Solares Hill back issues from February 2008:
Collateral Damage From the MLK Crash
Feb 01, 2008; ... Duke Rood loved to swim. His first job in Key West was as a swimming teacher with the Marine Institute, a nonprofit on the old Navy base at Truman Annex, during those strange interregnum years between military facility and upscale residences. "He had been a swimming champion in ...
'The Future Is Not Pretty'
Feb 01, 2008; ... 'The future is not pretty," said City Commissioner clayton Lopez, who augured "not so much dark as gray years ahead." Scene of the prognostication was a box lunch shared with five fellow city commissioners plus the mayor and a full house of 60 graduates of the city-sponsored Ambassador ...
Clinton, McCain and Crist All Win, But Who Loses?
Feb 01, 2008; ... 'Charlie Crist hits the daily double" was the headline on the St. Petersburg Times Web site Wednesday morning, recounting our governor's triumphs in two "risky bets" in Tuesday's election: supporting Amendment 1 property tax relief and Republican John McCain. Must be nice. Personally I ...
February Free Plant Clinics
Feb 01, 2008; ... Get bugs identified and plant problems correctly diagnosed before treating your landscape with pesticides or other chemicals. Bring insects or sick plants for diagnosis or identification to the following free plant clinics: Upper Keys Plant Clinic, Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Upper ...
Super Bowl Sunday Schooner Wharf Style
Feb 01, 2008; ... Spend your Super Bowl Sunday under the stars at Schooner Wharf Bar. Giants and Patriots fans can join friends Feb. 3, to watch the gridiron war at the waterfront. Sit outside and watch the game on a huge outdoor screen and several televisions throughout the bar. Your margarita will be ...
SOUNDINGS
Feb 01, 2008; ... Neal Hecker, vice president of program services at WPBT Channel 2 in Miami, was in Key West recently on behalf of the station's new Web site called uVu. uVu is an online video portal for the South Florida community located at uvu. channell2.org. If you type "Key West" into the search ...
Reef Relief Environmental Center Is Open and Needs Volunteers
Feb 01, 2008; ... Reef Reliefs new headquarters and environmental center, located behind the Conch Republic Seafood Company on Greene Street, is now open to the public. Reef Relief educator Brian Henry has been busy for months creating interactive exhibits, displays and a theater with coral reef films. A ...
Red Barn Plugs in 11 Electric Comedies for 'Shel Shocked'
Feb 01, 2008; ... "Shel Shocked," a new collection of short plays by Shel Silverstein directed by Gary McDonald opens on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 8 pm and plays through March 8 at the Red Barn Theatre. One of Key West's own favorite authors, Silverstein's unique view of modern life, combined with his uncompromising ...
Neurotic, Erotic Live Painting Party
Feb 01, 2008; ... Marky Pierson presents a wild interactive art event benefiting GLEE (Green Living and Environmental Education) and sponsored by the Monkey Apple Art Factory. Come out and watch six local artists and five models trapped in the middle of a rocking party upstairs at the Hard Rock Café this ...
Sculpture Key West Opens at West Martello
Feb 01, 2008; ... Sculpture Key West/Exhibition One opened Sunday evening, Jan. 20, amid gusting winds and chill temperatures, but the mood was warm and bouncy among the guests and members of Sculpture Key West at West Martello. An open bar and special hors d'oeuvres from Square One made for an inviting ...
One Last Stand for the Sea From the Late Explorer
Feb 01, 2008; ... One Last Stand for the Sea From the Late Explorer "The Human, the Orchid and the Octopus" Jacques Cousteau and Susan Schiefelbein Bloomsbury, $25.95 reviewed by Nada Jones In "The Human, The Orchid and The Octopus," Jacques Cousteau likens our evolution to an orchestration of ...
Frank Deford at Friends of Library Monday Night Lecture Series
Feb 01, 2008; ... The Friends of the Library Lecture Series continues its season on Monday, Feb. 4, with a presentation by author and commentator Frank Deford. Deford will talk about his new book "The Entitled," a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball. The program begins at 6 p.m. and will be held at the Tropic ...
Banana Café Resumes Its Jazz Nights and Dinner Menu
Feb 01, 2008; ... restaurants After a hiatus of six years, Banana Café reopens for dinner daily Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m. at its current location, 1211 Duval St., before moving next door to its new location, 1215 Duval St., in early May. The new restaurant, celebrating the partnership of ...
