BOAT PARADE PICS FANTASTIC

Key West’s Christmas on the water! The Lighted Boat Parade last night.

Pictures are available for viewing in today’s KONK Life News E-Blast. Colorful beyond imagination! Boats decorated the best yet.

Today’s Key West Citizen does not carry any of the pics unfortunately. The Citizen goes to press early. Pics will probably appear in tomorrow’s edition.

I ran around in the afternoon yesterday shopping. Nothing special. Not gift time yet. Christmas shopping is generally a last minute thing with me.

Last night, it was dinner at the bar at Roostica. It kept me away from the DUI check point.

I rarely agree with a Key West Citizen editorial. Generally too far to the right. Also, I suspect most of the editorials are not written locally. This morning however I was overly joyed with the editorial page.

The editorial itself was obviously locally written. It had to do with the new food truck ordinance as proposed. The editorial was right on. It views the proposed ordinance as government run amok.

George Will is an intelligent thoughtful writer. He writes for the Washington Post and is seen regularly on television. It is rare I agree with him. He is too far to the right. However, I wholeheartedly agree with his column carried on the Citizen’s editorial page today. It concerns itself with over criminalization. I agree with everything he wrote wholeheartedly.

Since I am into the newspaper thing this morning, I suggest you read this week’s column written by me in KONK Life. The American Dream…..gone, Gone, GONE. It is on the stands all over the keys at the moment. I suggest the column to you because I believe it covers an important topic which perhaps we do not give enough thought to.

Syracuse basketball at 4 this afternoon. Syracuse plays Louisiana Tech. The Tech tells you this is intended as a warm up game for Syracuse. However based on the way Syracuse has played thus far in the pre-season, I do not know. Syracuse is a 7 point favorite.

I am not sure where I will be watching the game. Home, Don’s Place or the Lion’s Den. First time you have heard me mention the Lions Den. JDL’s Big Ten Sports Pub was sold.  I do not know who the new owners are.  I have not seen John Lukas yet to offer my congratulations and sorrow.

I seem to be into the Key West Citizen this morning. It’s the Citizen’s fault. They finally came out with an edition that has many positives from my perspective.

There is a local column in this morning’s Citizen having to do with the holidays. Christmas trees are a part of th article. It was mentioned that some people today were going into the woods to chop their tree down because it was cheaper. Cheaper now, but not when I did it!

Some forty years ago, I cut my own tree down two consecutive years. On a nearby hillside was a Xmas tree farm. You could go on and cut your own down. The cost was expensive! Probably 3-4 times more than buying it cut already from a street vendor.

Appreciate the snow is deep this time of the year up north. Utica is in the foothills to the Adirondack Mountains. The Xmas tree farm was on one of the initial foothills. Cold like you would not believe! Mouths covered with scarfs. Scarfs sticking to a person’s lips.

I thought it would be exciting for my children. They were all under 10. One or two might not yet have been in school.

Away we went. So many trees! We could not decide on the one we liked best. We kept walking. The more we walked, the farther we got from our car. I had with me a hand ax. We found the tree. Everyone was happy. I had to chop it down at the base. I had never wielded a hand ax before. George Washington I was not. It was a difficult task. A couple of swipes did not do it. The branches were cutting across my face. The ice cold wind blowing. I soon hated the whole idea.

After success at chopping the tree down, I had to drag/carry it to the car. The car seemed like 10 miles away. The kids helped me. We had high ceilings. The tree was  big. 8-9 feet tall and wide.

The kids and I did it again the next year. I seemed more adept with the ax. Still the entire event was a pain! Only to me. The children were thrilled. Which made it worth while.

I never did it again after the second year. Enough was enough.

Enjoy your Sunday!

DUI SOBRIETY CHECK POINT

I have always thought there was a degree of unfairness when police use radar or a sobriety check point. It sort of gives authorities an unfair advantage. The fact that I might be wrong being immaterial.

Florida is a screwy state when it comes to laws. One good law requires police to give notice when and where a sobriety check point will be established. Together with the hours. Fair.

There is a sobriety check point tonight on US 1 and Cross Street for north bound traffic. It has been advertised in the Key West Citizen twice this week. To be forwarned is to be forearmed. Stay away from US 1 and Cross Street from 7 to 2 tonight.

