Teflon John needs to tone down that profile.

Arriving in Sydney in the early 1990's tSS was fortunate to land a job on a local newspaper covering the inner city. The main beat was  Darlinghurst-the Golden Mile of gay Oxford Street , it's surroundings and Kings Cross.

Dawn-ran Oxford Street

 It was an eye-opener. Oxford Street truly was fun city with all manner of night clubs and bars with every taste catered for. It was friendly  and packed every night. Sure it was run by some questionable characters like the late  Roger Claude Teyssedre. who had arrived from France penniless and was a multi millionaire within 5 years. Claude died in mysterious circumstances with his lover  by his bed-Ludwig Gertsch who 18 months later was found strangled and trussed up in a sleeping bag in the Blue Mountains, his murderer still free.

 Or the one time champion lesbian ice skater turned nightclub mogul Dawn O'Donnell. A lovely lady to dine with who could talk for hours on which lesbian porn sold to straight men in huge quantities over an after dinner cigar. Dawn would know-she owned a few shops openly selling illicit hard core adult porn.

Costellos fan?

Kings Cross was something else. Drugs prostitution and live sex shows that made Amserdam look decidedly tame. And there was supposed to be a bar called Costellos beneath the giant Coca Cola sign where 12 year old boys were on tap at the bar.  At a later Royal Commission witnesses swore it was true and one even claimed  improbably that the late American actor Karl Malden had once visited the bar. Wacky stuff.  

And the police. Well they ran the show as journalist Michael Duffy points out in his piece on 2 books to be released by 2 honest cops that got run out of town for their efforts. tSS recalls one quite scary lunch at the Bourbon and Beefsteak hosted by 4 Kings Cross detectives which we thought was some sort of community and neighbourhood watch get-together. It turned out to be a boozy afternoon where one couldn't actually leave and the tales we heard about who did what  to whom and who ran who and was on the take and which politician was in whose pocket just wasn't what one wished to know. Well certainly not from the cops. Fortunately they got so drunk one was able to slip out carefully ripping our name tag into tiny pieces. 

Sir Joh-premier of the corrupt Sunshine Coast

The excellent reporter Chris Master of the ABC who exposed Queensland's police corruption in the 1980's amongst govermment figures and police under the premier Sir Joh Belke Petersen, has been giving out a warning to 'Teflon 'John Ibraham, the current Kings Cross bigwig . Masters says John's profile will be boosted so much by the Underbellly TV series his life will be in danger. Masters knows what he is talking about. When his film on the Sunshine State corruption was broadcast the state's Police Commissioner Sir Terry Lewis  immediately fled back to his native UK only to be discovered by Scotland Yard detectives a year later living in luxury in  Richmond . He did 8 years in jthe Boggo Road jail after being extradited back to Oz.

Sunday sees the 2 hour premiere of

Underbelly 3, TheGolden Mile that continues the tale of the extraordinary corruption of police and the rule of gangsters during the 1980/1990's before a Royal Commission finally put paid to a scene that would have made Al Capone envious. The then king of Kings Cross, the 5'4" Abe Saffron known as Mr Sin was only finally put behind bars for tax evasion, just like Capone,despite having a finger in every piece of action.

friendly Teflon John

 The series also brings up to date the new breed of local entrepreneurs who now rule Kings Cross, namely our ever friendly luncheon pal John Ibrahim whose career we have watched flourish ever since he and his younger brother Fadi cornered us in his first nightclub, The Tunnel in a back laneway and demanded we promote him in the local rag. Why not?. They seemed nice enough lads and despite police saying Telflon John is now a major 'leading crime figure' he is certainly charming..The Tunnel was eventualy shut down when the Chinese triad murdered 2 men outside it's entrance, hacking them to pieces.

According to Masters the new ruling mafia in town are the bikie gangs who are so organised they have left authorities scratching their heads in bewilderment. And they don't take prisoners. Masters warns that this is new breed of crim who holds no respect for rank and privilege, as enjoyed by Ibrahim at present, and will ruthlessly remove him. They are called bikie gangs but they drive Mercedes and BMWs and wear designer suits. It's said Ibrahim has an interest in about 8 Kings Cross nightclubs and nearly all bouncers in every club including Oxford Street's gay strip are controlled by his firm. The bikies have their own security firm who would like a share of the action.


 

One honest copper forced out by the bent ones was Deborah Locke who has written a superb book Watching The Detectives in which she describes attempting to report serious misconduct at the Parramatta Police Headquarters only to be taken to lunch by a head honcho with Louis Bayeh-the then drug baron of the Cross and currently doing a few years in prison .It's a superb and racy read and you can order it at Deborah's website.
 

Another great read is Dirty Work by an honest ex-cop Glen McNamara who fled to California after attempting to report bent cops only to find there was a contract on his life. He was tracked down in an LA motel with a chilling phone call from hitmen saying that they knew where he was, whereupon his pregnant wife miscarried. It's an amazing record of a sorry era in Sydney.

