Cate Blanchett :"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"

Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton gave a talk to the Sydney City Council last night and they aren't happy with our town. They reckon it's lost it's mojo.

 "Does anyone remember the Trade Union Club? Sydney in the 1980s was a city characterised as a place of live music. Every pub seemed to have gigs and everyone was trying to make music. Not only music, but comedy and poetry and stuff at the weirdest edges of performance.

The Sydney Front? It must epitomise real adventure and risk-taking and, more to our point, that sense of an organic, vibrant art-making precinct that erupted around Surry Hills and Oxford Street and down into Redfern and Newtown. All places where people lived and worked and got on with their lives.

For young adventurers from the suburbs, ''town'' was the centre. It was the magnetic attractor. It was freedom and the chance to invent and create and witness other creations. The suburbs could feel flat and dry and filled with sinister silence underneath the crickets and sprinklers. But the city was loud, crowded and dangerous.

What happened? Pubs and live music have been killed by poker machines, for a start. And gentrification of many of those areas made it less possible for the demographic range and the vitality of the shops to remain as sparky, quirky and forgiving."

The theatrical duo have certainly done their bit to breathe some much needed  culture into this brassy, glitzy and sometimes ever so tacky town. Their stewardship at the Sydney Theatre Company has attracted international actors like John Hurt and Philip Seymour Hoffman  for little pay with sell out box office receipts. Giorgio Armani has become the chief patron and their production of Streetcar Named Desire was hailed as the best ever version when it toured the USA to critical acclaim.

They even have a production of ZEBRA! coming up starring Bryan Brown which may reveal previously never glimpsed depths of Bryan's acting abilities.

Much of what the pair said is spot on. You can read the full speech in the Sydney Morning Herald here.

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The Shuttle dined at  the Glebe Point Diner late last week at the invitation of the management and we can report the service and food is as usual up to it's first class standard. It must be one of the most pleasant restaurants in the inner city Glebe area situated as it is in a wide leafy boulevard.

Certainly one of our favourite movie stars Toni Collette thinks so as she screeched to a halt in a black 4 wheel drive and rushed in wanting a table.
Sadly for Toni the place was packed and she was turned away looking very disappointed but not before hurling a fierce glance towards the Shuttle that said "don't even think about it" as one's slim hand reached for that ever ready camera.

We have a Love / Hate  relationship with Ms Collette. We love her and she hates us. I suppose sitting at the much coveted  No.One table on the balcony didn't help.

Toni flees

Boomerang, A Swell Party and the Guantanamo Bay Inmate

"The Worst of The Worst" was how the former Foreign Minster Alexander Downer described him.



Alexander ' worst of the worst' Downer

The  pillar of the Adelaide Establishment who once famously posed on a TV chat show in stilettos and net stockings was speaking of the hapless David Hicks who spent years incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay  after the Northern Alliance pounced upon him in 2001 at a bus stop in Afghanistan and handed him over to the CIA for a $1000 bounty.

 In the hysteria following 9/11 Hicks spent the next 6 years at Gitmo chained to the floor of a cell for 22 hours at a time under fluorescent lights before finally being sent back to Australia after pleading guilty to the trumped up charge of "providing material support for terrorism".

The US chief army prosecutor later claimed Hicks should never have been charged and said the whole case was dominated by political interference from George W.Bush and PM John Howard.

 




David Hicks and wife Aloysia

  Hick's autobiography Guantanamo: My Journey is a harrowing read in which Hicks describes being tortured and beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed, forced to take unidentified medication, regularly forced to run in leg shackles causing ankle injury and being waterboarded by US agents.

Boomerang the amazing Spanish style mansion nestled by the harbour in Elizabeth Bay is far cry from Cuba.

It's owned by the billionaire trucking magnate Lindsay Fox who threw the doors open for a party last night.  Hicks and his wife Aloysia were guests for the launch of the book Stories from the Wayside.

The Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross is a ministry that was begun by the saintly late Reverend Ted Noffs in 1964 and continues to assist the down and outs of the Cross, drug addicts and anyone else in crisis.



