HAS IT BEEN THIS LONG?

Oh hunnies! Has it really been this long since Miss Vero visited with y'all? A whole, entire month since we posted at VeroNews.com? What in tarnation has our gin soaked brain been up to? Well, y'all might say we've been in hibernation mode or y'all might say we've been in hyper-nation mode depending on how y'all look at these things.

Yes, Miss Vero has been out and about around town but we've also been busy on a top secret project out of town - a little sumthin we like to call "refillin' the coffers" if y'all know what we mean...

So let's back track a little bit and just as excitin' as watchin' your neighbors vacation video, let us tell y'all what we did during the Great Winter of Vero 2009 ('cause today it's back in the 70's and the Great winter of Vero is officially over).

Let's see... where did we leave off? Oh yes, Vegas. What happens in Vegas usually stays in Vegas but we did manage to bring back a photo of our Bonanno sandals in front of the Fabulous Las Vegas sign. Y'all know that Miss Vero is not as limber as we once were so getting our ole leg up that high was quite a accomplishment! While we did hobnob with celebrity friends and attend some rockin' parties, our biggest thrill was meeting the "Old Man" from the History channel show "Pawn Stars". We just walked right into the Famous Gold and Silver Pawn shop and there they were, all three generations, just like on TV! What can we say? It's the peculiar things in life that make us happy hunnies.

But back in Vero there were a quite few Christmas parties that needed attending and our favorite soiree was at the lovely home of Miss Michelle Genz, who, by the way, is a fabulous hostess with an exceptional local to entertain. We bumped into our pal Jose Lambiet, Gossip God at the Palm Beach Post and caught up with all the celebrity goin's on. Then, a few rowdy Miss Vero fans literally dragged us to an after party at Miss Fran Love's Clubhouse, where there just happened to be a Drag Show and other such debauchery. All we can say is that a certain Miss Claudia is an instigator who will get y'all in trouble every time. HA! Just kidding kids, y'all know the truth is that Miss Vero enjoys every minute of fun and is truly the spark that ignites that troublemakin' fire! A big ole MWAH! to Miss Claudia for being so much fun and to Miss Fran for givin' us so much Love!

On Christmas eve we were back in town (somewhat unusual for us) and went out looking for a party. It felt like Vero had become the Island of Misfit Toys, stragglers wandering around like olives without martinis, just looking for a leader and so we found our niche and prepared to fill it. Joey's had a quiet grand opening party that night and we enjoyed the hospitality of Mr. John Bono and his fabulous brick oven pizzas. We met up with Mr. Bob Moulder from the new Citrus Grillhouse as he was enjoying the quiet time before his grand opening next month. By now the word is out and last weekend when we got to Joey's again the place was PACKED!!! It is by far the hottest thing that has hit Vero since....well, since us! we don't have to wish them luck, only offer congratulations because they've hit it big hunnies. Mr. Bono promises that they will be open each and every night, kitchen open till 12:30 and bar open till 1am. Finally... a real night club in Vero.




And then it was out of town again, feeling like a pinball bouncin' around and the one thing we regret is missing Miss JJ's New Year's Day party. Howevah, we were so pleased to see Miss JJ honored on the front page of verobeach32963's January 7th edition with a wonderful story that y'all MUST read. Y'all might remember back last spring, (March 3rd, to be exact) we did a little post about a party we did attend at Miss JJ's home where she greeted everyone with a huge silver bowl full of mint juleps! Now y'all can understand why we are so sorry we missed the New Years Day party!

The saga of Good Ole Charlie Wilson and Mr. Ken Daige. Hmmm, what to say about that? Those were our choices for City Council back when the election was on. Funny how things work out. We wish Mr. Daige the very best and are genuinely happy for his appointment. We know how much this means to him and how hard he is willing to work for his community and as we have said before, we also know that his hiatus has given him a new perspective and we expect him to not be the same Ken Daige this time around. As for Charlie...somehow we think he'll be all right. He's weathered this storm and everything serves a purpose. Given his short time in office and the excellent coverage by Lisa Zahner on local politics, perhaps the citizens of Vero Beach will now demand better representation and more transparency of their elected officials. One thing we love, the look of utter frustration and impending heartburn on Tom White's face every time Vero Beach City Councilman Brian Heady (Ha!) begins a sentence. Every. Single. Time.

As always the fun continues downtown, emanating out from the Epicenter of Cool - Undertow and rippling over Cafe Mojo and Bodega Blue. Last Friday night was a trifecta of fun with all three hotspots offering live music to cool and curious crowds. One of Miss Vero's favorite blues boys, Ben Prestage, gave a standing room only performance at Bodega. We also ran into our favorite Mayor Kevin Sawnick (who has his own website!) and we just love to see out and about. This weekend should be no slacker and expect to see these three establishment hummin along once again. and the best thing is y'all can find a central place to park downtown and WALK to all three.

Times up! Y'all don't have the attention span for more of our bablin' do you? Didn't think so, but hunnies there is so much more...Please click on all the highlighted fabulous links and oh, we almost forgot - THE SHOW! Yes, some of the children who house sit for us thought it would be fun to turn on a camera and record their antics in Miss Vero's absence. Well we expected them to raid the alkeehaul of course, but who knew they could be entertaining to boot? Who know what may come of it? Yes, indeed.