Thrills, Chills, Adventure and Intrigue at the Tropic
Feb 01, 2008; ... Thrills, Chills, Adventure and Intrigue at the Tropic "There Will Be Blood" Eight Oscar Nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Director. See Shirrel Rhoades' review on page 19. Rated R. Runtime 2 hours 38 minutes. Showtimes ...
Locals Shine at Pigeon Poop Art Show
Feb 01, 2008; ... Organizers say everything is ready for this year's version of the Keys' Locals Art Show, the cultural event that has become affectionately known as the "Pigeon Poop." Scheduled for Feb. 9 and 10 at the Winn Dixie/KMart Plaza in Marathon, the show corresponds with the annual hosting of ...
The Bougainvillea House Gallery Moves to its New Location
Feb 01, 2008; ... Today, Feb. 1, the Bougainvillea House Gallery opens its doors at its new location, MM 53.2 (Gulf side) adjacent to the Marathon Chamber and Visitors Center. This complex now provides a true cultural center for the Middle Keys with the chamber helping local businesses," the visitor center ...
'There Will Be Blood' Is - Like Its Star - Intense
Feb 01, 2008; ... Front Row at the Movies 'There Will Be Blood' Is - Like Its Star - Intense reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades Recently my wife and I bought a vacation home near Lake Lure, N.C. I was surprised to learn that two movies had been made in that area - "Dirty Dancing" and "Last of the ...
SOUNDINGS
Feb 08, 2008; ... Guest speaker at the Friends of the Marathon Library books-and-coffee session at Kirk of the Keys on Thursday this week was former county attorney Jim Hendrick, addressing the topic of "Escaping Imprisonment." "Each of us," writes Hendrick in a press release, "is imprisoned at various ...
Waterfront Playhouse Annual Masquerade Ball
Feb 08, 2008; ... The Waterfront Playhouse holds its third annual extravaganza, the Masquerade Ball, on Monday, Feb. 11, at the home and gardens of Steven Selka, 744 Windsor Lane. (Free parking at the Harris School). This year, the theater is honoring Anne McKee, Holly Merrill and the Dogwood Foundation, Judith ...
510 Greene St.: Staying Up Late to Evaluate
Feb 08, 2008; ... Big budget pressures and who will be the city's new lobbyist, and who the architect for the new city hall, were earcatching items at Tuesday's City Commission meeting. "Some revenues are underperforming," said the City of Key West's finance director, Roger Wittenberg, offering up the ...
New Sights and Sounds at the Symphony
Feb 08, 2008; ... New Sights and Sounds at the Symphony The Key West Symphony continued to purr and roar through its 10th anniversary with "Pride and Despair," the season's second pair of master concerts at Tennessee Williams Theater last week. Star of the evenings was Jeffrey Biegel, a pianist of ...
So Bite Me, 'Shel Shocked' Is Funny
Feb 08, 2008; ... So Bite Me, 'Shel Shocked' Is Funny 'Shel Shocked," now playing at the Red Barn Theatre, is exactly what can be expected - satirical and funny with a cynical twist. Shel Silverstein is better known for the children's books he wrote and illustrated, his cartoon contributions to ...
Bicycle Enforcement is Going in the Wrong Direction
Feb 08, 2008; ... view from the hill A couple weeks ago, one evening after dinner, Rennie Disrud-Joris decided to run a quick errand to CVS. Since Rennie is 16 and does not yet have a driver's license, he rode his bike to the store on Truman Avenue. On the way home, he took Center Street, ...
A Story That Might Best Be Read Out Loud
Feb 08, 2008; ... A Story That Might Best Be Read Out Loud "Augustino and the Choir of Destruction" Marie-Claire Blais Anansi Press, $18.95 reviewed by Rosalind Brackenbury The latest in her series of novels ("These Festive Nights" and "Thunder and Light" are the first two) "Augustino" continues ...
'Starting Out in the Evening' Offers Poignant Ending
Feb 08, 2008; ... Front Row at the Movies 'Starting Out in the Evening' Offers Poignant Ending reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades Watching this new movie at the Tropic Cinema, I was reminded of lines from that Alfred Lord Tennyson poem about facing the twilight of one's life: 'Twilight ...
Lainie Davia Valentine Jewelry Show at SoDu
Feb 08, 2008; ... Lainie Davia, a well known fine jeweler, demonstrates fine jewelry making all week at SoDu Gallery, 1100 Duval St. There will be a reception on Monday, Feb. 11, from 6 to 9 p.m. Davia will be in the window showing her soldering, sawing, assembling and stonesetting skills all week from Feb. 11 to ...
