Good Fortune

Grant Bowler at Tropfest

Grant Bowler star of the cult New Zealand television series Outrageous Fortune, the shaky isle's long running soap opera about a crime family was a guest at Sunday's Tropfest and was welcomed amongst the VIPs like Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett like a long lost friend.

Bowler fan Robert Greenblatt

Bowler's star continues to rise especially in the USA where the new TV series he will star in Defiance, a futuristic thriller will be broadcast on NBC later this year.

The New Zealand born actor has had a dream run, despite the film Atlas Shrugged Part 1, based on the book by right wing nutter Ayn Rand flopping dismally at the box office. When the the Defiance series was first offered to NBC word came down from Chairman Robert Greenblatt that the network would snap up the series as long as Bowler took the lead role. Greenblatt has been a long time fan of Outrageous Fortune and treasures his  DVD collection of the series which he regularly brings out on weekends at his summer retreat in The Hamptons to screen for friends.

A Swell Street Party

Who needs a venue when you can just use the footpath and roadway for a party which is what Theo Onisforou did when he hosted a party to launch the Australian Fashion Walk Of Style in Oxford Street, Paddington.

Simon Lock,Sarah Jane Clark,Theo Onisforou

Dree Hemingway

Just a week ago Nicholas Huxley who has taught many of Australia's top fashion discoveries at the East Sydney TAFE wrote on Facebook that he had counted 27 empty shops in the Oxford Street fashion strip between the Paddington Town Hall and Centennial Park.

 Further down on the gay strip at lower Oxford Street -the 'golden mile' -shops and boutiques are vanishing as are many restaurants which are being replaced by fast food outlets and $2 shops.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore has embarked upon an ambitious scheme to let out many of the empty properties owned by Sydney Council in the Darlinghurst end of the street to artists and students at minimal rents in the hope of reviving the area which at present survives on a dozen or so gay nightclubs and bars.

Tom Williams & Rachel Gilbert

Onisforou who owns the Diesel label and a number of the boutiques in Paddington has been a tireless supporter of local fashion and when Simon Lock who was the mastermind behind the Sydney and Melbourne Fashion Weeks came up with the idea of the Fashion Walk of Style, Theo jumped at the concept and soon convinced Woolahra Council of it's promotional value.

On Tuesday he laid red carpet along the front of a half dozen stores and unveiled the first six brass plaques dedicated to Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton of Sass & Bide, Akira Isogawa, R.M Williams, Collette Dinigan and the late and much loved Mark Keighery of Marc fame.

Jonathan Ward

Simon Lock jetted in from Dubai where he has just set up another Mercedes Fashion Week to present the awards and the afternoon bash in glorious sunshine fueled by plenty of French champagne relegated the event to the best party of the year, so far. Amongst the guests: model and actress Dree Hemingway (daughter of Margaux Hemingway), R.M William's designer Jonathan Ward, Sarah Jane Clark, John Hemmes of Merivale and fashion commentator Melissa Hoyer.

We look forward to the unveiling of more plaques which can be viewed from the beginning of the Glenmore Road and Oxford Street junction.

more guests arrive..more street is needed...

Diplomatic Stoush

Martha Stewart and Rosmar Mansour

The fur is still flying over the recent visits of Malaysia's 'First Lady' Rosmar Mansour the wife of the prime minister Najib Rasak.
 A fan of local fashion designs by Paddington's Carl Kapp, Rosmar is said to have picked up $100,000 worth of Kapp's designs although she has claimed the clothing was purchased on behalf of a Malaysian boutique.

Carl Kapp

A Sydney columnist who wrote of her visit has ended up with a mention in dispatches-namely with PM Rasak telling media that the report was 'fabricated'.
 Co-incidentally the day Rosmar was visiting Kapp's boutique the Shuttle was caught in a mini traffic jam as her large black windowed SUV blocked tiny William Street in Paddo, presumably while the First Lady flicked through clothing racks.

