other signs that were taken down from the bar's ceiling for routine maintenance and were stacked on the deck next to the band house.

As we said someone must have mistakenly thought the sign was being tossed out and carried it home.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, the kids, as you can imagine, are heartbroken.

The Halloran brothers, former city commissioner George and brother Andrew, pictured below in happier times below the now-missing sign

One of the many vintage signs on the ceiling over the pool table, a Boot Hill of vanished Keys businesses, this sign was perhaps the one with most sentiment attached to it, not just for the notorious barroom the sign represented, but for the unlikely set of circumstances surrounding it's delivery to the Parrot, both of which are described in a few paragraphs below.

Former Key West City Commissioner George Halloran had spotted the sign in a Havana, Cuba boatyard while he was having his boat hauled out there a twenty or so years ago. George managed to salvage the sign, which was being used at the time to keep a cuban boat mechanic's head out of the dirt while he crawled around under some dry-docked vessel. George recognized the valuable piece of Key West memorobilia for what it was, proceeded to big-deal the guy out of it, and hand-delivered it to us at the Parrot where it hangs today. And for that George gets a beer on us whenever he walks in the door.
For those who don't remember the Boca Chica Bar it was located right on US 1 in Stock Island that saw it's hay-day in the seventies and eighties and was kind of like Stock Island's own little Barbary Coast, rife with smugglers, hookers, cops-on- the-take,fisherman, gays, thieves, writers, musicians, the occasional slumming or over-dosed celebrity and pretty much everything in between. Unless you've spent some time in there or maybe even been woken up out front of the place in the bed of a pickup truck at 7 AM with the tropical sun blazing down on you it's pretty hard to describe.
There is nothing in town today to compare it to. It was a cross section of a Key West that has all but vanished and could certainly never be recreated and put under one roof again (a scary proposition at best). The stage was wrapped in cyclone fencing like Bob's Country Bunker in the Blues Brothers movie, the bartenders and the bouncers didn't suffer fools gladly, and as the sign says, it was "Open 7 Days a Week, 24 Hours a Day" although the place didn't really come into it's own until 4 AM or later, when all bars in key west proper let out and all the not yet sated revelers poured over the Cow Key Channel bridge for a nightcap...or two. I believe Hunter S. Thompson made mention of it on occasion as the "soft underbelly of Key West".
Anyway, thanks George, for thinking of us.

Calling all ukulele lovers: Uke-apocalypse at The Green Parrot

While perusing Ukulele Perspective, a usually upbeat and sunny ukulele website, I read:

"The Night of 1000 Ukuleles @ Satchel’s has been temporarily suspended. We may well resume, if there is enough interest, in August or September.

If you have thoughts on whether we should meet monthly, let me know and we’ll see how it goes."

Undaunted, and actually oddly inspired, by such a tepid memo, The Green Parrot is putting a Uke-out of their own in their cultural pipeline , assuming that before it happens it does not suffer the same apathetic fate as the event at Satchel's bearing that wildly-exaggerated, ultimately snake-bitten title: "Night of 1,000 Ukuleles"

I'm betting that, if I may mix my metaphors here, there's a closet uke player behind every palm tree.
What we would like is: If you have a ukulele and know how to play it, bring it a play a tune or two.

If you have a ukulele and don't know how to play it, bring it anyway and maybe someone will teach you a tune or two.

Everyone is welcome.

Play-alongs, open mic, and featured performers.

We are hoping to include a workshop and hopefully a screening of the award winning documentary "The Mighty Uke".

Guaranteed fun!

Here's what I'm talkin' about!

Any takers?

Tell me It Ain't So, Shoeless Joe!

Upon further, and closer review, too close really, it was revealed that the Marlins-Cubs streaker was not only a Key Wester but perhaps a Parrot customer.

Johnny Sketch and The Dirty Notes

Johnny Sketch and The Dirty Notes tore it up again tonight with their killer NOLA Funk, their inspired covers (Spinal Tap to Chocolate Milk to Sgt. Pepper) and their rapport with the crowd that just gets better and better every time.

Johnny Sketch, in an unsolicited testimonial, said, "I don't usually drink Jaeger, but when I do, it's usually at The Green Parrot andI don't usually hang out and close bars, but when I do, it's usually at The Green Parrot"

Key West Baseball Outing Goes South

Video: Naked Caveman Streaker Tackled In Last Night's Marlins-Cubs Game

Here's a link to a story in the Miami New Times that gives an account plus an accompanying video of a streaker at last night's Marlins-Cubs game.