 Underbelly-The Golden Mile starts next Sunday 10th April at 8.30pm on the Channel Nine network

Sir Elton John's manager dons Miss Marple garb over mystery death

Friends and family of the late record company executive Peter Ikin who died in November 2008 aged 62, are still asking questions about the manner of his death. Ikin, a much loved music industry figure who was the boss of Warner's Music Australia passed away after a fall down some stairs in his Paris hotel and after marrying his French lover Alexandre Despallieres in a civil ceremony the previous month at the Chelsea Town Hall in London. Ikin had retired in 2000 after a stint as VP at the London HQ of Warner's Music.

Despallieres produced a new will reputedly signed by Ikin in August of that year and witnessed by Despallieres' assistant Jeremy Billien and another friend Vincent Bray, leaving Ikin's $20million fortune to his new husband. After getting probate granted in England, Despallieres' had Ikin's body cremated and set about spending over $2 million from Ikin's Channel Island's bank account, purchasing 3 Porches-one for himself and one each for  Billien and Bray.

actor Simon Burke, John Reid and Peter Ikin

London's High Court overturned that will after a previous one was produced by Ikin's lawyer, signed in 2002 which left his estate to charities, his godchildren and only living relative, a Catholic priest in Sydney. An out of court settlement was reached in which Despallieres is said to have received a million dollars.  Despallieres also agreed to move out of  Ikin's Chelsea apartment.

It's claimed that Despallieres has said in the past he was suffering from brain cancer and is HIV, hence Ikin's rush to marry him and make a new will.

Ikin was well liked and friendly with many pop stars like Elton John and Rod Stewart. John Mellancamp said of Ikin ; "he was always kind, and jovial and a pleasure to be with. I have thought and spoke of Peter often. He was my introduction to the music business"

Now former rock manager John Reid, a friend of Ikin's and who guided the careers of Elton John, Freddie Mercury and Queen and the dancer Michael Flatley wants some answers. Reid has hired a French lawyer who has petitioned the French coroner for a toxicology report into Ikin's sudden death. French police have opened a file and are investigating after it was found there were deadly levels of paracetamol in Ikin's blood when he died.

Billy Gaff wants fraud charges

And another tough-minded Scot Billy Gaff, the ex-manager of Rod Stewart is pursuing Despallieres for $500,000 he said he lent the Frenchmen whilst he was waiting for probate to be granted on Ikin's will . Gaff said he "came under Despallieres' spell when he said he was a French pop star". Gaff wants fraud charges laid against Despallieres.
He may have to get in the queue. At a recent memorial service for Ikin in Sydney  there was much muttering from Ikin's distraught friends in the music business about issuing  legal claims against Despallieres. It seems Reid has fired the first shot.

exclusive : Lady Sonia McMahon dies

Sir William & Lady Sonia McMahon in that dress with president Richard Nixon at the White House

Julian McMahon & sister Debbie

much loved-Lady Sonia and son Julian McMahon

St Vincent's Hospital has issued a statement that Lady Sonia McMahon has died in a Sydney hospital.

Lady Sonia, the wife of former prime minister Sir William McMahon and mother of actor Julian McMahon, died late on Friday evening with her family by her side.
Lady Sonia, 77, had been battling cancer for over a year. Details of her funeral had not been released yet by her family, the hospital statement said.

It was just a year ago that Lady Sonia, one of Australia's most loved social figures attended the funeral of her great friend Johnny Baker along with her children including the Hollywood star Julian, who were by her bedside when she passed away late last night.

On the 24th of March tSS wrote about Lady Sonia's amazing entree onto the world stage when she appeared at a state dinner at the Richard Nixon White House.
Newspaper front pages around the world ran photos of Sonia's split gown with straps that revealed her tall shapely legs as she ascended the White House steps. The dress, now in a museum of contemporary art has been described by the Washington Post as the most talked about fashion garment to be ever seen in Washington.

Will our Max decide Britain's next election ?

Max with Carson Kresley

For a month now the tabloid media has been waging an all out assault on our favourite celebrity spruiker Max Markson who likes to think of himself as Australia's answer to Britain's Max Clifford. Originally from Bournemouth via a saucepan stall in a Shepherds Bush market, Max is Australia's top celebrity agent.
 

Max's crime was to disrupt the holy of holies-a cricket match. When model Lara Bingle, best known for the failed Oz tourism campaign 'So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?' discovered that a previous boyfriend footballer Brendan Fevola had distributed some topless snaps of her taken on his mobile phone, she did the only sensible thing. She hired Max to negotiate a deal reputedly worth $200,000 with a woman's magazine to tell her side of the story.

Lara does a Bingle

 Bingle's then fiancee  Michael Clarke, vice captain of the Australian cricket team was about to embark on a tour of New Zealand. As the team strode out for the first day, missing was Clarke. He had flown back to Sydney to see Lara. The howling of sport's writers, egged on by their tabloid comrades was deafening. Leading the moralising charge was Sydney Morning Herald cricket writer Peter Roebuck who delightfully informed us that 'to do a bingle' was new cricketing slang for fumbling the ball.

