Sembert Sings at TSKW

Sometimes I feel like a troglodyte but I can't help it, I like quiet evenings at home with my wife and walks with my dog. But then Cathy Sembert opens The Studios At Key West cabaret series and a reticent dude like myself shows up at 8pm prompt on White Street.


Cathy strutted her stuff in two 45 minute sets all recorded by her daughter Kate home from Orlando to do the deed.


Cathy was having fun singing and strutting to a full house.


She told of her husband Phil a shy piano player who was busy earning a living elsewhere that night.


She went through a dress change to much applause,


And came back to sing a bit more and tell of the trials of child rearing, to much guilty laughter from daughter Kate in the audience.


Oh, and don't forget the ten gallon Stetson. Bayyy-bee!


Then Julia Childs made her appearance to discuss the cooking of the chicken French style. Pianist Michael Thomas usually seen tickling the ivories at the Beachside Hotel, did a brilliant impersonation of the French chef.


With the Diva stepping in a Rachel Ray with her bottle of EVOO.


And a bottle of claret to lubricate the sketch.


One final costume change into a backless gown,


A few more songs to wide acclaim,


And we repaired to the Beachside for pizza and wine and conversation. It can be difficult to remain a recluse in Key West.

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Frances And Ashe At Night

I started out with a color setting on the camera and that was okay.


But I have really come to enjoy photographing Key West by night, in the sepia setting on my Canon SX100.


Cheyenne was off leash wandering the empty sidewalk and I was trying not to freak out as my love was free to step into (non existent) traffic. The pineapple, even when stylized on a fence, is a symbol of welcome in the Florida Keys.


The former Haïtian Art Gallery has found a new home in some other place in town, on Simonton as I recall, and the old building has become an upscale furniture store.


I adored the sign in the window. "closed till the 22nd..." it read and then just to make sure any and all customers know they are dim bulbs in the high voltage world of home furnishings, the note goes on to say, with a straight face, that they will re-open on the 23rd. What other option did they have? Closed till the 22nd, and opening on the 24th?


Walk a block and see something new. A mysterious garage door for instance.


That's the nature of Key West old buildings and funky skylines. Walking at night is especially rewarding.


I stumbled across a cardboard box on the sidewalk with the all enticing word "Free" stenciled across the side in magic marker. It wasn't interesting, that I knew as Cheyenne ignored it completely. I couldn't see so I fired up the odious, but useful flash.


Fashion magazines? Really? How dreary. Sometimes the unexpected is just a waste of space, truly. Hence the price tag.




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