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November 18, 2011

Veterans Day Parade

Uncle Jimmy's Birthday



Drivin' n' Cryin'

Back to Business

Following a month or more of completely unconventional, unstable and at times unhappy moments, the past week has seen a return to our semi-normal life. Back in Key West and trying to get back in to the swing of things after a tumultuous time has been interesting. It has been another hectic busy week a sort of mini-rollercoaster microcosm of the past month with wonderful times punctuated by tragedy and misfortune, a pattern that I hope will soon end.



Najada, Howard, Kathy & Kris

The good news is that the good times have been really great, a monumental 50th birthday celebration for our friend Jim Smith, an enjoyable day at the annual Veterans Day parade and a feel good concert on Sunset Pier featuring the Georgia based rock band Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ were some of the highlights of a good week. We also enjoyed a day of watching the annual powerboat races on Sunday, races that were held in spite of the tragic deaths of three of the competitors in two separate crashes during the races on Wednesday and Friday. I guess with all joy, sorrow must be present, but it seems like lately the balance has been in the wrong direction.





The annual Veterans Day parade here is a slice of Americana and a great little homage to the Military forces that help protect our nation. Kathy & I and my co-workers Kris and Howard (along with his wife Najada) all went down and staked out a good spot on Duval to take in the parade. With everything else that happens here, it is often easy to overlook that Key West is really a military town with huge Navy, Coast Guard and JIATF contingents here. We were also being visited this week by our namesake Submarine the USS Key West and they were all celebrated along with all military veterans.







The parade is a great assemblage of military units, local civic organizations, children's groups and even the gay & lesbian business guild involved. It is at once parochial and national in scope and attention and was enjoyed again this year by a crowd that lined the street to honor those who have served. With many friends who either are serving or have served in our military forces, I would like to add my small voice of thanks.







There was also a return to the Sunset Pier concert series this week with a fun show by Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, it wasn’t as well attended as it should have been, but was a great time. Among the friends I saw in attendance was local Key West Citizen photographer Rob O’Neal who was shooting the event for the paper. We had a nice long conversation about a spectacular but tragic photo that he had taken of the tragic powerboat accident that claimed two lives on Wednesday. We spoke of the difficulties of shooting a tragedy and also how the photo had taken on a life of its own on facebook, with some people even claiming to have taken it themselves and not crediting Rob.

* Photo by Rob O'Neal

Drivin' n' Cryin'



Sadly with-in a few days of having such a great time with my friend Rob, I learned that he suffered terrible injuries when his scooter was struck by a car that apparently made an illegal turn in to him. He was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami where he is currently recovering from multiple serious fractures. Kathy & I wish him all the best in his recovery and would encourage everyone who can, to attend a fundraising benefit being held to offset his substantial medical expenses on November 30th at 5 PM at the Smokin’ Tuna in Key West.

Jim







Thankfully for every sadness, there seems to be a joyous occasion and on Sunday we joined a group of friends for a birthday celebration of our friend Jim who turned fifty years young. Organized by his wife Fiona, the well attended and much enjoyed birthday brunch at the Westin was a fantastic way to honor our eclectic friend who is affectionately known as “Uncle Jimmy”. To say that I have never met anyone quite like Jim would be a tremendous understatement. I recall the initial shock at first meeting Jim, just not really believing that someone would actually say some of the things that come out of his mouth, but having known him now for many years, that initial shock has turned to a deep admiration and affection for a man with a true heart of gold.



Jim & Fiona

Randy & Jim

DEMA

November 12, 2011





Michael & Jean-Michel Cousteau

Howard

DEMA

I was on a plane from Indianapolis to Orlando early morning the day after Matt’s memorial. I had to meet my RPM Nautical colleague Howard there to attend the DEMA convention. DEMA (Diving Equipment and Marketing Association) is the largest conference in the world dedicated to Scuba Diving and Howard & I were attending to make contacts in the Scuba Diving community that may be of assistance to our work at RPM.





Artist Andreas Franke

I had attended DEMA at various locations, Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas & Anaheim among them, for many years while I worked for Reef Relief, but I had not been since beginning to work at RPM in 2006, this was our first venture and was made possible by the folks at Florida Keys Community College. After taking a taxi from the airport and checking in at the hotel, I met Howard before 11 AM for the first of four intensive days of attending the conference.

Jean-Michel



The conference itself has not changed all that much, it is huge and features every dive equipment manufacturer, dive gear supplier, dive destination and all sorts of related industry folks with over 20,000 attendees. We worked the huge room and made all sorts of contacts even seeing some old cronies from my days at Reef Relief including Jean-Michel Cousteau, who was there representing his conservation organization Ocean Futures. It was a lot of work but fun as well as Howard & I took advantage of being away to enjoy the nightlife that Orlando has to offer.

B B King's

House of Blues

Our first night in town, we attended the traveling Broadway production of “The Addams Family” which was amusing though the venue, The Bob Carr theatre had the most uncomfortable and cramped seats of any venue I have ever been in. We also had dinner and drinks downtown as well as visiting the Universal City Walk to check out a movie when the Chris Cornell concert we had hoped to see got canceled.









On Saturday morning, we took a break to participate in a 5K walk/run at a local mall to benefit the United Negro College Fund. Howard placed 7th and I came home in 8th in our age division, not too bad all things considered. That afternoon we headed over to Disney’s Epcot Center where we attended the annual Food & Wine Festival at Epcot.









It was a beautiful day and the place was incredibly crowded, with most of the people cramming around the food, wine and beer vendors from around the world. We had a fantastic meal at the Moroccan restaurant and took in many of the rides and attractions staying late to catch the fireworks and light show spectacular at the closing of the park. We also managed to catch a surprisingly good and spirited performance by the eighties band Night Ranger who performed for the masses gathered at the park. I was never a fan during their heyday but thought they actually sounded quite good and was really impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of both the band and the crowd.







It was a five day trip that passed by quickly and was seemingly very successful for RPM as well as fun for both Howard and myself. I know it was just what I needed to take my mind off the heavy load that it had been burdened with for the past week or more and it gave me some other things to focus on. Even the drive back to Key West wasn’t all that bad. It was really nice to get home though.







DEMA website