WHAT HERSHEL AND EMILY BRONTE HAVE IN COMMON

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Hershel is a today type guy. Intelligent, interesting. Also has a great wife. Erika. Love her!

Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights. The greatest love story ever written.

Hershel’s birthday was July 29. Turned 54. Happy birthday friend!

Emily Bronte’s birthday was July 30. Not sure what her years would have been if still alive. Her life was short. She was born and died in the early 1800s.

The common factor: The closeness of their birthdays.

It is just after one. Comcast just left. It was not the computer that was on the blink. It was something to do with the outside wiring. I am up and running! I will not be late tomorrow with the blog. Promise.

My last night was pleasant and quiet. Spent a couple of hours at Don’s Place. My new found friend Tom the photographer came in. We had a drink together. Chatted with Clare a bit. Visited with Grant.

That is all I did last night. Don’s Place.

Marilyn Kaple is a frequent visitor to Key West. She is a FB friend and reads this blog religiously. She dropped me a note after my shark tales of yesterday. Remember Katharine? The great white female shark who made her way from Cape Cod to Gulf of Mexico waters to have a baby. She had her baby. Mother Katharine is no longer in the Gulf. She is somewhere in the middle Atlantic. I know not where the child is.

All of that has nothing to do with Marilyn Kaple.

Marilyn wrote to tell me there is now a Mary Lee. Another great white female shark. Sixteen feet long weighing 3,500 pounds. Mary Lee was traced from Cape Cod to the off shores of the Carolinas. Maybe pregnant. Not sure. She either gave birth off Cape Fear or was not pregnant. Mary Lee is now back in Cape Cod waters.

Enjoy your day!

 

SHARKS

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I am working on  my computer at Lisa’s. My computer is working well everywhere but my home. Has nothing to do with wi-fi. Has something to do with wires either in the house or outside.

Comcast is performing as expected. Poorly. I was to receive a call yesterday afternoon for service this morning. No call ever came. I called Comcast this morning. Received an apology. Got me action, however. I complained heartily. Tech will be at my home tomorrow morning between 8-10. They wanted to come this afternoon. No way. The house is being shown.

Dinner last night at Roostica. A couple of drinks and an order of lasagna. Good!

Visited an orthopedist this morning. My shoulder that I hurt about six weeks ago. Doctor thinks a rotator cuff tear. There is a good possibility of surgery. An MRI first.

Great whites have been in Florida and Keys news in recent weeks.

Katharine started it all. The pregnant great white. She came down from Cape Cod pregnant. Hung around off the keys for a few days. Then continued to the gulf side of Florida to await birth of her offspring.

Betsy soon followed her. Same scenario. Had either returned to the Cape, it would have meant she was not pregnant.

Florida is described as the shark capital of the world. It also is known as a white shark nursery. Many arrive to spend their early youth.

There are 500 different species of shark in Florida waters. Few are considered dangerous.

Now for the most dramatic piece of information. There have been 663 shark attacks in Florida waters since the 1880’s. Only one was off the Florida keys.

Interesting. Safe waters.

I mentioned two weeks ago the death of Charlie Robinson. Charlie owned the moped place on Truman. Just off Duval. The building with the big American flag flying over it. A real good guy! Charlie died from cancer. His wife Regina Bader-Robinson died two days ago. Of cancer. They suffered together and basically died together. Unquestionably sad. However, they are together once more. As it should be. They were a team.

The Republican side of the House of Representatives was giddy with success yesterday. They had formally voted to sue the President of the United States for allegedly exceeding his powers.

My prediction. The lawsuit is a loser. The courts have generally refrained from deciding political suits. Additionally, the law requires the person or persons bringing the lawsuit to have been damaged. I see no damage in the legal sense. Going a step further, this lawsuit will not be finally decided until after Obama is out of office. It will take that long.

All a waste of money. Your money and mine. Taxpayer dollars. The lawsuit will cost in the millions.

