Lunching with The Cerrones

The happy looking group above all attended jeweler Nic Cerrone's now legendary Mother's Day lunch. Nic(left) is one of the countries most amiable purveyors of gorgeous gems and has happy customers world-wide.
He's also logged up a raft of international awards for his designs.
Most visiting stars including Barbra Streisand drop by his store (she also dined with Nic and family at their Hunters Hill mansion.)
Weekends for the Cerrones are spent at their Bowral retreat when they aren't hosting the well heeled. Amongst his recent creations was a $200,000 engagement ring for Lara Bingle during her doomed romance with cricket captain Michael Clarke. Perhaps he can whip one up for actor Sam Worthington !

Kings Cross loss = Double Bay's gain

 Kings Cross' controversial 'lock-out laws' are crucifying nightlife in the famous Sydney night spot suburb (although strip clubs are still thriving) but aiding nearby suburbs not covered by the laws. The gay 'golden mile' of Oxford Street is also finding the going difficult with empty premises popping up overnight. The once vibrant street that contained more gay and lesbian nightclubs during the 80s & 90s per square mile that any other city on the planet is slowly dying. Meanwhile the Cross had, as of yesterday, 45 empty premises available for rent.Benefiting is the harbour side suburb of Double Bay just 2 miles from the Cross which is now booming with packed pubs on the weekend and 2 notable nightclubs that are filled to the rafters from Thursday to Sunday. Local restaurants are often booked out and coffee shops-there are nearly 100 in the Bay alone- are well patronised. Pictured above :  Karim Gharbi & Michael Clarke

Casablanca

The Pelicano restaurant and bar is the venue of choice for the so-called smart set but Casablanca run by Karim Gharbi is giving it a run for it's money. As our exclusive pic shows, recently retired Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke celebrated his 34th birthday at the venue on Thursday evening.

Pelicano Restaurant & Bar

Oxford Street (left) full of empty shops while Kings Cross' strip joints are surviving

Another Day Another Hobbit Opening

Cate Blanchett looked sensational on the green carpet at the London launch for The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey wearing a Givenchy gown. Joining her were a host of her co-stars including Sir Ian McKellen.

Dominic Monaghan , Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen , Peter Jackson, Andy Serkis,

Rumour of The Week that Is Probably True:

Kyly Boldy is pregnant according to a very good source.

 Spotted last week at a charity event in Sydney at the Westin Hotel with an ever so small but noticeable slight bump, Mrs Michael Clarke was unusually coy when asked if she was expecting by our intrepid spy. 

You read it here first.

 Hairstyle Of The Week :

 Cuban Musician Danny Rojo with pals at the Queen Sofia Spanish 2012 Gala this week in new York. Fab !!

Clarke Flames at David Jones

Kyly Clarke (centre)

All eyes were on two guests who strutted the black carpet at David Jones Spring fashion parade last night. Lara Bingle (always a late arrival ) and the Kyly Clarke who recently wed Lara's former fiance Michael Clarke.

Michael & Kyly wed last March in the Wogan Valley Resort in The Blue Mountains.

Those Michael Clarke Wedding Snaps

 Tweeted by Michael Clarke for the world to see- his secret wedding pics from yesterday when he and Kyly Body wed in the Wogan Valley Resort.

Many Men Of Influence

Kelvin Ho

Nick Tobias

To Chiswick in Woolahra for Men's Style magazine's Men of Influence to meet some movers and shakers under the age of 45 from the worlds of business, the arts, design, sports, fashion, management, the media and more.

Top bookmaker Tom Waterhouse & wife Hoda

Michael & Jo Slater

Some of those to make this year's list : actor Lachy Hulme, about to appear in Beaconsfield and later to play Kerry Packer in the Nine network production screening later this year; Josh Lawson, the star of Any Questions for Ben; Daniel Henshall, who scared the hell out of us as John Bunting in Snowtown; the host of Mornings on Nine, David Campbell; swimming’s newest superstar James Magnussen; pop sensation Gotye; Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke; sports presenting all-rounder Michael Slater, and; former wunderkind Kevin Rudd press secretary and now Today show political commentator Lachlan Harris. 
 The night was hosted by Men's Style editor Michael Pickering who says: “Influence can be a hard concept to define but each of these men is inspirational and influential both within and outside their fields. I've found successful people generally have something useful to say about what they have learnt on the journey and that is certainly the case with the men on this year’s list.” 

Paul & Catherine Anderson

Also on the list : founder of the international phenomenon Freelancer.com Matt Barrie, aggressive online retailer Ruslan Kogan and BigCommerce founders Eddie Machaalani and Mitchell Harper. Paralympic wheelchair champion Kurt Fearnley, veteran league champion Nathan Hindmarsh, Wallaby and charity worker David Pocock and GWS co-captain Luke Power.

And one not on the list ; Chiswick owner Matt Moran who has turned Chiswick restaurant into the uber place to be seen. On a blustery Autumn rainy Tuesday evening the place was packed. I'm told on weekends it's almost impossible to get a table unless you book well ahead.

Influential chef and restauranteur Matt Moran surveys a packed Chiswick

Will our Max decide Britain's next election ?

Max with Carson Kresley

For a month now the tabloid media has been waging an all out assault on our favourite celebrity spruiker Max Markson who likes to think of himself as Australia's answer to Britain's Max Clifford. Originally from Bournemouth via a saucepan stall in a Shepherds Bush market, Max is Australia's top celebrity agent.
 

Max's crime was to disrupt the holy of holies-a cricket match. When model Lara Bingle, best known for the failed Oz tourism campaign 'So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?' discovered that a previous boyfriend footballer Brendan Fevola had distributed some topless snaps of her taken on his mobile phone, she did the only sensible thing. She hired Max to negotiate a deal reputedly worth $200,000 with a woman's magazine to tell her side of the story.

Lara does a Bingle

 Bingle's then fiancee  Michael Clarke, vice captain of the Australian cricket team was about to embark on a tour of New Zealand. As the team strode out for the first day, missing was Clarke. He had flown back to Sydney to see Lara. The howling of sport's writers, egged on by their tabloid comrades was deafening. Leading the moralising charge was Sydney Morning Herald cricket writer Peter Roebuck who delightfully informed us that 'to do a bingle' was new cricketing slang for fumbling the ball.

Others like the fragrant Miranda Devine weighed in wanting to know, just who was Bingle and what did this "airhead "do all day as Miranda pondered on the size of Bingle's IQ.

But Markson was deemed the villain of the drama.
Max was denying the tabloids their God given right to a saucy tale. And he was encouraging them to beat up the story to boost sales of magazine carrying Lara's story.

Beware of a reptile scorned.

Now Max has become the story as a newspaper yesterday revealed supposed emails to Max from a 'disgruntled' employee questioning the legality of  Max's ability to avoid speeding fines. Markson's business registered Mercedes has clocked up over $30,000 in fines but avoided being de-registered via a complicated loophole whereby a company can declare it doesn't know the identity of a driver when the offence occurred.

They're out to get Max and today tSS hears news that a writer from the UK  Independent newspaper is flying in to do a piece on Markson. 

 

As Britain's Labour Party and PM Gordon Brown vie to be re-elected they have brought in ex-PM Tony Blair to boost morale.

 Expect a major story to appear about Markson's involvement in Cherie Blair's ill-fated Oz book tour in 2007.
A charity that expected to receive substantial funds from the tour cried foul when the pot was discovered to be empty. tSS was ejected from one function after approaching  Mrs Blair and asking her if she might consider donating profits from her book to an Iraqi children's fund.