Others like the fragrant Miranda Devine weighed in wanting to know, just who was Bingle and what did this "airhead "do all day as Miranda pondered on the size of Bingle's IQ.

But Markson was deemed the villain of the drama.
Max was denying the tabloids their God given right to a saucy tale. And he was encouraging them to beat up the story to boost sales of magazine carrying Lara's story.

Beware of a reptile scorned.

Now Max has become the story as a newspaper yesterday revealed supposed emails to Max from a 'disgruntled' employee questioning the legality of  Max's ability to avoid speeding fines. Markson's business registered Mercedes has clocked up over $30,000 in fines but avoided being de-registered via a complicated loophole whereby a company can declare it doesn't know the identity of a driver when the offence occurred.

They're out to get Max and today tSS hears news that a writer from the UK  Independent newspaper is flying in to do a piece on Markson. 

 

As Britain's Labour Party and PM Gordon Brown vie to be re-elected they have brought in ex-PM Tony Blair to boost morale.

 Expect a major story to appear about Markson's involvement in Cherie Blair's ill-fated Oz book tour in 2007.
A charity that expected to receive substantial funds from the tour cried foul when the pot was discovered to be empty. tSS was ejected from one function after approaching  Mrs Blair and asking her if she might consider donating profits from her book to an Iraqi children's fund.

Eddie's straight talk on gay comments

 earlier we brought you the news of the facebook page :  
Eddie Mcguire is ruining the 2010 Winter Olympics coverage
which now has 10742 member castigating football club manager and TVstar Eddie McGuire over his perceived homophobic comments during the men's ice skating competitions. The tale was featured in some UK tabloids.

The latest member Jane says "ah yes.... let's see if he can wiggle out of this."

Has Eddie done it ?.he has issued a press release:

 PRESS RELEASE: Gay rights activist Gary Burns met today with Winter Olympics host Eddie McGuire at Sydney's Hilton Hotel to look at ways of remedying the complaint against him and his co-host, Mick Molloy.

 Gary Burns said: "Eddie McGuire now understands his on-air banter with Mick Molloy during the Winter Olympics Games could impact on vulnerable gay teenagers.

"This was not Eddie's intention. Eddie does not have one homophobic bone in his body.

"As president of the Collingwood Football Club he has, and continues to promote, tolerance for all minority Australians, including homosexual Australians.

"I found his candour one of openness. Eddie McGuire is a man of integrity."

Mr Burns has written to the president of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board and withdrawn his complaint against the pair.

AND so ends the official proceedings from what was a bit of light-hearted banter about the outrageous ice-skating costumes at the Olympics that led to me being branded a homophobe.

As shattering as that allegation was for me, it wasn't about me or, for that matter, Gary Burns.

What it is about is the horrific statistic that in a country that suffers from one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the world, the incidence of suicide among gay teenagers is six times that of the straight world.

Burns is seen in the gay community as either a hero or a troublemaker.

Yes, he's a maverick and has taken big names like Sam Newman and John Laws to the anti-discrimination tribunal over the years, but he also is fighting for a big cause.

Many may not like his tactics and I, as did Mick, certainly bristled at the allegations made against me. But when you sit down and think of what the end-game result is of his stance, it isn't hard to work out there are bigger issues at play than headlines and embarrassment.

For me, the charge of being homophobic hurt deeply.

For all the carry-on that goes with my profile and public positions, one thing that I will fight for is any person's right to exist without vilification whatever their race, religion, socioeconomic standing or sexual orientation. I am also pretty big on free speech and having a sense of humour.

So when two worlds collide it is an awkward position in which one finds oneself, especially as the media likes to embellish and embarrass these days rather than reason and investigate.

Burns and I corresponded for weeks, worked out what we were both about and then found we were in vigorous agreement. He agreed the Olympics comments did not deserve the ferocity of the attack on Mick and myself, but, in being magnanimous, Burns quite rightly reminded me of the pain and suffering so many young people continue to endure for something as basic as their sexual orientation.

Yep, in 2010, young men and women, for the crime of being themselves, are still thrown out of home and bashed.

The biggest regret I had through the whole incident was that bigots would use our comedy schtick as a front for more venomous attacks.

There is always the chance that we are being far too sensitive and in fact all but one of the gay people I canvassed to assess the segment believed there was nothing in it.

But when young people's lives are at stake you need to be very sensitive and careful when in a public position.

As always, it's not the majority of the people who are fair-minded you have to worry about - it's the minority of idiots causing trouble.

So, given there was no call from Burns for compensation, or even an apology, have I dodged a bullet and will it make any difference to how I ply my trade?

Quite the contrary, it has given me a sharp reminder of the difficulties many face in everyday life and how, in my little world where everyone is gay friendly and open-minded, it is not necessarily the norm.

I will continue to react in live situations the way I have throughout my career, but just as we once thought it was fine to call indigenous footballers by racist names - "they don't mind" - it also isn't OK to take liberties with the feelings of gay people as a collective.