MWAH!

missvero@live.com

BRIAN AND HIS MAGIC SHIRTS!

At the City of Vero Beach 90th anniversary celebration, back in October, Miss Vero took a total of two pictures before our little camera conked out. The first photo, which y'all have already seen, was of a man and his possum. And the other photo? Well, take a look, it's Brian and his magic shirt!

We had all but forgotten about this picture until we saw Mr. Heady's smiling, winning photo in the VeroNews.com today and there he is, wearing another magic shirt! Those patriotic polos have apparently done wonders for his political career. Congratulations, Mr. Heady and don't change your wardrobe.

Now, Miss Vero has to ask - "Ya kin afford to buy her, but kin ya afford to keep her?" That was a question put to us by our uncle Bubba, when as a youngin, we saved up some money and purchased a pony that was destined for the glue factory. That was a very valuable lesson. Sometimes we can afford to buy something, but don't understand what the real cost is over time. So our question is - Did Mr. Heady work all his magic on gettin' elected and does he have enough magic left for the work ahead? I guess we'll find out.

Of course, y'all may have seen the first photo of City Councilman elect Mr. Charlie Wilson and his proud mama at What-A-Tavern last night. Mr. Wilson had a gathering of supporters, including County Commissioner, Mr. Wesley Davis and Vero paparazzi!

Mr. Wilson was genuinely concerned the entire evening, he never once felt that there was a sure outcome until the results were finally revealed (sarcasm alert!) by the magnificently efficient Kay Clem. As a testament to his good manners, Mr. Wilson's first comment to Miss Vero was "My heart goes out to Ken [Daige] right now". Indeed, that topic of conversation circled the room, as most of us had assumed that Mr. Daige would also be congratulated.

It is so unfortunate that the City of Vero Beach has not recognized the dedication and hard work that Mr. Daige would have brought to the city council. We know that Mr. Daige's time away from the council (and new perspective from the outside lookin' in, attending all those meetings as a concerned citizen) gave him a unique understanding that would have been quite a change from his previous position. We are convinced that Mr. Daige learned quite a lot in the past year and could have made the city the beneficiary of his learnin' had he been given the opportunity to serve again. We also know that we will continue to see the Daige's out and about and caring passionately about Vero Beach. Ken and Deborah Daige will continue to be involved in the issues of the city, Downtown, Osceola Park and the historic elements of the community, and for that, we thank them.


Now y'all will have to excuse us. Miss Vero must concentrate on more important issues, like beauty, fashion and liquid libations.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

CATCHIN' UP WITH THE CANDIDATES

Since tomorrow is our local election day, let's catch up with the candidates for Vero Beach City Council, shall we kids? Now y'all know that Miss Vero is just bein' generous with an opinion and in no way assumes to "Power Rank" those running for office. We like to think that with all the brouhaha about the utilities issues, that a certain blogger used the term "power" to be clever, but we've nevah seen any previous signs of cleverness to indicate that. Oh, and by the way, thank y'all very much, if that writer was not being clever, then who in the heck gave y'all the power to bestow on anyone, huh? So there, glad we've straightened that out.

Once again, Miss Vero will state the obvious, as our opinion hasn't changed since our post of September 25th, when we asked - Who will be "Vero's Hero's"?

Mr. Bill Fish and Miss Debra Fromang - Unfortunate incumbents that have had their opportunity to lead, follow, or get out of the way. Seems like they chose to follow and now, it's time to get out of the way. Sorry, but listening to both of them at many gatherings over the last few months, only reinforced our thinkin' that they were just coasting along on the Tom White/Jim Gabbard Circus Train.

Ya'll see that's the problem right? See Miss Vero has a hunch - a very unsubstantiated, we don't know nuthin from nuthin hunch, so let's be clear on that-that there's somebody drivin' the train and mostly the City Council goes along for the ride.

That is why Mr. Charlie Wilson has been challenged. He would be a very pesky thorn in Mr. White's and Mr. Gabbard's side. He has the dangerous combination of competency and tenacity to change the direction of the council and confront the powers that be.

As for Mr. Ken Daige, he brings a tremendous amount of sincerity to the job. He's focused on the historic value and small business concerns of the community. Say whatever y'all want about Mr. Daige, but we do know this - Mr. Daige and his family genuinely love Vero Beach and his commitment should never be in question. We admire the way he has taken the time to answer every comment and criticism. With his military background, Mr. Daige would be the perfect army of one to back up an forceful leader and lovable loudmouth like Wilson.


As for Mr. Shupe and Miss Viviano, we don't like to repeat ourselves, but we must. The issues facing the city are too severe and historic to allow for time to catch up. They both seem like real nice folks, bless their hearts, but we do not have the luxury of more time to study things or form committees for review. And to be real honest, we think Miss Viviano is too sweet and will be chewed up and spit out faster than y'all can say "Good Ole Boys".

And finally Mr. Brian Heady. What can we say?, we really like Mr. Heady. It's unfortunate that he isn't able to affect the change he desires. Perhaps City Council is not the place for Mr. Heady, perhaps Mr. Heady would be better off forming some sort of citizens concern group and challenge City Hall that way. Mr. Heady can form the "sandbag party" or sumthin, Lawd knows he has his own group of followers. Heck, it works for Mr. Toby Hill and those teabag folks, it can work for Mr. Heady.

