No Direction Home

Gods Art or Satans Graffiti?

2012-01-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

January 22, 2012

Gods Art or Satans Graffiti?

I came across this photo somewhere on the internet and found it humorous on many levels and I thought that it somehow ties in with the two wonderful art openings that I attended this week during the monthly Walk on White Street gallery stroll. The question was obviously meant as a witty insight into the type of spirituality pitting good members of the Victory church’s flock against those who may stray from the good path as well as non-members who might be heading for the darker path of Satan’s Graffiti.

Michael & Marta's piece

Among the many problems that I have with the sign is the assumption that there is a difference between art and graffiti (whether created by a deity, a respected artist or some kid with a can of spray paint). The two shows opening simultaneously at the Studios of Key West and Art Space lead me to think that the differences assumed by the members of the church (or at least of their sign maker) don’t really exist and that art is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Elena

The first show was the annual member exhibition at the Studios of Key West. I was particularly interested in this show because my mother, Marta Blades, became a member of the Studios when she last visited in November and had a piece featured in the show. The show was themed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the building Flagler’s railroad, which ran from Miami to Key West until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935.

Marta created a cool piece to commemorate the railroad and it was displayed in the main gallery along with works from a wide variety of TSKW members of various levels of experience. It is a cool show all around and there is plenty of diversity and quality to interest most art lovers. The show is up throughout January, so you may still have a chance to check it out if you are in Key West.

Marky & Michael

Erin & Liz

If the more traditional art at the Studios leaned toward the holy, then the show at Art Space that featured Graffiti, Tattoos and Pop Art was the devil’s playground. The show highlighted a totally different yet certainly related style of art. It was awesome and one of the central featured artists was the mysterious creator of the Key West Blob- a street art creature that has been popping up through-out the lower Keys in recent months.

Art Space had a number of the creations for sale and even auctioned off some as well. The pieces were in high demand and many among the throng that attended were there specifically to see the blobs. It was especially cool to see so many young children at an art opening- something about the blob really appeals to them. Guess I am a kid at heart cause I love them as well.

Cayman

I actually enjoyed almost all of the work featured at the Art Space show, there was a youthful excitement in the work and a hipness that did not seem manufactured in the slightest. It was a fun show, with great artists and hipster patrons who have made their openings become the happening place to be. Their next show seems likely to appeal to the naughty minions of satan as well as it will feature Erotic art, opening just in time for Valentine’s Day on February 9th. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next, though I imagine that there won’t be a flock of children at that show.

Jolly & Sherry

“Eroticize intelligence.”

2012-01-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2012

Joyce Carol Oates

Gary Shteyngart

Rafael & Bob Graham

“Eroticize intelligence.”
- Douglas Coupland, “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”

The 2012 Key West Literary Seminar is quickly fading into the past and I have been very remiss about posting in this blog in the aftermath. Each year, the seminar is the culmination of months of hectic activity for Kathy & I and by the time it is completed, we usually just want to crawl into our house and hibernate for a few weeks.

Nick & John

Jim, Janna & Colson

Janna Levin

Miles

That is what we have been doing for the most part for the early part of 2012. The seminar was really the focal point of early January. The concluding sessions were held on Sunday and included readings and panel discussions from Billy Collins, Gary Shteyngart, China Mieville, Margaret Atwood, Colson Whitehead and Jonathan Lethem in the morning session which is the official conclusion of the seminar. The final book-signing also included well-known Key West based writer Annie Dillard.

Gary & Annie

Gary

The afternoon session is not included for the paid attendees, but a free and open to the public session. Locals begin lining up for the session on Duval Street about an hour and a half before the afternoon session starts and hundreds were waiting this year as we filled the seats for the readings. The afternoon featured authors James Tate, Billy Collins, George Saunders, Margaret Atwood, Michael Cunningham, Dexter Palmer and Gary Shteyngart.

China & Gary

It was a wonderful final day and once the final attendee had left the auditorium, the staff had a brief annual champagne celebration on the stage to mark the conclusion of yet another seminar. The seminar was a huge success and everyone seemed pleased and certainly enjoyed the entire weekend. Personally, I cannot thank the wonderful volunteers and staff enough for making my part of the seminar such a smooth experience. Special kudos to Jim Gleick for an amazing program and for being the heart and soul of this year’s seminar and to Miles, Arlo, Ian, Jolly, Melody & Dan, Doug, Mike, Shayne, Alan, Kate and all the amazing volunteers who worked the seminar this year.

Lynn & David Kaufelt hosted the official Sunday evening after party at their lovely home and then there was a final party for the workshop participants at the Love Lane compound on Monday evening and it was all over. My friend (and former seminar volunteer coordinator) Bob Muens and his wife Jody arrived from Washington DC in time to attend the final seminar party.

Jody, Eric, Betsy, Bob & Rosie

Their arrival actually drew me out later in the week as a party was held in their honor by our mutual friends Mark & Nancy and though I was fairly exhausted, I made it out briefly to say hello and hang out with friends. They were in town for only about a week and I wanted to make sure to spend some time with them.

The only other event that I attended this week was the seventh annual Key West Seafood Festival at Bayview Park. This event just continues to grow and grow and this year they estimated that 10,000 people attended. The crowds that were there when I stopped by in the early afternoon gave me no reason to doubt those numbers. I ate a pile of delicious seafood and brought home some carry-out for Kathy, who opted to stay home and continue our low profile month.

“All the sweet green icing flowing down…”

2012-01-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

January 9, 2012

Colson Whitehead

Bob Graham with Miles & Alan

Late night bull riding.

“All the sweet green icing flowing down…”

There was a moment during the Key West Literary Seminar during Colson Whitehead’s stunningly funny presentation where he held up a small recording device to offer an audio assist to illustrate a point he was making about the difficulty of becoming a writer and played a few minutes of the Donna Summer version of the song “MacArthur Park”. His comparison of rejected manuscripts to the lyrics, “Someone left my cake out in the rain, I don’t think that I can take it because it took so long to bake it and I’ll never have that recipe again,” was spot on and as hilarious as any stand-up routine.

It was among the many highlights of the second full day of the seminar and proved once again that the terrifying dystopian future that many of the writers foresee can also be uproariously amusing. Day two of the seminar featured many wonderful moments including readings, panel discussions and even a last minute surprise appearance by former two-term Florida Governor and two-term US Senator, Bob Graham, who spoke briefly on Saturday morning about the San Carlos Institute and then stuck around through the entire morning session.

Bob Graham

Mitch Kaplan, Bob Graham & Rafael Penalaver

He saw a great session that featured not only the aforementioned presentation by Colson Whitehead, but stunning readings from Joyce Carol Oates & Janna Levin and a panel discussions featuring Jennifer Egan, Michael Cunningham, Charles Yu and Jim Gleick and a poetry reading by James Tate were also featured in the morning.

After a wonderful lunch at the fabulous new restaurant 2 cents, located just around the corner on Appelrouth Lane, it was back for the afternoon session. I have to comment on just how cool it was to be eating lunch and look around and seeing so many of the panelist and attendees partaking of the great food.

Doug & Mike

Mark, Nick, Ian & Jason

The afternoon was just as enthralling with readings by Rivka Galchen & Billy Collins and panels featuring Galchen & George Saunders and one with William Gibson, China Mieville and Dexter Palmer on “Steampunk” that provoked the most discussion from attendees, mostly due to the moderator, Robert Krulwich of NPR. I did not see the panel, but those who did seemed to have strong feelings that Krulwich did not seem to understand the topic and was something of a bully. There were a few who thought it was fine, but many were upset and even angry which makes me wish that I had seen it for myself. Whatever the case, I have no doubt that Gibson and Mieville, and probably Palmer as well can fend for themselves and were a match and then some for the moderator.

Kathy & Billy Collins

Saturday evening was the return of the traditional dinner at the Key West Lighthouse which was held under beautiful skies and pleasant temperatures and an almost full moon. The packed gathering featured good food and more drinks and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The evening continued for many of the panelist, staff and select invited guests at the annual private soiree hosted by the iconic Key West resident David Wolkowsky in his incredibly eclectic penthouse apartment on the roof of the Fast Buck Freddies building.

Colson, Janna, Billy & Jennifer

The party is a tough ticket and is difficult to find and get to, the only way up via a small well-hidden elevator that only can take five people up or down at a time. Somehow, a big crowd manages to make it up to the beautiful and fascinating setting. The party this year was to honor Program Chair Jim Gleick and a small black and white photocopy of an image of Jim’s face was the only clue that partygoers had reached the entrance. Once inside though the party featured a wonderful and select group of seminar participants and special guests including many of the writers who call Key West home yet are not a part of this year’s seminar such as William Wright, Alison Lurie and Ann Beattie.

William Wright & Linda Mewshaw

Late in the evening a group of us, including Doug & Mike and panelists Charles Yu & Dexter Palmer headed out into the Key West night to take in the nightlife. Somehow, we ended up at Cowboy Bill's, where some mechanical bull riding took place before closing out the night as we often do, at the Green Parrot.

Mark

Yet Another World- Literature of the Future

2012-01-11T07:47:00.000-08:00

January 8, 2012

Billy Collins

Yet Another World- Literature of the Future

If you ever wanted to know what happens when you put twenty or more of the sharpest minds on the planet together in a room to have at it about just might happen in our future or perhaps some other future, we found out this weekend during the 30th annual Key West Literary Seminar, “Yet Another World- Literature of the Future”. This amazing seminar focused on a talented array of writers whose work includes speculative fiction or literature of alternate futures.

Jennifer Egan

Joyce Carol Oates & Margaret Atwood

Impossibly difficult to explain, but awe inspiring when presented by the incredibly diverse and talented panelist made up of a mix of iconic figures of literature as well as promising newcomers who each offered either singularly through their readings or collectively as members of the many panel discussions, their take on just what might await us.

Charles Yu & Dexter Palmer

Michael Cunningham

It wasn’t always a pretty picture, in fact the future as presented by a majority of the writers present is a mostly bleak place, thankfully the appropriate human response to these dystopian futures is a fairly healthy sense of humor and so while the subject matter might have been dark, the laughs kept coming. This made for a seminar that was at once deep and thoughtful while at the same time often uproariously funny and entertaining.

Charles Yu

The seminar got underway in earnest on Friday after a brief introduction by program chair James Gleick, whose vision and leadership brought this incredible group of writers together. A beautiful opening reading by poet Billy Collins was followed by the regular program featuring readings and panels featuring Jonathan Lethem, Margaret Atwood, China Mieville, Joyce Carol Oates, Dexter Palmer, Charles Yu, Jennifer Egan, James Tate, George Saunders, Douglas Coupland, Michael Cunningham, Janna Levin & Rivka Galchen. Not a bad line-up for the first full day.

Joyce Carol Oates

Mary, Fran & Jane

To try and encapsulate such a wealth of information and to distill the contents of the seminar is a task that others have done much more successfully than I. To get a better insight into the content and meaning of the seminar, I would suggest checking out the beautiful “official” KWLS website “Littoral” created by the talented Arlo Haskell or the wonderful blog posting by my fellow board member Nancy Klingener, “The Bone Island Book Blog”. I have provided links to both below and strongly suggest that you check them both out.

Shayne & Ian

George Saunders & his daughter

Kathy & Margit

Douglas Coupland & Michael Cunningham

Friday evening there was a couple of wonderful receptions, because in addition to the mental stimulation, the seminar provides a ton of food and libations to keep everyone happy. One reception was at the Lucky Street Gallery and the other was on-site at the San Carlos just prior to a wonderful evening of entertainment with Margaret Atwood. The food and drink flowed freely and it was another excellent evening.

Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem, Charles Yu, Janna Levin & Rivka Galchen

Michael Cunningham

Following the conclusion of the official seminar activities a group of us made our way to the Porch to unwind and celebrate the conclusion of day one. Kathy & I hosted two volunteers who traveled to work at the seminar as full-time volunteers. Our friend Doug has been traveling from his home in Minnesota for years at his own expense to work at the seminar. Doug is just getting ready to release his first travel writing book, “Europe on Five Wrong Turns A Day”. I have a link to the Amazon page for his book below as well.

Doug, Jason & Margit

This year, Doug invited a friend that he first met here at the KWLS (on travel and adventure writing), Mike Cook, who also joined us for the weekend from his home in Utah, and helped out immensely. It was a great pleasure to have them both here and to be able to hang out as well.

Mike & Doug

Mike & Doug

Littoral

The Bone Island Book Blog

Doug Mack's book

Surreality

2012-01-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

January 7, 2012

Runi & Terry George

Judy Blume & Dexter Palmer

Surreality

There are times in life when I just have to pause and ask myself how did I get here? Often people comment on the exciting life that Kathy & I lead here in Key West. Mostly that opinion comes from people who read this blog and think that all we do is travel, party and attend interesting events. My ready and true reply is that they only see the highlights and if I posted about the mundane portions of our lives, while the blog would be more accurate, we would lose the few readers that we have (with the possible exception of the exceedingly dedicated fan we have in Mountain View, California).

This past week however, I can say actually qualifies as pretty damn exciting and interesting as we found ourselves thrust in to the presence of some of the most interesting, creative and intelligent people in the world on any number of occasions as the 30th annual Key West Literary Seminar, “Yet Another World, Literature of the Future” got underway here in Key West.

