The Gadaffi's and Nicole Kidman

Sunday's Sun Herald will publish a story about the Qaddafi family links with Australia and in particular some of the adventures in Oz of the Libyan dictator's two sons Saif al-Islam and his younger brother Al-Saadi.

The pair have visited several times and met with both Labor and Liberal politicians including the former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer ( Or Lord Downer of Tikrit as journalist Mike Carlton calls him)

Just as dictators-as long as they are friendly to western interests-are warmly welcomed into the arms of British and American political circles, Australia follows suit.



Saif al-Islam

 The Qaddafi's are reported to have inspected several multi million dollar properties including an office building in Sydney they planned to turn into an embassy after Canberra re-instated diplomatic relations .

 Whilst British and US leaders have been quick to jump on the bandwagon of 'democracy' for the Middle East as repressive regimes seem to be on the slide, Australian diplomats and politicians appear to have been struck dumb offering no support for the Libyan citizens taking their lives in their hands by venturing onto Tripoli streets with one notable exception- former PM Kevin Rudd


According to the Herald Al-Saadi also dined with Nicole Kidman at a Sydney hotel reputedly to discuss film investments (it's one of the downsides of being a movie star-meeting with potential investors ). That information comes from a celebrity security firm. Whether this actually happened remains to be seen but there is an odd link between Kidman and the Qaddafis.



Al-Saadi.

In 2003 Al-Saadi became embroiled in a drama at Port Douglas when a party with several prostitutes went awry. One of his bodyguards pulled a gun and police were called. It was rumoured that two girls were badly beaten and received pay-offs to drop their complaints. Outraged tour operators who went unpaid by the young Qaddafi wrote to then prime Minister John Howard about Qaddafi and his 20 strong entourage . They were ignored. Oil, gas and construction deals in Lybia far outweigh trivial matters like a few bashed working girls.

There is even a claim Al-Saadi walked out of a Kings Cross brothel leaving an unpaid $7000 tab.

Nicole Kidman starred in the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut along with her then husband Tom Cruise. The movie is about sexual experimentation and after it premiered in Sydney a series of monthly Eyes Wide Shut sex parties began where guests wore masks and indulged in sexual encounters with strangers.



The parties were staged in empty exclusive Eastern Suburbs mansions that were for sale.  One tale that swept the East was how the Qaddafi brothers inspected a harbour side mansion with a price tag of twelve million dollars.  The real estate agent, a glamorous blond invited her prospective clients to one of the raunchy parties that was to be held that weekend and they accepted and arrived at the party with 6 minders who all joined in the night's activities.

She is reported to have said after :

 "they were quiet awful. Rough, rude and fairly unsexy. They never paid the $500 a head donation and it was wham bam with no thank you Mam. Quite frankly I was glad when they left. Mind you, one well know society hostess  ****** was sorry to see them go but she loves rough sex !"

exclusive : Mardi Gras Singer Update



Chris Crocker

While the Daily Telegraph brings us the news that Rhianna won't be appearing at the 2011 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras (just as Dame Nellie Melba and Frank Sinatra won't either) the Shuttle can tell you who will be appearing at the March 5th after-parade party.

US singer Alexis Jordon will be the star attraction . Jordon first found fame on the 2005 America's Got Talent.

As we reported recently, drag star Courtney Act will also appear as will the Internet sensation Chris Crocker.

Going Out In Style

One guest who hit the red carpet at last week's world launch of the new musical Dr Zhivago-A Musical was the American born and accented New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally.

 Immaculately dressed, tall and elegant Keneally is one politician the camera does not do justice. She is extraordinarily beautiful and charismatic in the flesh, And that is one reason that despite the unpopularity of State Labor, Keneally has spent the last year visiting every electorate in the state to press the flesh.

As the Shuttle accurately predicted 6 months beforehand, Kristina was elected by the Labor Caucus as Premier in December 2009. Although she has become highly popular in the top job, that popularity isn't translating into percentage points for her ruling Labor Party which is expected to be defeated at the polls in 5 weeks time although the rumoured Coalition landslide is highly unlikely. While Labor languishes in the polls at anything from 23 to 27 %, Kristina stills comes in at just under 50%.

At a televised election debate with Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell this week the audience overwhelmingly declared the unflappable Keneally the winner by far.

 A party in power for 13 years was bound to suffer from the tiredness factor and although media speculation at the time was that it would be Keneally's role to stench the flow of blood from the coming defeat. there have been more concrete plans in the wings.

