Farewell to Kerrie

 It was to be artist Kerrie Lester's last exhibition and the night also would have been her 64th birthday. Lester passed away earlier this year after a battle with cancer. Around 200 pals gathered in the Australian Gallery to toast & farwell Lester and by the look of the red dots that appeared, Kerrie's last show is a sellout. Folk historian Warren Fahey gave a talk about his good pal including his first meeting with Lester- he arrived at her house to find her with a large joint in her mouth and mowing the lawn.  Kerrie Lester's work is included in major corporate collections as well as the National Portrait Gallery and she was a favourite Archibald entrant once winning the Packer's Prize, Lester died from Leukemia at the age of 63.

GoggleBox stars Mick & Di                    Professor Ross Steele                      Martin & Michelle Walsh

Warren Fahey & Stuart Purves                                         V itek Czernuszyn & Deborah Thomas          

Wintour Blues

She's the Queen of the fashion world but many are criticizing Anna Wintour and US Vogue

magazine for proclaiming that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were the Best Dressed at Wintour's increasingly down-market annual Met Gala ball in New York.
Says Vogue: "It’s not the first time that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have coordinated their style. You might say it’s an art form that the pair has honed in their downtime, often subtly matching their off-duty looks with his-and-hers monochromatic ensembles, but little can compare to the stunning fashion moment they orchestrated on the Met Gala red carpet tonight" 
Oh yeah? Kim managed to make this ultra expensive Balmain dress look, well cheap. As for Kanye's Fear of God outfit- those tragic slashed jeans were passe even when they were in fashion.

Purveyor of uber smart Polish Vodka Vitek Czernuszyn who doubles up as the husband of Australian style queen and Bauer publishing maven, Australian Women's Weekly editor Deborah Thomas says : "Kim and Kanye declared best dressed at the Met Ball - REALLY?

In a desperate panic at the loss of circulation and relevance amongst the under 30 year olds, American Vogue has resorted to courting the Kardashian's for their enormous following amongst the vacuous young. I guess you can't blame them for doing what they think is necessary to save the venerated 125 year old title- though the compromise in their integrity is considerable".
 Harsher words come from former Australian fashion expert and now top selling author Maggie Alderson who said of Kim'n'Kayne "American Vogue has just lost all its credibility, as far as I'm concerned. How is this well dressed anywhere? Let alone the Met Ball. Tragic - and craven." Ouch.
As for Sarah Jessica Parker's interesting white outfit Maggie simply said : "lost for words".

The Real Thing

The Gold Coast is nothing if not colourful and glitzy in a sort of refreshing way that Sydney and Melbourne could take more notice of.
The Magic Millions is now one of the world's great race meetings with prizes that dwarf others. Obviously an injection of cash from (always complaining) retailer Gerry Harvey and his wife Katie is welcome. Yet the often clueless social writers who snatch their freebie flights and Casino hotel rooms in Queensland and breathlessly report on the z-list celebs that attend always forget whose idea it always was and who put the whole idea of a race meet on the Gold Coast into motion, against the odds, and was successful

Angela Belle McSweeney

And credit for that goes to Sydney socialite Angela Belle McSweeney who comes from a well known racing family. It was Angela's brainchild and it was her efforts that eventually saw Queensland's recalcitrant racing officials finally concede that her idea had merit.
The Magic Millions should always pay homage to one of Australia's more interesting public relation's experts and entrepreneurs.
Here are a couple of snaps from this year's event.
 Princess Anne's commoner daughter Zara Phillips (hey guys- she is not Royalty which was  the whole idea of her parents not giving her a title) and one of Sydney's glam couples, fine vodka purveyor Vitek Czernuszyn (right)and his always glamorous wife Deborah Thomas who is head honcho at Bauer Media and doubles up as a Double Bay councilor in her spare time, with a couple of good looking chaps.

