WHO IS THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?

The woman who uttered the words while looking in a mirror…..Who is the fairest of them all? The Wicked Queen. Snow White, the response.

So began Walt Disney’s great film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The animated movie made its film debut this day in 1938.

An instant hit! Quickly grossed $8 million. Big bucks in 1938. The $8 million represented the most money made by a film up to that time.

I saw the movie in 1938. My mother took me. I was 3 years old. We watched it at the Rialto Theater in Utica. Two movies were shown in those days for the price of one ticket. I recall the other film, also. Gunga Din.

The seven dwarfs blew me away. The Wicked Witch scared me at the beginning of the film. A mean looking woman.

Of all the dwarfs, Dopey received the most accolades. Charlie Chaplin said that Walt Disney “created in him one of the greatest comediennes of all time.”

Watched Syracuse go down to defeat yesterday. Lost to Virginia 59-44.

I hurt when Syracuse loses. I especially hurt this year for Jim Boeheim. A class act. In his last years as a coach.

I know Boeheim personally. We initially came together because of the University. I was a heavy contributor. It was sort of a requirement that he play golf with me once or twice a year. His club in Syracuse, mine in Utica.

At first, I was embarrassed. Boeheim was a 2 handicap. Me, a 35 plus. He never complained. Spent time in the woods helping me look for my ball, etc. Even took the time on occasion to recommend a change in swing or grip. Teaching as he does with his players during a game.

Unfortunately, I was a hopeless cause.

Tavern ‘n Town for dinner last night. I had planned on a quick one. Turned into 3 hours.

Sat at the bar next to Jill and Steve.

Vacationing from the Point Pleasant area in New Jersey. Both avid fisherman, especially Steve. They have a 62 foot custom made fisherman. Steve understood what I meant when I said he considered fishing a battle of man against nature.

Jill can only be described as an enthusiastic conversationalist. She kept me glued to my seat.

Jill has been involved with Johnson and Johnson for 25 years as part of its vision care division. Contact lenses and contact solution. She is a top sales performer.

Steve, a demolition contractor. I did not have the opportunity to talk with Steve that much. I would have been interested in what he did as a demolition contractor. A wrecking company? I worked for one the summer between high school and college. The hardest job I ever had! I started at 7 in the morning and was exhausted by 7:05. A bit of an exaggeration. Believe you get the point, however.

If I had any thought of not going to college, that job remedied it.

An Irma update. Debris removal continues to be a problem. Irma hit September 10. It has taken that long and will take longer to collect the trees, shrubbery, busted up homes, trailers, etc. piled on roadsides.

The Lower Keys of concern. Upper Sugarloaf, Lower Sugarloaf, Ramrod, and Summerland Keys completed. A final pass will be made this coming week to Cudjoe, Little Torch, Big Pine, and No Name Keys.

Other problems still exist. Some remain without housing. Families still living in tents. Food and water in short supply. FEMA rebuilding money coming in slowly.

Harry Truman. Harry Truman loved Key West and Key West loves Harry Truman. He spent 175 days covering 11 separate trips enjoying Key West. The Admiral’s quarters where he stayed renamed the Harry Truman Little White House.

The first time Truman visited Key West he had a bad cold he could not get rid of. His doctor recommended a “heart starter bourbon drink.” The prescription, bourbon and orange juice. Between the bourbon and sun, Truman recovered quickly.

Presidents Day Weekend around the corner. Friday to sunday February 16-18. Part of the celebration includes a bourbon and barbecue cook off.

Super Bowl today! Game time 6:30 on NBC. Love it!

I have been invited to several parties. Normally, I would watch the game a Don’s Place. I have already decided I will watch the game alone at home. The reason being my diet. I would drink a bit too much and definitely eat too much were I out.

I started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which opened in movie houses this date in 1938. I close with another art form. the written word. On this day in 1826, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans was published.

Cooper was born, raised and spent most of his life in what is Cooperstown, NY. The Home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, also.

His home stands to this day. Known as the James Fenimore Cooper House, aka James Fenimore Cooper Museum.

