WE'RE TALKIN TROPICAL TURKEY

It's hard to believe, but two weeks from today, most of y'all will be stuffed to the gills with turkey, pumpkin pie and all the formal fixins that go into makin that meal. Now most people get together at home with their families, but Miss Vero finds that this is the perfect occasion to get out of town. OK, we'll be honest, we find any time is the perfect occasion to get out of town.

Our own little turkey tradition doesn't involve a turkey at all, it actually involves a big ole pot of somethin we call low country boil, which is a favorite of people livin in the coastal Georgia area and there abouts. The recipe is a mess a shrimp, some sausage, cob corn and liberal amounts of Old Bay seasoning. Messy, after the shrimp peelin, but clean up's a breeze, cause y'all just dump the whole mess on some newspaper and roll it up when everybody's finished. Good time of the year to have the PJ on hand.

Miss Vero and entourage have found an enjoyable way to continue this tradition and we're gonna share our idea for a fun time with y'all. You see, there's quite a few of us from all different parts, so each year we just rent us a big ole house in a different location. This is actually a lot easier than it sounds, especially with some of our favorite websites that offer up these places.

Just for fun, we wondered what type of accommodations we could find in our own backyard. Take a look at the offerings from a few of the web sites:


Here's a lovely little beach house, but alas, too small for our group:
http://www.cyberrentals.com/rental/p208903

A cottage that boasts a feature in Vero Beach Magazine:
http://www.vrbo.com/96052


But here's a little spot down south that would really work for us:
http://www.cyberrentals.com/rental/p186176

and if that's not available, maybe this:
http://www.cyberrentals.com/rental/p38306hi

We wonder if they'd mind us puttin down newspapers to catch the shrimp peelins?


Now if y'all don't want to skip town or have the turkey at home, y'all can always go out to eat. The Costa D' Este is having a thanksgiving "special":
http://www.floridasnapshot.com/2008/11/12/thanksgiving-estefan-style-in-vero-beach/

And speaking of the Costa D'Este -

Congratulations to Mrs. Gloria Estefan - Big Time Latin Grammy winner!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/arts/music/14latin.html?ref=us

And congratulations also to Mr. José Feliciano, who played at Captain Hiram's one night. Yup, little known fact, Mr. Feliciano has a good friend who lives in Vero and one night at the Sand Bar, Mr. Feliciano serenaded a select (and surprised) few.

Now why doesn't stuff like that happen around here more often?

Y'all have a good weekend, we'll be back Monday with Max!


MWAH!


missvero@live.com

TODAY'S GUEST AT THE BEACH HOUSE...

Yes It's true! Miss Vero has invited a guest blogger today, who you may or may not know. Perhaps, y'all might disagree with him or cheer him on while you're reading. One thing is for sure, he's got a whole lot of local media history to share, which explains some of why VeroBeach is in the"dead zone" when it comes to news coverage.

But before we get to that, Miss Vero wants to make sure that y'all got a chance to read Mr. Jose Lambiet's report of Mrs. Gloria Estefan's show last Saturday night. Y'all remember the one that will benefit educational programs in Indian River as well as, other counties? Well kids, for a reminder see our August 10th post "Jilted Lemmon":

http://missverosbeachhouse.blogspot.com/2008/08/jilted-lemmon.html

Last Monday we wondered about the new Connie Francis bio film starring Mrs. Estefan. Well, Mr. Lambiet's report from the Palm Beach Post, not only gives us a little more movie info, but dishes on the concert too. Interesting comments after the report and doesn't his new page look fabulous?:

http://www.page2live.com/2008/10/25/gloria-estefans-hard-rock-surprise/

AND NOW...

We might not agree on every issue, but Miss Vero is sincerely delighted to post his opinion with out censorship. Please welcome Mr. Max Newport:



SWIRLING AROUND IN THE VORTEX OF MEDIA INSIGNIFICANCE
-Max Newport

Progress has not been kind to Vero Beach in the area of local news coverage. With all of the advances in media technology and means of communication, we are unfortunately in an abyss where the local news is defined by one outlet, and that of course is the Press Journal. You have to appreciate what Channel 10 is trying to do; if you can figure out what it is they are trying to do. It takes a very patient person to sit through the PowerPoint graphics and then try to figure out what they are trying to say. I am not that person.

In Vero Beach, local news is what the Press Journal says it is. In other words, if it is not in their paper, it is simply not news. This has really dumbed down the citizens of this community in the area of local current events.

We are sort of in a twilight zone of media coverage. Every now and then a Palm Beach television reporter will come up to get some footage of Ira Hatch waddling out of a holding cell but beyond a major tragedy, the numbers just aren’t here for coverage by the major outlets. This leaves us with the Press Journal.

It hasn’t always been that way.

A sure sign of approaching geezerhood is looking back fondly on the good old days and saying how much better things were then than they are now, but sadly in the area of local news coverage, that is very true. Let’s borrow a phrase from soul singer Tyrone Davis and “turn back the hands of time” thirty years or so.

Vero Beach in the 1970’s actually had a press corps. It was common to see six or seven reporters at a city council or county commission meeting or even at a meeting of the hospital board of trustees. This was before all of the meetings were televised so that folks like Brian Heady could set their VCR’s to watch their brilliant tutorials on constitutional law to the elected officials.