Bali Hai

Maurice Terzini

While the reality TV program What Really Happens In Bali may be horrifying the viewing public as the place appears swamped by yahoos from this fair isle, it hasn't deterred successful restaurateur Maurice Terzini who is planning to launch the Icebergs Beach Club at the ritzy Sea Sentoza Resort at Echo Beach,

Terzeni's Bondi Icebergs nestled above the local swimming pool and with a world beating view of the beach is a roaring success with locals and visiting celebrities flocking to the bar and restaurant. Terzini says he is drawing design inspiration from the iconic photography of Slim Aarrons (right)  from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s; glamour and "enjoyment in an idyllic setting with an experience that is both accessible as well as inspirational". And the architects Claudio Lazzarini and Carl Pickering from Rome's Lazzarini Pickering Architetti who designed the Icebergs will produce the Beach Club. Sounds like a winner !
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There is of course a ritzy side to Bali with numerous ex-pats who have built luxury villas and who avoid the nightmares of Kuta.
Many years ago Sydney boutique Vodka purveyor Vitek Czernuszyn lived in Bali and published a local society rag before heading to Australia.
Czernuszyn is married to Woman's Weekly Editor in Chief Deborah Thomas (left) who also doubles as a councilor on the Double Bay Council. The Shuttle's spy disguised as an aspidistra in the council chambers hears that Thomas is a shoe-in to become Mayor Of Woolahra next year .  Vitek should make an excellent First Lady.

Deborah's Big Win

Deborah with Malcolm Turnbull MP

No doubt the very glamorous former model Deborah Thomas was celebrating on Sunday with her husband Vitek Czernuszyn, purveyor of fine vodka.

Deborah commands a number of weighty titles : director of media, public affairs and brand development at ACP magazines but she now also ascends to Woollahra Council after a convincing win in the local elections on Saturday.

Thomas has edited and published the Australian Women's Weekly for a number of years ( still the countries top selling magazine and at times, one of the world's) and she'll now be sitting in on council meetings making decisions on all sorts of mind boggling matters like local roads, development applications and so on. 
 

Only just last week it was announced that the ACP magazine publishing empire has been snapped up by the German media giant Bauer for a tidy $500M, the largest privately owned publishing group in Europe. It brings the legendary magazine empire built by the Packer family back into private hands.
left : Vitek Czernuszyn (far right) with pals Mark & Victoria Coppleson

Tony Abbott & Political Lesbianism !

How their words come back to haunt them. A recording has surfaced of  The Man Who Would Be King (but probably won't be) from 2 decades ago.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was once a fiery University student . Unlike other students Tony railed against further money for Universities and demanded the government cut funding because it produced "left wing thinking" and as he says scathingly, courses at Sydney University like The Politics of Lesbianism.

Abbott has been referred to as a 'Manchurian Candidate' due to his adoration of Cardinal George Pell and his worship at the lap of the strange right-wing Catholic Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria 
B.A.Santamaria (1915-1998) was warning of conspiracies long before they were invented and in his Catholic Worker newspaper railed against Communism, the USSR and Socialism but claimed Capitalism was an even greater threat.
Fast forward to 2012 and Tony Abbott's sister Christine Foster -seen her in our snap from Deborah Thomas' council campaign launch last week- has not only declared herself to be a card carrying lesbian but a politcal one at that !. Chrsitine is standing in the September council elections against Sydney  Lord Mayor Clover Moore. Hear a young Tony at this link:

http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Nationwide.mp3 
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And the man who most likely will be Opposition Leader when Julia Gillard wins again in November 2nd, 2013 with a slightly increased majority (take it from us-we know these things) Malcolm Turnbull has paid a touching tribute to the late Robert Hughes in Parliament today.
Hughes was the uncle of Malcolm's wife Lucy Turnbull and the pair cared for him after his shocking car accident. During the speech Malcolm cruelly taunts his leader Tony Abbott :

Malcolm Turnball: “It was the year of the republican referendum and Bob, first in a wheelchair, and then with his calipers became a prominent advocate for the yes vote. I think he had a swing at you Tony in one of those debates."
Tony Abbott:  "He missed"
Malcolm Turnball: "He missed? What a loss to the nation it would have been if he had connected."
Ouch!

