TWO SPORT DEATHS

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Two stars of the sports world left us in recent days. One retired, the other beginning. Arnold Palmer and Jose Fernandez.

Arnold Palmer, an all time sport great. An outstanding golfer.

Eighty seven at the time his death.

Palmer brought golf to the attention of the masses. His first professional win in 1955 in the Canadian Open. The mid 50’s were also the time when most American homes began having a television set. A marriage occurred. Viewers loved Palmer. Most viewing never played golf. Nevertheless, they were glued to their sets watching Palmer.

Jose Fernandez’s death even more sad. Palmer completed his professional and personal life. Fernandez just beginning. Twenty four years old. A star player with the Marlins. Team leader. A father to be. He died in a boating accident.

His team mates held Fernandez in high esteem. I watched them on TV this morning. Everyone from Manager Don Mattingly through each team member openly crying. Grown men.

Tonight is a night of nights! The Trump/Clinton debate. First one. Considered important. The candidates are close in the polls. It is expected to have a huge viewing world wide.

Some one made a comment on Morning Joe this morning that some consider tonight as one to save the Republic. Applies to supporters of each candidate.

Interestingly, television’s first Presidential debate took place on this date in 1960. Kennedy/Nixon. Kennedy won the TV phase. He took to the camera like a natural. Nixon came over terrible. His responses were right on. His appearance not. He kept sweating and the camera picked up every drop.

I spent most of yesterday lying around continuing to read Orange Is The New Black.

Three dead bodies were found floating early in the weekend off Islamorada. Twenty three miles out. Two men and a woman. A boating accident.

A sad announcement. Key West Lou COMMENTARY will be no more. The column presently on the stands is the last that will appear in KONK Life.

I have been doing the column ten years. Loved doing it. Nothing is forever, however. It was time to put the column to bed.

This weekend was the first in years that I  had to myself for other than the column. Which means I had nothing to do saturday and sunday. I enjoyed my first lazy weekend in years.

Guy de Boer publishes KONK Life. I thank him for the opportunity to write. I shall be eternally grateful. He never questioned content or positions taken. I was a free agent at all times.

Enjoy your day!

 

LIMELIGHT FOR SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

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It happens. Periodically the quiet of campus life becomes a national news item. Syracuse experiences two this weekend.

Syracuse played football against Connecticut yesterday. Won! 31-24.

For Syracuse, it is a new team and new coach. Both are doing well, but not there yet. The coach appears great. Throwing the ball. Syracuse’s quarterback excellent. He has two rather than one top notch receivers.

The problem as I see it is the team’s lacks consistency. They were 14-o at the end of the first quarter. Halftime it was 17-14. Last week, Syracuse was 17-0 at the end of the first quarter. Lost decisively.

The key is to play hard 60 minutes. Hard to do. Must be done however if Syracuse is to be a top team.

Syracuse now 2-2.

That was the good. Now for the bad.

Kenneth Kavajecz is Dean of the School of Management. Big job! Was paid $496,449 last year.

Today, he is on administrative leave.

Last week he was arrested for soliciting a prostitute. A 3rd degree misdemeanor. No big deal for most. The lowest level crime. Many would be allowed to plead to an infraction and walk away.

The Sheriff’s Department was operating a sting. The Dean got caught.

I feel sorry for the Dean. I know what he did is legally wrong. Note however we live in a time when most of the campus is screwing each other, some members of the faculty playing around. Society itself is sexually free. Sex is all over the place. TV and the movies.

I feel sorry for the Dean. He even went to a suburban town Salina rather than seek a prostitute in Syracuse. Syracuse is a metropolitan community. There are enough hookers in Syracuse that he did not have to travel.

I recently wrote that within 10 years, prostitution will be legal in the United States. I stand by that prediction. The reason is that the government will be able to tax the sex industry. Big dollars involved. Germany has been doing it for years and making a bundle.

Sloan stopped over in the afternoon. We had a few minor glitches in something new I am working on. Close to being resolved.

Sloan leaves for a two week European trip thursday. Backpacking. Alone. Ireland, England and Scotland. She is going to have a ball!

I had a sneezing jag yesterday afternoon. For an hour. One sneeze after another. Thought I was coming down with a head cold. I cannot recall the last time I had a cold.