The fun actually began on Tuesday evening, when I received a phone call from my friend Runi, who needed a last minute photographer to take photos of a small private party she was hosting at the Rooftop Café for famed screenwriter and director Terry George. George was in town as part of the Tropic Cinema’s visiting director series to showcase a short film that is up for Oscar consideration and to screen his acclaimed film “Hotel Rwanda” at the theatre.

The Rooftop

Michael & Terry

The party was for George, Tropic board members and some invited guests and was a wonderful chance to meet and mingle with a fascinating and talented director. The party was so small and intimate, that I had a chance to spend some time chatting with George and many of the other guests, an unexpected and wonderful pleasure. I have seen a number of the films that he has written or directed including, “In the Name of the Father”, “The Boxer” and most recently “Reservation Road” which was released in 2007 and starred Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo.

Matt & Runi

the Tropic Crew with Terry

You would think that that would be enough hobnobbing with creativity for the average week, but with the Seminar getting underway; it was only the beginning of what has truly been an amazing week. The next day, in my capacity as a board member, I found myself at the airport picking up two of the esteemed writers in town for the Seminar, Gary Shteyngart and Colson Whitehead. I was especially excited about Whitehead since he had been invited at my suggestion.

I picked them up with no problem and delivered them to their hotel, then picked them up a short time later so that we could join the other panelists, board members and special guests at a wonderful dinner at the beautiful home of Judy Blume and her husband George Cooper. Suddenly, Kathy & I found ourselves surrounded by some of the most renowned writers in America including Margaret Atwood, Douglas Coupland, William Gibson, Billy Collins, James Tate, Jonathan Lethem, Jennifer Egan, China Mieville, George Saunders and Michael Cunningham.

Esther, Gary & Judy

William Gibson, Colson Whitehead, Douglas Coupland & David Wier

It was an amazing evening capped off by sharing a table for dinner with Shteyngart and his lovely friend Esther, Linda Mewshaw and the incomparable writer and National Book Award winning writer Robert Stone and his lovely wife Janice. To have the remarkable opportunity to sit and listen to one of America’s greatest storytellers hold court and share incredible experiences was one of the most remarkable experiences that I have ever had, what an amazing evening.

Rafael kicks off Seminar

Douglas Coupland & William Gibson

The next night, the Seminar itself got underway with a keynote address, which was more of a conversation between Douglas Coupland and William Gibson. Coupland is the author of one of my favorite books of all time, “Life After God” and it was pretty cool to watch two incredible intelligent men get things started. The keynote was so brainy, that it took me some time to get in to the discussion, but I came away feeling like we were off to a fairly good start.

Jason Rowan

Marky, Dave, Nick, Jolly, Cayman & Shayne

As always there was another splendid party after the opening at the Audubon House which offered another opportunity to mingle with the panelists and attendees of the Seminar. The food was spectacular and once again we had Jason Rowan of Embury Cocktails back to make his incredible specialty cocktails for the events. Afterwards, we headed down to the Green Parrot where we caught a set from the jam band Donna the Buffalo which was rocking the parrot, it was the perfect night cap.

Donna the Buffalo

Wiener Walk 2012

2012-01-05T06:48:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2012

Wiener Walk 2012

On New Year’s Eve Day for the past six years, downtown Key West has been turned in to a Wiener Wonderland when the annual Dachshund Walk has been held. Founded and organized by my friends Ruth Reiter & her husband Dan, the event has grown from a quirky little gathering of dachshund owners into a huge frenzied event that attracts hundreds of participants and countless more people who line the streets to watch the festivities.

Taking Pix * Photo by Michael Ruetz

The event has become a staple of the New Years’ celebration in Key West and has become a nationwide media event as well, covered by CNN, the local Miami TV stations, the AP and more. This year even the Huffington Post got in to the coverage and I am proud to say used my photographs to illustrate their story. You can check it out on the link below.

I have been asked to photograph the event each year since its inception and have watched the impressive growth and tremendous popularity explosion first hand. I must say that it has been a real joy to witness. It is a rare thing that an event is held that is just for the sheer joy of it, no fundraiser, no cause to bring attention to and not trying to sell anything to anyone. It is not that charity events are not great, it’s just increasingly rare to find a Key West event that does not have a sponsor or a cause and it is somewhat refreshing.

This event is all about fun and there is something about the proud owners of dachshunds that is different than most dog owners. They seem to reveal in their pets with a special joy that is evident in the way they get so excited about events like this, which are held throughout the nation. They have websites, hold meetings and obviously travel great distances to participate in events that celebrate their wiener dogs, if the woman I met who drove all the way from Maine just to participate is any indication.

Steve

Robyn

Special wiener dog t-shirts and memorabilia were in full display as were the many varied and fun costumes that many people dressed their dachshunds up in. My friend Esme had the most inventive costume that I saw and it had a local feel as well as her dog was dressed as a local iguana. My friends Clare & Bert also went with local interest costumes for their pair of dachshunds, dressing them up as white flies, a common local pest.

Esme

Master of Disguise

Decked out to the max or simply going au natural the dachshunds of all shapes and sizes paraded along the new route which was basically up and down Fleming Street which was blocked off by the police this year. This seemed to be a much better situation as it avoided what had become a mess of congestion along Duval Street in recent years and enabled more space for those watching to get good spots and actually interact with the hounds.

Ruth hands over the leash.

Huffington Post article

Happy 2012!

2012-01-03T13:03:00.001-08:00

January 2, 2012

Mark

Graf

Happy 2012!

The last week of 2011 found us trying hard to relax and slow down a little after a crazy, fun and hectic holiday season, the pace of life does not really slow down too much here though as the busiest week of the year for tourists arrives and the island packs up with pale tourists in search of fun and excitement.

Michael & Kathy

Melissa & Rhett

Greg & Beth

We started the week on Christmas day, relaxing in the morning in the afterglow of our wonderful Christmas Eve party, opening presents and spending the day at home. In the evening we joined a gathering of friends at the home of our friends Graf & Eileen for an incredible Christmas dinner.

Graf

Eileen

It was a fantastic meal topped off by an incredible selection of cheeses and desserts which was a perfect way to enjoy Christmas dinner. The weather was just about perfect for the outdoor feast and everyone enjoyed yet another opportunity to eat and drink themselves silly.

Jim & Fiona

You would think that with the town packed with tourists that we might take it easy and avoid the masses and stay home during the most crowded week of the year. We did to some extent, but when a few of those tourists included our friends Ellen & KJ and their family who were here visiting from their home in the Netherlands, we choose to venture out to hang out with them a couple of times. First we joined them early in the week for lunch at Hurricane Hole (which has a wonderful pirate ship playground for the kids) and later in the week at Finnegan’s Wake for a few beers and food. We had a great time hanging with them and were thrilled for them that the weather this week has been so spectacular.

Eva & Kathy

We were also drawn out for the opening night of the latest addition to the Key West culinary scene with the opening of a fantastic new restaurant called “2 ¢” or Two Cents. The soft opening was held this week for this new place which is located on Appelrouth Lane at the former Ilona’s restaurant. The creation of the talented Chris Schultz and the splendid Chef Chris Otten, the restaurant was packed on their opening night and yet the food, service, ambiance and overall experience were all first rate.

Chris Schultz

Chris Otten

As much as we loved Ilona’s and were sad to see them go, this replacement is in all actuality a step up and another excellent addition to the Key West experience. We had an amazing time at the opening and plan to make this a regular dining experience.

Marky & Jennifer

Rudi & Anja

As New Year’s Eve approached, Kathy & I contemplated simply avoiding the masses altogether and staying home, but instead we made the correct decision to head over to our friends’ Nancy & Mark’s home for their annual New Year’s Eve party. It was a great party, packed with good friends and happy revelers ringing in the New Year. It was a little too much champagne and plans to call it a night just after midnight somehow turned in to a late, late night/ early morning as we were among the last to depart the party. We had a great start to the New Year and hope that you all enjoy a fantastic 2012.

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 –II

2011-12-30T14:11:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2011

Nick, Petra & Adriana

Cookie & Kelsey

the Kennas

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 –II

The party invitation always states that the party is scheduled from 5 PM – 10PM, but it always, always runs well after 10, and we don’t mind. This year was actually the exception in that the last guests departed at about 12:30 AM on Christmas morning- which is somewhat earlier than in past years.

Michael

Petra, Adriana, Scott & Wendy

Kris & TJ

The party evolves as the night progresses with children and families eventually giving way to a totally different group of revelers who stay long into the evening enjoying the food, drinks and company. As always we had a number of guests who brought their out of town visiting family members and friends, which is something else we always encourage. It is always nice to meet new people and they are all welcome at our parties.

We also had a very International representation this year as we had guests from a number of nationalities including friends from Albania, the Netherlands, England, Cuba, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Senegal, Ireland, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Haiti and Trinidad. There were possibly more countries represented, but it was kind of cool to have such a diverse mix and typifies one of the great things about Key West. It was a fantastic representation of our community, heck even Key West Mayor Cates and his wife were on hand.

Florrie & Sy

Kathy & I were inundated with gifts from our guests, which were unnecessary but appreciated. We ended up with over three cases of gifted wine and have enough beer on hand to host a couple of more parties. The food was mostly gone though and that is a good thing, because it means that people enjoyed it and that we just about have it down on how much to prepare.

We are truly touched that so many people choose to stop by and include our party as part of their holiday. We wish to take a moment to thank everyone who came over for helping make our Christmas Eve so special. We realize that many friends could not make it due to other commitments and their own holiday traditions, but we want them all to know that they were missed and we wish them all a happy holidays and a very happy New Year!

Andrea

We also want to thank Andrea our bartender, Chris who handled the food, our photographer Nick and our wonderful neighbors Angela, Daisy & Cookie who helped us out in many ways. Also thanks to Pastor Larry and Peace Covenant Presbyterian Church for loaning us folding tables.

Michel & Malika

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 -I

2011-12-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2011

Carol

Richard & Bethany

Kathy & Michael’s Christmas Eve Open House 2011 -I

“We are indebted and grateful to be invited to be a part of your Christmas crowd. Great food and drink -- and our favorite part, what an eclectic group of friends you have! The wide variety among your friends says so much about the two of you. It was a treat to meet new (to us) and interesting people, and folks from across the spectrum of Key West.”

Kathy & I received the note quoted above from friends who attended our sixth annual Christmas Eve open house. Though it was just one of many great thank you notes, e-mails and calls that we got, I wanted to share it because it captures so eloquently the reason why we continue to host our annual party. The wonderful mix of people who attend our party are what make it so wonderful and they simply represent the incredible community in which we live.

This year we once again hosted well over 200 people at our home over the course of the evening, people from just about every facet of our community and many incredible and unique people that make us feel so fortunate to live in Key West. My friend Trevor told me during the party that he likes our party because it is just like Goombay- which to me is about as high a compliment as we could receive. Goombay is known for bringing out people from across the diverse spectrum that is Key West and that is what we wanted for our party, something that represents the diversity and uniqueness of our island.

Susan, Carol & Sheldon

Jaynie, Brax & Jeff

Dale & Fran

It was an incredible evening for us. It took massive amounts of preparation and Kathy and I worked hard to make sure everything was ready. This year we once again hired help to tend bar and prep food and we even invited the incredible local photographer Nick Doll to take photos (though all included in this post are my photos). We almost didn’t have the party this year. After five years, we weren’t sure if we wanted to keep it going, plus I really wanted to head up and see my friends in Indianapolis and be with them during the holidays.

The Whitesides

Ultimately, we heard from so many people who expressed dismay that we might not have the party; that we decided to continue the tradition and host the party. We had a number of friends with young children who informed us that this was part of their holiday traditions and we have a number of six year olds who have attended each year of their lives.

Heidi & Donnie

Lisa, Todd & Kris

It was an amazing and fun evening, we had so many people, it was difficult to find time to even say hello to them all, most of the evening Kathy was on the far side of the yard while I was on the back porch trying to make sure that we got around to welcome everyone. The early portion was dominated by families and children, Kathy had erected a play area in the back yard under a large Kelty sunshade that was a hit with the kids (and some adults).

The Ford family

Cheryl & Craig

The Tafili/ Phoenix family

Celebrating the Season

2011-12-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

December 22, 2011

Carla & Chuck

Celebrating the Season

The Holidays may dominate the celebration season this time of year, but there are still other reasons to get together and exalt the important moments of life and we had the opportunity to join friends this week and celebrate two momentous occasions in addition to the holiday parties which continued this week, leading up to Christmas.

Jim & Joanna

First up was another annual stop on our cavalcade of holiday parties at the home of our friends Jim & Joanna, who each year host a wonderful party with all the usual trappings of good food, friends and drinks. The party was another fun time and was packed with a multi-generational mix ranging from young children to grandparents. This is one of the things that make holiday parties so appealing, there are all variety of people there and Jim and Joanna’s is one of the best.

Kathy & Shawna

There are actually dual parties happening at the same time as their parents’ host a party for their friends at their upstairs apartment at the same time as the party goes on in the main house and the dual parties mean that there is something for everyone. We enjoy them both and want to thank them all for including us once again this year.