Gunning For The Mayor

The Prince Edward Yacht Club boasts one of Sydney's premier locations. Right at the end of ritzy Point Piper with commanding views of the harbour, it reeks of old world charm with it's wide verandahs and commanding views of the harbour.

Any excuse to visit the club is taken but the opportunity to wish council aspirant Deborah Thomas well for her bid for a seat on the Woollahra Council couldn't be turned down.

Malcolm Turnbull & Deborah Thomas

Andrew & Penne Peacock

Really, the folks of the Eastern Suburbs should be so lucky to be represented by a quality candidate like Thomas. Deb's day job is the Media Manager for ACP Magazines. She used to be editor of the Australian Women's Weekly, the magazine that is the basis for the Packer family fortune. Kerry Packer knew the top selling magazine would be in good hands when he handed the reins to Deborah. After all, her mother and grandmother had been editors of the Weekly in their days.

Joining us for the launch was Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull (they say he talked Deborah into standing) and former Liberal party leader Andrew Peacock with wife Penne. Penne Peacock is a great pal of Laura Bush (Andrew famously had a long affair with Shirley MacLaine who will star in the next series of Downton Abbey)
Also there to wish Thomas well, Christine Foster (right: who just happens to be the sister of Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott) who will be challenging Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
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 DESPITE SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS and radio shows claiming noted private investigator Frank Monte would be standing for the Mayoral elections in September, the Shuttle can reveal he has dropped out of the race at the very last moment.

Frank Monte & fiancee Sharon Sargeant

Monte says he had to make a quick decision last week on the day nominations closed and decided against throwing his hat in the ring:
 " I had great feedback especially from business owners in the City and Kings Cross who are fed up with Clover Moore. However there are good reasons I decided not to run at the last moment. I had  information that both Labor and Liberal would be throwing big bucks at the election as they perceived Moore is vunerable. It takes at least $30,000 to mount a reasonable campaign and I would rather wait until the General Election next year and run as an Independent. And I have to travel for business in the next 3 weeks which would complicate any campaign"
"To Rome by any chance?" the Shuttle asked. Our spy disguised as a humble gaffer at the famous Cinicitta Studios in Rome tells us Monte is booked in as a consultant for a new Italian TV series about the Mafia.
"I have nothing to say about that" replied Monte before the phone went dead!

Pop-Up Pommery

Grant Dwyer

 If you plan to go shopping this week at Westfield's new glitzy super centre in the Pitt Street Mall, make your way to the third level. Amongst all those brand name stores-Gucci, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Zegna, Christian Louboutin, Diane von Furstenberg, Prada..you get the drift- you will find an oasis at the centre-the Pommery Bar.

Michael McMahon *  Angela Shallis*Jon Cammell

It's a 'pop-up' bar provided by the management for weary shoppers overcome with the luxury of the whole place. Last night they threw an opening bash with magnums of Pommery doing the rounds and a host of fashion and TV names on hand to sample the drop.                                  

Matt Moran & Deborah Thomas

Lewis Grant & Jordan Coulter

The Nine network's hit show 'The Block' judge Neale Whittaker who doubles up as Editor in Chief of the design bible Belle magazine, Woman's Weekly Editorial Director Deborah Thomas, TV producer Michael Pell, Weekend Sunrise host Samantha Armytage, designer Carla Zampatti , MasterChef star Matt Moran and restaurateur Michael McMahon joined luxury hotel owner Terry Schwamberg and Ashley Dawson Damer amongst others.

Michael Pell * Samantha Armytage

It's only there for one week so don't miss it !

Maggie Tabberer* Michael Love*Amanda Tabberer

Julia Clarke

Carla Zampatti
 Stop Press : According to the Champagne Bureau Australia the high Australian dollar is now making French champagne far more affordable with brands like Moet & Chandon selling for around $44 a bottle. Australia is the ninth largest importer of the bubbly and with the current global financial malaise- Australia being almost unique in having weathered the financial meltdown -French champagne houses are targeting the country in an effort to increase sales.