Now a Top Murdoch reporter admits visiting gay sauna

Gay sauna visitor Paul Kent

Whilst his comrades are laying into the hapless former Transport Minister David Campbell for paying a visit to a gay sauna-an entirely legal act without any parliamentary rules broken, a Daily Telegraph reporter Paul Kent who won the 2009 Features Editor of The Year award at the News Awards has admitted he has also visited Kens Karate Klub the now famous gay sauna bath-house in Sydney's Kensington. (interested readers who feel they would like to partake in activities at Kens-just drive along Anzac Parade and look for Peters Of Kensington the glitzy bridal gift store. It's right next door)

In a piece wittily entitled 'All Bets and Towels Were Off" Kent gives us an account of his visit to the 'Roman orgy swap meet' as he describes it including a dungeon room with chains hanging from the roof and a bondage rack against the wall (a colleague emails me that surely Kent is confused and was  describing Rupert Murdoch's office), cell like rooms equipped with rubber gym mats and a relaxing visit to the pool room with it's perspex roof so visitors on the floor above could witness what was happening in the pool below in which Kent ominously says "much had happened". What can he mean ?. Had someone unkindly deflated the water wings , let out the air from the rubber ducky lilos?. Annoyingly, Kent leaves out all the saucy parts we want to hear.

He also peeked into the video room where someone was watching a film called Hombres! (possibly waiting until the credits rolled so he could catch the film's title.

But it's Kent's visit to the sauna room where he gives information that could be of great use for our many gay readers. Kent entered the sauna and sweated away with 2 other men in silence. Just as the heat got to him-one man stood up and left. According to Kent this is an invitation to follow the man to one of those gym mat cubicles so he was forced to stay much longer in the sauna. But he doesn't say why.Too shy ? Didn't fancy him?. I wish he had been more specific

Kent says he was identified as a 'newbie' but only spent 45 minutes at the sauna. He's certainly a fast learner in gaydar.

As for Ken 'Candy' Johnson the owner of Ken's, I tried to get him on the phone today for a  comment but his assistant said he wasn't available. I'd say he's at St Mary's Cathedral lighting a hundred candles and thanking the Lord for the million dollars worth of free publicity.

For more News Ltd froth and bubble, visit  their on-line lightweight 'Punch' magazine where former Daily Telegraph editor David Penberthy offers up an article :

"David Campbell has a lesser right to privacy than an ordinary citizen, for a number of reasons"

Penberthy was the editor of the Telegraph up until a while ago when he ran the disastrous front page saucy pics reputed to be of a young Pauline Hanson, the ex-politician, in frilly underwear, supplied by the paparazzi Jamie Fawcett. The pics turned out to be of  a lass from a Russian dating site.

Being relatively young Penberthy may like to research back to a former era when the Labor Party's Paul Keating was facing the so-called 1993 "unwinnable" election (which he won) against a right wing Liberal Party leader John Hewson whose policies included driving out of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory the plethora of sex supermarkets that dominate the landscape. (Porn cannot be sold in states but only the 2 territories), The Conservatives abandoned the policy when the Eros Association in Canberra that represents the sex industry threatened to expose the hundreds of politicians -from all parties-who visited Canberra's dozens of brothels and porn shops.

We all know Rupert has thrown his weight behind the Liberal Party and has PM Kevin Rudd in his sights. I doubt an expose on the intimate lives of politicians, including the married Federal Liberal Party senator who also frequents a city gay sauna and the half dozen married closeted gay conservative MPs we know of, will go down well with the boss. Especially if he really does have those chains and bondage rack in his office.

Media's Role in Politician's Downfall !

There must be something in the water in the southern NSW city of Wollongong. Labor Party MPs are falling like ninepins.

steam lover David Campbell MP

Today poor David Campbell , the former Minister for Transport is splashed across the tabloids pictured emerging from the famous / infamous Ken's gay steam baths last night where he spent 2 hours.

It isn't apparent what Campbell's "crime" is that forced his resignation that came after a heated argument in his parliamentary office late last night with Labor bigwigs. We thought the days of gay bashing were over

Gay sex is legal and although he drove himself there in his government provided car, having given the chauffeur the night off, that is still within MP rules. In fact as far as anyone knows, Campbell could have just been taking a healthy steam bath.

The point of the Campbell travesty is that the people of NSW generally gave up any misgivings about whether their representative's sex orientations years ago and the leader of the Greens, Dr Bob Brown is openly gay and the Australian electorate have never judged him on his sexuality-just his policies. Likewise former Minister for the Environment in the Gillard government Penny Wong is a lesbian and it's obviously a matter her electors couldn't give a toss about-to coin a phrase.

