HAPPENINGS AND THOUGHTS

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I am a creature of habit. I returned to Tavern ‘n Town last night after having been there thursday evening. Two reasons. Dieting, I have to go where I can get the best meal for my diet. There is also Bobby Nesbitt. He entertains friday evenings at the bar. I have enjoyed his singing for over 20 years. He sings songs I know. Songs from my past. I quietly sing along with him.

Tavern ‘n Town was packed both bar and dining room. Mostly locals. They were having an early dinner before heading over to the Tennessee Williams Theater for the Nutcracker Suite.

Key West’s Nutcracker is presented every two years. Artistic liberty taken.  The mice, etc. are chickens and fish to reflect the Key West life style.

I was banking at noon time. Afterwards stopped at Don’s Place. No Don nor anyone I knew. I left.

This diet has introduced me to organic foods. Emily is an organic nut. She finally drove me to shopping correctly in certain instances.

I had heard of the Organic Cafe on Fleming. Had never been there. Stopped yesterday for a sandwich. The Cafe is in a former gas station.

I could not order. The menu was too confusing. The place crowded. A line to place an order. I took a menu home and read it. Interesting. No question healthy food. Also, very expensive. I was shocked. I guess you pay the price for healthy food.

The place unquestionably a gold mine. People buying!

I am into sitting on the deck. Spent some thoughtful time. Much happening in my life at the moment.

I dislike bike riders. Accidents waiting to happen. Electric carts joined the club yesterday.

I was driving up US 1. North, heading home. Just past Cross Street, traffic got heavy. I was in the passing lane. Backed up badly. Hard to pull out because of traffic in the driving lane.

Finally got to where I could pass. There were two electric  carts driving in the passing lane up US 1. Where they were going, I know not. Doing probably 30 miles an hour at best. They were placing their lives in jeopardy. Perhaps even that of a car driver.

While enjoying my diet food at the bar at Tavern ‘n Town, I was watching a basketball game. It was a high school game. Simeon v. St. Rita. Could not understand why a major channel would carry a high school game in prime time.

Turns out it was a national championship round. Simeon #2 in the country, St. Rita #5. These kids played well. College Division I well. I read afterwards that certain players from the two teams are already committed to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Tulane.

All over Key West people are discussing the Cuba thing. All in favor. Not one I heard against. The reason generally being that the U.S. program has existed for 50 years and nothing has changed. The program did not work.

Cuba brought to mind the nuclear showdown between the U.S. and Russia involving Cuba. It was October 1963. Russia had nuclear missiles in Cuba. The U.S. said get them out. Russia said no.

U.S. ships were blocking the way to Cuba. Russian vessels were heading for Cuba and reached the American line. World War III was imminent. Ships facing each other. Within several hundred feet. Russia blinked. I can still see clearly the Russian vessel turning around and heading home.

In the last coupe of days, an al-Qaeda/ISIS group in Nigeria attacked a village. Killed 35. Took captive around 140. Mostly young women, girls and children. The last time this occurred a few months ago, 300 young girls were captured. The word is they were sold into slavery.

ISIS published a manual in Mosul recently. It had to do with slaves and sex. What the man could do and not do. Not much he could not do. Females considered property. Intercourse before puberty permitted.

These people are crazy!

The market has had a good week. Up, up and up. Very upward. I have been a market player my entire life. People should recall that whatever goes up rapidly, comes down even more rapidly.

Syracuse/Villanova today at 1. Villanova a 12 point favorite. The game is ccarried on a major channel. I shall be watching it from the comfort of home.

Enjoy your day!

PETER ANDERSON

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A busy morning yesterday. Started with some scheduled heart tests at Dr. McIvor’s office. Then a manicure with Tammy. Finally an 11 o’clock business meeting downtown.

Spent a bit of time in the afternoon reviewing my notes for last night’s Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Dinner was at the Roostica bar. Chatted with the lovely Megan.

Showtime at 9. My blog talk radio show. Enjoyed doing it. I was disturbed about many things and vented. Things like the 52,000 children and China wanting to buy most of our American Fortune 500 companies.

Peter Anderson is sick. His condition reportedly serious. The cancer returned. He is bedridden and Hospice is attending him. Peter is the Secretary General of the Conch Republic. A major contributor to Key West history and folklore. Pray for him.