Yes, my gay friends send me up for being a hetero and we joke among ourselves, but we are all in on the gag. Not that long ago, the number of Aboriginal footballers in the VFL/AFL could be counted on two hands in almost 100 years of the game.

Now, some 11 per cent of players are indigenous.

Treating them as equals, but also putting in safeguards against discrimination - either deliberate or otherwise - has made for a safe haven for our players and we all are better for the experience.

So far we have had one gay footballer in the NRL, Ian Roberts, and none in the AFL.

We all know we are kidding ourselves to think that is really the case.

If helping to lead the charge against vilification of gay people leads to an environment in which gay boys feel safe to play AFL football, and the natural flow-on from that, then the embarrassment and genuine hurt that both Mick and I have felt will have served a purpose.

That Burns and I found ourselves singing from the same hymn book in our attitudes again shows most people are closer in thinking than they ever give each other credit for.

And that the power of conversation and collaborative thought is still the best way to sort out issues rather than combative legal processes that make lawyers rich and turn potential friends into enemies.

another tabloid discovers the Shuttle

The Sun Herald, Australia's second largest Sunday newspaper has paid tribute to Social Shuttle contributor Bill Ranken on his 80th birthday. Ranken has been a regular on the London , New York and Sydney social rounds for over 50 years, taking up photography for the last 20. 

Living in a pied-a-terre in Elizabeth Bay during the week, Bill spends  his weekends on his family property Lockesley in the Southern Highlands, regarded as the possibly the best in NSW. Prince Charles is a regular visitor there. Neighbours include Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. With it's magnificent sweeping valleys and Georgian house it's also often used as a film location, the latest being a horse whisperer epic staring actor Jack Thompson.

Ranken learnt how to work the land during a stint as a jackaroo in the outback in the 1950's riding with Aboriginal stockmen who he says are amongst the best horsemen he has ever encountered. A tractor accident  in his late 20's in which he lost an eye brought on a life change and although he regularly commutes between the city and his 2 country properties, for years he was spotted squiring well heeled ladies about town like Ros Packer in Sydney, Princess Margaret in London and Princess Lee Radziwill in the Hamptons.

On April 2nd-Bill's birthday, we launch his regular photo pages-15 Minutes.

Rupert..have a word with your picture editors

Ronnie Wood reportedly received a black eye and a fat lip after a boozy scuffle

While tSS has to rely on an illiterate office cat-Mildred Pierce, for our sub-editing which admittedly produces some shockers, we still haven't made some of the corkers that we spot  in the News Corp tabloids.

A tale for today's  Sunday Telegraph and no doubt picked up from one of it's publications from the UK stable, about Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones. This is what comes from dispensing with boozey old hacks and replacing them with bright young 25 year olds on 2 year contracts. They just don't have the experience.

The tale is headlined :

ROLLING Stones star Ronnie Wood received a black eye and a fat lip after a boozy scuffle with his latest girlfriend. 
( it can be read here)

Brazilian polo teacher Ana Aranujo, 30, lost her temper with the wayward aging rocker when she discovered he hit the bottle behind her back, reports The Sun. 
She thumped him after first ripping up two paintings he made at his mansion in Surrey, south-east England.

Illustrating the story is the above pic of  Keith Richards.

Such unforgiveable sacrilege, mistaking one Rolling Stone for another. This is Ronnie:

Both have crumpled but distinctive faces.


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from Der Speigel:  Did Prostitution Really Exist in the Temples of Antiquity?

from: WFUM's Beware of The Blog : Destination Subconscious: Cary Grant and LSD

we come to Rupert Murdoch's aid but who will help Sacha ?

Rupert Murdoch's top selling Australian tabloid, the Daily Telegraph  has called upon the services of  the Social Shuttle to supply them with a raunchy set of snaps of Sharon Sargeant, fiancee of the world's most famous gumshoe Frank Monte. Sargeant was snapped by our junior paparazzi, partying at Lotus in Kings Cross after last week's Lady Ga Ga concert.

Sargeant says she was celebrating the fantastic concert with a few gal pals over several bottles of Veuve Clicquot and later had a slight wardrobe malfunction as she tried to negotiate the back seat of the limo thoughtfully provide by her future hubby who was in San Francisco on a business trip.

 The same issue also carries the tale of singer George Michael  relaxing on a cruiser in Pittwater for the past few days .He has extended his stay in Sydney for several weeks as a lazy Indian summer takes hold. George has been enjoying himself on the Oxford Street gay strip that has proved gold for the singer who has been exhilarated with the fantastic reception he has received at his Oz concerts. Michael has discovered the treasures of the Golden Mile in the form of several handsome muscled dudes who have taken his fancy.

Tip to the Telegraph: George has now taken an apartment in the luxurious Icon building in Potts Point , the temporary digs much favoured by visiting movie stars while shooting at Fox Studios. And the Social Shuttle has all the details for the luxury holiday George has planned early next month when several chaps and a bunch of friends will be treated to a no expenses spared fortnight in the South Pacific. Give us a bell. Before Hello snaps up the rights.

