Fantasy Monsoon

October 24, 2008

Kathy, Gae, Janine & Bonnie

Kathy & Esme


Fantasy Monsoon



Red Party

Rain during the week of Fantasy Fest is nothing new, in fact there was a memorable downpour just last year during the Red Party, but the torrential downpours this week are unlike anything seen before. Wednesday alone, Key West experienced over 7.5 inches of rain that left flooded streets and created havoc with a number of Fantasy Fest events. This was followed by even more rain on Thursday, another 3 inches or so that impacted even more events. The forecast for the remainder of the week calls for even more rain, so who knows what will happen.



Eileen, Graf, Fiona, Jim & Kathy

Of course even rain that surpasses many tropical storms and hurricanes could never completely destroy the party spirit that is Fantasy Fest, so it should not be surprising that our personal schedule was actually not really affected that much by the monsoon like conditions. We have kept up our torrid pace of attending Fantasy Fest events and parties, only slightly damper for the effort.

The Obines

Wednesday we were out for two events, The Pet Masquerade and Fogarty’s Red Party. It was a crazy rainy day and night and we were somewhat surprised that they even held the Pet Masquerade. It returned to its traditional home at the Casa Marina this year and a hardy mix of contestants and spectators braved the rain to come out and see the family friendly event. They only managed to get about halfway through before the skies opened up and yet more torrential rain canceled the remaining categories. It was still a pretty fun time and a little fall of rain (or even a torrent) was not enough to keep us in.



Pet Masquerade



Next stop was the annual Red Party at Fogarty’s. They had erected tents in the outdoor courtyard to try and keep the rain out, which was especially important since much of the inside bar was closed for renovation. This led to a massive, packed and very wet crowd which proved to be too crowded for our liking so we ventured across the street to the Whistle Bar to watch the activities from the relative comfort of their balcony.

The Red Elvises



Kathy & Janine

Our friend Janine is here for the week for the Fantasy Fest festivities and she joined us as we closed out the evening at a familiar haunt, The Green Parrot where the wildly entertaining band, The Red Elvises were entertaining the masses.

Esme

Thursday brought more torrential rain and more fun for us. We first headed out to a nice party for Kristen-Paige Madonia, the current writer in residence at the Studios of Key West. It was a nice gathering of friends to welcome the arrival of her husband Chris who is joining her for the Fantasy Fest weekend.

Hutch



We braved the continuing rain and headed again to the Parrot for another evening of being entertained by the Red Elvi as well as the antics of many friends. Sadly, I think the rain had a negative impact on Pretenders in Paradise for the second straight year. Hopefully it will clear a little for today’s Masquerade March and the big parade tomorrow. We’ll be out in the middle of it all regardless.

Elena, Nancy, Mark, Kathy, Kristen-Paige & Chris

Fantasy Fest King & Queen

Green Party, etc.

October 22, 2008

Green Party

Lisa Morris

Green Party, etc.

Float Building

Fantasy Fest parties pick up in intensity each day as the island gets more and more crowded and anticipation builds for the big weekend. There are a large number of events each night, more than any one person could possibly attend, though we give it our all and try to do something each day in addition to trying to prepare our float and costumes for the various events.



You may think Tuesday would be a relatively quiet day, but for me it was about as hectic as it gets. In addition to working, I volunteered at the local Barack Obama office calling people on the phone encouraging them to early vote, “Hello this is Michael calling from Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change in Florida….” I’ve never volunteered for a political campaign before and I was duly impressed by the organization and motivation of the crew working for Obama here in Key West. I also managed to work a little on my costume, attend the longish mandatory meeting for float builders put on by Fantasy Fest organizers. What!! We can’t be nude, carry weapons and set off fireworks from our float??






Kathy attended the annual poster signing event and picked up a couple of the official Fantasy Fest posters. The artist this year is the same artist who painted our car, Rick Worth. Rick is well known for his art cars in Key West, but is also has a great talent in more traditional artistic endeavors.

