Black Is White

Let us cast our minds back to 1937.

Earl of Gowrie

Mrs Eric Sheller of Darling Point put forward, to a group of well heeled ladies, the idea of holding an annual charity ball. Soon the The Black and White charity committee was formed and thus Sydney's annual society get together began it's life with the then Governor General of Australia, the Earl of Gowrie,as the  guest of honour at the first Black and White Ball held at the Trocodero, the most glamorous event the city had ever seen.

The Town Hall

Lord Gowrie, late of the 3rd Battalion Highland Light Infantry, the Cameron Highlanders in Dublin, a companion to Lord Kitchener on his visit to Australia had been appointed by King George VI as Governor General to the former colony under the British born working class Labor Party Prime Minister Billy Hughes (later known as the Little Digger), the longest serving Australian parliamentarian in the countries history.

Fast forward to 2011 and last Friday night at the Sydney Town Hall where the 75th Black and White Ball was held with an impressive 450 guests.. One guest of honour was the interior designer Leslie Walford who has decorated grand houses from Belgravia to Beverley Hills and Sri Lanka.and is the son of the committee's founder Mrs Sheller.

Ita Buttrose & Professor Ross Steele

 And what a fab night it was. Like stepping back in time to an era of restrained elegance. They even rolled out the red carpet (only slightly soiled) while dozens of bemused (and confused) by-standers gathered at the foot of the Town Hall steps and gazed in awe at the spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

Leslie Walford & Susan Diver

They had no idea what it was all about of course but there was colour and movement, glamorous ball gowns and a Scots bag-pipe band to serenade the swells as as they arrived in line after line of limousines.

Up until the late 1980sw the B & W Ball was  the cities premier social event. Then a  sort of unfounded and ill-informed criticism was perpetuated in the popular media . Just who in the hell were these ladies, probably with too much time on their hands, many with wealthy husbands , organising these over the top shindigs where hundreds would gather to drink champagne, dine on fine fare and dance the night away all in the name of charity?.

Bronwyn Bishop MP & Angela Bishop

In light of the latest report here-where some of Australia's most well know charities have been exposed for spending up to 60% of donations on  "operating costs" one fact has been ignored. The ladies of the Black & White Committee work for free. They cajole, pressure, plead for every single aspect of the ball.

Caterers, waiters, alcohol suppliers, venues, entertainers, doormen, prize donaters and so on-not one single one is paid. Everything is donated and every penny raised goes directly to charity

The Town Hall looked as splendid as it can at times although sadly the great organ on the stage-the largest in the world -remained silent but a terrific 1940's style band belted out numbers from the past 70 years.

The traditional 'Derby' went off went off without a hitch (although we noticed one gent at a front table, an 87 old retired Admiral almost had a heart attack when the starter's gun was fired) and the throng were soon up and dancing a storm.

The Derby

One guest- Bronwyn Bishop MP who spent the first half of the evening in Canberra at the Parliament House reception for HM The Queen caught a plane to join her TV presenter daughter Angela Bishop at the ball.

Four former presidents of the committee were on hand but the current president, Sue Diver deserves a gold star stamp for her superb efforts. Having survived 75 years, the Black and White Ball looks assured of a future for many years to come.

Critcs- But We Love Them

Margaret and David on their ABC TV set (courtesy ABC)

Celebrating 25 years together on Australian television, film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton bring us the latest on the world of cinema every week on At the Movies on ABC TV every Wednesday night at 10.00pm and repeated on Sundays at 6.00pm. 

With their sophisticated critiques on what's new on the big screen, David and Margaret combine years of experience and one of the best things about this show is just how many times the pair totally disagree on their views of current releases.

Rush with Margaret at the party

They really do have an encyclopedic understanding of cinema history and the respect these two are held within the local and international world of film-making gives them an amazing access to just about every major film star and director in the world.

The Cannes Film Festival, Montreal, Venice, Berlin, Moscow- Margaret and David are there every year interviewing all and sundry and the pair seem totally at home interviewing international stars who greet them like old friends.

gorgeous Cate Blanchett popped in

What probably distinguishes these two is that even a thumbs down from either for a production often brings a a note of thanks from film makers who really do appreciate the pair's expertise.

Sydney born Margaret is a virulent anti-censorship campaigner and once got arrested by the wallopers when she was attending a protest on the ban of the controversial film Ken Park.

Wiltshire born Stratton discovered his love of movies when he was sent to Hampshire to stay with his Grandmother during WW2 and sneaked into the local cinema. With little formal education he spent a few years in Birmingham learning the family grocery supply business before opting for a career as a film buff. In his day he's been the president of the International Film Critics Jury in Cannes and twice on the juries of the Venice festival and has been a member of the jury of the Berlin International Film Festival.