Midnight shifter Carson Kresley

PS; you may also want to call us about Queer Eye's Carlson Kresley who has been in town for a week, unnoticed and was celebrating a re-match with a his handsome Aussie hunk last night at the Midnight Shift !

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A curious tale in the Sydney Star Observer, the gay and lesbian publication that says a group has been formed with the specific purpose of suing the makers of Bruno- Sacha Baron Cohen and his co-producers for $80M, the entire Australian takings for the flick.

Sacha Baron Cohen at the Sydney premiere of Bruno

Musician Michael J. Lloyd has formed the LGBT Foundation to take on Cohen as he claims Bruno was "purely offensive and ludicrous. It encourages a discriminatory society", as Lloyd told the Observer.

 The group's website has listed a lawyer from the Nicholas Family Lawyers as a partner in the venture along with well known gay identity Brett Hayhoe although apparently  Hayhoe seems unsure of the plans to to drag Cohen and Bruno's producers into the Supreme Court.

ailing Sonia who took the White House by storm

Sad news today that Lady Sonia McMahon, widow of ex-Prime Minister Sir Billy McMahon is in the private wing of St Vincent's Hospital being treated for cancer. It's the third time Sonia has faced treatment and she has successfully fought of the disease before.
At 77 there is no keeping the much loved society figure down. Only late last year she recovered after a fall down the gangplank of media mogul Paul Ramsay's cruiser at a birthday party on Sydney Harbour and was soon back out on the party and charity circuit. Sonia is a regular at the Melbourne, Sydney and Ascot horse racing meets.

Lady Sonia at the White House with Richard Nixon

It was in 1965 when Lady Sonia and her husband Sir Billy, the then Prime Minister paid a visit to the Richard Nixon White House and the snaps of their ascent /descent of the White House stairs for a state dinner went flashing around the world making front page news as everyone asked who was the stunning 6ft blond in a revealing dress with slits up the side. The Washington Post has described the gown as the most talked about fashion item ever to be seen in Washington. That dress is now stored in the Powerhouse Museum.

Sonia was 20 years younger than Sir William when she married him in 1965 when he was 57. It has long been rumoured that Sir Billy was gay and had been advised by Liberal Party founder and Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies to marry if he wished his career in politics to advance. Lady Sonia and Sir William subsequently had 3 children.

Son Julian McMahon is a former model and the star of the US series Nip Tuck and is currently working in South Africa on the film The Smell Of Apples with Gillian Anderson.

Sonia & son Julian McMahon at Johnny Baker's funeral

Lady Sonia & Priscilla Presley

Julian fell out with Lady Sonia when against her wishes he married Danni Minogue in a short lived marriage in the late 1990's.

Sonia also faced legal battles when daughter Debra challenged the will of her late father and demanded a share of his estate. Estranged from her mother for several years, Debra turned to Spiritualism and alternative religious beliefs.
Julian has returned to Sydney to be by his mother's bed-side and was at the funeral of the late society walker Johnny Baker in August 2009 where Lady Sonia and her 3 children appeared united once again.

Dita Von Teese has them by the balls

an understated Joh Bailey at a Cointreau Ball

In the late 1960's Princess Soraya of Iran, in Sydney for a visit asked the Gucci clothier Frank Marcovic "is there any such thing as society in Sydney ?." "Of course there is" replied Frank, reeling off a list of names like the Packers, Fairfaxs, Hordens, Graces, Lloyd-Jone sand so on . Most were media proprietors or department store heirs along with the occasional country property dynasty like the Macarthur Onslows.

"One went to parties where they were at and got into the social pages and that was it" says society maven Diana Fisher, once a BlueBell girl in Paris and married to Humphrey Fisher, the son of the then Archbishop of Canterbury.

It was all lost on Princess Soraya. They were all in trade after all. It went downhill from that point. Parties became and continue to be 'product launches' . Corporations expect lots of free press when they feed and water the media and the so called "A to D" list that seem to ensure a few inches in the social pages.

Budgets are smaller now but were huge in the mid 90's when PR queen Deeta Colvin ruled the roost with her legendary annual Cointreau Balls that lasted a decade.

To even have been to just one was considered a major coup and a step up the social ladder (tSS went to 6).

The Cointreau Balls were planned in great secrecy with guests never knowing where the event was to be held until they actually arrived at it.

Come the big night, the lucky few hundred clutching their invites in whatever costume had been decreed, would wait at their doorstep for a limousine to arrive-every limo in town was booked-to whisk them off to some mystery location, perhaps an abandoned warehouse decorated to fantasy level by party designer David Grant who still organises all major events for internationale Olympic Committee.

Once it was a circus tent in the wilds of the Cronulla sand hills-a road having been bulldozed for the queue of white limos depositing guests. Another was in an abandoned steel mill outside Newcastle. and yet another in the Naval Museum decorated as the Titanic. We all went down with the ship clutching our champers.

