Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

A big time in Key West!

Streets closed off. Green beer. The Irish bars crazy.

My day will be quiet. Golf this morning. Rest this afternoon. Downtown tonight. My St. Patrick’s Day will be whatever I see this evening.

Yesterday I babysat again. Robert was better. However Lisa wanted to be sure. So she kept him home another day.

We played together a bit. Checkers. Then chess. He is trying to teach me chess. Imagine! A 5 year old teaching a 74 year old!

He spent most of the day playing. I worked on friday’s radio show. Added some Truman, Paul Revere, the FBI and Virginia Thomas to the agenda. All in all, it should be an interesting show. Listen in. KONK 1500 AM. See me in person on the internet at http://www.konkam.com/.

I received an e mail from Larry Govendo yesterday. Larry is from Syracuse. I met him a couple of weeks ago while watching Syracuse basketball at the Sports Page Bar. Larry was vacationing in Key West at the time.

The Sports Page has several college flags hanging from its ceiling. No Syracuse flag. Larry wrote and asked that if he sent one down to me, would I see that it was hung at the Sports Page Bar. Of course! I am embarassed I never thought of it.

Go Larry!

Donna Barnett and Terri White telephoned. Love them! They will be in Key West for Passover and will be staying at my home for about 5 days. What could be better!

Robert and I took a walk to the ice cream stand in the afternoon. His school was just getting out. A couple of his classmates came over to sit with us while we were downing the ice cream. A boy and a girl. Both 5. The socialization was impressive. These kids communicated like adults. And only 5 years old!

Last night it was dinner at the bar at Outbacks. Then to the movies. Saw Green Zone with Mark Damon. An Iraqi war movie concerning the search for weapons of mass destruction. An OK movie.

I am up unusually early this morning. I am playing golf earlier than normal. At 8:15. Between the change in time and getting up an hour earlier, I will really be tired afterwards.

Enjoy your day!

Yesterday started with an early morning appointment with my doctor. My annual physical.

After being prodded for a couple of hours, I hurried over to Lisa’s. Babysitting time! Robert under the weather.

Robert slept most of the day. I watched TV and read.

Lunch was the big event. Robert wanted macaroni and cheese. The All American kids dish!

I cooked and we both ate. It was good! We both enjoyed!

I decided to stay in last night. Glad I did. Caught a terrific old movie. Boom Town. With Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Spencer Tracey and Hedy Lamarr. Yes, the Hedy Lamarr I wrote about a few days ago.

Then when I woke this morning, I lucked out again. The TV had been on all night. There was Mario Lanza in Caruso! With Ann Blyth. A wow film! Such singing! Such a voice!

Mario Lanza was a movie star in my youth. He played in many musicals. I have a distinct recollection of him.

Enrico Caruso, also. But in a different fashion.

My grandfather Louis, after whom I am proudly named, had a phonograph player in his living room. It was a large floor model. To operate it, one had to hand crank the box.

My grandfather had Caruso records. I used to play them.

Nostalgia is wonderful! The memories good!

Betwen dinner and bed last night, I worked on this friday’s radio show. There will be some femaleless Olympic history, President Garfield’s assasination, the locked door at the Key West Police Station, and weird dumb laws. This time Massachusetts. Friday at 10 am. KONK 1500 AM. On the internet at www.konkam.com.

My last communication with a human voice last night was Lisa. Robert still sick. I am babysitting again today.

Enjoy your day! I will mine. There is nothing more pleasant than viewing one’s grandson safely asleep on the sofa.

This time change is a pain!

I am like a little kid. It takes me forever to adjust.

I am up early because I have to babysit. Robert is sick.

Remember the woman who lost her purse Saturday night. Screwed up the evening. We spent time outside, not inside, the Key West Police Station. Then the many telephone calls to the credit card companies and banks.

My friend telephoned me yesterday morning. Turns out she did not lose her purse nor was it stolen. She had just found it. On a kitchen chair.

A simple error. It happens. At least I discovered the Police Station problem. If Pope John could open the doors to the Church, Chief Lee can open the doors to the Police Station!

Yesterday was Sunday.

It was a nice day. Warm. Mid to high 70s. A bit of a chill however off the ocean.