This morning was the beginning and last day of day 2 of the mini lobster season. Just as yesterday, I did not see that many boats out on the water. I looked for numbers in this morning’s Key West Citizen. Though there was a story, It made no mention of how many boats were out there. It did indicate the Coast Guard and Sheriff’s Department were busy handling injuries. Fortunately, no one died.

Enjoy your day!

IT DID NOT RAIN ON SYRACUSE

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What a night! What a game! Snow and rain falling on most of the country. But not on Syracuse! Syracuse beat Pitt 58-56 at the buzzer. There was joy in Mudville!

Tyler Ennis threw in a 3 pointer from 35 feet at the buzzer with two Pitt defenders on him. A beautiful high arcing shot. Wonder of wonders!

I had given up with two minutes to go. It was a Pitt win. Pitt was up by one point with 4.4 seconds to go. Who expected Ennis’ shot? Probably only Ennis. He said in an interview after the game that he thought the ball was going in as soon as it left his hands. He was not bragging. He is not the type. Just telling how it was.

Saturday, North Carolina State.

It started raining during the game last night. The heavy stuff. Continued all night. I had to drive the boulevard on the way home. Big time flooding. The street in front of my home flooded, also.

It is not raining now. However, very overcast.

Bocce season starts tonight. I doubt we will play. There could be a boat race on the courts at the moment.

Some things are aggravating! Some things are wrong! I am not talking about the rain soaked bocce courts. I am talking about Comcast.

It was announced on TV this morning that Comcast is buying Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion. Comcast already owns 100 per cent of NBC. The new acquisition will make Comcast a giant among giants.

Mergers and buys of this type should not be permitted. Our country is more and more owned, controlled and operated to satisfy the needs of corporate giants. Once there were laws prohibiting these mergers. They are still there, but now ineffective. New laws are required. Such will not occur. Not with a Washington dominated influence wise by corporate America.

I had to smile. The CEO of Comcast was asked in an interview this morning why Comcast was so successful.  Service, he said. Bullshit! Comcast provides the worst service in Key West. I know and every one else that subscribes to Comcast knows. There is an erosion at Comcast’s base which is eating away at its foundation. Giants topple when they forget how they became big.

Enjoy your day!

COMCAST SCREW UP

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It was Super Bowl Sunday. Key West rose in anticipation of watching the game early in the evening. For many, it was not to be. Comcast was down. TV and internet wi-fi connection.

For me it meant I had to get over to Lisa’s to do this week’s KONK Life column which was due yesterday. The game did not bother me. I could watch it at Don’s Place. He has all those extra expensive hook ups.

To further compound the disaster, my cell phone would not work.

I piled my computer, phone, and electric hookups into the car and headed to Lisa’s. I could do my column there.

As I walked in the door carrying all my communication equipment, Lisa said forget it. Our Comoast is down. It stayed down till I left around 4. Lisa was on the phone with Comcast. They said that everything was ok. Lisa said not here! A repair man is coming today.

I suspect many, if not all, in Key West were affected to some degree by the Comcast shut down.

I went home. I was gong to shower again and head back to Don’s Place. Lo and behold, my computer was working. So too was my TV. Plus my phone which had nothing to do with Comcast. I called Lisa. She still was without.

By the time I finished the KONK column, it was Super Bowl time. I decided to watch the game from the comfort of my bed.

The game was a shocker! I thought Denver would win. Peyton Manning would not be denied. What a beating! Seattle is to be complimented.

The KONK Life column is about the flu epidemic of 1918. Affected 500 million worldwide, killed 50 million. Bad! A noteworthy comment I read was that the 1918 flu bug killed more people in 24 days than AIDS did in 24 years!

Before Lisa’s, I stopped at the Plantation Coffee House. Skip was there.  Met him a couple of weeks ago at the Chart Room. I did not recognize him. Sorry, Skip. He is now living in Key West and doing a radio show.