The final in the early 2000's was in a fabulous disused art deco cinema in the suburbs with a Hollywood theme (tSS went as a Betty Ford clinician).

It was all just one giant advert for the undrinkable Cointreau which received millions of dollars in free press and presumably cashed in on the sales that followed, done on a smaller budget than imagined says Colvin. And so successful and egalitarian.

One could find oneself seated next to Lord Portalington, Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue or Lady Sonia McMahon. Or once when tSS found ourselves deep in conversation with who we presumed was an eccentric artist named Charles Gosford who actually lived in the town of Gosford just outside Sydney.

We thought it highly amusing he should take the ordinary seaside town's name as a title until informed he was actually the Earl of Gosford from Scotland. These were world class parties-the moniker given to everything in a land uncertain of it's station on the planet, much like a new shipping terminal or the upgraded Pitt Street Mall.

A whole team of the brand's French executives would fly in by private jet for the night. Such a long way to travel but the writing was on the wall when the French champagne stopped for the last 2 parties along with the funding of the extravagant balls when they realised that no-one at the events actually drank Cointreau.

No-one was that mad to risk the worst ever hangover even though the limos stayed to deliver the very last guest home safely.

Now it's all about to return. Well partly.

Dita Von Teese , the femme fatale and queen of the fishnet and corset has been invited to fly to Australia in September in her capacity as global brand ambassador for Cointreau for a one-night-only performance of her burlesque show Be Contreauversial.

The show, created for Cointreau is an update of Von Teese's classic "Martini Go.lass" performance in which she discards her scanties and frolics in an over sized martini glass. All rather tame from days past but probably apt for these times.

## As for Frank Marcovic who hosted Princess Soraya all those years ago. He died of a heart attack in 2006 in his Palm Beach house following a lengthy and sweaty encounter with a rent boy who managed to unshackle himself from the bedpost to summons help, alas too late.

Business-like, he enquired of the investigating police officers as Frank's body was removed by the coroner :"will I still get paid ?"

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Twiggy Forrest

Friday : To the Ocean Room at the Overseas Terminal with a host of big names-Christine Anu, James Packer, Russell Crowe ,Cate Blanchett and PM Kevin Rudd for the launch of Generation One. the brainchild of Australia's richest man Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest.

Twiggy may be worth a cool $15 Billion but he remembers his roots. Forrest went to a mainly indigenous school and maintained life-long friendships with his Aboriginal schoolmates. Sadly the last one died last year aged only in his 50s.

Forrest is encouraging Big Business to hire more indigenous Australians and hopes to get a least 50,000 in employment within a year.

Mama Mia !.. trouble in the land of Berlusconia

Australia's Italian community-estimated at one million strong is up in arms over an article in the Australian Financial Review about Italians and their relationship with Silvio Berlusconi, who started life as a cruise ship crooner, amassed a media fortune and wound up as Prime Minister.

Ruler of Berlusconia

While the wacky Italian PM appears to have as many detractors as fans in his homeland and is the countries longest serving PM in a country where politics are usually quite fiery and governments come and go with amusing regularity, a visiting journalist found a different scenario when she visited to do a piece for the Fin Review.

The article that went largely unnoticed in the Australian Financial Review last November has gone ballistic with local Italians with the diplomatic community being drawn into the fight. 

 Italian born freelancer Silvia Greco visited Italy late last year and produced an article titled ''Via Dolorosa, Italia'' and found only apathy and docility about Berlusconis's affairs with prostitutes. his patronage towards females who come under his wandering eye and his disdain for the judiciary who recently re-buffed him in his efforts to place himself beyond prosecution for corruption.

Silvio wrote "''Undoubtedly Berlusconi used his television channels to bewilder the country, crushing opposing voices and creating a grotesquely vulgar society full of naked girls and arrogant politicians.''. With the article was an illustration of a map of Italy re-named Berlusconia with towns named 'Ponzi' and Necappi''

The Melbourne based La Fiammi, the largest outlet for local Italians has jumped into the fray and declared the article an insult to all Italians and is calling upon the Fin Review to issue an apology.

Locally born Italian politicians like Transport Minister Anthony Albanese are staying mum on this one but former politician and Australian ambassador in Rome Amanda Vanstone has been called into the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has spoken of the excellent state of bilateral relations, expressed 'regret" for the article, and emphasised that the contents of the article in no way reflects the sentiments of the Australian government and people.

That hasn't cooled the passions of La Fiamma and it's sister paper Il Globo who have on-line petitions in English and Italian calling upon the Fin Review to run monthly articles extolling the virtues of Italy and for the newspaper to pay compensation.

Al-friend of the Griffith mafia

Perhaps the Fin Review should take it seriously. Looking back at noted Australian/Italians reveals people not to be messed with including one of the hero's of the failed 1864 Eureka Stockade attempted coup in Victoria Raffaello Carboni, to the town of Griffith where the Sicilian Mafia still seem to have a firm foothold despite the demise of the drug baron Robert Trimbole whilst on the run in Ireland and who was aided by the late colourful  Minister for Immigration Al Grassby.