I decided to do something different. My friends Mike and Tina from Hartford, soon to live in Tokyo, had told me about a walk they took. On a part of the old Seven Mile Bridge. I figured, let me give it a try.

I put the top down on the convertible and drove the roughly 50 miles to the bridge. A refreshing drive!

The old part of the bridge is only 3 miles long. The part that can be walked on. It runs parallel to the new bridge. About 300 feet separate the two.

Entrance to the old bridge is at the northern end. There is a State maintained parking area there also.

I walked about 2 miles each way. A lot of people. Though not so many that it was crowded. I was about 50 feet above the water. There were boats below me fishing.

The new bridge portion with the cars driving over it was interesting. They were no bother. Although the cars were moving along at 50 plus miles per hour, it appeared as if they were floating slowly across the bridge. And no noise could be heard.

It was a pleasant contemplative type walk.

My goal was to stop at Boondocks on the way back for a late lunch. The place was packed. Never saw so many cars. They extended about a half mile in each direction.

Something was going on.

I drove through close to the building. There outside was my buddy Howard Livingston and his band Mile Marker 21 playing. I could hear Howard singing….I’m living on Key West time! He is!

Anyhow…..there was no where to park and I figured it would take foreveer to get served. So I drove on.

My stop for lunch was the Shrimp Shack on Stock Island. Sat outside. The place has grown. Many more tables.

I bought the Key West Citizen to read. Enjoyed fish and chips. And the view! All the shrimp boats in for the day. The docked shrimp boats were within 20 feet of me.

Dinner last night was with Lisa and the family. Robert was already sick. That is when I got my marching ordrs for today. He had a fever and was coughing.

Two big deals last night!

The first was the selections and rankings for the big tournament which starts this week. Syracuse was selected as the number 1 seed in the West. Good! I suspect we just made it. Although Syracuse finished 28-4, it lost its last 2 games.

Whatever. We are there. And the next 4 weeks is going to be crazy basketball time!

There is a new miniseries. The Pacific. Twelve weekly one hour shows. Sundays at 9. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks producing. Last night was the first show.

I watched.

I am a World War II freak. I have read so many books on the event. I think the reason it piques my interest so much is that I lived through the era. I was 6 years old when it started and 10 when it concluded. My memories are vivid.

The show was only so so last night. Perhaps because it was the beginning. Characters have to be introduced and established.

In any event, I shall watch it every Sunday till it is finished.

Solares Hill is a local weekly newspaper. It is published on Sunday and is delivered with the Sunday edition of the Key West Citizen. The main article on page 1 yesterday concerned the Key West Cemetery stone imprinted…..I Told You I Was Sick.

I have spoken of it many times. But have never actually seen it.

Turns out it is not by or sitting over an old man. It was said by a woman and in recent times, not old.

She is Mrs. J. P. Roberts. The stone only reflects her name, not gender, however…..B. P. Roberts. She died in 1979.

Obviously she was not properly diagnosed!

I am off to babysit Robert.

Enjoy your day!

Crazy day yesterday.

I was at Borders starting a new book. Actually several. I am not sure what I will be getting into next.

There was an attractive middle aged woman standing near the shelf holding The Shack. She was looking at the book immediately next to The Shack. I said to her she should read The Shack…..I had just finished it yesterday and it was one of the best books I had ever read. She said she had read it 2 years ago. She was so taken by the book that she bought 25 copies and sent it to friends.

Enough said about The Shack.

Then to Lisa’s. Grandkid time. Robert and Ally were fun. They had all kinds of toys on the living room floor. The place was a mess!

Both were excited. Their school Montessori was having a pajama party from 5 to 9 in the evening. Games, food and a movie. The purpose was to give parents a chance to go out to dinner without their children. A parents night out!

Later at the Coffee House I met an old friend. We chatted a bit. Decided to have dinner together last night.

When I picked her up she advised that she had just discovered her purse was missing. She thought she had left it at the Coffee House. It contained cash, credit cards and her driver’s license. No problem. People are basically honest I said. We went to the Coffee House to retrieve her purse.

No purse. My people judgment was wrong.

We went to the Key West Police Station to report the theft.

An experience.