But it's the awarding to Rosmar of an honorary doctorate of letters at Curtin University in Perth that has now elevated her visits to crisis level.
 Following the announcement of the award the universities Facebook page was inundated with 1000's of angry comments from Malasyian students who study at Curtin -there are some 2500 there-slamming the award and likening Rosmar to shoe lover Imelda Marcos.

As fast as the University burghers removed the Facebook comments more kept appearing. Now the pages have been cleansed and an ominous warning has appeared :

 Curtin University    Hi all. We have issued several requests to comply with our 'rules of engagement' on this wall. There are now so many personal attacks, allegations of ciminal activity, and hate mongering that we are obliged under the Defamation Act 2006 to remove this type of content
                                  
Meanwhile the Malaysian Blog For Change insinuates all sorts of shady shenanigans have been going on and questions who paid for visits to Malaysia by actor Robert de Niro and Martha Stewart. It's all very exciting. We await the next episode.

Tropfest-Twenty Years On....

At least two of the movie superstars at last night's Tropfest were there at the beginning-Nicole Kidman and Toni Collette. Others like Geoffrey Rush and Cate Blanchett have come onboard in recent years.

Some who are about to be catapulted into superstar status like Joel Edgerton ( The Great Gatsby) even appeared in Tropfest entries before finding stardom. Any visiting actor makes their way to The Domain to join 150,000 Sydneysiders for the festival.
Sadly, Leo Di Caprio and Tobey McGuire were too busy bunkered down at Fox Studios putting the finishing touches to their roles in Gatsby. Russell Crowe also sent apologies as he flew out to Europe yesterday.

                                              

It's twenty years since director John Polson conceived of the idea of a short film festival and held it in the Tropicana coffee shop in Kings Cross. The Shuttle was there with about 40 others (we lent him 50 bucks for photocopying)

Now it's screened to huge gatherings in every capital city around Australia and there are Tropfests held in London, New York, Toronto, Bangkok and Beijing. Recently one was held in Abu Dhabi.
Last night's first prize went to to Alethea Jones for Lemonade Stand, a comedy about a man and his grandfather whose efforts to sell lemonade bring a clash with an officious council officer.

Keeping it in the family- film-maker Matilda Brown (below left) and her mum, actress Rachel Ward (right).

Miranda Kerr-It Suits Her

One of the joys of the David Jones department store Autumn/Winter fashion parade-another chance to spot our favourite wife of a Hobbit, Miranda Kerr.  In a Josh Goot suit Miranda shows what the well-dressed business woman will be wearing this year and former DJ's ambassador Megan Gale competes and looks equally as gorgeous, showing us why a million Italian men go crazy when she steps out in Rome. Make-up king Napoleon Perdis helps achieve the look:
 photographs : Getty

Lesley Bows Out

He made it to the Black & White Committee's annual ball last October at the Sydney Town Hall but on Friday, interior designer Lesley Walford succumbed to cancer at the age of 85.

Walford was the decorator of choice in the ritzy Eastern Suburbs and upper North Shore where mansions still boast elegant living rooms with the Walford touch.

The Packers, Fairfaxs, Waltons and Macarthur Onslows- all had their salons designed by Lesley although not, as he often claimed, "that brash newspaper chap from Adleaide who showed no interest in his surroundings. His wife Anna wanted to hire me but her husband said I was too expensive".

Lesley Walford at the Black & White Ball last year

He was referring of course to Rupert Murdoch who had taken up residence in Sydney having acquired the Daily Mirror at the beginning of his world-wide adventures.

Walford travelled all over the world collecting antiques and object'd'art for his clients.
A favourite stop was Tangier where he would stay with his pal the French champagne maker Nicholad Feuillatte in Feullatte's Moroccan palace.

Walford once recalled how he arrived after an exhausting flight from Melbourne, caught a taxi to the Feuillatte villa where the door was opened by a fair haired lady in her 60s who looked vaguely familiar. She directed hin to a first floor bedroom and told the jet lagged designer he should join her and their host on the terrace for lunch at 2pm after his nap. Waking refreshed Walford headed for the terrace and heard the lady, now in animated conversation with a strong Scanadanavian accent. It finally dawned on Lesley who she was-the Hollywood legend Great Garbo who became a friend and who Lesley would later visit in New York.

