As many of you know I am a proud, native Floridian, born in raised in Titusville, FL near the Kennedy Space Center.

My homestate of Florida has its own rich history full of your usual: Indians and European settlers, stories of pirates and drifters, ghost towns and legends of fountain of youth.

Now available is a picture book with over 100 photos that will transport you to a yesteryear where many towns have vanished but preserved in this ideal coffee book.

Visit my Florida website, www.myfabulousflorida.com to learn more and take a historical trip dating back 100 years.

As I write this, it's hard not to let the tears well up. Little Gretel is 100% recovered from her leg injury at construction sight. No fracture as the bone has rejoined and her flesh wound has seen new growth of skin and fur. She has such strength and courage. I have learned so much from a three pound kitten. She and her brother are now ready for adoption.

The kittens are 7 months old. The pictures hardly do them justice and their personalities will literally make you fall in love.

Hansel (above) is now a little taller than his sister (he's actually smaller than he appears in the picture). What presence--such regal, stately demure! He's a knight in platinum armor and protects his little sister.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a performance by world-renowned guitarist, Ottmar Liebert. This was the first time I ever attended a show where there was no dancing or physical movement other than the melodious vibrations of flamenco guitar notes in the air.

The music transported me to my travels in Spain, especially Andalucia, the heart of flamenco. The sight, the sounds, the rhythm, the passion...

This German-born artist is a man of deep thought and instrumental innovations to bring a world together through the universal language of music. He recently married his talent with the illustrious Iraqi oud player, Rahim AlHaj. Under the title "Under the Rose, Liebert and AlHaj unite modern flamenco with ancestral Iraqi tradition similar to the Moorish influence in the Iberian peninsula. Now you can indulge in this spectacular marriage of music.

CLICK HERE to download your free MP3 album "Under the Rose".


This also makes a great gift. How can you present this album as a customized gift? Just follow these instructions:
Go to the Under the Rose webpage.
Click on Download this album in lossless FLAC format.
Click on "Click here to download a PDF you can print out for making your own CD jewel box insert."
If you don’t have FLAC software, go to this webpage and download some.Burn an audio CD.Print the jewel box insert.Tie a ribbon around it.
Optional: make a donation to Direct Aid Iraq.
Total cost should be about a buck, for the CD-R with case, plus the donation, if applicable.

[Home Page]

With scores of commercials with name-dropping celebs like Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, and Sophia Loren to name a few and the comparison to the musical Chicago, expectations were set and set high.

Unfortunately I was not charmed. Where was the dazzling choreography where I long to rewind the clock 20 years and relive my dancing years? And the singing. I asked if these A- list actresses were really singing. They were. With the exception of the belting gusto of professional singer Fergie, the rest were as flat as Miami sea level land. Even the script for these phenomenal actresses was sub par. I forget that Sophia Loren is mortal but it showed. With all the plastic surgery, she was wound so tight she appeared stiff.

The heroes were Daniel Day Lewis and Judi Dench and also kudos to Oscar winner Marion Cotillard. Technically, she's the only trained singer.

Daniel Day Lewis epitomizes the character of an Italian director who spirals into a cigarette smoking frenzy when media announcement is made of his next movie but he has no script or even a title. He "dances" around questions and the lies avalanche. His muses are the various women in his life--his dead mother who appears as a ghost (Sophia Loren), his French dress maker (Judi Dench), his childhood older heartthrob (Fergie), his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), and leading actress (Nicole Kidman).

Other memorable moments: Penelope Cruz's raunchy, tit-and-ass with fishnet hose-covered- legs performance. Fergie's lustful musical score "Be Italian" makes you want to be Italian. And Kate Hudson's perky song and dance performance. But no comparison to Chicago. Even Rotten Tomatoes is scoring this at 37% right now.

Kate Hudson

The A-list actresses

New Year's Eve in Sydney, Australia