KENT STATE

Posted on by

Forty five years ago today, four Kent State students were shot dead by Ohio State National Guardsmen. The students had been protesting the Vietnam War.

I was 35 years old at the time. The TV film of the shootings chilled me. TV showed a large number of screaming college students running across a large grass field and the guardsmen shooting at them. This was the United States. What I was viewing did not happen in the United States.

I had lived through the time of the 1960s New York and Rochester black riots. I was in the middle of the New York one the first night.

The anti-Vietnam demonstrations concerned me. Citizens against a war our country was involved in. Parents sending their children off to Canada to avoid the draft.

To a 35 year old attorney, husband and parent, none of these happenings were consistent with the United States I knew or thought I knew.

The Kent State shootings were the worst. There was no valid reason for the students to be shot at. Apparently some guardsman got nervous and others followed.

This past week we experienced the Baltimore protests. There have been others in recent months. All over the same issue. Police shooting of blacks.

What am I saying? Merely that all these events bother and bothered me. Kent State especially. And now the police/black shootings. Not the country I grew up in. Not the lessons I was taught about the United States in my formative years.

I spent several hours yesterday writing this week’s KONK Life column. A strange title. 99 44/100 % Pure. The story of Ivory soap. Interesting, as well as a bit checkered.

After finishing the column, I hustled over to Salute’s for a little Louis time. I sat outside in the shade, had a drink and enjoyed a fish sandwich. Read the Sunday papers. Sometimes looking up to view the bikini clad ladies.

Then to Publix. The cupboard almost bare. A comment re prices. Grocery prices continue to rise. Like gasoline did. A little bit at a time. You do not notice until you are at the check out counter and are paying more than normal for the usual amount of groceries.

Wind is blowing strong this morning.  From the northwest. Sunny and cloudy. Maybe rain at some point.

Some local group involved with the homeless did a recent study. One of its findings was that there were 339 homeless children in Monroe County (Florida keys) as of January 27. Three hundred thirty nine is 339 too many!

Physiotherapy this morning. Have to hustle.

Enjoy your day!

DAVID’S DAY AT THE KENTUCKY DERBY

Posted on by

As suspected, I never made it to Don’s Place to watch the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight. By 9, midnight seemed days away. Instead, I went to bed.

Not all was lost, however. I was watching a James Bond movie. Half asleep. All of a sudden, my eyes opened wide. There was the Hemingway House. I watched Bond and two guys chasing him go through the front gate, run up the outside stairs, tussle in a second floor room, Bond jumping off a second floor porch and leaping over a wall as he made his getaway.

The movie was License To Kill.

The only scene in the entire movie shot in Key West was the one I described. The rest of the film was made elsewhere. It does not seem financially feasible to have brought cast, crew and equipment to Key West to film an episode that took less than two minutes. Money must be cheap in Hollywood. Or, was back then.

I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon with Sloan. I am from a different generation. Getting this blog linked and everywhere it must go takes a talent I have not. And which I have not been able to learn. I would be lost without her.

I did get to watch the Kentucky Derby. An exciting 2 minutes! I have been lucky to have attended all major sporting events, other than a World Series game and the Kentucky Derby. Some, several times.

I received an e-mail this morning from David Taylor of Owensboro, Kentucky. David has been a loyal blog reader for a long time. I got to meet him Easter time at the Chart Room. David, his wife, his Dad, and friends.

David wrote about his one time experience at a Kentucky Derby. I share it with you.

It was back in 1974. The day Secretariat ran and won. David had to be in college then.

He was watching the game from the infield. He described it as not a place for the faint of heart. It was hot. He had removed his shoes and shirt. He recalls seeing Secretariat go by. Only his legs. He witnessed a naked man shimmy his way to the top of the Churchill Downs flag pole.

Ready to leave, David discovered his shoes and shirt gone. Not to be found.

David said though it may have been the shortest two minutes in sports, it was the place to be that day.

I envy you, David. A suggestion. Get back there once more! Twice if you can! Enjoy the best life has to offer whenever circumstances permit. The clock never stops running.

I have to get this week’s KONK Life column out today. I still am not sure what I will write about. I have three possible topics. Ivory soap. There is a story in Ivory soap. Then there is the issue of jail gangs. A growing power in this country. They control outside activities at the same time they are in jail. Finally, Baltimore, Ferguson and most recently Denver police problems. Something along the line that Baltimore is the beginning, not the end. There will be elsewhere further improper police activities resulting in demonstrations, riots and disruptions.

One comment re the Baltimore arrests. A smart move. A tactical one. If the arrests had not been made, Baltimore would have burned that night and for several days thereafter. I doubt the charges will stick, however. They do not fit the facts. One reason being we still do not know many facts. Facts, not assumptions, are required to charge a person.