Syracuse basketball again tonight! I have yet to recover from the Duke victory. Syracuse plays Notre Dame at the Carrier Dome at 7 this evening. Syracuse is a 15 point favorite. I plan on watching the game and eating at Lukas’ Sports Pub.

Tomorrow night my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Join me at 9 for a fast moving half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

The Key West Citizen in it’s This Day in History section this morning made mention of Willie Shoemaker. Shoemaker was a great jockey. Perhaps the best of all time. On this day in history, he rode race number 40,350. His final one.

I make mention of Willie Shoemaker because I knew him. Back in the early 1970s, I had a condominium at Miami’s Jockey Club. One of the members and residents was Willie Shoemaker. Many the evening we shared a drink at the bar.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY

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Granddaughter Ally is 8 years old today. Happy Birthday, Ally!

Ally is maturing. She is her own person. Refuses to have her hair cut, for example. Her second teeth are coming in. The four stall garage  is now one.

I remember vividly Ally’s birth. Lisa insisted I stay with her for both Ally and Robert’s deliveries. Cory had one leg up and I the other as we both kept telling Lisa to push as she was shouting….. I can’t do this! Suddenly Ally came shooting out. A beauty! Pink faced and screaming.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour tv/internet show went well yesterday morning. Post show comments indicated McCain’s Syria visit and the Catholic hypocrisy issue garnered the most interest. Close behind was Myrtle Beach’s new thong banning law.

The show is You tubed. All the shows have been. For whatever reason, the shows are You tubed one week after being aired.

Previous shows are also rerun on television saturdays at 4:30 and sundays at 3. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19.

Womankind is alive and strong in Key West. The local group promotes happy and healthy women big time.

Womankind had a fund raiser cocktail party at the Bottle Cap at 5. Lovely Jenna Stauffer was one of the celebrity bartenders. She stood out behind the bar. Gorgeous! One problem. A bartender she was not. I asked for Beefeater on the rocks. She poured bar gin. She did not know what Beefeater was. When I got my drink, it was a glass full of gin. No ice. Womankind made no money on that drink!

I am glad Jenna invited me to the fundraiser. I met the author Rusty Hodgdon. I never would have met him had I not been there. His novels include Insanity, The Subway Killer, and Suicide. There was a bonding. We became instantaneous friends.

Michael Shields stopped by to say hello. Michael you will recall is a film critic, theater critic, arts promoter and author. Michael did a show on KONK Broadcasting. It was immediately after mine. That is where I first met Michael and  got to know him.

World famous Jean Carper was in attendance. Our paths had not crossed in quite a while. We did our hellos, how are you and exchanged a kiss. Jean is a world famous authoress. Most successful. Her works have been on the New York Times Best Seller list many times. She writes about food and health.

I recall several years ago I was up north in the snowy cold of winter. I had a big time head cold. I could not stop sneezing. My nose was bright red and tender.

In desperation, I looked up what to do for a head cold in one of Jean’s books. Her recommendation…..eat a clove of garlic. When the effect wore off, eat another one and so on till the cold is gone.

I hate garlic. But I did as Jean suggested. Within minutes, I stopped sneezing and my head cleared. The remedy was good for two hours. Then I started sneezing again. Another clove of garlic. So it went on all day.

My then wife returned home at dinner time. She wanted to know what I did. She said I reeked of garlic and the house did also!

She did not sleep with me that night.

I opted for the Marriott Beachside bar for dinner. I enjoy the bar/restaurant better in the off season. The crowd had been too much.

Melanie and Michael own Michael’s Restaurant. One of the best in Key West. They were at the bar eating, also. I suspect they were having a date night.

The singer was Mike Emerson. We had never met before. He came over to say hello. Mike has lived in the Keys full time for eleven years. His wife Jenny is an artist. Either her work or she or both are somehow affiliated with the Ambrosia Guest House. The background noise interferred with my hearing.

