MONDAY IN KEY WEST

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Pleasant weather. Makes you feel good to be in Key West

Walked again yesterday. Parked the car again at the airport. Instead of walking along Smathers Beach towards 1800 Atlantic, I walked in the opposite direction. Towards Flagler

What a difference turning around made! An equally exciting view as the Smathers Beach walk. This time the time shares, restaurant and fort on the other side of the road. Another flavor of Key West.

Lunch was at home. Had to be. I am on a diet and have to prepare certain foods.

I spent the early afternoon working on friday’s TV/internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Initial topics prepared include teen emergency contraception, Toys ‘R Us and a stupid gender discrimination case, Euro banks in trouble, Germans want to link tax Google, woman arrested for riding a manatee, sex toy industry big in China, and Alaskan waste.

Remember to watch the show, if you can. Friday morning at 10 my time. Airs on TV two ways. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. The show is available from Key West through Miami-Dade County. The show can also be seen via the internet world wide. www.tvchannel19.com.

I played grandfather later in the afternoon. Took Robert and Ally to swimming practice. They are on a swim team. Practice is at the college.

I felt sorry for them. The air was cool, the water cold. The pool is not yet heated. Robert and Ally came hurrying over after practice was concluded. I had huge towels and jackets with hoods for them. Wrapped them immediately. Robert said it was cold. I felt bad for the both of them.

Drove them home. Visited with Lisa and Cory for a while. Did not stay for dinner. I can only eat special diet food.

I arrived home famished. Prepared and gouged  my meal  down. A very small pizza and one cup of grapes. Not enough food. That is the price I must pay for having overdone for quite a while.

Diet or not, I still have to get out. To see people. To socialize.

I headed over to Hogfish. Two diet Pepsi’s at the bar and the good company of some local fishermen.

The Key West Citizen reported Kelley McGillis flag football would be returning to Key West. I knew Kelley McGillis socially back when I first bought a home in Key West. Then she divorced and left. She returns on occasion for flag football and Womanfest.

For those who might not recognize the name, Kelley starred in many movies. Two of her most famous were Top Gun with Tom Cruise and Witness with Harrison Ford. Yes, that lovely woman!

Old movies are my forte. Love them. Woke this morning and watched a part of Treasure Island. A 1932 movie based on the Robert Louis Stevenson book.

The star was a boy. Jackie Cooper. The same Jackie Cooper I would spend time with years later at La Costa. Cooper’s movie career  had concluded. I think his last movie was as the editor in a Superman film. When I knew him, racing was his thing. He owned and raced horses.

Enjoy your day!

ANOTHER QUIET KEY WEST SUNDAY

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Sunday is a do nothing day for me. The less I can do, the better it seems.

I took a walk early afternoon. Parked the car at the airport. Walked the length of Smathers Beach and back. A bright sun. A bit chilly. No humidity. Perfect walking weather.

I am back into good health. I try frequently. Succeed rarely. This time I am serious. Today is day 3 of my diet. Yes, you will have to put up with it again. Exercise is a part of it all. Ergo the walk.

Afterwards, I stopped at Lisa’s. I was shocked when I walked in! Absolute quiet. Like a church.

Lisa was on the couch reading the newspaper. What is going on, I asked. Turned out Robert and Ally each had friends over to play. They were in different bedrooms and playing quietly. Cameron had a friend in his room. Corey was upstairs doing something on the computer.

Lisa said the kids should have friends over more often!

I babysit this afternoon. Lisa and Corey have a funeral service to attend. The grandkids have swim team practice at the college at 4:30. My responsibility is to watch them practice and then return them home.

The TV/Internet show is off the ground. It has some rough edges. I am working on them.

I have long thought I would like to do a radio show. Why not! So I am going to do one. I did a practice run thursday night. Went well. Have another practice session tuesday night. This one will be a talk show. You can all call in and share your thoughts with me.

The Key West Citizen yesterday had a major front page article on Breeze. Breeze is Carnivals new big boat. It is going to make six stops in Key West after the first of the year. It will carry 3,700 passengers.