There will be some convictions. In the final analysis, any convictions stand a good chance of being overturned on appeal.

So there is no misunderstanding, the State’s Attorney did the correct thing in ordering arrests when she did. It was a practical decision to save the community from further harm. It was not the lawyer thing to do from a legal perspective. Sort of a race to judgment. I suspect at least a week more was required to collect additional facts and evaluate what charges should be brought.

Enjoy your Sunday!

BEST OF THE BEST

Posted on by

Larry Smith out did himself last night. The show he put together at The Studios of Key West his best yet. There were some 200 people in attendance. Many dancing in the aisles at the end of the show.

With 24 performers entertaining, it is hard to point out that one or the other was the best. They were all good! No, spectacular!

I noticed the crowd consisted primarily of seniors. I being one of them. Many of the faces familiar. We were people who have followed Larry and his music for 20 some odd years here in Key West.

I enjoyed myself.

Big sports today! The Kentucky Derby and the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight.

I have not followed the horses this year. Ergo, I know nothing of those running. The race is at 6:24 this evening. I shall be watching from the comfort of my home.

The fight is a major event! The battle has been described as the fight of the century and the super bowl of boxing. The gate is predicted to be more than $400 million. The fighters will each walk away with $100 million pay days.

The fight begins late. Very late for a guy who is generally in bed asleep before 10 most evenings. Fight time is between 11 and midnight. The actual time depending on the undercard.

My initial reaction was to ignore the fight and go to sleep. I ran into Don last night. He has bought the fight for TV. It will be aired at Don’s Place. No charge. I spell out the no charge thing since some places in Key West are charging $100. The Marriott Beachside being one.

My plan is to stay up late and watch the fight at Don’s. Hope I make it!

One observation. A lot of puff for the fight. Like it is the best of the best. I cannot agree.

I recall fights over my lifetime that were equal to if not better than tonight’s. The three Tony Zale/Rocky Graziano middleweight championship fights in the late 1940s. Several Joe Louis battles. Don’t forget Sugar Ray Robinson.

Fights after World war II and before the advent of television were on the radio. Same procedure for the producers as today. Except instead of pay TV, there was pay radio. Which was not available in homes.We used to go down to the lobby of the Stanley Theater in Utica to listen to the fights. The lobby was large and always packed. The Stanley never charged.

We had a boxing champion in the family. Sort of. My Uncle Frank’s brother Bushy Graham was bantamweight champion some time in the late 1920s or in the early 1930s. He also fought one or two times for the featherweight championship.

Boxing was big for Italians from 1920 forward as it provided them a chance for the better life. If they were successful, of course.

Enjoy your day!

TONIGHT…..STUDIOS OF KEY WEST

Posted on by

Larry Smith is friend and foe. Foe formerly on the golf course and presently the bocce courts. Tonight, Larry has prepared what I am sure will be a great evening of music. He has assembled 24 of Key West’s finest entertainers for what what I can guarantee will be an outstanding show

Larry can be anal. Especially when he is working. The show is two hours. Two segments. One hour each. A 15 minute break in between. Larry assures me the 24 entertainers will comfortably fit into the two available hours.

I believe Larry. He has everything down to the minute. He has been working on this show for a month. Woe anyone who screws it up!

Join me tonight at Larry’s show. Eight o’clock at The Studios of Key West.

No bocce last night. It was a bye night. Time for those teams who had games cancelled to play them. We had none cancelled.

I substituted the Chart Room and Hogfish in the place of bocce.

David was sitting alone at the round table when I entered the Chart Room. I sat with David about two hours. I enjoy his company.

The previous day’s flooding entered into the conversation. The flooding was gone by evening. The worst was early afternoon when the tide was high. By evening it was low tide. The storm water system was able to handle the problem at that time.

We talked about Che. Che is the only Key Wester I know who is older than me. I believe he is 83. Che is one of the last two persons alive who has his name on the Chart Room bar where some of his ashes will be interned.

No one has been able to find Che for three weeks. No answer at his apartment door or on his telephone. His car gone. Strange. Turns out Che was in a Miami hospital recovering from pneumonia. He is now home

Che, stay home!

Ollie stopped in. Ollie has been a leader in the fight opposing genetically modified mosquitoes. The ones that were to be tested on my home island, Key Haven. He and his group has been successful in obtaining a delay of the vote scheduled for last week. No date was scheduled for the next vote. Good job, Ollie!

Hogfish for dinner. I sat at the end of the bar, enjoyed hogfish and read the newspapers. No one talked to me and I did not attempt to initiate conversation with anyone. I was content to sit and read.

I had physiotherapy in the morning. Wow! Still tires me out. Big time! I basically spend the hour standing on one or two feet in strange positions with my eyes closed. Hard to balance with the eyes closed. Grueling. The sweat runs off my forehead.

Enjoy your day!