Lets Go Lego Laibach

Laibach concert in Legoland

Kind of a busy day here at Wheelville Manor, so instead of some lengthy thought-provoking post, I thought I'd give you something light-hearted. I awoke this morning to find an email with this image from my friend, Simon, an exceedingly talented gentleman. This email reminded me that Simon had previously told me the most incredible story about coming to Ljubljana in 1989 as a 17 year-old American in order to, essentially, look for the famous Slovenian industrial band, Laibach.

Now, if you know anything about Slovenia's history you will know that 1989 was not a great time to be coming down to jolly old Yugoslavia and just wandering around the charming streets, and Simon's great story (honestly you have to hear him tell it himself) seems to corroborate that. The streets were tense with the rumblings of separation from an ailing post-Tito Yugoslavia. Slovenians were in the streets arguing about a new currency called lipa, some fought against it while others wore shirts with an image of the money demanding it ("I Want Lipa!" the shirt screamed). Simon bought one of the "pro" shirts and proceeded to wear it into the ground (alas he no longer has this priceless piece of memorabilia).

While young Simon and his sole travel companion (his 14 year-old brother) did have an *ahem* interesting time here I don't know if he'd count it as a success. It seems that no local Laibachians (note: Laibach was the German name for Ljubljana) were able to point him in the direction of Laibach. So he and his brother left, tails between legs, and headed to greener pastures... Berlin 1989.