After one hour, it stopped as swiftly as it had begun. No cold. Must have been something I was temporarily allergic to in the house.

I rarely read a book when published. Do not know why. Orange Is The New Black was published 2010. I started reading it yesterday afternoon.

Pro football watching this afternoon at Don’s Place. It will be the first time for me this season.

Enjoy your Sunday!

A CHARMING DINNER COMPANION

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I made a new friend a couple of weeks ago. Lizabeth Moody. We had dinner together for the first time last night. The bar at Berlin’s.

Liz is an exceptional person. At 82, mentally sharp.

Liz’s life is one of dedication and success in the field of law.  A Yale Law honor graduate, person to score highest on her bar examination, Dean of two law schools, Cleveland State and Stetson, a good friend of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, active in the highest levels of the American Bar Association, first woman President of the Cleveland Bar Association, and on and on.

A lover of Key West, also. She and her husband purchased their Key West home in 1981. Her husband now gone.

Liz was President and CEO of the LSAT operation. The organization that runs the examination that dictates whether you are qualified to be accepted in law school. During her time with LSAT, she worked arm in arm with Craig Christensen. Craig was Dean at Syracuse Law when I was Chairman of the Board.

Intellectually superior. When studying several weeks taking a cram course for the bar examination, she and a girl friend slept late, played 18 holes of golf and attended a 4 hour lecture in the evening. Every day. Liz scored the highest of all taking the bar examination. A feat!

I contrast her bar exam cram course experience with mine. Did the same 4 hour lecture in the evening. Out at midnight. Studied till 2. Up at 7. Studied all day. For six weeks. Only one day off. The Fourth of July.

I was happy to pass. Liz was happy to be first.

Liz Moody, a star in the legal profession.

We chatted and laughed over  a few drinks. Each of us had a 2 pound Maine lobster.

A great evening!

Yesterday, a manicure with Tammy, the Key West Aloe Store for after shave gel (Men: I have been using it 20 years. Absolutely the best.), and stopped to look at the former Sq.1 now the Ocean Grill & Bar.

The Charlotte videos confuse me. There is something we are not being shown.

Early yesterday morning, I saw a video on TV of a police officer wearing a red shirt bend over and drop a gun on the road. In the same place in an earlier video where the gun did not appear.

The video has never been shown again. All day yesterday into this morning.

We seem to have a negative impression of protestors who cause property damage. Destruction of property appears to make a protest illegitimate.

Recall the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Property damage big time. I guess one’s conclusion is based on which side he or she is on.

As with the Boston Tea Party, you must admit it got the Brits to pay attention. Not enough, however. A war was still required.

The blacks want to be heard. The problem ended. The protestors are doing whatever it takes to get the nation’s attention riveted to the problem.

The Civil War ended 150 years ago. The problem still exists.

Trump talks about building a wall. Not a new concept. I am not referring to the Great Chinese Wall.

France and Great Britain are experiencing the immigration problem big time. Black Muslims are coming out of Africa into France. From France, the route for many is to Great Britain.

All kinds of issues. One, whether the immigrants be searched/vetted in France or Great Britain?

France and Great Britain got together. Decided to build a wall at the Port of Calais. Sixteen feet high. Coils of razor wire running along the top. Cost was $29 million. The two countries split it.

Great Britain out foxed France in one respect. The immigrants would be searched/vetted on the French side by the French. Turned out to be cumbersome and costly. Britain has agreed to pay France $20 million a year to do the job.

I suspect I have gotten Diane Millikan involved in my William Hackley comments. Diane has begun digging behind what is written. Good show!

Her present search involves the Kate mentioned in today’s diary. Hackley paid William Randolph $8 for her services. Diane suspects Kate was a black slave owned by Randolph and rented to Hackley.

Lets see what she comes up with.

Syracuse/Connecticut at 1. Connecticut a 3 point favorite. Just maybe Syracuse will win this one.

Enjoy your day!

SURPRISES

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Last night was one of surprises.

One good, one bad.

The good one first. It was first last night, also. My dinner at Outback.

The Key West Outback has a new owner. Jessica Hughes. Changes are obvious already.

My drink arrived swiftly following order. The meal, also. Prime rib. The best I have ever had at Outback. A Commodore cut.

I asked the waitress if the new owner had made some changes. I described and complimented the services. She said there is a new multi colored sign in the kitchen. Its purpose to move things. She said it has. Several people have complimented the improved service as I had.

I never got into the quality of the meat with her. I shall try to talk with Jessica the new owner the next time I dine at Outback.

The bad had to do with Regal Cinema. Went to the movies after dinner.

The movie was Bridget Jones’s Baby. The third in a series. I had seen the previous two. This one lacked the quality of the first two. Not the problem, however.

The seats. It has been a while since I have been to the Regal Cinema. New seats! The worst ever! Not comfortable at all!

The first thing I noticed was the seats were considerably narrow. Like a tourist airline seat. More narrow, in fact. The seats and back poorly designed. Impossible to be comfortable. I tried every possible position. Sat up right, slouched, sat on a hip, etc.

Regal Cinema lost me last night. Henceforth, I shall only attend Tropic Cinema.

Let me play movie critic for a minute.

Renee Zellweger  has aged. It has been a while since her last Bridget Jones movie. Looked like she had some plastic surgery done. Not for the better. The bubbliness gone. She looked too old for the part.

Attention grammar critics. The title of the movie is Bridget Jones’s Baby. Is the Jones’s spelled correctly? I think it should have been Jones’.

The Rose Tattoo was filmed in Key West. The movie based on Tennessee William’s play of the same name. Hal Wallis arrived in Key West this date in 1954 scouting for locations to shoot the movie.

Much of The Rose Tattoo was shot on Duncan Street. 1400 block. The house where the movie was shot at one end. Tennessee William’s home the other.

Lisa lives on Duncan two blocks away.

The Rose Tattoo house was allowed to fall into bad shape. Unoccupied for years. Renovated recently and rented out. Nothing special about its appearance. Nor was there anything special about it in the film.

Tennessee William’s home is magnificent! Still in great shape. Maintained as it was.

This morning’s Key West Citizen front page had a huge photo and story re Burmese pythons. The story reported baby pythons are being discovered in Key Largo. Suggested there are 10,000 to 100,000 in South Florida.

I wrote a KONK Life column re pythons five year ago. Title: Pythons Are Coming. Wrote a follow up a couple of years ago. One of the thrusts was that the Burmese pythons were on the move southward from the Everglades to the Keys. Only one had been discovered in Key West at the time. Along a runway at the airport. Remains the only Key West one reported.

The number of phytons in the paper is grossly understated. Florida authorities suspect the number could be as much as one million. No exaggeration. There are so many that their growth is out of control. The State admits it cannot eliminate them. Hopefully only control their growth and spread.

My KONK Life column this week is An american Revolutionary War Hero Who Lost His Head. Interesting reading. It is on the stands today. The article appears in this morning’s KONK Life E-Blast and was linked also to my Key West Lou website.

Enjoy your day!

NATHAN HALE

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Nathan Hale. An American Revolutionary War hero.

Hale was 21. A Yale graduate. Then school teacher. Joined the Connecticut regiment to fight in the War. Appointed a captain.

New York City was occupied by the British. The colonists needed a spy to enter New York City ascertain British troop size and location. Hale volunteered.

He spent several days in New York carrying out his responsibility. The British were not stupid. They knew there was a spy in their midst. They were closing in on Hale. Finally, captured him.

British General Howe himself said to Hale that he would be hung in the morning. No trial. Not that one would have helped much.

As Hale was being led to the gallows, it is claimed he uttered the famous words…..”I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”

Historians question whether Hale uttered the words. Written documentation lacking.

Another reason is that there is an early 1700’s poem containing similar wording.

Whatever, it is good for us to believe Hale so spoke.

Harpoon Harry’s for lunch yesterday. My usual. Ham and eggs and fries. Then a walk along the waterfront.

A mid afternoon visit to the dentist. Dr. George Linder. Nothing wrong. A routine yearly visit to check my implants. A thorough examination of the entire mouth. Well worth the visit.

Last night for cocktails at Aqua’s Back Door. Mark Watson bartending. He bartends every wednesday night. That is why I go.

I was there quite a while. A number of people I knew came in. Good company all! Donna and Terri. Zoey. Zoey’s real name is Zorica. She is a native of Macedonia. Manages Aqua’s liquor and cigarette store attached to Aqua.

Jimmy Olson and Jimmy back from New Hampshire.