I continue to be concerned for the close to 300 girls who were forcibly removed from their school in Nigeria. Their captors said they were to be sold into slavery. That was three months ago. Nothing heard since. What has happened to the girls? Is anyone still looking for them?

Key West Citizen’s this Day in History section notes that on this day in 1941 Joe Di Maggio hit in his 56th consecutive game. Quite a feat! A record that stands to this day.

I met Joe Di Maggio twice. A privilege. Especially the second time.

The first occasion was in my home town Utica. Rufie Ventura owned a restaurant. Ventura’s. Each summer he sponsored a charity golf tournament. Joe Di Maggio would attend. He and Rufie were friends. I met Di Maggio at one of the tournaments.

The second time was years later. Di Maggio was long retired. I had finished playing a round of golf at La Gorce in Miami. I was sitting at a table with several La Gorce members after the game having a drink. We were in the Men’s Lounge. Di Maggio was a member at La Gorce. He came in and sat with us. He knew the others. I was introduced. I spent the next hour enjoying his company and graciousness.

I return to the gym this morning at 11. It has been 10 days since my last visit. Albert just telephoned to ask if I was going to appear. I was happy to say yes. I fear I am going to be extra sore after the workout because of the time I have missed. All for good health!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

KATHERINE PREGNANT?

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Before every one gets excited, I am not referring to Katherine of Katherine and Sean Kinney. This story is about Katherine the Great White Shark.

The Miami Herald reported yesterday that a great white shark was sighted off Key Largo. She was 14 feet long and weighed 2,300 pounds. Her name is Katherine.

Katherine’s dorsal fin has a tracking tag attached. It was implanted last August off Cape Cod. Every time Katherine’s fin is above water, it pings. Repeatedly. Katherine is topside more than normal. The scientists are thrilled with all the pinging she is providing.

At the moment, Katherine’s pinging will help them learn the various directions great white sharks take to get from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico.

Pregnancy comes into play. If Katherine is pregnant, she will end of in Gulf waters this summer. if not, she will be back in the Cape Cod area. The Cape apparently is a breeding ground for great white sharks.

Katherine is popular. Even before her recent sighting in the upper Keys. She has a following in the social media world. Her Twitter account has 4,000 followers.

Stay tuned! Hopefully, I will be able to let you know at some time if Katherine was/is with child. If so, the baby will be an instantaneous media star.

The boulevard construction continues to be a gigantic pain. However, I suspect Key Westers have all become adjusted. Each of us have our special streets we take to avoid the construction.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, I decided to use the boulevard on my way home. It was mid afternoon. Suddenly, traffic was jammed up. Movement if at all was in tiny steps. Finally, the police moved us in and out of side streets. The morning paper reports there was some sort of construction accident which caused the boulevard to be closed down for a couple of hours.

We will all be happy when the construction is completed. We are told mid summer. Then the game plan is to reconstruct the first few miles of Route 1. I am sure that will take a year plus. I live 2.5 miles up Route 1. Ain’t no short cuts off Route 1!

I had a quiet dinner reading the newspapers at Roostica. Business very slow. Maybe a half dozen people in the place. More staff than customers. Attributable to the time of year.

Did my blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou.

I have been hitting on the lack of transparency in government and the failure of the media to report ALL the news in recent shows. I have a suspicion that on occasion, government may influence the media as to what it reports.

I do not think what I am about to state has anything to do with the preceding. However, it is another shade of the problem. I talked about it last night.

Roughly three weeks ago, we learned of the 30 Nigerian girls who were abducted from a boarding school in Nigeria. The United sSates and most other nations were immediately inflamed. My concern was the timeliness of the news report. The abduction had taken place two weeks prior to the media reporting it.

Within a week after learning about the 300 girls, it was reported 59 young boys were also abducted by the same Nigerian radical Islamist group. The boys’ abduction occurred some two plus months before the female abduction. Whereas, the girls were initially to be sold into slavery, the boys were taken down a different road. All 59 were killed. Some shot. Most burned to death in a building. It was reported only ashes remained.

We never learned about the incident involving the boys till almost three months after it occurred.

Why were we not told of these events as they occurred? Certainly, they were newsworthy. There is a pattern developing as to what we are told and not told. It bothers me.

Don and Chris are returning today! I hope to have a couple of drinks with them tonight at the Chart Room.

Enjoy your day!

BOCCE…..WE FALTERED

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There is a line in Peter Pan…..Dreams do come true. I don’t know.

