"Poundshop Marilyn"

Ouch!. It's what a British journalist called a celeb who wore the famous Marilyn

Monroe dress to this year's Met Gala. We couldn't possibly comment. Here is the famous frock and MM singing to President JFK.

Earth to the UK Daily Mail (MailOnline)

We here at the Shuttle / Careless Whispers feel for today's sub-editors. Most have been replaced by online services. Sub editors on major newspapers could often make or destroy a story and at the very least, were superb 'fact checkers'. Alas for the Britain's Daily Mail newspaper we must assume their sub editors are under immense pressure. Why would they make a glaring mistake like this?. No, the lady pictured with the caption "the gossip columnist" is not well known Sydney scribe Ros Reines. In fact we have no idea who she is. This is the "gossip columnist" Ros Reines in our featured pic. Admittedly the 2 ladies do look similar, equally vivacious but they are not the same person.

Still, it's the thought that counts. ************************************************************ This Daily Mail faux paus reminds Whispers of when they confused (as pointed out by moi) comedienne Tracey Ullman's late mother with the Australian actress Little Nell of Rocky Horror fame. One look at the snap and it's pretty clear both ladies are of similar age. Of course in the online world, never having to say you're sorry is the only way to survive.

Real Fake News

Reality

Beach bums! Sydneysiders ignore social distancing rules as they flock to Bondi to lap up the final days of summer.

 While we've become quite used to the UK Daily Mail tweaking their tales that often say the opposite to what is really happening, today they just published a complete load of balderdash and a real example of that infamous Fake News.

Sydney's Bondi Beach has been closed for 10 days now. Whispers should know as we currently live there.
The beach itself is closed off with barriers and there is a large police presence. While some members of the public manage to occasionally make it to the rocks surrounding both ends of the beach they are soon warned off by vigilant coppers and for at least a week now few have bothered. But not a soul has set foot on the sand nor is able to get past the barriers erected along with huge blinking neon signs stating the beach is closed and police vans parked at all entry points with their lights flashing.
Indeed for at least ten days, the suburb has been like a ghost town. While some walk the boardwalk for exercise they are also warned by numerous police officers to practice "social distancing".

How did the Mail manage to publish this obvious complete fake tale along with photographs purportedly taken last Friday (an overcast day with intermittent light showers). The snaps could not possibly have been taken last Friday nor within the last fortnight.
We know tabloids bend the truth but this is a load of claptrap. Comments on Mail Tales can be interesting. Most on this story indicate the readers actually believe the story is real !

Meghan Markle says the Mail distorted her father's letter

Click on link:

Meghan Markle Claims Mail Suppressed Key Parts of Her Letter to her Father About 'Exploitation by British Tabloid

Daily Mail Fail #45

The inimitable Daily Mail newspaper is a source of constant amusement here among office staff (1) and the office cat over cups of tea at the water cooler. Here is their latest blooper with a dig at various signs for typo errors and just beneath..is the Fail's Mail's very own typo.

This still doesn't beat the Fail's Mail's Best Blooper spotted by us when they announced the death of comedienne Tracey Ullman's 85 year old mother Doreen Skinner and ran a picture of her with Tracey...except it was a snap of a fairly healthy 50 year old Aussie star of the Rocky Horror Show Nell Campbell known as Little Nell.

Add caption

And so it came to pass

Princes Harry & William were there as was our own princess Kylie Minogue. And this couple finally fronted the cameras : Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall.  Read all about it in the MailOnline.

Daily Mail Fail

It's all the rage with newspapers these days- firing sub-editors and while they do the bloopers keep piling up. The latest is this  tragic story about comedian Tracey Ullman whose mother sadly passed away in a house-fire. To illustrate the news the UK Daily Mail has used a photograph they label as Tracey and her mother Doreen Skinner,
Alas the photo is actually of Tracey and Australian actress Little Nell who starred in the film of the Rocky Horror Show. Nell and Tracey are about the same age as is evident in the picture.

Mystic Meg Moment

The Shuttle's spooky prediction has been fulfilled not 48 hours after we suggested that the UK MailOnline might find space for a tale about Sydney wireless announcer Fifi Box, much beloved off local outlets like the Woman's Day and the magazine publishing wags naughtily refer to as No Idea.
Alas, the MailOnline's wacky tale about Fifi landing a black eye on My Kitchen Rules' host, French born  Manu Feildel has been given it's own shiner. The report on Manu, whose accent has taken on extraordinary guttural Marseille tones since his TV success, has fallen flat with readers. The verdict is in according to Mail fans, most who seem to be Australian in this case and who have damned the British tabloid's reporting :
      

 


Update :
A feature in today's Mail gives a riveting account of Sydney model Tahyna Tozzi (incidentally-discovered by the Shuttle) who today married her boyfriend dancer and choreographer Tristan MacManus.  