The news account goes on to the poster of the video who claims the nude streaker came from a crowd of 60 people from Key West who were asked to leave over the pantsless run.

The New Times author goes on to say, "Anyone out there who can verify that? If not, we'll just assume it's true because it validates all our cherished stereotypes about people from Key West (namely that they are sunburned naked drunks with questionable hygiene. But we love them for it!)"

Here's the clip and the story. Enjoy it until YouTube takes it down:

Change is Good...You Go First.

To quote poet Paul Violi, "Veni, Vidi, Velcro", "I came. I saw, I stuck around"

We all know there been a lot of talk for the last few months about what's going on at The Parrot. I joked that one afternoon in Publix, cornered by inquiring minds, I felt like I was giving a press conference in the produce aisle.
"you, in the back, with the canteloupe, you had your hand up?"

Well now, it's official. Pat Croce is my new partner in the Green Parrot.

And now the question I get in the produce aisle is: how do I feel about what's happened, and what's gonna change.

I'd like to take a minute, now that the dust has settled, to share my feelings.
The answer is simple. I'm thrilled and feel he's a natural for the Parrot.

Linda and Pat, like the awning behind them,The Parrot and The Pirate

Linda Bean knew it, I knew it and probably most importantly, Jim Bean knew it too.

Bean buttonholed Pat on the corner early one morning several years back and walked him through the property, ostensibly to show him the new band house. But Bean knew it then. Pat was the guy.

And what makes it so is that he shares our core values about what makes the Parrot the Parrot.

Pat and I, son-in law Jeff Sorg and son Michael Croce

And much more importantly than sharing the values of just myself and the Beans, Here's what I see: Pat shares the core values with all the people that really make The Parrot what it is, the real keepers-of-the-flame, the customers,

He sees the value of the place by seeing what it is that others value in it, seeing it through the eyes of those others who cherish it. That's what I see continuing in this new partnership.

What remains on people's minds is still, what's gonna change?

And I see the answer to that, ultimately, in the question itself, and moreover, the fervor with which it is asked.

That passion and zeal underlines what we all already know, the need to preserve the uniqueness of what has been created here: the vibe, the great music, a place to be yourself, to share a beverage or a thought, or be by yourself, a place to nail that feeling that anything is possible, it's been so many things to so many people for so many years, that I'm certain it will, like The Dude, abide.

The fact that customers are so vocal with the fate of this little corner saloon speaks volumes, you hear it in the bar, on the street, in the citizens voice, the customers' concern for this sense of shared stewardship is remarkable.

And what has been created here, has not, has never been, created by design, but more by accretion.

In an essay contained in "A Hut of One's Own" by Ann Kline and titled "What Architecture Isn't" it is said how the accumulation of years of inattention can make a place seem under-designed and unremarkable, that we've seen seen places like them before and assume, falsely, that we will see them again, anytime.

They seem to have generated themselves and everyone takes them for granted.

We often say of these underdesigned places that they possess authenticity, What we need to remember here is that authentic places had little overt style in the first place, what appeals in authenticity is designer neglect and when places like The Parrot do survive they become meccas for those people who tire of the designers tease. This then allows people to tell their stories undistracted.

"a place to allow people to tell their story undistracted"... I believe that could be our mission statement.

The Parrot's latest acquisition, from Steven LaPierre

Brown Chicken Brown Cow

High-Octane Barn Burners Chicken Brown Cow bring their Old Timey Music to The green Parrot on Wednesday, May 18th with shows at 5:30 and 10:00 P.M.

Our string band from West Virginia...
Xander Hitzig, Justin Morris, Orion Hitzig and Matt Del Olmo are BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand

Charlie Hatcher is also an original member playing Bass and Singing. Charlie is currently not touring with the band and is the proud Father of he and his Wife's baby Girl; Ruby. Congrats Charlie -

BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand began performing in the Spring of 2008 in West Virginia. BrownChicken gelled as a group fast, effortlessly. During late evening jams at various back porches and campfires the band was born. The boys spent a lot of time together, really listening to each other, the results of which quickly began to show up in the music. In the Fall of 2008 BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand moved to Maui, Hawaii and released our first album: "Fruit Goggles". When they first arrived in Maui they began performing on the streets of Paia meeting folks and exploring.

