KEY WEST OFF BROADWAY

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A new off Broadway show opened recently. Drop Dead Perfect. Key West and a drag queen.

The show stars Everett Quinton. He plays an eccentric Key West matron.

The show itself has been described as a tropical hotbed of heathens.

All a perfect Key West fit!

Quinton plays Idris Seabright. Who is/was Idris Seabright? I do not know if there is a connection. However there was an authoress of some renown by that name. A bit eccentric in her day. She and her husband frequented nudist camps and were members of Wicca. Idris’ real name was Margaret St. Clair. Under the name Idris Seabright, she wrote science fiction..

Stopped at Joy Gallery again yesterday. Visited a bit. You should stop in. Jim is good company. Sit and enjoy a cup of coffee with him.

The Chart Room first last night. Emily bartending. Fred from Louisville there again. Fred is the gentleman I met last week. A nice guy. He owns a parking lot at Churchill Downs just a few yards from the main gate.

Jean Thornton stopped in. Looked fantastic in her new short hair style.

I only stayed for one drink. Decided to walk over to Kelley’s for wings. On the way, I realized it was not yet 7. Kelley’s happy hour lasts till 7. Happy hours are not my thing. I was on Duval at the moment. Burger Fi was just across the street. I crossed.

The very lovely Alex bartending. I had not been in burger Fi for a month. She remembered me and what I drank immediately. Alex has been a Burger Fi main stay for quite a while now. She is the single mother of six year old girl.

I like Alex.

While I was enjoying a double cheeseburger and onion rings (to die for), I was leafing through this week’s Conch Color. Christopher Rounds was featured.

Chris is one of the new owners of La Te Da. Previously, he owned Antonia’s. Chris is renovating La Te Da. Business is ongoing while the work is being done.

I have been a visitor and resident of Key West for 26 years. La Te Da has always been a part of my life during those years. It is that kind of place. It has gone through several owners and several renovations. I have a feeling Chris will make it the best ever.

Chris is originally from Boonville, New York. Fifteen miles from my hometown Utica. He comes from good stock!

Enjoy your day!

 

FAST BUCK FREDDIE’S

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All good things come to an end. Nothing is forever.

Fast Buck Freddie’s closed down three years ago. Support for a store of its quality no longer existed.

I loved Fast Buck Freddie’s! Great stuff! Expensive prices! Nothing cheap. It was not a place you shopped in often. Anything purchased there was a treat.

I recall 15 years ago buying my wife a mask for Fantasy Fest. A gold eye mask with big green feathers. Looked terrific! It should have. Cost me $125. The mask sits to this day on my bedroom dresser on top of a glass head. I got it in the divorce.

Whenever I made a Fast Buck purchase, it was based on impulse. I walked in one day and saw this elephant chair. Short. Heavy. I could never have lifted it. With a pair of two foot tusks. I knew immediately where it would look good in my living room. $1,000.

My Boston granddaughter Samantha was visiting. She was 12 at the time. Grandpa offered to buy her a tee shirt. Why or who or what directed us to Fast Buck Freddie’s for the tee shirt, I cannot recall. I remember however that the tee shirt for my 12 year old granddaughter cost $60.

I am not listing complaints. I loved every minute I spent in Fast Buck Freddie’s and every penny I spent. The place was the Taj Mahal of Key West!

Its street windows were long and huge. The best window displays in Key West! I doubt anyone would dispute the representation.

Over the years, the building housing Fast Bucks was owned individually or jointly or whatever by Tony Falcone, Jimmy Buffet, and David Wolkowsky.

Tony Falcone operated Fast Buck Freddie’s for 37 years. The store has been empty for three years. Falcone has done everything possible to get a Key West type occupant in the store. To no avail. CVS is going to open a drug store in place of Fast Buck Freddie’s. Falcone feels bad. However, he had no choice. No one can blame him. Money is money. He hung onto an empty store way too long.

CVS in its new location will be blight on Duval Street. Such is progress!

My house was shown two times yesterday. No one bought it.

There were two highlights in my day yesterday. A visit with Jim Wallace at Joy Gallery. He has my Jack Baron’s for sale. The other was dinner with Lisa and the family last night.

Cameron is back from Turkey. He brought Robert and Ally each a fez. Bright red with a tassel. Robert wears his all the time, except when sleeping. He looks Turkish. Ally was not thrilled. She never wears her fez.

After dinner, I did something I never do. I was driving home. Suddenly had a desire for a soft chocolate ice cream cone. Dairy Queen! Oh, so good!

Enjoy your day!