Maria Venuti shows her secret weapons

Indeed the Melbourne gangland wars of the 1990's where around 30 mobsters were rubbed out-by each other- finds they were of 90% Italian background including the larger than life Mick Gatto who was found 'not guilty' of murder when he claimed self defence after shooting dead Andrew 'Benji' Venamin in 2004. At Mondays' 60th birthday party for British boxer Joe Bugner, Gatto said he was was a regular reader of the Fin Review but he hadn't seen that particular article.

tSS put a call through to a La Fiamma representative who says thousand upon thousands have signed the on-line petitions and says they will not rest until the Fairfax newspaper apologises.

 There is much muttering amongst the clinking of frappacino cups of Melbourne's little Lygon Street and the cafe strip of Kings Cross's Victoria Street where petitions are circulating and being signed at a great rate and where tSS was first alerted to the offending article.

Word is, if all else fails, a secret weapon will be unleashed upon the Fin's office-a visit from buxom singer Maria Venuti.

Read it here first !

As every newspaper goes into overdrive preparing their expected features on the jailed drug pusher Richard Buttrose, the Social Shuttle has been contacted by 2 crime writers to check on our tale that Buttrose's favourite haunt was also a regular drinking spot for some British royals.

Buttrose was sentenced to 12 years today with a maximum of 16. He would have got life if he hadn't been assisting police with enquiries including deciphering his little black book of society customers who queued up for their cocaine supplies. Buttrose would arrange to meet customers at the Lord Dudley pub in Woollahra and then do the deal across the road in the car park of the Paddington bowling club where cops set up a sting in late 2009.

The Lord Dudley was indeed the favourite drinking bar for Prince Harry when he spent a few weeks in town and also Zara and Peter Phillips. They all stay with sports promotor James Erskine, a long time friend of Princess Margaret. Not one publication-apart from tSS has ever twigged to the fact. The Lord Dudley is also the favourite gathering spot of the more sensible paparazzi when not on the chase and where everything is "off the record" so to speak. One legendary night several, including tSS joined Harry in a lengthy drinking session. Next month also sees the second anniversary get-together there to remember the much liked Welsh born snapper Dave Morgan who died in his sleep 2 years ago.

exclusive-the mystery of the lost Francis Bacon treasure

Pattaya

 The Thai seaside resort of Pattaya, a 2 hour drive from Bangkok carries a reputation of unbridled cheap sex that is a magnet for tourists. It's a much maligned city by the foreign  tabloid media .

Rarely mentioned is that Pattaya also hosts a huge expatriate community from Europe and the Pacific rim, and the holiday homes of the rich upper classes of Thailand including the much loved Thai royal family who have their own wing in the grand Royal Cliff  Hotel.

Chonburi, the province that hosts Pattaya is one of the fastest growing areas of Thailand and now boasts some of the most beautiful modern architecture in Asia. There is a rapidly  growing vista of luxury hotels and condominiums eagerly snapped up by foreigners for probably a quarter of the price they would pay in their homeland. The area boasts dozens of fashionable restaurants and nightclubs. Amidst the sleaze and easy sex for sale is a glamorous lifestyle and  nightlife that rivals anywhere the planet. Tourists  can spend a month at a 5 star beach side hotel and play golf every day on some of the nicest courses in the world when it may be unaffordable back home.

Bacon & William Burroughs-photo by John Minihan

Into this fascinating scenario steps John Edwards in 1995, the lover of the famous Irish born painter Francis Bacon who during  his lifetime become a painter noted for paintings that sold for higher prices than any other living artist.   The last recorded sale of a Bacon painting was in 2008, Triptych, produced in 1976,which sold for almost $US83M.

 Born in Dublin in 1909 to an English mother and an Australian father who claimed to be a direct descendant of Sir Francis Bacon, the Elizabethan philosopher, Bacon became renowned for his half human-half grotesque portraits, often of friends. Margaret Thatcher once described him as "that man who paints those dreadful pictures". He was one of the characters that peopled the now vanished Bohemian atmosphere of London's Soho  and the legendary drinking clubs of the 1970's like the famous Colony Club or Muriel's as it was known.  Bacon's paintings are often violent works, with the subject distorted or in the process of moving. His subjects are committing violence, having sex, taking drugs, or suffering the effects of a life of excess. Bacon did not belong to any art movement. He developed his own style.

When Bacon died in Spain in 1992 he left his estate valued at almost $30M to his last lover Edwards. His artistic works were left to a variety of institutions including the Tate. Edwards got the fortune and they got the art. But did they get all the art ?

It's been long rumoured that Edwards, a handsome young East Ender when he met Bacon, may have squirreled away up to 8 Bacon originals which at today's prices could be valued at up to $600M. In the fairly close knit gay community of Pattaya stories abound of visitors attending parties at Edward's magnificent sea-side penthouse and country estate and seeing Bacon art works on the walls. A local British resident known to tSS and who was a  friend of Edwards confirms seeing different Bacon paintings at his penthouse during visits.