Boomerang beauties: Samantha Harris & Jessica Gomes



Current minister Rev Graham Long has gathered together some amazing sucess stories from over the years along with some brilliant photographs by four leading fashion and advertising photographers.

 The concept of Sydney art director Andrew Henderson, Stories from the Wayside celebrates the chapel, the people who work within its walls and the visitors for whom the Wayside is a welcome support system, as well as as a place where all are welcome 'just to be'.



Boomerang



Built in 1928 at a cost of $28000 for music publisher Frank Albert, Lindsay Fox purchased the Hollywood style Boomerang in 2009 for $21M from society hostess Julie Schaeffer who had paid $20M for the house from the Shuttle's favourite former Hong Kong banker Duncan Mount and his wife Sally.

The house featured in Mission Impossible 2 and the film's star Tom Cruise tried to buy the house as an Aussie base for he and then wife Nicole Kidman.

David Hicks is about 5'5", shy and well mannered. He says he met Osama Bin Laden twice but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He also fought for the Kosova Liberation Army.

Hicks chats to NSW Governor Marie Bashir

 Alexander Downer comes from a wealthy and privileged South Australian political family. His father Sir Alec Downer was High Commissioner to the UK, his grandfather Sir John Downer state premier twice. When he was Opposition Leader Alexander Downer dropped a clunker in a speech when he guffawingly referred to domestic violence as "the things that batter". When he took the Foreign Ministry he declared the UN an "out of date" body although that was forgotten when he beat the war drums for the disastrous Iraq Invasion. He was positive that WMD would be found.

I think we'd rather share a drink with David Hicks.

British Tabloid Discovers Our John !



John Ibrahim & pals



The web newspaper that garners more hits than any other on the planet-over 30 million a month has run a long piece on Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim who regularly graces what passes for 'social' pages in the colonies.



The Mail Online has delved into Ibrahim's connections to Australia's Got Talent judge and  former member of Irish boy band Westlife, Brian McFadden who is engaged to pop princess Delta Goodrem.

It's all very reminiscent of the Kray Twins and their show-biz connections in London in the 1960s.

 Regular Shuttle readers will be well acquainted with the ever so charming head of the large Ibrahim family who we encounter at all manner of smart parties and product launches. He is an honoured guest at the private pool bar at John Hemmes Ivy nightclub complex and Ibrahim  himself owns shares in around 20 nightclubs in Kings Cross and the Golden Mile, gay Oxford Street. Much in the same way the late Abe Saffron seemed to own a piece of the action in every nite spot in town.



Brian McFadden & Delta Goodrem

 To consolidate business affairs, John also provides an army of security personnel to guard the premises, bouncers and so on although  his girlfriend actually has the much coveted security license necessary to operate.

John's business affairs seem to be rather complicated but they have brought him great riches including a huge mansion in Dover Heights that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and Bondi Beach. In his early 40s his contact list is extensive and he regularly travels to  Dubai and Las Vegas often meeting with party girl Paris Hilton.

 It's recently been disclosed that he made an $150K payment to the NSW Crime Commission although Ibrahim claims it was a "tax debt". Apparently the original sum was $800K and John's lawyers managed to 'negotiate' it down to the smaller amount. The Crime Commission is accomodating like that.

The payment happened in 2005 when Ibrahim was facing court for threatening a witness and perverting the course of justice although all charges were eventually dismissed. 



Fadi Ibrahim

Not that John hasn't had his problems. Younger brother Fadi Ibrahim and his girlfriend were almost assassinated in 2009 by a hail of bullets as they sat in their Lamborghini outside Fadi's mansion. Poor Fadi had part of his stomach removed in hospital and it wasn't his gorgeous fiancee's first appointment with drama either.

Her former fiance Faouzi Abou-Jibal was gunned down in a park in 2009 and thus avoided a pending trial for the stabbing of the Fat Pizza TV series actor George Nassour and his brother, Robin.

Now Fadi's girlfriend Shayda Bastani, has been charged with conspiracy to murder a man alleged to have been the hooded man who shot at the pair in their Lamborghini.

Matters just get more complicated from hereon. John & Fadi's sister has been charged with "recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime" after police found she had, as one does, over $3 million in $50 & $100 notes concealed in the ceiling of her suburban house.. Perhaps a former tenant left it behind.