We had the Miami Herald with two reporters led by the legendary Phil Long. The Today newspaper had a full time staff of three reporters, one being the outstanding Georgia Curry. The Palm Beach Post and the Orlando Sentinel each had a fully staffed bureau in Vero Beach. Channel 34, WTVX, did two half hour newscasts daily with Vero Beach and Fort Pierce news. Three radio stations had full time news divisions, WTTB, WAXE and WGYL. There was also the Press Journal, which was published twice a week and focused on local news. If you wanted to know who was in the hospital, and why, it was in the Press Journal. Most folks bought the Press Journal strictly for local news and also subscribed to another newspaper for daily coverage.

There were unofficial coalitions. The Press Journal owned WTTB, so they naturally worked together and shared stories. WAXE worked with Today. Phil Long with the Herald and Pete Noel at WGYL were the Vero Beach version of Woodward and Bernstein. There was competition amongst the reporters to get the story and to get it first . . . and get it right. When the Press Journal went daily, people started cancelling their subscriptions to other newspapers causing the local bureaus to close. WTVX was sold and became a Palm Beach station. The Vero Beach radio stations, which were loca lly owned, were sold to media groups where Indian River County news was not a priority.

Local news coverage went downhill to what we have today; the Press Journal. Radio news is limited to Neal Stannard reading TCPalm stories at the bottom of the hour on WTTB. Neal, God bless him, has been part of the radio scene for decades and is a talent that is very much underappreciated.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2575650/

If Max Newport was a drinking man, and he is not, a toast to Neal would be offered at this point.
The media picture in 2008 is bleak. The Press Journal, with all of their self-proclaimed opinion of journalistic professionalism, is extremely lame. Georgia Curry, who I mentioned earlier, would be able to produce all of the original news copy for the paper and still have time to help her kids with their homework before hitting the sack, and it would be accurate and highly readable. Sadly, Georgia died at a very young age in 1977 from a rare blood disorder. Anyone who was fortunate enough to know her will remember that she was one of a kind both personally and professionally (and truly missed).

Without any viable competition, the Press Journal has become complacent and the prime example of this “we’re the only news outlet in town and we don’t care” attitude is the “columnist” Russ Lemmon. You know Russ, he is the guy you see walking around town that looks like he needs a job. I’m sure Russ is a nice guy (well I don’t know him so I am not sure but he probably is), but he has lowered the IQ of anyone who relies exclusively on the Press Journal for local news by at least ten points. He came to Vero with a chip on his shoulder about how mean everyone is and has gone downhill since. I’m not sure why the Press Journal saw a need for his type of writing, but whatever it is he is doing . . . and he is right up there with Channel 10, belongs on the opinion page. I will say, in his favor, that he wrote an article in last Saturday’s paper about the baseball Grapefruit League that was actually quite good.

Initially, there are three things that have irritated me regarding his recent writings that deserve attention. There are probably more, but I will focus on three.

1. The Sebastian Soccer Team School Bus Attempted Rape.

Russ wrote an article claiming the suspension of the remainder of the season was too severe of a punishment for what happened on the school bus. The problem was that Russ didn’t know what happened on the school bus but chose to criticize the school officials, who did know, anyway. When he did find out how serious the incident was, he writes a couple of sentences that he stands by his opinion that sports are good. Basically he responded that the facts be damned. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it. He could have gained some credibility if he had just admitted that he wrote his diatribe without knowing the facts of the story and had he known the severity of the allegations, maybe second guessing the school’s decision wasn’t such a good idea. Max, by the way, did provide a comment on TCPalm expressing those feelings which was promptly deleted by Russ and company.

Sometimes saying that you screwed up is the right thing to do.

2. This Whole Kay Clem Thing.

Good God!!! This is a man on a mission and it is so obvious. It became clear when he typed his first article about Cathy Hart being fired that he despised Kay Clem and was clearly in the Cathy Hart corner. Such blatant biased writing is simply unprofessional and does not belong on the news page. I’m not sure such personal attacks belong even on the opinion page. One thing about Russ, he is certainly transparent when it comes to Kay Clem. He is freaking obsessed with her.

Once again he has a “facts be damned” attitude when it comes to her.

A shining example, one of many, is his writing of a “shopping spree” on November 30, 2006. He painted a picture of Kay Clem hurling credit cards like Frisbees at cashiers in an Orlando mall while her poor employees were slaving away at the elections office working their fingers to the bone while severely understaffed.

Max Newport is not a professional journalist like Mr. Lemmon, but this concerned me to the point that I actually made a phone call. Russ could have made that phone call but didn’t because it didn’t fit his agenda. Max called 567-8000 after the “story” was printed and found out within minutes that the Supervisor of Elections office was closed on November 30, 2006.

That’s right. No one was working in the elections office that day.

They weren’t having a kegger on the beach. The county had closed the office to move furniture and equipment from the old location to the current one. Shouldn’t that be something that a responsible reporter would have included in the article?

It appears that his obsession with Kay Clem, which borders on mental illness, does not include an obsession with the facts. What I see is an indifference to the truth.


3. Lemmon Drops

It seems that when Russ has nothing to write about he produces these nuggets “to nibble on” while we are waiting for intergalactic canine communication or something equally inane. So we are supposed to nibble and wait.

