Highwire Days

May 30, 2015

Psychedelic Furs 

Becky, Beth and Kathy

 

Highwire Days

After the month of May, spent in large measure concerned with Indy 500 events, it was a breath of fresh air to return to Key West and get on with my normal life- whatever that is. It was really nice to get back home to my lovely wife and cats, job and friends in Key West and to get back on the fast-paced wheel that is my life.

Before departing Indianapolis though, I had an extra day, Memorial Day itself to hang out, see some more old friends and decompress a little after a thrill-packed race day and also collect the winnings from the annual Indy 500 race Calcutta- where I cleaned up by scoring both the winner and last place finisher with Juan Montoya and Conor Daly both of whom I collected in a single bid of $250. In clearing $2500.00 in prize money, I multiplied my investment by 10 times. I also scored some additional winnings when the collective that I was part of another Calcutta scored 5^th place with Graham Rahal.

Dan

Nothing like paying for your trip with the winnings from the Calcutta. Anyway on Monday I spent the day visiting my friend Larisa and her baby, who were visiting her parents my friends Dan and Zintra. It had been a few years since I had seen her and it was my first meeting of her adorable baby. It was a great little visit where we got to catch up and hang out.

Larisa

Next I was off to another annual Memorial Day tradition, one that has been going on over 20 years, but that I have never attended as I generally take a flight home the day after the race, The Luedeman Olympics. The afternoon long party features a series of fun and games along with drinks and food and a complete tradition of its own complete with a hilariously altered actual Olympics opening that is played as part of the traditional opening ceremonies. It is a fun and funny event and I was thrilled to finally be around to experience it.

Kathy, Chuck and Adriana

Upon arriving back in Key West and reconnecting with my wife Kathy and cats, it was right back in to the swing of things when we attended a surprise birthday party for our friend Eileen at Uva Wine bar. Not exactly sure how surprised she was, but it was an evening of good friends, food and fun…and tasty wine.

Eileen

Sue & Chuck 

Jim and Kathy

By the time the weekend rolled around, I was on the road again, headed this time to catch yet another of my favorite bands, The Psychedelic Furs at a show at the Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale. I headed up a little early because I wanted to stop at the nearby Funky Buddha Brewery in Oakland Park. I was happily surprised to find that they just happened to be hosting their second birthday bash at Funky Buddha just as I arrived.

 

They had specialty brews from tons of Florida’s best breweries as well as many special releases of their own to honor the birthday and the party included live music, an assortment of food trucks and thousands of happy people partying the day and night away under huge tents they had brought in for the party. I stayed and had a nice selection of yummy beers before heading over to the Culture Room to catch the show.

 

The Culture Room is a small, intimate space that is a great venue to watch live music, I had been there a number of times in the past and it was the perfect spot to watch the Furs again. I have seen the band numerous times since the early eighties including a few times in the past four or five years and they never fail to disappoint. Ripping through their new-wave hits of the 80s the band looks and sounds as good as they ever have.

 

It was like a nostalgic trip back in time as big hair, new wave clothes and a crowd composed of older, slightly paunchier denizens of the new wave clubs of the eighties were the order of the evening. As retro as it felt, the music itself was still fresh and fantastic as the band hit all the right notes as they covered all of their biggest hits.

“Until She Comes”