Miss Vero endorses Mr. Wilson and Mr. Daige for Vero Beach City Council. Now y'all go make up your own mind and vote, cause that's the important thing really, we all have a choice.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

OUR DANCE CARD IS FILLIN' UP!

Lot's startin' to happen these days, even though the unbearable October heatwave won't quit. With three events in one night, it almost looks like season!

Tonight -

Join Richard Coulter owner of

Eco-Colour

1865 14^th Avenue in Downtown Vero Beach

Thursday October 8^th

6:00 pm-8:00 pm

Bring your questions to the candidate

Refreshments will be served

KEN DAIGE

FOR

VERO BEACH CITY COUNCIL

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

And also at the Pearl -

It's all about connection, and FUN!.
On the 2nd Thursday of each month, join us at one of our wonderful Vero Beach "hot-spots.

This month: PEARL
Featured Martini, well drinks, house wine and draft beers 2-for-1.
Chef's choice appetizers.
No Cover, No fee, No Membership...Just Networking!

Bring a door prize and make an impact.
50-50 drawing.

October 8 event only:
Raffle for 2 tickets(value, $300) to the upcoming March of Dimes Signature Chef Auction. $25 per chance

And of course, there's the wine tasting at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, click here for details.

Perhaps Miss Vero will see y'all around tonight!

MWAH!

missvero @live.com


Oh, wait! FOUR events tonight -

Announcing the return of Splash!

When: Thursday October 8^th 2009 5:00 PM - 9:00PM

Splash Description: Remember when you and your loved one, wanted to enjoy an early evening out! Ladies wanted a night out and something fun to enjoy! Dinning was an experience all its own! WOW! The Sight, Taste, Smell & Sound of SPLASH! The awakening of romance and old world charm! Join us for SPLASH @ Costa d’ Este...........You will have a Ball! Fashion show by BEDAZZLED!

VERO'S HEROS!

Who will be Vero's Heros? Who will save us from the villains of high electric, water and sewer rates? Who will rescue us from the threat of losing our beloved Royal Palm Pointe fountain? Who will dare mention the astronomical unemployment rate and the incredible increase in food stamp requests? Who will leap to meetings, but more importantly listen to the people of Vero Beach? Who will do it? Who will it be???!!!!!

Well Hunnies, so glad y'all asked ' cause Miss Vero is about to tell y'all.

For those that aren't payin' attention, let us be the first to remind y'all that there is a little ole city council election goin' be happening real soon. Now we know, y'all haven't had much time to get well acquainted with the candidates, so we're here to give y'all the run down.

There are two seats on the city council that seven people are hoping to get themselves situated in. We have a few words to say about that.

Regarding incumbent Debra Fromang and incumbent Bill Fish;
With the education and qualifications they both have, we expected some results. Lot's of "let's study this and Let's talk about that" and not enough action. Well, party's over, time's up, had a turn, can't recall a dang thing good y'all did, NEXT!

Regarding newcomer Jack Schupe and newcomer Susan Viviano;
Y'all seem like real nice folks, bless your hearts and we're sure you mean well and all, but politics in this town and especially in this county, will eat you alive! Run away now, while y'all still have a chance. The current issues in town are too urgent to provide y'all a learning curve.

To 14 times a charm, Brian Heady;
Run Brian, run! Again. And Again. Jack and Susan take note.

To good ole Charlie Wilson;
They keep knockin' him down and he still keeps getting up. Charlie's good for this town, good attitude, cares about the city and has the political chops to get things done. We just love it when he riles up the county commissioners, especial big ole Gary Wheeler - who happens to scare the beejeebees out of us. We can just imagine the steam coming out of Mr. Wheeler's head as he's talking to Charlie. It can only mean that Charlies hitting a nerve and getting to close to Mr. Wheeler's comfort zone. We also like the way Charlie deals with adversity, like pesky dinosaur newspaper men that write slanted opinions and folks who are just plain irritated with Charlie and call the State's Attorney to find out where he lives. Charlie's the kind of guy who likes a good challenge and the City of Vero Beach is exactly that.

To the perfectly qualified Ken Daige;
Y'all just have to respect a man that lost his seat at the city council, but remains loyal to the process and business of the city. Mr. Daige has attended every city council meeting and has paid close attention. As a former military man, we can see that he may have lost a battle but he is not willing to lose this war. He deeply cares about his home, Vero Beach. Ken and Deborah Daige are exemplary citizens of this community, have a wonderful family and are both dedicated to the local process of government. If there's any thing we can complain about, it's that he cares too much. No joking around here.

Oh, but don't take Miss Vero's word for any of this. Just sit through the wonderful videos provided by Veronews.com and we're sure y'all will come to the same conclusions. We'd love to hear what y'all think.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

LET'S TAKE A MINUTE OUT OF OUR BUSY SCHEDULE...

...to tell y'all what's going on.

First of all, all of y'all are asking about Veronews.com and what exactly is happening with the launch. Honestly children, Miss Vero just does not know. Thank you, "SandCrab" for the additional link in the comment section. What we do know, is that it takes tremendous time and effort to start up any kind of new endeavor and so we are just being as patient as y'all. Miss Vero was asked to write a weekly contribution that will be called "BEYOND THE BEACH HOUSE" for Veronews.com and we did submit our article last week, but for whatever reason (and hunnies, we are dang sure they are good reasons), the launch did not go off as planned. Heck, even NASA has these problems. Not to worry, since our little contribution was a bit "time sensitive", we've decided to post an excerpt here for y'all. We'll send Veronews.com another article tomorrow and hope that the launch is soon.