The Lemmon Drops themselves have kind of a Larry King meets Captain Kangaroo quality. Larry King once had a weekly column in USA Today that was brilliant in comparison to what the Press Journal sees as publishable.

If you don’t remember King’s column, it was a stream of consciousness style of prose that took him about an hour to write (the full hour Larry?). Larry would say something like:

“For my money, Richard Dreyfuss is the finest American actor in the business today. . .”

“Call me old fashioned, but on a hot day nothing beats a frosty mug of root beer. . .”

“Robin Williams? One word. Funny . . .”

Those aren’t actual quotes but you get the idea.

Russ wants us to nibble and wait. My confectionery knowledge is limited but from what I recall his corollary is a hard piece of candy that would do some real damage to the teeth. A devoted Russ reader would be not only stupid, but toothless as well. What Russ is really saying is “Suck on this until I find something to write about”.

It is sad for someone, who received his first ever paycheck from the Press Journal, to see this level of journalistic deterioration. And it’s not just Russ; he is just such a simple target. It is frustrating to have a single news source and have it at the level the Press Journal has become.

If there is a Press Journal in Heaven (and you know it can’t be Heaven without it), Georgia Curry is laughing.

Thank you Max!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

CUBAN COFFEE TALK

Got a little tip over the weekend from our favorite South Beach Queen, who follows all things Miss Gloria, that the Latin diva would be in town this weekend at the Costa d'Este, to shoot a spread for People magazine. With this inside info y'all think that Miss Vero would be rushin right on over there to one of our favorite tropical spots, but no hunnies, we are not in the habit of chasin celebrities down (as we hear other local media types are actively doing). Having known many celebrities over the years we completely understand the need for privacy and usually do not hang around - unless of course we are invited.



That being said, if we did happen to be in the presence of Mrs. Estefan, we would probably be interested in the progress of her new movie, where she is slated to play the underrated and now probably forgotten, Miss Connie Francis. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/estefan%20to%20make%20francis%20movie_1078382


Seems like the Costa is gearing up for a fabulous season. Since we stayed there in June and continue to lunch, cocktail and dine there, management and staff have settled in or departed. It's no big secret that Benchmark Hospitality is currently looking for a new GM for the resort:

http://www.hcareers.com/seeker/search/view?jobAdId=1EAE4E1779B24DF7&type=partner&source=indeedorganic



We just hope that we'll continue to see Monica Smiley and others who have always made us feel very welcomed.



MR. HASKINS DETAILS MEETING WITH MISS VERO

Miss Vero told y'all about Mr. Michael Haskins' book signing in Vero on October 3rd. Well, on his blog this weekend, he posted details of his Vero Beach adventure, his friendship with local radio guy Bob Soos and his encounter with Miss Vero!:

http://www.chasinthewind.blogspot.com/


If y'all recall, we first meet Mr. Haskins when we read about his potential travel to Vero for the Vero Beach Book Festival this year that was, of course, unceremoniously canceled . Y'all might remember that we wrote about it way back in our May 27th post, "Write It Off". The PJ had printed a little blurb written by someone we didn't recognize by the name of Robin Roup, who actually had some manners and replied to our inquiry, unlike many other PJ staffers (including every editor we have ever written to), who seem to think of Miss Vero's correspondence as of no consequence! How rude.

Here's the original post and all the links, we think it's an important enuf story to be repeated and for those of y'all too lazy to look it up:
http://missverosbeachhouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Vero%20Beach%20Book%20Festival

Come to find out that this story was given to Robin, who was a summer intern at the PJ and there has been no follow up. So sad, when the Book Festival was just getting some major attention for the literary community and the downtown location was such a pleasant reminder of what Vero can be. Suppose we'll just have to hoof it on down to My-am-ah to get the real deal and catch Dave Barry and the Rock Bottom Remainders:
http://www.miamibookfair.com/


Well now that we finished our morning Java, time to see what manner of things we have planned for our week and see if our friend, the South Beach Queen has something more valuable for us than Gloria gossip. Like maybe, a guest room for Miss Vero in that South Beach Condo during Book Fest week!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

JUST AS WE SUSPECTED..

So, Miss Vero went on a little vay-cay to a hip place to party and let all the thoughts of Indian River County election snafu leave our brain. Surely by the time we got back, questions would be addressed and problems would be solved but - no! Once again we were right (and oh how tiring that gets), not another mention of it. Are we the only one still bothered by the primary election mess? Not if our emails are any indication, but our "newspaper", instead of challenging the issue, has our local "journalist" proudly switchin parties and joining in the process! (y'all know if you're not part of the solution...)

This is a serious issue kids and although Miss Vero likes to not take things so serious, this is something that we all need to pay close attention to. Here's a video from the Daily Show that was pointed out by "cyberpunks" to Mr. Lemmon"s column on Sunday.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=113952&title=slow-voter-turnout

Miss Clem nervously looks as though she's on 60 minutes rather than The Daily Show. Sense of Humor? None detected. Clue about The Daily Show? Nope. Reassuring to her constituents? Not even close.