Born in Las Vegas and brought up in Colorado, Keneally cut her political teeth as an intern for the US Democratic party working for the Colorado Governor. When she emigrated to Australia with her Aussie husband in 1998 she joined the Labor Party and after being elected to the state seat of Heffron in 2003, her rise has been meteoric albeit quietly in the wings. Those granite jawed men who run the party had their eyes on Keneally from day one and marked her out as leadership material.

Brought into Cabinet on the strength of Emily's List that promotes greater numbers of female politicians, Keneally joins the growing list of Labor Party women who are going places.

Now with Julia Gillard as PM , Quentin Bryce as Governor General, a state Governor in Marie Bashir and with QLD premier Anna Bligh's approval rating soaring 35 points since her handling of  the flood catastrophe, when Kristina Keneally is re-elected to her seat at the end of March it will be for a short time.

When the country goes to the polls in the next general election in 2013, expect Kristina Keneally to be standing side by side with Julia Gillard as a star candidate.

When have we ever been wrong ?

A Chance To Ask Tony Those Difficult Questions

" Get out of your homes and attack them in the streets, you people who love Moamar Gaddafi'".

Does Tony Blair love the soon to be ex-leader of Libya ? They look pretty pally in our snap.

You will get a chance to ask Tony soon when he visits Sydney Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane on his first Australian speaking tour. Blair who was prime minister of Britain for 10 years is one of the " most respected , engaging and in demand speakers of our time ". (according to the press release ).



Anthony Pratt



He's being brought to Australia by Anthony Pratt who inherited the Dick Pratt billions when his father died in 2009 along with Vizy Industries-the largest privately owned cardboard packaging company in the world. Apparently the two Anthonys are good friends.

This won't be  Blair's first visit to Australia. He's been twice-before he was PM. Once to see his good friend the former premier of WA Dr Geoff Gallop and to attend a Rupert Murdoch get-together on the Sunshine Coast in QLD. The rumour goes that it was then he cemented a relationship with Murdoch and a promise of future support even though then Aussie PM Paul Keating advised  him it would be an 'unmanageable ' relationship.

Tony Blair was appointed Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East when he resigned as PM in 2007 which should present a few challenges for him at present although he's been fairly quiet on the subject.

If you want to go and hear Blair's speech you can get tickets via Melanie Hendra at melanie@marksonsparks.com or phone 612 9699 2000

Another Movie From The King

Everyone over 30 years of age should know Jonathon King : impresario, pop singer, song writer, journalist and record producer. He's the man behind such massive hits as Everyone's Gone to The Moon and many from the famous Genesis band. In fact he gave Genesis their name. He's sold over 40 million records in his day, reported for Entertainment Tonight and helped bring the Eurovision Song Contest to a world-wide audience using his undoubtedly brilliant promotional skills.

He's even responsible for the most annoying hit of all time-Una Paloma Blanca. For a time in every beach bar from the Costa Del Sol, Puerto Rico or the Gold Coast in Queensland  the song launched a million Happy Hours for holidaying Brits. ( The Shuttle once heard it being played over and over in the smartest cocktail bar on Paradise Island in the Bahamas while movie star Richard Harris sang along.)

King had a slight mis-hap with the law a few years ago and was a guest of Her Majesty for about 3 years. Unlike others who may plunge into depression, King put his time to good use assisting less articulate inmates (he was Cambridge educated) with their court appeals. He became one of the most popular blokes in the slammer.

When he left prison, instead of skulking out in embarrassment, he emerged in a jaunty baseball cap and gave the assembled media a cheery wave.

Jonathan King produced a film that describes his experiences during that period of his life. It's titled

Vile Pervert-The Musical ( apparently the sentencing beak gave King the moniker in a stern dressing down during sentencing).

 He also has an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights as King says he can prove he was in the USA when the alleged offences took place and at his trial prosecuting shenanigans prevented him from presenting that evidence.

Vile Pervert is available for free and it's incredibly amusing. King wrote the songs, the script, acted in numerous parts, produced and directed the film and it's a must see. Why he never pursued a career in Hollywood is a mystery. He entered Vile Pervert in the Cannes Film Festival and publicised it by driving up and down Boulevard de la Croisette in a red Rolls Royce with a huge sign atop of the car.

You can either watch Vile Pervert here or download it for future viewing. It's well worth watching a few times. And he has another film in the works titled Me Me Me- which we will bring news of when it's available.

