DOGFISH DEMANDS HOGFISH RENAME TO SPEARFISH

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It’s called growing pains. Microbreweries/minibreweries have been gaining in popularity in recent years. Competition arises. The older guys don’t like the newer ones. Pressure arises. Pressure brought by the older companies upon the newer companies.

Hogfish have been around since time immemorial. Fished with a spear.

Dogfish have been around equally long. A  shark species.

A company in Delaware whose name contains Dogfish wants local Florida Keys Brewing Co. to change the name of one of its beers. Hogfish. To avoid confusion. Don’t want people ordering Hogfish thinking it is a Dogfish brew.

Ridiculous. I do not see it in this situation. No one has a singular hold on fish names. Especially under these circumstances.

Florida Keys Brewing may be considering capitulation. I can understand. Legal costs in such a case can be burdensome. Especially for a relatively new company.

I would take one last shot at the problem. Florida Keys Brewing should tell Dogfish they will change Hogfish to Spearfish if Dogfish changes its name to Shark.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander!

Chart Room last night. Drunk lady not there. I assume she was a tourist. I had never seen her before and hope to never see her again. Bill bartending.

Ran into Ted. Ted from Wampsville, NY. How many of you have heard of Wampsville? Wampsville is a small community in central New York. County seat for Madison County.

Ted is a fellow lawyer. Spent most of his career as a court clerk. A responsible position. The brains behind the judge.

Ted has vacationed in Key West for years. This year for a whole month. Retired.

The past two years, Ted has stopped into the Chart Room looking for me. Our paths did not cross. We exchanged cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses to avoid such a problem in the future. We intend to have dinner together before he leaves.

Ted and I exchanged legal talk. I tried cases in the Madison County Courthouse over the years. I enjoyed the conversation. Lawyer talk. A while since I have had someone to do it with.

John was outside at the Beach Bar. Visited him. Cold!!! The Beach Bar sits on open water. Low 60s with 20 mph wind.

Met Brian and Shanon at the Beach Bar. Nice people. From Columbus, Ohio. I love Columbus. Spent many a day working there on Nationwide matters.

Brian a realtor. Shanon in HR work.

First time in Key West. Having a great time!

On the way home, stopped at Publix. Cupboard really bare. Spent twice what I normally do.

Watched a bit of the Syracuse/UNC-Greensboro game. Syracuse won 90-77.

William Hackley still having dental problems. 1856 had to be a painful year. He was up most of the night with intense teeth pain. Went to Dr. Walton’s office in the morning. Dr. Walton “sacrified” his gums and “cut down to the roots.”

Dentistry years ago not as it is today. Pain!!! I recall my visits in the late 1930s and 1940s. Today, almost painless.

I can imagine how painful it had to be in 1856. Dentistry? Or, butchery?

The North Roosevelt Boulevard cross-walks continue to be in the news. Someone wrote to Citizens’ Voice re the danger: “Next to all the cross-walks on North Roosevelt Boulevard should be kiosks where you can buy life insurance.”

Something bothers me. I am a liberal at heart. As most of you are aware. I believe conservatives generally are on the wrong track.

The Key West Library is permitting its facility to be used at noon today for a two hour meeting. The group the Florida Keys Indivisibles. Political. Democratic at heart. Popularly referred to as bird doggers.

The organization is an activist training seminar. Speakers I assume trained provocateurs. The cry to organize and oppose. Require legislators to attend a town meeting, attend town meetings yourself, tie up with similar groups across the etc.country, be confrontational,  etc.

Will the rhetoric of the campaign ever cease?

Sounds like a guerrilla training camp to me.

Bocce tonight.

Have to hustle. A haircut with Lori at noon.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

SANTAS GALORE

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The not to be equaled Key West Christmas Parade last night. Always the best. Young and old alike watching. Babies in arms. The Key West community enjoying a happy occasion.

Santa Claus. There had to be at least 15 on the floats. I recall one Christmas Robert and Ally asking Lisa…..Which one is the real Santa Claus? Lisa thought for a moment. Then…..All of them! There are parades everywhere in the world at the same time. Santa can’t be at all of them. These are Santa’s assistants.

A brilliant response. They bought it.

Robert and Ally knew there had to be only one Santa Claus. The one that showed up at their home at dinner time every Christmas Eve. Poppa’s friend.

As with my children and other grandchildren, there was always a Santa Claus to personally visit them Christmas Eve. The real one! The kids all had the opportunity to sit on Sant’s lap either at my home in Utica or in Lisa’s in Key West.

I loved arranging it! A thrill for me as well as them.

I watched the parade from Don’s Place. As it started, I walked down to the County Office Building on Truman to watch with Robert and Ally. The same spot every year. This year I could not find them. Too crowded. Walked back to Don’s Place.

An enjoyable time at Don’s Place. He had about 30 chairs outside. A pop corn machine. Free pop corn. Very good by the way. David working the pop corn machine.

