WENT OUT LAST NIGHT

 

I cannot diet and visit my usual haunts. The near occasions of sin are food and drink. So, I remain home evenings. My recollection is that last night was the second time in the 35 days I have been dieting that I went out.

I was excited. It was exciting.

The Chart Room was the venue selected. It had not changed. JJ bartending. Dave, Sheila, and Captain Peter in attendance.

I was good. Did not drink nor eat pop corn. Two diet Pepsi’s instead.

Captain Peter never ceases to amaze me. I learned last night he was a bird watcher.

The Captain spoke specifically of two birds. I did not know them. I know nothing about birds. He had sighted one species here in Key West. Another flying in mass over Miami recently. Both totally foreign to Florida.

The birds’ habitat is Labrador. They were far from home. Captain Peter attributes their Florida presence to Hurricane Sandy. Interesting.

Duval Street was packed. Jam packed. Traditionally, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is the busiest for Key West. Come Wednesday morning, there will be no one. You can throw a bowling ball down Duval from one end to the other without hitting any one.

Tomorrow my blog talk radio show! Seven in the morning my time. You can listen and/or call in. The show is quick moving.

This will be show #3. Help me! Not only listen, telephone me from anywhere with a comment or thought. I am going to lead with the fiscal cliff, France trying a 75 per cent tax on its millionaires, and Silvio Burlosconi having to pay his wife $3 million a month. We are not limited. Can talk about any topic you wish.

Those living outside the United States can listen in/participate via Skype.

It may be radio, but a computer is required to join me. It is a radio internet show. Found easily at www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. Click on the second box that appears. The one with the date of the show. Voila, you will be in business!

I plan on going out again tonight. I will cheat, however. Plan on drinking. The game plan is to walk Duval a bit and at midnight watch Sushi come down on the red shoe at the Bourbon Street Pub. If I change my mind and stay in, I will still watch Sushi. CNN carries the drop live each year.

Hillary Clinton. How sad! How terrible! Hope her condition clears up swiftly.

Many were critical of Hillary when she announced she could not testify before the Congressional committee looking into Benghazi because  she had fallen and suffered a concussion. Many thought it was a convenient made up excuse. One of this blog’s loyal readers wrote and referred her malady as an “immaculate concussion.” I must concede, I thought ill of the situation as well. A lesson to be learned. Never jump the gun…..give a person the benefit of the doubt. Not all political figures are the same. Some tell the truth.

Enjoy your New Year’s Eve day! Better yet, enjoy this evening!

 

NEW YEAR MIDNIGHT DROPS

 

Midnight New Year’s Eve, the world watches the ball drop on Time Square. In person and on television.

Key West has its own drops. Three traditionally. Perhaps a fourth this year.

The original drop is Sloppy Joe’s. A ball drops onto the roof. There is a huge clock marking the seconds.

The Sushi drop is at the Bourbon Street Pub. The drop is about 15 years old. Sushi is one of Key West’s most infamous and beautiful female impersonators. Sushi sits in a huge red slipper which is dropped at midnight.

The third is the drop near the Schooner Wharf at the Historical Seaport. A pirate girl descends from a high ship mast as cannons boom.

There may be a new drop this year. Cow Boy Bill’s. A honky talk saloon. A huge property. Famous for its mechanical bull. More famous for its Wednesday nights when it is competitive bull riding time for the ladies. Topless.

Word is that Cow Boy Bill’s will have a lady or ball descending from a tall scaffold.

The Bourbon Street Pub/Sushi drop is world famous. CNN carries it world wide at midnight.

A few observations this day.

We keep hearing about the four Americans killed at Benghazi. Including the American Ambassador. Ten or more injured persons were airlifted out. Why have we not heard their stories? I cannot believe they were not interviewed. They seem to have been lost in the shuffle. No one talks about them.

Syracuse won a double header yesterday!

The football team beat West Virginia 38-14 in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. The team ends the season with a 9-5 record. Good for Syracuse! We have been a poor football team the past 15 years. The last few have seen Syracuse win a game here and there. Last year was better. This year the best. We should be even better next year.

The basketball team won, also. Beat Alcorn State 57-36. Nothing to write home about. Alcorn State plays a different game altogether. The game was merely a warm up for Syracuse. What happens next week when the Big East begins is what is important. Syracuse will do well this year. The question is how well. Much is expected from the basketball team each year. That is the price of success.

Income taxes continue to be a big issue. How much should the very rich pay? Obama wants 39.6 per cent. He will probably agree to less.

France has a taxing problem, also. The President wanted a rate for France’s millionaires of 75 per cent. It got shot down by a Constitutional Council on technical grounds. It is expected to return shortly and may pass.

It has been reported that some French millionaires are considering moving to the United States to avoid a high income tax.

Our millionaires should not complain!

Tuesday, I will be doing my blog talk radio show. My third one. Seven in the morning. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. A one half hour talk show. Listeners may call in to discuss topics with me.

I appreciate it is New Year’s morning. However, that is the day and time the show airs. If any of you are up, listen in. Enjoy a cup of coffee with me. You will enjoy.

We talk about anything and everything involving current events.

Enjoy your Sunday!