While touring Maui the band wrote their second album: "Gallop on You". This album includes some of the first tour's favorite works: Gypsy Jig, Bees Making Honey, Put you in the Ground, and many more. Since then BrownChicken has toured the United States coast to coast non-stop. The Band turned two years old this past August 2010 and released their third Album : "...It's a Deep Sbject" in West Virginia on July 2, 2010 at the Wild Bean in Lewisburg. BrownChicken BrownCow StringBand makes it back to their home state of West Virginia once a year to visit and perform. Look for them their in August 2011.

Coy LeBeau's Obituary in The New Orleans Times-Picayune on May 10, 2011

LeBEAU Coy James LeBeau passed away on Saturday, April 23, 2011, in New Orleans, at the age of 41. He is survived by his sweetheart Cerulleal "Featherhead" Saturnine (who affectionately called him "Papi"), his mother Beverly LeBeau, his siblings Susan Seybt, Carl "Bubba" Joseph LeBeau, Jr., and Kathy Anderson, his nieces and nephews, and myriad adoring friends. He was preceded in death by his father Carl Joseph LeBeau, Sr. Coy was born on March 13, 1970 in Baton Rouge. He grew up in Baton Rouge, where he swam for the Magnolia Woods Swim Team and the LSU Swim Team. He studied culinary arts at the Culinary Institute of Louisiana and the Ritz-Escoffier Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise in Paris, France. His career as a chef began in Austin, TX at Zoot Restaurant and Hudson's on the Bend. Coy owned and operated LeBeau's, a restaurant in Fairhope, AL, that patrons often described as having had a "living presence." He later moved to Key West, FL, where he cooked at Louie's Backyard, Bagatelle, and Twisted Noodle. In Key West he spent many afternoons at the Green Parrot, and swam in the ocean nearly every day. After moving to New Orleans, he took over as chef at The Country Club of the Bywater. Coy had a boundless spirit, was overwhelmingly generous, and truly loved to feed people. A Second Line Jazz Funeral will be held in his honor on Friday, May 13, 2011, assembling in front of The Joint, on Poland Ave., at 6pm and parading through the Bywater to The Country Club. All family and friends of Coy's are welcome to attend and celebrate his life with us. "Death is one moment, and life is so many of them." - Tennessee Williams.

See Coy Lebeau's obituary in The New Orleans Times-Picayune here

Smiling Faces at The Green Parrot

Celebrating a Birthday and a Graduation at The Green Parrot

Coy's "Funeral with Music"

It wasn't planned as a jazz funeral, but if you walked into the Green Parrot Saturday afternoon you could have heard these lines from St. James Infirmary:

"When I die want you to dress me in straight lace shoes

I wanna a boxback coat and a Stetson hat

Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain

So the boys'll know that I died standing flat"

This verse recited onstage at a memorial service on Saturday for our friend Coy Lebeau, who passed at the age of 41 just a week or so ago in New Orleans.

His wife Cerulleal, pictued above wearing Coy's hat and flanked by Nicki and Tommy, two of Coy's oldest friends, arrived in Key West a few days ago and was here to remember Coy, have a few rounds and trade stories and wonder how could it be that these outrageous stories could have no sequel. How could it end so soon.

If anyone deserved a "Funeral with Music" as it is called in New Orleans, it was Coy.

We really had none of the essentials of a jazz funeral prepared for Saturday (jazzfest in New Orleans) , but what we did have was The Brass Section from Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band who were camped out in our band house just a few steps away.

I said, Derrick, would you care to join in on this one.

Derrick asked bandmate Greg to come aboard and he brought out his baritone sax, introduced himself to Blue and in typical New Orleans fashion, got on stage and after Derrick recited the verse quoted above began their acoustic rendition of that somber dirge, St James Infirmiry.

I want six crap shooters for my pallbearers,

and a chorus girl to sing me a song

Place a jazz band on my hearse wagon,

just to raise hell as we roll along

Traditionally, a change in the tenor of the ceremony takes place after

members of the procession say their final good bye and they "cut the body loose". After this the music becomes more upbeat, often starting with a hymn or spiritual number played in a swinging fashion. The boys obliged by giving us a rousing second line version of "Saints"