Now y'all have probably noticed that Miss Vero hasn't been around much this summer, but hunnies we have been a travelin fool. Monday we have to go all the way out to Californy for a sad event - a dear friend passed away and we must attend a funeral. Perhaps you may have seen it in the news?

Anyhoo, as y'all probably know by now, we are not one to dwell on sad affairs and so before we skidaddle off to the Hills of Beverly, y'all need to know that as of September 1st, we will be back on a regular basis. Yessiree, the Beach House will be in full swing again, with special surprises and more fun! So keep that in mind and enjoy the summer!

Miss Vero – Beyond the Beach House! - A little Preview for y'all...





Miss Vero is so honored that we were asked by the lovely folks at Veronews.com to write a little something for y’all. Now we know that everyone thinks that nothing goes on here in the summer, but y’all just have to look in the right places.

On Friday evening (June 27th), we attended the grand opening party of the new Café Mojo, located in the sometimes seemingly vibrant downtown. Y’all would not have known it’s a slow summer judging by the standing room only party and the crowd directly next door at Undertow, otherwise known as “the epicenter of cool”. We didn’t know that the owner of Café Mojo, Caroline Collins, was a big fan of Miss Vero, so when we introduced ourselves she shrieked with recognition and delight! Caroline and her husband Billy have been open a few weeks but the party Friday night was so jammed packed, that the crowd was spilling into the street. We hear Friday night music and fun will be a regular thing, but y’all can give them a call for details -772-567-6900 (no web site just yet).


Caroline and Billy Collins
Cafe Mojo Proprietors



















Miss Vero spotted good ole Charlie Wilson of The Indian River County Report (and Rhett Palmer show regular), with a very attractive date that he met at the recount of his run for school board. Charlie lost that election to Claudia Jimenez but things have apparently worked out to his liking, never the less. And speaking of political locals, Mr. Ken Daige and his lovely wife Deborah were also in attendance. Mr. Daige is very vigilant about the goings on at the City Council, even though he also lost his bid in the last election. However, we do expect Mr. Daige to make a come back. Also out and about, young Mr. Kevin Sawnick, freshman City Council member was spotted. We love to see our city council members actually out in the city! Everyone seemed to enjoy the festivities and we were all impressed by the talent of Jesse Kahle, singin’ and a strumming his six string. What!!??Another local boy, singing sensation like Jake Owens? Only time will tell…

Here's a a few snapshots of downtown fun and folks we expect big things from:


Vero's next Singin sensation, the adorable Jesse Kahle!


Fabulous, young and fun, she always makes us laugh - Miss Mallory Matesic!









Mr.Ken Daige and his lovely wife, Deborah.

The weekend went way too fast, like a single bowl of ambrosia at a church social. Before we knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and we decide to pass the time visiting folks and seeing what was going on in the daylight. We stopped by the Undertow to wish Miss Kitty Wagner a Bon Voyage, as she is closing the restaurant for six weeks and she is off to gay Paris to visit our good friend “Muse of the World”, who just happens to have a little summer apartment there. Are we jealous? Y’all can bet we are!

What better way to cure our summer time blues than with a little shopping. We had heard that the little shop next to the new Patio Restaurant had some cute and artsy things so we took ourselves over there only to find that it had closed! Closed for good last week and completely cleaned out and we heard a rumor that it will be turned into a barbershop! That didn’t brighten our mood any.




Could there possible be anything on the Beach on a Sunday afternoon? Well it seems that the retail gods smiled on us, because as we headed toward Ocean Drive we just happened to see that the Stephen Bonanno Sandal shop was open!

For those of y’all that read our blog, we had mentioned about a month ago that we were just dying to get some shoes. Not just any shoes, but these particular shoes. The original Stephen Bonanno Sandals. The last pair we had, we wore right into the ground. Hunnies, Miss Vero just loves, loves, loves, these shoes! These are the original hand crafted sandals that were made in Palm Beach for Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy.
http://www.bonannofactory.com/THE%20HISTORY.htm
While some of y’all may care about that sort of thing, Miss Vero just loves these shoes because they are the most comfortable things we’ve ever had on our feet and they last forever. Fore-ev-ahh. If y’all do happen to wear them into the ground, they can be repaired. When we found the store unexpectedly open, we got to meet the owner Rob. He said he was just plum bored out of his mind, sitting at home on a Sunday while his wife Cathy was up north, doing a trunk show, so he decide to open up. Lucky us.

Now y’all know we walked out of there pleased as punch with our sandal purchase and y’all can bet we’ll be going back real soon. If y’all need any more info check out their website: http://www.verobonannosandals.com - but go visit Rob, any man that’s willing to open up his shop on a Sunday and talk shoes, is our hero.


Here's a picture of Rob at the factory in Stuart, taken from Miss Vivian's Blog - http://bonannosandals.blogspot.com/

We suppose we’ve taken enough of y’all’s time by now. We’ll be checking back soon and of course we’d love to hear from everyone. Don’t forget to check out our myspace page for, umm, how shall we say it? …interesting and fun events! Miss Vero especially loves invitations to cocktail parties or any other form of fabulocity that y’all might have. Just let us know!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

THINKING OF Y'ALL AND WE'LL BE...