Marilyn, Trevor, Nadene, Melissa & Jim

Gary & Rob

We next headed over to the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon where we joined in a private celebration of our friend Chuck’s 60th birthday. Chuck and his wife Sue hosted a great gathering with yet another fantastic spread of food and an open bar. Chuck’s brother was here from Arkansas on his first visit to Key West and his niece was here from Ocala and there was a great gathering of friends were on hand to wish Chuck well.

Chuck’s party was great, he even had three delicious cakes and Kathy & I had a fantastic evening and wish Chuck a very happy birthday! The Tuna is a great place for a private party, they had a perfect and large private room that provided the perfect mix of privacy and access to the rest of the bar.

Arlo & Ashley

We were on hand for another celebration this week as we joined a gathering to toast the engagement of our friends Arlo & Ashley, who have decided to finally get married. They are one of the nicest couples that you could ever meet and about as perfect a match as you could make. Kathy & I are both thrilled that they have decided to get married. In all honesty there are few people that we know who we both admire and respect as much as this couple and we feel privileged to be included in the gathering of family and close friends to celebrate the announcement.

Clayton & Larry

The next party attended was the fabulous annual holiday party at the incredible home of Tom Oosterhoudt and his mother Mary Ann Worth, Casa Antigua. The huge, popular and wonderful annual party is attended each year by a who’s who of Key West including almost every city official and even our Congresswoman Ileana Ros- Lehtinen. It is an incredible gathering with tremendous food and drinks in one of the most exquisite settings in Key West, all decorated with amazing holiday decorations.

Jean & Randy

Tom & Mary Ann

Guess it’s Christmas Coming Down….

2011-12-26T18:18:00.001-08:00

December 20, 2011

Guess it’s Christmas Coming Down….

Our post holiday bike tour included a couple of more holiday parties held on the same evening as the bike tour. As is often the case there were multiple engagements happening simultaneously and we did our best to cover them all. We checked out of the bike tour just a bit early to head over to the holiday party thrown by our neighbors who live across Fogarty Street from us, Dan & Ann. It was another in a month-long series of parties and holiday events.

Ann & Dan

Suzy Jo & Andy

Dan & Ann always throw a great holiday party, this year they once again included a pig roast as part of the festivities. This was just a part of the huge spread of food and drinks that were featured at the party. There are always a ton of interesting people at their party and we always meet cool and interesting people there and this year was no exception. The only downside is that we couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked because we had yet another holiday party.

Mark

The final party of the evening was the annual holiday party at our favorite bar, The Porch. The Porch’s second Christmas party was another excellent and fun gathering. They went all out in creating a fun Christmas atmosphere. They had our friend Santa (Chad) on hand and this year even had a snow making machine that made for a cool snowy winter wonderland.

They had special holiday beers on tap and a plethora of the fun, eclectic and happy clientele. The Porch is fun because they not only have great beer and wine, they also have one of the coolest staffs on the island. We love hanging out at the Porch especially the wonderful and creative parties that they host like the holiday party.

Their holiday party was for the benefit of their patrons but their staff holiday party was held the next night and rather than going to the porch for the party, the Porch employee party came to us; or at least across the street to Dan & Ann’s place where they enjoyed the leftover booze and food from the previous night’s party. The Porch staff arrived via a rented trolley and we headed over to say hi to our friends. It was only one stop in what was certainly a fun if not debauchery filled evening, but we hung out while they stopped across the street.

Liz, Chad, Joanie & Michael

We were invited to hop on and join the fun, but after weeks of partying almost every night and knowing that work beckoned us the next morning, we opted out. I know it was a long, fun and crazy night and I get slight pang of regret for not joining in, but I lived to party (and work) another day.

Michael & Liz

Holiday Bike Tour 2011

2011-12-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

December 19, 2011

Mark

Holiday Bike Tour 2011

In Key West, people go crazy for holiday lights. There are certain areas of town where entire blocks of neighbors try to outdo each other and it makes for all sorts of holiday lights viewing tours. This is the first time in years that we did not take a trolley train ride to view the lights, though being one of the houses that is on the tour route, we see countless passes of the trains in front of our house each evening. Often we hear our friends screaming from the trains and trolleys as they pass, we almost always hear cheers and applause which is nice.

Breanne & Rosie

Wendy & Scott

This year the traffic has really increased, in addition to the many packed trains, there have been a number of trolleys from both of the trolley tour companies in town. In addition, the number of holiday bike tours has exploded and it seems that on most nights there are one or more organized bike tours coming by, which is really a cool thing.

Erin & Ryan

Elena

Jolly

The bike tour that we join each year has to be one of the oldest and most established that there is, though I am not about to get in to the trouble that I did last year when I posted upon the origin of the tour, which apparently is open to debate. Regardless of who or how it began, it is going strong and we love it and join each year.

Josh

Rudi & Anja

As in the past years, the tour got started at our friends Nan & Mark’s home on Grinnell Street, where our group assembled and started things off with the traditional drink of our tour, the White Russian. The tasty libation also known as “reindeer milk” flowed freely and there was even a portable distribution system developed to bring the concoction on the road.

Erin

Richard, Nancy & Mary

That is one of the great things about our ride, being “unofficial” , we have no set guidelines about allowing beverages and people are free to decide for themselves if they want to bring refreshments along. They aren’t really needed as we make a couple of excellent pit stops along the route. This year we stopped by the home of friends Chris & Erin for refueling and we also made the traditional extended stop (which is basically a party) at the beautiful home of Nan & Mark’s friend Robert.

Michael & Josh

Haven & Elena

Tony & Nancy

This stop featured a wonderful open bar and some delicious food and snacks and has become so enjoyable that a number of the riders never really make it much past this point. After a nice stop, we did keep going, riding around the new town area that is packed with homes featuring beautiful holiday displays. It was another fun night in a long line of holiday outings.

Bill & Josh

Kathy

Haven & Ryan

Holiday bike tours offer all sorts of advantages over the more traditional train/ trolley tours. You get great exercise, use zero fuel, can get up close and personal and spend time viewing displays rather than just whizzing by and you can make multiple stops along the way. You are also free to mingle with the other participants as well as the homeowners making it a far more communal experience. Plus it is another opportunity to hang out with good friends. We love it and are already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Nan

Christmas Time is Here

2011-12-21T13:25:00.001-08:00

December 18, 2011

Fiona, Beth, Kathy & Greg

Sheila

Christmas Time is Here

This week has seen the holiday spirit kick-in to full gear with countless events, parties and gatherings held almost every night to help celebrate the season. Each night there seems to be more and more options and we find ourselves at times having to choose between various fun events and sometimes we end up missing out on something. We just can’t do it all, as hard as we might try.

Graffy, Randy & Sheila

Greta

Kathy & Jim

One event that we would not possibly miss is the holiday party at the home of our friends Greg & Beth. It was at this party a couple of years ago that we were all surprised to learn that they had gotten married and were able to watch their wedding video as part of the party, for this and future years, we will join them in celebrating not only the holidays but their anniversary as well.

Marilyn & Sue

Greg & Beth live in Key Haven and once again the party was held on a night when the local Fire Rescue brought Santa Claus through the neighborhood on a fire engine that was decked out in holiday lights. The party moved out into the street as Santa and his firemen entourage passed by the front of the house. It is just another of the cool holiday traditions that is found in the Keys. It was a beautiful, warm and perfect evening for the party and we had a ton of fun.

Kathy, Nadene & Renee

Randy, Brad, Jim & Rhett

We both actually had a little too much fun as the food and libations flowed a bit too easily and we each had slight hangovers the next day. I think it was worth the minor suffering because the party was fantastic. It was such a great group of people and I am pretty sure a good time was had by all.

We had another reason to celebrate as well; our friend Fiona has at last become a US citizen after seventeen years of living here. Originally from South Africa, Fiona finally took the oath last week and is now official. Another friend, Adriana who is from Slovakia also recently became a citizen was there as well and we want to congratulate them both.

Fiona, Brenda & Kathy

Fiona & Adriana

Kathy & Greg

Openings & Santacon

2011-12-20T13:39:00.001-08:00

December 16, 2011

The Green Pineapple

Mark Duper

Openings & Santacon

In December, even the regularly scheduled events take on a holiday feel as the frenzied focus of the island spreads to just about everything. This week’s monthly “Walk on White” gallery walk featured a holiday theme and if that wasn’t enough for a single evening Kathy & I hit the Grand Opening parties of some other exciting new businesses that just happened to be scheduled the same evening.

We started the evening at the Studios of Key West, which took a break from the Fantazimo burlesque bonanza for a night and hosted a craft show featuring the work of local artisans. Also unveiled that evening was the fantastic new creation by local artist extraordinaire Lauren McAloon outdoors in the sculpture garden of the Studios. The amazing creation should be seen to be truly appreciated and I would urge people to head over to the Studios to check it out.

Marky

Christa & Najada

After hanging out for a while at The Studios, we headed over to the first Grand Opening of the evening, the opening of the wonderful new creative gallery Art Space at 1102 Truman Avenue. This fantastic new gallery is a collaboration of the wildly talented and creative team of Marky Pierson & Michael Marrero and features work by each of them as well as a cadre of some of the most talented and creative artists in Key West.

Kathy, Jolly & Shawna

Liz

With a full season schedule on tap for the upcoming year, the gallery looks to become another cultural touchstone in an increasingly blossoming creative community on our island. With upcoming shows focusing on graffiti and tattoos and erotic art, the focus here is on the edgy and offbeat- which works fine for us and is a welcome addition to the Key West art scene. The soft opening was crowded with happy people checking out the art and the cool space that Marrero & Pierson have created. It was brilliant and a lot of fun. We wish them good luck with this new venture.

Our next stop was at the new Duval Street store the Green Pineapple, located at the upper Duval street former home of the Lucky Street Gallery. This fantastic new retail store was packed with cool merchandise and happy people who jammed the place for their opening. Another excellent addition to our island, the upscale gift store is full of quality unique gifts and is also cool because our friend Gretchen has opened a new Yoga space in the back of the store which is beautiful as well.

This week also featured a brief visit to a local car dealership of one of the NFLs greatest wide receivers and half of the famous "Marks Brothers" tandem that caught so many passes from Miami Dolphins hall of fame QB Dan Marino, Mark Duper. Duper was on hand signing autographs along with a pair of Dolphins cheerleaders. I attended high school with the other half of the duo, Mark Clayton at Cathedral High in Indianapolis and wanted to meet and say hello to Duper, who remains good friends with Clayton. We had a nice chat and I shared some amusing stories about Clayton's high school days.

The holiday season continued in earnest on Saturday evening with the second annual Key West version of Santacon. Santacon is a nationwide phenomena which first came to the island last year and basically features crowds of revelers all dressed up as Santa Claus or some other Christmas themed costume. A perfect fit for our island. While, I could not participate in the whole event, I had heard enough about it from friends to know that I wanted to head down to the Key West bight to see the start of the bar stroll.

Rick

Todd & Celia

It kicked off at the Conch Farm and by the time I got there somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty Santas were there, with more arriving by the minute. It was a festive group with a good number of familiar faces heading off for a night of holiday merriment that included jamming over 40 santas into the World’s Smallest Bar on Duval, breaking the previous record set last year.

Carolyn

David & Breanne

Breakfast with Howard & Najada

Art Space Key West

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

2011-12-19T07:35:00.000-08:00

December 15, 2011

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

The holiday season in Key West is a month long celebration of the holidays and is so full of parties and events that it is almost impossible to do everything, many evenings there are multiple options and the weekends in December are especially packed with fun options. We love it. After preparing the house, we carve out some time to participate in as much as we can and this week was no different.

This week we attended a new (for us at least) party at the beautiful La Brisa home of our friend Kathy. La Brisa is located on Smathers beach, a short bike ride from our house and we headed over to join a great group of friends old and new to Kathy’s beautifully decorated and festive home.

Sue & Eliza

Kathy & Bethany

It was an incredibly beautiful evening under a full moon with the gentle ocean breeze flowing through Kathy’s place from the open balcony. There was a huge and yummy selection of food and libations and a wonderful holiday atmosphere. We feel so fortunate to live in a place with so many wonderful and fun people and Kathy’s party was packed with so many of our favorite Key West friends.

The holiday season finds almost everyone in a good mood and the holiday spirit seems to permeate every party and event and the mood of the island is so great this time of year. Thanks so much to Kathy for including us and for the wonderful party. It was a great time.

Another Key West holiday tradition was held on Sunday afternoon when the SPCA hosted Christmas at the Dog Park, another of my favorite holiday events. India used to love and go and get her photo taken with Santa, but in her advancing years, she is much more of a homebody, so she had to stay home this year.

That did not stop me from heading over to the dog park to watch the festivities and support the SPCA. There was a decent crowd of people and pets and many people lined up to get their pet photos with Santa. The event was great, in spite of being interrupted by a freak rainstorm about half way through. It was brief though and did not dampen the spirits of the people and dogs on hand for the fun.

Even more Fantazimo…

2011-12-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

December 13, 2011

Even more Fantazimo…

Once was not enough. After experiencing the opening night hilarity as one of the photographers of the latest Holiday extravaganza from the fine folks at Key West Burlesque at the Studios of Key West, Kathy & I returned for another night along with our friends Betsy & Eric on Friday night. It was just as good or better the second time and we had a great time.

Betsy & Eric

Betsy & Eric were burlesque show novices, we had been trying to drag them along for some time, but we eventually wore them down. After meeting for a delicious meal at the Café restaurant, we headed over to the Studios to take in the show. I thought the troupe was on their game right from the start on opening night, but they took it to another level on this night, spurred on by a large and enthusiastic crowd- which always makes the shows more energetic.

The banter between Frankie and Sam the Snowman and his assistant Hermey was funnier and more spontaneous and it really added a little depth and humor to the show. It also helped connect the various individual acts, which once again were fantastic. From the emotionally resonant subtlety of Marquee Vonphister, to the classic beauty and elegance of Lola Lefleur, to the mystery and intrigue of Cheeky Derriere and the beautiful acrobatics of Trixie Little and the evil Hate Monkey, all my favorites were on target again.

There are only two performances left this weekend on Friday and Saturday and they will most likely sell out (if they have not already), as the word of mouth on this show is spreading across the island quickly. I am thrilled to report that our friends really enjoyed their first experience with Key West Burlesque. So many people either have no idea or the wrong idea about what burlesque even is, it is gratifying to see newcomers enjoy the lively performance of what is truly an artistic endeavor.

Kathy & Melody

Fleming Street Gallery

This week also marked the release of a new book by our friend and Key West based artist Eric Anfinson. “Along the Edges of Beauty” was officially released to great fanfare at our friend Sheila’s Fleming Street Gallery this weekend. The opening featured a display of Eric’s beautiful artwork and of course books for sale with Eric on hand to sign copies.

Eric

It was a great and well attended opening, even with so much going on in town which is a statement about how this community supports Eric and his amazing artwork. It was fun to hang out with friends and to see yet another example of our island supporting the arts. Congrats to Eric and thanks to Sheila for hosting the great event. You can check out Eric’s artwork via the link below, you should take a moment and take a look.

Howard & Najada

Eric Anfinson Paintings

Deck the Halls

2011-12-13T14:15:00.001-08:00

December 10, 2011

Home

Deck the Halls

With the holiday season firmly underway here in Key West, it was time to drag the holiday decorations out of storage, head to the MARC House to get a nice tree and begin the long process of decorating the house in anticipation of a busy month. I can take very little credit for the incredible light display on our house each year, Kathy designs and hangs pretty much every strand of lights on the house. I get the pleasure of taking them all down next month. She does an amazing job, our house looks fantastic once again.

Wendy

The process of decorating is an extensive one, after a complete cleaning of the yard and about a week of putting lights up just about every night, we move to the inside which goes through a similar process. This year almost all of the neighbors on our block have also put up fairly extensive holiday lights decorations and we are once again on the route for the nightly conch train tours, which pass by with great frequency filled with singing, shouting and festive revelers out to enjoy the holiday spirit.

Chris

In addition to our own massive decorating task, we had the good fortune to be invited over to the home of our friends Michael and Liz to a “Deck the Halls” party to help them get their tree trimmed and celebrate the holiday season. Michael is the amazing photographer who shot what we are using as our Christmas card as part of his current holiday themed show at The Studios of Key West, “Happy Effin’ Holidays”.

Mike

The party was a wonderful afternoon spent with good friends and good cheer and we did our small part to get their home in the proper holiday form. This is an important holiday for them as Liz’s parents are coming to town and are going to meet Michael’s family for the first time. I’m pretty sure they have nothing to worry about as they are about the two nicest people on the island and make a perfect match.

We had invitations to two additional parties that same evening, but I have been fighting off a flu-like malady since Thanksgiving and did not want to set back the progress that I have made toward recovery and we opted to skip our friend Tatah DuJour’s baby shower and the annual Pastie Party (held this year at the Porch). The Pastie Party is pretty much exactly what it sounds like and is held to raise money for breast cancer each year. I was understandably disappointed to not make those parties, but you just can’t do everything. The holiday season is getting as crowded as Fantasy Fest.

Scott

Erin & Liz

We did make it out another evening this week to check out Nashville singer/songwriter Misty Loggins and her singing partner Brian Bixby who were in town for the week playing at the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon. Misty is a regular at the Key West Songwriters Festival and has become one of my favorites. She hashttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif the perfect mix of talent, beauty and a genuine sweet personality that comes so honestly that you almost think that nobody could really be that nice, but she really is.

Misty Loggins

Brian Bixby

They put on a fantastic show the night we saw them, joined by our friends Nadene and Trevor at the Tuna. It was a perfect evening of wonderful entertainment and great friends. My only disappointment was that there were not more people there to take the show in. It was a decent crowd, but they deserve a larger audience. This just is a fairly slow time for tourists and there is so much going on that many locals restrict their going out to holiday related functions. If you are not familiar with Misty Loggins, you should check her out on her website or on youtube.

Misty Loggins Website

Fantazimo

2011-12-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

December 8, 2011

Pinky Starlight

Lola Lefleur

Trixie & Monkey

Frankie

Fantazimo

I am getting my blog postings a little bit out of chronological order again, but I have an excellent reason this time. When Key West Burlesque impresario Marky contacted me yesterday morning and invited me to photograph the opening night extravaganza of the latest and fourth annual Holiday show presented by Key West Burlesque, “Fantazimo”, it took me all of about two seconds to respond with an enthusiastic “Hell Yes”, in spite of the fact that Kathy & I already had tickets for tonight’s show (which I still intend to use).

Moana Amour

Sam the Snowman & Mucho Macho

The annual holiday show is premiering in a new larger space at The Studios of Key West after literally outgrowing their previous home upstairs at Kelly’s. The shows became so popular and routinely sold out that a larger venue became a necessity and The Studios provide a perfect setting. With more seating and room for a larger and more elaborate staging, the new venue is great and it still maintains the intimate feeling that Kelly’s always provided.

Monkey

Crowd at the Studios

The Studios' Jay & Elena

Francisco

I won’t give away too much about the show because there is still time for those of you reading this in Key West to catch the show tonight (December 9th) or on December 10th, 16th or 17th. If you have been on the fence about attending or have never seen a burlesque show, this is one to see and I would highly suggest going out immediately and getting tickets. Available either at KeysTix.com or at the Studios of Key West box office. I would act fast as word of mouth from last night’s show is likely to lead to more sell-outs and this is not to be missed.

Darknstormy

Richard Crooks

Trixie

Monkey

The show is ably hosted by the indomitable Frankie Fantazimo with assistance from newcomer Billy Starlight, and stars out of town special guests Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey. The show features many of the finest local burlesque performers including Marquee Vonfister, Lola Lafleur, Darkn Stormy, Pinky Starlight, Moana Amour, Rocky Bottom, Buffy L’Orange, Francisco and Cheeky Derriere, with guest appearances by Leatherback, Mucho Macho and Sam the Snowman.

Billy Starlight

Darknstormy & Leatherback

Frankie & Cheeky

The show is filled with a mirthful mix of holiday hijinks including wonderful singing and music, in addition to the singers in the troupe the wonderful musical talents of Melody Cooper and drummer extraordinaire Richard Crooks are feahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftured. There are also hysterical bits, feats of aerial acrobatics and the usual beautiful, mysterious, funny and sexy traditional burlesque performances.

Gae & Bonnie

Marquee

It is almost impossible to single out single performers as the entire show was fantastic, though I personally really thought that the numbers by Lola Lafleur, Marquee Vonfister and Cheeky Derriere were especially enjoyable. I am sure that each person who attends will love their own performers because there is a lot to enjoy here. Kudos to everyone involved in yet another wonderful performance. I can’t wait to see it again and hope that you will take my advice and get out and see it for yourself. You can buy tickets at the link below.

Keys Tix

Trixie Little Website

'Tis the Season

2011-12-08T12:35:00.001-08:00

December 4, 2011

Happy Birthday Ricky

Krista Detour

‘Tis the Season

The official kick-off of the city of Key West’s holiday season is held each year on the first Saturday of December when the annual holiday parade makes its way down Truman Street turning right onto Duval Street and heading to the conclusion at Eaton. This incredibly popular, family friendly event marks the start of a whirlwind month of parties, celebrations and holiday events that often have us scrambling to make it from place to place.

Eliza

Key West becomes alive with festive holiday spirit and you actually get to get out and see a lot of friends and have loads of fun. The holiday parade was just one of a few fun events that we attended over the weekend, which started for me on Friday evening when I headed over to The Studios of Key West to photograph the latest installment in their Old Town/ New Folk concert series. This month the featured artist was Bloomington, Indiana based Krista Detour.

Krista

Susan & Bruce

Krista has a history in the Keys, having once owned the now defunct Marathon eatery Deadhead George’s which was once upon a time a favorite stop of mine when traveling the Keys. She has since relocated to Indiana and decided to devote herself to her singing career, a good choice based on the wonderful performance she gave at the Armory.

Rick & Kathy

Johnny, Richard, Tara & Tara

After the concert, I met Kathy and many other friends at the houseboat home of our friend Rick who was hosting a birthday celebration. Rick’s parties are always eclectic, interesting and a lot of fun and this one was as good as any. Key West is full of interesting, unique and fun people but there is truly no one like Rick.

His wonderful funky houseboat which he built along with his buddy Steve is a work of art and we enjoyed their work so much that we hired them to build our unique bathroom some years ago. It was especially nice to see our friend MJ at the party. MJ had missed Fantasy Fest due to brain surgery, but is recovering nicely and is getting back to being her old fun self.

MJ & Pat

Robin

The next night was the parade, one of Kathy’s favorite holiday traditions. We rode our bikes over and parked in Bayview Park where the floats and entrants were marshalling to begin the parade then walked over to our friend Shawna’s house near the start on Truman. She was hosting a parade party and we dropped by for a quick hello before making our way down Truman to another party at the Conch House guest house.

Along the way we stopped and greeted many friends and watched much of the parade with a group of friends before continuing to the Conch House. They host a parade viewing party every year and we always make a point to stop in. Many of our friends either work there or are there enjoying the party and it always has a fun and festive holiday feel and really marks the beginning of a long and enjoyable month of holiday festivities.

Tiffany, Kathy & Hilary

Community Spirit

2011-12-08T10:19:00.001-08:00

December 2, 2011

Howard Livingston

Dani, Kathy & Eliza

Blue Heaven * photo by Nick Doll

Community Spirit

One of the things that we enjoy the most about our island community is the tremendous generosity of spirit that permeates almost every segment of the local populace. We are a giving community, one of the most generous places that I have ever seen and we support more non-profits and charities than many large cities. No cause seems too insignificant and an array of charities benefit from the largesse of the people here. I have been to tons of fundraising and charity events, we seem to have one just about every night, but seldom have I witnessed an outpouring of good will as I did at the recent party to raise funds for our friend Rob O’Neal’s medical expenses.

Ann & Dan

Dani

Rob suffered severe injuries in a crash when a vehicle struck him on his scooter, he has been at the Ryder Trauma center in Miami for a number of weeks and has had multiple surgeries to correct shattered bones and has a long road to rehab in front of him. As one of the chief photographers for the local newspaper, The Key West Citizen, Rob comes in contact with just about every slice of the Key West pie and it seems they were all represented at the party at the Smokin’ Tuna Saloon that was organized by many of his friends. People responded for Rob, who is one of the nicest people and best photographers in town.

Suzy Jo, Elio & Kathy

I have no idea how much money was raised, but by any measure the event was an unqualified success. There were hundreds and hundreds of people packing the place and a huge silent auction with items donated by the many friends and businesses who have been touched in some way by Rob. Local musicians including Howard Livingston entertained the crowd and there was a live web-feed so that Rob could follow the action from his hospital bed.

Christy

* Photo by Christy Transier

A photo booth was set up and Christy Transier took photos of the guests to be collected and made in to a photo album for Rob. It was a spectacular event and it made me as proud to call myself a resident of this island as I have ever been. Hopefully it will help Rob get back on his feet as soon as possible, Key West is less interesting without him around.

In addition to the benefit, this week had Kathy & I joining a group from RPM Nautical for a night on the town at the Blue Heaven Bordello Burlesque. RPM’s insurance agent was in town for his annual visit from Cleveland and George, Jeff, Howard, Kathy & I went out to dinner at Blue Heaven and then headed upstairs for the “Emo” burlesque show presented by our friends Jolly & Frenchie.

Cheeky * photo by Humphreyimgs

Rock

I did not take any photos so I am including a few from the wonderful local photogs, Nick Doll & Humphreyimygs. Thanks to them both for their beautifulhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif images of what was a stellar show. The intimate setting was transformed into a radio station which was the site of the burlesque shenanigans and it was fantastic. Many of our favorite performers were featured and most of them displayed heretofore unknown singing talents. They were all fantastic, but special kudos to Cheeky Derriere whose two numbers were as stunning visually and well performed as any burlesque number we have ever seen.

*Photo by Nick Doll

* Photo by Humphreyimgs

* Photo by Humpheyimgs

For those who may have missed the show or who like us cannot get enough of the talented burlesque performers in this town, the folks at Key West Burlesque will be presenting their fabulous holiday show “Fantizimo” for five nights, December 8-9-10-16 & 17 at the Studios of Key West. This over the top extravaganza is not to be missed, get your tickets at keystix.com or at TSKW box office.

*Photo by Nick Doll

* Photo by Nick Doll

Richard Crooks *Photo by Humphreyimgs

Fantizimo Info

Hanging Rock

2011-12-05T09:29:00.001-08:00

November 28, 2011

Hanging Rock

With the Thanksgiving Holiday over, we still had a couple of days in North Carolina before heading back home to Key West. The weather remained incredibly beautiful so we decided to take full advantage of the spectacular fall weather and head outdoors and do a little hiking. The best option close to my sister’s home is the beautiful Hanging Rock State Park which is only a few miles away in nearby Danbury.

Hanging Rock is a beautiful little park that is part of the Sauratown Mountain Range. The Sauratown mountains are a series of smallish mountains with peaks that top out at around 2500 ft, but are beautiful nonetheless. They are located exclusively in Stokes and Surry Counties in North Carolina and are probably most famous because of references to Mount Pilot (Pilot Mountain) that were frequently made in the old classic TV show, “The Andy Griffith Show”. The setting for the fictional Mayberry was based on the actual boyhood home of Griffith, the nearby Mount Airy.

Kathy

Michael

The park is home to more than 18 miles of trails and paths leading to various peaks and beautiful waterfalls. We opted to take what is probably the most famous and well traveled trail the 2.2 mile trail to Hanging Rock itself. The park was packed with tons of people out to enjoy the beautiful weather, young couples, families, and rugged looking college students packed the trail, but it never seemed overwhelming and there were long segments where we seemed totally alone.

The hike leads up to the craggly peak of Hanging Rock, which juts out over just about everything in the park and offers stunning 360 degree vistas where you can see the entire area and even the buildings in Winston-Salem some thirty miles south. The rocky flattish outcropping offers a perfect spot to sit and lounge and Kathy & I enjoyed a nice picnic at Hanging Rock before heading back down the trail.

Our final day in North Carolina, we drove Marta back to her home in Winston-Salem and then decided to head over to catch the final Wake Forest football game of the season at BB& T Field, just up the street from Marta’s home. My nephew Pat attends Wake Forest, but sadly he was on a Thanksgiving trip of his own, having traveled to Indianapolis to spend the holiday with his family. We thought we would check out his school in their final match-up at home against Vanderbilt.

Kathy

We easily obtained decent tickets at about the twenty yard line on the home side to watch what on paper appeared to be a competitive game. Unfortunately for Wake Forest, the game is played on the field and not on paper and Vandy, playing to reach six wins and become bowl eligible took it to the Demon Deacons pretty much right from the start.

Wake had won their sixth game the previous week and was already bowl eligible, it showed as they came out flat, fell behind early and looked totally out of it most of the game as Vanderbilt rolled to an easy 41-7 victory. Vandy scored on their first five possessions and was never really challenged. It was a tough defeat, but Kathy & I had a great time and it was fun to be outside in the fall, watching ACC football under sunny blue skies.

After the game, we drove back to Charlotte, where we checked in to an airport hotel in anticipation of our early morning flight back to Key West. Another fun family holiday behind us and ready to get back to Key West where the busiest season of the year was just ready to get started.

Kathy

Carolina Thanksgiving

2011-12-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

November 26, 2011

Moon Lake

Michael, Marta & Marika

Kathy

Carolina Thanksgiving

Following our trip to the book fair in Miami, Kathy, Marta & I returned to Key West for two days prior to hopping on a plane together and heading north to spend Thanksgiving in North Carolina. We had plans to meet at my sister’s home with my sister Marika and her husband Brian, along with some of their friends and Kathy’s Aunt Kathy, Uncle Al and cousin Alex- who were planning to drive from Massachusetts. Unfortunately Aunt Kathy suffered a minor health set-back that kept them from being able to join us this year. She is doing fine, and we hope to be able to all get together again at some point down the line, but we sure missed having them.

Susan Orlean

Before we even left Key West, a small piece of the book fair followed us down the Keys as writer Susan Orlean came down to give a reading at the Tropic Cinema of her new book on the legendary canine Rin Tin Tin. We went to her excellent reading and stayed to watch a classic 1925 Rin Tin Tin silent film, “Clash of the Wolves”. It was a fun evening of literature and film and a sold out audience enjoyed the event.

Jack

Winston-Salem

We flew out of Key West on Tuesday evening, arriving in Charlotte and driving through a pouring rainstorm to Marta’s home in Winston-Salem. We stayed one night and part of the next day there, taking Marta’s dog Jack to the local dog park and eating at the wonderful new little neighborhood restaurant Willow’s Bistro before driving the 45 minutes out into the country to the beautiful property owned by my sister and brother-in-law, Moon Lake.

Willow's

Priddy's

The rain had long vanished, replaced by stunning sunshine and warmth with temperatures in the 70s and bright perfect skies that lasted through the rest out our stay in North Carolina. We stopped at the historic Priddy’s General Store, just up the road from Moon Lake on our way in to stock up on Cheerwine. Priddy’s is a throwback that still functions pretty much the same as it has since opening in 1929.

Upon arrival, we settled in to the guest house and then gathered for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner along with Marika’s good friend Coleman. Coleman has written some successful screenplays and happens to be a member of the Academy and as such had a number of preview copies of current films that are under consideration for Oscars and so we were able to join her in screening current films like “J. Edgar”, “Contagion” and “the Help”.
Their neighbor and friend Kay T just happened to have an amazing screening room built in to his fantastic lake side home and we had just about the perhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffect situation for the private screenings.

Kay T

Thanksgiving was yet another perfect, beautiful day at Moon Lake and we gathered with Marika, Brian, Marta and a small group of their close friends for a wonderful and traditional Thanksgiving feast. It was so nice and delicious as well, incredibly relaxing after seeming having been going non-stop for months.

Coleman, Marta & Kathy

Brian & Marika

After eating, we lounged about on the beautiful property before heading next door to Kay T’s place for another film session. On the way over, we paused to admire the beautiful totem pole that he has carved and created from a log taken from the property. It is a beautiful and amazing piece of art.

the ladies in green

Priddy's General Store

Book Fair Day 2

2011-12-01T13:01:00.001-08:00

November 24, 2011

Book Fair Day 2

The second day of the Miami Book Fair always seems just a little bit calmer to me, the excitement of having arrived has worn off a little and you get settled in and it always seems like the schedule is less full and rushed than day one. Of course this isn’t actually the case and other than starting a half hour later, there is not much to differentiate the two full and thrilling days of literary riches.

Alan Cheuse

Once again, Marta, Kathy and I started off together in the large Chapman auditorium for the opening session and then split apart for the rest of day, weaving in and out of other sessions, sometimes together and other times on our own. The first session of the day was a great one and featured three terrific writers, Russell Banks, Michael Ondaatje and William Kennedy each reading from their latest works.

Russell Banks

William Kennedy

Any one of them alone would have been worthy of attention, but having them together was fantastic. I especially enjoyed Banks reading from his new novel, “Lost Memory of Skin”, though they were all really enjoyable. At the conclusion of that session, Kathy & I hurried over to hear a reading by our friend and fellow Key Wester, Roz Brackenberry.

Roz has been receiving tremendous and well deserved accolades for her latest novel, “Becoming George Sand” and it was great to see her included on the program of esteemed authors speaking at the book fair. She was speaking with two other women writers and I am proud to say that she really stood out in the group and did a fantastic job.

Suenalo

The rest of the day, I spent going off on my own. I was very interested in the really incredible line-up of musicians and bands that were on the Sunday afternoon schedule on the World stage. A fantastic array of Miami-based bands, most members of the “Tropical Bohemia” movement that includes a number of diverse Latin infused funk rock bands.

Nicole Henry

Robert Massie

The schedule on Sunday included PALO!, Afrobeta (described as electro-ghettofunk, lingerie-store-disco, alt-reggaeton, neo-freestyle), and my old favorite Suenalo. I also watched a performance by gifted jazz vocalist Nicole Henry. All together it was an exceptional day of musical entertainment by some of the hippest and best musicians that Miami has to offer. It was cool to see these bands get such positive exposure to a wider audience and attendees were literally dancing in the streets in one big fun street party. It was almost enough to make me forget that I was at a literary event.

Dyan Cannon

Marta & Jim Lehrer

Tea Obrecht

Among the literary highlights were sessions by biographer Robert Massie, Alan Cheuse, Dyan Cannon, Isabel Wilkerson, Susan Orlean, Jim Lehrer, Tea Obreht, Hillary Jordan and Jaimy Gordon. It was yet another wonderful experience and the book fair proved once again why it is one of my favorite, must see events of the year.

Isabel Wilkerson & Marta

Hillary Jordan

Miami Book Fair International

2011-11-29T13:14:00.001-08:00

November 23, 2011

Marta

Chuck Palahniuk

Dave Barry

Miami Book Fair International

I am not sure how many of the twenty-eight years that the Miami Book Fair has been in existence that I have attended, but it is well more than half of them. It is one of my two favorite literary events (along with the Key West Literary Seminar) and every year I look forward to heading up to Miami to enjoy the weekend of the book fair. This year, my mother Marta, once again joined Kathy and I, flying into Key West a couple of days early and traveling up with us.

Bob Graham

Robert Pinsky

We generally get a suite at the Holiday Inn downtown, which is literally right on location for the book fair. The awesome location allows us to not have to drive much (if at all) and provides a location where we can take a break, drop off heavy books or just relax without ever leaving the fair, it is incredibly convenient.

Marta

Diana Abu-Jaber

The trek up was fairly easy; we left Friday afternoon in order to be able to catch the final of the “Evenings With…” presentations that had been happening all week. The last one featured writer Nicole Krauss. Krauss has won multiple awards and was recently named by “The New Yorker” as one of the twenty best writers under forty. Her books “Man Walks into a Room”, and “The History of Love” have won International acclaim and she has just released a new novel, “The Great House”, which was the subject of her wonderful reading.

Nicole Krauss

Saturday morning the fair kicked off in earnest with literally hundreds of authors presenting at one of the fourteen different venues spread out across the nicely compact campus of Miami Dade College. This allows for multiple presentations happening at he same time and presents some difficult choices. Do you go see Senator Bob Graham or Jeffrey Eugenides? Or perhaps go off and discover some previously unknown writer in one of the smaller more intimate venues?

Kathy

Darrell Hammond

Diana Abu-Jaber

The choices seem limitless, yet are always tough. The good news is that Kathy, Marta & myself could each go off and explore our own interests, meeting back occasionally in the hospitality room the fair had set up for donors. In fact after parting with Marta early in the day, I rarely saw her at all until late in the afternoon.

Colson Whitehead

We had a great day, among the highlights were readings from the amazing Colson Whitehead, Diana Abu-Jaber, Matt Johnson, Esmeralda Santiago, Mark Kurlansky, Julie Salamon and Darrell Hammond (from Saturday Night Live). It was an outstanding day and we all really enjoyed the array of presentations.

There was also the standard selection of fantastic vendors, just about every major publisher and all sorts of interesting literary journals, non-profits and other vendors as well as food vendors from around the world. This year they also featured a special pavilion focusing on China that featured arts and crafts, food and literature.

We also caught a little of the entertainment offered on a large outdoor stage. We watched the band made up of writers including Dave Barry, Ridley Pierson and Scott Turow, The Rock Bottom Remainders. The fun band is not great, but you have a great time watching them. The crowd really enjoyed the show.

Scott Turow

Ridley Pierson

To close out the evening, Kathy & I headed over to watch the final reading of the day, by Chuck Palahniuk. We knew right away that we were in store for something different just by looking in the crowd, which was by far much younger, hipper and often covered with piercings and tattoos- not the average book fair crowd. Palahniuk’s reading of two short stories was more akin to a rock concert than any literary event I have seen.

Chuck Palahniuk

His cult like following loved every minute, but many, many people walked out as he read his incredibly graphic and disturbing stories. The second story, “Guts” was so graphic that people were literally passing out during the reading- something we had never experienced. It was a perfectly twisted finish to a great first day at the fair.

Happy Effin’ Holidays

2011-11-22T08:31:00.001-08:00

November 22, 2011

Michael Marrero & Jay

The Studios of Key West Crew

Chris & Erin

Happy Effin’ Holidays

The busy holiday season got off to a twisted start this week at The Studios of Key West where this week’s Walk on White was hi-lighted by the opening of a new exhibition by the incredibly talented photographer Michael Marrero. His last exhibition, the highly lauded, beautiful and moving collection of portraits of members of the MARC (Monroe County Association of Remarkable Citizens) House, was a sensation and captured the beauty, hopes and dreams of a segment of our population that is all too frequently marginalized in our society. Those looking for something similar with this show were in for a rude awakening as Marrero’s new work is a fractured and twisted look at the holiday season.

* Photo by Michael Marrero

While the work is in a completely different some would say opposite direction, it is nonetheless an excellent collection of subversive yet still wonderful work. You knew something was different about this show when upon entering the Studios a small sign warned that the show featured “Adult Content” and was not suitable for children. My guess is that some of the photos may not have been suitable for some adults either, but the crowd at the Armory seemed to love the show.

