HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBERT

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My grandson is 14 years old. Robert, Happy Birthday! Poppa loves you!

I remember the day he was born. With cancer of the liver. Within two hours, he was on a helicopter to Miami Children’s Hospital.

Two major surgeries the first 8 days of his life. Frequent check up visits the next 10 years.

Today, a typical 14 year old. Graduates from Montessori soon. High school next.

A smart young man academically. A gentleman all the time. He is his father.

Tonight, Happy Birthday cake and blowing out the candles.

God is good!

Hurricane season is here. June 1. Seems like yesterday we were escaping Irma. Irma hit September 10.

Recent weather and weather reports suggest tropical storms may be around the corner. Too much rain lately. Every day. Big! Strong winds!

Sunday, Key West got 3.25 inches of rain. The intersection of Eaton and White Streets flooded. I have seen it in previous years. Twice saw people swimming in the intersection.

Weather reports indicate rain through next sunday.

Things can be different in Key West. A bit funky.

Page 2 of the Key West Citizen carries the weather report. The report for the next 5 days amusing. Small printed verbiage beneath each day. Rain of course predicted for each day.

Today, “ark flooded.” Tonight, “life preserver needed.” Wednesday, “thunderstorms; float feet first.” Thursday, “who’ll stop the rain?” Friday, “rain drops keep falling.” Saturday, “nothing worrying me.”

Another storm of consequence this early in the season would be devastating. The lower Keys are still recovering from Irma.

I wrote about Irma. My personal experience. Irma and Me.

If you have not read it, this may be the time to acquire it. It is a history of the before, during and after a hurricane. Available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

I have known Lee Ann Holland for 15 years. More beautiful each year.

Her picture on the front page of this morning’s Key West Citizen. She is being recognized as a Familiar Face.

Lee Ann has become an integral part of Key West Ambassadors. A lecturer at the program. Recently completed addressing her 16th group.

Lee Ann, congratulations!

Two things are constant in life. Death and change.

The U.S. Supreme Court presented us with “change” yesterday. The decision Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.

A federal law was passed in 1992 prohibiting sports gambling. Nevada excepted. Congress was recognized as having the sole authority to regulate sports gambling directly.

No more. The Supreme Court decision recognized Congress had the right to regulate. However if Congress failed to exercise that right, then each State was free to act on its own.

Means two things in the offing. First, goodbye bookies. Second, a new area for State taxation.

We have all experienced the fish that got away. Always a big one.

Happens other than in fishing, also.

On January 1, 1962, the Beatles performed for Decca Records in London. The Beatles were looking for a recording contract. Decca turned them down. The person responsible thought guitar groups were on the way out.

Later in 1962, the Beatles signed with London’s Parlophone label. Still unknown. A struggling rock band.

Parlophone liked them.

Parlophone worked out deals with Apple and Capitol. The rest is history.

Trump does it again! An action difficult to understand. Unless something in the background that should not be.

During the campaign, Trump knocked the hell out of China for stealing jobs from the U.S. He pledged to stop it! To get jobs back from China!

ZTE is a Chinese smart phone business. In trouble financially. U.S. imposed sanctions on other countries killing Smartphone’s business.

Yesterday, Trump announced the U.S. was going to help the Company “get back into business fast.” He directed Secretary Wilbur Ross to do everything expeditiously to help.

Did not make sense to me. Did it have something to do with the China/U.S. talks scheduled this week in Washington?

Turns out remotely so, if at all.

Last night, the news reported that three days earlier, China had agreed to a $500,000 million loan for a new theme park in Indonesia which would contain Trump hotels and golf courses.

I assume the Indonesia deal was Trump’s motivation.

When will he learn he is not supposed to do these things?

By  the way, ZTE has a record of cyber crimes, espionage and hacking. Was ZTE involved with our 2016 election?

Tonight, my podcast show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. Join me. A quick moving interesting half hour.

Topics tonight have to include Trump. However, I open with other items of interest. Like the hurricane season, Chinese hog hotels, Germans invading Belgium and Holland in 1940, the eloquence of leaders in time of war,  and House Chaplain Father Conroy.

