I'm going to try and get into blogging mode again. One would think I had enough time, although I do slow down as winter approaches. Well, going back to voting night--oh, by the way, Sid just AIMd me that Bush is trying to pass a bill before Obama gets in that will let the government put surveillance on anybody with the pretext that they are crime suspects. I think they've been doing it all along, I likely misunderstood Sid, they are likely more dire implications now. Bush & Cheney will burn the White House down in January and turn into vampire bats and fly off, but only after sharing an erotic kiss with Bush bottoming from the top (a phrase I read in a Batman comic, of all places, earlier this afternoon).
So, election night I was in the old 'hood, you saw the photos of the grinning pigs. This really will be a boring post, at least compared to when I riffed about Archer Avenue. I lived just north of those pigs, then at the corner of Pulaski there was this INSANE five way intersection with 87th and Southwest Highway (Columbus Avenue), a street which eventually will go all the way to Stateville Prison. Well, there's a lot of changes at that intersection now. The Pain Clinic is now some indecipherable place since Dr. Rodriquez died. The real name was Southside Physical Medicine Center, and man they did some evil crap to me there trying to fix me up, but in big letters next to the street address it read PAIN CLINIC. This is where they put needles in me and toggled them around to see if any nerve endings screamed out on the LED screen. Bluebird Lanes used to be Laredo Lanes, which had a HUGE red neon B O W L sign that never, as far as I could recall, had the B lit up, and so every night, the last thing I saw was the word OWL backwards above the treetops, from the hallway window. Earl Scheib's is gone, first time I saw his commercials he was painting cars for $29.99. Bill's Grill is gone, there was a waitress there I could swear was being abused, my dad checked it out with the cops to no avail. SW Highway is no way as cool as Archer, though it is an artery, eventually passing the old M&R Drive-In next to the Zayre's and Big Ben Shoe Store. On weekends, my Uncle Ed and I would drive through the tunnel under the screen and there'd be a huge flea market. Ed taught me how to do the...well, I just call it The Ed. Four pockets in your jeans, dollars in one, quarters in another, nickles and dimes in the third, your wallet in the last. Learned to go for whichever pocket made me look tapped out. Within about a half mile of the drive-in (the entire mall is gone now, the trainyard to the south is still there), SW Highway dead ends at 71st & Western. You could always tell where it ended because of the giant Mr. Shrimp bucket. That's gone, too. Guess this is why I haven't been posting, not a heck of a lot to say.
3 comments:
Glad you survived four sticks day. I'm going to be haunted by the word "OWL" in big red neon letters now.
The main drag in my hometown is called Norwich Street. Nice Brit name for a street in a town that was laid out in perfect grids by a bunch of Krauts using enslaved Africans to do the hard work. Ah, the South.
At any rate, I have to say that it's a cool street to look at, if you're all into decrepitude. Many of the ancient businesses are still there, after six decades or more. Twin Oaks Barbecue has been there since...well...forever. Still going strong. Willie's Weenie Wagon is still there. Their motto is "We Relish Your Bun". It's right there on the sign. Many of the car dealerships are still there, too. I might go back just to take some photos.
Having escaped from an abusive marriage (and the subsequent stalking that followed) when I was very young and naive, I can appreciate the help that you tried to get the waitress. Too bad a solution was not found, and I hope that she got out on her own eventually. :-(
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