Shock jocks and prudish journos were quick to accuse the man of living a 'double life' and 'betraying' his family. As though they knew the intimate goings-on within the Campbell's household. All without the slightest bit of proof. Campbell's family and wife were quick to jump to his defense and express their love for him.

We feel a Gay Rights demo will emerge from this tale and a backlash for the cowardly Labor heavies.

instant update : our psychic abilities are still in top form. As we blog the excellent Sydney Morning Herald political writer Andrew West has ripped into the reporting on Campbell's gay life and resignation. Campbell had committed no crime or sin even though he is a married man. He was pushed by increasingly desperate Labor Party heavies. This will backfire in spades.

Ken 'Candy' Johnson

For the naive, Ken's has had a long and varied life beginning in the late 1960's as the Purple Onion featuring spectacular drags shows that drew huge audiences on a Sunday night including any visiting international celebrity.

Ken 'Candy' Johnson the owner was the first to cash in on the gay steam bath business changing the premises to Ken's Karate Klub and eventually just Ken's featuring various steam rooms, plunge pools and cubicles where folks could meet up with a stranger , perhaps a 'bear' (in gay parlance) like Mr Campbell to discuss Ugandan politics.

Campbell was the former mayor of Wollongong before he became the local member. 3 years ago. Wollongong's council came under the attention of the Independent Commission for Corruption as bribes and all manner of rorts where uncovered between property developers and the local Labor Party dominated council (there is no suggestion Campbell was ever involved or knew).

Older readers may remember that a former Labor mayor of Wollongong Frank Arkell was accused in parliament by fellow Labor MP Franka Arena of being a paedophile and shortly after in 1988 was murdered in a brutal slashing in his home. Arena went on to similarly name a judge who gassed himself the following day in his garage. Under constant fire from her own party for anti-gay and witch hunt style statements, Arena retired when gay rights groups threaten to expose her twin sons who they claimed were active gays at the then illegal age of 17. Both boys fled abroad and have never returned.

In our last story we spoke of the MP for the neighboring electorate Kiama, Matt Brown who put in an appearance at the opening of the Art Bar in Kings Cross last week. He smiled warmly for the cameras at first and then curled his lip as he realised our snapper was from the media.

Brown's first career as Housing Minster collapsed 3 years ago as he stared into the TV cameras at a news conference and snarled that "public housing is a privilege not a right" to put the fear of God into public housing tenants and within the fortnight was discovered to own a few luxurious apartments in the docks area of Pyrmont where he had packed in visiting Asian students from floor to ceiling at outrageous rents,.

Briefly re-instated as Police Minister, further misery followed for the handsome MP when it was claimed he table topped danced at a Wollongong party in his underpants and "titty f*cked" MP Nora Hey. He has always denied it happened.

Where this leaves Labor Party heavy Nicholas Whitlam who moved to Wollongong after flogging his share of the merchant bank Whitlam Turnbull which he owned with Liberal Party MP Malcolm Turnbull (the nephew of British actress Angela Lansbury) to operate a luxury pub and pull a few political strings is a mystery. tSS knows Whitlam's wife Judy isn't fond of the working class city of Wollongong and perhaps this will give her the chance to convince Nick to move back to Sydney as the entire Wollongong shire will surely fall to the Liberals at the next election.

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Which leads us nicely into the small tale we related 2 days ago to Murdoch's Daily Telegraph that the great Labor Party hero and saint, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, Nick Whitlam's, dad who broke the stranglehold of the conservatives 23 year rule federally in 1972, and now wheel chair bound, had moved into a luxury Potts Point retirement home at the age of 93. What was meant to be a column filler was soon shunted to page 2 and was picked up be every TV news broadcast that evening.

No news yet whether Gough's "adopted son", the very handsome Argentinian Andrew 'Bacci' Whitlam visits his benefactor at the nursing home, just as the Great Gough regularly visited Bacci in his Rose Bay flat to seek relief away from the stress and rigors of politics and knowing Mr Whitlam's huge intellect, no doubt indulged in fascinating discussions on Argentinian politics.

Claudia Marie & Sharon Sargeant

Even more pleasing was the picture spread sent to us by our Las Vegas operative of up and coming marketing executive and fiancee of the world's most famous private eye Frank Monte, Ms Sharon Sargeant which we kindly supplied the same Daily Telegraph.

Run as a double page spread in Annette Sharp's Sydney Confidential, the pneumatic Sharon had suffered a similar wardrobe malfunction as she had in a tale a few months ago.

Whilst Frank was doing PI business with a client, she and 2 friends crashed a party at the luxury hotel they were staying at only to discover it was an Adult Industry convention. The fun loving Sharon was soon dancing with gay abandon with all and sundry including a busty blond who we discovered is one of the USA's most famous porn stars Claudia Marie. Her website is here but not recommended for the feint of heart,

The on-line picture feature which is fairly tame compared to the print published version had gone mental and the hits had reached a staggering 800,000 by 4pm that day and over a million by 8pm.