NORMALCY RETURNS

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Got my car back! Yesterday afternoon. Freedom returned. I can once again go anywhere anytime.

The problem was twofold. An electric box above the ignition and the battery. All fixed! The car even feels different.

Food was a continuing problem without wheels. Could not get out to shop. Cupboard and refrigerator bare. So bad that at 7 this morning I was at Publix when it opened.

Jim Wallace of Joy Gallery was over in the afternoon. I am unloading some of my art work. He is a very knowledgeable fellow.

Big night last night! First time out in roughly a week. Stopped at Don’s Place first. By prearrangement, we were going out to dinner. We turned into Don, David, Hershel, Erika, and Randy. A few drinks and we were on our way to Benihana. One of Don’s favorites.

The food and company were enjoyable.

Met Jose and Judy while at Benihana. Jose is originally from Cuba. He nows lives in Marathon. Delivers lobsters up and down the keys. His lady friend was Judy. She makes cigars in Cuba. She is here visiting. I wondered how it was possible. Turned out she is a citizen of Spain.

I did bad things last night. Felt good, however. Had a few drinks and smoked cigarettes. It felt good!

This week end is part of the Mel Fisher Days celebration. Streets will be blocked off all day. Fun time big time, especially this afternoon and evening.

Enjoy your day!

UGLY…..

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Ugly. A descriptive title.

I was sitting at the bar at Roostica having dinner last night. The buzz centered around one thing. The shark caught off Stock Island earlier in the day. A goblin shark.

The shark was 18 feet long. Appeared to have a double head. Not really, however. It has a long snout. Underneath and hidden, a jaw that comes out like a second head. The jaw comes out when prey is about to be caught. Big teeth and all.

I say ugly because I saw a picture of the goblin shark caught. Nothing you would want to cuddle up to.

The story of its capture is most interesting. A shrimp boat caught it. Shrimp boats fish daily off Stock Island.

The shrimp boat had its nets down 2,000 feet scooping up shrimp. The net was heavy coming up. There it was! This 18 footer! No one knew what it was at the time. It was still alive. All the shrimp fishers knew was they wanted the thing off their boat!

One of the fisherman took his cell phone out and recorded the event. That is how a definite identification was made.

The fish is actually pink in color. Down 2,000 feet, it takes on a black hue.

Before the shrimp fisherman today, it is estimated there are only 10 people alive who have ever seen a goblin shark.

The goblin shark has been described as a living fossil. It is prehistoric looking. Especially its wicked teeth.

The fisherman who took the pictures is to be complimented.

The other fisherman threw the goblin  shark overboard. They hoisted it up and dumped it back into the ocean. They were not going to screw around with the ugly 18 footer!

I babysat yesterday afternoon. Robert, Ally and I did Burger Fi again. They loved the cheeseburgers the last time and wanted to return.

Some things are too difficult for me at 78. Don’t laugh. These machines where you fill your glass with ice and then your soda selection confuse me. I could not figure out the ice nor could I get diet Coke. I kept coming up with an orange drink. I told Ally, you do it for me!

After lunch, we stopped at Joy Gallery. Jim and Theresa Wallace there. Nice people. I am glad to have made their acquaintance.

Robert and Ally could not understand what I was talking about as we headed to the Gallery. They could not put together that my Barons were now hanging in a different place. When they saw them, they understood. They kept pointing out which had hung where in my home.

Crystal Marie is an avid fan of this blog. She was in Key West yesterday to be married. Two in the afternoon at Smathers Beach. She invited me via e mail yesterday morning to stop by if I could. I could not because of the babysitting. Crystal Marie, many congratulations! Next year when you return to celebrate your first anniversary, we will get together.

Tonight, Montessori! Robert and Ally’s school. There is an open house at 5.

Robert and four other classmates designed and built a 9 hole miniature golf course. Even goes upstairs, Robert says! You have to putt the ball uphill from the first to second floor.

Don is coming with me. He is interested, as I am, in the type of job the kids did. Don’s Second Annual Miniature Golf Tournament will take place next year. Don says if the kids did a good job, he might hire them. For real!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

A WONDERFUL EVENING

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Every Key West evening is good. Some are just better. Last night was one of the better ones.

The early evening was at Joy Gallery. The Jack Baron exhibit. Over 50 paintings. Several mine.

The gallery was packed when I arrived. Owner/curator Jim Wallace and his wife Theresa. It was the first time Theresa and I met. She was aware of me initially from the devastating operation I underwent in Key West about nine years ago. I lost 25 per cent of my colon needlessly. She had recently undergone some sort of stomach surgery with the same doctor. A disaster also from her perspective.