Older brother Sam Ibrahim is the president of the Nomads Motorcycle Club which the coppers reckon is an organised criminal gang. Sam has been charged with 2 kneecappings and running a cocaine distribution service. Even John's young son Daniel from a previous liaison was charged with affray after an incident on the Gold Coast outside a nightclub.

John featured in the top hit TV series Underbelly in 2009 when it concentrated on crime and police corruption in Kings Cross. He was portrayed as a bodyguard for crime baron George Freeman although people say he was really just a driver for Freeman who ran illegal casinos all over town.

 Freeman's 33 Club in Oxford Street was a favourite haunt of then NSW Premier Robin Askin, who like police chief Louis Renault (Claude Rains) in Rick's Bar in Casablanca said he was "shocked, absolutely shocked" when the Opposition claimed in Parliament that Sydney was awash with illegal gambling dens. Like Renault, Askin regularly pocketed his winnings at the 33 Club craps table.

The Shuttle must confess it  has form here. As shown in Underbelly, John & Fadi first got their break when they managed to take a controlling share of the Tunnel Nightclub. At a party there for the launch of a new perfume it was  the Shuttle that first propelled the 2 brothers on the road to society page stardom when we snapped the two enterprising youngsters with some sexy girls and published the pic in a Sunday newspaper. They've never looked back really !

The Vanity Fair Academy Award's Party



Selena Gomez & Justin Beiber



It's the most sought after invite at the Academy Awards ceremony. The Vanity Fair Oscar's party hosted by editor Graydon Carter.

Most of those attending the awards either rush off first to the Governor's Ball and then, if invited to the Vanity Fair bash or Elton John's Aid's benefit. The big plus at the Vanity Fair do is that they invite all the older Hollywood legends so it becomes a mix of ageing and newer starlets, sporting stars, new and old music identities and the real Hollywood power brokers like Summer Redstone  and director Oliver Stone.



Joan Collins in that dress that sent her to hospital





Sandra Bullock



Rupert & Wendi Murdoch

Tom Ford



Chris Hemsworth




New York's top society snapper (and the most famous in the USA) Patrick McMullan as an associate editor at Vanity Fair has exclusive access to the party.

 Here are some of his snaps. There is much more at David Patrick Columbia's New York Social Diary

all photographs copyright : Patrick McMullan Inc.


Serena Williams



Mick Jagger







No Show As George Goes Home

A sharp eyed Shuttle reader informs us that George Michael jetted out of Sydney on the 20th February and obviously would not be attending the 2011 Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras last night.



George-now home

That make George and Rihanna the two latest celebrity non-shows at the Mardi Gras party following a long line of international acts visiting Oz  that happen to co-incide with the parade and party and that the local media begin inferring for weeks beforehand will be appearing at the party.

 It's become almost obligatory that anyone with the remotest gay following must somehow offer their entertainment services to the party even if it's for free. The chances of this happening when tour promoters already walk a fine financial line are remote. The only exception has been the saintly Kylie Minogue who sang (mimed) at the 2000 party.



"hate your media!"



It goes hand in hand with visiting celebs having to say they "love the country and have always wanted to visit" when questioned by local media.
 Oprah Winfrey  went overboard with her "Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi !" screeches during her 2 local Opera House broadcasts while Eminem was refreshingly honest and said he couldn't stand the country or it's media- words spat out at a presser in 2002 much to the Shuttle's delight as we knew it would infuriate local scribes (and it did).

Or the claim that every visiting star who "loves the country" must therefore purchase a mansion in what international economists say is the most over-inflated real estate market in the world.

Thus we are still looking for proof George Michael purchased the Whale Beach house with magnificent sea views in which he holidayed in this year as reported in a daily newspaper of note, on a respected real estate website and on a morning TV broadcast. Our property mole says there is no record yet of such a transaction and that the house is available for rent or purchase since Mr Michael departed these shores.

 ## On Friday the Shuttle will attend the Cornucopia charity event at the most expensive private property in Sydney and Australia -Swifts in Darling Point, the castle like former home of the Reschs beer brewing clan.

