LIFE CHANGES RAPIDLY

I am down this morning. I just heard about a dear friend in Utica. Her husband e-mailed me. She has been diagnosed with cancer. Everywhere. Breasts, lungs and spine. Plus a mass in the pelvic area larger than a softball. The doctors are still testing to determine if the mass is cancerous.

A sweet woman. Never hurt a soul. Her husband my best friend.

In a split second, the world turns. Life changes.

Don’s 60th birthday party last night at Don’s Place. Packed! Larry Smith and his group entertained. Christine and the lovely Kathleen Peace singing. Ray on the guitar. Skipper on the drums. A loud night.

The crowd was a three way combination. Don’s friends, Larry’s followers from the Wine Galley, and Don’s usual friday night crowd. A good time was had by all!

Don is one of the finest people I have met in my lifetime. I feel fortunate to have met him. We are friends. I wish him sixty more years!

Hershel and Erika are in town. They left Key West several months ago for a northern state. They flew in for Don’s party. Good people! Love them both!

I saw something last night I never thought I would again. Gas under $3! $2.99 at the K-Mart station on the boulevard. My sense is the price will continue its downward trend for a  while.

Every time I think about the price of gas, I recall its cost when I first got a driver’s license. $.16 a gallon! Would you believe!

Today is Joyce Kilmer’s birthday. He died in World War I at the age of 31. He was part of the Fighting 69th.

Kilmer was a poet. Trees being one of his finest compositions. The best lines…..”I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree…..Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

Syracuse basketball tonight. Play St. John’s. A former Big East foe. Syracuse is a 7.5 point favorite. I hope.

I recall when Lou Carnesecca coached St. John’s. A short, thin amiable sort. A powerful sense of humor.

I met Lou two times. The first in Utica. My son was chairing the United Fun Drive. The final dinner a big deal. We were able to get Carnesecca as guest speaker with Jim Boeheim’s assistance. We met prior to the dinner. My father was with us. Carnesecca said several nice things about my Dad during his speech.

Lou would not take pay for his attendance and speech. Only asked that his plane ticket and motel be covered. That is the kind of guy he was.

The second time I saw him was about a year later. I was in New York City to see the Syracuse/St. John’s game at Madison Square Garden. My seats were first row behind the St. John’s bench. Lou saw me and came over to chat for a few moments.

Lou Carnesecca is still alive. He is 89. God bless him!

Dinner tonight with my Buffalo friends Tom and Fran. We are meeting at the Chart Room and then off to Hot Tin Roof for dinner. The third consecutive night I have been out on the town. For a while there, I thought I had slowed down.

Enjoy your day!

FRIENDS NIGHT

Don’s Place was my first stop last night. Chatted with Don, David, Stan and Clare. I will be having dinner with all of them tonight.

Then to the Chart Room. Jean had organized a small informal party for Peter. Old friends all. Good to be with them. We sat at the round table and talked. Enjoyable conversations. Some picture taking. Jean must have posted some on FB. Someone already wrote me this morning asking if I knew how to smile.

Roger and Cheryl were at the bar. I joined them a little later. My Cleveland area friends. Good company! Good people!

While I was with Roger and Cheryl, Tom and Francis from the Buffalo area arrived. I was expecting them. They were due in yesterday. Tom is a Syracuse fanatic as I. They only had time for one drink as they were meeting someone for dinner.

Dinners were scheduled. I am having dinner with Tom and Fran saturday night. With Roger and Cheryl, next wednesday.

Tonight, dinner at Benihana. Don and Jennifer’s birthdays being celebrated. A guaranteed good time!

Some things rub me wrong. I am compelled to speak out.

The Eric Garner grand jury result in NYC. The heavy black man, purportedly in a choke hold by a police officer, who died. He was selling loose cigarettes on the street at the time.

No indictment.

The Chinese say one picture is worth a thousand words. Not in this case. Based on the video alone, this appears to be a case of murder or manslaughter. Another example off those who are able to get away with murder under the guise of protecting and serving. Harsh words, but true.