A French interior designer who has showrooms in Pattaya and Paris and has decorated homes for some of the world's top pop stars and Thai royal family members has 2 Bacon paintings bought whilst the artist was alive at more affordable prices. tSS  met the decorator in 2008 in his showroom packed with French antiques and he confirmed initial negotiations with Edwards to purchase one painting reached a point but he withdrew because although he believed the painting to be genuine, he got cold feet about the legal process. He wished to remain anonymous.

Edwards died in Pattaya in 2006 from cancer. He had purchased homes for each of his extended working class family in Britain and lived lavishly in Thailand. He took a number of Thai male lovers but he had one particular favourite lover for the last five years of his life who was devoted to Edwards. It is not known if Edwards ever sold any of the reputed Bacon paintings he still possessed. It's very unlikely he would have  needed the cash. The money Bacon left him was enough to last the 14 years he survived Bacon.

But the rumour persists in Pattaya and several people have set out to uncover the truth.

The tale goes that Edwards, towards the end of his life entrusted 4 Bacon originals to his Thai lover with instructions that he secure them as far away from Pattaya as possible which he did, in the village he came from in Northern Thailand. Those who have set out on the trail of the missing paintings include at least 2 adventurers, a London art dealer backed by a US syndicate who hired a party of local Thai investigators and members of the Russian mafia who have extensive links in every facet of criminal activity in Thailand.

$500M in wallpaper ?

All efforts appear to have drawn a blank. One of the main problems being that no-one, apart from Edwards knew the real name of his Thai lover. That lover vanished after Edwards death. 

Is there, somewhere in the remote regions of Thailand, a  Thai village where in a simple Thai house on stilts perhaps amongst the mangroves, a Thai family- grandparents, father, mother, children  chatting and gossiping the evening away as is their wont over dinner whilst without their knowledge on their walls sits a fortune valued at nearly 500 million dollars ?

little bay with big problems

It's only 3 kilometres from the city centre and a stone's throw from Kings Cross-Elizabeth Bay, a harbour-side suburb where a battle royal is about to break out.

The suburb has some rich and famous residents overseen by the imposing  Elizabeth Bay House, the historic homestead of Governor Lachlan Macquarie whose wife Elizabeth the area was named after. Chef Kylie Kwong lives there as does trucking magnate Lindsay Fox who stumped up $29M for the 1920's Spanish style residence Boomerang, built by the Albert's music family and the locale for the film Mission Impossible 11. At one stage actor Tom Cruise considered buying Boomerang as his Aussie base for he and former wife Nicole Kidman . Just up the road from Boomerang in Billyard Avenue have lived Russel Crowe and Lachlan Murdoch. A few hundred metres in the other direction in Roslyn Gardens is the imposing 4 storey terrace being restored by former Prime Minster Paul Keating-to date a 15 year project.

Rene Rivkin

 Owner of the fashion label Diesel and former James Packer partner , Theo Onosforou has a house there as does the head of the  Broome pearl empire Nick Paspaley while Consolidated Media's chairman, John Alexander lives in a magnificent penthouse. Right on the small park at the end of a marina where the action is taking place is controversial West Australian businessman Warren Anderson who has his elegant terrace for sale for give or take $30M.

Opposite Anderson's house is the Elizabeth Bay marina whose owners, rag trader Michael Dalah and the rich  panel beater Peter Fitzhenry wish to turn from it's present 30 vessel berth into 50. It's a fight that is sure to end  up in the courts as the residents oppose the development. They successfully saw off the last entrepreneur, the late stockbroker Rene Rivkin.

The Danish royals partied at Boomerang

Meanwhile John Alexander who led the fight to prevent the previous development has had to halt the renovations of his large terrace overlooking the harbour after another tenant of his building Julie Schaeffer took out an injunction in the Supreme Court citing lack off council approval. Schaeffer was the previous owner of Boomerang where she hosted the return home party for Princess Mary of Denmark when Mary paid her first visit back to Oz with her husband Frederick-the future King of Denmark.

Boomerang

And right across the road from Boomerang is the multi storey apartment of property entrepreneur Gary Baker and his wife Karin Upton Baker the head of the fashion label Hermes where they have hosted parties for Elle McPherson and Cate Blanchett. The Bakers-noted for their series of black autos-a Bentley Continental,  a Rolls Phantom , a vintage Mercedes sports car and a Mini Cooper all with XXX numberplate's, are facing a Supreme Court fight over their investment in a set of Bondi beach-side apartments once owned by the late singer Peter Allen the former husband of Liza Minnelli. The Bakers are being  sued by a credit company for around $18M and risk losing their home.

 

Directly across from the marina where all the woes are about to descend is tSS contributor Bill Ranken who has a pied-à-terre . He's not buying into the fight-he doesn't like boats.