The secret squirrel sent us a message that our friend, Mr. Ken Daige, needed some help. Since Miss Vero will always oblige our friends, we are posting a letter that the PJ could not (due to their deadlines or some such thing). Mr. Daige is always vigilant about the goings on in the city and this is the least we can do to help him. We appreciate his dedication to help folks in Vero.
So here it is:


Another Vero Beach City Council Special Call Meeting is being held Monday, June 22 at City Hall at 9:30 A.M. Even if it is posted in the newspaper, it is usually so small and uninformative that it does not attract the attention of the taxpayer. The City Website does not indicate what the meeting is about.

Previous newspaper notices from Sebastian and Fellsmere have larger more informative notices for the public.

Vero Beach City Council has held a series of meetings where public input has been severely restricted or not allowed.

Numerous resolutions have come across the Council dais that will financially strain the taxpayer.

More often than not the taxpayer does not know how much money is spent or specifically for what purpose. ‘One has to know the correct question.’

The taxpayer needs to ask why is 7 million dollars needed for the electric plant and 7 million for the water and sewer system.

And why is it needed now?

What immediate expenses does the City of Vero Beach expect to incur that necessitates advanced internal funds?

What revenue streams will be used to reimburse these funds?

What will cause the Mayor, City Manager, Finance Director, City Clerk
AND THEIR DESIGNEES to take action without conferring with Council
at the dais?

The Vero Beach City Charter affords equal duty and responsibility to all Council members.

With these two resolutions the City Council will relinquish its financial responsibility and without referendum the Vero Beach City Charter will be changed to a Strong Mayor, City Manager form of government.

The taxpayer has no time afforded to them to contact City Council before this meeting.

Ken Daige
Vero Beach



This is the first time Miss Vero has had access to the internet in a while, so we'll have to be brief. We should be able to catch up with y'all by the end of the week.

Try to stay cool,

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME

Now we know y'all were lookin for us on Friday, but Miss Vero was busy, busy, busy, kids! We told y'all our schedule for the weekend - which at this point we are only half way through - and so many of y'all showed up and went along for the ride, but a few have dropped off from the pack and that's completely understandable. Miss Vero has spent years developing the unique combination of fabulous fun, alkeehaul tolerance and devastating dance moves, it would be difficult for anyone to keep up without the proper training and endurance, so don't feel too bad if y'all can't hang.

First things first. Thursday night, Eliot Kleinberg's lecture. At the end of his speaking engagement Mr. Kleinberg apologized for insulting everyone. Y'all just have to admire someone who insults a full house of 800 people and then has them purchase books and wait patiently to meet him. What is it with these Palm Beach Post boys? First Jose Lambiet and now, Eliot Kleinberg. Both smart, entertaining and completely down to earth. Miss Vero contacted Mr. Lambiet a few months ago by email and he sent back his cell phone number and a generous invitation to chit chat, which we did for a good twenty minutes. Then last week Mr. Kleinberg did the same. How charming and gracious these Palm Beach Post journalist are! Perhaps the PJ boys could take a few lessons in manners.

And speaking of Press Journal boys, who do we spot CANOODLING up in the balcony? Mr. Kenric Ward was getting all frisky with ____ (who knows? Fill in the blank) before Mr. Kleinberg's speaking engagement! Thank goodness he calmed down during the lecture, we certainly hoped he was paying attention to Mr. Kleinberg's insightful concept that we all are indeed Floridians.

Friday, after lunching with yet another truly artistic new Veroite at Bobby's II or Bobby's West or Dockside Grill or home of the fabulous Barbara Sharp chimp masterpiece collection (which Miss Vero imagines as are exact replicas of prominent Vero citizens), we ended our luncheon just in time to run home and change into cocktail attire. A collection of strange, unusual and fascinating friends joined Miss Vero at the Packed House gallery opening on 14th St, only to later migrate over to the Epicenter of Cool - Undertow.

We are soo happy to welcome Lady Diane, home after her recent whirlwind escapades, jet setting through Hong Kong, Australia and a quick nip back to the U.K. before arriving in Vero, joined by the always debonair Lord Albert.

Mr. Ken Daige should be Mayor! He's everywhere! Not only do we see him faithfully attending the city council meetings, but we seem to spot him at all the social functions that we attend. And no matter how silly the rest of us may behave, Mr. Daige always conducts himself in a very reserved and dignified manner, besides keeping his ear to the ground and looking past all the BS that seems to be swirling around the local political scene. Yes, a man that can be for the people and OF the people gets my vote, so hopefully we'll see him run for office again soon!

Speaking of the local political scene, Miss Vero seems to have our own personal stalker and guess who it is? Mr. Charlie Wilson! Mr. Wilson showed up on Friday night to get the lowdown on Miss Vero once and for all! And we couldn't have been more pleased! We treated him like a little cat toy, pawing at him and playin with him to the utter disgust of our more liberal minded group. Y'all woulda swore he had leprosy or something! At one point we looked over at one of our friends, who was scolding us and saying "Eeewww, don't do that!", every time we touched him. Mr. Wilson must have had enough of Miss Vero's shenanigans, because he left rather early in the evening. We promised we'd call him on the Rhett Palmer Show on Monday morning, but who are we kidding? Y'all know we don't get up that early and we only catch the rebroadcast in the afternoon, if we happen to remember.