The ABC threw a drinks party at the Ultimo Television Centre on Tuesday to celebrate their 25 year career and as a sign of the respect they are held in, some our most successful actors turned up to toast them including Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Matt Day.

 Here's a rare moment on the show where David and Margaret actually agree on a film-The Blair Witch Project:

Mayne Bites Murdoch

Stephen Mayne, the young journalist who started the highly successful political website crikey.com.au (mortgaging his house at times to pay bills ) and then sold it for a cool million dollars has been tackling Rupert Murdoch at the annual News Corp AGM in New York.

Mayne offered Rupert a few books to read on his up coming trip to Australia  (and thus avoiding American comedian Jon Stewart's Washington Rally To Restore Sanity on Oct 30th who Rupes says he has never heard of).

Man Bites Murdoch by sacked Melbourne News Corp editor Bruce Guthrie and Bruce Dover's (News Corp former senior Hong Kong executive) Murdoch's Adventure In China that describes how News Corp lost billions of dollars in China. Murdoch says it's all fantasy but when Mayne requested any News Corp executive present to raise their hand if they had read the books, apparently none had.

Mayne also asked if Murdoch may consider retiring when he turns 80 next year but Rupert was having none of it : "only when my health gives out". ( his mum Dame Elisabeth Murdoch  is 101).

Tackling Rupert on the great hacking scandal the great man replied  : "There was an an incident more than 5 years ago. The person who bought a bugged phone conversation was immediately fired and in fact he subsequently went to jail". 

And to Mayne's helpful suggestion that he may read the New York Time's claim that there was a "collective amnesia " in News Corp about the whole affair he replied :"I'm sorry. Journalists who have been fired, who are unhappy, or work for other organisations - I don't take them as an authority, and least of all I don't take The New York Times as authority.

Mayne also got a comment on son-in-law Mathew Freud's ( "Britain's most powerful PR business chief") recent condemnation of  Fox News.
"He could not have been more wrong." says Rupert.

Finally Mayne congratulated Rupert for firing News Corp political hack Glen Milne (known in the trade as "the poisoned dwarf") who famously attacked Mayne and pushed him off the stage at the Walkely Awards in 2006.
"I didn't know anything about it " says Rupes.

It sounds like Murdoch is in top form again and has recovered from his recent British Parliamentary Committee appearance when at times  he looked rather confused  and had trouble hearing the questions that left many wondering whether an ear trumpet should have been provided for the media mogul.

 # There is no truth to the claim by one wag that Wendi Murdoch was waiting just behind a curtain ready to spring to action to defend her man but we're reliably informed that all attendees at the meeting were frisked for cream pies before being allowed to enter the auditorium.

You can read Mayne's full account here and below we bring you the fabulous Glen Milne attack on Stephen at The Walkelys when Glen -apparently having digested to much flu medication-went on the rampage.

Update From The Other Side with Victor Zammit

Victor Zammit

From the man who recently brought us a message from England's Stately Homo Quentin Crisp- Australian lawyer Victor Zammit who spends his time debunking the debunkers like weirdo magician James Randi and God denier Richard Dawkins, comes some new messages from the ether. (you can hear Quentin here)

This time it's the osteopath Stephen Ward who topped himself in the middle of the infamous Profumo scandal in 1963.

Stephen Ward

 Ward introduced a British cabinet minister John Profumo MP from the ruling Conservative Party to a couple of good time gels Christine Keller and Mandy Rice Davies at a house party at Lord Astor's country estate Cliveden. When the scandal broke in the media it was discovered Keller was also knocking off a Russian Naval Attache. Resignations were demanded and Ward was charged with living of immoral earnings but committed suicide during his trial.

These days of course they would all be signed up for a reality programme on BBC Two.

Mandy & Christine

Zammit has uncovered a series of recorded seances where Stephen Ward describes his life on the other side, most recorded four months after his death. Apparently he was having trouble adjusting and wasn't yet hanging out with the "bigwigs'-whoever they are-but does get to wear comfy jumpers and loafers, ride horses, swim and well basically it's life as usual, hunting, fishing and shooting.

Sadly it's all rather disappointing. Ward says he could "tell you things about some people (still on earth) that would make your hair stand on end" but then doesn't. However he does reveal there's no coffee up there and Tutankhamen's discoverer Howard Carter is going to introduce him to the Egyptian Pharoah Akhenaton which is rather nice of him. 

Stephen has also met Oscar Wilde who he says he could never have met if he hadn't, well kicked the bucket like Oscar!. Helpfully, he tells us Oscar has a marvelous wit ( apparently Oscar has also hit it off with George Bernard Shaw).
And the man who brought us the message from Quentin Crisp, medium David Thompson has come in for a bit of flack from a 'Sceptical Believer' Roy Stemmen on his Paranormal Review who sounds a bit peeved Crisp didn't sound much like his stage show. It's all turned into right barney which you can plow through on Stemmen's website..