Some of my friends were in the crowd. Tom and Kathy from Connecticut. Larry and Christine with England’s John and Ali. I was honored Christine attended. She is a for real artist. Her works are selling well. Whereas, I did not paint. I merely collected.

People were taking pictures of me with their spouses or alone in front of some of the Baron’s. I met Ed Krane for the first time. He took pictures of me with Jim and Theresa Wallace. Ed was at one time with the same TV station I had been. We had interesting war stories to share.

I ended up explaining certain of my Baron acquisitions and how they came to be. Everyone  had an interest in Jack Baron.

Jim Wallace did an excellent job showing Baron’s paintings and bringing out the crowd he did last night.

My next stop was the Chart Room. No one I knew. A bunch of younger guys whooping it up. I had one drink and left.

Last night would have been Emily’s night to work. She is in Lexington for the Kentucky Derby later today. She has attended many. She is originally from the area. She told me before she left that she was making the hat she will wear herself.

Larry let me know as he left Joy Gallery that they were heading over to the Key West Pub. A new place. Across the street from La Te Da. In my 26 years in Key West, I have seen several businesses come and go in the building. They all start with a bang. Hard to survive, however. The rent! The last tenant was paying $14,000 a month. You have to sell a lot of booze to cover that nut!

Perhaps this place may make it. I hope they do The inside is different. Multi colored walls and bright lights.

The Pub was jam packed. Fortunately, there was an empty seat at Larry’s table. The booze was flowing. Food was free. Huge sliders. Everyone spoke well of the sliders.

I was impressed with the greeting crew. There were two men standing on the sidewalk outside the entrance. One said hello Louis. The other…..Key West Lou. I do not recall having met either before.

Met Sean the manager inside. A hug and big kiss on the cheek. He was kissing everyone. As I was leaving, the owner came up and introduced himself. Stephen Pointer. Garbed in a sharp tuxedo. He is from England. I wished him well. Time will tell. The fact that La Te Da is across the street does not hurt. People tend to enjoy both. They will move from one bar to the other several times a night.

Then it was across the street to La Te Da. There was new owner Christopher standing in the entrance. Christopher is the former owner of Antonia’s. You will recall I stopped going to Antonia’s several years ago. It had nothing to do directly with Christopher. It was, if you will excuse the vernacular,  his asshole manager at the time. Christopher gave me a big hug.

It had been several years since I was at La Te Da, also. No reason. Just stopped going.

I ate at the outside bar. I have been a customer at La Te Da off and on for 25 years. Tonto has always been the outdoor bartender during that time. Love Tonto and her partner. Old friends, we generally meet in Publix while grocery shopping.

Twenty five years ago and ten years ago, I always enjoyed La Te Da’s lacquered duck. I enjoyed it again last night. Wow! Outstanding!

After dinner, I grabbed a snifter of Grand Marnier and walk into the inside bar. Sassy no longer bartending. He was a mainstay. A Key West icon. Casey is the new bartender. A lovely. She said Sassy now lives somewhere in Pennsylvania.

I was hoping to catch Debra and Patrick. Regulars at La Te Da for more than 20 years. They were away for the weekend. Instead the Spectrelles were entertaining. If I recall correctly, they used to appear in the Utica area at the Turning Stone casino. Absolutely outstanding. I stayed at the bar listening to them longer than I had intended. The three ladies wore wigs. The bouffant style of the late 1950s and 1960s.

Randy Roberts was at the other end of the bar. We nodded hello to each other. He is a female impersonator at La Te Da. He has been performing there more than 20 years. It must have been his night off. He was dressed casually. He looked amazing! Younger than when I first met him years ago.

Today, the Kentucky Derby. I have not paid attention this year. Have no idea who is running. I will watch the race at Don’s Place. The ladies will all be wearing bonnets of sorts.

Sorry this blog is a bit long. It was a long evening, however. Filled with all kind of good happenings.

Enjoy your day!

 

TONIGHT…..JACK BARON EXHIBIT AT JOY GALLERY

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My dining room walls are empty. So too my center hall. Two spots in the living room. Three wall spaces upstairs.

My Jack Baron paintings are gone!

Tonight from 6-9, Joy Gallery at the corner of Simonton and Eaton is exhibiting Jack Baron’s works. More than fifty. Fourteen of which are mine.

The exhibit is a tribute to Jack Baron. Jack was my friend. A close friend. I miss him to this day. He passed on some six years ago.