Now here it is, Sunday afternoon and we must get ready to attend a party at the home of the lovely artist Miss Rene Guerin, who had the incredible foresight to schedule something interesting on the same day as the Stupid Bowl. Yeah!

Still more going on this week, so pace yourselves. If Max doesn't recover by tomorrow, we'll take the blame.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

HEPCAT IN THE HAT

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/01/inaugural-hat-t.html

Everybody's all about the hat. Yesterday, it was all about Miss Aretha's hat as it should be, but last week it was all about the hat at the Indian River County Taxpayers meeting. Miss Vero has received more emails about the hat than we ever could imagine. Oh! and by the way - why is it, that y'all want a private audience With Miss Vero via email, but y'all are not hitting the comments? Hmmmm? C'mon y'all, yes you liberals, dissidents and artistic types, come out, come out wherever y'all have been hiding for the last eight years! Oh my, we are suddenly channeling Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, explainin to the Munchkins that the wicked ole witch is dead. Now hunnies, that was a hat!

Hold on, it'll pass...too much inaugural champagne last night.

Where were we? The hat! THE HAT! "Is there a picture of the hat?" "Who was wearing the hat?" "I was there, I saw the hat too!" and on and on. The only thing this enthusiasm indicates to Miss Vero, is that it takes only a smidgen of fabulous fashion in town to make everybody sit up and take notice. So here's a little puzzle for y'all to put together regarding THE HAT.

Take one hat, very similar to this (not as fabulous) example:

And add it to the very fashionable, Miss Dianne Lininger, who wrote us this very lovely email explaining and ending, THE HAT mystery.

Dear Miss Vero,
I am the lady under the most fabulous hat ever to be seen in Vero at the Jan. 14 Taxpayer's Luncheon. The hat was a gift from Rose Spytek. After what you wrote, it has become my favorite. Now all my other hats are jealous!

Dianne Lininger

And here is some info and a photo of the very fashionable Miss Dianne: http://tc.yourhub.com/User.aspx?UserID=65165

Now, imagine the above hat (yet more fabulous) on the crown of (more beautiful in person) Miss Dianne and wha-la! There y'all have it, fabulous fashion in Vero exists!

Well, now that we have that all cleared up, let's continue, shall we kids? As we awoke at the crack of noon from our post inaugural party slumber and mixed our morning bloody marys, Miss Vero pleasantly remembers the crowds at the Epicenter of Cool - Undertow, last night. We see that the TCPalm sent some one out in the light of day to capture the actual inauguration, but the real party began after dark and went till closing, to put it as we heard it, "Don't everybody don't know that."

And what a gathering! Most of the Miss Vero gang was on hand, although we were feeling sorry for Miss B.Havior, who had to leave early due to the Du Roseland's inconsiderate scheduling of high colonics this morning.

We met some interesting new people and had a wonderful time. Artists and activists abound! And we were especially happy to see Mr. Ken Daige arrive after the City Council meeting with his lovely wife and applaud him for continuing to be vigilant of the political process in town.

Lots of conversation last night was political, however Miss Vero's fine tuned big ear picked up only local political patter and the big topic was in support of Mr. Kenric Ward's column on Sunday, suggesting we get to know a local developer a little better:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jan/18/kenric-ward-palm-beach-corruption-laps-treasure-co/?feedback=1#comments

Of course now, this explains the fashion choices of Mr. Charlie Wilson and his affection for badly tailored pin stripe suits! (Because with us, it's all about fashion and as y'all know perception is reality.) Not only have we surmised that Mr. Charlie Wilson is indeed straight and single but on further examination of his fashion sense, we must also surmise that his attempt to appear "connected" is somewhat lacking and this entire pointless paragraph is only being used as as segue to our review of "Breaking Legs" at the Riverside Theater.

Keepin up with Miss Vero? Good. Because honestly we think we're still giddy about the election and all.

Ok where were we again?

Hmmm, "Breaking Legs" at The Riverside Theater. Ok, did y'all ever try to make Jello and it didn't well, gel? Y'all have a perfectly good package of Jello, just the right amount and temperature of cold and hot water, perfectly good working fridge and the timing is just right, but somehow it just doesn't make Jello? Did that ever happen to y'all? Well that's what "Breaking Legs" was like for us when we attended last week at Riverside. There was absolutely nothing wrong with any of the components of this production. From the amazing cast, who were flawless, to the timing, pace and production design (real Italian restaurants look less authentic than this set). Every detail was in place including the intermission music and the end of the first act was high-larious! We can't think of any reason not to see this production before it ends on February 1st. Sometimes when you expect Jello you get Kool-Aid, or in this case a nice Chianti.

Perhaps a nap is order for Miss Vero today.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

OH! Almost forgot, my goodness Miss Vero's brain is ceratinly pickled today, we forgot to tell y'all to fear not! Green Acres will return!

OPEN THE WINDOW, STICK YOUR HEAD OUT AND YELL...!

"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it:"

"I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Ok, we feel better now.

While all that is true and "Network" is a brilliant movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_(film)

Miss Vero must confine our self to little ole Vero Beach. However, we must confess, it was initially the sentiment of the character Howard Beale that got us bloggin along in the first place. And so, that is exactly what we did, we got up and stuck our head out of the cyberspace window and started shoutin about all the things in Vero and Indian River County that made us mad, glad but never indifferent.