Then, Donald.

Enjoy your day!

DOTTIE CLIFFORD…..A FAMILIAR FACE

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One of the most thoughtful persons I have met in Key West is Dottie Clifford. We go back 20 years. We used to see each other often years ago. Less starting 10 years ago. The last time 5 years ago.

Dottie is being honored today. The Key West Citizen presents her front page as a Key West Familiar Face.

Dottie an almost Conch. Been here 40 years. The Citizen article notes that when she first arrived in Key West, it was a hippie outpost. Today, a world renown hospitality hot spot.

She has seen it all!

Dottie is President and owner of the Key West Attractions Association.

Calamity befell her a few years ago. Pancreatic cancer. Normally, the death knell. God was with her. Dottie survived. She has been cancer free for two years.

Her illness did not diminish her bubbly personality. Uplifted all the time. You hear her cheery laugh before you even see her.

Dottie, here is to another 40 years!

The Paradise Big Band performed recently. Its 20th anniversary.

I missed the event this year. Ralph De Palma’s photos appeared in this morning’s E-Blast. There were my friends! Holly and Peter Diamond singing and dancing, Skipper Kripitz on the drums, and Larry Smith the piano.

A special time. Sorry I could not make it.

Dueling Bartenders last night. One of the best events in town. Great singing! The kind that busts the walls. Tom Luna and Rick Dery the bartenders. Bobby Smith a guest bartender.

What a trio!

Tons of people.

Liz and her entourage of 4 came in. She is the Queen at Battling Bartenders and treated as such.

Liz looked magnificent! Like just off her motorcycle. Bright red turtle neck sweater, a necklace of white stones, and a black bikers jacket. I looked to see if Marlon Brando was following her.

Friend Liz is 83 and former Dean of two law schools.

With Liz were Josefina, Genevieva, and Debbie. Plus an unknown gentleman.

Skaneateles Dan Reardon and wife came in. Together with Dan’s visiting brother John and his wife.

Dan and I are orange hearted Syracuse fans. We talked about saturday’s defeat.

Then to Tavern ‘n Town for another prime rib. Great for my diet.

I was fortunate to get a seat next to Jean and Ron. They are from Eastern Maryland. Jean a retired school administrator. Ron a general contractor. Grandparents to three. This their third or fourth visit to Key West.

Ron a Maryland fan. Maryland was playing Michigan. Maryland lost by 1  point. The last 5 minutes exciting. A Michigan  foul shot with 1.5 seconds to go gave Michigan the victory.

I got into the game with Ron. Whooping it up! Especially a Maryland 3 pointer with less than a minute to go.

A Mike came from the other end of the bar. Asked if I was Key West Lou. Mike advised he is a loyal blog reader. Loved Mike!

Stopped by to say good night when leaving. Met his wife. Nice people.

I can see! Amazing! I have had my new prescription glasses since friday. The difference they make! Reminds me of when I had cataract surgery on both eyes.

I waited too long to get new glasses. Never again.

I learned I needed them when I escaped Irma. Road signs impossible to read. Turn offs not visible till upon them. Lucky I survived night driving.

Speaking of Irma, my book Irma and Me appears to be selling. If you have not ordered it, please do so. Guaranteed you will enjoy! Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and  Kobobooks.com.

My podcast tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

I have a ton of topics to share. Normally get through 10. I have accumulated 25 during the week in anticipation of the show. I will spend the afternoon selecting those to be used and organizing tonight’s format.

One of the topics will include Trump’s shithole countries comment. I read this morning the Alt-Right loves Trump because of the reference. They hate immigrants.

Think about what I am going to write. Immigrants are disliked and a problem world wide. The immigrants of today are the Jews of yesterday. Peoples need a scapegoat, someone to hate.

Enjoy your day!

 

ONCE AGAIN…..DAVID WOLKOWSKY

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Key West forgets not David Wolkowsky. Without him, the Key West of today would not have been.

David today is 97 years young. He has vim and vinegar. The body may have slowed a bit. The mind, not.

This morning’s Key West Citizen honors him in its Familiar Faces section. Page 1. There sits David holding a painting done by his friend Tennessee Williams.