Y'all know that Mr. Lemmon annoys us, but when he makes such pomp -ass statements such as these, we begin to get more insulted than annoyed, here's a little sample from Sunday;

"Colman Stewart must be living right."
"He now has a legitimate shot of becoming Indian River County's supervisor of elections."
"Never mind the last time a Democrat prevailed in countywide voting was 1990."

"Living right"?? A 'legitimate" shot??!! Oh that's right, he was still a republican when he wrote that, no wonder. today he's switched back to NPA.

The voting situation in Indian River and Palm Beach Counties using Sequoia voting systems have made headlines on the web in Daily Voting News and Bradblog (thanks to a very alert Miss Vero Fan, who emailed us!):
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6347#more-6347

Here's just a little quote from writer John Gideon of votersunite.org, that we find enlightening;

"Now, I’m not saying that Sequoia is to blame for the problems of the past week. Unlike Sequoia I don’t set blame until I have evidence to back it up. Besides the Indian River plan of testing a modem down-load system in the middle of a real election was bone-headed and seems to be the fault of the administrators."

So, yes Mr. Lemmon, it does seem that Mr. Coleman Stewart has a "legitimate" chance of being viable in this election.



MORE MAIL THAT CAME OUR WAY

Miss Vero had a big ole pile of email come in over the weekend and one interesting letter was from Mr. Charlie Wilson. Now y'all know we like to keep our emails private, but since Mr. Wilson said "Just for the record" , well...

"Just for the record, I am single and I do not leer at women, I "admire" women. It only seems like I see alot only because I am such a bad date no one wants to go with me twice. Also in the interest of journalistic integrity I prefer redheads not blonds."

Miss Vero has three things to say about that.

#1 Yeah! Mr. Wilson has a sense of humor and is not afraid to contact Miss Vero, we sure do like that!

#2 Mr. Wilson used the term "journalistic integrity" when referring to Miss Vero's musings, we really like that!

#3 And finally, now we feel compelled to find an attractive redhead for Mr. Wilson to "admire". Any takers? Why is Mr. Wilson such a bad date? Why does he know he's a bad date? Perhaps Miss Vero needs to give Mr. Wilson some pointers. Hmmm, let's see...nope, nothin comin to mind, can we get some help here?

Another email that came our way, let us know that Miss Sandra Bowden is doing fine but can't help but wonder what role Mr. Lemmon played in her demise with his continual Gloria Estefan stories that abruptly ended when Mrs. Estefan announced her south Florida concert plans.

Let's review shall we kids?

Say what y'all will about Miss Bowden, yes, she voted not to have the concert after the hurricanes, and everything she actually said is in the minutes of that meeting , if everyone will take the time to read the damn thing. (see July 30th post, Fishin With Lemmon"). But she has been a part of the community here for over 40 years and if y'all like her or not that's fine, but who in the H.E. double toothpicks is Russ Lemmon to report this story in such a cavalier manner? If y'all were expecting responsible journalism and good manners, y'all better look elsewhere, his mudslingin was so fierce y'all woulda thought he was running against her.

After Mrs. Estefan announced her plans (weeks before the primary) to hold a concert at the Hard Rock, Mr. Lemmon dropped his "idea" to work with Mrs. Estefan like a nuclear hot potato.

And draggin out an old press junket story from June to make it sound like Mr. Lemmon had been granted an exclusive interview in July has been trumped by the more in depth and informative interview Mr. Milton R. Benjamin published in the current issue of VeroBeach32963:
http://www.verobeach32963.com/news/090308.htm


Yes hunnies, Miss Vero is back and has promptly returned to our ole vinegar veined self. We're still siftin through that inbox and we have a lot for y'all this week. A LOT.

No need for the bloody marys today, we are drunk with information!


MWAH!


missvero@live.com

JILTED LEMMON

Will he finally end it?
Looks like Gloria called some one else...

PALM BEACH POST SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2008

GLORIA TO PLAY THE HARD ROCK
More than four years after her last solo concert in the United States, Latin songbird Gloria Estefan is set to announce Monday that she'll play the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood sometime this fall.
The beauty of it: The 50-year-old singer of Conga and Here We Are is planning to donate some of the revenues to the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County, a nonprofit that pays for after-school programs.
"We did get the kind of phone call you always hope to get," said foundation director Mary Kay Murray. "It's really wonderful. Gloria just has a passion for kids and education."
Murray said she doesn't know how much the foundation is set to receive because Estefan's loot will have to be shared with similar foundations in Miami-Dade, Broward and Indian River counties.
"We're getting $2 per ticket sold and they're hoping to sell 7,000 tickets per show," Murray said. "There may be more than one concert."

Hmm, let's see...$2 per ticket x 7,000= $14,000/4 counties = $3,500!!! (if we're lucky)

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

HAVE YA'LL HEARD?

Look, if Russ Lemmon can fantasize about "healing" Vero Beach and luring Mrs. Estefan here to do that once promised "free" concert, then hunnies, Miss Vero can dream too...


Can y'all imagine? Mrs. Estefan eagerly devouring her dose of Lemmon droppings and saying - "Mira Emilio, Russito wants us to do that concert in Vero, hand me the phone, he's on speed dial!"

As if.

Please stop beating that horse, there's nothing left but bones. How many times must we beg for mercy? Leave the Estefans alone and stop pretending that you have an idea what it was like to go through those hurricanes!

