Zombies

Let's start with daylight. Wyland has been making his way down the Keys refreshing several of his murals. He's been here for 3 days and we decided to see how he was doing.

Looking good! I like how the marine life goes around the corner. I got to paint part of a mural in New York City's Hayden planetarium cafeteria as a class project years (and years) ago. The thing was so big it was hard to get a feel for what you were doing. Wyland's work is truly impressive, especially when you see all the paint variances involved.
Then we were off to take advantage of community day and see Fort East Martello (for free). Like Fort Zachary, this martello never saw action. The museum was an interesting mishmash of history and gallery. I liked all its brick archways and cubbies.

First up was the work of Mario Sanchez, who specialized in colorful wood carvings that depicted life in Key West from his perspective.

Besides the expected historical items sprinkled throughout the fort, an unexpected surprise was the haunted portion, which includes a 100+ year-old freaky doll called Robert. There's already a great write-up about this 3-foot doll, but the synopsis is that Robert was a "gift" to a little boy named Gene. Gene (who later became a famous artist) and the rest of his family were not very nice to the staff, so one Haitian servant created and cursed the doll before giving it to the boy as a new friend. Passers-by could hear two voices in Gene's room and when nasty things would happen, Gene would say "Robert did it!" which is what Michael's saying there.

The doll eventually ended up in an attic before being discovered in the 1970s when a little girl came across it. It didn't take long before strange things started happening again, and Robert was relegated to the attic again. Now he resides in the Fort (under alarm), and demands people ask him for permission to take his photo (we didn't). The letters behind him are from people who didn't ask permission either, are now having bad luck, and are asking for forgiveness. We'll see...This was scary too.

Then there was the story of Carl Tanzler von Cosel, a radiologist (and married man), who became obsessed with a Cuban-American woman he was convinced he could save from tuberculosis. When she died, he was shocked but was sure he could eventually "cure her" and bring her back to life. So two years after her death, he exhumed her body, reconstructed the missing parts, and then lived with her for 7 years before the gross arrangement was discovered (she was in an elaborate bed and in a wedding dress). It was quite a big deal here at the time (1933-1940).  Eew.


The garden was a little less spooky and displayed the sculptures of various artists, while the citadel housed the works of Stanley Papio, all made out of recycled items (some might call junk). Lots of fun.

Up on the roof, we had a great breeze and a view of the sea. It was 2pm and a cruise ship was coming in. The airport was right behind us too.

Later, we saw that same cruise ship towering over Old Town.

Before we knew it, it was time for the Zombie Bike Ride.


We've been kind of picking and choosing the events we want to be in vs. watch (cost being one factor). We decided to watch this one and were excited when one of our hashers told us he was playing Michael Jackson in a flash mob in front of Salute once the bikers started rolling in. He did a great job, but it was hard to get photos there were so many people (over 2,000 of them!). You do get a good view of the zombies watching the show.

 

The face/body painting and bike decor were surprisingly clever and intricate. Once the sun set it was tough getting photos (mucho blurro), but you get the idea.

That's a pepper as a tongue

I had to laugh at this one. I took a backward shot as we were mopeding away. It was black until I enhanced it. It was kind of like playing a record backwards or slowing down a "ghost recording" when this image appeared.

Anyway, for better photos of the make-up and costumes, go here.

We also took a quick jaunt over to Captain Tony's (the original Sloppy Joes, where Hemingway hung-out - yes, there is a second Sloppy Joe now), who was having a Pirate & Wench party. We gave all our pirate gear, accumulated over years of hashing, away when we moved. I guess we should have known we'd need it again. Although it sure didn't compare to what these guys were wearing (that man, yes man, in red lace was terrifying).



It's getting harder and harder to take photos as the costumes get skimpier and skimpier (is air-brushing your Dirk Diggler really a costume?). There were guys with shorts that had a blinking light sort of like Rudolph only not on their noses, men and women with body paint and nothing else, pasties...I'm not sure of the etiquette of picture-taking there. Plus this is a (P?)G rated blog, so all I can say is you have to be here.

It was so strange going home and having zombies biking or walking past us - especially with so many houses decorated for Halloween. It's starting to feel like a Hollywood set.

Today we're going to avoid the Kinky Fetish Party (the Pinking of You event is likely to be a bit tamer), but tomorrow we'll be a part of TuTu Tuesday. Stay tuned!