A lady named Lisa.

Big day for Donna! A bit tired also. First day at work. She can be found three days a week at the Butterfly Conservatory.

The cosmetic stores on Duval continue to be involved in fraud and chicanery. I do not understand why the City/Codes does not close them down.

The most recent incident involves a 70 year old tourist. She purchased a few items. Not much. When she received her credit card statement in the mail, the charge was in excess of $5,000. The matter has been reported and the police are investigating.

Citizen activity is growing in Key West. A vigilante approach in some instances.

Re the cosmetic shops, The Key West Rip Off Response Team. They have picketed some of these establishments in the past. They too are looking into the $5,000 over billing.

This morning’s Citizens’ Voice tells the story of a Georgia free range chicken farm where bald eagles are eating up the profits.

Some 15 years ago, I was sitting outside the old Paradise Cafe enjoying Cuban toast and coffee. A mother hen with 5 little chicks were walking by. The chicks in an orderly line.

All of a sudden, I heard a loud swoosh. I looked up. There were two hawks carrying off two of the chicks. The mother hen and three remaining chicks moved on as if nothing happened.

I do not know the difference between a bald eagle or hawk or any similar bird. The two I saw might very well have been bald eagles.

Homeschooling is big in Florida. The Key West Art & Historical Society has announced a new program to support homeschoolers. Two hours a month. To add/supplement to what  is being taught at home.

If anyone is interested, the Custom House’s Director of Education Adele Williams should be contacted.

Syracuse/Connecticut saturday. Connecticut a 5 point favorite. Time to win another one!

Enjoy your day!

OUTLAWS IN ACTION

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This past weekend the Poker Run. A Key West annual event. Ten thousand bikers roll into town. Everyone has a good time. Rarely a problem. Many of the bikers doctors, lawyers, and  CPA’s in disguise.

There was a bit of trouble this past weekend. The Outlaws came to town for Poker Run. I do not know if they were in Key West for the event in prior years.

Fifteen of them were at the Rumor Lounge on Greene Street. A fight began between the Outlaws and two men. 15-1. Then, 15-2. As soon as the police began arriving, the Outlaws were out the door hopping into cabs or running down the street.

No arrests were made.

The Outlaws are the original biker group formed in 1935. Logo, a small skull. The opening words of their motto, “God forgives.”

The Outlaws similar to the Marlon Brando bikers that roared into a small town in a long ago movie whose name I forget.

My blog talk radio show was last night. I spent the entire day preparing. I had let preparation slide.

Two things were hit big. Banks and police shooting blacks.

The people of the U.S. are disturbed by what they learned about Wells Fargo last week. Congress had a hearing yesterday. Wells Fargo’s CEO testified. Elizabeth Warren ripped him a new asshole. Only way to describe it. Warren is one tough cross-examiner.

Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for their wrongdoing. Plus, Wells Fargo paid the official who ran the bank unit involved a going away payout of $124.6 million when she retired in July.

I mentioned Wells Fargo briefly. It was not the thrust of my discussion. I brought Deutsche Bank to everyone’s attention. Our Department of Justice has recently fined Deutsche $14 billion for wrongdoing leading up to 2008.

Fourteen billion is a number to talk about!

The fine is negotiable. What bullshit! Fine them and let the number stand!

The U.S. has avoided jailing any banker for any significant wrongdoing. The too big to fail…..too big to prosecute thing. I disagree. Jail a few bankers and bank wrongdoing will become yesterday’s news.

Fine instead of prosecution is part of the bank/corporate America influence that permeates our government. The causes of the people set aside to accommodate the needs of the big guys.

Police shooting blacks. When does it stop? An unarmed 40 year old black pastor killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His arms over his head when shot.

Then yesterday, another shooting. In Charlotte, North Carolina. Another death. A question whether the deceased had a gun.

These shootings must stop! Both ways. Citizens should not be shooting police officers.

I do not know the solution.

October is National Bullying Protection Month. Tenth anniversary. Needed. Hopefully helpful.

Enjoy your day!

EDWARD HENRY

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The Key West Citizen daily runs on page 3 its Citizen of the Day. Photo and biographical sketch.

Today’s honoree is Edward Henry.

I do not know him personally, yet feel I do know him personally. Edward works in the pharmacy department at Walgreens on the Boulevard. Always a smile, always helpful. Sometimes difficult I am sure. Prescription purchasers are not always happy campers.