I am. Not that I get smashed and drive. I drink, but very rarely to excess. However, one never knows. Better safe than sorry. I shall either stay home this evening or limit my out of house activities to the three places that do not require me to pas through the check point. Roostica, Hogfish, and Geiger Key.

Sad that a sobriety check point is being conducted this evening. Tonight is the Lighted Boat Parade. To attend would take me into town. On the way back, I would have to drive through the check point.

I would have watched the Boat Parade from Schooners Wharf. It will be cold enough there. Around 62 degrees. On a boat, the experience 20 degrees cooler.

I wrote my KONK Life column for next week yesterday afternoon. The American Dream Revisited / Torture Pays. There is money to be made it doing sick and  distasteful things. Like torturing. The column concerns the two individuals who were paid $81 million to devise and help implement a torture system to be used on Guantanamo and other located detainees.

An interesting article. Especially where it is spelled out how the government got ripped off.

It was cold last night. Mid 60s when I decided to go out. The Chart Room friday evenings seems to be absent regulars. When  I am out and about, I am first looking for the company of friends. My sense was that the Chart Room regulars were doing the outside Galleon bar fridays. The bar is located on the water.

Ergo, I did not even stop first at the Chart Room. Went straight to the Galleon. I was wrong. No friends. No one I knew. Cold as hell! The wind off the ocean. JJ bartending. I had one drink and was gone. I decided it was too cold to stay out and went home.

I mentioned the other day that gasoline had dropped to $2.99 at the K-Mart station on the boulevard. The Shell station near my home was still $3.10. Yesterday, it dropped to $2.99.  This morning’s paper says gas prices will continue to drop. About time! We got screwed for too many years.

This morning’s Key West Citizen carried an article regarding the arrest of two local men. Alleged marijuana charges. The article also advised a continuing investigation regarding an alleged illegal gambling operation. The nick name of one of the individuals is Joe Weed. He is an $85,000 a year computer analyst for  the Monroe County schools.

I do not know whether is he guilty or innocent. I really do not care. His business, his headache. What bothers me however is that he is one of the leaders of the group protesting nudity during Fantasy Fest. Hypocrisy, assuming he is guilty.

Street demonstrations are occurring all over the world. Not just in the United States. This week alone, Greece, Italy and Haiti. Not a healthy situation. Sometimes however, it is the only way a people can be heard.

My friend Anna in Novara contacted me yesterday. There were demonstrations in 50 Italian cities. Union led. No one worked. Brought Italy to a halt for one day. Italian demonstrations are riots. Actual clashing with the police. See the pictures on the internet.

The economy is the problem. As with Greece, the austerity measures imposed on the people have become onerous. They won’t take  it any more is the message.

Interestingly, Silvio Berlusconi is back! You can’t keep a good man down. Convicted of income tax evasion and having sex with a 17 year old, he continues to hang in there. The word is he is maneuvering and pulling strings behind the scenes.

Enjoy your day!

CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE

The sun is shining bright this morning in Key West. Nary a cloud in the sky. The temperature 59 degrees!

I am cold!

Today will go to 64. A heat wave!

Before my northern friends think I am crazy, please understand the following. When you live in a tropical climate all year long, your blood thins. When you enjoy the change of seasons as up north, your blood is thicker. Thinner blood means Key Westers feel the cold!

Key West is loaded with all kind of fun activities. This saturday night, the annual Lighted Boat Parade. Boats are decorated as people do the outside of their homes at Xmas time.

I have been on one of the boats several times. A fun event! It will be cold saturday night during the parade. Whatever the actual temperature is on land, it will be 20 degrees colder on the water. People will be wrapped in winter attire. Not a hard trip to experience, however. Drink and food available. Dancing on the larger boats. If you are with someone you like, a constant close embrace. Combined, these factors tend to warm.

I will miss the Boat Parade this year. The police have decided to have a traffic stop from 7 pm saturday to 2 am sunday. On US 1 and Cross Street. The only way home for me is up US 1 and across Cross Street. A gambler, I am not. I will play it safe and stay home. Perhaps have dinner at Roostica which is up from Cross Street.

Key Westers know how to play. I discovered there is a New Year’s Eve event I was not aware of. In its tenth consecutive year. It is called Dachshund Walk. Would you believe! People walk their dachshunds over a specific route. Dogs and owners playfully attired. The parade route is intentionally short to accommodate the participants’ short legs and long bodies.