I had never been to the police station before. It is the new one on the boulevard just before old town. A lovely building. From the outside. We could not get in. It was 7:15 in the evening and the doors were locked. In order to report something or get help one must use an outside telephone. You call in and report your problem. Then you wait. Outside. Till someone shows up.

Twenty minutes later a police car arrived. The police officer took the information. Outside. He was professional and a gentleman. But everything took place outside.

There was another couple when we arrived. They had been waiting a while already. They were tourists. Their first night in town. They found this locked police station, wait outside thing strange also.

Note that when the police officer is taking information, everyone else can hear what is said. Social Security number, phone numbers, home address and the like.

I have never known a police station that I could not walk into at any time of the day or night. And I have walked into a few. I am a retired attorney.

Respectfully, this scenerio is a disaster waiting to occur. A crime is going to happen to someone waiting outside the locked police depoartment door. Or some person is going to hear information they should not and do evil to another person later on. I see liability problems all over the place.

To Chief Lee and the Police Department I say…..Open the doors!

First things first when a purse is lost. After reporting to the police, there are the many calls to the credit card people, the cell phone company and the like. It screws up the evening. But has to be done.

That was my evening last night. Different. A bit of a pain. Interesting, however.

Tonight at 6, the rankings for the big tournament will be announced. I fear Syracuse will not be a #1 seed. The Georgetown victory this week in the Big East might have knocked them down a peg to a #2. We shall see.

It is Sunday! Enjoy the day!

Good morning world!

Great radio show yesterday!

One of the stories told involved patents, censorship and Hedy Lamarr.

Lamarr was an old time movie star. From the 1930s through the early 1950s. A beauty. You may remember her from Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film Samson and Deliah. She cut off Samson’s hair thus taking all his physical power from him.

Part of Hedy Lamarr’s history involved her marriage in the 1930s to a Fritz Mandel. He was a munitions manufaturer, a Nazi and a control freak. Hedy was a Jew.

Her escape from him and Germany to the United States is a wild story. It involves two escape attempts.

The first had her hiding in a brothel in Austria. Fritz and his henchmen were searching the brothel room by room. Hedy actually did a trick to fool Frtiz into thinking she was one of the prostitutes. It did not work.

Her second attempt was when she drugged her guard/maid and went out the second story window. This escape worked.

An interesting story.

Oh, by the way. Hedy Lamarr invented something that had to do with war products. Spread spectrum technology. It was used for the first time by the United States during the Cuban missle crisis. Part of our Key West history. Today her invention is an integral part of cell phone systems and satellite encryption, whaever that is.

The patent was involved with her invention.

The censorship issue arose early in her movie career. She starred in a 1933 Czech film called Ectasy. There was a nude scene. Her butt and a part of her breasts were shown.

It was the first film ever with a nude scene.

The Pope went crazy. He condemned the film and forbad Catholics from seeing it. The film was banned in the United States.

After the radio show, I did my usual thing. First the Coffee House. Read the New York Times. Then to Borders to finish The Shack.

I did finish The Shack.

Without question, it is one of the finest books I have ever read. Tops in composition and substance. Moving. Unbelievable. Believable.

I did not like the ending. The last 20 pages. Such is a personal preference. It does not take away from the ovrall quality of the book.

Read The Shack if you have a chance. You will enjoy it. You will be moved by it.

Key West is really packed with visitors!

Tourists, including college students.

I went to Hogfish for dinner last night. I could not even get a seat at the bar. So I headed over to TGIF. The bar is always empty. Not last night. I ended up sitting at a table all alone.

Ryno predicted a cold wave and a bad storm for last night. The cold wave has returned. It is damp chilly this morning. But the bad rainstorm with thunder and lightning did not occur. It merely rained lightly off and on last night and during the night.

Ryno, you are a good man! A terrific radio engineer! However…..a questionable meteorologist. Nevertheless (a legal word) thank you for the warning. If you had been correct, we would all have been better for it.

Today I must see the grandkids. It has been a few days. I miss them.

Enjoy your day!

It is the middle of the night and I am awake.

Maybe it is because of bocce. We lost all 3 games.

We did not play badly. We actually played well. The other team just played a wee bit better.

So as there will be no misunderstanding, bocce has nothing to do with my being awake. I simply woke and cannot fall back to sleep.

Today is friday. Radio time!

The Key West Lou Legal Hour.