All week my bocce team has been hyped about playing last night. We had come back from nothing by winning 8 of the last 9 games. We could be heading for the playoffs. We needed to win 4 of the last 6 games of the season.

We played three of those games last night. Against a team that had lost 9 straight.

They done us in! We lost 2 of the 3 games. Which means we have to win all 3 next week.

I was surprised at last night’s result. We were geared up and ready to play. Confident. It was kill time. We got killed!

I spent all of the day yesterday writing next week’s column for KONK Life. It is titled Misuse of Little Ones. The abduction of the 300 girls in Nigeria, coupled with the crucifixions and beheadings, including children, in Nigeria and Syria, motivated the article.

Yesterday was the 69th anniversary of VE-Day. Victory in Europe. The was against Germany was over.

I was ten years old at the time. The event sticks in my mind as if it were yesterday.

The news first came over the radio. No TV in those days. People rejoiced. They stood on their porches banging spoons against pots and pans. They cried. They yelled words of joy to each other. The streets flooded with people. Everyone crying. Everyone kissing.

There have been several wars since. I can recall no such rejoicing when each ended.

Speaking of anniversaries, today is the second anniversary of my Father’s death. He left us on May 9, 2012. He would have been 100 years old today. He had a good life. The second half was better than the first. I loved him and miss him.

Enjoy your day!

KEY WEST LOU LEGAL HOUR THIS MORNING

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Today is friday. Friday means the Key West Lou Legal Hour. My internet broadcast. World wide. Ten in the morning my time. www.konknet.com/tv/personalities.

Needless to say, the week has been exciting. And sad. Joy and tragedy. I have many today topics to share with you. Comments regarding Sandy and the Presidential election, of course. Plus Panama’s desire to get into the euro, how brothels are financing Greek football clubs, Auschwitz, the first gay Episcopal bishop, the 1948 Presidential election, and the New York City police officer charged with planning to kidnap, cook and eat a woman.

In addition, a Chinese exam story, more Silvio Berlusconi, Muslims bombing a Catholic Church in Nigeria, the failure of the Personhood Amendment in Oklahoma, and more.

Please join me. Guaranteed you will not be bored!

My yesterday started with a haircut with Lori. We discussed my new beard. It is now entering its third week. Decided it was too soon to do any trimming.

Stopped at Blossoms for lunch. The best Cuban cheese toast with tomato in Key West! Stayed and read a while. Three young ladies work the place. Very young. Twenty one or under. Energetic. Helpful. Enthusiastic. Always a smile on their faces. Made me wonder if a person has to be young to smile all the time.

Publix next. Needed some groceries. I enjoy grocery shopping. I who never did it in my other life. I meet people I know. Make new friends.

Bocce last night. We played the #2 team. Prior to last night, we were ranked #5. They were good. Beat us decisively in the first game. The second game was close. We lost by a point. We were down 10-2 and came back. The third game we won. By one point.

Someone brought what was represented to be moonshine. I never tasted moonshine. Tried a bit last night. About a half inch in a cup. Commented before drinking it that I hoped it would not make me blind.

The moonshine or whatever had no effect on me.

Met an interesting couple at bocce. Jack and Var. I may not have the wife’s name correct. If not, I apologize.

Jack and Var are from Dublin, Ireland. They are here on a three week trip. Have been here before several times. A daughter resides in Key West.

Jack and Var are friends of Don. Don introduced them to me.

Jack is likewise retired. Seventy five. We are birds of a feather. We spoke of health issues. Especially heart ones. And fortunately, the vitality still within us. We spoke also of golf. Jack is a player.

Jack owned his own business in Ireland. Another daughter now runs it. The business has to do with tool making and specialized high production items. He spoke proudly of his accomplishments work wise, as he should. Boeing was one of his customers.

We also discussed the euro. Ireland got into the euro at the beginning. Still is in it. Jack said money was easy and plentiful at the beginning. Now Ireland cannot pay back its debt. Germany and the Euro Nation are on Ireland’s ass. The story much the same as with Greece, Italy and Spain.

Taxes came into the picture. Federal taxes. Jack paid 49 per cent of his salary in taxes. And our successful business people, the 2 per centers, do not want to pay 38-39 per cent!

I enjoyed my time with Jack and Var. Hopefully, we will be able to spend a bit more time together before they return home.

Remember to watch my show.

Enjoy your day!