Hi from Doo-bye folks. Jim here photographed from a mobile phone at Emirates towers, courtesy of my pal Tom. An arty photo or just plain poor quality? I quite like it.

Any ‘must do’ stuff for 2009? I’m striding out with optimism and treating every opportunity as a time to learn.   Turning frowns upside down - my aim and the main thrust of this main blog page content here GO! Smell the flowers for 2009.

In Feb we’ll launch a newlook flowers harnessing  new Buddypress software that will give readers a chance to take the plunge and dig deeper with thie personal profiles and post photos like this.

So - what of 2009? Do tell, photography classes optional.

Jim here in a confused Dubai who have announced today that all celebrations for the New Year are cancelled as ‘an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people’. The call was made last night by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.

The arrival this week of football star David Beckham for winter training and pop diva Shakira for a concert in nearby Abu Dhabi have added an electric charge to the air — even if New Year’s parties are in doubt after the emirate’s ruler reportedly called off all celebrations in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Rumour has it that all parties are off due to other reasons  - reasons that involve the safety of the masses of people planning to gather to bring in the New Year together. I’ll not type the T word here but it must be a serious threat.

So it looks like my ticket to the santuary nightclub at the Palm Atlantis (where the Cruises & Beckhams are staying - throwing a party like no other?) will be worthless  - maybe I’ll frame it for prosperity?

At the tme of writing it is unclear what exactly ‘ stopping celebrations’ means in terms of alcohol, live music and generally partying on - this will be revealed throughout the rest of the day as hotels are on standby to pull the plug or at least trim down their New Year plans.

I’d love to know how you’re seeing 2009 in wherever you are and I welcome any other suggestions of how I can spend New Years Eve now? Comments welcomed but do keep the noise down. Cheers….

Jim here in bright n breezy London spending time with flowers founder Arvind.

It turns out that megastore Harrods are in a spot of bother after anti-fur campaigners booes opera singer Katherine Jenkins as she arrived at Harrods to open its winter sale.

Anti-fur campaigners booed opera singer Katherine Jenkins as she arrived at Harrods to open its winter sale.

Protesters shouted “shame on Katherine” as she arrived by horse-drawn carriage. The Welsh star turned out after chart-topping singer Leona Lewis reportedly refused to open the sale because of Harrods’ policy of selling fur.

Protesters claim Harrods is the only major store in the UK to sell imported fur. No-one from the Knightsbridge store was available for comment.

Here she is singing time to say goodbye (to 2008) with Andrea Bocelli on the U.K’s strictly come dancing:

At Harrods she was pictured buying two Jasmine di Milo dresses - one in grey and one in black and told reporters: “Personally I do not eat meat or wear fur, but people are entitled to their opinions.”

Some bargain-hunters had been queuing from midnight to buy goods marked down by as much as 50%.

Is this ‘fur’ enough or are people over reacting? Your take on fur - do tell AND any bargains this season?

Earlier in the week we gave everyone the chance to win $60 of flowers delivered anywhere in the world courtesy of our partners Flora 2000, the International delivery experts. Our 35th free flowers contest wince November 2006!

Finishing 2008 off with a caption contest we asked you for your suggestion to this potentially topical festive photo:

With 17 entries the winner on this occasion was…(((Drum roll)))……

(more…)

OooOoooo lala…I hope you’re all enjoying a MARVELLOUS Holiday/end-of-year Celebration time…

Myself and Mr. Monarch are still in Mexico, enjoying the winter sun. I am fasting on coconut water and juices at the moment for a few days, as it feels SO good to me. I passed Winter Solstice on coconut water and felt inspired now to just keep going…(loving the cocos)…onwards into the ever-expanding light with coconuts in hand…

We’re also excited to announce this week that we’ve started our own raw TV show: TheRawFoodWorld.TV
We’ve been posting videos daily so far, including interviews with Matt’s family (starting with his mum, who has seen great changes in her health since eating more raw foods and juicing), footage of our current residence in Mexico (complete with rescue dogs we’re rehabilitating on raw) and insights into a raw Christmas…You can see our vids at TheRawFoodWorld.TV, or click the picture below to watch a recent episode. If you have any suggestions for future episodes, please feel free to post them here on GSTF - we’d love to hear your ideas

We hope you’re all feeling perky and bright at Yuletide and we send you all best wishes and blessings for a marvellous, healthy new year…

All love,
Angela (and Mr. Monarch) in Mexico. xxx

Hi from Dubai folks.

