CHRISTMAS TWO DAYS LATE

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Tonight, my podcast show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

Blog Talk radio had a technical difficulty last week. My show never aired. Neither I nor listeners were able to get in.

Last week’s lead topic never heard will be presented tonight. The American Christmas Story. Two days after Christmas. The story still fitting. One most of you have not heard. A touch of paganism, its celebration banned in Boston in the late 1600s, not a celebrated holiday during our revolutionary years, A Christmas Carol, Civil War impact, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and on and on till today.

Join me at 9 my time. A quick interesting half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Last night, Aqua! Monday night. Dueling bartenders time.

Liz and friends Mary and Josefina at the bar. I joined them.

Liz’s relative Christina was there. With Brian. Liz and Christina are related. Christina and Brian Liz’s house guests for the holiday.

Sheila at the other end of the bar. Went over for a kiss.

Tom and Rick singing. Bria a visiting performer. She stopped by for a moment and gave me absolution once more for my poorly expressed thoughts concerning her several weeks ago.

Tom sitting next to me. Met him for the first time. His wife Claire with him. I did not get to talk with Claire unfortunately.

Tom, a retired attorney. A major law firm partner. He and Claire live in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Key West visitors for many years. Snowbirds. Presently here for a four month stay.

Claire has an interesting background. Initially, a science teacher. Then returned to school herself and obtained a Doctorate. In statistics. Returned to the working world as a professional statistician.

Walked over to Bourbon St. following Aqua. Bria sings monday nights. I was unaware she would be appearing also at Aqua last night. I enjoy Bria’s singing so treated myself to seeing her twice in one evening in two different venues.

Syracuse basketball tonight. Cornell. Syracuse should win.

The true test of the team’s ability begins January 1 when the ACC starts its season. Syracuse plays Boston College New Year’s Day.

I fear I am going to bleed a lot of orange this season!

Debra and Patrick back in town! Great entertainers. The best. There was a time they spent the season at La Te Da. No more. They moved north to Richmond, Virginia. Return sporadically to Key West.

Tuesday January 3, Debra and Patrick will appear at Virgilio’s as part of Skipper Kripitz’s League of Crafty Musicians. On saturday January 7, they will appear from 5-8 at Salute’s Sunset Happy Hour.

Do yourself a favor. Go listen to Debra sing and Patrick play.

Only in Key West. This saturday at noon the annual Dachshund Walk. Other dogs may participate. Costumes suggested. Noon at the Monroe County Courthouse.

Enjoy your day!

THE SUN ROSE

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The sun rose this morning. As it does every morning in one fashion or another. Today, a bright orange ball.

I  went outside to watch. Always beautiful, always uplifting. The beginning of a new day.

Yesterday, a laid back one for me. Other than an hour in the sun on the deck, I was inside. Researched tonight’s blog talk radio show. Watched TV in the evening.

Topics galore for my show this evening. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

Without question, the Orlando story. A must. I have personal thoughts. as many do. I will share them this evening.

Having contrary thoughts not a bad thing. People not all the same. The problem is many in this country forget there are always two sides to a story, to a belief. Sometimes several.

the key is to listen. Respect. Think.

The show will also discuss California’s failure to count 2.5 million votes in the recent primary. Then the outing of another Secret Service failure. An agent e-mailing from the White House obscene material (his penis pic) to teenage girls, soliciting some for sex, etc.

How do these guys become Secret Service agents?

People can stand up for their rights and win. The tale of a Pennsylvania community that  successfully fought Nestle’s attempt to extricate 200,000 gallons of water a day from their township. To sell in supermarkets as Deer Park bottled water.

A few words re my KONK Life column this week: The Rape of Social Security.

Plus more.

The show is at 9 my time. A half hour of fast moving opinionated material. Many times revealing. Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Debra and Patrick are back in town. Have been for a few weeks.

Debra and Patrick very entertaining. Debra a fine voice. I have been privileged to hear her sing for more than 20 years. Generally, at La Te Da. This year, she and Patrick appeared elsewhere than in Key west. They have returned for a few weeks.

Debra and Patrick will appear friday and saturday nights at the Little Room Jazz Club.

One of Key West’s premier entertainers Larry Smith has been appearing monday nights at the Little Room Jazz Club for a year. Don’t miss him!

Pope Francis. A man of wisdom. He sees where others refuse to look. Sunday he blasted a world in which war is fed but the hungry are not. His words.

Enjoy your day!

100,000 CHICKENS

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Key West is known for its chickens. Chickens everywhere. Tourists love them. Few locals do. The chickens are dirty and germ ridden. Not eating chickens.

Chickens properly bred and raised are ok, however. Clean healthy birds.

Bill Gates recently announced a 100,000 chicken program. One his wife Melinda is joining with him to put together. One supported also by Hefner International.

Gates wants to send 100,000 chickens world wide to poor countries. They are cheap and easy to raise. Healthy food for children.

A good idea. My anti-chicken bias is limited to Key West chickens.

We are running out of food. World population on the rise. Fish in oceans not endless.

Squid and octopus not diminishing in number, however. On the rise. Climate change, pollution and over fishing does not seem to affect them.

