Women Sustaining the Earth

November 19, 2009

Dr. Shirley Freeman & Erika



Women Sustaining the Earth

The Ragbirds

Our friend Erika Biddle is a shining example of what makes Key West such a wonderful community. Thinking of a way to bring money and attention to the Key West Community Gardens, Erika followed the example she saw in the British film “Calendar Girls”. In the film, a group of middle-aged women decide to pose nude to raise funds for a local hospital, and Erika reasoned that many of her friends could be convinced, perhaps after a few glasses of wine to doff their clothing for a cause.

Erika

Rosi & Sheel

The result is the newly released Women Sustaining the Earth which features Erika and fourteen of her (and our) friends who have tastefully posed in the buff. To celebrate the release of the calendar, former Monroe County Commissioner and calendar model, Shirley Freeman hosted a wonderful party at her home.

Capt. Victoria

Coco, Shirley & Carol

Judging by the huge crowd who gathered at the party, the calendar is a big success. The party turned out as spectacularly as the calendar itself. Locals turned out in droves to support the cause and to get a peek at local calendar girls including Erika & Shirley as well as, Roberta DePiero, Kate Miano, Lucy Carlton, Rosi Ware, Alicia Metzler, Angela Byarlay, Charlie Wilson, Coco Ono, Zaira Sepulveda, Carolann Sharkey, Capt. Victoria Impallomeni, Amy Culver and Katharina Arnhold. All the photos were done by local photographers Lynne Bentley-Kemp, Carol Tedesco, Richard Watherwax and Sheel.

Kim, Carol, Margit & Kathy

The money raised will go to the wonderful community garden and I have a feeling that there will be no shortage of women volunteering to participate next year. Congrats to Erika and thanks to all who participated.







Kathy headed off this week to attend an educational conference in Washington DC and being home alone, I decided to spend a night out on the town enjoying some music. I started at the packed Hog’s Breath Saloon where the Massacoustics were beginning their week –long series of gigs. It was a packed house and a lot of fun, but I soon headed over to the Pier at the Ocean Key House to see the latest band in the Sunset Pier concert series, The Ragbirds from Ann Arbor, Michigan.



Rob & Carla





It was an amazingly good performance and I am so glad that I made time to check them out. They play a mix of folk-rock with some jam band thrown in for good measure. They had a decent crowd considering this is their first visit to Key West. They were really well-received as well and the crowd was dancing on the pier. Another cool thing is that they travel to all the gigs in a van powered by vegetable oil. It was a great night with a great band- one that is well worth checking out. I have posted a handy link below.

The Ragbirds

The Ragbirds Website

Miami Book Fair Day 2

November 16, 2009

Ralph Nader



Miami Book Fair Day 2



The long day & night of the first day of the Book Fair didn’t drain me of my enthusiasm for the second day of the fair and I was up bright and early and headed over to the Wolfson campus of Miami Dade College to spend another great day. The weather was even more perfect, if that is possible, one of the most pleasant and enjoyable Fall days that I have spent in some time.

The Lorax

Ralph Nader

The crowds were up early again as right out of the box was a presentation by Ralph Nader. Nader’s presentation was fair, not nearly the excitement that Al Gore delivered on the previous day and I made a decision to spend the rest of the day avoiding the masses at the bigger names and concentrating on some of the smaller venues, taking chances on unknown authors and experiencing a totally different kind of fair.

John Dufesne



I started off with a presentation by John Dufresne and Dan Choan who each read from their latest work. Next I headed over to catch Ann Louise Bardach and Gerald Posner. Posner was presenting on his recent book, “Miami Babylon” which traces the history of Miami Beach, but I also got the chance to chat with him about my favorite work of his, “Case Closed” in which he makes a compelling argument that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy.





The next presentation featured Louise Gilkow speaking about the 40 year history of “Sesame Street” and Anita Silvey on her new book, “Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book”. It was another great session; I especially enjoyed the video presentation on the history of Sesame Street. It is amazing how relevant much of what they did 40 years ago still is, and how well the new stuff holds up in comparison.

Taylor Branch

Robert Olen Butler

I also really found the session that I attended by two writers who have each released new books coving recent events in Afghanistan & Iraq. Doug Stanton, whose earlier book on the USS Indianapolis was great, has a book called, “Horse Soldiers” about the first troops sent into Afghanistan. David Finkel was especially compelling as he read from his book, “The Good Soldiers” which follows a single unit from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky through their first deployment into Iraq as part of the surge strategy.



Michael with Indy Car driver Milka Duno

That was the final author session that I attended, spending the remainder of the day checking out the massive street fair and enjoying some of the delicious food that was available. Exhausted, I headed home late in the afternoon already looking forward to returning next year, the book fair being one of my favorite annual events.

