Sharks Attack In Venice

It's Jaws and the Tsunami in one movie (in 3D nat!) with a touch of Westfield thrown in.
Disaster-shark film Bait 3D, directed by Kimble Rendall, will screen as Australia's only official selection for the 69th Venice International Film Festival.

Bait 3D is a movie about a group of shoppers trapped in an underground supermarket after a tsunami strikes the coast which has sent a school of sharks into the building. Produced by Arclight Films it was shot on the Gold Coast at Village Roadshow Studios in 2010 and stars Xavier Samuel, Julian McMahon, Sharni Vinson and Dan Wylie.

The Shuttle has seen a preview of Bait 3D and it's delightfully scary with fantastic FX especially in 3D with sharks jumping out of the screen at you. Let's hope Baz Luhrmann's Gatsby is this good.

What An Entrance!

Hick's Prosecution Dropped

Hicks at Boomerang

 NEWS THAT the Federal government has dropped the case against David Hicks over his book Guantanamo, My Journey under proceeds of crime legislation complicates the claims used against him the US Military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay where the incarcerated Hicks entered an Alford plea, a US technical device where the accused admits the prosecution has enough evidence to find him guilty. In that way, the evidence is never tested in court.

In return Hicks was immediately repatriated to Australia after years of being held in jail on no charge.

NSW Governor Marie Bashi

Hicks was castigated by then PM John Howard   and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as being the "worst of the worst", an ironic charge from 2 politicians who failed to notice under their watch the Australian Wheat Board was illegally bribing Saddam Hussein with over $200M.
The Shuttle met David Hicks and his wife at a cocktail party in 2010 at the Sydney harbourside mansion Boomerang (where Mission Impossible 2 was filmed) and it was difficult to reconcile the dastardly image painted by politicians with the polite young man. NSW Governor Marie Bashir also chatted to the couple in a friendly manner.

An opinion writer of the right leaning IPA 'think tank' who contributes to the ABC's The Drum also attacked attendees of the 2011 Sydney Writers Festival  for listening attentively to Hicks tale about his treatment at Gitmo where he says he was drugged and tortured. In this piece published in the SMH, "Audience on their feet for a fraud"  he calls them 'incredulous fools".
 The Shuttle tangled with that writer via email but thankfully he has now gone to the bosom of Opposition leader Tony Abbott as an adviser. That's the same Abbott who was also a Minster in Howard's government where he also apparently over-looked a stream of emails indicating that against UN sanctions, the AWB was sending hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks to the Saddam regime. Despite the mass of evidence produced during an investigation and Downer's evidence he couldn't 'recall' seeing memos about the scandal, no-one was every charged (or required to enter an Alford plea).
Incredulous fools indeed!.

"Invasion Of The Super Yachts"

The UK's Daily Mail has published a  feature on the many fabulous gin palaces that have invaded the Thames & London for the Olympics. It's deja vu time and just like a re-run of the Sydney 2000 Olympics when basically the same boats arrived in Sydney and lined up at the wharf in Blackwattle Bay, the only place large enough to host a billion dollars worth of luxury boating.

Hopefully those flogging luxury goods in London will not make the same mistake as several did at Blackwattle and set up stores nearby. A 3 star restaurant opened hoping to cater to yacht owners and several luxury goods purveyors like the South Australian Pearl jeweler who flew in a million dollars worth of gems and built a small boutique from the ground up for the  2 weeks of games. All went broke after the fortnight. Most of the boat owners flew in and stayed at hotels while the only people onboard their boats were staff.

Illona at Canary Wharf

the Murdochs at the Lowy dinner

Frank Lowy

One luxury ship in London is Frank Lowy's  Ilona that is moored at Canary Wharf, not far from his good friend Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.HQ. Lowy owns the giant Westfield Shopping Centres. Rupert & Wendi Murdoch flew to Sydney from New York in 2008 to attend a dinner in honour of Lowy at the Royal Randwick Racecourse as the Shuttle's exclusive pic shows.

Lowy fled Czechoslavakia to France in 1946 but was arrested by British troops and incarcerated at a detention camp in Cyprus, eventually making it to Israel and joining the Haganah. He arrived in Australia in 1953 and partnered with Hungarian immigrant John Saunders to create Westfield, now the largest shopping centre owners in the world. The Shuttle attended a breakfast at the Regent Hotel in Sydney for Henry Kissinger (see pic below with Ros Packer) in 1998. When Kissinger left the stage he was mobbed by the many politicians there but brushed them aside, making his way to Lowy's table where the 2 remained in deep conversation.