I consider the grand jury result an American tragedy. One more in a long line. Something is seriously wrong when the people policing us and those who make the laws do not appear to be working for us.

Enjoy your day!

JOIN ME TONIGHT ON BLOG TALK RADIO

Tuesday. Time once again for my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. This evening at 9. Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Most of the show will involve Ferguson and the militarization of our police forces. I have been talking about the militarization problem for two years. I was beginning to think I was a voice in the wilderness. Now everyone is into it.

Specific topics will include how police officers killed more Americans than terrorists in 2011, the New Orleans police officer who turned off her body camera before shooting a man two times, the shoot first/question later attitude of most police departments, and how Ferguson is a preview of the future.

Late with the blog again today. I spent the morning at my doctor’s office getting my yearly physical.

Great dinner companions last night! Tom and Fran Dixon from Buffalo. Lovely people.

We had drinks before dinner with their daughter Frances and son in law Jeremy. Both 30ish.

I was introduced to another generation. Both have served in the military. Jeremy in Afghanistan. Frances as an expert in getting food supplies to people who need them.

They are out of the service now and live in Northampton, Massachusetts.

They volunteered to serve because of 9/11. I sat in wonder as I listened to Frances explain how she was so moved by 9/11 that she decided to enter the service as soon as she was out of college.

The two are representative of a new generation. They are givers. They seek to help. Not like the generation before them. The baby boomers who expected everything to be given to them with nothing owed in return.

I have a busy afternoon. Have to finalize tonight’s blog talk radio show.

Enjoy your day!

BOCCE AND SOCIAL SECURITY

Bocce and Social Security. The two are related. Sort of.

Tonight the new bocce season begins. August 14, 2014. Exciting!

On this same day August 14 in 1935, President Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act. Exciting, also! Without the law, there would be no Social Security and Medicare today.

A point of information. People are always saying Social Security is broke. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If the United States honored its obligations.

President Johnson needed money for the Vietnam War. He looked at all the money sitting idle in the Social Security Fund. He legally devised a method by which the government could take the unused funds for its own purposes. The government keeps taking and never pays back.

The United States owes the Social Security Fund $2.7 trillion. Social Security is the government’s biggest creditor. Number 2 China is owed less than $1 trillion.

When people yell Social Security is broke, they either intentionally forget or do not know what I have set forth. Even today the government continues to  borrow money from the Social Security Fund. Your money and mine.

My yesterday began with a manicure at Lee Nails. Love Tammy!

I spent the afternoon researching further next week’s KONK Life column. Glory and Disgrace. About Great Britain in the early days of World War II. I plan on writing the column this afternoon.

Don’s Place was my first stop last night. Don is back. I was glad to see him.

I chatted a while with Stan and Clare and Hershel and Erika. Bocce, of course. Said hello to Grant.

Then to the Chart Room. Buffalo’s Tom Dixon is back in town! A rabid Syracuse fan. A Buffalo Bills fan, also. I asked Tom how the football team was going to be this year. He said terrific. I could not understand. Syracuse football has not distinguished itself in years. Turned out he was talking about the Buffalo Bills.

Tom’s wife Fran joined us. A charming lady.

We were together quite a while. We agreed to dine monday night at the Hot Tin Roof.

I had dinner at the outside bar at La Te Da. Always an interesting venue.

The people of the Keys and the turtles who live in its waters are lucky to have the Marathon Turtle Hospital.

Pine Tyme is an 80 pound loggerhead. In June, some fisherman found him in the ocean off Big Pine unable to dive. They got him on their boat and brought the turtle to the Turtle Hospital. Where he was named Pine Tyme.

Pine Tyme’s problem was gas in his intestines. He was not expelling it. He was full of air. No wonder he could not dive.

Pine Tyme has been treated and cured with antibiotics. He will be returned to the ocean friday.

I have been discussing on my various shows and in writing the past two years what I describe as the militarization of our police. Police departments across the country are receiving left over war machinery from the government. Police have also become cocky since 9/11. An item I discussed on my blog talk radio show this past tuesday.

