Tropic Photos

My wife decided to celebrate the first afternoon of her two week Christmas teacher's break by seeing a movie. Rumor has it the mainstream Regal Cinema in Searstown is bringing back its  four screen emporium destroyed by Hurricane Irma's  rain in 2017. There it sits mouldering away with period movie posters hanging in their frames and paint peeling horribly while, as we shall see the art house Tropic on Eaton Street is taking up the  slack quite heroically.

But, after you get your ticket validated and before you get into the the screening room there is a corner of the theater devoted to Art. I've seen some cool stuff here and this latest exhibit is worth a  stop on your way to see a movie. It's not obvious but is in the back entrance to the main "Carper" screen. There are no words describing or explaining  the  exhibit which took me aback until I remembered I had Google in my pocket.

Tropic Gallery Link

It turns out an enterprising Key West photographer was looking for people to photograph according to his Facebook page, about the time I was in the ICU starting my path to recovery from the wreck.  Let's be clear, no way would I want to be in a gallery like this but I love the initiative and the fact he collected 1100 faces is extraordinary. Apparently the exhibit opened at the Studios of Key West (of course!) October 4th and it has migrated here, where, now that I am walking with a walker frame I got to stump by coming and going to Mary Poppins Returns.  

I thought I recognized possibly one friend I know and one public person -Mike Mongo, he of the upside down glasses- in this reduced collection on show. I was quite surprised I didn't see any other familiar faces.  Actually I wasn't sure where the faces were from at all until I noticed some logos on the clothing and that gave me a clue that at least some of the subjects were local. That highlighted a major drawback for me. 

Perhaps originally there were names or biographies attached to the pictures but if they are simply a series of shapes and smiles and grotesque expressions as shadows and shapes, then I find that diminishes the impact a bit for me. I am, it must be obvious, nobody's idea of a portrait photographer and aside from not being very good putting people at ease the tedium of collating stories with pictures is not very easy for me either. Hence the lack of people in my pictures. 

"Heads Up Key West involves hundreds of black and white portraits of over 1100 locals from 2013 and 2018, photographed by Tom Flip Photo....
These photos “capture the real, raw, and compelling characters of Key West” 

I'd love to see all 1100 of them. You can get lost in a brilliant exhibit like this. My only question is how do you see it if you aren't going to the movies?

The Studios  says the photos also show changes  brought about the passage of five years: Thomas Filipkowski revisits his popular 2013 project, Heads Up Key West in which he photographed 600 faces from the community. Then and Now illuminates the changes caused by time and circumstance, providing a clear-eyed look at ordinary people coping with the reality of what it means to live in paradise. 

This is great stuff, highly recommended as you really can't see the depth and clarity of the pictures on my tiny reproductions which I hope have given you an idea of why these pictures are worth visiting.

I hope they are still here for the next movie I go see. On that note I had a funny moment in the loo. I was ready to leave and a guy moved to the sinks effectively blocking my exit while he paused to figure out his hand washing routine. As he got going I sat in my rolling walker and announced" One good thing about being a cripple is you take your seating with you." No reaction so I sat and watched him ponderously wash his hands and waited for him to clear out and release me.  I've noticed much more unfriendly behavior since the snow birds came back, in the supermarket and in other public places. It's  quite surprising how obvious the lack of manners and public good will is to me, the handicapped. Doesn't make me keen to be handicapped where they come from, thanks. One more reason to love the Keys, in my opinion.

Mary Poppins Returns was a nostalgic  romantic movie, a reminder of cartoon cinema from half a century ago and I wonder if younger movie goers will relate to the cartoon imagery that was reminiscent to me of stuff like Fantasia and those droopy goofy characters. I liked it a lot actually though there wasn't much plot at all and it tended to drag a bit in the middle. Sweet ridiculous movie. Enough said if you're  sixty years old and you recall the joy the original brought you.  I will say I remember The Sound of Music  more fondly with all those amazing unattainable young teenage girls to entice me to dream when I was twelve. Mary Poppins in her original incarnation was quite severe.