King also published his autobiography last year-65 My Life So Far which is a terrific read and has exclusive tales about some of the world's most famous pop stars.

In the meantime here is the legendary Jimmy Saville introducing Jonathan King on Top Of The Pops with his famous Una Paloma Blanca. I guarantee you won't be able to get it of your mind for hours after watching !

Look Who Is Coming to the (Mardi Gras) Party !

2 unique acts are lined up for personal appearances this month in Sydney and to ring in the after party at Fox Studios at the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras on Saturday March 5th.

Courtney Act (left) who has been touring the UK & US and internet sensation Chris Crocker.

Those who have been living in a wardrobe for the past few year may not know Crocker who started his own club of one : the Britney Spears Extremist Committee.

Both Courtney and Crocker will be performing at the new Oxford Street venue Nevermind ( George Michael was there last Saturday nite) where Chris will sing his chart topping single Freak Of Nature.

Below is Chris Crocker's video-Leave Britney Alone. It launched Chris to international stardom. The poor lad gets a bit upset and over 37 million people have watched it on youtube. You should watch all his youtube offerings. The lad is very funny.

Tropfest 2011

Film-maker John Polson's mastermind Tropfest, the largest short film festival in the world once again screened to a live audience of around 10,000 in the Domain on Sunday while hundreds of thousands watched live via Foxtel around the country.








Each year the entrant's films must feature the same object -this year a key. Winner of the festival was Damon Gameau with his entrant Animal Beatbox.



Stephan Elliot * Olivia Newton John



 It's been 19 years since the first Tropfest began and many winners have gone on to work on main stream film productions.

There is always a host of celebrity judges and this year they included director Bruce Beresford, John Polson, Rachel Ward and Priscilla Queen of The Desert director Stephan Elliot.

The red carpet (which was purple) is also a great for star-spotting as dozens of  Australian and International movie people arrive.

 What seemed like the entire cast of Stephan Elliot's new film Few Best Men strode in-Olivia Newton John, Tim Draxyl and Xavier Samuel.




Leana Wallsman

 

* Few Best Men is currently being filmed around Sydney and in the Blue Mountains. The word is out-Xavier Samuel looks destined to be our latest star and heartthrob !





Few Best Men stars : Tim Draxyl, Kevin Bishop, Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall



World Premiere-Dr Zhivago, a New Musical





 

London may have Anna Nicole The Opera but Sydney tonight had the world premiere of a new $5.5M musical : Dr Zhivago with a star studded red-carpet opening.

Launched at the newly re-furbished Lyric Theatre at the Star City Casino, the Lucy Simon scored musical received a rapturous standing ovation from the audience. Anthony Warlow's (as Yuri) vocals were superb.

Michael Scott-Mitchel's sets are an achievement-from lavish room settings to war torn street scenes with real snow, the pace is set in the first scene that moves quickly and never slows.

Lucy Maunder as Lara is a treat while Taneel van Zyl as Yuri's wife Tonia puts in a superb performance.



Lucy Simon



Rob Mills



Director  Des McAnuff whose Jersey Boys has been a smash hit has another success on his hands.

 Simon's music is romantic and perfect, never waning and there is that much needed memorable song, the musical's refrain Now which will be in your mind for long after.

Mrs Russell Crowe-Danielle Spencer

With great lighting and terrific costumes by Teresa Negroponte-will this be the beginning of a trend for out of town preview runs ? . Sydney as the new off-Broadway ?. We hope.

                                **************

 A little over a week ago the Shuttle brought it's readers the news that despite talk that the production had come to a standstill, the Baz Luhrmann planned re-make of The Great Gatsby was still on the cards.



Luhrmann told the Shuttle's contact at a New York dinner to honour Geoffrey Rush that he had 2 Hollywood studios competing for the movie.

And that he would shortly decide which studio to go with.

Now the secret is out- The Great Gatsby is to be a Warner Bros production but the big news is that the 3D film will be shot in Sydney at Fox Studios with Australian government backing.





Maria Venuti does Dr Zhivago



The Most Expensive Dinner in Town

We counted 4 billionaires and a dozen multi-millionaires whose wealth is the hundreds of millions amongst the 750 guests. And a host of young heirs and heiresses who will inherit those fortunes.





adding colour-Ruby Jacenko

  

 Property tycoon Lang walker, the Nutrimetics founders Bill and Imelda Roche, Aussie Home Loans boss John Symonds, TV network supremo David Leckie and his wife Skye, Opposition MP Malcolm Turnbull (possibly the next Prime Minister) and wife Lucy, Grant Vandenburg (he manages Russel Crowe), dentist to the stars David Carr (Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and a host of Hollywood stars sport his perfect molars) while British banker Duncan Mount and his clan paid a visit from Byron Bay (he bought Paul Hogan's country estate but is planning a move back to Sydney).