There is a serious event of which I was unaware. A Homeless Persons Memorial Day. Roughly 50 homeless people died in Key West this year. A memorial service will be held at the Key West Cemetery on December 21. The remains of the 50 will be interred.

We are one human family.

Did my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Enjoyed doing it! I thought Pope Francis’ story re showers for the homeless in St. Peter’s Square interesting. The French not wanting anything to do with the new trade pact Obama is pushing because it would mean the introduction of GMOs into France revealing.

Then Greece. A last minute topic. Things were happening in Greece through radio time last night. Greece had riots in 6 major cities sunday. Not the orderly type. Police and protestors fighting. Tear gas smoke engulfing them. Yesterday, the Greek stock market faced its largest one day drop since 1987.

It is all tied into austerity. The Greeks borrowed too much from the European Union. They cannot pay it back. The Greek government has had Greece on an austerity program for several years to help pay the bill. Germany has been strangling Greece in its hard demands for repayment. Austerity has led to a loss of jobs. People cannot feed their families. Farmers cannot sell their produce because people do not have money to pay for them.

All this has led to a build up of the Greek Nazi party. Known as the Golden Dawn Party. They are anti-austerity and cater to the thinking of the suffering people. They are presently the third largest party in Greece.

Greece’s President yesterday announced he will be calling for new elections. There is no question in my mind that the Nazi party is a sure bet for a second place finish. Perhaps, a first. Their influence will be overwhelming.

I know Greece. I have written and talked about Greece the past three years. On my TV show, blog talk radio show, in my KONK columns. Even in my book published last year The World Upside Down. I suggested Greece was a tinderbox. I predicted if there was a third world war, it would not start in the Middle East. Greece was the place. Greeks hate Germans. The austerity Germany has imposed on them one reason. The abuse they were subjected to by the Germans during World War II another.

We live in dangerous times.

Tonight, dinner with Roger and Cheryl. We meet at the Chart Room for drinks and dinner later at the Hot Tin Roof.

I have hit 20 pounds lost on the diet. I am impressed. Only seven weeks.

Enjoy your day!

DIRECTIONS FOR BLOG TALK RADIO SHOW

 

Before getting into anything else, I have to mention the weather. It is absolutely perfect this morning! Everything about it. Key West has experienced a cold front the past two days. It is now gone.

A cold front of course is an evening temperature in the low 70s.

Let the bands play and the drums roll. My first blog talk radio show Tuesday morning. Seven o’clock.

Disregard any directions/instructions I previously gave regarding how to locate the show. Following is a more simplified version. Follow it step by step.

1. The site is www.blogtalkradio.com.

2. In the upper right corner of the page that comes up, there is a box saying “Search blogtalkradio.com.” Delete the verbiage. Enter in its place Current Events

3. A new screen will appear.

4. About 2 inches down, there are a series of tabs. Click on Advanced.

5. A new screen will appear. On the left side of the page will be a series Advanced Search. Boxes beneath. You must enter key west lou in two places.

6. First, the box labeled All Key Words.

7. Then the box entitled At least One of the Words.

8. Then enter. A new screen will appear. There will be a series of shows and pictures. Mine will be there. Click on it.

9. You will have arrived! The new screen is the how to and to listen.Follow the final instructions on the page. A simple one or two step thing.  If any person wishes to call in, the instructions are there. It is simple. If you are calling from outside the U.S., use Skype telephone.

10. Sit back,  enjoy your coffee, and the show.

There is a quicker way. Through Facebook. I have not got it figured out yet. If you do before me, let me know. It is merely the click of one button. Everything above can be avoided.

There is another Facebook way also. Go to Key West Lou’s status page. The page where I briefly set forth each day what is contained in my blog. The radio show is being promoted twice a day there.  Separate boxes. Click on one of those boxes and you will gain immediate entry.

The blog radio show is a talk show. Call and discuss anything you like with me. We do not have to agree.

The Lighted Boat Parade was off Schooner Wharf last night. I talked to a few people already this morning who were there. Terrific as usual.  A bit cold.

This is Nutcracker week in Key West. There is an afternoon performance today. I wanted to take Robert and Ally. I took my three daughters years ago when they were small. Robert is sick. Temperature, sore throat, etc. I cannot take Ally alone. Robert would not be happy. So we are off to next year. Too bad because I would have enjoyed taking them.