And as for the Tropic...The sprucing it got recently has made a great difference, nothing revolutionary, no big changes hit the eye but it just looks clean and nice. Good job and I'm looking forward to going  back. 

I hope the Regal gets a move on and comes back. I have no doubt running popular movies has made money but in my own selfish way I'd like to see more Arts productions and fewer crowd pleasers but I also want the Tropic to continue being a success so I'd better shut up. 

Grain & Berry

"I don't think you're going to like this," Nick said as he struggled to pull my bulky new mobility walker from the back seat of his diminutive Subaru  sort-of-a-sports-car. It was that time once again where we were going out to lunch last Thursday and Nick had tentatively half suggested an eatery in Overseas Market near Winn Dixie and more importantly a large gym. Little does Nick know I am as crunchy as the next former resident of Santa Cruz, California; I have a past.

The  first thing the food adventurer will notice on entry is the vast array of bananas, and I only managed to get a very few of them in the viewfinder.  Naturally when we went to order I had to ask if they were fresh out of bananas and they took it well.  Nick has a passion for eating in places where you have to build your own dish. The last time we did this was at Sinz, a burrito place that did not strike me as worth it. Now that familiar sense of panic started to rise in my gorge as I saw the wall covered in options and choices that I had to select. I am a man and I asserted myself of course; my fall back position in these encounters is to seek out the daily specials and they always have them. If they don't sound too gruesome grab a special and save yourself the agony of mixing and matching with people in line behind you growing impatient.

Each one of those boxes represents a choice, a smoothie covered in granola or warm oatmeal (which I love) covered with fruit or berries and a squirt of peanut butter or Nutella or some other thing.  I went for acai smoothie with apple and blueberries and peanut butter, none of which I dislike at all. I figured it was a safe option even though acai is one of those modern jungle herbs we never see in real life but cures all ills in the younger generation. It just tasted like blackberry to me and was a deep purple. This lot pride themselves on not adding sugar or corn syrup or other nasties so you can order with a clear conscience. I did panic on the drink order and went with Nick's dreary suggestion of a bottle of water. I should have gone for hot tea for the full effect, if they even offer it which you'd think they would as tea is good for you. Plus I would have got to see if they know how to brew something remotely resembling a cuppa; probably not, so I was most likely spared by my indecision.

On the way over Nick had mentioned something really foul which members of his millennial generation apparently swoon over. It's called avocado toast which is supposed to be exactly what it sounds like. It reminds me of the slightly bizarre flavors my Scottish sister likes to dream up, most memorably a lettuce and Marmite sandwich that even though I like both ingredients has remained lodged in my memory bank for these past 30 years. After we had ordered fruit bowls and sat down I mentioned this avocado delight to Nick and he promptly got up and went back and ordered it for us to share. I suggested the egg and avocado and to my delight it came back with scrambled eggs spread thick and creamy on top. Yes I know it sounds hideous but I can't stop thinking about it. The sandwich, if that is what it was, is delicious and a drizzle of hot sauce would not have gone amiss. Next time I bring Green Dragon with me.

We piled into that like two starving men and in between bites we got to sample a parade of the most exquisite women you have seen in Key West trotting in and out of the gym or stopping by for a refreshing cup of something smooth. They were of all ages and all shapes and various stages of improper street dress. A small reminder why not everyone wants to do Broga for men I suppose. I got on with demolishing my....whatever it is. They call it a bowl which puts me in mind of an opium den, not that I've ever visited one you understand but they crop up in Literature from time to time where men (usually) lie back and "smoke a bowl." I inhaled my bowl. It was delicious.

Nick was pretty smug at the point where he realized I wasn't blowing smoke when I said I liked the place. "Let's come back" I said. "Oh" he replied,"so you really do like it?"  Duh. What's not to like? Next time though we explore the hot drinks. If you don't live in Florida you are out of luck but they are in the Tampa Bay area and Orlando as well as Key West. This is another reason to live in the Sunshine State.