I found the article interesting and strange. There is an ongoing furor whether Key West should make the channel deeper and wider. The purpose being to handle the big boats. Big dollars!

If Key West needs bigger and deeper, how can Breeze make it in to dock?

Breeze was commissioned this past June. Has already completed an Atlantic crossing. As stated before, carries 3,700 passengers. Plus a crew of 1,300. The vessel is a 1,000 feet long. Weighs 130 tons. Has a draft of 8.5.

I have seen several pictures of Breeze. A monster!

If it does not get stuck in the channel, I question the need for widening and deepening it.

Enjoy your day!

 

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY

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Robert has been talking about the Symphony since he and Ally attended recently. Perhaps a musician in the making.

Robert mentions on occasion that the Symphony was at the Tennessee Williams Theater at the College. I asked if he knew who Tennessee Williams was. He did not, nor did Ally. I explained briefly.

There was a method to my madness. Tennessee Williams lived on Duncan Street, the same street as Lisa and family. One block and a half away. He had lived there for 40 years. I explained he was an author and had written many books while living there.

I took the grandkids for a ride. Stopped in front of Tennessee William’s house. A well maintained white bungalow. Both Robert and Ally exclaimed they knew who lived there. The people who gave them candy on Halloween while they were treating and tricking.

I explained Williams was dead. The people were different. Williams had lived there some time before them.

They will probably speak of Williams every time they walk past the house.

Since we were into authors, I asked if they had ever heard of Ernest Hemingway. No, they said. I explained who Hemingway was, that he wrote also, and that he had lived in Key West for ten years.

I wanted to show them the large stately home where Hemingway lived. Initially, I did not drive over to the home on Whitehead. Instead I took them to the hotel on Simonton, just off Caroline. I explained that the hotel was where Hemingway had first stayed when arriving in Key West, the car purchase story, and Hemingway having to wait for delivery for several weeks. Deciding he liked Key West and was going to stay, Hemingway bought a house.

I drove over to the big house on Whitehead. The Hemingway home everyone knows. Some day I will take Robert and Ally on a tour of the house. I told them about the six toed cats they would see on that first visit..

Yesterday turned out to be a raising Robert and Ally’s awareness day! A good thing for them and me.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

LAZY DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING

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Somehow yesterday morning I forgot to press a button. Necessary to publish yesterday’s blog. It failed to get published. Discovered the error this morning. Pressed the button.

Ergo, you will have two blogs to read today. Yesterday’s and today’s.

I walked around feeling sluggish yesterday. Had to be the two Thanksgiving meals from the day before.

Did something pleasant for Louis. A manicure. Tammy her usual bright cheerful self.

Tammy has two children. Pre schoolers. I asked if she cooked a turkey. No, she said. I told her she has to do the American holidays. Her children are growing up Americans. She cooked Vietnamese dishes instead. Her excuse was she does not know how to cook a turkey. I believe her. She promised to try next year.

Bocce last night. I felt like the living dead. It was a make up game. We were the only ones using a court.

We won all three games. The most points the opposing team scored were six. It was a good night, an easy night. Before you get the impression we were that good, I have to confess that the team we beat is either at the bottom or next to the bottom in standing. They are new and relatively inexperienced.

The three victories help. We are close to making the playoffs. There is only one week to the season left.

Herschel and Erika brought a goodie. Smoked snapper dip and crackers. Herschel had smoked a turkey the day before and smoked the salmon along with it. Delicious!

The team headed over to Don’s Place afterwards. I had one drink and left.

Frankie. Frankie. Frankie. My partner, my bocce team mate. The best bocce player in the thursday night league. Perhaps the best player in the whole league.

Frankie did not play last night. Though he did stop by with his wife Sandy to say hello. Frankie is having heart valve surgery monday in Miami.

I wish my friend well.

This Fifty Shades of Grey book is being discussed by most people. Especially  women.

I reviewed the book from my perspective yesterday on the TV/internet show as I did recently in this blog. My main thrust was that the book was an event which would elevate sex to a new level. As had the birth control pill in the 1960s, the Joy of Sex in 1972, and the g-spot in the early 1980s. My review received big time comment. Mostly from women. All excited. All loved the book. Some commented they even agreed with my observation. With one exception.

