DAY OF REST

As far back as I can remember, Sunday has always been my lazy day. I plan to do much. End up doing nothing or next to nothing.

Yesterday, no different. My plan was to go to the Gardens later in the afternoon and then home to watch the Academy Awards. Missed the Gardens. Caught the Academy Awards.

My comments re the Academy Awards brief.

A good show. Jimmy Kimmel said at the beginning a tight schedule time wise. Hoped winners would keep their thank yous short. Even offered a prize for the most short. A $17,500 Jet Ski. Thought the Jet Ski thing tarnished the show a bit.

If time was a problem, why were the commercial advertisements so long. Perhaps the longest for this show. Also, some of the musical numbers ran longer than normal.

Inconsistencies.

Another item I found troublesome. Support for the feminist movement profound. Nothing wrong with it. However, I do not recall any mention of the gun issue which is at the least of equal importance.

Whatever, I enjoyed the show.

I did spend some time reading in the afternoon. Finished Collusion by Luke Harding. The book cover says: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia helped Donald Trump Win. Not quite. I fear a race to the printer caused the book to fail in showing with particularity how Russia helped Trump to win.

The book ends with parts of the time frame during transition. Two more months and the author would have had significantly more to talk about.

Don’t waste your time reading the book.

Love Kate Miano! A good friend, a good person. Candidate for Mayor. Hope she wins!

Her campaign slogan: Expect Great! Elect Kate!

I like it.

Don’t forget Kate’s campaign kickoff party Friday night. Six at the Gardens. Free food and drink. Bring a friend or two. Kate deserves everyone’s help.

Been cool the past two nights. High 60’s. Turned on the heat. Today 76 by day and 66 by night. Heater back on tonight. Not all night. I use it to take the chill out of the air when I go to bed.

I don’t think Wilbur Ross is good for the country. Ross is presently Secretary of Commerce. The guy on TV the past few days explaining how a trade war would not really impact on the American consumer. Used a can of Campbell Soup and a can of soda to explain his position.

Recall Herbert Hoover began a trade war. Look where it got us!

Ross and Trump met during Trump’s Atlantic City casino days in the 1980’s. Ross was a Rothschild banker. His specialty then and throughout his career has involved the purchase of bankrupt businesses, get them going again, and then sell them for a profit. Much involved with steel mills in this regard.

Ross was and is known as the King of Bankruptcy.

Re Atlantic City, Ross was not representing Trump. He was representing one of the banks. Whatever, Trump ended up putting his corporations into bankruptcy while at the same time retaining control of the casinos. Brilliant! Ross thought to be responsible,

Ross has Russia connections all over the place. Some of which he failed to sufficiently disclose during his confirmation hearing. Shortly thereafter, the Paradise Papers bloomed. Leaked documents which showed Ross had failed to clearly disclose his financial ties to Russian interests. He provided further information and agreed to divest himself from some 80 companies he had an interest in which were doing business with Russia. Not disclosed by him the first time around.

It is suspected some of the companies remain undisclosed even at this time.

The Ross items not clearly or sufficiently disclosed include the following.

He was Vice-Chairman of the Bank of Cyprus. A bank that did significant business with Russian persons.

His Navigator Holdings. Ross’s interest in a shipping company that transports petrochemicals for Russian gas and petroleum. The Russian company is Silbur.

Silbur has been sanctioned for its close ties to Russian oligarchs and Putin’s son in law Kirill Shamalov.

A question remains as to whether there has been sufficient divestment.

Ross checkered and questionable. Yet he sits at the right hand of Trump.

Senator Lindsey Graham shocked me with a comment he made yesterday. He thought a war with North Korea was “worth it.”

Graham acknowledged deaths in the millions. Tens of thousands of American soldiers. Significant non-military deaths up and down the Korean peninsula.

An American general said that such a war would involve brutality beyond the experience of any living soldier.

Graham’s words were based on his belief that such a war would bring “long term stability” to a region requiring it.

Trump is crazy. Is Graham also? Who under any circumstances would want a war of such devastation?

Tonight, Dueling Bartenders at Aqua.

Enjoy your day!

 

BUM FARTO WHERE ARE YOU?

That time of the year again. Bum Farto time. His name almost like Smuckers. The story has to be good.

Bum Farto was Key West Fire Chief in the mid 1970’s. Drugs big time in those days. Farto was convicted in February 1976 of drug charges. Awaiting sentencing. Jail time a certainty.

On this day in 1976, Farto’s wife reported him missing. Never to be seen again.

“Bum Farto Where Are You?” An instantaneous Key West saying. To this days. In conversation and on T-shirts.