Kim in London has some kind words for the loving pair :

"A warm and heartfelt congratulations ... whoever you are"

Epic Tabloid Fail

Oh dear- just as it was all going so swimmingly well for the UK Daily Mail & MailOnline newspapers as our stories below  indicate.                                         
Now the world's trashiest most widely read tabloid has had to apologise for 'lifting' an supposed interview with James Bond star Sir Roger Moore. The interview and excerts from it swept the world but alas- it was a phony and after Sir Roger complained, editors back pedaled like crazy
You can read the tale here in The New Statesmen.
But there are Aussie culprits in this saga : the media agency Australian Associated Press ( owned by Fairfax Media & News Ltd)  picked up the fake story and syndicated it around the world as an original article.
One thing you can be sure of : tales picked up by the Mail from the social shuttle ( as they regularly are) are accurate and genuine.

Instant Update

"The biggest twit on Australian television."

The UK MailOnline's fascination with Aussie celebrities continues into it's third day , albeit still befuddling loyal Mail readers.
A tale about the Human Headline Derryn Hinch's decision to spend 6 weeks in the pokey has drawn a complete blank with readers. However a photo extravaganza featuring amateur bikini models and 'instababe' stars has set pulses racing with comments along  the lines: "cor blimey look at that.." etc.
Sadly a feature on morning TV host Karl Stefanovic appears to have fallen flat with readers :

"The biggest twit on Australian television."

"Going to say it again, why all the oz stories? Who the hell would be interested in Karl Stefanovic outside oz?"

"What on earth is going on with the over the top coverage of Australian stories on here lately...most of them barely rate a mention in our newspapers..."

Still, it's early days yet.

Distant Love

Gorgeous Miranda Kerr was out and about this week in New York where she lives. You can see her in this lovely picture spread in the UK Daily Mail.
But alas, no James Packer by her side. Packer is in China and Sri Lanka for a week but will be back in Sydney in the next few days to oversee the continuing construction on his mega new home in Vaucluse and for business meetings about the proposed Barangaroo casino.
What an odd affair they seem to be having -so many thousands of miles separating this love-struck pair and Miranda still seeing her ex Orlando Bloom on a daily basis. Meanwhile James is confiding in his new (well relatively- 10 months) 'personal assistant' who hails from the land of Wendi Deng.
Perhaps James & Miranda are having a modern style of affair- one of the mind. Sounds just like a dream.

One Man & His Blog

Oh the joys of  blogging, even if the rewards may not seem apparent at first.
Advertising wise thesocialshuttle has picked up a handful of (badly) paid adverts- enough to settle maybe 2 telephone bills.
 Photography wise we have sold hundreds of photographs sourced from the Shuttle since 2010.  Our pics have appeared around the world in major newspapers and on similar websites as the Shuttle.
Surprisingly, few snaps get stolen from the website. Only 2 have in the last 3 years, both by a major Australian publisher.

Whilst websites pay a minimal amount to publish a snap for a month- when it's a particularly popular one like Aussie hunk Chris Hemsworth (right) it can be very rewarding: it has sold over 60 times. For some reason our snap of Rupert Murdoch (left) and the soon to be ex-Wendi Murdoch is extremely popular in China. 4 publications have used it including the Chinese Hello! in the past month and one Taiwanese newspaper.

Even better British newspapers that still pay big bikkies, routinely scour the Shuttle for tales and photographs. The Daily Mail for instance has 3 full time web assistants whose sole job is to search the net for suitable stories.
 Recent publications in the UK the Shuttle has sold material to (sourced from here) include  The Sun, the Sunday Mirror, The Daily Mail and The Independent amongst others. In the USA The Daily News & Vanity Fair have run Shuttle pics recently.
We may not have a billion dollar entity behind us providing unparalleled support. We may just operate from a second floor apartment sitting at a humble desk albeit with a pleasing view over Prince Alfred Park and within a cooee of the nearby mighty News Ltd empire but we reckon it's the way of the future. One day, we will all be bloggers !
Time to report on the latest Social Shuttle viewing figures : since mid 2010 daily readers of the Shuttle have never fallen below 1000. they usual hover between 1400 /1800 and on a peak day have reached 2600.
Google's own stats reveal an interesting picture and they cannot be fiddled with or fudged - they record every visit, the location of the viewer and the system they use-Apple, Ipad , IPhone and so on.
Total Social Shuttle page views this month: 48297
That's similar to a large suburban newspaper. As for readers they can be spread around the world as the last 2 weeks show:
Australia  15164
United States 3514
Germany  1582
Russia 1336
China 1234
United Kingdom 1151
Indonesia 430
Saudi Arabia 225
France 203
Ukraine 73
Not bad for what some critics may call an unknown website.

Kirstie Takes The UK by Storm

 The UK's most sensational newspaper (many say the most appalling) the Daily Mail has taken a cue from the Social Shuttle (they often do) and given Australian ex-Vogue editor Kirstie Clements' book about her life and times in the fashion world a huge plug.

Launched in March, The Vogue Factor has been flying off local bookshelves and looks like being a hit in the UK as well.
 Clements was editor of Australian Vogue for 13 years before being shafted for unknown reasons. She was hugely popular amongst fashion designers during her tenure and has now delivered a tome that lifts the lid on the local and international fashion world where she had a regular front row seat at the New York, London, Milan and Paris fashion shows and a direct line to the world's most famous designers. It's a rollicking read and you must try it!
                                                      ****************************

Paula.....or is it Patti ?

A sharp eyed reader has pointed out the remarkable similarity between Melbourne based TV personality Patti Newton, wife of legendary TV host Bert Newton (and mother of troubled actor Mathew Newton) and the recently axed US TV celebrity chef Paula Dean. They could almost be sisters as our snaps show. Are they perchance distant cousins ? I think we should be told.

exclusive : Royal Baby is a Girl

Rachel Johnson is the editor of The Lady, the longest continually published women's magazine in the UK and she is an impeccable source .

 Writing in the UK Daily Mail she informs us that Kate Middleton's baby is a girl. Her information comes from The Lady's astrologer Victor Olliver who is very very good at these things. He predicted  a definite win for Barack Obama when other astrologers were hedging their bets. 

The Inspiration for Kevin Spacey's New Hair

The UK Daily Mail newspaper has run a story with some pictures of actor Kevin Spacey's gorgeous new hair which he premiered at the Australian Open yesterday in Melbourne.
 Kevin watched enthralled along with the nation as tennis greats Andy Murray and Roger Federer battled it out.

But as always the Shuttle is ahead of the others and today we present the man who inspired Kevin to banish those grey wisps and give his scalp a complete make-over : brother Randy Fowler who as our snap shows has one of the most magnificent manes seen around Las Vegas where he lives, shepherding folk around town in his luxury limo service and enthralling audiences with his Rod Stewart impersonations.
Sadly the two show-biz brothers are estranged and Randy once said to  Britain's Daily Mirror in an interview about Kevin : My brother is a lying weirdo !

Jimmy Savile ? : blame Richard Nevile

Writer A N Wilson, once dubbed the 'young fogey' has laid into a series of personalities in a dissertation about the so-called 'sexual revolution' that has resulted in what he thinks are today's slack morals.

Richard Nevile
at a book launch
 2 weeks ago

Starting with Lady Chatterley's Lover (he read it as a boy, under the sheets with a torch) , Wilson draws a line beginning with the Baby Boomers , Hippies ,and the swinging 60s and just about anyone who contributed to the arts during that era  from the Rolling Stones to Richard Nevile and the Oz Magazine team who were busted for obscenity when they produced the School Kids issue that featured Rupert The Bear with a hard on (the issue was actually edited by school kids).

Richard Nevile,Felix Denis
   and Jim Anderson at
  their obscenity trial

Even the Oz defendants brief at their trial, Rumpole author and barrister John Mortimer comes in for a serve and perhaps barrister Nevile Wran who defended Nevile in Sydney on obscenity charges and later become NSW Premier for 10 years, should share in the blame.
Apparently 57% of Brits were happy in the idyllic 1950s and presumably there were no rapes, sex assaults or abortions- although the Shuttle's late aunt who had a backyard abortion in 1951 may dispute that (as a result she was couldn't have children and suffered for the rest of her life).
All this free sex and loose morals have disturbed Wilson so much he draws a link between them and the BBC apparently ignoring the exploits of the late Jimmy Savile although he has failed to point out that most of the newspapers Wilson has written for also turned a blind eye. And little does he know he shares something in common with Richard Nevile : in the 1960s Nevile who was an advertising copy writer was dubbed the Young Fogey by pals who weren't quite convinced with his 'revolutionary' zeal.
You can read all this in the Daily Mail.

Fashion Teacher Slams Melbourne Style

Top fashionista Nicholas Huxley, head of the Fashion Design Studio at Tafe NSW has ripped into the fashions at this year's Melbourne Cup via his Facebook page.
 Huxley says: 

"I HAVE TO SAY..What a bloody terrible lot of fashion at the Melbourne Cup and the build up to it.All those who are saying best dressed here and best dressed there...PLEASE. Cocktail dresses at any of these racing events...and the ghastly head pieces they're calling hats.There is no sophistication / no understanding of race wear...just a lot of tits and arse to hook an arse with money! The truth will never be told...it's so much better to be part of a click then to be individual.I am so glad I'm not and have never wanted to be part of a click!"