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And do they ever listen ?. No. Five months ago Malcolm Turnbull announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand for the seat of Wentworth at the next election when in a party room coup he was exchanged as leader for Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott. We predicted Malcolm would return to politics.

"Your predictions are useless" cried our critics. With smug satisfaction we raised a flute of excellent Nicholas Feuillatte champagne (proud sponsor and now the 4th biggest selling champagne in the world) as 2 weeks ago Turnbull announced he had changed his mind and will now remain as MP and when the Federal Liberals, despite their current hysteria over a few polls are trounced later this year at a Federal election, Turnbull will be elected as party leader again but have to wait until 2015 before he becomes Prime Minister. Put your money on it.

The return of Steve Strange, King of the post Baby Boomers.

A story comes courtesy of Britain's most feared blogger (by tabloid editors and writers ) Madame Arcati. Madame has received an invitation to the birthday party of the legendary Steve Strange, famous as the leader of the 1980's New Romantics and who first gained attention running a small club in Soho called The Blitz.

The birthday bash is at a pub called the Green Carnation which describes itself as "the latest destination de decadence for the Soho set looking to add some sparkle to their Saturday night. ".Oh dear.

The very idea that there is still one square inch of Soho that now could lay claim to 'decadence' could only come from the mind of a PR firm. Decadence was beaten out of Soho years ago by property developers and those interminably boring barista expresso bars that are popping up on every corner from  Delhi to Reykjavick. Perhaps the only person who frequents Soho and may lay claim to decadence is the permanent fiance of Madame Arcarti, that delightful millinery challenged,  Molly Parkin.

The youngsters who flocked to The Blitz in the late 70's, early 80's wore weird and wonderful outfits, acres of make-up were a reaction to the Punk Rock movement. Stars were soon checking out the club including David Bowie, Bob Geldorf and Paula Yates, Yves St Laurent and it's said the late Lord Longford even stopped by.

Steve Strange au naturel

Steve was the King of The Kids.Whatever Steve wore, those kids appeared in their own version the following week.

Strange went on to run a series of one nighter clubs in various venues with his best mate Rusty Egan. And it was just a matter of time as his other pal Boy George became spectacularly famous with his "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", that Egan and Strange would form a band, Visage.They soon had their own a hit record "Fade to Grey'.

Unfortunately long time success eluded Strange. Drugs and dramatic events such as a fire in his house took their toll as Steve went into a downward spiral and he retreated to his home village in Wales. He recountered his life, warts and all in his autobiography Blitzed! published in 2002.

One of our Shuttle staff was a regular at The Blitz and allowed many of those who would party on the regular Tuesday nights to crash on his Notting Hill apartment floor. Most came from the outer suburbs of London and would plan their one night of the week out, Tuesday for days. Getting home at 4 am was just impossible. Steve Strange was one who found the occasional corner to bunk down in.,

new New Romantics

Now we must go back in time to another Shuttle pal, old Etonian Nicholas Shand, heir to a printing and publishing fortune from Shropshire. Shand had forsaken the family business and taken off for the hippy trail ( with a huge inheritance) to places like Goa and  all points beyond before finally landing in the the magical Australian resort of Byron Bay, then a sleepy village and the country's most easterly point and living down it's former life as a whaling station.

With a gorgeous rolling hinterland and beautiful beaches, schools of whales now safe from the spear gun could be spotted daily ambling by the coastline accompanied by flocks of dolphins. The whole area  was God's gift to those seeking an alternative lifestyle.

 Byron Bay is now the most expensive resort in the country full of mega million dollar houses owned by the rich and famous but Shand then was able to purchase a few hundred acres and set up a small newspaper which the town lacked. With ink in the blood, so successful was his Byron Echo newspaper chain that after 10 years he refused a fortune to sell out to the Irish newspaper baron Tony O'Reilly seeking a foothold in Australian rural newspapers.

In 1979 Shand decided to return for 2 years to Shropshire where he opened a successful restaurant 'Mad Jacks' named after Mad Jack Myton, a local legend, and in between serving the local gentry like the Ormsby Gores, frequently travelled to London to stay with our Shuttle staffer. On one such visit he left behind his Peruvian poncho, a souvenir from his hippy days.

Upon awakening one morning Steve Strange seized upon the poncho and that Tuesday night appeared at The Blitz wearing it and looking like a Spaghetti Western cowboy, albeit complete with the usual layers of pancake, purple eye shadow and a bit of lippy. The following week, no less than 20 kids turned up wearing ponchos and cowboy hats, some even munching on cigars and looking like the cast of an Ennio Morricone production. They were afterall was said and done, just kids playing dress ups !