Cooperstown is a mere 40 miles from Utica. I have visited theHouse many times. Professionally and socially.

The House sits on a modest hill overlooking lovely Otsego Lake. The House can only be described as magnificent! Cooper’s father built it.

He was a man of means. His son never really worked, other than his writings. He considered himself a gentleman’s farmer which meant servitude was not part of his life style.

Cooperstown when the father Cooper built it and during the years his son lived there was the frontier. Initially, nothing west of Cooperstown.

The frontier life and Indians making up The Last of the Mohicans accordingly familiar to Cooper when he began writing the book.

Enjoy your Sunday! Enjoy the Super Bowl!

 

 

WHO’S THE FAIREST ONE OF ALL?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released this date 1938. The first face and words were those of the Wicked Queen. She looked in the mirror and asked…..Who’s the fairest one of all?

I saw the movie sometime in the late 1930s. I was probably 4 or 5. At a neighborhood theater in Utica. The Rialto. With my cousins Phil and Louis. Both a couple of years older than me.

The Wicked Queen scared me.

Movies in those days ran two films back to back. The second film was Gunga Din. My cousins wanted to see the Snow White film again. So we did. In those days the films were run continuously and the theaters did not empty out between shows.

Last night began with Buonasera Venezia at the Bottlecap. A Sons and Daughters of Italy fundraiser. The group does a good job. The place filled inside and out.

Liz was with me. We got there a late. Everyone eating. No seats anywhere.

I can eat standing. Liz cannot. She had a bad hip operation and is waiting a second one. I who fall all the time have to hold on to her to make sure she does not fall. The blind leading the blind!

We did not stay.

I decided on Spencer’s. The Reach’s fancy restaurant. Had not been there in several years.

The food and ambiance excellent. The open porch sits on the water. Beautiful! Steaks outstanding! Service excellent!

Pricey. If a local, the 20 percent discount makes up for it.

Ran into Peter and Holly Diamond. They were finishing dinner when we arrived. Liz and the Diamonds old friends. Josefina stopped by to say hello. One of Liz’s regular girl friends.

Syracuse/Virginia at noon. Virginia ranked #9 nationally. Virginia a 6 point favorite.

I will miss the game. Steve Attis’ services today. Begin at noon at the funeral parlor with a New Orleans funeral parade to St. Mary Star of the Sea Church. Donald and I are going to march in the parade.

Trump continues to screw the American public. Maybe the world.

His desire to weaken Dodd-Frank will result in a boon to the banking industry. Dodd-Frank was passed to ensure the financial world’s wrongdoings which lead to 2008 would not happen again.

It will, if Trump is successful in getting rid of most of Dodd-Frank. The only one benefiting will be Trump’s friends, the banks.

As a society, we never learn. We always let the fox back into the hen house.

Even the famous and somewhat powerful delayed by Trump’s immigration/refugee executive order. A former Norwegian Prime Minister was delayed when arriving in Dulles for an hour. My apologies, his name escapes me. He was in the U.S. to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. He carried a diplomatic passport.

The passport noted he had been in Iran in 2014. The cause of his delay.

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that change in male dress was occurring in Key West. Men wearing sport jackets. Locals included.

The proof in the pudding was a picture in this morning’s E-Blast. Paul Tuppino is a conch, icon and one of Key West’s leading business persons. He was at a KWFW function at the Casa Marina. Wearing a white sport jacket!

Mark Zuckerberg was a Harvard sophomore on this date in 2004. He launched what is now Facebook that day. Active monthly users on Facebook average 1.7 billion.

Zuckerberg  in effect invented the safety pin and a better mouse trap at the same time.

My readers, a Louis compliment. The comment page can be difficult. Some days horrendous. Whether attacking me or someone else.

Today’s exchange unbelievable. Not one nasty comment. The issue at hand discussed intelligently and fairly. Thank you. I did not think it possible.

If it never happens again, I will still remember that one day when everyone was nice to each other and thought prevailed over discord.

Enjoy your day!