I was running behind yesterday. Never got to do next week’s column for KONK Life. I have to do it now. It is going to be a combination of Catholic hypocrisy regarding birth control coverage and Father Andrew Greeley who recently died.

Enjoy your day!

SYRACUSE / INDIANA TONIGHT

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It’s amazing! Here I sit in paradise. Key West is a wonder unto itself. Yet what is first on my mind today? The Syracuse/Indiana basketball game tonight.

The Vegas line picks Indiana by 5.5 points. I pick Indiana. Syracuse has already exceeded my expectations in the tournament. On the other hand, one never knows!

Don is a big time Indiana fan. We are going to watch the game together at his bar. The game starts at 9:45. Bocce will come first at 6:30. A busy night ahead!

On the way into town last night, I stopped at Don’s Place. Chatted with Don, David, and Jimmy. Then I was off to the Chart Room.

Lots of people.

Emily bartending. What a lovely girl! Beautiful and smart.

Ran into Bridget who I had met last week. She was with Scott. He was new to me.

Bridget you will recall is a travel guide. Her company has her in Key West for a few weeks. She is from New Hampshire.

Scott is from Colorado. He explained to me he is a walker. Walks large distances. Many miles. Has done so in several countries.

They are both staying at the hostel on South Street. I was surprised. I thought a hostel was for young kids. Apparently not. Bridget had been staying at the Hyatt. She is spending a few days at the hostel with Scott. Separate quarters. Dormitory living. Bridget with the ladies and Scott the men. People of all ages. They explained that they have done this before. It gives them the opportunity to meet many diverse people easily.

Obviously no sex involved between Bridget and Scott. At least not at the hostel.

Peter was at the end of the bar entertaining a group of young ladies and their male escorts. All relatively young. Thirtyish. The ladies in the medical field. One a doctor. A pediatrician. The others nurses. One of the couples visited Key West last year for four hours. They were on a cruise ship. Liked Key West so much, they have returned with friends for a whole week.

Pam said hello. We met last year. She is a local. A lovely lady. I loved her even more when she told me she listened to my blog talk radio show. A first for me. Most are aware of this blog, the TV show, the internet show, my weekly KONK Life column. Pam was the first person I have met who even mentioned the blog talk radio show. A sign the show must be catching on. I hope!

Belinda from last week was seated at the round table with friends. She said hello as I was leaving. I went over and gave her a peck on the cheek. I look forward to running into her again soon.

The weather is cold! 59 degrees at the moment. Hight today 70. Will be in the 60s when we play bocce tonight. Long pants!

Tomorrow morning at 10 the Key West Lou Legal Hour. Available for viewing on  television  and the internet. TV channels Comcast 87 and U-Verse 19. World wide on the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

The main topic will involve Cyprus, Germany and the euro. What has happened and is happening in Cyprus is dangerous and fearful. I warned while in Greece last summer that the euro problems could lead to war. I wrote a major column on the issue two months ago for KONK Life. Germany started World War I and World War II. I suggested Germany might be responsible for World War III. I did not view the middle east as today’s primary danger spot. It was Germany and Europe!

I have to move my butt. I have an early haircut appointment with Lori. Always a pleasure to be in her company.

Enjoy your day!

 

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW…..

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It is all about Oz! The Wizard of Oz!

Key West High School is presenting the show next week. Grandson Cameron has a lead role. Strawman. Grandkids Robert and Ally are all excited. Practicing away. They are munchkins. I am excited. Cannot wait to see them perform!

I stayed in last night. State of the Union time.

The State of the Union has become ritualistic. The President comes before both houses of Congress and spells out his agenda for the year. He also comments on the health of the Nation. Congress sits and listens. The President’s party smile. The opposition look grim. Contrast Boehner and Biden last night behind the President.

The best part of the State of the Union from my perspective is the gate keeper who enters the Congressional Chamber and speaks in a loud voce, just short of yelling…..The President of the United States!