The importance of the Joy of Sex was that the clitoris was unknown by most prior thereto. For real. The book introduced the world to the clitoris and clitoral orgasms.

One female reader did not like my use of the word clitoris. How else would I label it? That is what it is. That is what it is called. I did not think it offensive. It is an appendage on the body. Like an arm, leg, the tongue. My comments were to the point, brief, and not sexual in nature. I was reporting on a fact which had occurred.

So much for today. Read yesterday’s blog, also.

Have a good saturday!

 

 

SHOWTIME

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Today…..The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten my time this morning. Airs on TV on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. From Key West through Miami-Dade County. Available world-wide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

Watch. An interesting show this morning.

Topics include Fifty Shades of Grey, how cell phones are aiding in the apprehension of wrongdoers, an Ohio criminal defendant who asked the Judge if he could smoke one more joint, the female Hindu dentist who died in Ireland because of a religion not her own, a dirty old lady, and more.

Thanksgiving yesterday! I over ate. Never changes. Every year the same.

Two dinners may have contributed.

Thanksgiving dinner was at Lisa’s at one. A terrific meal! The turkey and everything that goes with it! Robert and Ally excited. They are into holidays big time. Robert wore long pants, a tie and real shoes. Ally was dressed in her best finery.

It was family time.

Afterwards, I fell asleep in the easy chair at Lisa’s. I tried to watch football. To no avail. The stomach was full and the body tired.

At six I had dinner at Stan and Clara’s. Ate again, but not as much. Stan and Clara had the big Thanksgiving spread, also. Two turkeys! One smoked and the other marinated before cooking. Tried both, of course. Delicious!

I did Thanksgiving with Stan and Clara’s family. Included Clara’s parents. And Herschel, Ericka, Boomer and Kathy.

I filled up twice yesterday. I should have slept well last night. I did not. Toss and turned. Kept waking up.

One nice thing about living on open water is that the wind off the ocean greets you every morning. Normally pleasant. Not this morning. Cold! Temperature dropped to 62 during the evening. I turned the heat on.

The weather by day is in the low 70s. Cold to us who live in Key West full time. The blood has thinned.

Bocce tonight. A make up game. It is going to be cold! Temperature during the games will be in the high 60s. The bocce courts are located about 300 feet off the Atlantic. The breeze off the ocean will be blowing in. Cannot escape it.

Again, please watch my show at 10. A nice way to start a friday morning.

Enjoy your day!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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Happy  Thanksgiving!

This morning the turkeys are in the oven, pies cooling, the children watching the Macy Thanksgiving Parade, families getting together. A good day! A thank you God day.

A quick  history of Thanksgiving.

The gathering of Pilgrims and Indians in 1621 is considered the first Thanksgiving. It was not. It was called a “gathering.”

There were no more thanksgivings/gatherings till 1776. George Washington called for a day of thanksgiving. The first time the word was actually used. The Revolution was in full swing. The colonies had separated from Great Britain.

The day was enjoyed. Washington wanted to continue it every year. The politicians of the day said no. Even Thomas Jefferson. It had to do with Pilgrims, Puritans, and satanic beliefs. A hot potato.

There was not another thanksgiving till 1864. Abraham Lincoln was happy with the way the Civil war was going. He had a new general by the name of Ulysses Grant who had won several battles, The Emancipation Proclamation was law. Lincoln decreed the fourth thursday of November was hence forth to be celebrated as a day of thanksgiving.

It so continued till 1941. It became a legal holiday at that time. Thanks to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

That’s the story.

Lunch yesterday was at Goldman’s Deli with Robert and Ally. Business appeared to be half of what it normally was. I attribute it to the competition of the nearby new Five Guys and the boulevard construction.

The grandkids and I talked about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Had Santa Claus telephoned me yet this year? No, not yet. He’s busy. Soon, however.

Oh, how they believe!