One of two things happened to Farto. He might have decided he was not going to do jail time and disappeared. The other that he was ready to blow in other drug dealers and was made to disappear Jimmy Hoffa style.

Company finally able to get a flight out yesterday afternoon. Northeaster provided two extra days for Key West fun.

Rushed home to catch second half of Syracuse/Clemson. Syracuse won 55-52. Big win! Needed! If we win at least 2 games in the ACC Tournament next week, we might make the NCAA Tournament.

Visited Catherine later in the afternoon. We sat outside by her pool and chatted. About this, that and everything. An excellent conversationalist.

Following which we drove over to the Chart Room for a drink.

Shaun bartending.

Ted from Wampsville, NY seated at the bar. Wampsville the Madison County seat. A 40 minute drive from Utica.

Wampsville is the home of the Madison County Courthouse. An old stately structure. Spoke of yesterday. I tried many cases in Supreme Court there. I always felt Abe Lincoln was going to walk over and sit next to me at counsel table.

Ted was the Court Clerk for the County and Surrogate Court Judges. Meant he was intellectually smart. Wrote the judges’ decisions.

I never met Ted in our Madison County years. First time I met Ted was at the Chart Room bar 2 years ago. He is now retired and visits Key West once or twice a year.

We get together on those occasions.

Ted was with two Wampsville friends. One an engineer. Originally from South Africa. The other an accountant.

The accountant frequently ate at Pelletieri Joe’s Restaurant in Utica. An old type Italian restaurant going back to the early 1920’s. We shared many memories. I was the restaurant attorney for 30 years. Saturday night was generally Joe’s night.

Time for dinner. Catherine and I were both hungry. I suggested Firefly. She agreed.

I have always wanted to try Firefly. Never had. It is located on Petronia Street deep in Bahama Village. Famous for fried chicken. The reason I wanted to go. A desire for fired chicken.

Chicken good! Setting also. We were on a second floor porch overlooking Petronia Street.

A double header tonight. Kate Miano’s Gardens followed by the Academy Awards. Love the Academy Awards! Since they first started televising them way back in the late 1940’s or early 1950’s.

I remind you again that Kate Miano is a candidate for Mayor of Key West. I am not involved in Key West politics. However, I am supporting Kate. Simply because she is a smart, good hearted, helpful person. Honest, besides.

Kate’s campaign kickoff party is friday night at 6 at the Gardens. Free everything. Food and drink. Come visit with friends you may not have seen in a while. Bring a friend or two. Everyone should support Kate’s run.

This day in history important for two reaons.

On this date in 1952, Hemingway published The Old Man and the Sea. He thought the short novel his best work. Wrote it while living in Cuba. Turned out to be one of his best selling works and one for which he received the 1953 Pulitzer Prize.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated President for the first time this day in 1933. America deep in the worst depression ever. His famous inaugural words…..The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

The Georgia Legislature’s handling of Delta WRONG! Hard to believe. The Governor complicit.

Delta one of the companies that opted not to do further business with the NRA following the Douglas High School shootings. Involved was a discount relationship Delta had with the NRA. NRA members would receive a discount when flying Delta.

Only 13 NRA members ever took advantage of the discount.

The Georgia Legislature felt the discontinuance of the discount amounted to a punishment for people who cherished the Second Amendment. The Legislature eliminated a $50 million discount provided Delta on jet fuel.

Delta stands firm in what it did. CEO Ed Bastian said “…..our values are not for sale.”

Delta is one of Georgia’s biggest employers.

My position simple. It is not the purpose of government to punish in these situations. An example of government out of control! Crazies in power!

If I were Delta, I would slowly begin closing down small parts of my operation and move them to other States. I would also let the word out that Delta is ready to move its entire Atlanta operation to another State.

Thinking on the issue would change as soon as some Delta employees lost their jobs and others feared losing their jobs. It’s called hardball!

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

THE AWARD GOES TO…..

I am old school. I enjoy the Academy Awards.

Last night turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Not because of the Academy Awards. Because of Comcast.

My TV screen went dead following the Award for Best Supporting Actress. My computer was non-operational also. Both  services bundled with Comcast.

I was stripped from the world of information. Totally.

Went to sleep at 1. Still no TV. Comcast had a recording advising it might take 24 hours to correct a problem it was experiencing

I woke at 4. Had left the TV on. It was up and running.

Took me till 5 to find out who won the other awards. I missed one of the biggest screw ups in Academy history. The wrong card being opened to announce Best Movie.

It all worked out well in the end. La La Land had a minute of glory. Something they can talk about for years. Moonlight received its just due, though a few minutes late.

Sloan was over at noon. We worked on increasing Go Live’s coverage. Not easy.