Duncan & Sally Mount (centre) & clan



Rounding the corner of New South Head Rd into Rose Bay and the sight to behold was something special. Marquees snaked around the promenade, each one dedicated to one of the world's most renowned chefs who were going to prepare a sumptious banquet for the Flood Appeal in association with the Salvation Army. Every penny-and it's estimated one million dollars was raised (at $1000 a head), will go to the Queensland flood victims.

Chefs included Neil Perry, Matt Moran, Bennelong's Guillaume Brahimi  and Maurice Terzini from the Bondi Icebergs. The event was the mastermind of Catalina's Michael & Judy McMahon and everyone from the local council, waiters who donated their services, providors and vineyards to the Rose Bay police performed admirably as the night went as smooth as silk.



Jessic Mauboy



Russell Crowe's manager Grant Vandenberg & family



The wonderful indigenous singer Jessica Mauboy sang up a storm as a gentle breeze cooled the air and fruit bats filled the sky on their nightly vigil from the Botanical Gardens to their abode in the east. The moon was full but no craziness ensued.

Emirates Airways provided a raffle prize in the form of a first class world trip as did Paspaley Pearls with a stunning necklace worth $200,000.

  # Paspaley also hosted a charity party on the same night at Ottos on the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo with guest Xavier Samuel of the Twilight series and entertainment from Australian Idol winner Wes Carr raising $325,000 for the same cause.










Lang & Sue Walker









Bill & Imelda Roche

"Cold As Ice"

Mildred

 Is the Shuttle's office cat Mildred Pierce psychic as we believe ?. We regularly place a host of celebrity snaps before her and where her paw lands we know a tale about that famous face is in the ether. And so it came to pass twelve days ago as a calico paw landed on Oprah Winfrey's beaming face :

On Saturday 12th February after we reported on Oprah Winfrey's amazing love affair with Australia reciprocated by the local media, and that the famous biographer Kitty Kelley gave another side to looking into the lives of the rich and famous. Now a tale hits the headlines about a former lover of the great media star who has described Oprah as "cold as ice":

"Kitty Kelley — It always happens. The day after your book is published you meet someone who says, "Oh, I wish I'd known you were writing that biography. I could've told you about ...." Fill in the blanks here with some hair-raising incident you did not have in your book, despite years of research and hundreds of interviews. Never fails

Shortly after the paperback publication of Oprah: A Biography last month, I received an email from a man, gently chiding me for my vaunted investigative skills. "How come you didn't find me?" he teased. "I was Oprah's lover back in the 1980's and lived with her for four months before Stedman came on the scene."

Read the tale at gawker.com.

Floods, Cyclones and Lavish Dinners

One glamorous guest at the Lavazzi calendar launch on Monday evening in Potts Point was hotelier to the stars, Terry Schwamberg.

Terry Schwamberg

Terry owns a few boutique hotels here and there along with some luxurious houses you can hire by the night or month-Paris, Byron Bay, Bali, Palm Beach , the Amalfi Coast, and some of Queensland's most beautiful tropical  beaches and of course, the Medusa Boutique Hotel just near Kings Cross-a favourite with Hollywood movie stars filming at Fox Studios including Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen during the Star Wars trilogy and Keanu Reeves who called it home for a few months.

Terry reports that one of her Bedarra Island beach huts was borne aloft by the terrifying Cyclone Yasi and vanished in the wind as it swept through QLD twelve days ago. But fortunately that was the only damage and considering the island was in the eye of the storm she reckons she got off lightly.

Sadly business will preclude her from attending tonight's Rose Bay Flood Relief Fundraising Dinner at the Rose Bay Promenade to aid victims of the dreadful floods that preceded Yasi. 750 guests at $1000 a head with food prepared by Michael McMahon's Catalin and other prominent chefs. It should be something quite amazing. Providing the weather holds.

Bedarra Island

Also raising funds for flood and cyclone victims in Queensland were 400 prominent businessmen at the Hilton Hotel last week at a lunch hosted by the Hon Bruce Baird AM , chairman of the Tourism and Transport Forum and sponsored by Qantas.