Cate Blanchett :"Slugfest, With Pratfalls"

The New York Times is heaping priase on Andrew Upton's production of Uncle Vanya which stars Cate Blanchett, Richard Roxburgh, Hugo Weaving and the Shuttle's favourite Oscar nominee Jackie Weaver.

Andrew & Cate on opening night

Says reviewer Ben Brantley :" I consider the three hours I spent on Saturday night watching them complain about how bored they are among the happiest of my theatergoing life."..."this “Uncle Vanya” gets under your skin like no other I have seen."
 "With her movie star credentials and fashion-magazine looks, Ms. Blanchett (a dazzling Blanche in the Sydney Theater Company’s touring “Streetcar Named Desire” two years ago) is the obvious popular draw here. And she confirms her status as one of the best and bravest actresses on the planet, with a go-for-broke yet artfully contained performance that keeps sabotaging her own natural elegance."
 Brantley not only raves about our Cate but the all-Australian cast gets the thumbs up in this Tamas Ascher directed play. Read the full review here.
Uncle Vanya is a Sydney Theater Company production, presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,

Bulgari's Art Award.....

It will rate as one of the best bashes of the year- the dinner at the Art Gallery of NSW to celebrate the Bulgari Art Award which goes to Michael Zavros, a Brisbane-based graduate from the Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Visual Arts. Zavros has exhibited widely within Australia and his work is held in numerous private and public collections including: The National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, University of Queensland Art Museum and Tasmanian Museum and Gallery. His prize is a worth $80,000 and includes a residency in Italy.

Philip Bacon & Ros Packer

always elegant : Alexandra Joel & Philip Mason

With a magnificent long table in the main gallery and catering by Matt Moran's Aria , guests first had drinks and took in an exhibition of some of Australia's most renowned artists including Rupert Bunny, George W.Lambert, Russell Drysdale, Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton amongst others. This is an exhibition now open to the public and includes numerous works that haven't been on display for many years. Do not miss it !
And full marks to the sponsors of the show, the wonderful Bulgari brand that was born in Rome in 1884 with family members still managing the elegant label that is now diversifying into hotels and resorts.

Stephen Ormandy & Louise Olsen

Michael Zavros with Melanie & Eddie Listorti

Table art...

George Lambert's portrait of Thea Proctor 1916

 And some art :

Two winning Archibald portraits of Margaret Olley : Ben Quilty in 2011 & William Dobell's -1948

James Angus : 'Bugatti type 35' 2006

Plots & Fine Dining

 THE ANNOUNCEMENT today that Canadian born hamburger salesman Jack Cowin has been granted a seat on the board of Fairfax Media signals another shot across the bow of the recalcitrant Fairfax board from the World's Richest Woman ( and soon to be the world's richest person according to Chase Manhattan Bank) Gina Rinehart.

A relative pauper with just a $620M fortune compared to Gina's $29Billion, the former insurance salesman turned Burger King and Hungry Jacks entrepreneur is being described as an 'independent' board member and has agreed to maintain Fairfax's editorial independence. He also sits on the board of the Ten Network in which Rinehart holds a swag of shares along with Lachlan Murdoch.

Just last week Cowin celebrated his 69th birthday in the South of France on board his super yacht Slipstream (left). Fellow guests included Gina Rinehart and John Singleton. Whatever plans were hatched sailing the Med, they seem to have paid off. Gina had demanded 3 board seats after buying nearly 20% of Fairfax shares. She's scored one -for now.

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SADLY there is just two more days left before the pop-up restaurant Masterchef closes but the experiment has been such a huge success, another is on the way.

St Marys

Masterchef is a joint venture of the Ten Network which screens the popular Masterchef series, and the media production company Shine. Located on the forecourt and in the shadow of the elegant St Mary's Cathedral and opposite Hyde Park it's a million dollar location but it's the size of the restaurant that amazes. Housed in an enormous marquee, it's 2 floors of culinary delights with a large but comfortable bar upstairs for pre-dinner drinks.