But it was all lost on the young female journalist trainee from the Independent newspaper who had been sent that night to get a handle on the new youth cult craze. She fled dazed and confused.

There's a lesson there about fashion, style and trends or some sort of moral. I think.

NB: Sadly Nicholas Shand died in a car accident on the notorious treacherous roads of Northern NSW. Outside the Byron council chambers sits a statue of him on a park bench, popular with the hundreds of tourists who flock to the area and have their photo taken with his cast-iron likeness, most of them having no idea who he is.

A study in contrasts : Visage & Steve Strange with Fade to Grey followed by Nicholas Shand.

Is it Art ?. We report,you decide.

To the grand opening of the Art Bar, owned by the former boyfriend of designer Peter Morrissey, Karim Gharbi ( who amusingly calls his company KGB) in the ritzy boutique hotel, The Kirketon, favorite home away from home of visiting actors like Keanu Reeves when filming at Fox Studios.

Karim Gharbi

The Art Bar has had a chequered history under a variety of names. First opened  by celebrity chef  Matt Moran as 'Salt' who shortly after opening flew to Denmark to supervise the wedding feast of Crown Prince Frederick and his bride Tasmanian born Princess Mary in the toytown Christianborg Palace in Copenhagen (regular Shuttlers may recall we told the tale in a previous incarnation of how Mary's no nonsense Scots born kilt wearing dad Professor John Dalgleish Donaldson almost caused a diplomatic incidence as he sat in the Copenhagen Cathedral, legs akimbo opposite HRH Queen Margarethe  and later at the reception, pint of beer in hand lunged for the sausage rolls and knocked King Gustav of Sweden for six)

4 months after Moran returned Salt closed due to lack of customers. Whilst Moran now operates a highly successful restaurant in the Hilton Hotel, the Salt premises have  been through a number of re-inventions with each one collapsing after about 6 months. Now it has twist-walls lined with the works of artist Charles Billich.

For he uninitiated Charles Billich, a highly likable man, is controversial to put it mildly. As a painter he has an enviable record. Just check his Wikipedia entry. He has works in the Vatican Collection, Rome, the United Nations Heardquarters, Geneva, the White House Collection, Washington D.C.,Ferrari Collection, Milan,the Shaolin Temple, China, the International Red Cross Museum, Geneva and so on.

Elle McPherson's mum Fran & Charles Billich

But many art critics have been most unkind including the Sydney Morning Herald's John McDonald who in a scathing piece re-published in The New York Times said of Charles' work that it was"a slippery form of graphic design backed with a high-powered marketing strategy” and likened it to kitsch which "would be fine if it was 'fun' kitsch' but it isn't". 

Christa Billich, Matt Brown MP & Charles

That high powered marketing strategy is down to his German born wife Christa Brunhilde Ostermann who, as they say, could sell ice to Eskimos and a few Billich prints to boot. Christa often features in Charles' nude portraits in erotic poses. His paintings bring amazing prices from $50,000 up to $200,000 and has made the couple extremely wealthy. Last year they sold their Bentley Turbo after their much loved chauffeur Hector who wore a floor length leather coat passed away. Today they drive a vintage Daimler convertible worth about half a million. Which they did to the opening of the bar, just a few doors from their apartment.

Billich was born in what is now Croatia and spent nearly 7 years in jail for anti-Communist activities when he was dobbed in by a girlfriend, He taught himself to paint in jail and how to speak 7 languages. After travelling the world he ended up in Melbourne working as a morgue attendant, taxi driver and waiter before his successful art career took off. Now he lives in Sydney. tSS likes Charles and the fact he often lent us his Bentley and driver and has flown us to exotic locations and luxury hotels for art exhibitions is entirely incidental.

A masterpiece-yours for 200 grand !

Guests at the opening night party for the Art Bar were divided on Charle's art. Supermodel Elle McPherson's mum Fran is a big fan. Racing identity Victoria Coppleson has a huge Billich painting opposite her bed given to her by her late husband John Moorish who died in a shooting accident. She says she keeps it there out of  loyalty to John but says sometimes waking up in the morning, especially with a hangover to be confronted by Christa's pussy can be a challenge.

MP Matt Brown who was sacked as Police Minister last year when it was claimed he danced on a table top in a Wollongong restaurant in his underpants and "titty f*cked"a colleague Nora Hey MP wasn't giving an opinion. He doesn't like the media.

One of critic John McDonald's biggest gripes is that collectors pay huge prices for Billich's work believing they will increase in value over time and hopefully pay for the collector's pension. We don't have an opinion. Although tSS did notice 6 months ago at the regular Lawson Menzies art auction we attend every Friday, a Billich print sold for-$1 !

When two tribes go to war over rogered gerbils

Catherine Deveny

Sad news as the columnist Catherine Deveny is fired from The Age, the Fairfax newspaper which is one of the oldest broadsheets in the world and was once considered one of the finest. Her crime was to 'tweet' a message from the interminably boring Logies, Australia's version of the Oscars.

Included in the list of the 100 most influential people in Melbourne, Deveny was twittering amusing messages on 'celebrities' as they arrived on the red carpet for the glitzy night of yawns at Melbourne's ghastly Packer owned Crown Casino (Gordon Ramsey has just opened his first Oz restaurant there which says it all !).

 Her crime-one on the daughter of the late Steve Irwin : "I do so hope Bindi ( Irwin) gets laid". In these days of pedo hysteria and the fear that there is a perve behind every bush or newsdesk any such talk is verboten. After a day of  the rampaging shock jock Neil Mitchell and phone calls from "shocked" listeners The Age's editor Paul Ramadge finally caved in and sacked Deveny. There is a lesson here. In the legendary rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, it hasn't dawned on those in power in the southern city that the day of shock jocks is well and truly over.

It's been nearly five years since NSW's ruling Labor Party finally realised that the supposed king of shock jocks Alan Jones who they pandered to, really only had a listening audience at best, of around 50,000 people in a city of 4.5 million and a state of nearly 8 million. And most of them were either living on the leafy North Shore or the redneck Southern Suburbs now famous for the Cronulla riots. They were conservative voting strongholds. Why appease the pink shirted parrot ?(as his co-workers call him behind his back). From the day they decided to deny Jones interviews and concentrated on the government run Triple J yoof station with the highest audience listernership, their stocks began to rise.

And now a delightful piece of schadenfreude has come back to bite someone on the bum. The fragrant right-winger Miranda Devine of the Age sister publication the Sydney Morning Herald who castigated Deveny (they are are about as opposite on the political spectrum as possible) on her shocking Bindi tweet, Miranda has been caught out herself.

Gerbil

Devine

After Devine's series of anti-Deveny tweets and a column devoted to attacking Deveny, 20 year old reader Justin Barber tweeted Miranda :" you've had enough of attacking gays for now I see. Great, Thanks" . And Miranda's replied : "you've had enough of rogering gerbils now I see. Great thanks". Unfortunately for Devine, the tweet went out to 2500 people and she was forced into an humble apology to Barber.

Anyone who knows Miranda will know she would rather eat broken glass than apologise. The tale hasn't ended there. A new topic is raging amongst thousand of twitterers under the tag #rogeringgerbils.

# Prediction : Fairfax Publications will wait a suitable time-say 6 months and re-employ Catherine, one of the best writers they have ever had, just as they had to re-employ the superb Mike Carlton who was sacked in similar circumstances. Deveny has said "I'm sure I'll be back. But in the meantime, could someone write me a CV!"

Pope's redemption for one of our favourite sinners.

Former high flier and jailbird Rodney Adler has been granted an audience with Pope Benedict XVI in  a meeting arranged by the late Michael Jackson's friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

  

Michael and the Rabbi

Adler was released from jail in 2007 after serving nearly 3 years for his part in the largest corporate collapse in Australia when the giant insurance company HIH went belly-up owing $5 billion . Until then he and wife Lyndi were two of the leading lights in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs social scene.

Adler's connections were far and wide. Guests at a charity gala in a circus marquee in Rose Bay in 1998 were startled when Adler arrived with Mikhail & Raisi Gorbachev on his arm after flying them into town in his corporate jet.

In 2000 he and Lyndi Adler hosted a turn of the century bash at their Bellevue Hill mansion (tSS attended and whisked visiting actress Sarah Michelle Gellar off to the Opera House gala for the fireworks display) .In 2002 Rodney hosted a dinner in his Waldorf Apartment  in New York for Bill Clinton. 

Lyndi & Rodney Adler

Adler has know Rabbi Shmuley for years and once stayed with  him and his family at Jackson's Neverland Ranch for a week.

3 months into his jail sentence Adler was reprimanded after it was discovered he was conducting business from his cell. During the last 18 months of his incarceration he says  he found peace teaching young Arab inmates how to control financial matters. Adler had said he feared being jailed as a high profile Jew.

He's kept a fairly low profile since leaving the St Heliers Correctional Centre in the Hunter Valley and now concentrates on charity work and is on the board of the Raisi Gorbachev Foundation. He has also set up a charity to assist displaced Palestinian families.

Adler was part of Rabbi Shmuley's delegation to the Vatican to garner the Pope's assistance in his 'Turn Friday Night into Family Night'' initiative which aims to get parents of all faiths to spend Friday nights at home with their family. 

On his website the Rabbi says "Rodney emphasised to the Pope the importance of partnering with me on creating an international family dinner night and how much he believed in the idea and The Pope ''warmly agreed''.  You can also purchase some of the Rabbi's work there including The Michael Jackson Tapes, his lecture on  Desperate Housewives given in Melbourne in 2005, an interview with the first Jewish Playmate Lindsey Vuolo, The Kosher Sutra sex instruction manual, or our favourite-a Rabbi Shmuley booblehead!.

Style pixie for fashion week ?

Tavi

There was much talk at Thursday night's bash for Marie Claire hosted by editor Jackie Frank and heralding Australian Fashion Week which begins this Monday.

Will the 14 year old US fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson be in town?. She's been invited, as have several fashion bloggers, with airfares thrown in.

Tavi has become a teen sensation with her Style Rookie blog. She's been interviewed by Interview and Grazia, attended White House parties, profiled in the New York Times and been guest editor for Fashion Television at the New York Fashion Week.

Some at the party were bitching about whether Tavi is really capable of writing the blog herself at such a tender age and if she really could understand the nuances and vagaries of fashion. She does make references to past fashion eras that were well before her time. Which could mean she does her research. Probably at school at the back of the class.

Tavi is one of our heroines. She's demonstrating the power of the blog and why by 2025 there will be no printed  newspapers or magazines. She's at the vanguard of a generation that is leading the charge of citizen journalism and anarchy media.

designer Jayson Brunsdon & Simon Lock

 The other talk at Marie Claire was just what is the rift between Australian Fashion Week creator Simon Lock and the current owners of the event. Lock's been frozen out and although he sold his share of the Week 5 years ago he did have a 10 year consultancy contract. Simon was at the party but staying silent on the subject.

Don Spencer & Marie Claire's Jackie Frank

 why we love Marie Claire parties

Marie Claire's bash was to show off the art works created by a dozen fashion designers like Marnie Skillings and Sass & Bide . The works will be auctioned over the coming weeks at the Marie Claire website and the funds raised will go to aid the Australian Children’s Music Foundation. 

The foundation was started by TV presenter Don Spencer. Don has a famous daughter Danielle who is married to Russell Crowe. They usually come to aid Don's charity but he said they couldn't make it that night as Russell was off somewhere promoting his Robin Hood movie.

Tavi at the New York Fashion Week                                       

A victory for the little man !

To the Channel 7 studios for a public performance by Justin Bieber. This was a dangerous mission. About five thousand teenyboppers were there in the streets in the grip of Biebermania. Bieber is minute, tiny-perfectly formed. Undeniably as cute as a button, confident and extremely professional.

Someone I first mistook for a slightly older fan, his mum, confirmed my suspicions. Far from being a phenomena on youtube with the home produced films of his singing, Justin has been attending every known class for dance and song since he was about 3. Which isn't long ago.

The police called off the outside performance claiming it unsafe. Those of us privileged to be inside stood as far as we could from the giant plate glass windows facing Martin Place that seemed to throb as waves of tearful hysteria come from the wild eyed girls in the street.

Justin was singing and dancing in front of us, the fans outside were going berserk. 3 constables manned the barricades just a metre from the windows which I was sure were about to crack as the girls surged forward to rip little Justin to pieces. There wouldn't be much of Justin to go around.

Firass Dirani

Another small star had a victory of some sorts. Firass Dirani who stars as nightclub promoter John Ibrahim in the purported tale of Kings Cross police corruption Underbelly, The Golden Mile has been voted Cosmo's Bachelor Of The Year at the Zeta Bar in the Hilton Hotel. Firass is about the same size as Bieber but thankfully, the camera lies. He looks like a 6 foot hunk in the series. He does have piercing blue eyes though. Or are they contacts?.

By contrast the party at the Bulgari on the same night to launch their exhibition of famous jewellery was as good as it gets. The chilled Louis Roederer champagne and Belinda Frank's catering helped.

The Bulgari family have been buying up some of their previous masterpieces for years and this exhibition features some of the treasures. It was in Rome last week, will be in Sydney for another 7 days and then heads for Paris. They won't quite say who owned some of the diamonds and rubies but a few names get mentioned in passing.

Diamond Liz

The Duchess of Manchester was a Bulgari fan. Elizabeth Taylor still is. Apparently when Liz was filming Cleopatra and began her affair with Richard Burton, her then husband Eddie Fisher plied her with Bulgari jewels in an effort to woe her back.

Burton did likewise and won the fight. Taylor ended getting Fisher's invoice from Bulgari which he had refused to pay. Bulgari never did get payment but figured having Liz wearing their creations was more than enough in publicity value.

The Seven Wonders

One amazing necklace must be seen to be believed. The Seven Wonders of The World is one large emerald surrounded by 6 slightly smaller ones in a diamond encrusted necklace. That's about 160 carats of emeralds and around 116 of diamonds.

It was purchased by an Italian industrialist as a wedding present for his wife. Years later when she had to go into an aged nursing home she sold it back to Bulgari on the understanding it wouldn't be re-sold while she was alive.

When she was filling in the form for the retirement home she got to the part that said "occupation'. "I've never worked " she puzzled." what should I put " She wrote-'well off' !.

Dramas at Royal Randwick

Word has come from a trusted source that there could be major repercussions over the guest list at the Emirates marquee during the Autumn Carnival at Royal Randwick racecourse.
A fortnight ago Fadi Ibrahim, brother of Kings Cross nightclub mogul John Ibrahim was a guest in the luxury tent where guests are treated to the best French champagne and a sumptuous buffet with entertainment.

brothers Fadi & John

Although he must be presumed innocent, Fadi is facing an attempted murder charge and was himself the subject of a shooting last year as he sat in his Lamborghini outside his luxury house in Castle Cove . Fadi was wounded several times and his girlfriend once as a hail of bullets were pumped through the window of his car.

As Emirates tries to build it's image in a market dominated by Qantas and British Airways, it seems the Australian Jockey Cub has expressed it's disappointment that such a high profile and controversial figure like Ibrahim should had been included on the airline's official guest list. And the airline's headquarters in the Dubai have said similar. At least one head will roll.

fact : in the past when newspapers wrote about known criminals like the late Perc Galea , the euphemism "colourful racing identity" was the moniker for : a crook !

exclusive-a developing story about the world's most famous science fiction author

Although the Shuttle has the inside story there are legal reasons we cannot give many details but a major scandal is developing over the late science fiction author Sir Arthur C.Clarke who died in 2008 at the age of 91.

Clarke emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 where he remained for most of his life largely confined to a wheel chair from the 1980's onwards. He suffered a debilitating paralysis disease in the 1960's  later diagnosed as polio 

His most famous book was 2001 A Space Odyssey on which he collaborated with the film director Stanley Kubrick with the 2 later turning it into one of the most.iconic films of the 20th century.

Born in Somerset in England he began contributing to science fiction fanzines in the late 1930's and became a prolific writer of science fiction novels that sold for years on end. He also produced and starred in TV series and was a member of some major scientific groups. Regarded as a futurist, he was predicting discoveries like satellites long before they were thought of.

Actor Morgan Freeman has purchased the rights to one of Clarke's most loved books  Rendezvous with Rama and has raised $200M to film the space epic but is having endless script problems.

A fairly frugal man, Clarke lived in a rambling compound in Colombo but his estate is estimated at being worth in excess of 60 million dollars.

Keep tuned !

exclusive-Brad Pitt for Aussie lion tale..

Brad Pitt * Christian * Johnny Depp

With one half of the Christian the Lion,  duo Anthony 'Ace' Bourke  in Los Angeles for discussions with a Hollywood studio over the planned film of the saga of their former Kings Road pet lion Christian, purchased at Harrods and kept as a pet in a Kings Road antique shop, a reliable source from the Christian camp tells tSS that Brad Pitt has expressed an interest in playing Bourke in the film.

Ace Bourke

Before Subo swept the world in the youtube video of her Britain's Got Talent performance, the grainy film of ex-partners John Rendall and Ace Bourke's re-union with Christian on animal conservationist George Adamson's African reserve  became a world-wide sensation. Bourke and Rendall were suddenly thrust into the limelight , quickly re-wrote the book they had published 35 years earlier and found themselves in demand for talk shows from the USA to Germany and all stops in between.

John Rendall ?

The Christian bandwagon continues to roll on under the expert guidance of Lauren Miller, daughter of the recently retired agent and entrepreneur Harry M.Miller who published his autobiography late last year and revealed intimate dinner conversations he had had with Prince Charles.

Cuddly toys and merchandising are underway along with advertising tie-ins with the McDonald's hamburger chain and so on.

But who to play Rendall who was once a gossip writer on Hello! magazine and was married to the PR agent Liz Brewer ?. The choice is obvious and one Rendall would surely approve of-Johnny Depp !

And will the scene appear in the film that was often told by the 'Queen of London's cafe society' Lady Edith Foxwell whose country house Sherston backed onto the 1970s commune Bourke and Rendall lived on with assorted folk like a young Helen Mirren and Princess Margaret's beau Roddy Llewellyn ?. Llewellyn and the Princess used the commune for their secret assignations.

Edith fondly recalled how  early one morning she discovered a group from the commune bathing naked in her swimming  pool and  fetching a shotgun, fired off a deafening blast through the window above their heads

"They were making a terrible racket and God only knows what they got up to in my pool" said Lady Edith. . Edith liked the late Dai Llewellyn but had no time for his younger brother Roddy who she described as a "dull young gardener and not a very good one at that".  As she recalled their howls of terror as they scampered off through the fields she said " I always wondered if one of the white bottoms vanishing into the mist was royal"

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To Nino's restaurant for a media lunch for Queer Eye For the Straight Guy Carson Kressley who has become something of a popular star downunder. Kressly is in town for the giant  Westfield chain of shopping malls and his Be Styled Tour where, fresh from Oprah Winfrey's show where he was teaching overdressed American ladies how to 'dress down', he will inform young Australian gels how to correctly 'accessorize'. This appears to involve advising them to wear stiletto heels as our pic at the launch shows. Not bad work for the rumoured $200K he is being paid.

At the lunch and overheard from a publicist in a discussion on merchandising deals and the impending arrival of round the world yachtswoman, 16 year old Jessica Watson who is expected to arrive at the Sydney Opera House in a fortnight after completing her voyage without once touching land.: "after she rounded the Horn (of Africa) the Penguin book deal kicked in-when she crossed the equator the TV network deal was sealed..if she arrives safely, amongst her greeters will be a bevy of Fox Studio executives with the movie deal contract."

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 Sitting unnoticed  at the back of the stage at Jamie Cullum's performance last night at the Basement  was a low key Sophie Dahl. The pair arrived together via the back entrance and quickly split once inside the club. Sophie sat entranced by Cullum-unfortunately critics weren't so kind about his vocals. tSS thought he was wonderful.

A very famous blow job

It's becoming the most famous blow job since actor Hugh Grant got busted on the Sunset Strip just as Devine Brown was about to dive into his crutch.

Emma Booth as Hollingsworth

Kim Hollingsworth's hilarious blow-job scene in the hugely popular Underbelly The Golden Mile which is drawing audiences on Sunday nights of up to 3 million viewers.

A facebook group has started, The underbelly blow job which has over 55,000 members.

It's dedicated to the scene from the premiere last Sunday week when prospective hooker, the real life Kim Hollingsworth, played by Emma Booth began working as a prostitute in Kings Cross and  entertained her first client in a motel. 

When the client says 'I just want a blow job" Hollingsworth bends down, unzips the punter's fly, takes out his penis and starts gently blowing on it. Well she was a Convent girl. Hollingsworth worked as a prostitute for a few years before joining appropriately, the NSW police where she was posted back to-yes-Kings Cross.

Holingsworth was eventually drummed out of the force when her hooker past was revealed and the fact she had had an affair with Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim whilst still in uniform. Hollingsworth sued for unfair dismissal and initially lost but then made a small fortune modelling for men's magazines and Playboy.

Kim Hollingsworth

Last night she gave an interview on '60 Minutes' in which she described how she had had sex with "thousands of men' before being successful in her application to join the police force. Whilst training at the academy she was recognised by a detective who asked her to work in a brothel he was opening. When she complained to the powers that be, she was asked to return to the Cross and work as an undercover cop in the disguise of a prostitute. When she appealed her dismissal  from the force the police were ordered to re-instate her. Holingsworth eventually left the force after persistent harassment and is now an animal rights activist.

Peter O'Brien as Freeman

     Just how close is the new Underbelly series to the real thing ?. There is much muttering from those who were around at the time the series is set in-the 80's and 90's about inaccuracies. The 'overlord' of the Cross is depicted as the 'colorful racing identity'  George Freeman played by Miranda Otto's husband Peter O'Brien who appears as a mentor to the young John Ibrahim who at  age 40 now  controls Kings Cross nightlife. But Ibrahim would have been in shorts and still at school in the early 1980's when Freeman reigned supreme running protection rackets and several illegal gambling casinos. Freeman was dead by 1990 when he had largely been out of Kings Cross activities for a few years and Ibrahim just 20.

And so far there hasn't been a single mention of the true crime boss of Kings Cross-Abe Saffron, or Mr Sin as he was dubbed, who died in 2006  and who from the late 1940's either controlled all strip joints , gambling casinos, prostitution and anything that made an illegal buck or had a share in these illegal activities and a army of stand over men who exercised control. 
In his 2008 book, "Gentle Satan: My Father, Abe Saffron" Alan Saffron described how as a schoolboy, every afternoon he would go to his father's motel where his headquarters were located and went to a special room to count bundles of money into colour coded paper bags with each colour representing different bribes-to police  magistrates and even the state premier Sir Robert Askin. Perhaps Abe will pop up as the series progresses.

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Accidents Happen is the gorgeous Geena Davis's latest film and it had it's world premier at the Cremorne Orpheum last Thursday night.

Geena and her co-stars (c)tSS

Geena & husband Reza Jarharry (c)tSS

 Descibed as a 'black comedy' it's about a family beset by a series of accidents and how they cope with them.

Filmed in downtown St Ives on the North Shore of Sydney 2 years ago, the all Australian cast speak with American accidents.
The film is set in Connecticut.