Official Fantasy Fest Poster by Rick Worth

Prissy the Duck as George





Tuesday night, it was back out, to see the 26th annual Headdress Ball at the Southernmost Hotel. One of the biggest costume contests of the week, the Ball features elaborate head gear that is judged by a panel that awards cash prizes to the best. I mostly wanted to see my friend Lisa Morris who had assured me that her entry would be worth checking out. She was right as her “George the Lame Duck” Headdress featuring her live show duck Prissy as part of the costume captured first place.






Next stop was my first visit to the Green Party at Finnegan’s Wake. As the name implies, the Green Party featured plenty of revelers decked out in green costumes and clothing, very appropriate for the Irish pub, though it was sort of hard to distinguish this party from their annual St. Patrick’s Day bash. Not that that is a bad thing as both are excellent parties. As expected there were a ton of locals at the party and it was great fun, I think it may become an annual tradition. Live music was provided by the Stumblebums.

Richard & Bethany

The Stumblebums

Biscuits and Gravy

October 20, 2008




The Biscuit Brothers

Biscuits and Gravy



Goombay

While Goombay & Fantasy Fest dominate the Key West landscape at this time of year, it is not as if everything else is put on hold. In fact, we were fortunate enough to squeeze in a couple of other fun events over the weekend. The first was a wonderful event for children that was hosted by Keys Federal Credit Union and organized by our friends at We’ve Got the Keys.



The event was a live concert by the Emmy award winning kids singing group, The Biscuit Brothers. It was through Kathy’s dragging us all over to the Austin Kiddie limits tent at the ACL fest a few years ago that the Biscuit Brothers were introduced to We’ve Got the Keys and now here they were performing right here in Key West.

Rosie

It was a great event, packed with children and parents, every other one seemed to know Kathy. We have a running joke that whenever we go out and encounter someone under the age of 5, they know Kathy and anyone over 70 knows Michael. The Biscuit Brothers put on a great performance in a festive atmosphere. They even came out afterwards and interacted with the kids in the “Instrument Petting Zoo”. They had cotton candy and yummy snow cones as well as beautiful free balloons provided by our friends Eileen & Graf’s company, A Really Great Balloon Company. Kudos to Keys Federal Credit Union for providing such a great free event for kids, people who complain that there is not enough for children in Key West need to recognize such wonderful efforts.



Goombay Meat Festival




Saturday afternoon, it was back at Goombay, this time I took India down, it is also one of her favorite events as she loves seeking out small pieces of meat on a stick that may have dropped to the ground. Of course what would Goombay be without rain? As it did last year, rain hit Goombay with a vengeance Saturday night. Kathy opted to remain home and work on her costume, but I braved the weather to head back again. Seeking shelter in Blue Heaven until the rain subsided then partying in the courtyard, before closing out the night at the Green Parrot with the Spam Allstars.



Todd & Lisa


Among the many locals I encountered at the Parrot was our most recent (and temporary) resident, Kristen-Paige Madonia. Kristen is a writer who was one of the stand-out New Voices at last year’s Key West Literary Seminar and is currently a writer in residence at the Studios of Key West. She is a terrific writer and not too shabby a person to hang out and drink with either. I’ve posted a link to an interview with her below that you should check out.

Ashley & Kristen



We closed out the weekend by joining a wonderful group of friends old and new aboard Danger Charters sunset sail to celebrate the birthday of our friend Michael Shields. It was wonderful to get out on the water on Danger’s beautiful new boat, “Sarah” and to be invited to share with Michael and Carol and their friends in his celebration. Michael is somewhat of a cultural magnet in that he draws in a collection of the most artistic, eclectic and interesting people and it was great fun to be included in such a great mix.

Michael Shields



Carol

And speaking of birthdays, I was somewhat remiss in not recognizing my mother’s birthday. Marta Blades was 29 over the weekend, amazing considering that I appear somewhat older than that. Anyway since I know she may be the only person who reads this blog, I wanted to give her a shout out. Happy Birthday Mother- love Michael.





Kristen interview

The Biscuit Brothers

We've Got The Keys

A Really Great Balloon Company