A real investigative journalist would answer the contracting question. If y'all remember the comments that were posted to the hotel opening article, many subcontractors claimed there was some payment hankie pankie goin on. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jun/18/30gtestefan-hotel-open-to-public-monday/?feedback=1
Well kids, Miss Vero heard a rumor that all the subcontractors were paid by Proctor construction and now Proctor is owed many millions still. True? Y'all tell me 'cause I'm not the "real journalist" supposedly gettin paid to do that job.

Here it is Friday morning and we are still recovering from our wild Wednesday. Children remember, Miss Vero is a professional partier, so don't try to keep up. Here's how it went:

We started out at the crack of noon over at the M. T. Pockets Ranch discussing the treasure biz with our good friend Miss Taffi, who by the way would love our support in telling the State of Florida to stop harassing our Treasure Coast treasure people. So if y'all haven't had a chance, please read yesterdays post and send off a quick email saying "Leave the Treasure business as is".

We should have listened to our ole pal Miss B. Havior who very wisely told us:

"You've been busier than a boar bee in soft yella' pine. Just slow your azz down to a trot (it's hot outside) and spend a little more time with the cutest bartender in town. In case you're ready for a change, try the bar at the VB club and Resort. The Indigo Room's charmin'barman Tom, serves a mean martini and the burgers knocks the stuffin' outta of the burgers at Bobby's."

But no, we just had to go to Bobby's where we spotted school board candidate Charlie Wilson havin lunch. He musta worked up an appetite after being on the Rhett Palmer show that morning with the other candidates. Guy Barber was pining for the days when the paper was owned by the Schumann family and we loved that even Rhett voiced his disapproval of the Press Journal. After Rhett's Woodstock comment, (read June 4th post "Rhett Palmer's Hippie Claim) we've been randomly tuning in to see what other surprises the self proclaimed "mayor of the airwaves" has in store.

After some seriously needed afternoon spa time, Miss Vero hooked up with the Secret Squirrel, who for some reason had a hankerin for steak. We stupidly decided that we would try the Dockside Grill or "Bobby's II" at Royal Palm Point. As we arrived we were quick to notice the Barbara Sharp painting behind the desk (read May 15th post "Places to go, People to Annoy...") and Andre, formally of Carmel's, cheerfully greeted us but then broke the bad news that it would be an hour wait! Well waitin is just somethin that we don't take kindly to, especially in the midst of every local beachie poser with a bluetooth surgically implanted. Hunnies, if there's anything we can't stand, it's the vibe of the self important.

So what were our choices for steak? Outback or 14th Ave Steak House. We chose 14th Ave and guess what? We were treated like royalty! And it was so good, we hadn't been there in a long time and we're glad we went. We love to support local business and sure would love to see some life in downtown. The last restaurant critic at the PJ, Sheila O'Mera had this to say about 14th Ave back in 2006 and it was exactly the same on Wednesday: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2006/nov/08/brestaurant-reviewb-eat-be-merry-at-14th-ave/

Hmmmm, Maybe Miss Vero shouldn't be calling Miss Sheila "the last" restaurant critic at the PJ. Another big rumor that came our way, is that Miss Diana Foote has left. Could it be true? We haven't seen her opinion column or reviews in the past two weeks. Honestly, the person who tattled was sure that we'd be fiendishly delighted, but truth be told, Miss Vero doesn't have any ill will toward Miss Foote. Bless her heart, we just think she was not the right person for the job and her writing was/is a continual painful reminder of that. We sincerely hope that she is well and finding a place where she can wear that fur to lunch.


More Restaurant Hubbub - add it to the list, City Tavern is closed! No tidbits on that yet. And how 'bout Yannick and Valerie leaving Masion Martinique? We haven't been there in a while, but we wonder how the menu will change.

Of course we did take one piece of Miss B. Havior's advice and after dinner we mosied on down to visit with the Cutest Boy in Vero at the epicenter of Cool - Undertow. Miss Kitty always has it going on and most of the young Vero royalty makes it a destination. We chatted with the very beautiful Miss Tripson, who looked fabulous and had the cutest little outfit. She made us laugh when she told us that in the recent PJ story the reporter gave a blank stare when Addison Mizner was mentioned. Poor thing, if only they'd seen Miss Vero's post two weeks before (read July 24th,"Vero Treasure Chest"), they'd have known that Miss Vero made the Palm Beach Daily News story regarding Waldo and Mizner required reading for everyone in Indian River County.


Are we all caught up? Ohh, one more thing, here's a picture of ole Russ Lemmon gettin that call from Mrs. Estefan -

Have a great weekend kids, see y'all Monday!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

FISHIN WITH LEMMON

YELLOW JOURNALISM

"Yellow journalism, in short, is biased opinion masquerading as objective fact. Moreover, the practice of yellow journalism involved sensationalism, distorted stories, and misleading images for the sole purpose of boosting newspaper sales and exciting public opinion. "

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/yellow.htm

We're sure y'all have noticed lately, that we've been behaving in regards to Mr. Lemmon. Well children, not today. His column with his Gloria Estefan " interview" is extremely fishy and another prime example of the Press Journal's continued political propaganda. Buckle those seatbelts hunnies, it's gonna get rough.