Rihanna, Dawn O'Donnell & The Tool Shed

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Rihanna

Just 18 hours to go before the 2011 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras begins it's journey up Oxford Street to finish at Moore Park where thousands will then flock to Fox Studios and the Horden Pavilion for the after-parade party.

Entertainment at the party will be Alexis Jordan, New York dance queen Wynter Gordon, the internet sensation  Chris "leave Britney alone" Crocker and drag star Courtney Act.

While the tabloids are still plumping their wish list of star acts-George Michael and Rihanna, we can report that whilst negotiations have been under way between the Mardi Gras committee and Rihanna's management, it's unlikely she will grace the event. Money is the problem. She wants lots and the Mardi Gras crowd are basically broke. Rhianna will be appearing at the Acer Arena tonight and fantasies that she will jump in a chopper to the inner city party are just that.

There is one big problem for stars who entertain at the party. Cameras of any description, personal or media are strictly banned. No photograph of the party has ever been published so it isn't even worth the publicity value to front up. George Michael will be there with bells on but only as a guest.

Rhianna visited the adult sex shop, the Tool Shed on Oxford Street yesterday and spent up big. While it was meant to be a big secret and the shop is usually packed out with visitors at this time of the year, the Tool Shed owners closed the doors and within minutes mobile phones were abuzz about the diva's shopping spree.

The Tool Shed is one of the oldest and most successful adult shops in Sydney and was opened by the lesbian former ice skating champion, cum butcher and nightclub owner Dawn O'Donnell.

It sold adult gear, aids and x-rated porn when porn of any description was illegal. There was also a back room with live sex shows where audience members were always welcome to join in.

 Once every six months the local cop shop at Taylors Square about 200 yards up the road would raid the Tool Shed but not before a friendly station  Sergeant would put a call through to Dawn with the full details and time of the raid..

Photographs would duly appear in the newspapers of police trudging out of the store with boxes of supposed porn and it was claimed, the constabulary had done their duty. The boxes were empty of course except for one which was packed with goodies like the latest lesbian porn to be shared around back at Darlinghurst nick and another with a few dozen cans of beer. Dawn was generous like that. While most of Dawn's nightclubs had mysterious fires when business soured, the Tool Shed, a real money spinner, always survived.



Dawn O'Donnell



When Dawn died she left a fortune of 4 million dollars and Mosman house worth another 3. Like all good gay society deaths, there was intrigue over Dawn's will. She left the house to her girlfriend plus a load of art. Much of which turned out to be fake including a Lucien Freud. Rumours say the paintings were switched whilst Dawn lay dying in hospital.

Our mole at the Toolbox tells us Rhianna spent up big on S & M outfits that will no doubt feature in her show tonight. Lots of leather and  skimpy outfits with studs , a whip, handcuffs and a set of nipple rings !. A burly bodyguard carried out 2 bags of gear while Rhianna rushed to a waiting Range Rover. By that stage there must have been a dozen paparazzi waiting and a crowd of excited gays from the nearby pub.

A passing American tourist asked a photographer if the figure in black with the hood over her head was a local politician !

Meanwhile here is Chris Crocker talking about gays. The Shuttle met him at a party on Thursday evening and asked him what the Britney bit was all about. Chris said his mother was doing drugs at the time and going through a rough patch-in his eyes Britney became his de-facto mum !

Queensberry Tragedies

Lord Milo Douglas

Further to our tale about the NSW State Library putting on display letters from Lord Alfred Douglas to a lover in Australia, comes sad news about the death of one of Bosie's relatives.

 A coroner has ruled that the son of the current Marques of Queensberry and Bosie's great nephew Lord Milo Douglas killed himself  during a bout of manic depression. Milo, a charity worker was only 34 when he threw himself off a building in July last year after he had unsuccessfully attempted to have himself admitted to hospital. Douglas told nurses at the time he was hearing voices in his head urging him to harm other people.

The Douglas family has been littered with family tragdies. Milo Douglas's great grandfather and Bosie's grandfather, the 8th Marquess of Queensberry is rumoured to have shot himself while hunting although it was ruled an accident at the time.



Bosie-Lord Alfred Douglas



One of Bosie's uncles Lord James Douglas drank himself to oblivion and committed suicide by cutting his own throat. It was said he was infatuated with his twin sister Lady Florence.

Bosies eldest brother and heir to the Queensberry title Lord Drumlanrig died in a shooting accident. 

After the famous trial in which Oscar Wilde was ruined and disgraced, Bosie married a poet Olive Custance and they had one son Raymond who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent the rest his life in psychiatric hospitals, dying there in 1964.

Following the sensations of the Wilde trial  Bosie reconciled with Oscar before his death and settled down to become a man of letters, writing plays and producing sonnets that were well, received by his contemporaries. He died in 1945.                    

Jackie's Star Rises

Getty

Jackie Weaver is planning to re-locate to Los Angeles to take advantage of the numerous offers of work that have flowed in since she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as the tough matriarch of a crime family in the film Animal Kingdom.

Despite not winning, Jackie says the experience has been a life changing force just at a time-she is 64, when she thought she would be retiring.

"All the best roles really are here in the States and I've always loved American films" said Jackie who is still in the US with her husband Sean Taylor.

"I've been offered several projects , three film roles, three TV series and one mini-series and my agent says he has a pile of credible scripts for me to read".

Jackie attended the Awards on Monday wearing a especially made Collette Dinnigan gown and $800,000 worth of diamonds which she reluctantly handed back the following day.

"I was amazed by the offers of outfits to wear to the awards  but I wanted to wear something uniquely Australian" she said. " I would have loved to have kept some of the jewels but I've got by to date without them."

Meanwhile Jackie's former husband broadcaster Derryn Hinch revealed today on ABC Radio 702 that he has been diagnosed again with liver cancer. Hinch said he had was given 12 months to live after the first bout which he successfully fought off but will now be once again be receiving chemotherapy.

Hinch said he had no regrets about a lifetime of boozing :"I enjoyed it at the time. I've had a wonderful life-no matter what happens in the future."

Oscar Wilde, Bosie, Gay Marriage & The Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras

Two letters written by Oscar Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas have been discovered in the Sydney State Library and put on display to co-incide with this Saturday's Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Bosie

The letters were written to one of Bosie's lovers Maurice Schwabe, who was banished to Australia by his family the year of Oscar Wilde's trial which scandalised Victorian England.

Schwabe was an old schoolfriend of Alfred Taylor who ran London's most notorious male brothel frequented by Wilde.

When Bosie was at Oxford he gave an old suit to a rent boy named Alfred Wood

In a pocket of that suit were the letters from Wilde in which he wrote of Bosie's "kissable lips". Wood found the letters and was soon blackmailing Oscar. Wilde paid 30 pounds for the letters but began an affair with Woods. It was to be his undoing.

Bosie bitterly complains in the 2 letters found in the library about Woods and what he is doing to Wilde.

On March 19th, 1893 Bosie opens one letter to Schwabe with " Darling Pretty Boy" and ends with:

''Goodbye now my dear darling beautiful Maurice; I send you all my love and millions of kisses all over your beautiful body. I am your loving boy-wife, or your little bitch if you prefer it . Bosie.''

Boy-wife ?. Bitch.  So nothing new there. The language hasn't changed-just the way of celebrating the lifestyle when 10,000 performers will troll up Oxford Street in stilettos on Saturday night watched by possibly a quarter of a million spectators. If they were alive no doubt Wilde and Bosie would be in the official Mardi Gras box at Taylor's Square with Dannii Minogue and Chris Crocker.

It's not known what Schwabe's fate was in Sydney. Previously he had travelled with Oscar and Bosie to Paris and had stayed at the Savoy with Wilde. His uncle  Frank Lockwood was the solicitor-general in London and had Schwabe's association with Wilde suppressed and his name was never mentioned during Wilde's trial.

Sydney in the 1890s

But if the family thought they were sending their son far away to avoid the depraved attractions found in London they were mistaken

With  female immigrants to the new colony in short supply Sydney had a notorious reputation throughout the Pacific as a den of iniquity with it's sly grog shops and male bordellos littered around the inner city areas of Darlinghurst and The Rocks.

When an offender was arrested for prostitution his police record was stamped with K.A.M.P- "known as male prostitute". It is claimed it was the beginning of the use of the word 'camp' in association with gayness ! Perhaps Maurice had felt right at home.

Desperately Funny !

Those wacky dames Krissy and Lizzy who comprise The Desperate Housewives will be appearing again this Sunday evening at the Tulsi Indian Restaurant in Double Bay.

Following their successful show 2 weeks ago the pair  have been booked for an encore appearance.

They really do sing up a storm as Lizzy goes through the whole gamut of  female superstars from Tina Turner to Liza Minnelli assisted by Krissy who presents a remarkable surprise appearance from Susan Boyle. The pair have a strong following who turn up for every show so you will need to book early as there a just a few seats left.

A table of cupcakes : Sharon Sargeant at Tulsi

The food is superb and Tulsi has won awards for it's fine Indian cuisine. It's inexpensive and receives rave reviews from the on-line foodie bible eatability Sydney. What more could you want?.

At the previous Sunday Krissy and Lizzy treated one of their fans, marketing whiz Sharon 'Shazza' Sargeant to a surprise birthday treat-39 cup-cakes, so it's a belated Happy Birthday from the Shuttle to one of our favourite readers.

Bookings for The Desperate Housewives at Tulsi : Phone (02) 9326 1423 Fax No (02) 9326 112

Will Oscar Be Kind to Emile ?




Emile Sherman (second left) collects a Bafta for The Kings Speech

 

While the hopes of locals are centred on Geoffrey Rush and Jackie Weaver at today's Academy Awards event, one family is hoping The King's Speech comes up trumps for their boy.

Emile Sherman produced the film and was behind a number of Australian films many of which sank from the box office without trace. While Rabbit Proof Fence did well in the European markets, others like $9.99, Candy, The Kings of Mykonos went straight to video after a short theatrical release.

The disastrous The Night We Called it A Day which starred Dennis Hopper as Frank Sinatra and was based on a real life incidence when Cranky Franky was holed up in a Sydney hotel unable to leave after unions put a blanket ban on his movements when he publicly insulted female journalists, was a major box office bomb.

Sherman is the son of noted Sydney philanthropists Brian and Gene Sherman and Emile runs his production office out of mum Gene's Sherman art gallery in Paddington.



Emile's parents- Gene & Brian Sherman



The family are all vegetarians, a trend begun by sister Ondine when she discovered at age 8 that meat came from animals. She refused point blank  to ever eat it again and the family soon followed suit.

Brian Sherman who sold his Equitlink, the biggest private investment company in Australia for billions of dollars  in 2000 now concentrates on charitable ventures and in particular animal causes. He donates millions of dollars to Animal Liberation.

Brian, Gene and Ondine will be watching this morning to see if Emile makes that winning walk to the Oscar's stage.

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Stop Press : the whoops of joy emanating from the Sherman Galleries in Paddington could be heard from streets away this afternoon as a small family gathering watched the Academy Awards  as Emile Sherman proudly collected an Oscar for The King's Speech.

5 Australians collected Oscars and it's a toss up whether director Tom Hooper should be regarded as one-he collected an award for Best Film with The King's Speech -he's a dual citizen with an Australian mother -who, as in the tale he recounted at the ceremoney was the inspiration behind the film.

Kelly & Belly Secretly Wed

Kelly & Belly

He looks after the finances of a host of celebrities like Russell Crowe and Elle McPherson and some of Australia's top business people. She is the gorgeous host of the travel show Getaway

Anthony Bell and Kelly Landry wed in secret in Queenstown , New Zealand 2 weeks ago.

On Friday evening they threw a bash at the exclusive Rose Bay water-side restaurant Catalina for 200 pals, amongst them actress Holly Brisley, TV host Larry Emdur , boxer Danny Green and society maven Marie Sutton.

Known as Kelly & Belly to friends, Anthony Bell's firm Bell Partners  regularly tops the list of the Business Review Weekly (BRW) magazine's most productive performing companies.

 He also owns the enormous gin palace Ghost which is often used for celebrity harbour cruises including by Bono last year and Prince Frederick & Princess Mary of Denmark.