I am having trouble finding a Santa Claus. For a Christmas eve visit to Lisa’s house. The one I have had the past two years seems to have disappeared. If you know of anyone, let me know.

The Newtown tragedy has rekindled the right to bear arms controversy. I want to share with you some brief information concerning guns and the Florida Keys.

Florida is a concealed gun State. Which means it is ok to carry a gun if it is properly concealed on your body. Before you get excited, a total of 49 States permit concealed carry. Forty four permit open carry. Which simply means on your hip as in the days of the Old West.

There are close to one million permits to carry hand guns in Florida. Key West and all the Florida Keys basically make up Monroe County. There is some additional area north of the Keys. Insignificant however for purposes of this discussion.

Monroe County has the second largest number of permits to carry hand  guns per capita of any county in the State. The population is 73,000. There are 5,600 permits. A big number! Concealed must mean concealed. I have never seen anyone toting a gun in any fashion in Key West.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

WHY?

 

Why?

That is the question yesterday, today and for many days to follow.

The title to Devon Corneal’s blog in Huffington Post says it best: The “…right to bear arms is not more important than a child’s right to grow up.” In the blog itself, Corneal stated  children are not “…shooting galleries.”

After yesterday’s events involving the Newtown school shooting, everything else seems unimportant. However, forward movement is required.

My TV/Internet show the Key West Lou Legal Hour went well yesterday morning. I got the attention of the ladies with my comments regarding Michigan’s proposed restrictions to a woman’s reproductive rights. The ladies were aroused!

Tonight, the Lighted Boat Parade! An annual Key West Christmas event. Boats decorated to the hilt with lighted Xmas decorations. Most having a Key West slant.

I could have watched the parade from the Pier House deck with lovelies Stephanie Kaple and Jean Thornton. I declined. Too cold and too late for me.

Tuesday morning my first blog talk radio show! I am excited! One half hour. Seven in the morning my time.

Disregard all previous instructions given. Tomorrow I will have a new and simpler set for you to listen and/or call in. Call in! If not, I am going to feel foolish not having any one to talk with on a talk show.

One of the topics will be the Newtown school disaster and Second Amendment gun rights.

Enjoy your Saturday!

 

XMAS TIME IN KEY WEST

 

Key West’s Christmas season kicks off this week.

Thursday night is the Yacht Club Christmas Party. For the young. Santa Claus will be there with gifts.

Saturday is the Christmas Parade. Long. As with Macy’s, Santa Claus is on the last float. This is one of Key West’s best events. For young and old alike. All ages enjoy.

The Lighted Boat Parade is December 15. Sponsored by Schooner Wharf, it is a fantastic event. Many many boats will be dressed in Christmas lights. Ingenuity knows no bounds. Several times, I have done the Parade while on one of the boats. A party! Food and drink, music and dancing. Plus, cold! Out on the open water this time of the year, it is very cold. Boat people that night wear everything and then more.

The Parade can also be watched from shore. Two to three thousand will be watching and drinking and partying.

Robert and Ally are members of a swim team. The team is having its first meet Saturday morning. Robert and Ally will be swimming. Exciting!

My day out yesterday was simple. The bank and paid some bills.

The rest of the day was inside. Worked on Friday’s show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Read more of the Ulysses Grant book. I am up to 1858. Grant was a failure. As a soldier, businessman, and farmer. Generally lived poorly.  Hard to believe that shortly he would be the North’s most successful general and later President of the United States.

The diet keeps me in. Away from food and booze. I avoid the near occasions of sin.

The diet has been working well till this morning. The scale said I had gain a pound. From 12 pounds lost to 11. I am not discouraged. Part of the dieting process.

Syracuse basketball!

Syracuse won again last night. Beat East Michigan 84-48. Syracuse is now 6-0. Even better, Syracuse is ranked #4 in the country.

The Orange played sloppy, especially in the beginning of the game. Eighteen turnovers.  Sutherland who scored 35 points in the last game, only scored 4 last night. On the positive side, three Syracuse freshman were in the double figures.

It is still early in the season. I question the ability of this year’s team. The Big East games after the first of the year will tell the story.

Sloan will be in late this afternoon. We are doing another practice blog talk radio show. It’s getting there. The show will be questions, answers, and exchanges between me and the caller.

A chill in the air this morning. Overcast, also. It will clear and be warm later.

Enjoy your day!