For a time he was the social scribe on the Sun Herald newspaper. Once at a Saturday evening ball he was photographed with a glass of champagne in hand, dictating copy to his secretary who transcribed his words on a portable typewriter held on a silver tray by a waiter.

Lesley Walford's funeral will take place on Moncay at 3pm at St Marks Church in Darling Point.

NY Fashion Week Update : Zelda's Swan Song

She was one of those friendly faces you would see around town, at fashion shows, art gallery openings and cocktail parties.
Zelda Kaplan was a delightful woman who would always remember you even after a five year absence and even if she forgot your name-"oh it's you darling. How wonderful to see your lovely face again !" Always wearing one of her own creations with a matching hat.

Zelda-shortly before her exit

Zelda & Snoop Dog..she knew everybody

 In this ever changing parade of personalities that these days passes for a social scene, in New York just spotting Zelda across the room gave one that warm fuzzy feeling you were at the right party.

Yesterday she bade farewell in inimitable Zelda style...sitting front row at the designer Joanna Mastroianni's fashion show in New York , passing out, slumping into her neighbour's lap and then exiting this mortal coil.

You could genuinely say this time :she had a good innings. Zelda was 95 and she would have loved the commotion her exit caused. The only thing missing was a glass of champagne.

Vale Zelda Kaplan 1917-2012
                                      
photograph : www.patrickmcmullan.com

Has Nicole Forgiven the Paparazzi ?

A portrait commissioned by Rupert Murdoch goes up for sale tomorrow at Southebys in London and is expected to fetch around $40,000 with the funds being donated to charity.

The painting, by Anthony Yeo was a study for a painting of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban which was  presented by Murdoch and wife Wendi to the couple after their daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban was born in 2008. The Murdochs attended their wedding and Murdoch is a fan of Yeo having himself sat for a portrait as have many Hollywood movie stars as our pic of Arnold Shwarzeneggrr shows.

The word is that the painting now stands above the mantelpiece at Bunya Hill, the Southern Highlands cattle ranch where the Kidman/Urban family are now ensconced for summer.


# HAS NICOLE KIDMAN finally forgiven the paparazzo Jamie Fawcett after she gave evidence against him in a defamation  trial in the NSW Supreme Court in 2009 ?. 

 Nicole testified that she had been "really, really scared" of Fawcett. 

As the snap that appeared in Sydney Confidential yesterday shows, Nicole and Keith with Sunday Rose were all smiles for the camera as they arrived at Sydney Airport on Tuesday.

The by-line on the snap credits Oceanic which is Fawcett's new photo distribution agency.

Monte Won't Be A Guest

An invite to the Public Storage Blues Party in Manhattan lands on our desk and after perusing the guest list we note another Sydney-sider has been invited to the same event.

Frank Monte & Anthony Hayden Guest in New York

 It's the noted private eye and sometime LA & New York resident Frank Monte. The invitation is to a fund raiser for the British, New York based writer Anthony Hayden Guest

Readers may re-call that Hayden Guest was the inspiration for Peter Fallow, the hard-drinking hack in The Bonfire of the Vanities by author Tom Wolfe. Others claimed that the late writer Christopher Hitchens was Fallow but Hitchens said Hayden Guest fit the bill far better then he.

 It appears Hayden Guest has a dilemma : his personal art collection valued at $650,000 has gone astray from a storage firm. Anthony had forgotten to pay a bill of $1350 and the firm sold the collection for a paltry $650.

Now Hayden Guest is suing Public Storage and friends have rallied around to raise money to hire a top notch New York brief.