It is so unfortunate that we are subjected to receiving news from a single source with a definite agenda. Miss Vero's watchful eye has notice the all too obvious pattern of the PJ endorsing candidates and then a week or so later releasing a "story" that tears down the rival.

Not only is this practice irresponsible, it is dangerous. The (limited) local news has a obligation to inform and educate it's community, yet the Press Journal continues to look more and more like a special interest flier. The process of reporting political information related to upcoming elections, should be fair and unbiased, yet the PJ continues to push their spin forward. The Press Journal not only disappoints, but miserably fails it's readers.

Not to mention that local business is being held hostage. How can a newspaper that relies on advertising alienate merchants who may disagree with the paper's politics? It certainly makes us wonder where the true source of the PJ's revenue well is located.

THE LEMMON ISSUE

Let's take a good look at the "interview" that Mr. Lemmon reports with Mrs. Estefan.

First- Mr. Lemmon writes "In a recent interview at her Costa D'Este Beach Resort..." Which suggests to Miss Vero that Mr. Lemmon did not conduct the interview himself. Please correct us if we are wrong. No where in the article does ole Russ say "when I spoke with" or "I asked" or any other language that he so often enjoys using and would verify that he actually talked with Mrs. Estefan in person or, even with his much used "via phone" tag.

Second- If the PJ and Mr. Lemmon's intent was to serve the public, somehow it turned into a comment posting riot beginning at 2:36 AM and will likely continue to grow, what a wonderful way to generate interest in your rag. Heck of a job there, Brownie.

Third- "A special-call meeting on Nov. 10, 2004, will live in infamy." how 'bout postin a link to that reference? No, that's all right, allow us to get that:

http://www.mccinnovations.com/weblink/docview.aspx?id=134578

Fourth- According to those minutes it was Mary Beth McDonald and Not Sandra Bowden who suggested that the concert be held outside of Vero. Mrs. McDonald's valid concern was that the event was overwhelming for the city. Mr. Lemmon's article asserted several misrepresentations.We ask that you please read the minutes and FORM YOUR OWN OPINION.

Fifth- Yes, Miss Vero has previously stated our disappointment with the local gov for not accepting the gracious offer of Mrs. Estefan, but let's be realistic. The city of Vero Beach knows nothing about large scale entertainment production and the stipulation by Mrs. Estefan that the concert be free for attendees would have brought perhaps tens of thousands into the hurricane ravaged county. It would have been like hosting a cotillion an hour after you'd been mugged.

And Finally- If you were living here in the fall of 2004 (we believe Mr. Lemmon, that you were not), you'd remember what it felt like to be a zombie. After weeks of no electricity (ours was out for a month), unbearable heat, curfews and the sight of military occupation distributing food, water and ice, it was a wonder that more people did not break down. It's so easy for an outsider to look at that time and tell us what we were experiencing, but if you find pleasure in that task, we politely ask you to go back to where y'all came from.

Miss Vero is very happy that Mr. and Mrs. Estefan have chosen Vero Beach as a second home and should be rightfully proud of the Costa D'Este. We only hope that their privacy will be respected and not continued to be sensationallized by the likes of Lemmon.

We will now officially medicate with a strong libation.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

FLORIDAZE

Yesterday children, Miss Vero was a little, well let's just say frustrated. We sure do like to spend time on the internet playing connect the news stories and find the cool graphics and especially look at how stoopid something/someone is, to share with y'all, but honestly we just couldn't find anything worth our time and that has been happening more and more lately. Especially when it comes to Vero Beach. More often than not we are t'd off and steamed about big time politics like this: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5344932

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00168

Thanks a lot Senator Mel Martinez and Senator Bill Nelson (a Democrat!) and even you, Mr. Barack Obama for bringin that frog to a boil! And y'all know what that means, right?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

Anyhoo, we get all riled and then we forget to have fun or we find ourself having to self medicate with the appropriate alkeeholic libations. So we've decided that we should digress and regress a little today and remember happier Florida times, all of which have nothing to do with Vero Beach.

MY-AM-AH

(Miami)

When Miss Vero was a little thing, our Granmamie would take us to My-am-ah to go shoppin at Burdines, which was the biggest and best damn department store in the world, as far as we were concerned. It was pretty big in those days and since Burdines was founded by Confederate war veteran, Mr. William Burdine in 1898, we thought it had been there forever, when actually it was opened only two years after the city of Miami itself was established. And of course when we traveled down there from the remote and bucolic Broward County we passed the Coppertone sign that was animated by moving lights, the little dog tuggin at the little girl's britches. For us and many other folks, seeing that sign meant that you had arrived in Miami.

This is what it looks like now.

And that's pretty much how we've been feeling. It's why we're frustrated with Florida, why we know that growth is going to happen, why we're so mad at Carl Hiaasen for playin golf at Quail Valley and why it doesn't feel like Florida anymore.

Imagine living here without air conditioning like Miss Vero's Grandmamie. It weren't no bother, the uncovered terrazzo floors were always cool on our bare feet. The ceiling fans were forever thumpin and we slept with the jalousie windows opened to let in the scent of night blooming jasmine breezes. We really did pick oranges off the trees to juice them and coconuts hung from the palms before the blight took the them. It was the paradise that the postcards promised.