10 am.

Listen in. KONK 1500 AM. You can see as well as listen on the internet. http://www.konkam.com/. Call in with questions and comments. 305-294-2769.

Great show today! An interesting follow up on the lady who drove while shaving her privates and had an accident, Supreme Court criticism, whistle blowing, Hedy Lamarr, Nevada weird dumb laws and more.

I spent yesterday working on the radsio show and just plain working. Never left the house till bocce last night.

My widow neighbor brought me over some food. Home made chili. I rarely eat chili. I devoured hers. Tasted good.

Later at bocce I had the worst heartburn. Jules told me it was the chili.

That’s it for the chili!

Ryno is a knowledgable person. How mentally far reaching I did not know. My familiarity with him makes me aware he is a radio guru. Knows everything about running a radio station.

Turns out Ryno is also a meteorologist of sorts.

He warns in Facebook this morning of an impending storm.

He says a cold front moving in. Been a long time since we had one! Ho ho!

It will hit tonight or tomorrow morning. It will be accompanied with blinding rain and lightning. And wind gusts of 45-55 miles per hour.

Something is screwed up somewhere!

Remember again to listen and watch my radio show this morning.

Enjoy your day!

The weather has finally turned. Warm! 78 yesterday! 76 today!

A bit of rain also. We’ll take it!

Tomorrow radio time. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. 10 am. KONK 1500 AM radio. http://www.konkam.com/ on the internet. You can both see and hear on the internet.

Some interesting topics. A bit of local color. A follow up on the woman shaving her privates while driving. How does a person get an impartial jury in the age of the internet? The U.S. Supreme Court and clean water.

Hope you can join me!

Golf yesterday.

I did good! Big dollar winner. All of $9.

The winner buys drinks. I got stuck for $31! Did I win?

I rarely come out on top in golf. My putter was hot. I only missed one putt I should have made. Dropped a few I should have missed. And got the long ones close.

A good day!

Last night was an early dinner at Hogfish. Lobster bisque and hogfish fingers. Read the papers. Quite a crowd. Business booming all over the Key West area.

There are a lot of spring break college people in town. Their behaviour overall appears to be less than good this year. They are more rowdy than normal on the streets. Driving scooters more crazily. Fighting a bit.

Two bartenders were beaten badly by some college students the other evening. Perhaps a bit of a hate crime. They kept calling the bartenders old fags. Interestingly, both are straight.

I was driving up US 1 the other night on my way home. There moving slowly in the passing lane was something dimly lit. Turned out to be an electric car with what appeared to be 9 young people in it. Also appeared to be an accident waiting to happen.

I continue to read the Harry Truman logs of his 11 visits to Key West. A routine person.

The President was up around 7. Walked 15-20 minutes. Breakfast. A 1 1/2 to 2 hour swim at the beach. Lunch. A 3 hour nap. Dinner at 7. The balance of the evening spent chatting with friends on the porch. In between, he answered mail and signed some bills into law.

Enjoy your day!

Yesterday turned out to be an interesting and happy day. Nothing unusual occurred. The day was just pack full of exciting people and things. It was a Key West day!

I started the morning with a haircut. With Lori at Blown Away. She has been cutting my hair for 10 years. She also does Lisa and the grandkids. I enjoy my periodic experience with her. She looks good and smells good. Some of my senses still work!

Then to the Coffee House. Read the Key West Citizen and New York Times.

I could not wait to get to Borders. The Shack continues to interest me big time. What a book! Perhaps one of the best I have ever read! It is that good!

I have about 50 pages left to finish the book. Then I will speak to you about it in more depth. But again, what a book! Both from composition and substance perspectives.

Since the diet is over, I sneak in an occasional real meal.

Yesterday it was the Kennedy Cafe for lunch again. The place was packed. I was surprised. I was lucky to get a table. It has obviously become a favorite locals place.

I had eggplant over french bread covered with tomato sauce. Only ate half of it. The portion was too large. So good! The food that is. Not me. I must admit I felt a bit guilty afterwards. The diet is still with me.

I had an early evening meeting at Don’s Place. Don and Larry are trying to put together an internet show that hopefully might be good enough for TV. The game plan is that it be a talk show. Something on line with Cheers. But a bit more formal. With a touch of music.

Quite a group has been assemled for the show. It includes Tino, psychologist Doc Covan, Kathleen Peace, Alec and me. Plus others. We are formulating at this stage. Larry wants to spend a month working with us to put it together for its first showing.

If the concept works, it will be terrific! And fun! Key West conversations are the craziest in the world. To commit them to the screen will be an adventure in itself.

It was time for dinner. La Trattoria. Beeca met me at the door. After a warm embrace and kiss, she politely told me how people tell her how I write about her. I said I do. She said but they all tell me you spell my name wrong. B E E C H A, I said. No, B E E C A she said.

So Beeca it is! Sorry!

I did tell her I always spoke well of her. She smiled and said Oh!, I know. She occasionally reads the blog. But only occasionally. I chastised her.

Anyhow…..my apologies Beeca. I would never offend the woman who kisses me the most in Key West. Actually the only woman who kisses me in Key West!

It was a great bar night for dinner.

Sitting next to me was an attractive couple from Rhode Island. Karl and Jean Brother. They are vacationing for a few days. The last time they were here was for one day back in 1986. They found the changes overwhelming. Especially all the people!

Karl spent a life time in the medical supply business. Then retired. Became bored. Bought a fitness center. That is his new life.

Jean was lovely and charming.

They are staying at the Gardens. I told them it was a great choice. They agreed. I suggested they seek out Gardens’ owner Kate Miano and meet her. A Key West icon already and a terrific person.

Robert and Elena Spottswood showed up. They came over to say hello. I always enjoy seeing them. Two of the loveliest people in Key West. They personify the real Key West.

I told them how I kept running into Robert’s father John Spottswood in my readings about Harry Truman and Key West. John Spottswood was sheriff and the leading Democrat at the time of Truman’s visits.

Karl and Jean left. I sent them over to the Keys Piano Bar for some good music and singing.

Tosh replaced them. Jon McIntosh. Local artist of national fame. A cartoonist, also.

Tosh is always good company. He generally dines alone at bars as I do. So we meet on occasion.

I told Tosh how I had written about his great exhibition presently going on at Nance Frank’s gallery on Green Street. Tosh does great ocean and boat scenes.

I learned last night that Tosh had attended for a while Hobart College. Hobart is located in upstate New York in Geneva. Near my Utica roots.

We talked of college days and how things have changed. Like co-ed dorms.

Tosh also writes. Has several published books. One is “Hooked on Golf.” A tale for another time.

Speaking of golf, today is wednesday. Wednesday is golf day. I have to get ready.

Enjoy your day! I will mine if I hit a few good shots. It does not take many!

Yesterday was finally a good day weather wise. Low 70s. A tee shirt and shorts day.

I walked much.

Along Duval and some of the side streets.

There is a new gelato store on Duval in the 100 block. Just across the street from Sloppy Joe’s. Has to be a winner.

My artist friend Tosh has a show at Nance Frank’s gallery on Green Street. He is masterful! Great boat scenes from Stock island.

It is just before 6 in the morning. I have the TV on as I write my blog. I am waiting for Good Morning Joe to come on. Just heard Willie report about the auto accident near Key West where the woman was shaving her privates! The story made national news. You will recall reading it here last week and hearing it on my radio show last friday.

Simple. There are now 3 rules to keep in mind when driving. Don’t drink, don’t text and don’t shave your privates!

Driving is becoming difficult!

Read a bit. At both Borders and the Coffee House.

I am into The Shack. Big time. What a book!

I said yesterday I was not going to tell you anything about it. I can’t. I am bursting to share some part of it with you.

God is a character. I am Catholic. We believe there are three Gods in one. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. It is called the Trinity.

In The Shack, God the Father is a fat black woman. God the Son, Jesus, is a tall thin white man. Not good looking. With a big nose. He is a carpenter. The Holy Ghost is a small attractive Asian woman.

One of the best lines is by the fat black female God. Something to the effect that what did you expect, a tall white man with a long white beard!

Dinner last night was at Hogfish. Packed! The season is defintely here.

I sat at the bar. Wanted fish and chips. Hogfish. No hogfish. Had to settle for grouper. Good, but not as tasty as hogfish.