Edward is a big guy. Reminds me of Shaquille O’Neal. Carries himself with the same humility.

Congratulations, Edward! You are much deserving of the recognition.

Spent my day time yesterday writing thus week’s KONK Life column. An American Revolutionary War Hero Who Lost His Head. The Joseph Warren story. Interesting. More revealing, the treatment of the colonists by the British during the war. The column hits the stands wednesday.

Intended to have dinner at Tavern ‘n Town. Thought the bar would be empty on a sunday night. Not so. No room.

Went to La Trattoria Oceanside. No room at the bar. However, I was able to get a well located table with a magnificent view of the water. Enjoyed spaghetti and oil. A dish I have not had in ages.

My waiter was CJ. I did not recall him. He did me. He worked years ago at La Trattoria on Duval when I was a regular customer. He recalled me by name.

His step mother is Erin. She was bartender at La Trattoria on Duval for years. Now bartends at Smokin’ Tuna.

CJ is getting married in November. He is all excited! Good luck to him and his bride.

I mentioned Berlin’s yesterday. I had been there friday evening. New singer, I thought. Was not sure of her name. An excellent entertainer.

A comment to the column corrected me. Devin. I thank him. Brie her name. Brie not new to Key West or singing. She has been here 10 years.

I have  mentioned a couple of times this past week that Helen Mirren was in Key West making a movie. Together with co-star Donald Sunderland. Shooting was taking place at Higgs Beach and the Hemingway House.

The movie is titled The Leisure Seeker. It is the story of an elderly couple. The wife a cancer patient. Her husband entering into Alzheimer’s. They decide to take a road trip to Key West in a Winnebago.

The weekend bombings. What can I say? What can we say? Eventually, the problem will be resolved. Could take a number of years. In the meantime, vigilance the key.

The problem will not be resolved here. It will be in the Middle East by the total destruction of ISIS.

President James Garfield died this date in 1881. An assassin’s bullet on July 2 started the sequence of events leading to Garfield’s death.

I wrote a lengthy KONK Life column on the subject five years ago.

Garfield was shot at the Washington Railroad Station. One bullet in his arm. The other on the right side of his back behind the pancreas.

Garfield laying on the filthy railroad station floor. Robert Todd Lincoln was with him. Lincoln called a Dr. D. Willard Bliss to care for the President. Bliss turned out to be an arrogant individual impressed with his own perceived self-importance. He cared for Garfield till his death some two and a half months later.

During that time, roughly 80 physicians also were called in. Bliss always in charge, however.

The problem was no one could find the bullet in the President’s back. Fingers and instruments prodded the hole searching for it. Dirty fingers and instruments. This was before the medical profession realized there were germs. Bacteria.

Infection set in. The President’s body became accessed big time internally.

The bullet had to be found and extracted. Bliss called in Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. Bell had invented a metal detector that was supposed to locate bullets in the body. It had been successfully tested on Civil War veterans.

The detector did not work on the President. A scratchy buzzing sound was constantly heard. Something was wrong.

Garfield lay on a mattress which lay on a metal coil bed spring. The metal bed spring had recently been invented. A patent pending. Not yet on the market for sale. One had been given Garfield for publicity purposes.

The metal bed spring mattress screwed up the metal detector. No one realized it at the time.

An autopsy showed that the prodding by fingers and instruments had moved the bullet from the President’s right side to his left. The bullet could not be located because it was not where it was supposed to be.

Charles Guiteau went on trial for the murder of the President. His defense was that medical malpractice had killed Garfield, not his shooting. The jury did not agree. He was found guilty and hung.

Guiteau made his own closing argument to the jury. “Yes, I shot him, but his doctors killed him.”

Enjoy your day!

 

 

GREAT DINNER PARTY

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Good time last night!

Donna and Terri threw a small dinner party in honor of Mark Watson’s 44th. The food outstanding. Donna is a terrific cook. The company good. Enjoyed myself!

Donna and Terri have done a magnificent job with the apartment. They have been in about two months. I saw the place when first rented. Terri’s heart attack slowed them down. The place is now completely decorated. Deserving of a Florida housing magazine spread.

Big afternoon ahead! Syracuse v. South Florida at 3:30. Hope not a repeat of last week’s debacle against Louisville.