An e mail announcement went out yesterday by Jim Wallace. Jim is the curator at Joy Gallery. It announced the exhibit this evening. Two Baron paintings were shown on the face of the announcement. Both mine!

My home is naked. My dining room was all Jack Baron. Except for two mirrors, nothing remains. A lonely feeling.

I suggest you visit the exhibition this evening. From 6-9. See the great work Jack did with acrylics and black people.

The season has changed in Key West. It is now humid all day. Need air conditioning all day. Besides being uncomfortable without it, the humidity invites mold inside a home.

I spent my daytime yesterday working on next week’s KONK Life column. A story about Thomas Jefferson and how he died poor. The title: He Died Broke.

Bocce last night. We have not done well this season. To say we sucked would be accurate. Not last night. We played the #2 team. They will end up #1 before the season is over. They have been champions three times.

I stayed for the first two games. Played in the first. We won both! The first one that I played in 16-8. The second 16-15. My ass was dragging so I left at the start of the third game. The two wins a major victory!

John and Ali are good friends from England. They live outside London. They spend every December in Key West.

Last night Tom introduced me to Phil and Joelle. They live in Guildford, just outside London also. Phil is into landscape gardening and Joelle works for an engineering exhibition company. They have visited Key West six times. This year for two months. Joelle said, next year for three!

Phil and Joelle are good friends with Tom. I figured they should be good friends of John and Ali, also. I called Larry Smith over. Made the introductions. He is going to contact Tom to set up a meeting between Phil and Joelle and John and Ali.

My age was evident last night. Someone asked me Erika’s name. She was score keeping. I know Erika. I love Erika. I could not remember her name. I asked team mate Norman her name. He is 15 years younger than me. He looked at her with a blank expression. Finallly, her husband Hershel said…..Erika.

This Russia/Ukraine mess appears to have no end.

The book I recently published The World Upside Down contained a chapter entitled Floras’s Story. I also wrote a blog about Flora last year while I was in Greece. Flora lives in Albania. She was in Greece working at a summer job.

Flora is 41. A school teacher. She has lived in Albania her whole life.  Albania was part of Soviet Russia as Ukraine was. Flora lived her first 21 years under Russian rule. She told me being independent was better. Things were very tough under the Russians. I mentioned her comments in this regard in Flora’s Story. You might want to read the tale in its entirety.

I have a busy day today. A business meeting at 2. The Baron exhibit at 6. Two things in one day is busy for me!

Enjoy your day!

JACK BARON EXHIBIT

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Jack’s back! Jack Baron! One of Key West’s premier artists. Now dead some six years. Jim Wallace at Joy Gallery has scheduled an exhibit of Jack’s works.

Wallace has accumulated over fifty of Jack’s paintings from private collectors. I am one of them. I have 14 pieces. Several will be in the exhibit.

The Jack Baron exhibit opens Friday evening, May 2, at 6 in the evening. Refreshments will be available. The exhibit will remain open through May 17.

It is not necessary you buy. Though it would be nice. The exhibit is an opportunity to view a large number of Jack’s paintings. Such an event may never occur again.

Lunched at Burger Fi yesterday. I have returned! Their product was not the best a couple of months ago when they first opened. The burgers have since gotten dramatically better. Robert and Ally enjoyed their cheeseburgers last Saturday. I enjoyed a double today.

While at Burger Fi, I met the manager. Rob Litman. He is retired military. Originally from Philadelphia. Has a daughter living in Key West. Came down to join her. Now burger Fi has been added to his family.

Rob told me Wednesday night is Ladies Night. Everything like half price. Raven Cooper is singing again tonight. A spectacular voice!

One of the things I like best about Burger Fi is that locals get a 20 per cent discount. A burger costs nothing to begin with. Throw in the discount and it is like eating for nothing.

Needed the New York City touch. Had dinner at the bar at Marriott’s Tavern ‘n Town. Mike Emerson performing again. I sat reading the newspaper, sipping some gin and picking on fried calamari. At the same time, singing quietly along with Mike Emerson.

England’s John and Ali were at Tavern ‘n Town having dinner with Ray and several others.

College tuition in the news again. Loans, payments, etc. A sad situation. What happened to working your way through. I did, as many of my friend’s did. We made it and generally with good grades. Liberalism took over and decided that the government would help finance college. Has not worked fairly. Graduates are burdened with tons of payments that in many instances are impossible to meet.

What galls me and is little known is that our benevolent government is benefiting big time. Last year, the government made over $40 billion off the loan programs.