And along the way, we found others who were happy to stick their heads out and do a little shout out with us. Then there are the folks who read us silently every day, the people obsessed with finding out the identity of Miss Vero and the small, yet highly paranoid, percentage who think we have some kind of diabolical agenda.

We did have some fun in 2008. Hearing that PJ Editors and Russ Lemmon sat around in a serious conference trying to figure out little ole Miss Vero was high-larious. Surely a big time newspaper wouldn't be frettin over a silly ole blog. Would they?

But, as an example, our post about our time on the set of a Paul Newman movie (Oct. 1st, "While We Were Out") and our picture with Mr. Newman, sure was a whole lot better than the story the PJ ran: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/sep/30/woman-recalls-newmans-inlet-03/

And we were especially amused by Diana Foote, the so called, food critic of the PJ, who had us squeal with laughter when she considered wearing a fur to lunch in Vero. It didn't take too much time for our giggles to turn to disgust when we realized that this person would actually own a fur, that we caught her "lifting liberally" from another writer (May 22nd "Paid to Plagiarize?"), that she considered "eating Eeyore" in her imagination and then saw fit to share that thought. In print: http://missverosbeachhouse.blogspot.com/search?q=my+misery And that her editors see nothing wrong with sending her to the Olive Garden and allowing her children to tag along on the dining dime, is equally unforgivable.

If the PJ wants to slap their ubiquitous "we're looking out for you" sticker on something, why not let the food critic budget go to groceries for a deserving family for a week? One of the nicest thing a loyal Beach House fan did for Miss Vero was to create a widget for verobeachrestaurants.com, so that we could get a glance of many opinions of all the great restaurants in town. Brilliant - and thank y'all so much, Mr.Mark Landry.

So yes, we had our issues with the Press Journal, especially Mr. Russ Lemmon as the designated driver of Indian River County opinion. Poor Russ, with no sense of humor, it's like asking the nerd hall monitor to be in charge of the Prom night after party. But thankfully, we have our own Mr. Max Newport, who y'all know had a varsity letter and was captain of the debate team, to antagonize Russ. See? It's true, sometimes high school never ends.

Along the way, we did find those who kept their sense of humor. Our big surprise includes Mr. Milton R. Benjamin of verobeach32963, an inspiration as well as a gentleman. And, Mr. Rhett Palmer, who we totally disagree with, on oh so many levels, yet the man makes us laugh (again, on oh so many levels). Besides, what Southern belle could ever resist a man named "Rhett"?

Of course, this was a political year and local politics gave us a heck of a lot of material. Let's not forget, that the PJ picked and chose which stories to tell us, about which candidates they were influenced by. Yup, the tradition of good ole bubba politics was well honored in our local races. Just ask Kay Clem. Oh and Tom White. Did I forget Bob Solari? Did Debbie Mayfield resign yet? Is Jeff Barton retired? How Claudia Jimenez and Kevin Sawnick squeaked in, we'll never know. We suppose Charlie Wilson is not the political powerhouse he professes to be and all that posturing in Paladin's Hummer, was just a good ole boy's joy ride after all. We also suspect, that the PJ's unjust treatment and reports of Mr. Ken Daige, lead to the continued installation of the scissor toting Mr. Tom White (said scissors recently relinquished to the new mayor, Mr. Sabe Abell).

Were we surprised to see the Dodgers pack up and go, not to be replaced? Nope. In fact we got word from an incredibly reliable source and told y'all in our Nov. 9th post "Would Y'all Like Another Scoop?".

Piper laying off workers? If you've lived in Vero Beach longer than Russ Lemmon or for that matter, longer than some politicians, you'd know that this was inevitable. In fact we mention this in our very first post April 30th, "A Blog is Born".

So yes, we could continue on and on about the past, but that is not to our liking. No hunnies, Miss Vero never looks back, as fun as it may be and as much as we luuuuuvvvvvvv to say "we told y'all so!", Miss Vero would like to focus on the future, so here it is...

Miss Vero's Beach House will continue to let folks speak about what is on their minds and will initiate conversations that our local newspaper seems to overlook. It is Miss Vero's sincere belief that we are not "bullying" the local media, (as, we can only assume, we are being referred to in comments on Mr. Lemmon's ironically titled column "Crystal Ball Sees Mundane 2009), rather we are proddin them to actually do their job. http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jan/01/crystal-ball-sees-mundane-2009/?feedback=1#comments

We do want the Press Journal to do well, that's the point, we want to be proud of our local paper, as we once were. We want to talk "over the fence" with our neighbors, we want to reminisce about old Vero and give newcomers an appreciation and welcome to everything we love here, so that they may feel a connection and ownership, so that they understand the local politics, so that they are informed about their own futures, so that they value the fragile nature of our environment (AND HERE IS WHERE WE GIVE A HUGE THANK YOU TO LDOUGLAS). But without discussion, without presentation of factual information, without inclusion, it cannot be done.

Oh, and by the way, if y'all are newcomers, please leave that "when we lived back in blah, blah, it was better than Florida..." attitude at the door. Y'all wake up, cause Y'ALL LIVE HERE NOW, ADAPT.