Jamie Lee Curtis & Christopher Guest

Hayden Guest says he keeps in touch with Monte on a regular basis :"I'm very fond of Frank and we exchange Christmas cards every year. We shared digs for a few months on the Upper West Side "

Monte says he won't be able to make the party in New York but will send a donation : "Anthony is a great pal and we went to dozens of parties in New York together. He can't stay home and is quite exhausting at times. He also looked after me once when I was very ill so I owe him a favour".

Guest wrote a book  The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night about his New York exploits. He contributes to a number of US publications like Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair.

His older brother (Baron) Christopher Guest is a Hollywood script writer and is married to the movie star Jamie Lee Curtis and both will be at the Public Storage Blues Party next month.

Marjorie Orr on Kevin & Julia

Never has an Australian prime minister had to work so hard to justify their existence as Julia Gillard since ousting Kevin Rudd in a party room coup in 2010.

The general public show little interest in Kevin Rudd replacing her but there’s every chance that a leadership spill may become a self-fulfilling event (certainly if News Corp has it away).

Monday’s much touted but disappointing ABC TV 4 Corners program regurgitated claims from 2010 and was much ado about nought, not unlike the great Canberra ‘riot’ of Australia Day when dozens of AFP officers dramatically bustled the PM and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott through a largely docile crowd who had minutes before been merely tapping vigorously on a restaurant window, gesticulating at the two politicians shouting insults no worse than ‘shame shame’. 

Where will it all end?. Perhaps internationally famous Astrology Marjorie Orr has a tip.

 According to Orr (sans the Pluto trines and Uranus square Pluto and other technical jargon):

Julia Gillard’s PMship chart, 24 June 2010 1.03pm is labouring mightily this year with…. by mid-March which is often a sign of an administration's collapse. If by a miracle she survives that destabilising influence returns later in the year...and so on. 

Basically it sounds like Mars and Jupiter may do her in by late 2012.

But there’s more as in Kevin Rudd’s chart:

Kevin Rudd - whom as I recollect no one actually liked when he was in power (in fact he was more popular than any  Oz leader in history, except within the Labor Party Caucus where he was detested) - does have lucky/successful influences in early March especially though he looks to be sagging badly from May onwards….. But he's certainly for all that in a bullish mood through the year with tr Pluto square his Jupiter and tr Uranus in opposition.

Julia is a Libran and Kevin a (by all accounts-the bitchy type ) Virgo.  Virgos holds grudges. For a long time.

So it’s business as usual and Julia will plod on while Rudd plots on, enjoys the speculation and News Corp fans the flames. Which means God forbid, another two years of this.

New York Update

How he does it is a mystery. We are talking about uber social photographer Patrick McMullan who rules the roost in the Big Apple.
If Patrick isn't at your party (or at least one of his snappers) you can write the evening off.

Operating out of a Fifth Avenue apartment near Washington Square he sets off each evening with a fist full of invites, returning in the early hours.
He's published six top selling books now of his photographs that feature in publications like Interview, Ocean Drive, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and magazines and newspapers around the world. He's an associate editor on Vanity Fair. The books  have titles like Kiss Kiss, Secrets of The Riviera, Men's Show and Glamour Girls. The titles are self explanatory.

This week he hosted a book signing for Kiss Kiss to benefit the Coalition for the Homeless, in Huntington, Long Island.

You get his books at his website and see some of the latest happenings in New York as recorded by Patrick or one of his ten photographers that fan out across the metropolis nightly.



# At the New York Mercedes Fashion Week : Shane Warne with  Liz Hurley and her son Damien attended the Moncler show last night

Melissa Shines At The Baftas

Wearing a figure hugging Victoria Beckham gown, Australian actress Melissa George looked radiant at last night's British Academy of Arts, Film & Television awards in London.

She may still be only finding roles in less than A grade films, but one television series in which she appears regularly that has been overlooked in this country is In Treatment,  a series with Gabriel Byrne as a psychotherapist who despite analysing a series of patients, begins to question his abilities. Well worth getting the entire series on DVD and watching over a long weekend.

Plenty more great pictures at the MailOnline.MailOnline.