Syracuse/Louisville. A disaster. Louisville won 88-68.

Key West will be celebrating Tennessee Williams in March. For the whole month. Williams’ birthday is March 26.

Many events planned. Among others, Tropic Cinema will be showing Williams’ classic screen films on March 6, 13 and 20.

Another weekend of anti-Semetism. More than 100 Jewish tombstones tipped over at the Jewish Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia.

It should be noted that many Muslims helped in lifting the stones to their correct positions.

A 1 pm heart doctor appointment. Get my test results.

Enjoy your day!

 

BALTHUS / WUTHERING HEIGHTS

This foot problem is going to be with me a few days. A doctor friend said two weeks. The doctor who cared for me saturday said two weeks.

My left foot and ankle were twice their normal size yesterday. Maybe three times. The swelling completely absorbed my arch.

I kept my foot up as much as possible. However, I had to write this week’s KONK Life column. I put all kinds of things under the desk to rest my foot on. Not good. I realized the swelling in my foot would recede. However, my back would go out. The back won over the foot.

The column is titled David Wolkowsky. I describe him as the father of modern Key West. Another has described him as Mr. Key West.

David is 96. There is a generation or two who know nothing of this man. They should be aware of his contributions. My motivation in writing about David was to bring him to their attention..

Read the column when it publishes in KONK Life later in the week. I believe you will enjoy it.

Watched the Academy Awards from my bed. Foot definitely up while I was watching.

I was impressed by the standing applause Leonardo DiCaprio received. He must be a well liked among his peers.

This morning’s Key West Citizen’s World Almanac section made mention of a Balthus quote. Refreshed my recollection re Balthus.

Balthus had an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1984. Fourteen pen and ink drawings Balthus had done as illustrations for a new publication of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights . Balthus did the drawings in the early 1930s immediately prior to the book’s publication.

I love Wuthering Heights. I consider it the greatest love story ever written. It was first published in 1845. The late 1930s movie starring Laurence Oliver outstanding! Catherine, Catherine, Catherine runs through my mind.

I had not seen the Balthus illustrations in the early 1930s publication. I must have read an earlier publication.

I did not like the illustrations I viewed at the Met. Horrible! Scary! Dark! Did nothing for me. I thought at the time it probably did nothing for the book.

The summer of 1984 after having viewed Balthus’exhibit at the Met, I was in the Hamptons for a wedding. Decided to stay a few days afterwards. The weather turned. It was cold. Cold such as we have been experiencing recently in Key West.

I was walking along the beach in front of the resort. Balconies on the first floor were ground level. There was an older couple sitting on one. Everyone bundled, of course. We chatted a bit. They invited me in for a drink. They were drinking Dom Perignon.

As we were talking, Balthus’ name came up. I explain my dislike for the Wuthering Heights pen and ink drawings.

The statement ended my visit!

Unknown to me, the woman was a board member at the Met. She took my comment personally. My glass was empty. She did not ask if I wanted a refill. She stood and politely asked me to leave. I left.

Enjoy your day!

LARRY SMITH TONIGHT

My friend Larry Smith is doing a presentation tonight. For the Friends of the Library. Six this evening at St. Paul’s Church. Besides being an overall good guy, Larry is an accomplished musician. He plays, composes and sings.

Larry’s talk will center on the types of music which influenced him as a musician and composer. The talk should be interesting.

Few are aware that Larry studied music in college. His first job after was teaching music at some school in a little hamlet in upstate New York. From there, he branched out into what he has become. A premier entertainer.

I spent my sunday writing. All day. First the blog. Then several hours composing this week’s KONK Life column. Young Ladies Join ISIS.

The column was motivated by the 3 young girls who are on their way to Syria to join ISIS. Each wishes to marry a jihadist and have babies. The girls are 15, 15 and 16. My article centers on the factors causing them and other young ladies to run off to Syria to experience such a life.

Keith stopped over later in the day. There were a few little things to complete in my bedroom. I must say…..The best bedroom I have slept in!

I have watched the Academy Awards my entire life. Always enjoyable.

This year I had a bit of a problem. I had only seen one of the nominated movies. American Sniper. Some winners were strangers to me. I do not get out to the movies much any more. Though I do watch many on television’s movie channels. Generally old films. Most of the stars dead and gone.

The History portion of this morning’s Key West Citizen has a 1960 picture of then sheriff John Spottswood and Harry Truman. Spottswood later became a state senator.

I never knew the man. However, I have known for more than 20 years his son Robert and Robert’s wife Elena. Two of the warmest people in Key West. Both moving forces over the years in developing Key West. Each getting things done.

Enjoy your day!