Instead of trying to predict the future, Miss Vero would like to have hope for the future of our local newspaper. We'd like to work toward the future of citizen journalism and we'd like to have a goal for the future of more diverse contributors and guests at the Beach House. Because we realize (and we are constantly being told), that our little blog is a big thing around town and gettin bigger - folks now look for us everyday, cheer us on and support us in many ways. We feel that we now have a responsibility. It isn't about selling advertising or building a business, it's about sayin what what needs to be said, reporting things that wouldn't make it near the main stream (Like our personal favorite - Drag Queens!) and in a more serious vein, asking questions that should be answered by our local media and government.

Perhaps, somewhere along the line the "news" turned into police reports and advertising editorials, but when people of any community allow this to happen, they are silencing themselves. Instead of standing up and going to the window as it was done back in 1976 (and, we have to admit, that speech is still timely), it's time to sit down at the computer, open "Windows" and shout out, "WE'RE MAD AS HELL AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Miss Vero did, and it feels real good. So let's build a bigger Beach House in 2009! Everyone's welcome, even Mr. Lemmon.

Come on in, sit and stay awhile, pour yourself a cocktail, but don't take yourself too seriously...
MWAH!

missvero@live.com

P.S. Our #1 New Year's resolution is to answer our emails in a more timely manner. So if any of y'all wrote to Miss Vero in the past month or so (yes, we know how bad that sounds), expect some correspondence this weekend. Really.

BEEP..., BEEP..., BEEP..., FLATLINE --------

Well, we've just finished reading our mail from the past month. Now, while some of y'all might think it's crazy to only read your mail once a month, Miss Vero somehow finds it liberatin that we are not a slave to most correspondence, which mostly, just wastes our precious time. Did we mention that we pay all our bills online?

Among the satellite tv offers, coupons for useless things and a Christmas card from President and Mrs. Carter, there were a stack of Verobeach32963, that we took the time to sit down and read.

Let's see what we found...Beautiful Beachies doin the Beautiful Beachie things that they do...Real Estate ads...Very good restaurant reviews that don't make us gag...Real Estate ads...Michelle Genz does a profile of our favorite Jose Lambiet, hmmmm, interesting....Real Estate Ads...Oh, and here's our favorite part - the Editorial.

We especially liked that an entire page, in the December 4th issue,was given to remedy the shameful way that Mr. Ken Daige was treated by the Press Journal, which could possible have lost him the election. We would have preferred to see Mr. Daige and the young fresh Mr. Kevin Sawnick, both able to serve Vero while Mr. Tom "running with scissors" White, got the boot.

Yet, the most interesting for us, was the November 13th editorial, "The Incredible Shrinking Press Journal", which Miss Vero found "ink spot on". Last Sunday, after we had emptied the PJ of all it's annoying advertising fliers, we noticed that the paper was tissue thin, hardly any bigger than the Hometown News. And yes, it seems to get smaller and weaker in physically size and journalistic content as each week goes by.

Perhaps the powers that be, at the parent company, E. W. Scripps, are just planning for the future by economizing on ink and paper. After all, way back in January of 2007, this idea was presented.

"...the company's management "spoke much more positively on the possibility of reducing its exposure to the newspaper industry" http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/10/scripps-newspapers-goldman-markets-equity-cx_rs_0110markets14.html


Just this week, E. W. Scripps has put a Pulitzer winning paper on the market, with little chance of finding a buyer:
http://www.westword.com/2008-12-11/news/the-rocky-mountain-news-is-going-down/

And more newspaper trouble a little closer to home, with news of the Miami Herald for sale: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/magazines-newspapers/e3i686368ba4cd6a88c345fe88fd6cac2e9

We especially like the little blurb in Gawker that gives the Miami Herald -"Odds of survival: 2-1. If you do not consider a two-page weekly digest of Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen columns to be "survival," we lower its odds to 3-1.":
http://gawker.com/5104434/the-official-newspaper-survival-odds
(See? We told y'all that Mr. Hiaasen had lost his humor mojo)

And here's a final nail in the coffin from Editor&Publisher, "America's oldest journal covering the newspaper industry", who proclaim this week that -"'Several Cities' Could Have No Daily Paper As Soon As 2010...":
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003918781


While the VB332963 politely offers helpful suggestions to the PJ -"Hire some real reporters and editors.", but concludes that "we confess to doubts that it is going to happen in this difficult economy" and continues with the promise "we intend to continue our news coverage of the local area, particularly as it impacts the Vero Beach barrier island." (yes, we know y'all have to justify those Real Estate ads), we think the future of news is right in front of y'all.

Now of course, at this point we would give y'all a link to the VB32963 article, but we can't and here's where Miss Vero would like to offer a little suggestion to the VB32963. Update your online edition!

And while the VB32963 acknowledges their neglect of this, they counter that they are "focused on getting our print edition into your mailbox each Thursday." Because, guess what? Those Real Estate ads have got to get to you!

The unfortunate truth is that relying on advertising for print media is not a good idea and that if someone doesn't figure out how to make some muhlah on this internet thing (and believe me, Miss Vero hasn't figured it out yet, but we believe that Mr. Milton R. Benjamin is smart enough to), the future of news will be akin to neighbors talkin over a fence, better known as "blogging".

Cocktail in hand, we've got that covered!

MWAH!

missvero@live.com