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.

Sharon Sargeant Special

A brown paper parcel lands upon the Shuttle's desk and a mid-year (July '11 to July '12) calendar is revealed. But what a calendar!.

It's the latest offering from one of Sydney's most popular party girls Sharon Sargeant and to say it reveals many of Ms Sargeant's charms is an understatement.

Apparently the calendars are selling like hot cakes and each one comes with a personal note signed by Sharon.

Regular readers may recall Ms Sargeant first came to prominence when it was announced that she and the world's most famous private eye Frank Monte had become engaged over a long lunch at the uber smart restaurant Ottos in Woolloomooloo, not so long ago.

Monte & Sargeant (Getty)

Then the paparazzi snapped her having suffered a wardrobe malfunction and partying in Potts Point with pals after attending a Lady Ga Ga gig while Monte was in the USA. Soon she was discovered gate crashing a porn convention in Las Vegas and was photographed dancing with one of America's reining porn queens Claudia-Marie (a strong constitution is needed if you dare visit her website).

Weeks later Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid splashed even more pics across their pages with Ms Sargeant pictured escorting the British Rugby Team (then touring Australia and accompanied by Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips and her fiance Mike Tindall) to a million dollar gin palace and waving them off as they departed for a harbour cruise accompanied by some scantily clad lasses. Rugby bosses scrambled to assure the public it was an innocent outing.

UK Sunday Mirror

More shocking news when the Daily Telegraph exposed Sharon as the owner of an escort agency. But there's more than  meets the eye to this gal. Sargeant later on-sold the agency for a tidy sum to an American corporation and was spotted recently tooling around Bondi Beach and Double Bay in a gleaming black Ferrari. a gift to herself from the sale proceeds.

Now Sharon, who has been learning some nifty dance routines along side Lara Bingle ( left with Sharon) has been hailed by no less than the US Army. The US 509th Airborne Infantry have invited Sharon to be their mascot for the year and supply the troops in Afghanistan with a series of patriotic photographs to keep morale boosted on the long and lonely nights.
Our snap above and opposite are censored versions of what our US allies will be feasting their eyes upon and the calendar contains similar.

And after one snap appeared on Facebook, a British army unit has requested the same !. But is it Prince Harry's unit ?. He's partial to blonde's. The mind boggles.


You can order Sharon's calendar here...and you could always send one to our boys in Iraq and Afghanistan .

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Z-Sydney super yachts.com

Read It Here First : it's been 6 months since the Social Shuttle revealed that the luxury floating palace Z-Sydney owned by media mogul and billionaire James Packer would soon be for sale and so it has come to pass as reported in today's Sydney Morning Herald. The shining tub has played host to many Hollywood movie stars when they visit Sydney including Tom Cruise, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. It's your for around $22M.