Henry Peter and Pamela Folsom at Gingerbread Square
Feb 08, 2008; ... Henry Peter and Pamela Folsom's exhibition of paintings opens on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Gingerbread Square Gallery with a reception from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. This exhibition of works will continue through Feb. 18. Peter is a realist of significant accomplishment who will be showing his new ...
They Call It Fort Forgotten
Feb 15, 2008; ... Huge trucks began arriving at Fort Zachary Taylor during the last week of January. A fork-lift was extricating thousands of cannon balls, shaped projectiles, cannon mounts, gun carriages, and iron artifacts from rooms within the fort and placing them on the trucks. A Florida National ...
The Affordability Gap: So Big It's Cartoonish
Feb 15, 2008; ... view from the hill We are at the cusp of a tipping point, to mix the metaphors on Monroe County. And rarely has Key West, as a working town, been in so perilous a position. Consider the latest statistics, served up at a public briefing given by Leadership Monroe County this week ....
They Can't Take Our Sunshine Away - Can They?
Feb 15, 2008; ... TALLAHASSEE - Charlie Crist, governor of the Sunshine State, is sunshiney himself: tannfed, handsome and happy. And why not? He enjoys approval ratings somewhere in the upper ionosphere. Since his 2007 inauguration, Smiling Charlie has slapped the insurance companies around - everybody ...
Is It Time to Take a Pass on Hope?
Feb 15, 2008; ... The iconoclastic French writer, Jean Genet, supported social justice movements all over the world, a commitment that seemed to intensify during the waning years of his life. In 1983, an interviewer asked Genet about the limits of his activism, wondering if there would ever come a day when Genet ...
Free Children's Program at Eco-Discovery Center
Feb 15, 2008; ... Discovery Saturday is a chance for children at the kindergarten through fifth grade levels to have fun while learning about the environmental and cultural resources of the Florida Keys. This month's program runs from 9:30 until 11:30 a.m. at the Eco-Discovery Center, 35 East Quay Road, ...
View a Total Lunar Eclipse at Crane Point
Feb 15, 2008; ... Crane Point invites the community to come out on Wednesday, Feb. 20, to view the total eclipse of the moon. This is a very special event since it is the last total lunar eclipse visible in this area until December 2010. The partial phase of the eclipse begins at 8:43 p.m. and totality begins at ...
SOUNDINGS
Feb 15, 2008; ... The two counties in the whole country that lead all others in natural disasters, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency records, are Monroe County, Fla. and Caddo County, Okla. An analysis of FEMA records published this week in USA TODAY shows that Caddo County, southwest of ...
Popular Appraiser at Key West Antiques Show and Sale
Feb 15, 2008; ... Carolyn Remmey, a nationally recognized appraiser, is coming to Key West to participate in the Key West Art & Historical Society's fourth annual Key West Antiques Show and Sale, Feb. 22-24, at the East Martello Museum. Key Westers with treasured family heirlooms will have the ...
Old Island Restoration Tour This Weekend
Feb 15, 2008; ... This weekend, the February tour of Old Island Restoration Foundation features five beautiful homes in Old Town, including this elegant residence, owned by Dick Duane and Robert Thixton. The home is located at ...
Key West Symphony Orchestra Art Show Fundraiser
Feb 15, 2008; ... Up Down, Backward & Forward Solo Exhibit of Works by Miami Artist Alette Simmons-Jimenez Contemporary art meets classical music at this month's Walk on White Street, with a reception and exhibit by award-winning artist Alette SimmonsJimenez on Feb. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Studios ...
Gods and Humans Mix For Better and For Worse
Feb 15, 2008; ... Gods and Humans Mix For Better and For Worse "Gods Behaving Badly" Marie Phillips Little, Brown and Company, $23.99 reviewed by John French I thought I knew all about the Greek gods by the time I reached the eighth grade. But that was before I was treated to the delightful ...
Jane Dawkins Reads at Friends of Library Monday Night Lecture Series
Feb 15, 2008; ... The Friends of the Library Lecture Series continues its season on Monday, Feb. 18, with Jane Dawkins reading from her novels "Letters from Pemberley" and "More Letters from Pemberley." The program begins at 6 p.m. and will be held at the home of the lecture series, The Tropic Cinema, 416 Eaton ...
