Sarah Ferguson the Duchess of York is in town visiting relatives and attending a few events. Here she is at a charity bash for the much loved St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst. Pouring a tipple for Sarah is Lisa McGuigan who now oversees the family wine business McGuigan Wines. Whispers has been consuming McGuigan wines for a long time now. Founder Brian McGuigan hosted some pretty swell lunches & dinners over the years. If you haven't tried these wines they really are possibly the best Australia has to offer which is saying something. Check them out here. The Duchess looks pretty happy to be served a glass as well.
We once encountered the Duchess at a Foxtel event where the 100,000 subscriber was being signed up in the beach side suburb of Clovelly. Sarah was in a fox-hole in the street surrounded by electrical equipment and about to plug the new subscriber to the service, as the media looked on. Suddenly a window was flung open in a block of flats opposite and an elderly lady yelled "what the hell is all that racket down there ?". PR persons rushed over to calm her down & informered her that the Duchess of York was about to do something very important. " I don't care if the bloody Queen of England is there, put a cork in it !" was the pensioner's response.
It's never dull in Sydney.
It's been responsible for launching the careers of some of Australia's
top models.
Now in it's 10th year Australia's Next Top Model has some
glamorous judges lined up for the 2015 season. Victoria's Secret model
Alessandra Ambrosio and Tyra Banks will strut the boards next year.
Watch out Alex Perry! left : Jennifer Hawkins & Tyra Banks
A David Jones' advert beneath a malicious post about a 14 year old US teenager.
While Australia's tabloids pound out endless words of praise for the Ground Hog Days that constitute the seasonal fashion parades of the countries biggest department stores, Myer and David Jones, an Adelaide academic has uncovered an extraordinary scandal where both retailers along with many of Australia's top corporations are placing their adverts via Google on some of the USA's nastiest cyber bullying websites.
There has been a growth in so-called 'customer advocate' website that are little more than extortionist entities that allow posters to publish the most vile claims, many about Australian politicians, celebrities, teenagers and school children. To get the statements removed the website owners charge an extortionate fee while Google charges a further fee to remove the item from their search engine.
The advertisements from Aussie companies like Coles, Myer, Bunnings, Officeworks, Foxtel and others can appear along side racist, homophobic and disgusting comments about young teens. The academic says some Australian companies she has contacted are shocked to hear their adverts appear on the websites but have as much trouble contacting Google as a member of the public does.
So much for Google's inane "Don't Be Evil' motto.
Like some of New Zealand's best exports ( Russell Crowe) we like to claim as our own-Charlotte Dawson has forged a successful career in Australia as a television host, currently at the helm Foxtels' Australia's Next Top Model.
Charlotte has been on the receiving end of a campaign of Twitter hate over the past weeks. Earlier last night the Shuttle encountered Charlotte as the East Sydney Tech at a bash to celebrate the launch of a new range of Waterford Lismore crystal. Sometime later that evening she checked herself into St Vincent's Hospital. The toll of an on-line hate campaign had finally hit home.
All at the Shuttle (including sub-editor Mildred Pierce) send their best wishes to one of our favourite Sydney-siders Charlotte Dawson and hopes for a speedy recovery . These things are sent to try us. They make us stronger in the end.
It was an announcement that caught everyone by surprise today - the resignation of the boss of the Australian arm of News Ltd, John Hartigan.
Kim Williams
Even more surprising was Rupert Murdoch's following announcement in Melbourne today, that the Foxtel boss who also runs Fox Studios, Kim Williams will take Hartigan's place. Murdoch will now takeover as CEO of Australian operations.
It's a sure sign that no matter what happens with News Corp in the USA or UK, Murdoch is ensuring that the highly profitable control of his Australian operations is under his command. A court case in the Melbourne courts is currently tarnishing the image of Murdoch's most beloved publication The Australian, the countries only national newspaper set up by Rupert in 1964.
Gough & Margaret Whitlam
And the choice of Kim Williams who has never worked on a newspaper is an extraordinary departure from standard Murdoch practice. Williams is a no-nonsense boss and considered not only articulate and clever but bordering on the intellectual and certainly not a 'right winger' like most of News Ltd's major executives.