My mother Marta had arrived earlier in the day, I had actually changed her flight so that she could make it to the show. We had dinner at Café Sole before walking over to the Studios. I had not given her much of a heads up about the content and was slightly nervous about her reaction, especially since Kathy & I had been models and sponsors for one of the photos.

Liz & Santa

Thankfully she took the whole thing in with her natural good nature and appreciation for art. The show was a big success and the bizarre works which all focused on some twisted yet somehow truth revealing aspect of the holiday season, were very well received. Kathy and I were especially gratified by the number of positive comments that we received on the photo that featured us.

Hutch & Rick with our Fantasy Fest Float Award

Marta & Santa

We can take very little of the credit for the quality of the photo, though we did help come up with the concept with Michael. I also want to thank Michael’s girlfriend Liz who was instrumental in my hair and make-up and in helping us set up the shot. It was a tremendous pleasure to work with them both, if they ever need models for anything in the future we would happily volunteer.

Howard & Najada

Martha & Elena

It was a wonderful evening, Santa (our friend Chad) was on hand in costume and he was the centerpiece of many of the photos that were presented. In fact many of our friends were featured in the collection and it was great fun to see them presented in such bizarre settings. The show will be on display at the Studios until mid-December so if you are brave enough and in Key West, head on over and check it out.

Marta

Charlie, Haig, Najada & Howard

Back to Business

2011-11-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

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

Too many tears…

2011-11-12T09:35:00.001-08:00

November 11, 2011

ODC

Tim, Jenny & Michael

Too many tears…

At what point does grieving turn in to healing? I am sure that the answer varies based on the individual involved, and the healing process can be slow and painful with many obstacles and difficulties but the bond of love between family and friends seems to me to be the key for the process to move forward. I know that has proven to be the case for me in those situations where I have been faced with incredible sorrow. This past week was an incredible reminder of the power that friends can hold and the sense that life does indeed move on in spite of tremendous tragedy.

Amy & Abe

Amanda & Coco

Drew, Jen, Zan & Kelly

I think it began with the incredible outpouring of support that I saw displayed at my friend Matt’s moving memorial ceremony. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, including many, many good friends- some who I had not seen in some twenty years or more. As horrible as the circumstances, it was in many ways good to see so many friends and to meet so many more people who I had not known, but who each had become a part of Matt’s life.

Michael & Abe

Mary Lee, Zan & Rusty

Angela & Shannon

Tim, Tim, Wes, Jen & Rusty

People had come from literally all over the country to pay their respects and it had been some time since such a large group of us had been together for any reason. It was great to see everyone and even better to have friends there to lean on. As difficult as the memorial was for us all, it was also a time to share happy memories and remember the many, many good times that we all shared.

Rusty & Jen

Jenny

Amanda, John Michael, Coco, Kevin & Scotty

After the memorial, friends and family gathered at the Broad Ripple Brew Pub for a reception where we were all able at long last to begin to move past the tears and start to make those small first steps to moving on. It was one of the first times of the week where moments of normalcy crept in and we were just able to enjoy being together.

Drew, Wes, Eli & Rick

There was a large crowd of mostly Matt’s closet friends at the Brew Pub and it was a tremendously positive experience being able to hang out, re-connect and even laugh a little. It was a long and unexpectedly enjoyable night. In fact it was so healing and wonderful that many of us found it difficult to actually leave. In spite of the fact that I had a four AM wake-up call in order to make a six AM flight to Orlando, I stayed with my ODC friends and closed the place down with them.

Tim,Jen, Jenny & Michael

Jen, Drew & Zan

I think none of us really wanted to say goodbye. As tough as it had been for us all, we had at least had each other for support and many of us were scheduled to depart, leaving our support system and going on with heavy hearts.

Drew, Zan & Kelly

John Michael, Lisa, Kevin & Sarah

Life

2011-11-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

November 10, 2011

Life

“And when your hour
It is near
And your friends
They all are here
To share their love and to be kind
It's just life

Oh and when you're gone
You won't be back
I'll remember those
Special times we had
I'll sing this song and feel all right
'Cause that's just life
That's just life
That's just life
So darlin' don't cry”

-Josh Rouse

ODC

Sunday morning after the completion of Fantasy Fest, I was on a plane headed to Indianapolis. Unlike many past joyous returns to my childhood home, this trip was as difficult as any since the illness and passing of my father. As sad as that was for me, it was not unexpected and far less shocking than hearing the news that my good friend Matt Elliott was gone suddenly at the age of forty-three, apparently from a massive cerebral aneurism. I had hoped to get there sooner, but commitments prevented me from immediately joining my grieving friends upon hearing the news.

Tim & Kevin

We have always had an incredibly tight-knit group of friends, for over thirty years, a group of us who grew up in the Broad Ripple neighborhood on the Northside of Indianapolis have been known as the Old Dog Crew or ODC. While many of us have spread out across the country, our hearts have remained in our hometown. We have seen each other through numerous weddings, break-ups and divorces, children, business successes and travails and just about everything else that constitutes life and remained close in a way that is almost impossible to really explain.

Kevin & Joe

This is the first time we have had to deal with the passing of one of our own and it hit especially hard because it was so sudden, unexpected and because Matt seemingly was just hitting his stride and had so much more to offer. Technically I was in Indianapolis to attend Matt’s memorial service, but in reality I was there to offer and accept the solace of my friends.

Erik & Ted

Mike

Shannon & Michael

Pretty much from the moment of my arrival, I was in the company of my ODC friends during every waking moment. I joined a grieving process well under way when I arrived that had us visiting many of Matt’s favorite places, reminiscing over photos, alternately laughing at fond memories and breaking down. We spent time at Brugge Brasserie, Twenty Tap, the Red Key Tavern and even closed down the infamous Alley Cat lounge a couple of nights. It was heartbreaking and yet comforting to be in the company of such great friends. Tokens of Matt were everywhere we went, from the winning pumpkin in the Broad Ripple Brew Pubs’ carving contest that featured Matt’s visage, to the spontaneous memorial scrawling in the Red Key bathrooms to conversations overheard while perusing music at Luna Music.

Rick & Tim

The weather was spectacular, beautiful fall days that had me missing being in Indiana almost as much as being with friends did. In one of the few times I spent alone, I headed over to the botanical gardens at Butler University where I had spent so many happy times as a child to walk under the beautiful fall foliage and take a few minutes for myself.

Matt’s memorial service was held at one of his favorite places, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The huge tent at the Brickyard Crossing was packed with close to 500 mourners, a testament to the huge impact that Matt made across a wide spectrum of society. It was as moving and wonderful a tribute as I have ever seen. Hearing Vess Ruhtenberg’s haunting performance of the Josh Rouse song “Life” moved me to tears as did many of the amazing eulogies offered by family members and our close friends.

Rosie & Kelly

Matt Elliott Obituary

Invasion of the Lionfish

2011-11-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

November 8, 2011

Michael

* Photo by Sheelman

Kathy

Invasion of the Lionfish

The main event of Fantasy Fest each year is the annual Saturday night parade and for the past fifteen years or so, Kathy & I have joined our friends Rick, Steve, Hutch (and for many years David) in building a series of floats to enter in the big parade. Each year we try to come up with ideas and creations that capture the spirit of the theme, while at the same time capturing the somewhat roguish and rebellious nature of the creators. They are always massive undertakings and this year Hutch and Rick led the way in the creation and building of the Invasion of the Lionfish float.

Rick & Steve

Hutch

There are still a few of us old timers who have been around since back in the beginning of the float building efforts, but each year there seem to be hundreds of new young and happy faces joining our group. This year may have been one of the largest crowds for our group ever as we had upwards of two hundred people joining our float dressed up as Lionfish and walking or riding on the float.

Richard

I was there with somewhat of a heavy heart, the passing of my friend Matt had me scheduled to fly to Indianapolis to attend his memorial early Sunday morning. We were also missing one of our long-time friends and float participants Melissa Jean who is recovering from brain surgery and was not able to participate. In honor of my friends I wore a RIP Matt insignia on the front of my costume and a small heart with the initials MJ on it on the back. It was just a small reminder that while I was participating in the Fantasy Fest madness, my heart was with my friends.

Bruce

One of my favorite parts of the entire process is the time prior to the start of the parade in the float marshalling area. Everyone is in buoyant spirits. There is also time to walk around and see friends on other floats which is important because we really don’t get to see the parade much at all. The setting sun makes everything glow in the sweet light and the sense of anticipation is high, everyone is mostly sober as well- something that can not be said as the parade gets underway.

Fantasy Fest Video Hi-lights

Our float looked awesome and once we actually got moving, it was an incredible sight to see this mass of Lionfish moving down the street. Our costumes are all created using the same basic template, with each individual allowed to show their own creativity with the upgrades and refinements as they see fit. This allows for us to readily be identified as being part of our group, yet creates a wide range of creative diversity as each person brings their own flair to their costume.

Kathy

Lionfish have become a major issue here in the Keys and throughout the Caribbean as they are an invasive exotic species that have very few natural predators and thus have become overpopulating our reefs, decimating some other local fish and even lobster populations with their voracious appetites. They make for a topical and tropical subject matter for the float and people responded with loud cheers as we began along the parade route.

Steve, Rick & Michael

It was probably the most enthusiastic crowd response that any of our floats have ever generated and we have had a number of fantastic floats – even capturing the Grand Prize a couple of times. People really seemed enamored of our float and costumes and we really were an impressive sight as we made our way down Whitehead Street.

Todd & Lisa

George & Carla

The parade was great, the crowds lining the street were as big as I had seen in years and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time. The raunch factor from the previous couple of years seemed a little toned down and Fantasy Fest was back to its creative and fun old self. It was great to see such excitement back.

Chris & Erin

Josh & Bonnie

Carol

We made it through most of the parade without major incident, then about three quarters of the way through we were hit by a massive downpour. It was the first time in all my years of participating in Fantasy Fest parades that the main parade was impacted by rain. It didn’t seem to affect our group’s spirits much, but many of the cardboard costumes did not make it to the end, and the girls relying on body paint as their costume had some issues as well. We were sort of a bedraggled mess when we hit the judging stand, though I am not sure if that was a factor in the fact that our float only scored second place honors and missed out on the grand prize. Congrats to the winning entry, our friends from Big Pine and their spectacular Sea Monkeys float captured the Grand Prize.

Suzy Jo & Andy

We still had a great time, though for me personally it was tempered by a fairly heavy heart and thus for the first time perhaps ever, we opted to head home at the conclusion of the parade and not go out on the town to celebrate. Kathy & I are happy and proud to have participated again. Thanks so much to Hutch, Rick, Steve, our driver Bruce and to all those who helped create, build and participate in this years’ excellent effort.

Masquerading

2011-11-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

November 7, 2011

Kathy & Michael

* Photo by Nick Doll

Masquerading

One of the largest and most popular events of the entire Fantasy Fest celebration is the annual Masquerade March which is held on Friday evening. The event is a walking parade which heads off in two separate directions, following completely different routes as it winds through Old Town from the starting point near the Key West Cemetery eventually merging into the street fair that takes place on Duval Street.

Erin

Lynn & Brewster

KP

Each year thousands of costumed locals and visitors jam the streets, stopping at various guest houses along the route for free libations and passing in front of thousands more who line the streets to take in the costumed mayhem. This event has grown in size each year and now has reached a saturation point where it is just about too popular for its own good, though I still love it.

Nadene & Michael

Haven & Elena

As we have for the past few years, we gathered with a number of friends at a pre-party at the home of our friends Wendy & Scott. They host a fantastic party to help people get fired up for the march and they almost always have some of the best costumes for whatever Fantasy Fest event they attend. I want to thank them for hosting the party and for being so in to Fantasy Fest, we always look forward to see what they have come up with as far as amazing costumes go.

Autumn

Carol & Eliza

Liz

Kathy & I came dressed as the Little Mermaid and Ursala, with me taking the Little Mermaid role. We had received great acclaim a few years ago with our take on Snow White and we brought back the twisted Disney take with a shout out to this years’ theme, “Aquatic Afrolic”. The theme celebrates both our island heritage and the sea which surrounds us and it was actually a really good theme for a change. There were plenty of people who created amazing costumes in keeping with the theme. There were plenty of fish, mermaids, octopuses and a plethora of jellyfish.

Kathy

Martha & Kathy

This march brings out the most creative locals and there were an amazing number of people in costume, perhaps the largest crowd that I have ever seen at the march. It was really slow going as the thousands of people who headed the same direction as we did ( down Fleming Street) all slowly inched along the parade route.

Kris & Todd

As always we saw tons of our friends along the way, both participating and watching along the route. It was a fairly perfect evening, though it did start to rain a little as we neared the end of the route, just before we were to blend back on to Duval Street. We headed over to the bar at Virgilio’s to wait out the rain before heading back out on to Duval to check out the street fair.