Too many places are gone now, Florida doesn't have a sense of history for those that don't remember it. The Trains and routes that brought everything here have been forgotten like the little towns passed over for interstates and worship of our car culture. Our downtowns are still there, most built around the discarded train stations, but we can't or won't see the value.

There is some good news after all, the sign might be saved by some concerned preservationists. Maybe by some one like Barbara Capitman, who lobbied Washington to get Art Deco buildings in Miami Beach on the National Register of Historic Places. No small feat considering her opponents to her preservation plan were The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, City Hall, The Board of Realtors and the Miami Beach Resort Association. She has been credited with saving the treasures of Miami Beach's art deco district one of which is the Cardoza, purchased in 1992 by none other than Gloria and Emilio Estefan.

http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/171093.html

http://www.cardozohotel.com/

Our little Coppertone girl just needs a little nip and tuck and hunnies, we sure do know what that feels like: http://www.miaminights.com/coppertone-sign-safe-for-now-5211.phtml

Thanks so much for all the luvin! Y'all have cheered us up and reminded us why we're bloggin. Have a groovy weekend kids we'll be back again on Monday!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

COSTA D'ESTE PHOTOS

To see all the photos click this link:

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk292/missvero_photo/?action=view&current=076cdf63.pbw

A SWARM OF LOCALS

This is the view kids, early morning at the Costa d'Este. Miss Vero checked in on Friday and with our companion, pretty much had the place to ourselves. The folks there were oh so sweet and friendly and the atmosphere was sultry and laid back, until...

The locals arrived. We had us an early dinner and cocktails and noticed the place fillin up faster than a run on three dollar gas. Hunnies, there were all kinds of local folks posin like they had paparazzi chasin them and lookin all anorexic-skinny. They were all there, every manner of local, from the Moorings mavens to the beachie Lacoste clad, sockless, self importants. What a beautiful resort to have in Vero, we sure hope the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Estefan don't have to suffer too much with these types.

Our dinner was honestly some of the best food we've ever had in Vero Beach and we thought the staff was very attentive and professional. When we were just about to leave- who should up and sit next to Miss Vero but none other than Carl Hiaasen! Well, well well. Now y'all know Miss Vero just couldn't mind her manners. We said "Excuse me, but you're Carl Hiaasen." And he got to grinnin like he does in his Miami Herald photo, he looked so pleased that an adoring fan recognized him. But y'all know that weren't the case, cause he done lost that smile real fast when Miss Vero asked how a self proclaimed Florida environmentalist could move to a place like Vero and start playing golf. Mr. Hiaasen huffed "Well, you're here, aren't you?" Before answering that, Miss Vero looked over and noticed that the Mrs. was givin us the old evil eye and the server was comin over to get their order so we politely exited by saying "The food is very good, enjoy your dinner." Then we left.

We went outside to the pool that had also become very crowded and loud. Now, when Miss Vero tells y'all that there was every manner of local there we mean it, cause who should walk in next but Bonnie and Damian Gilliams - The Donald Trump of Sebastian! Lawdy children, talk about a cast of characters!

Miss Vero and company retreated to our very comfortable room to hide out till everyone had gone. We did manage to come back down at 1:00 AM and had the place all to ourselves again. Our one complaint for the evening was the fact that the only bottled water available was a giant $8 Fiji water that had to travel way too far to be featured at a "green" hotel.

We had breakfast the next morning and for a little while, we were with the only two other parties that were staying at the hotel and then... the locals arrived. The morning staff was not as, let's just say, efficient as the evening crew and when the beachies were not being attended to fast enuf, it was hee-larrious! Miss Vero almost fell on the floor laughin when some ole ancient J.I. type walked right into the kitchen lookin for immediate attention!

Here's what we have to say about that -
If one is privileged enough to afford luxury hotels and dinners, one has a responsibility to understand that it is exactly that - a privilege and not a right to be served and attended to.
In other words...what in the H. E. double toothpicks do y'all have to be cranky about? Some poor hardworkin minimum wage employee is just not kissing y'alls behinds fast enuf? Puh-leeese.
We haven't seen this much attitude and posin in one place since we done left the hills of Beverly.

Anyhoo, we took a lotta pictures and wrote up serious reviews for both the hotel and the restaurant and posted it on Tripadvisor.com. Apparently it takes a little while to post, because it has to be reviewed by their editors. We'll let y'all know as soon as its up, Miss Vero is really getting good at the picture takin and we want y'all to see them. We'll also transfer the restaurant review to the new verobeachrestaurants.com site that we told y'all about on Friday.


MISS VERO GIVES MR LEMMON HIS PROPS
We got a very funny email from a little birdie who let us know that Mr. Lemmon is none too happy with Miss Vero. Supposedly Mr. Lemmon thinks we are mean and nasty to him, but we are not one bit mean compared to some of his TCPalm readers that'd like to tear him up good. On Saturday Mr. Lemmon wrote his best column EVER.
Yup, that what we said children, let Miss Vero say it again - his best column EVER.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jun/28/30gtlife-is-still-hard-for-the-big-easy/?feedback=1#comments
His article about N'Orleans was genuinely heartfelt, informative and important in reminding us about people, but for the grace of god go us. Of course on Sunday, he went back to being ole lemmondropping Russ. However, let it be said that Miss Vero gives credit when credit is due.