Most already love squid. Calamari!

As to octopus, I fear not many have had the opportunity to enjoy octopus. I did many times in Greece.

The first time I was on a small boat going nowhere. Just drifting around. We ended up on a small island. Probably had a name. I do not recall. Where we landed was only a small house and a smaller building behind it. The smaller building the outhouse. .

We were hungry. The man and woman living in the house were happy to feed us. Octopus!

The cooking was done on an outside grill. The kind used in the U.S. to cook outside.

The octopus was about two feet in diameter. He chopped a tentacle off. Threw it on the grill. Spent time cooking, turning it over.

When done, placed on my plate. About five inches long and three inches in diameter. Hollow inside. The skin a quarter inch thick.

While cooking, brush basted with oil.

I cut into my piece. Cut easy. Like a knife through soft butter. The taste. Delicious. Tender. Brought a smile to my face. A chunk of bread and octopus on a basically deserted island. What more could I ask for?

The moral of the story. Do not fear octopus. Youu will love it! Guaranteed!

Spent yesterday preparing for last night’s blog talk radio show.

Did the show at 9. Two topics excited me more than normal. I led off with them. A cashless society and carless dealerships.

A cashless society is on its way. No more paper bills or coins. A card. Sort of like a debit card. All spending, transactions done via the card.

I predict the U.S. will be a cashless society within 5 years. Banks and corporations love the idea. The Federal Reserve favors it. What can the 99 percent say?

I am against a cashless society.

Imagine going to buy a new car. No cars in the lot. No cars inside the dealership. You will be greeted and sold digitally. Earphones with a viewing screen built in. General Motors is preparing to test the process in some Cadillac dealerships next year.

A quick dinner before the show at Hogfish. Fish and chips. Hogfish fish and chips.

Debra and Patrick return to Key West! Tonight. at La Te Da. The best of the best. Do yourself a favor and go listen to Debra sing.

An observation. We are moving closer to George Orwell’s 1984 every day.

This week’s KONK Life hits the stands at 5 this afternoon. I have a special column this week. Corn Flakes…..Cure Masturbation. Humor and discomfort. Nuts involved. And I do not mean the edible ones.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

KEY WEST BORDELLO HISTORY

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Key West was a different island 50-70 years ago. In many ways. One was the existence of bordellos. Houses of pleasure. A place where a small fee paid brought lots of pleasure. Customer friendly operations.

Bordellos as such no longer exist in Key West. Today similar services may be available in a gentleman’s club. More expensive however before the evening is over. Less friendly. Money  and not the  customer’s pleasure key.

I tripped onto a bit of Key West’s bordello history via this morning’s Key West Citizen’s History section. Mention was made that on this day in 1953, Mom’s Tea Room was closed. Mom’s Tea Room was a house of ill repute on Stock Island. Local authorities closed Mom’s because of Navy pressure. Back then the Navy had a huge base in Key West and exerted significant influence.

My curiosity was triggered by the mention of Mom’s in the Citizen. I did a bit of searching re houses of ill repute in the Key West area. There is not much recorded.

I discovered that a Rose Rabin apparently was the proprietor of such an establishment. I am not sure she was connected to Mom’s. I suspect she was.

Rose did run a bordello on Truman Avenue before World War II. The Navy forced her out. She opened up again on Stock Island. The Navy forced her out from there.

Rose was back in Key West after the war running a place called the Imperial Club. In a two year time frame, Rose opened and closed the place two times. The Navy forcing her to close each time.

Anyone for tea?

Yesterday was the first day of a process I believe will be good for me. Because of falling frequently in recent weeks, Dr. Lefferts referred me to physiotherapy. Body Owners on Stock Island. I was impressed.

I was there for evaluation. Took most of the hour. Inquiring questions. Concern for my problem.

Heather Smith evaluated me. Turned out, she owns Body Owners. A pleasant professional personality.

Body Owners has a tread mill which will be part of my treatment. A different tread mill! It is anti-gravity. Exercise without pain. The tread mill is a bit monstrous. You are put into a bag, for want of a better description, which is tightly bound around your waist. An air chamber inflates and it appears the wind lifts the person up. The exercise is the same. Pain and tiredness at the moment, not.

I did 15 minutes. Big for me! Felt great during and immediately thereafter. When I got home, it was another story. I was exhausted! Took a two hour nap. Slept well last night. Probably because of the 15 minutes on the machine.

Heather is a nice name. Reminded me of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. A great love novel. True to form, I could not remember the name of the book. I did when I returned home and e-mailed the information to Heather.

Heather’s name significant because the book frequently speaks of the heather on the hill. A place where the lovers met.

My evening was pleasurable. Started at Don’s Place with Don, David, Stan, Clare and Grant. Bocce the key item of discussion. Big match tonight. We are ranked #2. We play #1. A tough evening ahead!

Don and I left. Later had dinner together at the outside bar at La Te Da. Tonto bartending. Debra and Patrick gone.

I have more to share. However not the time. I slept late (blame the tread mill) and have to hustle. A hair appointment with Lori.

Enjoy your day!