New 'Law' Comes to the Tropic
Feb 15, 2008; ... Remember that old Beach Boys tune "Good Vibrations"? Well, that's what Jane Hughes, president and CCO of "Just Allow," will be talking about on Feb. 17 at the Tropic Cinema. No, not the song itself. Rather, the concept that we all pick up on vibes, both good and negative. And likewise ...
Love, Action and Special Events at the Tropic
Feb 15, 2008; ... Get ready for Key West's own Red Carpet Ceremony. On Feb. 24, the Tropic Cinema will turn its theater and Eaton Street into a grand festival and Academy Award venue. It's the Tropic's Annual Oscar Gala and Street Party. Tickets available now. Tickets, $25 for Film Society members ($50 ...
'Fool's Gold' Ain't Real
Feb 15, 2008; ... Front Row at the Movies 'Fool's Gold' Ain't Real reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades 'Fool's Gold" - the adventurous romantic comedy playing at the Regal Cinema 6 - starts off with Tess (Kate . Hudson) on her way to Key West to divorce her treasurehunting husband Finnegan ...
New Work by John Martini at Lucky Street Gallery
Feb 15, 2008; ... John Martini's newest Key West show of steel sculpture and monoprints opens Thursday, Feb. 21, at Lucky Street Gallery, 1130 Duval St. The artist's reception gets underway at 7 p.m. His work will be on display through March 12. The artist, who usually outlines his ideas in chalk, cuts and layers ...
From a Woman's Hand Juried Art Show
Feb 15, 2008; ... Artwork made by women's hands will be the subject of a juried show at SoDu Gallery, 1100 Duval St., this spring. Women artists in the Florida Keys are invited to submit work for the exhibit. One entry per artist in any original medium will be juried by a professional artist for the ...
Bahia Honda Invites Craftspeople to Earth Day Celebration
Feb 15, 2008; ... The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Bahia Honda State Park is seeking craftspeople and artisans to set up booths and demonstrate their unique talent at the 13th annual Earth Day Celebration on April 12. Crafts must be handmade and ...
Ramrod Key Establishment Launches Sculpture Boondocks
Feb 15, 2008; ... Taking on a new role in the Lower Keys as a hub of interesting and varied entertainment, Boondocks Restaurant, MM 27 on Ramrod Key is going upscale with its first annual public art expo, Sculpture Boondocks. An opening reception takes place on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. The show will run ...
Red Barn Theatre's Moveable Feast
Feb 22, 2008; ... The management and staff of Red Barn Theatre and its Band of Angels invite the public to an evening of gourmet dining when they open four elegant Truman Annex homes for a progressive supper party to benefit the nonprofit playhouse. "A Moveable Feast" is scheduled for Mon-day, Feb. 25, and will ...
Take a Walk on the Dark Side
Feb 22, 2008; ... view from the hill Secrecy by the Executive Branch, and what in hell or on earth to do with the detainees at Guantanamo, are national issues so powerful that on two Tuesdays this month they filled the Harvey Government Center in Key West. "We have to work the dark side," is what ...
Light and Genes Make a Star: A Portrait of Jean Carper
Feb 22, 2008; ... Whether you believe in the big bang or Genesis 1:3, creation begins with light. The paradises of this world occur around the central belt of the earth, the circumference of the globe that stays closest to the sun. While Jean Carper would pooh-pooh those somewhat pompous observations, she ...
What's Gone From the Fort and What Stays
Feb 22, 2008; ... On an unhappy Valentine's Day for Fort Zachary Taylor, the last of the trucks carrying away thousands of Civil War artifacts left for Tallahassee. Civil War historian Charles Woolley, in a telephone interview, emphasized the importance of this collection of artifacts and pointed out ...
Peter Vey's Islands of Dreamers at The Gallery on Greene
Feb 22, 2008; ... In the first half of the last century, there existed a number of artists who came to be called American Scene painters or American Regionalists. The best-known representatives ofthat trend - which could hardly be called a group or a movement - included Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry, Reginald ...
SOUNDINGS
Feb 22, 2008; ... Speaking of Key West, Mike Williams of Cox News Service, writing in the Kansas City Star last week, said: "For decades, tour guides have successfully hyped this town's close proximity and historic ties to Cuba, playing up the Cuban cigar factories that once thrived in Key West, author Ernest ...