Carla

Chris & Erin

The Roaring Twenties

2011-11-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2011

Kathy

The Roaring Twenties

Thursday night of Fantasy Fest features an explosion of parties and even more unchecked craziness and spectacle along Duval Street and in the various bars and lounges around town. The biggest and most crazy party is the annual Toga party hosted by Sloppy Joe’s. The Toga party is so massive that it dominates the scene and spills out to all the surrounding streets as thousands of toga clad partiers fill the streets.

Few locals participate in the Toga party and many people avoid it simply because of the plethora of drunken tourists that swarm the area. There is something about it that just lacks creativity and it has never been a favorite of the more creative element of Fantasy Fest. For years there were few options for the more discriminating reveler and we rarely ventured out on Thursday evening.

Last year, the Porch introduced a party that lured us and many local friends out on Thursday night and they brought the Twenties party back again this year for the second straight year. The party is cool because the location of the Porch, set back off of Duval street, yet close to the action, means that the party is like having a cool, private Fantasy Fest function, populated by fun and creative locals and those tourists hip enough to find the local hot spot.

Bruce & Michael

Flappers, Gangsters, Bootleggers and the like filled the party, which was definitely more popular than last years’ inaugural event, yet still a very manageable and not overcrowded party. Kathy created a fantastic Flapper look and I pulled out the same 1920s bathing suit costume that I had donned last year and we joined bunches of our friends in twenties style attire at the party.

Kathy & "Cat Man" Dominique

It was another fun and smashing success, an excellent addition to our Fantasy Fest calendar. We just love the Porch and we love the crowd of friends that we have that love the place as well. We always have a great time there and love the sense of fun, creativity and of being home that we get when we are there.

Michael

On a personal note, the night of the Porch Twenties party, I was pretty much a basket case. I had learned of my friend Matt Elliott’s sudden and unexpected passing mere hours before we were scheduled to go out. I was stunned and saddened and really in no mood to go out and pretend to have a good time, all I wanted was to be with my friends in Indianapolis. Not being able to fly up immediately, I was not sure what to do, how to feel and wanted to just stay home. My wife Kathy, was totally understanding, and was ready to stay home with me when I changed my mind and decided at the last minute to continue with all of our Fantasy Fest plans.

Chris & Erin

Arlo & Ashley

If it were any other place hosting the party, we most likely would have just stayed home, but much like Matt and my ODC friends in Indianapolis are my family, I feel much the same way about the wonderful group of friends we have here in Key West and as distraught as I was, being around close friends was the best choice I could have made. I would like to thank everyone who was at the Porch that night who supported me during an amazingly difficult time, both those who were aware of the situation and those who weren’t. It was something of a surreal experience being in the middle of a party when your heart has been ripped out, but my wife and friends helped support me and get me through.

Fantasy Wednesday

2011-11-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

November 5, 2011

Suzy Jo & Andy

Fantasy Wednesday

The Wednesday night of Fantasy Fest week is when things downtown really start to kick it up a notch and festivities really pick up. For most visitors, it is just the start of their party time but for us it is just the mid-point of the craziness. We had planned to take a breather and relax at home on Wednesday night and Kathy actually did that, opting to stay home and work on some final details for our costumes the remaining nights.

I could not help myself from heading out to a couple of events, I made one concession in that I did not get dressed up in any costume, choosing to go out as an observer to check out the madness.

The first event of the evening is one of the few family friendly of the entire Fantasy Fest schedule, the annual Pet Masquerade. This popular event is held each year at the Waldorf Casa Marina Resort and is a costume competition between pets and their owners with a number of categories such as pet/owner look-a-like. The event draws a huge crowd to the beach front stage at the Casa and hundreds of entrants with all manner of pets entered.

It was another beautiful Keys night and a massive crowd gathered to watch the competition. The costumes were not as elaborate as some past years, but still pretty interesting and there were plenty of entrants. It is always fun to see the pets all decked out and also fun to see so many children enjoying a Fantasy Fest event. I always enjoy wondering around the staging area back stage as the participants prepare to take the stage, the actual competition itself is not that important, it is just a fun event.

It is a very different much more provocative and adult oriented scene at my next stop for the evening downtown on Duval Street. With specific events to attend every other night, this was really my only opportunity to just check out the scene downtown without having a specific event to attend. There were of course plenty of parties that I could have attended including the Red party at Fogarty’s but I just wanted to take in the scene.

Autumn & Andy

Trevor

It was in full swing when I arrived, crazy madness that had Duval Street blocked off and the crowd of thousands packing the street reveling in the drunken celebration. There were people everywhere, a large percentage of them actually wearing costumes. Of course there were plenty of naked or near naked revelers with varying levels of body paint and a variety of lewd displays, though I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that the general tone of debauchery was somewhat more tame than the complete nasty fest that I had experienced the past couple of years.

Eric Lindell

I made a couple of passes through the crowd, visited with friends briefly outside the Red Party and made a couple of quick stops to say hi to friends at the Porch and the Smokin’ Tuna with a brief stop at the Green Parrot where Eric Lindell was playing before calling it an early night. It was worth the trip downtown to see the craziness, but also nice to get to bed at a decent hour for the first time of the week.

TuTu Tuesday III

2011-11-05T07:52:00.001-07:00

November 5, 2011

Kathy

Susan & Bruce

TuTu Tuesday III

The past few years there has been something of a shift with Fantasy fest expanding earlier and earlier in the week and some of the best events and parties happening well before the traditional Friday/Saturday slots that have grown into massive happenings. The shift to early week parties allows many locals who work during the busy fantasy fest weekend to enjoy parties of their own and still be available to reap the financial windfall that they get by working the busy days.

Kathy & Hannah

Joel & Erika

What this has meant is that the best locals parties are held early and that is certainly the case with the spectacular third edition of TuTu Tuesday. The Tutu party has grown from humble beginnings at the small Martin’s restaurant two years ago, to the much larger expanded version last year upstairs at Mango’s to the massive party that took over the entire Mango’s complex and catered to literally hundreds of happy partiers.

KP & Kathy

Joanie & Chad

Eileen & Graf

To say that this was the best party of Fantasy Fest doesn’t really do the party justice, it was one of the best parties I have attended in Key West ever, for any reason. It was just a spectacular, fun amazing celebration hosted and organized by some of the most creative and fun people in Key West and attended by the more locals and people we knew than any other event.

Erin & Chris

Natalia & Kyla

The only stipulation to attend the Tutu party is that to enter you must be attired in a tutu. No exceptions. This leads to the sillyness of many uncomfortable men donning tutus with varying degrees of confidence. It doesn’t bother me in the least, but some are a little hesitant, making it all the more fun when they actually break down and put one on. It matters not because the party is so good, anyone that is too self conscious to wear one would probably not be much fun anyway.

Swan Dance

Tom & Marky

Kathy went all out again, dressing up as the Black Swan character from the recent movie of the same name. It proved to be a popular choice as there were at least four other black swans and one white swan at the party. She did a nice job and looked fantastic.

Breanne

The party commenced at seven at the Porch, where a large group of Tutu wearing revelers gathered before a huge march down Duval Street to Mango’s for the actual start of the party at eight. Once there it was two levels of dancing, drinks flowing freely and the one of the best collections of locals ever assembled. The vibe was fantastic as everyone was in an excellent mood and having a great time.

Jim

Steve

We stayed until around 1:30 AM and as we were leaving there was a whole new group of late night partiers lined up waiting to get in so the party evolved and changed as the night went on. After the Zombie ride and the Tutu party – they could have just canceled the rest of Fantasy fest and we still would have had an amazing year. The good news was that it was just getting started.

Scott & Wendy

Nancy & Bob

Salacious Sideshow

2011-11-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

November 3, 2011

Salacious Sideshow

I have to admit that it is difficult to write this entry. The unfortunate passing of my friend Matt Elliott and traveling to Indianapolis for his memorial have thrown me off in many ways, including even attempting to keep up with my blog posting. I have fallen tremendously behind and now find it difficult to go back and pick up the pieces and even try to get back to any sense of normalcy.

I considered how to move forward and decided that perhaps the most sensible thing is to go back and try to pick up chronologically and see how long it may take me to catch up. The issue that I have is that things have changed so much for me and it is tough to try and go back and recall events that were fun and full of life before Matt passed, when I still feel so wrecked emotionally. But I also know that life inevitably goes forward and so I will try to do justice to those events before and after my heart was stricken with some sort of adequate description.

Thinking back to early in the week of Fantasy Fest seems like a million years ago, but on that Monday evening, Kathy & I took in the special Fantasy Fest edition by the wonderful local burlesque group, Key West burlesque. The condensed one hour show, the Salacious Sideshow, was performed only three times and we caught the closing night performance. All of the shows were held in the Waterfront Playhouse, which is a somewhat larger and seemingly more professional venue than the troupe is used to. They took to it like the proverbial duck to water though and delivered a wonderful show with a circus theme that featured a number of their most talented and versatile performers.

The fantastic sets were in the style of the old school circus sideshows and the circus theme translated well to their wacky style and we enjoyed the show a great deal. They have a number of elaborate performances scheduled the remainder of this season, the next being the epic Fantazimo, which will be held December 8-10 and 15-16 at The Studios of Key West. Get your tickets now as these shows are likely to sell out and you don’t want to miss out.

Matt Elliott

2011-10-29T07:27:00.001-07:00

October 28, 2011

Matt

at IMS

With the ODC at Bonge's

Matt Elliott

“Probably the finest example of a man anyone will ever know. Kind beyond measure, a great listener, an even better conversationalist, unbelievably well versed in all things Indiana and a pleasure to be around even when you'd heard enough about some small part of the city you didn't know existed.”
-Facebook Post by Brugge Brasserie

The quote above, written no doubt by one of Matt’s closest friends, encapsulates in a few short sentences what I and so many others feel after hearing the tragic news of the sudden and unexpected passing of a great friend and an even better person. It is always a sad moment when you learn of the passing of someone that is close to you, though rarely have I ever been more stunned and numbed as when I received the call that Matt had passed suddenly of natural causes after a seemingly ordinary day working for my friends at Brugge Brasserie in Indianapolis.

I have known Matt for more than thirty years, both a part of an exceedingly close-knit group of friends from the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis which have come to be known as “The Old Dog Crew” or ODC. The moniker comes from our former fondness for Old Milwaukee beer, which was cheap and readily available back in the day before we knew or could afford actual good beer.

ODC in the Turks & Caicos

Matt, Kevin, Ted, Eli & Tim

As a group, we have managed to maintain an unlikely and rare strong bond despite the fact that many members such as myself have spread out around the country. Wherever we ended up, our hearts and many of the group remained in Indianapolis. Over the years we have managed to gather on a semi-regular basis, at holidays, weddings, mutual vacations and every year during the month of May for the Indy 500.

Tim, Ted & Matt

The Indy 500 is a part of the culture for those of us who grew up in Indianapolis and it was there where I last saw Matt this past May. We both shared a love of racing that went beyond that of the average fan. I would see Matt at the track regularly often with friends, but like me, he wouldn’t hesitate to head out on his own. I can picture him now occupying his favorite spot in the top row of the Tower Terrace looking out of the beautiful expanse that is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that was one of his favorite places.

With Ted Miller and his kids in the Tower Terrace

It was our shared love of racing which prompted a somewhat rare phone call from Matt about ten days ago. He knew that we had attended the Indy Car race in Las Vegas that claimed the life of Indy Car champion Dan Wheldon and he wanted to talk about it… he always seemed ready to talk. We shared our thoughts on that tragedy and then spoke briefly about what was going on in his life. Little could I have realized that would be my last of many, many amazing conversations.

Speaking with Matt during that call makes his loss seem all the more tragic to me, because he seemed really, really happy with his life. When I spent time with him in May, he was mostly miserable. He was working selling cars, a job he despised but needed at the time after his beloved Northside News closed. Matt wasn’t cut out for selling cars- he was far too honest and cerebral for that profession. Then our mutual friend and ODC member Ted Miller offered Matt a job working at Brugge, which was a perfect fit for both parties. I am not sure of what his duties were, but it involved working with the Brugge Brewery as well as at the restaurant and Matt seemed on top of the world when I spoke to him.

I could go on and on about what made Matt such an amazing person and friend but I think I will close by simply thanking him for his friendship. It has been an incredible privilege. His passing has made me really realize what a rare gift it has been to have such a close and beautiful group of friends that I have. I am distressed only that I was not able to immediately hop on a flight and head to Indianapolis upon hearing the news. I wish that I was there to share our mutual grief and offer some small comfort to my friends. Commitments here in Key West with Fantasy Fest and work have not allowed me to be there as soon as I would have liked. It has been a surreal experience being here in the midst of thousands of happy, partying people when I feel like an empty shell.

Kevin, Matt, Pat & Ted

Becky, Matt, Brian & Rick

Our love, thoughts and sympathy are with all of Matt’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time. I will miss you so much Matt, I know that every time I go to the speedway I will look up to that spot high above pit lane looking for you and wishing like anything that you were there.

Zombiefest

2011-10-28T07:52:00.001-07:00

October 25, 2011

*photo by Sheelman

Michael & Kathy

Zombiefest

The second annual Zombie Bike ride was so huge that it gets the rare double blogging treatment. Mostly due to the fact that I have a plethora of blog-worthy photos but also because this year the event actually expanded and included an addition in the form of Zombie Fest. This was a huge party held at the culmination of the ride at Fogarty’s on Duval Street. The entire bar/restaurant was turned over and it zombie-only entry for the massive dance party.