Melvin Van Peebles

Miami Book Fair

November 15, 2009

Al Gore

Iggy Pop

Miami Book Fair

The Spam Allstars

My first full day at the Miami Book Fair was nearly perfect. The weather was incredible, sunny and breezy, but no heat or humidity and the plethora of choices of the over 300 writers in attendance was staggering. Where else could you begin the day with Al Gore and end it with Iggy Pop?



Gwen Ifill

A full day is an understatement as I was there bright and early to see the opening presentation by former Vice-President Al Gore, who delivered a riveting, funny and sobering presentation on the topic he has now devoted his life to, global climate change. Maybe it is the passion with which he tackles the subject, but if he had been as engaging during his run for the Presidency as he was here, he would have won the election. It was a fascinating and fantastic presentation to a packed and enthusiastic crowd.

Al Gore

Gwen Ifill

That was only the beginning of what was a stellar line-up of author presentations that I attended. During the day I managed to squeeze in a wide range including Joyce Carol Oates, NPR’s voice of books Alan Cheuse, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler, Political insiders Taylor Branch and Gwen Ifill and more.

Alan Cheuse

Joyce Carol Oates


Among my favorites of many were Wally Lamb, who read from his latest novella “Wishin’ and Hopin’ “, “Daily Show” contributors John Hodgman & Larry Wilmore, who delivered a hysterical presentation despite having never appeared together, and author of the bloody “Dexter” series on which the popular TV show is based, Jeff Lindsay.

Wally Lamb

Jeff Lindsay

I also got the chance to meet former Senator Bob Graham, which was pretty cool. But the real highlight for me was the awesome presentation by the incredible Iggy Pop. Why would Iggy be at the book fair you may ask? Well he collaborated with photographer Robert Matheu on a new illustrated history of the Stooges, the influential band that helped usher in the punk rock scene. It was a great presentation and exceedingly insightful. Iggy Pop has had one of those Rock n Roll careers that would be a cliché if it were not all true and much of it was documented in some incredible photos.

Bob Graham

Iggy with his dog Lucky

If the day wasn’t full enough, I had a long night as well. First heading over to attend the author’s party at a swanky Biscayne Avenue high-rise, I had scored the coveted author party invite for becoming a “Friend” of the fair. The party was quite swanky and there was free food and drinks, but I have to say that it was a pretty dull affair. Since most of the people there had no idea who the others were it was all sort of forced. I didn’t stay long, opting to head over to South Beach.

Jazid



There I had the pleasure of catching one of my favorite bands, The Spam All-Stars, playing on their home turf at the groovy little South Beach hangout, Jazid. The small club has a hip little lounge upstairs and the bands play in the tight downstairs area that soon became jammed with a dancing, partying mass of people who obviously love the band as much as I do. It made for a long, but wonderful day and night.

Fighting HIV with Sandy B

November 15, 2009

Sandy



Fighting HIV with Sandy B



While I was away in Miami attending the book fair, Kathy remained at home to help our friend Sandy Balbuena with her big fundraising effort to help those living with HIV/AIDS. Sandy is participating in the Smart Ride to raise money and awareness and to help her towards her personal goal of raising $3000, she organized a cool event, or more accurately a series of cool events, which were held at the Indigenous Park in Key West on Saturday afternoon.

Kathy



Sandy, at age 65, will be participating in the Smart Ride and will be riding her bicycle 165 miles from Miami to Key West early next year. To promote her effort and to raise funds, she organized a 2-man Bocce tournament and a Conch Chowder and Fall Dessert competition which Kathy helped her organize along with many of Sandy’s friends.

Howard



Shelley

Despite a few small snafus like there not being electricity for the bands to be able to play, the first time event went off well and people who attended tell me it was a great time. The food competition was especially fierce and there was tons of great food. The Fall desserts were I hear, especially tasty. They all had to feature pumpkin as the main ingredient and there was a variety of tasty pumpkin treats entered.





The Bocce tournament lasted late into the evening and many two person teams competed, all in all it was a great effort to help Sandy out. The smart ride has raised in total over 1,7 million dollars over the past 5 years and is growing each year as hundreds of people participate in the January ride. You can learn more by clicking the link that I have provided below.





All sorts of businesses donated items for a silent auction and a raffle which all contributed to the money raised, 100 % of which will be used directly for services for people locally living with HIV/AIDs, including AIDS Help.





Kathy had a great time helping out with the event and we both wish Sandy the best of luck with her efforts to raise money and to complete the smart ride.

The Smart Ride website