Herschel and Erica in town for a one week visit. Returned to Indiana three years ago. Part of our bocce team. Erica and I were partners on occasion.

We are having dinner together Monday night.

Bartender John from the Chart Room showed up. We chatted through two drinks each.

I was home before 9. As I hit the pillow, I recalled I failed to pay my bill at Don’s. Called and told him. He said forget about it.

Another major Christmas event next Saturday. The Lighted Boat Parade off Schooner Wharf. An event! Hitch a ride on one of the boats and try it.

Yesterday a two hour session with Sloan. Even called in Tim Reynolds up in St. Petersburg. We were having trouble with the volume for my soon to be new show Louis Petrone Says. It took a while, but Sloan and Tim got it ironed out.

Sometime next week, I will be starting a streaming show on You Tube. Several times a day. You will be able to see me. Live!

The show will be in segments. Several a day. No certain number. Each show roughly 30-60 seconds. As something tickles my fancy, I will sit down at my desk, turn on the computer and say…..It’s me again!

I also will still be doing this blog and my Tuesday podcast show.

David and Goliath. The Old Testament returns this week in Standing Rock, North Dakota. Confrontation time. Two thousand protesters and an additional 2,000 veterans. Standing against the might of federal, state and local governments. As well as an outside mercenary group Tag Swan. Thought to have been brought in by the corporation interested in building the pipe line.

Why David and Goliath?

The “bad guys” have top military equipment. Like rubber bullets, concussion grenades, stinger grenades, water hoses, tear gas and huge armored vehicles. The bad guys claim they need this type equipment to protect themselves from the Native Americans who are using sling shots against them! In addition to rocks and bottles.

The Native Americans also ride on horses to do whatever they do. Against the mechanized force of governments improperly being used. The horse soldiers remind me of the Polish Army attacking Hitler’s blitzkrieg of tanks, troops, and planes at the start of World War II.

An interesting article in  this morning’s KONK Life E-Blast. About seniors and falling. The article stated 1/3 of all persons over 65 fall. Do I know it! Terrible!

I fell 5 times last year. Each fall a bad one. I fell three weeks ago. One of the worse. Still hurt. Luckily, no broken bones so far.

Syracuse beat North Florida yesterday 77-71. Not an impressive victory.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SLING SHOT COURAGEOUS WEAPON

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A weapon from Biblical times. A rerun of David and Goliath.

Modern warfare involves the use of modern day weapons. Guns, armored vehicles, etc. Apparently not always.

A West Bank scenario.

This morning’s Key West Citizen carries a picture of a Palestinian fighter. In front of him fire, black and gray smoke. I assume beyond unseen Israeli soldiers, armored vehicles, whatever. Something.

The Palestinian fighter is using a sling shot as a weapon. He is viewed swinging a sling.

My observation. A person willing to face the enemy and modern weapons of war with a sling shot has courage. Great courage. In addition to a solid belief in the righteousness of his cause. He will never be beat. He will never win. He will hang in there through everything.

The lesson to be learned simple. Israel and the Palestinians better make peace. Otherwise this mess is going to turn into a 100 year war. One that no one wins.

The weather the same as the past two days. With two exceptions. The wind less strong. There are no white caps. Though the trees are still bending. The sun is shining brightly. It has not for two days.

Hurricane Wilma hit Key West in October 2005. A bad result. Big time flooding. As high as 6-7 feet in many homes.

Lisa had moved back into her house three months before. It had been extensively remodeled, new furniture purchased.

The water was 6 1/2 feet deep in Lisa’s home. The walls had to be ripped out up to 6 1/2 feet. Wet furniture thrown out. Mold the problem. The trashing required to be done immediately.

Lisa also lost her car.

Most families moved into trailers provided by the government. Most lived in them for 1-2 years. Lisa and family moved into my home. They were here a year. The problem was not the insurance payment. It was getting the contractor to do the job. Contractors had more work than they could handle.

Wilma did not touch my home. The house is built on top of eight feet of soil. The driveway pitched.

My blog talk radio show last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. I was on a soap box. Venting about things that bothered me. Two especially.

The Republican screw up in the House of Representatives. Disgraceful. I would say the same if they were Democrats. The Republicans must get their act together and govern. That is why they were sent to Washington.

The other is the sex scandal that has hit Louisville and Rick Pitino. Pitino says he did not know. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he will still lose his job. I assume the same theory that was applied in Boeheim’s case would be applied to Pitino: If you did not know, you are still responsible because as coach you are #1, head of the program and required to know everything about the team.

I do not agree. Nor did I agree with what happened to Boeheim. The NCAA is as bad as the hierarchy of the NFL when it comes to running things.

On the other hand if Pitino knew, he should be fired.

Per my usual routine, Roostica for dinner before the show.

Saturday football coming up again. Syracuse plays Pitt. Pitt a six point favorite. I say no more.

Enjoy your day!