Anna Bligh

Guest speaker was the QLD premier Anna Bligh who through adversity in her home state has surely resurrected a faltering political career with her approval rating jumping a whopping 35% . There are whispers that a Federal Parliamentary seat now beckons.

Anna's heartfelt speech at the lunch , just as she has delivered on several TV news broadcasts, some that were  screened on the BBC has impressed all with her ability to empathise with the flood victims. Watch out Julia Gillard. A competitor is on the horizon.

                                                      

                                                 **************************

In the interests of always bringing Shuttle readers the latest in gossip and innuendo with the knowledge that today's tittle tattle is tomorrow's news, we can report the latest  rumblings in both state and federal politics.

Our mole disguised as a Qantas trolley dolly reports on a conversation overheard on a recent flight from Melbourne to Sydney between two very senior Labor Party identities who know what's what and whose tongues loosened as the Chardonnay was sipped.

If Prime Minister Julia Gillard has Anna Blair already breathing down her neck, party heavies have given her just six more months to impress the electorate. Should she fail and the axe falls-Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten, former union heavyweight is waiting in the wings with a lot of support.

And it's not so rosy for Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. The very strong mail out is that Shadow Treasurer, the large and cuddly Joe Hockey is ready to takeover, sooner rather than later.



Joe Hockey

Not that Joe will around for long. Step forward- Malcolm Turnbull, the man who would be king and as predicted by the Shuttle many moons ago, will finally claim the crown.

Stateside-when ruling NSW Labor is swept aside in 5 weeks and the ever so nice but dull state Liberal leader Barry O'Farrell who could surely win a gold medal with his Olympian efforts at boring an audience witless becomes premier, he shall remain for 12 months which is about how long Coaltion heavies figure it will take NSW voters to realise they have elected a dud of Titanic proportions. Which takes us to March 2012-the Ides of March and all that as knives come from all directions aimed at Barry's ample back.

In his place will be the member for Manly, the clever, young and good looking Mike Baird, co-incidentally the son of former MP  Bruce Baird, host of last week's flood lunch.

That gives Mike 3 years to consolidate the Coaltion's 10 years of power to come.

You have been warned !

Nice Coffee-Neat Calendar

We love this calendar. It's a bit late in the year to release it  but one should always time their promotion to a date as Lavazzi Coffee did-Valentine's Day.



Layne Beachley, Wendy Harmer Kym Wilson at Lavazzi



Lavazzi have been publishing a calendar for 19 years now and this year's snapper who took the beautiful and subtle photos is world famous Mark Seliger whose work you see in publications like Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone.

The theme of the calendar was 'Falling In Love With Italy' with Seliger's work depicting different scenes each set in a different part of Italy where as any romantic worth their salt knows it is impossible not to fall in love. And that's just with the food.

Mark's work is often seen in galleries and museums all over the world and he's especially known for his creative shots that transform real life into art.

Past photographers have included Annie Lebowitz (currently in Sydney for her MCA exhibition that will soon tour the country ).

The calendar was launched the same night at a private party along the Navigli the historic and once navigable canals that are now Milan's most romantic settings within a venue transformed into Cupid's garden.

Sydneysiders settled for a huge terrace house in leafy Challis Avenue, Potts Point transformed into-well a large room with plenty of good eats, champers and delicious coffee based cocktails surrounded by huge billboards of some of Selinger's romantic photos. This calendar is a great size-6" x 8" but can the general public get a copy ?. We forgot to ask.



Blair Milan



## Naturally a top Italian coffee firm like Lavazzi wants only the best for it's guests and that was evident with the parties catering staff supplied by the award winning Stedman's team led by Mandy Quinn who has won numerous awards.

 They may soon have competition. Blair Milan one of their major, majordomos is about to set  up a catering and staff hire firm of his own.  Hugely talented Blair's dad is the media personality Nigel Milan who once ran New Zealand's top television network and transformed SBS TV into the sensational multi cultural outlet it is today.

And Blair's mum is one of TV's most popular chefs and foodies-Lyndey Milan who writes for the Australian Women's Weekly and appears on Kerri-Anne Kennerley's Morning TV Show. Lyndey once presented Gordon Ramsey with a 'swear jar' at a Sydney party into which he was to deposit gold coins for charity every time he swore. Ramsey fumbled the jar upon presentation and it smashed to the floor in a thousand pieces as he exclaimed "oh f*ck !"