CHILL FACTOR -49 DEGREES

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Wowie! Cold in the north today. Chill factors as low as -49. Upstate New York projected at -20. With one foot of snow!

My friends up north laugh when I do this. But…..it is going to be cold tonight in Key West. -62. That means a blanket or heat.

All in all, crazy weather. Global warming?

After living alone so long, I have become domesticated to a degree. Was in Publix yesterday. Saw eggplants. A sudden desire overwhelmed me! I bought one. Cooked it for dinner last night.

Cut the plant in half. Thin sliced the half I was going to use. Heated some olive oil in a large frying pan. Then the slices. Cooked them to a light brown on each side.

Delicious! Just like my mother used to make.

I observed something interesting in the process. The eggplant slices absorbed the oil rapidly. Gulped it right up. Like a paper towel soaking up a spill.

Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou last night. One of my better shows. Spent more than a half the show discussing issues involving policemen.

As part of the police portion, I made reference to the new Black Panther group formed in Dallas. Shades of the ’60s. Blacks, many of whom are retired Army Rangers, have formed a paramilitary group to protect blacks from being killed by police. A confrontation/eruption is sure to follow at some point. Violence begets violence.

Nudity continues to be an issue in Key West. As regards Fantasy Fest. A do good group has their nose in the issue.

There is a special meeting of the City Commission tonight to review matters. Harry Bethel, a leader in the anti-nudity movement, says the Commission will discuss curbing nudity during Fantasy Fest. Bethel announced earlier that in all his years of living in Key West, he has never attended a Fantasy Fest. A blind man shall lead them!

Numbers sometime tell an interesting story. It has been reported that in Alabama, food stamp recipients outnumber public school students by 20 percent. Yet we keep hearing how the economy has recovered. Not for those on food stamps!

Enjoy your day!

TUESDAY TALK WITH KEY WEST LOU

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My blog talk radio show tonight at 9. Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

A quick moving half hour of hot topics. Like police insubordination, Pope Francis packing the Cardinals group, police using a battery ram and tasers while entering a home celebrating a son’s 21st birthday, the Philadelphia Fed burning bills to make electricity, a Ferguson grand juror saying the prosecutor misrepresented certain things in his report, and more.

Not a boring show!

My diet continues. 26 pounds! I went a week losing nothing. It was discouraging. However, I could tell I was losing inches. A great diet! If it continues to work, I may write a book. The Key West Diet!

Key West was the scene of happiness last evening at midnight. The first same sex couple married in Florida took place at midnight. It had to be in Key West. One of the couples leading the court fight and making it possible were Key West residents. Lee Jones and Aaron Huntsman. Good for them, good for Key West, good for loving couples every where!

A wedding reception was held afterwards at Aqua. One in the morning. I did not go. Too late for me. Very much too late!

Friend Anna wrote yesterday. She is at her home in Courmayeur. Courmayeur is in northern Italy. Sits on the side of Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Europe. It is part of the Alps.

A ski resort. Anna say snow, snow, snow. People, people, people.

I love Courmayeur. A ski village composed of Swiss chalets. Nothing more beautiful!

Staying with Italy a moment longer, today is the Feast of Behana. Actually it was last night, though celebrated today also. Behana is a witch appearing old woman. Beak nose. Black cape. Sinister. January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany. On the evening before, Behana brings gifts and candy to children. Just as Santa Claus. Older Italians share candies today.

Behana may look scary. In reality, a  nice person.

Greece. New elections January 25. It is going to be out with the old and in with the new. The new have already said Greece will be leaving the euro and Common Market. The Eurounion going crazy. Germany especially upset. It  is primarily their money that will probably never get paid back. Germany cannot afford such a loss. A recession very possible.

I saw this coming. In several blogs I wrote while in Greece three years ago and also in my book The World Upside Down, I discussed the scenario. I was not a genius. It was predictable. You can only defecate on a people so long. Then they will rebel. Here, peacefully.

A story typifying Mario Cuomo.

Back in my Utica days, Senator Donovan represented our area in the State Senate. Twenty years plus. He died. The church was packed for his funeral mass. From where I was seated, I could see the Donovan family clearly.

In the fifth row was an empty seat on the aisle. I thought it strange. Just before the Senator’s casket was rolled down, Mario Cuomo walked into the church. Neither looking to his right or left, he walked down the aisle to that seat.

After mass and when the family was leaving, the Governor quietly moved into the aisle and embraced the Donovan family. A quick few seconds. Then back to his seat. Cuomo walked out of the church with everyone else. His eyes straight ahead all the time. No conversation with those around him.

As the Governor left the Church, he walked over to a black car , got in, and was driven away. I assume to a plane waiting to fly him back to Albany. No handshaking with anyone. No stopping to converse with anyone.

I thought his conduct a class act. He was in Utica and at the mass solely for one purpose. To show respect for a political colleague. He did not pander.

Few politicians would have conducted themselves as he did.

Enjoy your day!

HELEN BASINGER

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I have been meeting some of the most charming and interesting women lately. Last night, it was Helen Basinger.

I was sitting at the Tavern ‘n Town bar having dinner when she and her husband Joel sat next to me. Joel was busy with a guest that had accompanied them. Ergo, I had Helen all to myself.

There was an instantaneous match! Helen wrote a book! It was published last month. Quit Smoking Now and Forever – Conquering the Nicotine Demon. The title speaks for itself. The book is available on amazon.com.

Helen was born and raised in England. She has a distinctive British accent. Lived in France a while. Then Turkey for a number of years. Came to the USA in 2008. She and Joel have been residents of Key West for two years.

Helen operates a business. Freedom Healing. Its purpose to help people break free from negative habits and emotions. I suspect I am ready made for her professional talents.

Her Turkey time lead to the waters between Turkey and Greece and the ferry boats. We agreed ferry boats are buses.

I enjoyed our exchange tremendously. I would like to meet with her again.

It was Bobby Nesbitt time at Tavern ‘n Town. Bobby is a premier entertainer. Tonight and tomorrow night he is appearing at Tennessee Williams doing a one man Fred Astaire show.

I never appreciated Fred Astaire till recently. I caught 24 hours of his movies on the Turner Classics Channel. A talent! A joy to watch!

Tavern ‘n Town was not crowded crowded. About three quarters full. A noisy bunch. I suspect that most were New Year tourists who will be leaving Key West today.

Lynda and Bob Frechette were on the other side of the bar. We raised our glasses to each other in a New Year toast.

Earlier in the day, I watched the Syracuse/Virginia Tech game. Syracuse was winning by 19 points at half. The team looked good. Very good. I started thinking maybe. Syracuse won by two points. No more maybe. I am back to disappointment and I do not know.

Villanova has a terrific team this year. Ranked in the top ten. Beat yesterday by Seton Hall. I still think Villanova will be a Final Four team.

I forgot to share with you yesterday that I wrote this coming week’s KONK Life column. Rank Insubordination. I pressed the button and it was off to the publisher. The column obviously concerns what is going on with New York City’s Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD.

Patrick is from upstate New York. He is a snowbird. He is also a constant commentator to this blog. Almost daily. Tough to handle most times. We are at opposite ends of the spectrum philosophically regarding many things. I consider him the indispensable opposition and even though I rarely agree, I am happy to have his comments.

Patrick can be helpful.

Yesterday’s comment was brief. It contained the name Warren Wilhelm. Who is Warren Wilhelm? I did not know. I Googled the name. The result interesting. Different.

Warren Wilhelm is New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio. His trip to de Blasio unusual.

The Mayor was born Wilfred Wilhelm. He legally changed his name in 1983 to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm. He legally changed his name again in 2002 to Bill de Blasio.

I do not know what to make of this. However, I thank Patrick for piquing my curiosity.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Christmas….A Legal Holiday

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CHRISTMAS 2010, I WROTE AN ESSAY DETAILING HOW CHRISTMAS CAME TO BE A LEGAL HOLIDAY. THE STORY INCLUDES MANY INTERESTING FACETS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN. THE ESSAY WAS NOT PUBLISHED IN THE BLOG AT THE TIME. I SHARE IT WITH YOU NOW WITH MY WISHES FOR A BLESSED AND MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Christmas….A Legal Holiday

 

On this wonderful Christmas Day 2010, most of us are sitting back happy with ourselves. In a joyous festive mood. Thankful for family and friends. Pleased by gifts and food.

And we might believe that Christmas in the United States has always been such. That Christmas as we know it always existed.

Shockingly, it did not!

Let’s go back to the Puritans. Those hearty immigrants from England to the shores of Massachusetts. Those who gave us Thanksgiving.

Christmas they did not give to us. In fact, they took Christmas away from us. The earliest Scrooges of record!

From 1659 to 1681, Christmas was outlawed in Boston. By the Puritans. They believed that Christmas was not consistent with their Puritan ideas and religious reforms. So one of their acts was to abolish Christmas!

Christmas remained a no-no through the American Revolution. The English influence in the colonies prevailed. Christmas could not regain its foothold.

A few years after the Revolution, the colonists, rid of the English influence, started celebrating Christmas. But it was not Christmas as we know it.

The early 1800s found Christmas being celebrated in a bit of a rowdy fashion. Much like Mardi Gras and Fantasy Fest.

Then came a couple of books which influenced the situation.

The first was by Washington Irving. In 1809, he wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon. It portrayed Christmas as a peaceful loving holiday. Many attribute Irving’s novel as setting the mood for present day Christmas.

Irving actually created with words Christmas Day as we know and celebrate it. He mentally conceived his concept of Christmas and wrote it on paper. Christmas to that point had not been as he portrayed it.

About the same time, there was another writing. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This, too, captured the American imagination.

During the 1830s, several southern states legalized December 25 Christmas Day as a legal holiday. The first was Alabama in 1836.

The South continued to favor and celebrate Christmas up to the time of the Civil War. Whereas the North basically paid little attention to the day. Christmas had become a Southern thing.

Now comes the Civil War. Lincoln wanted to demoralize the Confederate troops. He wanted to show that the South’s Santa Claus was on the side of the North. He authorized a famous artist late in 1862 to do a drawing of Santa Claus watching over Union troops. The picture was the front cover on January 3, 1863 of a prominent national magazine. It was sort of God is on our side thing. Some believe it achieved Lincoln’s desired effect.

President Ulysses S. Grant is given credit for making Christmas a national holiday. I question the accuracy of the representation. In 1870 Grant signed a bill into law regarding Christmas Day. The new law read that Christmas “…shall be a holiday within the District of Columbia.”

The District of Columbia is not the whole of the United States. However, Grant is usually given credit for making Christmas a national holiday by that act.

The last state to legalize Christmas as a legal holiday was Oklahoma in 1907.

I suspect that it was the combination of Grant’s signing regarding the District of Columbia and all of the states legalizing the holiday that finally made Christmas Day a national holiday.

Christmas Day received a further boost by the 1897 editorial in the Sun of New York. We all know it. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

Christmas was practiced and recognized as a holiday through World War II. For whatever reason, it received its most gigantic step forward recognition and celebration wise following World War II. Everyone got into the act after the war! Maybe because people were happy and grateful to have won.

Such is the story of the legalization of Christmas Day.