Enjoy the show, we'll be here all week, thank y'all very much!
(A little show biz humor)

MWAH!


missvero@live.com

PICKED UP ON THE BEACH

As we told y'all yesterday, we are tryin very hard to keep up with y'all from a distance. Since it's Friday and we've got a lot going on, Miss Vero is offering a few little tidbits to keep y'all happy till Monday.


Gloria Estefan Hoopla
Being that Miss Vero is in New York and we are so fabulously well connected, we got a chance to speak with Mrs. Estefan's literary publicist yesterday. Just in case you thought Mrs. Estefan was all about hotels and Latin rhythms, let Miss Vero be the first one to tell you that she has written two best selling children's books and her next one will be published in 2009. The stories are all about Mrs. Estefan's favorite bulldog Noelle:
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060826239/The_Magically_Mysterious_Adventures_of_Noelle_the_Bulldog/index.aspx


A Tale of Two Beaches
Wow. check out his letter on the VeroBeach32963 web site:
http://www.verobeach32963.com/Editorials/Risinger-letter.htm
Miss Vero gives them a lot of credit for printing that.


Real Estate Rumblings
On the lips and minds of all of Miss Vero's real estate buddies, the invasion of a Palm Beach based reality group on the beach. Now we hafta ask, why are y'all so surprised? Miss Vero can't believe that the Corcoran group isn't here yet, probably just a matter of time:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jun/19/norris-premier-estate-form-real-estate-alliance/

Thank You Dr. John
For lettin us know the where abouts of Trilogy. For all of y'all that was wonderin like Miss Vero, the band is playin at Squid Lip's in Sebastian:
http://www.squidlipsgrill.com/events_calendar.jhtml?method=listAll

How The Heck?
We hear that Rhett Palmer has Charlie Wilson (played by Tom Hanks in the film "Charlie Wilson's War"?) on his show. We wondered to a friend if there is some kind of secret initiation for the Bill O'Reilly fan club that requires a session with ole Rhett?


Have a good weekend kids, keep Miss Vero posted and we'll get back to y'all just as soon as we can. Now let's see - where's that recipe for Long Island Ice Tea?

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

RHETT PALMER, VERO'S OWN STAR FOLKER!

There are no shortages of celebrities or republican politicians passing through our tony little town, but unlike Rhett Palmer, Miss Vero is not interested in chasing them down. Miss Vero remembers Mr. Palmer (although Mr. Palmer will certainly not remember Miss Vero) way back in the early days when he was riding his hoopdee Continental all over the county, pimping that talk show of his. The success of which is a testament to the level of false Christian patriot rhetoric that mires this county and country alike. Yeah, I just said that.
Sometimes, children, Miss Vero's gin soaked brain has moments of deep and profound clarity, we will try to control it. Just to additionally clarify, Miss Vero has nothing against being Christian or patriotic, but has a real problem with those that manipulate these ideals for their own personal agenda.

Somebody quick mix up a batch of martinis! Once again we are forced to self medicate.

Back to Rhett Palmer. Miss Vero only wishes that she could wave a magic wand and POOF! turn him into this Rhett Palmer:
http://www.jurgita.com/models-id27538.html

Miss Vero noticed Mr. Palmer's big half page ad in the PJ touting his interview with the GM of the new Costa d’Este Beach Resort owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Who wants to start a betting pool of how long it will take Mr. Palmer to slither over the garden wall and hunt poor Mr. and Mrs. Estefan down for a real interview. And you hypocritical beachie snobs should get down on your knees and thank them for not hightailin it out of here after you gave them the Brooks Brother clad cold shoulder in 2004. For all of y'all that don't know, Mrs. Estefan was gracious enough to offer her talents for a FREE concert IN VERO BEACH after the 2004 hurricanes to help our county (Oh lawdy did we need it) and she was pooh poohed off in a not so gracious manner.

Where are those martinis! Forget it, make it Mojitos!

EL DIA SIGUIENTE CINCO DE MAYO or
THE DAY AFTER CINCO DE MAYO or
SEIS DE MAYO
Why all the splainin Lucy? Well it seems that our new amigo Mr. Lemmon is confused. He starts his column today by saying (groan):

"An assortment of Lemmon Drops culled on an uneventful Cinco de Mayo: "

Aside from the date snafu, Miss Vero realizes one of Mr. Lemmon's problems. If his Cinco de Mayo was uneventful he was not one of the many who partied with the mariachis at Ay Jalisco last night! Of course Miss Vero was there, fiesta - ing it up! (Note to La Fonda - Great place great food, stoopido to be closed on Cinco de Mayo). And so, Miss Vero suggests to Mr. Lemmon that he acquire some new amigos that will provide him a mucho bueno time and perhaps be so kind as to show him el otro side of this ciudad. Do you think he could handle it? No, Miss Vero doubts it as well, but once again we offer a mano in friendship.

And so concludes our little Spanish lesson for all of our friends who will likely become expats due to the insanity which has taken over. Miss Vero herself is brushing up on her French anticipating the day when we are forced to retreat to Canada! http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/75-threatening-to-move-to-canada/

Thanks for all the luvin children, bless your subversive little hearts!
MWAH!
missvero@live.com