A little over a month aGO! I wrote about how Dubai splashed out a staggering $30 million on THE hotel launch to top the lot - The Palm Atlantis:

Our article was picked up by the local press and in particular Gulfnews who are tracking our content as part of the blogoshpere  as the rest of the world were treated to THAT staggering firework display that even outsized the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics!

I’m curious to dig deeper and get amongst it at the Atlantis Palm and have decided to see 2009 in at the chic Sanctuary nightclub. I’ve even joined their facebook group! and can see who else is attending or maybe attending as word spreads.

Palm Island does stand out from the crowd and was mocked as a development when it was launched and still is by a few bittersweet folk that didn’t buy.

I say fair play to them for pulling it off and wonder what you’ll be doing in your corner of the globe in terms of waving Buh-bye to 2008 and welcoming 2009 with open arms.

It’s barely 1 week away folks so get planning! What do you have in line to see in 2009? Do tell and if your name isn’t down you can’t come in.

Hi from the UK flowers.

Ever felt like playing Kirk for a day? Well now NASA has given you a GO! for Launch with news that after the Smithsonian gets its Shuttle, the other two will be up for grabs.

Couple of conditions apparently - you’ll need a fair bit of dosh and a landing strip of considerable length to accept delivery (on the back of a 747) - they don’t say how they expect you to get it off the back though.

Read more here -  Shuttle up for grabs.

Oh one more thing. The Register reports that should the new President decide he needs them to continue boldly going - then you may have to wait a bit longer for delivery.

Seriously - where should the other two go? I’d love to see one at somewhere like the science museum in London or the space center in Leicester. Or how about Duxford imperial war museum - they’ve got the space but not quote the runway length.

Greetings dear garden-dwellers,
I hope all is flowing well in YOUR part of the picture…
This week I thought I’d share a little about our current whereabouts. My partner Matt and I travel all over the world sharing the message of raw food and right now we are in Baja, Mexico, soaking up the winter sun and enjoying plenty of fresh coconuts - YUMMMMMM

So that you can get a direct insight into life here, I’ve embedded a little video below that our friend Kevin Gianni filmed yesterday, during our trip to the coconut stand:

LOVE coconuts…I hope you make the most of them too whenever you’re in a coconutty area - ENJOY

All love,
Angela. xxx

Jim here in Doo-bye having learned today that the new Versace hotel in town is going to feature an air-conditioned beach which may defeat the purpose! Having reported on the $20 million of fireworks that recently went up in smoke (the Gulf News featured flowers in around the blogosphere by the way!) and considering the current economic downturn I do wonder what Disneyland Dubai is thinking.

A system of heat-absorbing pipes and giant wind blowers will “keep tourists cool in the searing 40-50C (104-122F) heat.” Soheil Abedian, president of Palazzo Versace hotel that will be home to the refrigerated beach, said: “We will suck the heat out of the sand to keep it cool enough to lie on. This is the kind of luxury that top people want.”

OH DEAR! ‘TOP people?’ WTF (That means While Temperatures Fall, by the way, ice age etc)

The city’s continued expansion will also add to its huge carbon footprint. Each person living in Dubai has a carbon footprint of more than 44 tons of CO2 a year.

I won’t avoid these Disney-Dubai posts but do feel a tad embarrassed as there are far more important causes were money could go that keep the pinkies of over paid and often talentless / racist expatriates who are in the right place at the right time, from burning in the sand.

Or am I being harsh? Comments welcome and pass me a cold towel per-lease. Expat Jim.

Hi form Dubai flower folk,

Jim here well remembering my days spent ’studying’ at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California where I was treated royally by everybody I met.

What of the state that hosted Baywatch for many years? There’s so much more to it and I wonder if this generalisation is an insult to those residing in Cal or anywhere else in the USA.

Whaddaya say from wherever you are in the world?

Fair or harsh? Both to the art and the people of America. Do tell!