What did I learn last night? The President’s program is ambitious. He needs only to accomplish a small part for it to be a great year. Jobs are key. I am for infrastructure. I wish the Republicans would bend on  this point. It is a sure way to jobs and positive cash flow.

The Republicans have to give some. Being the opposition does not mean opposing everything. On occasion, cooperation for the good of the country is required.

Senator Cruz was making news on all the TV channels this morning. A new Senator. He has the good fortune of being on the Committee passing judgment on Hagel. Cruz went a step too far in tuesday’s discussions. He accused American war hero Hagel of cozying up to Iran. Not just absurd. Stupid! Even McCain came to Hagel’s defense.

Comcast is in the news big time this morning. My favorite internet provider. Said with tongue in cheek. Comcast bought out GE’s 49 per cent interest in NBC and Universal. Comcast now owns all 100 per cent of NBC. Comcast is also the largest provided of internet services. They became the same in 2002 when they bought AT&T Broadband.

Two thoughts.

First, I hope Comcast does not screw up NBC as it has its Key West internet service. Sometimes top management becomes too distant from its people in the trenches.

Second, is this purchase a step too far? Corporations like Comcast get larger and larger. Just like the banks did. At some point too big to fail? I sometimes think banks and major corporations are our shadow government.

Friday is two days away. My TV/internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. The show is developing well. Interesting topics. Like the Pope’s resignation, the State of the Union message, wrestling and the Olympics, a Vienna Museum nudist showing, an Akron police chief and DNA, and more.

Join me friday morning at 10. I guarantee you will enjoy!

Syracuse basketball again tonight. Seven o’clock. It is being carried on ESPN. I am not sure whether I will be watching from bed or John’s Big Ten Sports Pub.

I hope Syracuse wins. I am not sure this season. Every game is a nerve wrecker.

Enjoy your day!

STILL WORKING ON TRIP PICS

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Rained big time last night. With booming lightning. The type lightning that comes flashing through the shutters into the bedroom.

Windy, too. Weather report this morning says gusts were up to 35 miles per hour.

It is still raining. Rather, pouring. I susect it may keep up all day.

The street in front of my home is flooded. More water than Isaac.

If the rain continues, forget bocce tonight. The courts will be too wet.

First Egypt and Libya, now Yemen. Probably not the end. These people are religiously too sensitive.

In days gone by, the killing of one or more of our representatives meant war. Not today. For all understandable reasons. However, there must be retaliation. Not just equal in force. There is a need for a bit more. Hit the other side harder than they did us. Those seekinmg to harm us must understand that there is retribution. Hopefully, it would discourage harmful erratic demonstations as we have seen the past few days.

I walked again yesterday morning. I am proud of myself!

Published another Amazon Kindle article yesterday. Girl 10 Gives Birth To Baby Boy. An abortion dissertation.

Worked hard with Sloan in the early evening on the trip pics. We are getting there! Soon they will be available for viewing.

Dinner last night at the Yacht Club. With the lovely Jenna Stauffer. Jenna is doing well on Comcast TV. She has her own daily talk show and does the news three evenings a week.

We have not been together in a long time. We had a lot of catching up.

I like Jenna. She has a great future ahead of her. Deservidly so. She is good people.

While Jenna and I were having a drink at the bar before dinner, Cindy Livingston came over. Cindy is wife to friend Howard. We chatted quite a while. Cindy and Howard and some friends are off to St. Martens next week for a few days of fun.

Tomorrow morning my interent show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Friday. Ten in the morning my time. www.konkbroadcasting.com. Join me. Watch. The show will be interesting and challenging. Especially in view of the week’s events in Cairo, Benghazi, Yemen and Chicago.

Made an interesting discovery yesterday. I have started to trace where this blog goes, who reads it, etc. I am pleased to share with you the following. Key West Lou is read in 38 different countries, plus the United States. Wild!

Anna is back from her one month family visit to Poland. She returned two days ago. She is here this morning. I am thrilled! I will have clean pressed clothes and a clean house once again.

Enjoy your day!