Chiropractors and Medicare. It was announced yesterday that a Brooklyn chiropractor charged and was paid in excess of $1 million by Medicare in 2012. I do not know the details. However, sounds like a lot of money to me.

When I started practicing law in 1960, a chiropractor could neither testify nor have his bills paid as part of a negligence law suit. New York did not recognize chiropractor as a profession and so any testimony regarding them was not admissible. Now, they are a major factor and force.

I am not expressing an opinion as to right or wrong. Merely stating the facts as they have developed from the 1960s to present date.

Bocce tonight. Yesterday was the first day I felt better since Sunday. Never again will I play bocce in the day time in the boiling sun!

Enjoy your day!


LIMES…..GREEN GOLD

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Who would have believed? All of a sudden, limes are an expensive luxury. Do not expect them with your alcoholic drinks.

There is a shortage of limes.  A recent occurrence. Two reasons. A drought in Mexico. Plus, the Mexican drug cartel. The cartel is fighting for Mexican routes and roads. Limes cannot be safely shipped over the roads.

The price of limes has doubled and even tripled overnight. A case that cost $36 is now $110.

I learned of the lime problem last night. Jean Thornton, Merri and I were chatting at the Chart Room. Jean mentioned Captain Tony’s was no longer serving limes. She understood there was a shortage. My research discovered the rest.

There was a time when an attempt was made to grow limes in Florida. The attempt failed. Florida weather is too cold for lime growing. Additionally, diseases common to Florida vegetation did not help.

There is discussion of attempting lime growing in Florida again. Nothing definite as yet.

I finally was able to get into the art gallery I was not able to last week. Joy Gallery. It is located at the corner of Simonton and Eaton. A comfortable place inside. Chairs, couches and coffee. Free wi-fi. Come in and make yourself comfortable, even if you might not be buying. I suspect I shall be doing some of my writing from there occasionally.

The owner of Joy Gallery is Jim Wallace. Curator is the professional term. I enjoyed my time with him. He is a knowledgeable person.

Stop in and take a look at some of the fine pieces he is showing.

I lunched at Sloppy Joe’s yesterday. A thing I rarely do. I enjoyed lunch with the cruise ship people. A Sloppy Joe sandwich. What else!

I needed some groceries. Stopped at Publix. Apparently I needed little. The bill was only $42. I felt like I had made money!

Merri has been bartending at the Chart Room one or two nights a week for several years. Last night was her last night. Jean, Sheila and I were celebrating her departure. Yes, celebrating. Merri is only moving 100 yards down the walk way. To the Pier House beach bar where she will be working more days a week. More money and constant fresh air. Nil smoke inhalation.

Met Wally Miller in the Chart Room last night. Wally hails from somewhere in New Jersey. His nickname is Mayor. He has visited Key west before.

Wally, his wife and three other couples are staying at the Pier House.

Wally told an interesting story. He and his friends “steal” Key West menus. When home in Jersey, they try to cook certain dishes listed once a month.

It is Che’s birthday again! He is 81 today. Seems like yesterday we celebrated his 80th. Happy birthday Che!

Che sounds Cuban. He is not. Where he got the name Che from, I do not know. Che is a New York City Jew transplanted to Key West.

I briefly discussed neo-Nazism in yesterday’s blog. I was motivated by the Kansas City shooting by a neo-Nazi(s) at two different Jewish synagogues. Three persons were killed. I said the three were Jewish. Turns out one was. The other two were Presbyterians or some similar sect.

Two readers jumped on me in their comments. One said correctly that only one of those killed was Jewish. The other indicated none of the three were Jewish.

Whatever, I was wrong when I said all three. Mea culpa. I try to be careful and get the facts straight. Sometimes I do not. I am only human. I do make mistakes. I would suggest the Bible’s admonition…..Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

In defense, I offer the following. The national news media is always in a hurry to be the first out with a big story. Their facts are many times incorrect. Sometimes I only have those facts to deal with. I write that section of the blog when I read the news on the internet. When the blog is assembled, I unfortunately do not go back to check the facts. There is only so much time in the day. Occasionally, I repeat the erroneous information contained in the news report. As I did yesterday.

Please keep in mind this  is not a gotcha game!

My blog talk radio show tonight at 9. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Join me. Interesting up to date material discussed. Sometimes with my personal take on the situation. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Tonight some information re the United States’ combat readiness, air pollution in China and France, the economy bringing down some big corporations, how Putin is gaining for his own bank account from monies recently being sent to Ukraine from the U.S., some things I did not know about the Catholic Church, Albuquerque police executing citizens, and more.

Enjoy your day!