Before going out last night, I had to deliver the turkey from my refrigerator to Lisa. It was heavy! Robert and Ally were excitedly waiting for me. They took the turkey from me to carry inside.

My evening out was Don’s Place. A good  crowd. Including Don, David, Herschel, Stan, Erika, Toni, Bebe, Rob, and others. The holiday spirit was in the air.

I read an article this morning that the second biggest drinking night in the U.S. is Thanksgiving Eve. The first of course is New Year’s Eve.

I stopped at Publix for a few things on the way home. The new one. The place was crowded. I was surprised. Apparently most people had waited till the last minute to shop.

Two Thanksgiving dinners for me today! With Lisa and family at 1. With friends at 6. A heavy day!

Donna emailed me yesterday. She forwarded a You Tube video of Terri made in Dusseldorf,  Germany. Terri recently appeared with the Symphony there.

The video is less than six minutes. Well done. I recommend you take a look at it.

www.youtube.com/watch?=BJsTyKKxu8o&sns=em.

Tomorrow is friday. Friday is The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Please watch. Ten o’clock in the morning my time. Available on TV throughout the Keys and Miami-Dade County. Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. Available world wide via internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

You will enjoy!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday, also!

 

CRANBERRY NUT BREAD AND SHEILA

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The Chart Room again last night. Peter and Che at the bar. A good crowd otherwise.

Sheila came in after a while. Lovely Sheila. The trolley train lady. A friend to all. Loved by every one.

Sheila had a bag full of small cranberry nut bread loafs. In aluminum pans. Still warm.

This is for you, Louis. Happy Thanksgiving! She handed me one of the loaves.

How nice! How thoughtful!

When I left the Chart Room, I was headed out to dinner. Not sure where. As I got in the car, I said to myself…..go home…..eat the warm cranberry nut bread. That is what I did. Made some tea and covered the still warm bread with butter. My dinner! The best!

Thank you, Sheila.

While I was at the Chart Room, Sheila introduced me to Cori. Same pronunciation as son in law Corey’s name, except spelled differently.

Cori just received her doctorate from Exeter in England. Her PhD is in Maritime History.

She works at the Custom House as Curator of History. Knows my Corey well. Knows Lisa, also.

Yesterday morning after finishing the day’s blog, I received a telephone call from Jenna. Could we do my TV/Internet show at 4 today instead of friday? Krystal wanted to take a long weekend to spend the holiday with her folks. Ok, I said.

Only one problem. I prepare the show during the week a bit at a time each day. Ergo, I was not ready to do the show at 4. I could get ready, but would have to work diligently till 4. I did.

The show was recorded and will be shown at 10 friday morning as usual.

The topics are interesting. Let me share a few with you.

Thanksgiving. I did a history of the holiday. The pilgrims and Indians did not give us Thanksgiving. Abraham Lincoln did.

Since the show has many viewers from foreign lands who are unaware of Thanksgiving, I explained from a practical perspective what happens on Thanksgiving Day. The Macey parade, a glutonous meal, and falling asleep in front of the TV while watching college football after dinner.

The Hostess failure bothers me. A particular union is one of the problems. Another and greater problem however is the sugar industry. By virtue of a 1934 law, heavy tariffs are placed on sugar imported. As a result, no one ships sugar into the U.S. The U.S. sugar industry has a monopoly. So…..sugar costs twice as much in the U.S. as elsewhere in the world. Hostess obviously used sugar big time.

The sugar law is a form of corporate welfare. Similar to the subsidy paid oil companies. The sugar lobby in Washington is strong. They make sure the tariff program continues. There is more to this story.

A secession follow up. This whole thing is a joke. For real. Not real.

Took a walk back in history with Enrico Caruso, Casablanca, war time rationing, and Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary pass.

Three interesting stories where today’s cell phone was instrumental in catching wrongdoers.

The aforementioned are some of the topics discussed. I will share more with you tomorrow.

Needed a gas fill up yesterday. Stopped at the Citgo station on the boulevard. The boulevard of construction. I chatted with the woman running the place. I noticed there was a sign saying free coffee. I asked why. She told me business was down 60 per cent and they were trying to induce business. She further told me that the nearby MacDonald’s was down 61 per cent and was considering closing.

I find the MacDonald thing hard to believe. The Key West MacDonald’s is one the highest volume MacDonald’s in Florida. I hope the lady was wrong.

The boulevard construction is a rip off. Two years to complete. I can understand why. Very few people working the job. Some days no one. The highest number I have counted for one day is 7. I drive past the site at least two times a day.

Tomorrow the bird! I am excited. I was excited as a kid and continue to be excited as an adult. I love holidays!

I suspect the reason holidays excited me back when was because my family was of modest means. Not on holidays, however. The table was full of goodies!

Enjoy your day!

 

PREPARING FOR THANKSGIVING

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It’s like waiting for Santa Claus! Thanksgiving is coming! Only two days away!

Lots to do to get ready for the holiday.

Lisa bought the turkey Sunday. Brought it to my house. I who live alone have two refrigerators. The turkey is sitting in the fridge in the garage. Lisa’s refrigerator is too full to handle a frozen turkey.

Robert and Ally were all excited. They had gone to Publix with Lisa to buy the turkey. They are ready. Told me they were going to watch the Macy parade and then eat turkey, stuffings, gravy, potatoes, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. The litany flowed.

Robert and Ally will help Lisa prepare the meal. They do every year. They stand on chairs at the cupboard and cut things up, mix, etc.

Lunch yesterday was me alone at the counter at Harpoon Harry’s. Eggs benedict. I had a craving.

Walked the waterfront afterwards. Had to work some of the breakfast off. Walked by Schooner Wharf. I was surprised. Construction going on. It appears Schooner Wharf is doing a two floor addition. It will enlarge the place by at least one third.

Then it was home. Did work for friday’s TV show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Insanity does not take a break. Interesting topics already developed for the show.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour is available via television from two sources. Comcast Channel 87 and U- Verse Channel 19. The U-Verse connection runs through the Keys and Miami-Dade County.

The television show reaches 250,000 homes. I am impressed!

The show is available world wide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com. People tune in in from 30-40 different countries.

The show is 10 am my time. I spell out the 10 am each week. We live in different time zones. People have to figure out the time I am airing in their country.

I started at the Chart Room last night. Glad I stopped in. Dave, Captain Peter and Che at the bar. I spent two stimulating hours. We solved the problems of the world and problems the world is not yet aware it is going to have. Prospective thinking.

It was a quiet dinner at Outback. A prime rib. Read the newspapers.

Stephanie came over to say hello. No Don. She was there with the grandkids.

Enjoy your day!

LOCAL FOLK SUNDAY

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Key West Sundays are relatively quiet for the local folk. Each the same. Laid back.

I watched the Sunday morning talk shows on TV. The furor over Benghazi is too much. They are at the stage of splitting hairs. Our nation’s leaders have more important things to talk about. The debt crisis is looming.

Syracuse beat Wagner in basketball as expected. A little guy playing a giant. Compliments to Wagner for traveling to the Dome knowing that there was little chance of winning.

At one point early on, Wagner was leading. I could read the players’ minds. Just maybe…..

The basketball game was early afternoon. When over, I went to Don’s Place to watch pro football. Don has the pro football package. There are TV sets all over the place, inside and out, showing the games. I sat in back outside with Don and friends and watched five different games at one time. The TV sets were placed  next to each other in a row.

Good company! Besides Don,  there were Stephanie, David, Keith, Larry, Toni, Frankie, Sandy, Boomer and Angus. Always a good time.

I returned home for a while. Read. I have started a new book. A biography of Ulysses Grant. Recently published, the book is entitled The Man Who Saved The Union. Written by H. W. Brands.

From love and BD/SM sex to a presidential history. A jump!

It was Sunday dinner with Lisa and the family.

Christmas  already in the air. Robert and Ally showed me the letters they had written to Santa Claus listing the 10,000 gifts each wanted. I am surprised they still believe. Robert is 8 and Ally 7. Last year some of Robert’s class mates told him what they perceived to be the true story. There ain’t no Santa Claus! Robert did not buy it. I hope he does not buy it this year either. Nor Ally. Santa Claus is good for them.