Now that I am driving I have returned my electric mobility scooter which was a great thing. This piece of gloriousness (below) is my new walker. I figured that at last I am stable enough, especially if I am learning to walk with a cane, to have a walker with four wheels. I think it cost around $55 from Amazon and it comes with brakes on the two rear wheels while the front 6 inch wheels turn. There's a bag under the seat which holds lots of things, but if you do fill it then you can't fold the chair properly to stuff it in your car...how do I know? Because I once got a bit too enthusiastic in the cargo department. It's really really nice to have a seat wherever you go when your legs are very weak but I have a feeling this little piece of walking delight will strengthen my legs in short order, and that's because it rolls so easily it forces me to walk fast to keep up. Exhausting and effective, so much so I occasionally tap the brakes just to slow it down a bit. It also rolls silently unlike my previous sliding walker.

I added a cup holder, of course as I am American and I have figured out how best to back it into the loo where space is severely restricted.  This is almost as good as getting a new Suzuki scooter. That will come in due course.

Shrimpers

Looking down Cow Key Channel earlier this week I knew that when I got around the corner I'd see a bunch of commercial fishing boats at anchor avoiding the north winds of the predicted cold front.  

I rolled down South Roosevelt on my electric mobility scooter and looked out to sea.

Miami

Miami seen from the freeway flyover. Lovely isn't it?

My wife got really mad with Doubletree as their accessible room patently was not. It was a very long way from the elevators. AS she said it was lucky she goes to the gym regularly as anyone less fit would never have been able to push me past the roughly 40 rooms to get to ours. Which, when we arrived had a lovely view of the waterfront which prompted this essay. However I couldn't get out there in my chair and had to transfer to my walker. Had I not had a walker I'd have got no view:

The thing about Miami is that it is a lovely city, full of different and interesting cultures set in  lush  tropical surroundings except the city itself is unapproachable. I don't know why but almost nobody likes Miami. 

For some haters its the fact that Spanish carries equal weight if not greater weight in some neighborhoods. It can be annoying I know but the compensation for that is the incredible array of foods from all over Latin America in funky first rate hole-in-the-wall eateries.

Naturally I was exhausted by the time we arrived at our hotel so we ordered in room service, a mixture of food from Uruguay, Dominican Republic and of course Cuba in various appetizers. 

There are museums and performances and everyone loves to call South Florida home in the winter so world class performers show up here when the snow is thick Up North. 

None of it compensates somehow for a city that lacks some essential element that I cannot identify.  Cities all over the world are  full of hustle and aggression and bad manners but somehow much of Miami is the poster child for unpleasant urban living. 

I watched Anthony Bourdain dissect Miami Beach and he made me want to hang there, but he had that knack obviously. Yet when I go to Miami i can't stand the place. I crave Key West.

The staff at my rehab were delightful, my landlord is  great guy, compassionate and caring and they all live in the least caring city I know,  a place that makes Los Angeles look like the home of the warm fuzzies.

If Miami were a cool town to visit it would elevate life in the Keys too, because this mess of competing corruption and temporary residence is the city that blocks access to the islands. This is where you come for world class medical care, and if you desire, plastic surgery because Miami is the world capital of tacky.

And on a related note I have developed a healthy fear of motorcycling in Miami traffic. They have  a European approach to ignoring the rules which works in Rome but in the US they freak each other out and accidents clog arteries all over the place all the time. My retirement plan is to start all road trips at 2am to get past Miami while the city sleeps.

I just stood there and played with my camera and pondered the injustice of such a crappy city occupying such a lovely spot and making itself home to spivs frauds con men and retired Latin power brokers right alongside legitimate  business people from all over the Caribbean basin.

I went to the surgeon's office to get the job done that I came to do, and  got approved for increased locomotion as I continue my path to recovery.

All those broken bones....

And this useful reminder: