SONGS OF MY TIME

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At dinner friday evening, Joseph told me about Forever Plaid. He had seen the show at the Waterfront Playhouse the night before. All he said was, it made him feel happy.

Enough of a sales pitch for me. I went to see Forever Plaid last night. It was easy to understand why Joseph felt as he did.

Four young male singers. On their way to their first major concert. An automobile accident. All four killed. The good Lord revived them for one last performance. Forever Plaid.

Songs of my time. My day. Like Three Coins In the Fountain, Catch a Falling Star, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and Lady of Spain.

Feel good music!

The show runs through May 27. See it if you can.

Spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon continuing my rewrite of Growing Up Italian. Will I ever finish? I seem to be fighting myself.

The Preakness. Yesterday’s, one of the best horse races anywhere anytime. Cloud Computing came out of the pack to pass the two favorites on his way to the win. You could see Computing Cloud in the background as he made his move. A terrific horse! A terrific jockey!

Remember Lawrence of Arabia? We now have Donald of Arabia. The only thing missing in pics and videos of his Saudi Arabia visit was the flowing white gown and headpiece Laurence wore on top of the train. The wind majestically blowing his gown behind him.

Trump was enjoying that type day.

The man is a hypocrite. He beats Muslims up during the campaign and since he has become President. Regs adopted barring /limiting Muslim immigration. Calls Muslims all kinds of names. Criminals, rapists, etc.

Now he goes to Saudi Arabia. Our friends! They gave us $4 a gallon gasoline. Seventeen of the terrorists on the planes on 9/11 were residents of Saudi Arabia.

Even today, we are not on the same ground as they. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia support opposite sides in the Syrian conflict.

I am an old man. Eighty-one. I do not recall any President ever being treated in any country visited as Trump was in Saudi Arabia yesterday. It was as if he were a visiting monarch.

Honored with a gold medal. I wonder if he can keep it.

He and Tillerson danced with Saudi royalty. I think it was a dance. They were lined up shoulder to shoulder. Sort of continuing short jumps into the air. Some sort of black sword (?) in their hands.

A disgrace. In spite of when in Rome do as the Romans do.

The Saudi’s appealed to Trump’s ego. They do not care about the Muslim bans in the United States. They got more planes, Trump more jobs. Both sides winners.

The losers, those affected by the muslim ban in the U.S. and the American people themselves. Our country was not intended to be lead by a narcissistic duplicitous bully.

Yesterday was a mutual admiration one for Trump and the Saudis. They kissed each other’s asses!

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

SQUATTER’S RIGHTS

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The side of the White House sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue is closed to vehicular traffic, sales stands and any type edifice. Only pedestrians allowed.

All this the idea of President Clinton. In 1995, he closed Pennsylvania Avenue down for two blocks. For safety and precautionary reasons.

Authorities moved everyone and everything out. Dispossessed them.

One elderly woman refused to move. She had been there for years. A tent erected. She was anti everything. As far back and including the Vietnam War.

She contested her eviction. The courts said she could stay. The government had failed to file a necessary document. The courts permitted her to remain forever.

With one condition. The tent always had to be occupied at all times. Generally, by her. If she had to be away for a short time, by another. Never could be empty, however. The tent included several feet of street surrounding it.

And so the lady remains. She was there five years ago when I played tourist in Washington for a week. Short, thin and wrinkled. Her face weathered from the sun.

A police car remains 24 hours a day up Pennsylvania from her. Waiting for her to violate the occupancy provision of the court decree.

I spoke with her. In and out of her tent. A bit screwy. Remaining has become her life cause. As she put it, “They aren’t going to get me!”

I wrote at length about the woman in this blog or a KONK Life column following my visit. I cannot locate the specific writings. Ergo, I cannot provide her name.

Joseph’s 69th birthday last night. We had dinner together at Berlin’s. He is still walking with a six foot staff. I introduce him to people as John the Baptist.

An intellectual. Always a pleasure chatting with him.

Janyne was at the bar, also. Lovely lady. Sweet. She has been the day Beach Bar bartender at the Pier House for fifteen years.

It was good to see Bria again. Her singing special. She, special.

I wrote a lengthy blog about her around May 1. The Best of the Best…..Bria Ansara. Knew she had failed to read it. Makes me laugh. When I said nasty things about her, she did read it.

She had not read it. Was going to look it up when she returned home last night.

A woman of many jobs, one is art teacher at Montessori. The school Robert and Ally attend. She knew them both well. Was taken with Robert. She said he stays after school frequently to help paint the large mural her classes are doing by day. He enjoys painting, she said.

I saw a picture of a Mother’s Day skeleton in KONK Life this morning. Key West is a strange town. I did not know there was a holiday skeleton house on Virginia Street.

For Halloween, the skeleton was as expected. For Christmas, dressed like Santa Claus. For Mother’s Day, a mother holding a baby. Mother’s Day…..Gross, hideous, no teeth, rotten teeth. Ugh!

The Preakness 6:45 tonight. The second step in the Triple Crown. Will probably watch the race at Don’s Place.

Have to move my ass. A manicure with Tammy at 10:30.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

BOCCE PLAYOFFS

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It was festival time yesterday at the bocce courts. Playoffs! Tents covering players from the blazing sun. Food and drink. Lots of spectators. Even babies.

We played the #1 team from monday night. We were #3 from the thursday night league. Got our asses whipped in the first game. 16-4. We were competitive in the second. Lost 16-15.

We are done.

The team that beat us will probably go on to win the whole thing. Three times. They were good. No question about it. Precision shooting. Missed only one blast.

Joe Quartarone e mailed me. He is an officer in the national bocce organization. He made inquiry of the Key West league via my blog. He wanted to know among other things numbers. How many players, teams, etc. I told him 56 teams, over 500 players.

He wrote back excitedly. Key West has one of the biggest leagues in the country. He is going to visit, etc.

Watched the Preakness at Don’s Place. For some reason, it did not excite me this year.

Probably because I was anxious to get over to the Firehouse Museum. A birthday party. 102 years old. A mamey tree. Purportedly the grandfather of all mamey trees in the United States. DNA proven.

The tree is on the side of the Museum. Majestic. 54 feet tall.

About 200 at the party when I arrived.

The tree’s fruit is used to make ice cream. There was free ice cream. Tried it. Delicious!

During the course of the afternoon before going to the Museum, I asked many if they had ever heard of a mamey tree. No one knew what I was talking about. Guess I asked the wrong people. The 200 at the Museum knew.

While at Don’s Place, Clare and Stan introduced me to Clare’s new boss. John Cary. He is the new President of Dion Oil LLC. Dion’s is now owned by Uphoff Ventures. Uphoff purchased the business from the Dion family several months ago.

Don’t let the oil in the name of the business fool you. Dion’s is best known for its chicken. The absolute best!

Cary a nice guy. Intelligent. He should do well in caring for and expanding Dion’s.

I was home before 8. Wanted to watch the Lyndon Johnson movie on HBO. All the Way. I was disappointed.

Johnson was portrayed in too dramatic a fashion, nutty, and intense.

Johnson was a hard driving individual. However to portray him as a man who did not want to get out of bed when things got tough was an insult to the man and his true history.

Spent yesterday morning researching this week’s KONK Life column. I will write the column this afternoon. To Bee or Not To Bee. Not Shakesperian. It is the story of bees as used in warfare. From centuries before the birth of Christ to present day.

How many movies have we seen of wagon trains? Going west. Did you ever give thought to how long a trip took. I never did.

Read something this morning that evidences the time factor. On this day in 1843, what has been described as the Great Emigration began. A covered wagon trip from Independence, Missouri to Oregon. One thousand settlers and 1,000 cattle.

Five months.

A quiet Sunday ahead. I have nothing planned.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

DANCE CARD FULL

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Generally, I many times have no idea of what I am going to do. Today, I know exactly into the evening.

I slept late. It is 10ish and I am just starting the blog. Then research for this week’s KONK Life column. About bees. Bees in warfare. Titled: To Bee or Not To Bee. Love the title!

Bocce. Playoffs today. My team ended up third. All alone. Without playing thursday night. Rained out. Six teams tied for third. One, us. We had beat the other five earlier in the season. Gave us third place alone.

The team plays at 3. I will be there to cheer them on. Spoke with Don yesterday. We are playing monday’s #1 team. Tough!

When the game is over, we will all head to Don’s Place. Win or lose. For the Preakness.

Not done yet.

After Don’s, going to a birthday party. At the Firehouse Museum on Grinnell. One block from Don’s place. The mamey tree 102nd birthday party.

The mamey tree in question lives on the Firehouse Museum property.

What is a mamey tree? I did not know till this morning. A tree common to Central and South America. Some in Florida and rest of U.S. Grows 60-70 feet tall. Bears different colored fruit in the shape of a football.

The father of all mamey trees in the U.S. is the one planted at the Firehouse Museum. DNA substantiated.

The fruit is made into ice cream, milk shakes and smoothies. I will try the ice cream tonight for the first time.

The party is 6-8 pm.

My yesterday began with the anti-gravity treadmill. Jenny encouraged me to move on. I increased the speed. Though not by much.

I am a creature of habit, as mentioned many times. Which means I ended up at the Cuban Coffee Queen again for lunch. Cuban cheese toast and Cuban coffee. Plus, the newspapers. I sat an hour or two reading.

Then home. Early afternoon. Tired. The increased speed on the treadmill? Not sure. Whatever, I took a two hour nap.

Last night, a premier event. Dinner with Jenna at Michael’s. Jenna and I had not seen each other in three months. It was catch up time.

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that the Oklahoma Senate had this week passed a bill making abortion a felony. A felony for the doctor performing the abortion. It reached the Governor yesterday. The governor vetoed the bill.

Words of wisdom from Aristotle: “There is only one way to avoid criticism: Do nothing, say nothing and be nothing.”

Trump will never avoid criticism.

Enjoy your day!

 

BOCCE PLAYOFF RESULTS

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Bocce playoff finals today. My team will not be playing.

We did well in the quarter finals yesterday morning. Won two successive games by good margins. Yesterday afternoon was another story, however.

We played Turtle Kraals in the semi finals. Turtle Kraals has been #1 in the monday league for years. They lose 0 to 2 games a season. That good! They generally win the playoffs. We were stuck playing Turtle Kraals in the semi finals.

We did not do well. We were up 7-2 in the first game and lost. The second game was downhill from the start.

Turtle Kraals is excellent! They play with precision. They know what they are doing with every shot. They do it. They play bocce like chess. Always a shot or two ahead mentally.

It was a pleasure watching Turtle Kraals play. None of us on our team felt bad that we lost. We expected it going in.

We have developed into a good team over time. Otherwise, we would not be consistently making the playoffs in recent years. However the difference between Turtle Kraals and us is like professional baseball. Turtle Kraals a major league team. We, triple A or class A.

Bocce playoffs are a festival. People galore. Food and drink free. People bring chairs to watch.

The only negative was the sun. Blazing hot during our first match. Tents were available, but not used. Management said the wind was too strong. They would blow over. I did not think the wind was that strong.

The sun affected me. It affected everyone. There was little protection from it.

I went home after the first match, showered and napped.

The evening was a bit cooler and then ok when the sun set.

Cuba and Key West have officially begun the bonding process. The Havana Challenge. An amateur boat race. Starts Tuesday in Cuba.

Five 16 foot catamarans left Key West yesterday for Marina Hemingway in Cuba.

The races were held in previous years. Illegally, however. This year the U.S. Commerce Department issued a license authorizing the event. First time! A step forward in relations.

I missed the Preakness. We were sitting around waiting for the game with Turtle Kraals to begin. I see where American Pharoah won. Great! Two legs down, one to go. The Belmont next.

American Pharoah’s victory indicative that he may very well be a top flight racing horse. He had the number 1 pole position, gale force winds came up as the race started, and torrential rains fell.

Can’t get any better than winning a horse race under those conditions!

Today is Sunday. The first of my three consecutive writing days. Today, I will spend most of the day writing and rewriting next week’s KONK Life column.

The column will be about football. The Tom Brady event is upon us. Brain injuries in the news.

There was another day, another time, when football was in a bad way. Much worse than today. On the verge of being outlawed. By federal law. The President at the time stepped in and literally saved football.

A yesterday scenario similar to today’s events.

T.J. Maxx opened at 8 this morning. A circus atmosphere advertised. The opening a big deal!

I will not get there today. I probably will never leave the house. I will be typing away all day. Tomorrow hopefully I can shoot over for a look.

Enjoy your Sunday!