Cricket Desmarais Reveals the Cuban Spirit at The Studios of Key West
Feb 22, 2008; ... The Studios of Key West host an exhibit of images and text gathered by writer Cricket Desmarais on her journalistic visits to Cuba in 2007. "Poetic Just Is," a new body of images and mixed-media works, will be exhibited at the Key West Armory from Feb. 27 to March 27. The pictures reveal ...
'Reefer Madness, the Musical' at the Waterfront
Feb 22, 2008; ... Lock up the youngsters, cover grandma's eyes and batten down the hatches because "Reefer Madness, the Musical" is coming to the Waterfront Playhouse. Based on the 1936 propaganda movie, this outrageously twisted musical of sex, drugs and show tunes opens on Wednesday, Feb. 27, and runs until ...
Key West Jazz All-Stars Performance at St. Paul's
Feb 22, 2008; ... The All-Stars are Michael Gillis on guitar, Greg Sergo on drums and Lonnie Jacobson on bass. Currently residing in Key West, Gillis has performed at virtually every venue in the Lower Keys. He has also appeared at the Newport and New Orleans Jazz Festivals and with the Count Basie ...
Anja Marais and Perry Arnold Two Sculptors to Watch
Feb 22, 2008; ... The most serendipitous coupling of art institutions I can think of was the Key West Garden Club's welcoming of Sculpture Key West to its West Martello site. The first rate garden (can you think of a more beautiful acre in the Florida Keys?) is now the annual residence of a modest number of ...
Pops Third and Final Concert of the Season
Feb 22, 2008; ... The Key West Pops concludes its 9th season with the Broadway musical The Pajama Game in Concert" on Saturday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Tennessee Williams Theatre. Join The Key West Pops Orchestra under the musical direction of Pops Founder and Musical Director, Vincent Zito, as they ...
Stephen Marley in Concert at Ocean Key Resort
Feb 22, 2008; ... If you think you don't know the music of Stephen Marley, you do - you just don't realize it. A member of the celebrated Marley sibling group The Melody Makers since the age of 7, Stephen Marley comes to Ocean Key Resort's Sunset Pier on Sunday, March 2, at 9 p.m. The Grammy-winning ...
Key West and the Slave Trade Lectures
Feb 22, 2008; ... In a series of four lectures beginning Saturday, Feb. 23, inspired by the 200th anniversary of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade, Corey Malcom, director of archaeology at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, presents highlights from. his research into the history and archaeology of the ...
Darwin's Descendant Descends on Dover
Feb 22, 2008; ... Darwin's Descendant Descends on Dover "40 Days and 40 Nights" Matthew Chapman Harper Collins, $25.95 reviewed by Nancy Klingener I started reading "40 Days and 40 Nights" knowing the results of the trial it describes - the Dover, Pa., School Board was overturned in its effort to ...
Oscar Gala and Street Party on Sunday and Award-Nominated Films All Week
Feb 22, 2008; ... Sunday, Feb. 24, from 6 p.m. till the end: Tropic Cinema Annual Oscar Gala and Street Party The Tropic Cinema annual fundraiser and street party turns Eaton Street and the theater into a great Oscar blast. "Joan Rivers" aka Christopher Peterson heads Key West's own Red Carpet ...
'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' Delves Into One's Inner Self
Feb 22, 2008; ... Front Row at the Movies 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly' Delves Into One's Inner Self reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades I've always maintained that if an aetor wants to win an Oscar, he or she has to star in a movie about someone with a disability. Witness Jane Wyman as a ...
Jim Salem Exhibit at Gingerbread Square Gallery
Feb 22, 2008; ... Jim Salem's one-man exhibition of acrylic paintings opens on Monday, Feb. 25, at Gingerbread Square Gallery with a reception from 5:30 to 9 p.m. This exhibition of works will continue through March 2. Gingerbread Square Gallery, 1207 Duval St., is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Phone: ...
Big Bash and Huge Raffle at Bougainvillea House
Feb 22, 2008; ... The Bougainvillea House Gallery of Marathon is celebrating its new location at the Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center Complex MM 53.2 (GuJf Side). The gallery invites the public to its grand opening Bougainvillea Bash on Friday, Feb. 29, from 5:30 till 8 p.m. The artists of the ...
Four Artists Exhibit at Harrison Gallery
Feb 22, 2008; ... Harrison Gallery presents four artists, one being the gallery owner, Helen Harrison, artist in residence for the last 21 years at 825 White St. Known for her sculpture primarily using natural materials that reflect the character and environment of the Keys, she combines craftsmanship and the ...