Kathy

The ride lasted about ninety minutes or so, after riding along the beach and stopping at Salute, the riders headed downtown towards Fogarty’s under police escort with the police clearing traffic to allow the Zombie riders to pass. The turn on to and ride down Duval Street was crazy. It was like we were our own parade. We took over the entire street and literally hundreds of people lined the street cheering and taking photos. It took over ten minutes for all of the riders to pass a specific spot.

Bruce & Susan

Michael * Photo by Humphreyrings

The ride concluded at Fogarty’s and part II of the crazy Zombie night got underway. Our friends Chris & Marky sure know how to throw an amazing party and this was a great one. There were Zombies packing the place and dancing under the haze of dry ice to a fantastic soundtrack of specially chosen Zombie appropriate music.

Michael & Bruce

It was so cool because so many of our friends were there and so many of them went all out in creating their Zombie costumes. The crowds were so large that Fogarty’s literally could not fit them all so you saw Zombies packing nearby bars like the Bull & Whistle and the Porch as well. It provided a welcome financial shot in the arm for those businesses as well as happy Zombie revelers took over Duval Street.

Kathy & Dan

* photo by Tom Flip

We ended our long night at the Porch where we assimilated a couple of visiting brothers into the Zombie collective as Kathy applied Zombie make-up on the fly, which turned out surprisingly well. It was cool to see visitors getting in to the Zombie spirit and it was a nice way to close out another fantastic fantasy fest event.

Erika & Nick

Zombie Ride II

2011-10-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

October 25, 2011

Holly

Zombie Ride II

The Sunday evening prior to Fantasy Fest has traditional been a down time, but that all changed last year with the introduction of what has instantly become one of the top events of the week, the Zombie Bike ride. Last years’ event was an instant success and this year it exploded into a huge extravaganza and yet maintained all the fun and excitement of hundreds of participants riding across town dressed as Zombies.

Evan & Jolly

Kathy, Rosie & Eric

One of the great things about this is that it is filled with locals. In fact my guess is that it is almost exclusively made up of locals. Many people that live here rely on Fantasy Fest for a good chunk of their income and thus spend much of the latter portion of the week actually working and having to miss out on participating in many of the events. This event is held earlier enough in the week and at a unique time when it just isn’t all that busy yet, so for some people- this is their Fantasy Fest.

Tony Gregory

The inaugural Zombie Bike ride was held a year ago and attracted somewhere between 300-500 people, all dressed as Zombies and all riding bikes from the starting location at Recycle Bike Shop on Stock Island through town to Duval Street and beyond. This year the massive turnout was at the very least double and probably more. My estimate is that there were between 800 and 1000 people in the ride this year. Whatever the exact number, it was a complete mob scene. Thankfully I had pre-arranged to have my face painted and worked it out to have artist Tony Gregory do the painting.

Breanne

Chris

They had a number of talented face painters available and demand exceeded availability in the time provided, yet somehow everyone seemed to get prepared in time for the six o’clock in the evening departure from Recycle. Many people, Kathy among them, took it upon themselves to do their own make-up and costumes and it was obvious that Key West has a plethora of talented and creative people.

Scott & Wendy

The huge mob was led out on to US 1 under the protection of a cadre of Key West police officers on motorcycles who closed the road and provided protection for the zombie hoard. It was an impressive sight to see the huge crowd filter onto the highway and turn down along the beach front in to a beautiful perfect Key West sunset on the way to Salute restaurant which was the site of the first stop. Once the riders got strung out, it took almost ten minutes of continually passing riders for them all to pass a specific spot. It was amazing.

Bruce

Nan & Mark

Tom

The zombie beach party broke out on Higgs beach in front of Salute as there was no possible way even a fraction of the crowd could fit in to the restaurant. Zombies danced on the shore and an attempt a group photo was made, though that also proved fairly impossible. It was cool because we kept running in to more and more people who we did not even realize were a part of the event because of the large crowd size. It was a fun, fun evening and just the first portion of the Zombie event.

Sue

Goombay 2011

2011-10-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

October 24, 2011

Julie, Kim & Kathy

Esme & Cayman

Goombay 2011

The official kick-off of Fantasy Fest, the annual Goombay Festival was held this past Friday and Saturday and in my view it was another great weekend and festival to get things started. There have been grumblings among some locals and in the local press that Goombay has lost something in the past few years and that it is no longer what it once was. To be certain, there are areas where the festival could be improved, but to me the magic that is Goombay is not found in the quality or abundance of vendors or entertainment but in the tremendous sense of community that is on display each year. By that measure, this years’ Goombay was as amazing as ever.

Carolyn & Steve

The festival, which celebrated its thirty-first birthday this year, is held all day and night on both Friday and Saturday and this year, I made a number of trips down to take advantage, heading down for lunch on Friday, then back after attending a sunset wedding on Friday night and then back again for another round on Saturday night.

Lou

This year the event was expanded in physical size, the main stage was moved two blocks further down Petronia Street to the park on Fort Street. This simple expansion made for a much more open and comfortable setting to watch the main stage entertainment and spread the massive crowds out a little more, reducing the congestion of the festival.

Kim & Kathy

Kathy G & Carol

The food is not what it once was, there seems to be an abundance of similar vendors offering the same meat on stick, arepas and the like. An influx of local offerings would be helpful, but there was no shortage of food and my favorite falafel vendor, Lou was back at his familiar space outside of Blue Heaven.

Julie

Bruce & Susan

Lisa, Kris & Todd

Not that the food or vendors matter all that much to me anyway, the real reason that Goombay is so awesome is that almost everyone in the community turns out for the event. The diversity and spirit that make Key West such a unique and wonderful place are on full display at Goombay in a way that is not found at any other place so vividly throughout the year.

Populated by a vast majority of locals, you can count on seeing hundreds of old friends, some who you may not have seen since last years’ Goombay. Most of our group of friends can be found either night on what is known as “The Corner” between Blue Heaven restaurant and Johnson’s Grocery. We literally hang out for hours greeting friends, sharing food and libations and taking in the exuberant festivities as they happen around us. The Blue Heaven itself is also a popular spot as they have great bands playing atop the water tower in the courtyard behind the building, which fills with happy dancing revelers.

It remains one of my favorite Key West events and once again we had a splendid time at Goombay. By the time the week of Fantasy Fest is over, it can be easy to forget or dismiss Goombay, when in reality it is one of the best events of the entire week. I already am looking forward to the thirty-second annual edition next year.

Goombay Festival

Jeremy & Jennifer

2011-10-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

October 23, 2011

Jeremy & Miguel

Jeremy & Jennifer

Our friends Jeremy & Jennifer decided to take the plunge and get married this week. They have been together for some years and even have a beautiful young son together, Kian, but haven’t gotten around to tying the knot until this week. Kathy and I were thrilled to be invited to share in this special moment between two such awesome people.

Many years ago, I became friends with Jeremy when we became roommates of a sort. My roommate was actually Jeremy’s sister Michelle, but he came to Key West for a brief visit and ended up sleeping on our couch for a number of months. I think he has been in Key West ever since. We ended up spending a good bit of time together, having similar taste in music, we often traveled to the mainland to attend concerts such as the HOARD fest and others.

That was fifteen years ago and since then we have remained friends and it has been my pleasure to watch his relationship with Jennifer develop and grow, the birth of their son and now to their exchange of marriage vows. They picked this particular time to coincide with Goombay and the location of the wedding, the Tiki Bar at the Galleon, due to its low key yet beautiful location.

Tara & Kathy

The sunset wedding on the pier at the Tiki Bar was beautiful and the crowd of assembled family and friends was treated to a ceremony that at once conveyed the low key at times humorous demeanor of the couple yet also captured the reverence and love of the situation. It was a perfect balance and a pleasure to witness.

The reception was held right there at the Tiki Bar and was great fun as well, live music, dancing, food, libations and revelry as the newlyweds enjoyed their first few moments as husband and wife. It was a great time. My only regret is that my friend and former roommate, (and the sister of the groom) Michelle was unable to attend due to family commitments. She was missed, but was there in spirit. Thanks and Congrats again to Jeremy & Jennifer.

Here we go...

2011-10-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

October 22, 2011

Erika & Nick

Here we go….

We landed back in Key West just in time for the start of the craziest and best part of the year with the start of Fantasy Fest just around the bend. Each year there seem to be more and more new events added to the schedule and the event seems to get stretched out to include more and more. All indications are that this is going to be a banner year as the hotels are already mostly sold out and anticipation is great for a fun and successful week.

Rick

Hutch

Kathy & I have a very, very busy schedule the next two weeks as we are going to a large number of parties and events as well as once again joining our friends to participate in the culminating big event, the Saturday night parade with our very own float, “Invasion of the Lionfish”. This year the official theme is “Aquatic Afrolic” and there look to be any number of sea inspired costumes and floats.

Our float building friends are once again busy building and creating our Fantasy Fest float at the float building headquarters on Stock Island. Master float creators Rick and Hutch seem well ahead of schedule in spite of the recent deluge of rains (20 inches over five days). Thankfully we missed most of the days of rain, while we were in Las Vegas. We were here for the final day of the deluge and the rain flooded the street in front of our house as well as much of the island. You could actually kayak down many streets and people did just that.

home wet home

The good news is that our island drains pretty fast and once the rain stopped, the weather went right back to the beautiful weather we are accustomed to and we moved on getting ready for a big Fantasy Fest week. Officially Fantasy Fest begins with Goombay Festival which is held on Friday and Saturday a week prior to the main event, but this year we decided to get a little jump on things by attending a sort of pre-party at our favorite bar the Porch.

Kathy & Kathy

The first ever Porch Pumpkin bash was a celebration of all things pumpkin as they had a variety of pumpkin events and even a variety of pumpkin ales on tap including yummy Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin, Brooklyn Post Road Pumpkin & Cigar City Good Gourd Pumpkin. They also hosted a pumpkin pie baking contest and of course a pumpkin carving contest.

Our friend Kathy snagged first prize in the pie contest with a fantastically delicious pie and even tastier whipped topping. It was a really fun night and just about a perfect way to kick off the two week period of madness.

Dan

My favorite desert mirage…

2011-10-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

October 18, 2011

My favorite desert mirage…

In spite of heavy hearts, Kathy & I still found ourselves in Las Vegas with some time left to get out and enjoy one of our favorite places before heading back to Key West. With no shortage of entertainment options, it was easy to find something to do that would take our minds off the tragedy at the track, if even for a few moments. Every time we come to Vegas, which had been too infrequent of late, we try to do a mix of our favorite things and take in the new things that have arrived since our previous visit.

Jason & Vince Neil

Having not been here in a while there are a ton of places that we had not been and had to check out. The beautiful Wynn resort and casino was just getting ready to open last time we were here, so we made sure to check that out. We also spent some time in the brand new City Center with its collection of upscale retail locations and the amazing Aria casino. Our favorite new addition is the fabulous Metropolitan Casino with the stunning chandelier bar – an awesome example of wretched excess that we both just loved.

Michael & Pippa Mann

at BB Kings

We visited old favorites as well. The Bellagio is still as spectacular as ever with the incredible iconic fountains and the beautiful garden room, which is all decked out for the fall. We also enjoyed a visit to the absolute best buffet in Vegas which is at the Bellagio and features a dizzying array of quality selections, almost none of which can be found at more traditional buffets.

One of the other places that we visited was an old stand-by, which for some reason we had never visited, the tower at the Stratosphere. Sort of isolated at the far end of the strip, we had somehow never ventured to the top of the tower where there is an amazing view of the entire city and a number of exciting thrill rides that Kathy found very appealing.

The view from the Stratosphere is indeed spectacular; it makes it readily apparent that Las Vegas really is an oasis in the middle of an arid desert landscape. The view of downtown and the strip are great and you can easily see the beautiful Red Rocks canyon in the distance.

The rides are pretty crazy if for nothing else that they are so high above the strip below. They even had an opportunity to leap off the 107th floor attached by guide wires, which looked really crazy and which Kathy vowed to do on our next trip. This time she just rode the rides already there while I waited patiently.

Our final evening in Vegas, we attended a show at the House of Blues featuring The English Beat, one of my favorite ska bands from the eighties. The show was bittersweet as it was a benefit for the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation and Schmidt was the car owner for Dan Wheldon who had been killed earlier in the tragic crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I am sure many in the racing community just couldn’t bring themselves to attend so soon after the team suffered that loss.

The English Beat

Kathy & I opted to go ahead and attend, it was for a good cause and we thought it might cheer us up a bit, which it did indeed. The band acknowledged and honored their lost countryman throughout their excellent performance and managed to put on a great show that helped lift the spirits of those in attendance for a couple of hours, It was sort of a tough circumstance – what should have been a festive celebration trying to go on in spite of what had happened.

I guess that is what everyone in the Indy Car community will have to do at some point. I am fairly certain that is what Dan Wheldon would want everyone to do. Few personalities associated with Indy Car exuded, enjoyed and celebrated life in the way that Wheldon did and perhaps the best way to honor his memory is to appreciate, live and enjoy life.