Poker Run in full force and effect. Bikes driving down US 1 to Key West. Big time noise. Most of the ladies I saw this year were not riding seated behind the driver. They had their own bikes.

I plan on walking a bit of Duval tonight to see the bikes. Several blocks of Duval will be closed off. Only bikes will be permitted to park. Beautiful machines!

Jim Young’s Key West Codes Department has always impressed me. The group does a good job. Professional.

The cosmetic stores continue to be a Duval blight. The law does not permit closing them down. They can be fined however for failing to follow existing local guide lines.

There are seven cosmetic stores. The problem is overcharging, irregular bills, etc. The overcharging is by hundreds of dollars. Sometimes thousands. Credit cards misused.

Codes did an all at once investigation of the stores. Hit the seven stores at the same time. Five were handed violation warnings requiring them to correct their processes in 48 hours.

Too bad they cannot just be closed.

Key West High School has a group known as the Conchettes. An athletic dance group.

The Conchettes have been extremely good in recent years. They have twice appeared in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They have been asked to return this year for a third time. Sixteen will make the trip.

The school does not put up the money for the trip. The young ladies have to raise it. $45,000 needed. Each girl asked to raise $3,500.

Help the Conchettes. Make a contribution. Call the high school to do so.

Government departments and agencies keep getting hacked. High ranking officials, also. Disgraceful.

Could prove helpful, however.

Trump has not released his tax returns. I keep waiting for a hacker to get them and do so. Makes sense.

I grew up and worked in Utica, NY. Fifteen miles away from Herkimer, NY. A small upstate community. Many the case I tried in Herkimer Supreme Court.

Herkimer was previously known as German Flats. On this day in 1778, Mohawk Indian Chief Joseph Brant, 150 Iroquois Indians, and 300 British loyalists burned down German Flats. Only three residents killed. The residents had a warning and escaped to two nearby forts.

Sixty three houses, 57 barns, 3 gristmills, and 1 sawmill destroyed.

At the end of the Revolution, the Brant family and their Iroquois followers escaped to Canada where they remained the balance of their lives.

A poet for the ages left England this date in 1820 for Italy. John Keats. He had tuberculosis. He thought the Rome weather would help his condition. It did not. He died in less than six months at the age of 20.

Keats did not write poetry till the last three years of his life. His works amazing and multitudinous in that short period. Ode to Grecian Urn and Ode to a Nightingale two examples.

I mention Keats because I was fortunate to visit his home and place of  death some 35 years ago. I was in Rome. Wandering around while my wife and daughters were clothes shopping. I was at the foot of the Spanish Steps. Immediately to the right was a small 2 or 3 story building. A brass plate on the door was labeled John Keats. I went in.

Exciting! Saw Keats’ bedroom where he died. Another room had many of his transcripts. His poems hand written on pieces of paper. I was familiar with a few. Chilling to read the original product.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK WATSON

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Mark Watson, Happy Birthday!

Mark is one of the most beloved persons in Key West. Drag queen at Aqua, a Dueling Bartender, wednesday night Back Door bartender, present King of Fantasy Fest. On and on.

A nice guy besides.

I shall be sharing this day with him at a dinner party tonight.

My yesterday began with a haircut at Blown Away with Lori. My haircutter and friend of 15 years.

Lori is moving Blown Away. To a new building on White Street. Across from Fausto’s and Sandy’s. Next door to the building where I did my first radio show 10 years ago.

Then lunch at the Cuban Coffee Queen. Lovely Ruby working. The lady is talented. Hard working. Her work ethic impresses me.

Jay. Former chef at Sq. 1. Sq. 1 bought out. Jay moving on. Going to be the owner of his own operation. A sandwich shop. On Southard next to Bank of America. Around the corner from Key Lime Square. Near the Cuban Coffee Queen. Five door’s from Lori’s Blown Away.

From gourmet chef to sandwich maker. The sandwiches should be terrific!

Across the street are two coffee houses, a veggie restaurant, and Mr. T’s. A couple hundred feet up Southard, a noodle restaurant. All have been in business in the immediate area for many years. Jay should do well.

Opening, September 26.

Bocce last night. Ran into Jay. He has played bocce for years. My team Don’s Place doing well. I am the cheerleader. The team won all 3 games last night. 16-3, 16-0, 16-15.