 Ouch !.
 And the UK's Daily Mail newspaper has a few words to say as well about behaviour of cup goers in this piece titled
"And You Thought Ascot Was Going to The Dogs"!

"Invasion Of The Super Yachts"

The UK's Daily Mail has published a  feature on the many fabulous gin palaces that have invaded the Thames & London for the Olympics. It's deja vu time and just like a re-run of the Sydney 2000 Olympics when basically the same boats arrived in Sydney and lined up at the wharf in Blackwattle Bay, the only place large enough to host a billion dollars worth of luxury boating.

Hopefully those flogging luxury goods in London will not make the same mistake as several did at Blackwattle and set up stores nearby. A 3 star restaurant opened hoping to cater to yacht owners and several luxury goods purveyors like the South Australian Pearl jeweler who flew in a million dollars worth of gems and built a small boutique from the ground up for the  2 weeks of games. All went broke after the fortnight. Most of the boat owners flew in and stayed at hotels while the only people onboard their boats were staff.

Illona at Canary Wharf

the Murdochs at the Lowy dinner

Frank Lowy

One luxury ship in London is Frank Lowy's  Ilona that is moored at Canary Wharf, not far from his good friend Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.HQ. Lowy owns the giant Westfield Shopping Centres. Rupert & Wendi Murdoch flew to Sydney from New York in 2008 to attend a dinner in honour of Lowy at the Royal Randwick Racecourse as the Shuttle's exclusive pic shows.

Lowy fled Czechoslavakia to France in 1946 but was arrested by British troops and incarcerated at a detention camp in Cyprus, eventually making it to Israel and joining the Haganah. He arrived in Australia in 1953 and partnered with Hungarian immigrant John Saunders to create Westfield, now the largest shopping centre owners in the world. The Shuttle attended a breakfast at the Regent Hotel in Sydney for Henry Kissinger (see pic below with Ros Packer) in 1998. When Kissinger left the stage he was mobbed by the many politicians there but brushed them aside, making his way to Lowy's table where the 2 remained in deep conversation.

Melissa Shines At The Baftas

Wearing a figure hugging Victoria Beckham gown, Australian actress Melissa George looked radiant at last night's British Academy of Arts, Film & Television awards in London.

She may still be only finding roles in less than A grade films, but one television series in which she appears regularly that has been overlooked in this country is In Treatment,  a series with Gabriel Byrne as a psychotherapist who despite analysing a series of patients, begins to question his abilities. Well worth getting the entire series on DVD and watching over a long weekend.

Plenty more great pictures at the MailOnline.MailOnline.

Leo DiCaprio's Catalogue Christmas Present

 




Great Gatsby star Leonardo DiCaprio is back in California today for Christmas after flying out of Sydney on Thursday afternoon courtesy of The Star Casino's corporate jet.

Accompany him was Victoria's Secret model Erin Heatherington who the Daily Mail has reported,  Leo spotted in an underwear model catalogue and contacted her with a request to join him in Sydney. Erin continued on to New York on a commercial flight.

The UK Daily Mail newspaper also has a series of photographs taken last Tuesday by a tourist of the pair touring the grounds of historic Vaucluse House which is in the next suburb to Point Piper where DiCaprio is renting a harbour side house while he films Gatsby for director Baz Lurhmann.

Several newspapers have reported that Leo has 'imported' several models to date yet the Hollywood star has often been spotted partying with his close knit band of male friends sans these 'girlfriends' at several Sydney night spots including Ivy in the city where twice he has rented the lounge bar for he and his pal's exclusive use and the tiny Beach Haus nightclub in Kings Cross where, once Leo & pals arrive one of his bodyguards is posted at the front door to screen further guests who may arrive. DiCaprio will be back in Sydney in early January to wrap up filming.

Burt

Baz

Meanwhile director Baz Luhrmann is recovering from an injury that required several stitches and resulted in the Gatsby set being closed down until January, after he hit his head on a camera weight last week.
While DiCaprio's co-stars Carey Mulligan and Tobey McGuire are spending Christmas in Sydney, friends have been commenting on Baz's new smooth look around his eyes and pondering whether Luhrmann has had surgery.

One older technician who has worked on many Hollywood films said that when he arrived for the first day of filming on Gatsby, Baz's new look reminded him of another movie great he has worked with-actor Burt Reynolds.