I was home to an early bed.

I am into the HBO Boardwalk series. Only two more shows before the series concludes. Everyone is getting killed. Worse than the  Godfather trilogy. I hope the “hero” survives.

This Hostess/Twinkie situation is interesting and sad. An example of a little guy taking down the big guy. In this instance, every one loses however. A hollow victory.

Enjoy your day!

 

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

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Book review time! I finished reading Fifty Shades of Grey yesterday morning.

The book is a trilogy. The three volumes fast moving. The author is a woman. E. L. James. I specify her sex since from my perspective it is a woman’s book written by a woman.

Fifty Shades is #1 on the New York Times best seller list. It is being read world wide. Book stores keep running out.

Fifty Shades is a love novel. Again, written by a woman for women. Not generally the type of book men read. Too lovey dovey.

My sense is the book is going to raise sex to another level.

Sex and love are big time in the novel. They are integrated. One.

I am 77. This is the fourth time in my life that I have seen something occur which affected societal mores.

The birth control pill became popular in the 1960s. It freed women from the fear of unwanted pregnancy. Pre-marital sex and promiscuity were rampant. The female was liberated.  Women were able to have sex like men without the fear of consequence.

The pill elevated sex to a new level.

Then came the Joy of Sex. A 1972 novel. Explained the mechanics of sex. Advised men and women how to better enjoy sex.

The major piece of information in the book was the clitoris. Not known as well then as it is today. Hard to believe, but that is how it was.  Women were generally only enjoying vaginal orgasms. The clitoral revelation made it possible for them to enjoy clitoral orgasms. And for some, orgasms for the first time.

Joy of Sex was an international best seller, #1 on the New York Times best seller list.

Once more sex was elevated to a new level.

In 1981 and 1982, two relatively small studies were done regarding the g-spot. Medical science had been aware of the g-spot since the 1940s. A Dr. Grafenberg identified it by name in the 1950s. The g was taken from the first letter of his last name.

Some men’s sex magazine became aware of the studies. Playboy or Penthouse, perhaps. A major article was written. The thrust was that a man’s knowledge and use of the g-spot would place him in a position to better satisfy his woman.

The g-spot raised sex to even a further level.

Now comes Fifty Shades. No question a love novel. Different, however. BD/SM is the primary method of sexual play and expression.

More women than men are reading Fifty Shades. Most will want sex to provide the pleasures reflected in the book. The belief being that  BD/SM will provide increased sexual satisfaction.

Fifty Shades elevates sex to another level. Just as the pill, Joy of Sex, and the g-spot did.

Exploration time in the bedroom again!

Lets move to the more mundane.

Last night was fun! Jenna and Krystal were my guests for drinks and dinner. It was the Chart Room and Hot Tin Roof.

After the ladies left,  I stopped into the Chart Room again. Che was at the bar. I said hello. Did not have a drink. Told Che I was heading over to Don’s Place. He opted to follow me in his car.

Don was at the bar talking with Stan. I joined them. Bocce the conversation. We are team mates.

I missed Thursday night bocce this week. I was behind with the material for my Friday show. Every time I do not play, my team wins!
There has to be a message in that. The team beat Larry’s team 2-1.

Che arrived. The conversation changed. All sort of problems were discussed. The conversation got cerebral. I left. My head could take no more.

Syracuse beat Missouri in football yesterday 31-27. Good for Syracuse! A struggling team this year. They are now 6-5.

Today Syracuse basketball! One pm. I will be watching the game at John Lukas’ Big Ten Pub.

Syracuse is playing Wagner. A warm up game for Syracuse. Syracuse should win easily.

My Utica good friend Gus graduated from Wagner. It would have been nice if we could have watched the game together.

The college football picture was screwed up big time yesterday. Both Kansas State and Oregon lost. Notre Dame is the only undefeated major college team. Notre Dame has to get by USC next week to stay numero uno.

Enjoy your Sunday!