It always happens that way. You kill the opposing team in the first two games. Then complacency sets in. An extra drink. Joking around. Concentration disappears.

Don’s was winning 14-7 in the third game. Needed only 2 points to win. All of a sudden, the game was tied 14 all. Finally, a one point victory eked out.

Norm is one of the player’s on Don’s team. A nice guy. We have been friends for years. Better friends because of bocce. One of my partner’s when I played.

Norm’s wife is involved community wise. She is a Rotarian. As was her father and grandfather before her. Rotarians have their hands in many of the Key West charity fundraisers. The Brewfest last week. She was one of the ones running the event. This week, she is working hard on Poker Run.

Ten thousand bikes start roaring into Key West today. For Poker Run Weekend. Big, expensive bikes. Drivers in black leather and crazy helmets. Look dangerous. Their ladies similarly dressed. Breasts dramatic. Intentionally so.

The humor is that most are doctors, lawyers and CPAs having what they consider a wild weekend. No more wild than any other, however. They will drink a bit too much, dine at the finest restaurants and have a great time!

You and me and the federal government are not the only one’s being hacked. The Monroe County Tourist Development Council’s website has been hacked. Florida Keys & Key West Facebook page 1.

Pics of beautiful Key West deleted. Replaced with photos of scantily clad provocatively posed women.

The Tourist Council cannot remove/delete the photos. Nor can they reach anyone at Facebook for help. Nor can they post an explanation.

My suggestion is they get a computer geek immediately to work on the problem. There are several in Key West.

The Mayflower departed England this day in 1620. Sixty six days later, landed at Provincetown. Not Plymouth as most of us have learned. Several months later, a group departed and landed at Plymouth. Of Plymouth Rock fame.

The Mayflower gave us the Mayflower Compact, Plymouth Rock, and Capt. Myles Standish.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Selective Service and Training Act into law this day in 1940. A draft law.

It is time we had a draft law again. Our professional voluntary army has been pushed too hard. Several deployments. As many as seven for some. No wonder 20 veterans a day are committing suicide.

I would require two years military service following high school graduation.

Guaranteed, I am going to receive a lot of comment on the position.

Enjoy your day!

HELEN MIRREN FILMING MOVIE IN KEY WEST

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The great English actress and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren filming parts of a movie in Key West. Yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The movie involves a retired couple taking a trip on their RV. Donald Sunderland plays Mirren’s husband.

The Key West Citizen ran a photo of Mirren being driven in an electric cart in this morning’s paper..

Mirren filmed in front of Salute’s yesterday. Today, she will be shooting at the Hemingway House. Tomorrow, I do not know.

My podcast last night. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. I enjoy doing the show. I assume people enjoy listening. I base the last sentence on the numbers and fact that I now have a few national advertisers. Like Geico and Walgreens.

I decided not to discuss politics. We are getting bombarded. I a political junkie am getting tired of listening. The worse Presidential campaign I have experienced. A lot of gutter snipping. Little policy discussion.

Ergo, I did not get into politics at all. Explained to the audience at the beginning I would not be and why.

Wells Fargo was the biggest item in my judgment. Especially with the news that the high echelon person responsible for the unit doing the bad deeds had retired in July. Her walk away payout $124.6 million. My point, crime pays.

A 4th case of Zika has been discovered in Monroe County. In Big Pine. Travel related.

Babe is now 3 months old. Daddy Hackley says she is “quite well.” Weighs 14 pounds.

Last year I fell many times. In one series, five times in seven days. All while going up or down stairs. I was sent to physiotherapy. Spent three months learning not only how to climb stairs, but also walk.

The key is to pay attention. Look where you are walking. Remember to lift your feet. Take your time.

It works. As simple as the instructions sound, I have only fallen once since. The reason I did fall was that I was not looking, not picking up my feet, and moving fast.

Falls Prevention Awareness Day is September 22. A notice re  the Day set forth facts with which I was not aware. The numbers apply to persons over 65. In 2014, 2,400 persons were fatally injured from falls. Fifty thousand hospitalized for non-fatal injuries.

Syracuse/South Florida saturday. South Florida a two touchdown favorite. After the beating Syracuse took from Louisville friday, I fear what might happen.

Enjoy your day!