If that doesn't whet your appetite we have uncovered a series of pod casts with Princess Diana recorded by Andrew Russell-Davis.
 Unfortunately the Shuttle only made it through 2 messages as Diana really does witter on endlessly not saying much apart form how nice Wills and Harry are. Nothing about Dodi and not a word about Charles and Camilla.

A Right Royal Mix-Up!

On Friday evening the Sydney Town Hall will be decked out in it's finery for the 75th year gala Black & White Ball which will raise much needed funds for children who are blind and vision impaired.


For decades the Black & White Ball was the pinnacle of Sydney's social calendar when Eastern Suburbs socialites would frock up in their best ball gowns and dinner jackets. Tonight is expected to be a very special evening and the young debutantes who compete in the Derby (they reel in sponsored wooden horses across the dance floor !) should be trembling with the excitement of it all.


Alas, there has been a bungle.

The head table is always reserved for an Admiral of the Navy, an Air Force representative and possibly the chief of the Australian Defence Force and the most important guest of all, the State Governor.

Marie Bashir MIA

All guests are seated before the National Anthem is played and the official table parades down the red carpet to take their seats.

This year, HM The Queen's representative and patron of the charity Governor Marie Bashir will be missing. And why ?. A mix-up with the date according to our mole disguised as a bunch of white gladioli in the charity committee's board room in Double Bay.
First Elizabeth11 snubs Sydney, now the Governor is snubbed !.

HRH Princess Birgitta 

Relax though. Royalty is within our midst.Her Royal Highness Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Hohenzollern is in town for a few days of R & R.
She's the sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and is married to Prince Johann of Hohenzollern. You may have spotted them at British Royal Family weddings. In the seats over at the side reserved for European royalty (they were at William & Kate's wedding).

Birgitta is in town to play golf and see old friends.
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Someone who was snubbed her entire life by the British Royal Family was the Duchess of Windsor who married HM The Queen's uncle Bertie which led to his abdication.

At the Hampstead Theatre in London tonight, a play called The Last of The Duchess based  a book by Lady Caroline Blackwood opens. It tells of the last days of the Duchess as Blackwood attempts to interview her in Paris but is blocked by her ruthless lawyer Suzanne Blum (played by Sheila Hancock in the play) who it was said kept her prisoner in her final years.

Some History On Her Maj

On the day our Sovereign, Elizabeth 11 ( aka Queen of Australia ) arrives in Canberra (note to various TV and tabloid journalists-you know who you are- it's HM The Queen, not HRH The Queen) for her sixteenth visit we bring a nice film we have uncovered of her first visit Down Under in 1954.

She must be dedicated to her subjects. Five days in Canberra?. Better her than me.

Ernie Awards

FOUR hundred women assembled in the NSW Parliament House dining room on Monday to clap and cheer the Ernie Awards-the feminist awards for comments or opinions deemed offensive to the feminist audience.

They're named after Australian Workers Union secretary Ernie Ecob, famed for his misogynist remarks. His piece de resistance :" Women aren't welcome in the shearing sheds. They're only after the sex,"!

Some honourable mentions:

The Gold Ernie and Media Ernie
 News Corp journalist Andrew Bolt for saying : 'Can the Australian Defence Force afford this social engineering, in which gender becomes a qualification - and a fault line? What will this do to the tight mateship so critical to a fighting unit? Does a woman turn her male colleagues from warriors to escort?'



 
The Political Ernie
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for standing in front of the placards describing the Prime Minister as 'Bob Brown's Bitch' and 'Ditch the Witch.'


The Warnie for Sport
Aussie Rules footballer Spida Everitt for saying  : 'Girls! When will you learn! At 3am when you are blind drunk & you decide to go home with a guy, it's not for a cup of Milo!

'

The Elaine
Liberal Party MP Pru Goward for attacking the community workers equal  pay case, saying they 'failed to make their case' and referred to the 'so-called' wage gap.

X Factor Update

Seeing 16 year old Reece Mastin, the X Factor finalist from Adelaide (via Scunthorpe in the UK) in the flesh, it's difficult to imagine what an amazing talent he is. His performance last night, singing while accompanied by a solo violinist again demonstrated that a major star is about to be launched upon the world:

Reece is pictured here in our exclusive snap from last Thursday's Sony's Wharf4Ward charity event with fellow contestants Johnny Ruffo and Declan Sykes, 2 other terrific performers. Here is his performance from Monday night :

Australia's Got Talent winner Jack Vidgen has been telling his Facebook friends :
"My album 'Yes i Am' is now available on the American Itunes for all u guys in the US. The reaction from Brazil which I was so surprised about has been massive as well so it will be released in Brazil very soon.
A couple more days till I leave to LA. Am getting excited. I'm gonna look like such a tourist when I go site seeing hahaha".
Jack will be appearing at Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas . He's only 14 years old!