I watched basketball on TV while eating. This is the week for league basketball play offs all over the nation. The TV program kept switching from one league to another. I saw teams play last night I had never heard of.

The Big East is at Madison Square Garden. Syracuse has a double bye and does not play till thursday.

I have mentioned on occasion that Harry Truman spent a total of 175 days here in Key West while he was President. Tom of Tom and Cindy from Iowa made me aware that there are logs of Truman’s Key West visits on the internet.

I found them. Long. Detailed. Some time boring. Some time interesting.

I have decided to share a bit of them occasionally with you. Whatever they are, they are. They are Truman’s Key West days.

Truman made a total of 11 trips to Key West.

His sixth trip was from March 6, 1949 to March 16, 1949. Sixty one years ago.

Today is March 9. So I am going to do Truman’s March 9 from that trip.

Truman of course stayed at the Little White House.

He came downstairs at 7:15 am. He took his daily walk around the Naval Station. The walk started at 7:40 and ended at 7:55. Truman was a brisk walker. Two Secret Service agents accompanied him on the walk.

Breakfast was at 8. He ate with an Admiral Momsen. Momsen is in most of the logs. He must have been Truman’s buddy. Momsen was a submarine commander during World War II. A wolf pack leader.

After breakfast, Truman and Momsen sat on the south porch and talked for 30 minutes.

At 10 am, Truman and a group walked to the Enlisted Men’s Beach for a swim. The group included 2 generals, 3 admirals and a William Bray. Bray was a prominent politician of the day.

They stayed at the beach till 11:30. One of the admirals took a walk looking for shells. He could find none. Even back then!

They stayed at the beach till 11:30.

Lunch was at 12:15 at the Navy mess.

Truman returned to the Little White House at 2:10. He immediately went upstairs to his room for a nap. He slept till 5:10.

I admire a person who naps in the afternoon! I do! It’s healthy!

Dinner was in the President’s Mess at 7. Afterwards Truman and his entourage sat on the porch till 11:40 talking.

A movie was played during the evening. Whispering Smith with Alan Ladd and Brenda Marshall. Truman did not watch it.

The President, any President, was not easy to travel with. More difficult than traveling with a baby.

The accompanying group included 13 guests, 15 staff, 13 Secret Service men, 17 press representatives, 6 radio correspondents, 2 newsreel photographers, 2 TV photographers, 4 still photo people, 20 miscellaneous staff and 14 cook/kitchen personnel.

Morning Joe is on. Willie is telling about the woman driving and shaving her privates. Joe is yelling. Mika is having a heart atttack.

Enjoy your day!

My Sunday started with a visit to the Little White House. So called because Harry Truman spent a total of 175 days residing at this white building at the former Navy base while he was President.

A Victorian croquet fundraiser was held there yesterday. Participants were outfitted in the regalia of the late 1800s. Harry Truman was an invited guest.

I went to see Truman.

It was him!

Looked just like him!

He occasionally can be seen walking the streets of Truman Annex. I hope you will be lucky to catch him. A thrill!

I spent most of the afternoon reading.

First at Borders. I am into a novel called The Shack. I will only share two things about the book with you.

The story is well written. Sentences so descriptive. The writing style is a joy in itself.

The story mind boggling. I will tell you nothing more about the story itself. I would not want to spoil your enjoyment of the book one iota.

I am half way through reading it. An experience! I highly recommend the book.

The remaining portion of the afternoon was spent at the Coffee House reading the Sunday New York Times. A three coffee event.

Then to Lisa’s for Sunday dinner.

Robert and Ally had just returned from a birthday party. My grandkids seem to have an active social life. It is at least one birthday party a week.

Their faces had been made up at the party. Robert was Spiderman. A good job! Ally had her face adorned with the usual female make up. Eyes done. Pink cheeks. A touch of lipstick. Enhanced an already lovely young lady.

Corey’s parents are in visiting for the weekend. We had a big dinner table and a good time.

Last night the Academy Awards. An American tradition. I cuddled up in my warm bed and watched. Always exciting!

I have an early morning appointment at the doctor’s to do some fasting blood work. It is being done preliminary to my full annual physical which is scheduled for next week.

Since I am fasting, I will take myself out to breakfast after the blood work. Ham and eggs at Harpoon Harrys.

Enjoy your day!