The Citizen describes David correctly: Mogul, visionary and developer.

We owe you much, David!

My podcast tonight at 9 my time. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Join me. I guarantee you will enjoy the quick paced half hour.

Topics tonight include Trump’s purported locker room trash talk, what the U.S. may be considering re Syria, how Big Pharma censors the internet, compensatory contraception, Rothschilds throw a $100,000 a plate dinner for Hillary.

Also, the cozy relationship between Epstein and Bill Clinton, babies born with opiate addiction on the increase, NYCPD do not wear body cameras, opium growth in Afghanistan on the rise, robotic bees to be used for pollination purposes, and more.

Dueling Bartenders at Aqua last night. Tom and Rick. Plus, a talented young lady. Heather Mae. Tom introduced me to her when I arrived. What a voice! A visitor, I suspect.

Liz and Mary, also. Good to see the both. Enjoy talking with Liz. A mind. Taught security regulations before becoming a law school Dean.

Then Publix. A nice way to end an evening. I keep running out of food. I should buy more.

I have been my own grocery shopper for 11 years. Groceries have gone up! Decidedly! More than doubled during that time.

Trump’s locker room talk is bullshit. I have been in many locker rooms. Never heard that kind of talk. The man is demented. About himself. Men who talk about their sexual prowess are generally lacking in that regard.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

ROBB AND JORDAN

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The Chart Room last night.

The bar was empty when I arrived. A good sized crowd by the time I left. Nothing however like the hordes on the streets and sidewalks. The biggest Christmas week crowd I have seen.

Victor and I chatted about dogs. Victor has two. I do not recall the breed. Showed me a picture. Lovely! About 20 pounds each. We talked about love, training and other dog things.

It started to get busy. A young couple sat next to me. After a while, the male part asked if I was Key West Lou.

Robb asked the question. Robb is 35. He was with his lady friend Jordan who is 27. Charming people. Presently from Jacksonville. Both school teachers. Robb, high school math. Jordan, pre-K.

Jordan has a distinguished background. While in college, she was an All-American lacrosse player. Impressive!

Robb has visited Key West several times. This a first time visit for Jordan.

Robb says he reads my blog daily. Jordan affirmed his statement. Robb spouted out things I write about. His recollection better than mine.

Robb had prepared a list of places to go. Based on blog comments. A compliment.

Yesterday, they had lunch at Hogfish. Last night, dinner was scheduled for the Hot Tin Roof following our visit. He was in the Chart Room with Jordan last night hoping to find me.

The visit a great one. I look forward to being with them again in the future.

Two Key Westers on the front page of the Key West Citizen this morning. One’s story a happy one. The other, sad.

Happy first.

Bobby Nesbitt the Familiar Face designee. More than 40 years in Key West. A Key West icon. An entertainer supreme. I love hearing Bobby sing!

Sad next.

Former Judge Tegan Slaton died. He had some medical problems in 2014 and resigned. One, he fell asleep during a trial.

I met the Judge only once. The bocce playoffs several months after his resignation. Our teams were playing each other. The Judge was a member of the #1 monday night team. They had won the playoffs several years in a row. I figured they were going to kill us. They did.

At some point, the Judge came over and asked if I was Key West Lou. I said yes. He thanked me for neither writing about him nor dumping on him when he was having his problems. The Judge a class act, I thought. I thanked him. I never dump on a person who is down.

May the Judge rest in peace. To me, a good guy who met some bumps in the road.

Key West is a dog community. Thursday, the 11th Annual Dachshunds Walk.

Meadowlark Lemon passed on. One of the great, if not greatest, Harlem Globetrotter players. I enjoyed watching him play several times in the 1950s and 1960s. Generally with my Dad, which added to the experience.

My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. Join me for a quick hard hitting half hour. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Topics include the brewing Trump/Clinton sex war, warmongering pays, numbers showing the economy not really in recovery, a cashless society around the corner, transgender rights moving faster than gay rights ever did, IRS by law to use bill collectors rather than IRS agents to collect defaults, a Kentucky mall fight involving 2,000, and more.

Enjoy your day!