Validity for my remarks is what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri at the moment. People are demonstrating. Some looting. The police have prohibited protesting in groups. Last night, the police were out in military gear. Armored vehicles. Repeating guns on top of them. The police used smoke bombs and tear gas to stop the demonstrators. At this point the demonstrators were merely walking down the street in group fashion.

You cannot defecate on a people. The demonstrators retaliated with molotov cocktails.

See the pictures and videos on television and the internet. Decide for yourself whether the police went too far, whether the police incited the retaliatory violence by the crowd.

Enjoy your day!

 

RAVEN

Raven has been one of Key West’s leading vocalists for many years. I have heard her sing on occasion. She appeared at the Wine Galley as Larry Smith’s guest often. I was never impressed with her.

Last night, I was. Why the change of heart, I do not know. I heard Raven last night and was very much taken with her. It was  pleasure to listen to her. Why last night and not before, I do not know.

I used to tell Larry Smith I did not enjoy her singing. He used to ask why, telling me she was one of the best on the island. Larry was right.

Early yesterday afternoon was at my heart doctor’s office. Dr. Mc Ivor. It was time for another echo heart test.

The balance of the afternoon was spent continuing research for next week’s KONK Life column. It has to do with the Muslim impact on Sweden in recent years. Interesting material.

Spent time chatting with Shawn at the Chart Room. Always good company.

Tom and Fran Dixon from the Buffalo area showed up. They arrived yesterday. Good friends. We talked away over a couple of drinks at the Chart Room. Syracuse basketball was one of the topics. Tom is a diehard fan, also.

We agreed to have dinner together saturday evening at Square One.

Today is what I would describe as a reflective day in history. Reflective for you and me. On this date in 1938, Germany officially annexed Austria. Shades of Russia and Crimea today.

Hitler’s next step after Austria was marching into Czechoslovakia. Will Putin follow suit and forcefully take eastern Ukraine?

Bocce tonight. I have not played in 4-5 weeks. I will get there if I have to crawl. I hope I remember how to throw the ball.

Enjoy your day!

 

TOM DIXON IN CHINA

I received an email this morning from my friend Tom Dixon. He, his charming wife Fran, daughter, son in law and son in law’s parents are in China. Good for them!

Tom told me they have been in four cities. All sold Beefeater Gin. He and the family have become accustomed to Beefeater martinis. Good once more!

Tom is an interesting guy. He comes from Buffalo. Still lives there. Visits Key West 3-4 times a year. He owns a piece of the Ocean Key House. A Syracuse fan. I enjoy his company immensely. I enjoy wife Fran’s company also, though she does not make all the trips.

Yesterday was Meet the Press time. I spent my morning in bed watching the political talk shows.

Lunch time found me at Higgs Beach. I needed sun. My body was looking white. My eyes required a bit of relaxation, also. Watching the bikini clad ladies.

Two hours was enough for me. I headed downtown to Duval. Poker Run festivities were still ongoing. I walked several blocks. Some had magnificent motorcycles parked one after another. I enjoyed a late lunch at one of the food stands. An Italian sausage sandwich.

Sunday dinner once again at Lisa’s. Jake went crazy when I came in. He is doing it again. I fear he is going to attack me. Then it is over and we are friends. Robert was doing last minute homework. Ally playing games on her tablet.

I changed my mind on the column for this week’s KONK Life. I wrote yesterday and early this morning about Pope Francis and why I believe he is a flaming liberal. Written with respect and admiration. Relatively short. If you have the opportunity to read it, I suspect you will agree with my characterization of the Pope.

I just heard from Dee. She is up in Boston teaching. I had not heard from her in several weeks.

Anna emailed me from Camogli. She spent yesterday in Portofino. Her son and my friend Antonio has been trying to reach me via Skype. He is working somewhere in southern Italy at the moment.

The weeks run by fast. Tomorrow is tuesday again. Tomorrow night my blog talk radio show. I will be chatting about the Pope, guns, and I don’t know at the moment what else. Join me. The show is a fast moving half hour. Nine in the evening at www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!