Frank & Arnie's Not So Secret Lunch

He's not normally shy of the media but the Shuttle couldn't get a word out of famous private eye Frank Monte when we phoned him today to ask if it was true that he was spotted two weeks ago lunching with ex-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the movie star hang-out, The Ivy in Los Angeles.

Monte in LA

Arnie

Our source, a local paparazzi contacted us after he saw Schwarzenegger arrive and disappear inside the restaurant for two hours. When he later asked a friendly waiter who Arnie had lunched with the waiter said an Australian businessman  named Frank Monte made the booking. Both men arrived and left separately.

Is Arnie going back into the movie business and what is his connection with Monte ?.

We do know that for years Frank Monte has been working on a film script about his adventures as a young PI in the 60's when he was hired by the then New York governor Nelson Rockefeller  to mount an expedition in the remote Asmat region of New Guinea to search for his son Michael Rockefeller who disappeared while on an expedition.

Respected journalist Paul Toohey later wrote a book Rocky Goes West  in which he recounted Monte's role in searching for the missing heir. There were several theories about Rockefeller's fate- that he had been taken by a crocodile or shark or that he had been captured by headhunters and cannibals. Toohey says Monte found Rockefeller's skull and delivered it to the explorer's family in the US.

The Rockefeller family have never denied or confirmed that fact but Michael Rockefeller was officially declared dead in 1974.  Years later the History Channel said Monte had been paid $250,000 for his services.

Michael Rockefeller

And Schwarzenegger's role ?. Another Shuttle source in the top US artist's agency William Morris says that the agency and Schwarzenegger jointly owned the rights to Monte's film script for years but Arnie dropped all his film commitments when he became Governor of California in 2003.

Is he now going back into the film business as a producer?. The story of the missing Rockefeller heir would make a compelling and exciting drama. For years Monte has hinted that the Rockefellers remained sceretive about their son's life and death beacuse he was gay, long before the gay American writer Tobias Schneebaum revealed that as a friend of Michael Rockefeller's he had listened in awe to the explorer's tales of previous visits to new Guinea and how he had discovered a 'free and easy' lifestyle there.

This Looks Like Fun.

Paranormal Activity 3 due for release on 23rd October:

Mary At The Beach

She's become one of Europe's most talked about Royals-Princess Mary, the former Tasmanian real estate agent who one day will be Queen of Denmark

Mary will be attending Bondi Beach's popular Sculpture By The Sea on 20th November to present the award for the People's Choice.

The Bondi event, now in it's 15th year was honoured by  similar events in 2009 and 2011 in the bay city of Aarhus, Denmark with Mary a patron and both Mary and her husband Prince Frederick are said to be keen to see this year's event in Sydney. When he was visiting Sydney for the 2000 Olympics Frederick surfed daily at Bondi.

The couple are expected to bring their four children on the visit and the kids should, like all children visiting the Sculptures, love them. Here are just a few pics from the past few years of the inventive creations that are staged on Bondi, and throughout the cliff top walk  to Tamaramma Beach.

Palm Beach shack For Sale

'Kaluha'

Every summer a flock of paparazzi set out for ritzy Palm Beach at the very furthest end of Sydney's northern peninsular where local and international celebrities spend their lazy days in the handful of mansions available in the area.

Now the most famous house that usually hosts an international star over summer is up for sale-Kalua, the magnificent property owned by businessman Ian Joye can be yours for an asking price of over $25M.

The 1920s Caribbean style beach house is actually three separate houses on about 5,500sqm in the cul-de-sac at the prestigious southern end of the beachfront, nestled among the lush vegetation of historic Cabbage Tree Boat Harbour with filtered views direct across to the beach, bordered by tall Pines.

Only HRH Prince Charles' friend Bob Rose has a better property being right at the end with commanding views over the beach.

Kalua was once owned by the Horden department store family (they all had Palm Beach houses in the 1930s-the Graces, the Lloyd Jones while the Myers opted for Sorrento in Victoria ). Gazing over the azure waters of the Pacific it's secluded amid magnificent sprawling grounds and really hearkens back to a more stylish era when Eastern Suburbs' families would motor down for the week end and jostle over who could host the smartest  garden party.

These days Palm Beach is a bit of a film colony with Oscar winning director Peter Weir, actors Bryan Brown and Racheal Ward and Sam Neil all living in the area while the North Palm Beach Surf Club is used as a set for Home &Away.

Those who have rented Kaluha for $40,000 a week include Mick Jagger, John Cleese, Bono, Nicole Kidman,Tom Cruise, Rupert Murdoch, Paul McCartney and Billy Connolly.

If you are short on cash the vendor is offering 60% finance which means you could look forward to a monthly mortgage of about $120,000.