Chefs include Masterchef stars Julie Goodwin and Marion Grasby with some of Sydney's most experienced food stars assisting, like Justin North and Kylie Kwong, who is rated in the top five Chinese chefs in the world.

The Shuttle dined there last Wednesday and the food - well sadly as this current venue will vanish on Sunday there isn't much point describing it - apart to say it was sensational. Never fear, we hear another pop-up is in the works for the coming Summer and in an equally fabulous Sydney location.
                                      

Wacky Claim of The Week

Politician Bob Katter who says it was his hairstyle that inspired Justin Bieber's.
As our snap shows, Beatle John Lennon got there before Bob.

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Coming soon : EXCLUSIVE:

"HOW THE MAFIA TRIED TO MURDER SYDNEY PRIVATE EYE FRANK MONTE !"

Melissa's Star Shines

Melissa Hoyer is one of the most respected, well liked and experienced commentators on Australian television covering fashion and celebrity.
Now she has joined the news.com.au team, and will contribute a weekly column and celebrity news stories. as their show business 'editor at large' which signals another step forward as News Ltd gears up to eventually put all their top selling titles behind pay walls.

The Herald Sun in Melbourne has been experimenting with pay per view for several months and although it's had an 18% drop in print sales it still flogs a healthy 343,103 copies daily and it's website and that of Sydney's Daily Telegraph have picked up visitors steadily over the past 5 years.
 Hoyer worked originally as a fashion and society scribe for News' top selling Sunday Telegraph before heading over to pay tv's Foxtel to host her own show titled Fashion (launched by the great man himself-Rupert Murdoch). She currently comments on fashion on Ch7's Morning Show and today filed her first news.com.au story: an exclusive interview with Justin Bieber.
Read Melissa's interview with Bieber here and check out her new website here.

No Oldies For Capt Clive !

Wacky billionaire Clive Palmer said today pensioners would be banned from his replica Titanic 2 when it sets sail. Palmer has teamed up with a Chinese corporation to build the boat and take to the high seas with a floating casino on which only 'people like us' will be allowed onboard to gamble.

Clive is reported as saying :""We'll be in international waters, so we can probably stop pensioners from coming without breaching any legislation,
"There will be some sort of screening to make sure the people who do go there are people who can afford to go there."I think third class we'd have to have questions about, wouldn't we?"

So that means any ship-board romances between first class  and third class ala Jack Dawson & Rose is out and by the time Titanic 2 is launched hopefully the Shuttle will be a pensioner and be barred from the tub.

Vale Edwin Duff 1928-2012

He was regular sight around Kings Cross where his name is immortalised in stone on the footpaths- the diminutive jazz singer Edwin Duff who passed away last Monday at a nursing home in Vaucluse at the age of 84.

Barry Crocker & Edwin Duff

Edwin emigrated from Scotland in 1938 at the age of 10 as a 'ten pound Pom". On board the ship he won a talent quest impressing the audience with his soulful voice. One of those in the audience was associated with the Melbourne radio station 3KZ. He invited Edwin to sing on air with a group of children and he was such a success that he was soon invited to sing in variety concerts. leaving school at the age of 14 he became a regular entertainer in coffee shops, restaurants and clubs.

During the 1960s and 70s Edwin was part of trio of singers who appeared regularly on TV shows including Graham Kennedy Tonight in Melbourne and the Don Lane Show in Sydney. One of the them, Norm Erskine became a club regular while the other Tony Monopoly went to the UK where he found fame as the winner of the Opportunity Knocks talent quest. All 3 teemed up for Edwin's 60th birthday in 1988 for a concert at the East's Leagues Club.

Edwin was small in stature at 5'3" but his smooth jazz vocals made him a popular act around the smarter Sydney nightclubs like Quo Vardis, Abe Saffron's Roosevelt Room and Denis Wong's Chequers where Duff crooned one night for an hour along with Frank Sinatra. And at the age of 72 he hired the Darlinghurst Theatre and appeared for 5 nights to a capacity audience. Today he was cremated with singers Barry Crocker and Delilah officiating at the service.
Here is Edwin singing with Peter Kaye, host of the show Saturday Night Live.

BelieberMania

That screaming you can hear is because Justin Bieber is in town. Here are some pics of Justin with fans in Melbourne yesterday. On Tuesday the Shuttle is going to the party for Justin to be held on an island in Sydney Harbour. We've begun trembling with excitement already.