He is also married to Catherine Dovey, daughter of former Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who broke the Conservative stranglehold on Australian politics in 1972 when the Coalition was finally defeated after 23 years in power.
Whitlam swept into office on a wave of enthusiasm for change and for Australia to get out of the Vietnam War with the backing of the Murdoch media. Three years later Murdoch was to turn on Labor and give his support back to the Coalition.
The Murdoch family still face battles with the British parliament and a public still reeling from the great phone hacking scandal but life appears to be far rosier for some members of the extended first family of the media.
While Lachlan Murdoch accompanied his father Rupert Murdoch and brother James to London this week keeping a low profile and returning to New York with them on their private jet, his beautiful wife model and TV presenter Sarah Murdoch was last night voted Favourite Personality at the Astra Awards for pay TV held at the Sydney Theatre Company.
Anna Torv splash
Sarah is host and executive producer of the series Australia's Next Top Model which co-incidentally is screened on Foxtel , the cable network part owned by her famous father-in-law.
Meanwhile the on-line magazine The Beast has come into bat for the Australian actress Anna Torv and claimed that she is a victim of the The Emmy Awards’ 10 Biggest Snubs.
Kia Torv, William & Anna Mann, Hans Torv
Anna appears in the hugely popular TV series Fringe which has a world wide cult following.
She's the daughter of Gold Coast radio network owner Hans Torv who is the brother of the former Mrs Anna Murdoch and she's the cousin of James, Lachlan, Prudence and Elisabeth Murdoch. Anna is named after her famous aunt.
John Noble
Not that Anna has much contact with her famous media family cousins. She's been estranged from her father Hans since the age of eight when he and her mother parted company but she does maintain contact with the former Mrs Rupert Murdoch and regularly visits her aunt in New York. Anna Murdoch married New Yorker financier William Mann and as our exclusive picture shows is extremely close to her brother Hans and his present wife Kia. Anna Mann is also a co-owner of the Queensland radio network run by Hans. Anna Torv has been signed for another series of Fringe along with the star of the show, Australian actor John Noble who The Beast reckons should also be up for an Emmy.
Not everyone was mesmerised by the Lady GaGa whirlwind as the diva swept through Sydney over the past three days.
The Sydney Morning Heraldreports GaGa was pelted with eggs after her performance at ARQ nightclub on Tuesday evening as she left via a lane way at the rear of the club surrounded by fans. Apparently an irate neighbour furious with all the noise made their sentiments felt from a window high above the commotion.
It's reminiscent of the time Sarah, the Duchess of York was in Sydney and was hired to promote Rupert Murdoch's cable TV network Foxtel. Around ten years ago the 200,000th subscriber was to be connected and a media event was organised in the seaside suburb of Clovelly.
An electricity manhole was opened in the street outside the lucky subscriber's house and Fergie did her duty, clambering into the hole to flick a switch to activate the connection as the occasion was to be broadcast live on Foxtel and Sky News. The assembled hacks crowded around jostling and pushing as they tried to get a good vantage point as a PR operative on a microphone introduced Sarah.
Suddenly a window in a nearby building was flung upon and an elderly woman leaned out and yelled "what's all that bloody racket down there about?"
Foxtel PR flacks rushed over and asked the woman to keep quiet telling her a very important person was about to give a speech. The woman responded : "I wouldn't care if you had the bloody Prime Minister or that silly Duchess woman there you can pull your heads in and shut up " as an egg landed squarely on the head of an earnest looking publicist.
Jack Vidgen
Accompanying Lady GaGa on her trip was the US blogger Perez Hilton who has slimmed down and was looking remarkably fit compared to his visit 3 years ago.
Here's a film of Perez on an empty Bondi Beach :
Perez features blond bombshell Jack Vidgen ( he was at Lady Ga Ga's concert) on his website. Jack gave another stellar performance on Tuesday on Australia's Got Talent with his rendition of Adele's Set Fire To The Rain and we have the video below followed by fellow teen sensation in his first public appearance Ronan Parke singing up a storm in front of thousands and mincing sashaying down the stage like an old trouper.
