Move over Imelda Marcos !

Lang Hancock

Our favorite local Filipino gal made good Rose Hancock Porteous is about to be immortalised in song and on stage with the gala premiere of  Prix D’Amour (The Price of Love) a musical based upon the life of the former nurse and maid who snared the heart of her billionaire patient.

Prix D’Amour was written by  Paul Dion of Merimbula.and is to be presented at the local Twyford Hall  with a show that promises laughter, tears, singing and dancing. No mention yet if the beloved Rose's drug conviction for forging a script for sleeping pills features. Surely the incident is an ideal moment for a dreamtime sequence or a dramatic interlude, perhaps just at the end of the first half. 

The musical is based upon the book "Rose" by Robert Wainwright.

It poses the question : was Rose a gold-digger or was she a woman misunderstood by the values of two vastly different cultures?. The mind boggles.

This is the story of a woman who began life as a small town girl but became one of Australia's wealthiest and most eccentric socialites.

the Prix D'Amour cast

Rose was born in Silay City in the Philippines and was the granddaughter of a Philippine Revolution war hero. Her father was a friend of Ferdinand Marcos.

It has been claimed that loved blossomed between Rose and the ailing Hancock when she was watching TV reports of the dramatic fall of the Marcos regime that was broadcast live. At one stage after  the Marcos clan had scrambled aboard a US helicopter to flee to Hawaii, with a dozen Louis Vuitton suitcases crammed with US dollars- Imelda turning to her tearful and loyal servants proclaiming  "I leave with nothing but your love" diamond bracelets cascading down her wrist-.a camera crossed to the then Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans who was one of the first visitors to the former presidential palace. 

Evans described for the cameras the chaos he found as he toured the palace and his puzzlement on coming across Imelda's bedroom where he opened a chest and discovered a variety of brightly coloured objects, holding one one up for the viewers to reveal a very large purple veined dildo. Evans feigned ignorance as to the dildo's use wondering  aloud what Imelda could possibly do with such a strange object.. (Rose also has a collection of shoes just like Imelda).

Ms Hancock nee Lacson  flew in to a rage, issuing Filipino curses and hurled a vase at the telly.

Startled from his oxygen tent , the West Australian mining magnate Land Hancock shot up to see the fiery dark haired downstairs maid with eyes flashing in anger- love was borne and the rest is history.

In his later years Lang languished in the same bedroom  whilst his loving bride /nurse entertained Perth's elite in the downstairs ballroom of their love nest, Prix L'Amour, occasionally ushering a few into his bedroom like a tour group. Will all these wonderful moments be put to song and dance in Prix D'Amour ?.

Sadly Rose will not be attending the world premier. She is still recovering from a stroke late last year. Prix D'Amour opens on July 30th.

We bring you again some clips of our Rose in action and , click here to hear one of the wonderful toons from Prix D'Amour !

Third time lucky for Russell Crowe ?

Our real estate spy disguised as a potted palm informs us that Russel Crowe, wife Danielle Spencer plus children and a number of relatives including dad-in-law, the children's TV host Don Spencer have paid a third visit to Altona, currently on the market and Sydney's most expensively priced house at $45 Million.

The pair have 2 children and are planning another says our source and are seriously looking at upgrading to a house and selling their Wolloomooloo Finger Wharf penthouse where Russ has lived for the past 10 years. Altona has a glamorous history. It was originally an up-marker guest house where the likes of Frank   Sinatra and Bing Crosby stayed on visits to the Emerald City before being purchased by the Man From Uncle-Matt Handbury, publishing mogul and nephew of Rupert Murdoch. 

When Handbury divorced his wife Fiona, the former Vogue  model, Altona passed to her as part of a divorce settlement. She sold out to the music mag publishers Deke & Eve Miskin  for $29M. The Miskins are now planning to move permanently to the dress circle area of Byron Bay, Wategoes Beach. Fiona has now re-invented herself as the Countess of Dartmouth, dividing her time between Belgravia in London and the Hampton's outside New York

Wolloomooloo Wharf

Altona was recently rented to Hugh Jackman & wife Deborra-Lee Furness for $36,000 a month while he filmed Wolverine in Sydney and both expressed an interest in purchasing the mansion that comes with it's own jetty, harbourside pool, boathouse and one of the most sensational views in Sydney. 

The Miskins weren't selling then and a phone to call to Jackman's agent received the response "Hugh has no plans to buy in Sydney at present".

Crowe already owns a farm outside Coffs Harbour that houses a compound for visiting family members. As for the penthouse on the wharf, retired radio announcer John Laws who lives in an adjoining apartment has always told Crowe that if he ever plans to sell, he wants first offer.

Watch a sales video for Altona above !

The Rumour Mill

Rumour has it that.......

a prominent barrister (not a QC or SC !) has joined a colleague in exploring his feminine side with weekly get-togethers where both wear full female attire and discuss all matters pertaining to "I'm a Lady". The pair were spotted by a clerk from chambers who is also an avid amateur astronomer who was scanning apartments with his telescope in ritzy Darling Point and came across them sitting on a balcony ala characters Denny Crane and Alan Shore in the TV series Boston Legal.

Rumour has it that......

a heterosexual chart topping popster has ordered her publicist to generate rumours that she is a lesbian. Having decided that Sappho is currently De rigueur she hopes to crack the lucrative gay market. The very pretty PR flack hit the roof when she realized that she was to be the anointed girlfriend !

Rumour has it that......

a well known local hotshot young business guru who had gone in to bat for the other team with his heterosexual love affair has now caused a pending calamity. After introducing a former boyfriend to his prospective fiancee with a suggestion a threesome was in order, the 2 have now hit it off in a big way. No-one wants to tell our young buck that those 'art' lessons she attends every Monday afternoon are a sexual assignation with his former male flame.

Rumour has it that:

Actress Cate Blanchett is pregnant again.(that's an exclusive !)

A dedication to our legal eagles:

C*cks, Censorship And Madame Arcati

Madame Arcati has finally made the move to Anorak.co.uk. In true Arcati form her opening line :

"HELLO, bitches. God knows what I’m doing here."

 Read it here and get ready for a bumpy ride.

Music Identity's husband arrested

Ikin & Despallier's civil ceremoney

John Reid

In March we reported that Elton John's former manager John Reid had asked a French lawyer to investigate the mysterious death of the retired head of Warner's Australia Peter  Ikin who died after a fall down some stairs.

Now Ikin's French husband Alexandre Despalliere's has been arrested in France along with 2 friends Vincent Bray and Jeremy Billien.

Olivier Metzner

When Ikin died Despalliere produced a will that purported to leave Ikin's $20Million fortune to him after he and Ikin  had married in a civil ceremony a few months before the  music boss died. The Frenchman was granted probate on the will and immediately purchased 3 Porsche cars-one each for he, Bray and Billien. That will was overturned in a London court and Despalliere reportedly settled for $500,000 and agreed to move out of Ikin's Chelsea townhouse. Ikin's estate went to a charity and his only relative, a Catholic priest in Melbourne

Ikin was a pal of many top music figures including Elton John and Rod Stewart and extremely popular in Australia. Friends had been asking questions since his death and claimed Ikin had been in good health when it was claimed, with Despaliere as the only witness, that he had toppled down some stairs after an apparent heart attack, His body was cremated soon after.

 Under French law a judge must now decide if there is case for charges to be laid against the three in connection with Ikin's death. There is a twist-Despalliers had been living until his arrest with one of France's most high profile criminal defence lawyers Olivier Metzner who has defended clients like the former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega.

An adorable bear

A little thing sent in one of those viral emails that do the rounds. Often they are pretty corny but sometimes not.

It's called The Bear Film by French filmmaker  Jean-Jacques Annaud and it is too wonderful for words. He made The Name of The Rose and Seven Years in Tibet with Brad Pitt. And the superb Enemy At The Gates about the Battle of Stalingrad. But this little film is a beauty. But how did he do it-get those animals to act?. (watch it in full screen)

Tempting fate !

Vesna Tenodi

 More dramas after our story of Arab/French dancer Alizee Sari's strip at the sacred Aboriginal site Uluru in the Outback.( see below).

A Croatian born artist living in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney,  Vesna Tenodi is getting flak for her Aboriginal style paintings and sculptures. Vesna was on the ABC's Radio National this week defending herself saying  "prehistoric imagery belongs to the world. Any group claiming ownership is a ludicrous proposition. We have to make this clear, otherwise we will all be held hostage by this Aboriginal nonsense.'' Ouch.

Tenodi owns the very Indigenous looking
ModroGorje Gallery and Wellness Centre in Katoomba and has just unveiled the Wanjina Watchers in the Whispering Stone, an 8.5-tonne sculpture in the heart of town with heavy overtones of Aboriginal symbolism.She says she has received death threats.

The Shuttle attended the last exhibition of  one of the great Indigenous artists Clifford Possum in ritzy Woollahra a few years ago. Possum's sold his first painting for $100 and just after he died in 2002 one of his  works brought over $400,000 at auction. 

Possum was late for the exhibition and the gallery was closed by the time he arrived. tSS was driving past and noticed the great man peering through the gallery windows with tears streaming down his cheeks. Asked what was the matter, Possum replied "they're all fakes!" .

Clifford Possum

When Possum passed away there was much wrangling about his remaining works. It was soon discovered that several family members also did paintings under his name.
But as an expert explained, the concept of 'self' is a difficult one in Aboriginal culture and a tribe perceives itself as a whole. Thus aunties and uncles, nephews and so on (who are not necessarily blood relations) join in to complete  artworks and they are regarded as being executed by the artist himself. Similarly when a tribe or members come into wealth the lot is shared around equally. The original Socialists !.

 As for the gallery where the Possum fakes (non-Aboriginal copies) were-it went bust within the year.

As we said before, say a little prayer for Ms Sari and another for Vesna !

                                         
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With the announcement that Michael Jackson Cd's have sold 35 million copies since he died, some of his personal items drew bug bucks at Juliens Summer auction. One of his fedoras fetched $56,250 while one of those famous sequined gloves brought $192,000.

Anna Nicole Smith's variety of Marilyn Monroe decorated handbags went from $90 to $200 but the big winner was the great legend herself. 

 3 of Marilyn Monroe's chest x-rays sold for a combined $45,000. Pill popping Elvis Presley's personal copy of the Physician's Desk Reference sold for $11,875 but there was a bargain-an Elvis potholder for $224 !. Elvis in the kitchen?.

A move

Bill Ranken and the Social Shuttle would like to announce we will be moving to a much larger website in the next few weeks with a whole load of new features.

Since I started this little experiment just under a year ago, it has excelled beyond all my expectations.

 That wouldn't have been possible without my  wonderful helpers (you know who you are) who beaver away behind the scenes.

The new site will be most exciting. There will be a host of interactive features-some of these I am told are quite wonderful !. I can't wait to see them myself !. Of course I am a complete luddite when it comes to the net but thank God there are people younger than me who can do these things. Of course, everyone is younger than me.

I'm told  this site will "go down" between the last week of July and the 1st in August. ( Don't ask me what that means)

None of this would have been possible without all the loyal readers who have sent so many messages of support. You have my undying thanks !


Bill Ranken

Pray for this stripper

We must congratulate Alizee Seri's courage for her strip show last week at the sacred Aboriginal rock Uluru. She garnered heaps of publicity around the world for the stunt, presented below.

But perhaps she should have had a quiet word with Lindy Chamberlain Creighton.

Lindy & Azaria at the Rock

  In August 1980 Lindy and her family were camping at Uluru when a "Dingo took my baby" - the immortal line delivered by Meryl Streep who later played Lindy in the film Evil Angels. The subsequent hunt for Lindy's baby Azaria and the errant dingo became a world sensation as the poor woman was crucified in one of the most biased media campaigns ever seen. It was inevitable that she would be charged with the murder of Azaria, found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Northern Territory.

What had Lindy been doing earlier that fateful day ?. She and the family had visited the Rock. Former husband Michael Chamberlain has often told friends in private something that has never been revealed before. That part of his distress from that day was watching Lindy doing a little happy dance while cradling Azaria at the base of rock. It was the last time Michael saw his daughter as Lindy put the child to bed in their tent.

It's been long rumoured and never discussed-the ancient Aboriginal curses and mysterious tribal customs that are conducted at Uluru. In a culture that often expresses itself in dance, dancing is strictly forbidden at the Rock.

Sam Neil & Meryl Streep in Evil Angels

Lindy lost an appeal against her sentence in 1981 but in 1986 the unlikely discovery of baby Azaria's little jacket with what appeared to be jagged teeth marks,at the base of Uluru saw her  released within 5 days and eventually her conviction was overturned. Never mentioned are the consultations husband Michael had with the Pitjantjatjara tribe of central Australia, caretakers of Uluru the year before the jacket was found.

The real details of the miracle find is a mystery yet to be told.

Lindy and Michael never speak of it.
Although Lindy Chamberlain Cheighton now lives in the USA, whenever she returns to Australia for a visit, she travels to Uluru to meet with the Pitjantjatjara mob.

Secret Women's Business is considered by Aboriginals as one of the most powerful forces there are. 

Alizee Seri-you have been warned !

Madame Arcati refuses to be censored

The Madame Arcati blog site has been outraging readers for 4 years now-in particular the Fleet Street brigade of hacks and time-servers on Britain's variety of tabloids who are loathe to have a spotlight beamed onto their own peccadillo's and prejudices whilst retaining the right to rip into others.

Now she is packing up her wicked keyboard and switching to the tabloid style Anorak website under her own banner after Google shoved an adult content warning at the beginning of her site. A very sensible move on Anorak's part.

She has spoken of the Google debacle on the Beautiful Books site:

Madame Arcati censored by the hammies

"I had planned to unleash a considerable amount of articulate obscenity on this new site. Then my eye alighted on the stricture here that nothing should go up that might upset one’s mother – indeed, the offended are invited to draw the site owner’s attention to anything objectionable. So, given the readiness of people to be outraged - a characteristic I attribute to the ham actor in too many of us - I suppose I’d better behave myself and get to my point, temperately.

Censorship is very much a topic in mind at present. My own site, Madame Arcati, has just been gifted an 18 certificate by Google/Blogger: visitors are now greeted by a Content Warning page. Apparently, readers complained of “objectionable” material. Given that I put up my first PhotoShopped male celebrity nude about four years ago, I can’t imagine what took the uncast ham actors so long."

Hopefully her old site will still stay. One should delve back into the files. It's packed with highly amusing and witty prose with anecdotes and interviews with all manner of people that will never be found elsewhere.
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Coming soon : more on the brewing scandal over the estate of the late science fiction writer Arthur C.Clarke, a Shuttle exclusive!

Why Julia Gillard is Heaven sent

In times of such great upheaval we have asked our resident astrologer Charo to give us a quick rundown on how the Welsh Valley girl  and new Prime Minister Julia Gillard, a 29th September  Libran , will fare with the country of Australia which is governed by the sign of Sagittarius.:

Charo says-

Libras are fun-loving, diplomatic and charming people. They are loved by all for their decent mannerisms and kind-heartedness. Sagittarius people are equally fun-loving, brutally frank and honest individuals. This tries to understand the possibility of Libra compatibility with Sagittarius.

Relationship Profile of Libras in a nutshell:

• Librans need love and a constant source of care and affection in their life.
• They become vulnerable to when they naively expose their needs before others.
• Heart-breaks are common for this sun-sign, but they learn their lesson and move on quickly in life.
• They prefer a strong individual as their life partner and never mind being dominated too.

Relationship Profile of Sagittarius in a nutshell:

• people who are so honest that they are misunderstood a lot.
• Though their hard-core optimism make them a hit among people, many cannot forget the temper these individuals have.
• Sagittarians are have commitment phobia and get engaged lately in life.
• But once they find themselves in the company of a right partner, they get dedicated to their family completely.

Why Libra Compatibility with Sagittarius is the Best:

   Libra is an air sign. Sagittarius is a fire sign. In nature, both the elements fire and air are naturally compatible and can form a formidable combination together.

Libran compatibility with Sagittarius is a strong one. Vices in one sun-sign will be removed by the virtues other sun-sign possess. For instance, Libras suffer from low self-esteem at sometimes. Optimistic Sagittarians can change this nature of their partner. On the other hand, Sagittarius people bluntly put the truth and can be rude at times to the people. They can learn how to be diplomatic and still remain honest form their Libra partner.

It's a marriage made in heaven!

Unlike that of the sad Kevin Rudd, a Virgo who rescued Labor from an 11 year wilderness and was ruthlessly stabbed in the back by..the media !!

Virgo and Sagittarius

There is no surety of long-term compatibility of a relationship between a Virgo and a Sagittarian  . Virgos are  introverts who don't like interacting with new people much. Sagittarians are very enthusiastic towards life and want to live every moment to its fullest. Virgo somberness, serious nature and laid-back attitude may be too much for Sagitarrians to handle. A Sagitarrian's excessive enthusiasm, wild nature and unpredictable actions may not go down well with a Virgoan conservative nature. Not a very good match, to say the least! 

sound familiar ?

They follow us wherever we go

More on Sharon Sargeant and the tale of the "England rugby stars relax on boat full of stripper" in Britain's Sunday Mirror.

Australia's Daily Telegraph has picked up the story of the British footballers and their Sydney Harbour cruise :

"Rah-rahs lured by sirens on Harbour."  click for story

 The Shuttle put a phone call through to Ms Sargeant's assistant 'Richard' today to see if he could shed any light on just how many escort agencies Ms Sargeant owns. "None of your business" was the curt reply as he slammed down the receiver.

We decided to telephone the office of the private investigator Frank Monte who was once engaged to Ms Sargeant.  "Does Mr Monte know any details about his former flame's business?".

"If he did I doubt he would tell you" replied the girl who answered the phone." I'll ask him to call you-I think he knows where you live, doesn't he?"