OFF FOR LABOR DAY HOLIDAY--SEE YOU LATER

               

 

   HAPPY LABOR DAY

INSTEAD OF WHERE'S WALDO, IT'S WHERE'S SUE?

NOBU. TODAY. PERFECT

                  NOBU. TODAY. PERFECT.

HAPPY GRADUATION, JULIE ARASKOG---NOTRE DAME LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!

ONCE UPON A TIME OUR FRIEND JULIE SAID SHE WANTED TO GO TO LAW SCHOOL. Julie is not 22--no one is! Julie is one of the kindest. most generous people I know, and she wanted to do more than write a check to charities helping unwed mothers, victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, etc. Therefore, by becoming a lawyer she can spend her days in the trenches personally making change.  

(L-R) Lynn Palmer, Lauren King, Irena Medavoy, Alexandra Dwek, Julie Araskog, Dagny Dubelko

Although we will miss seeing her as often as we do, Julie has moved to another state where she will work for a state-wide legal aid agency.  We are so very proud of her. In a way, we feel like we all went through law school with her, because we were looped in with her emails detailing every adventure.

Lauren King gave a beautiful dinner party in Julie's honor last night at her home in Holmby Hills. Her house (with her husband Richie King) was the old Fanny Brice house, and Lauren's professional decorating experience allowed her to redo everything, inside and out, and make it one of the most fantastic houses I've ever seen. She is a truly brilliant decorator with an eye for every detail. She should go back to doing it professionally. Wow!

Lauren and Richie and Barbara Davis

 Catherine Bach ( shooting "Young and Restless" as well as a new scifi movie), me, and Julie

Catherine, Julie and Dagny

Queen Barbara

Robin Steinberg and Nancy Davis

ALL IF HAVE TO SAY IS THAT WHAT WE DISCUSSED AT THE DINNER TABLE, IF IT WERE TO BECOME PUBLIC, WE'D ALL BE ARRESTED OR WE'D DISAPPEAR.......

This is Irena Medavoy. She was unhappy with the overhead lighting at dinner

Our more casual tables

WE ALL MADE A BLOOD PACT ABOUT CONFIDENTIALITY AND THEN WE SPED OFF INTO THE NIGHT.........

MILEY CYRUS AND ELVIS

I AM NOW CONFUSED. IT MAY BE GENERATIONAL, OR IT MAY JUST BE ABOUT GOOD TASTE/BAD TASTE.

 Remember when Elvis Presley wasn't shot below the waist on TV because the networks thought it was in bad taste? I didn't think so. Remember when school boards and town councils tried to ban Elvis from performing in their cities. I thought they were stupid.

I realize now that it is a different time and things have changed. I'm not for censorship, but now I am not for turning bad taste disgusting performances by stars into something to idolize and love. It DOES send a terrible message to young kids. I know parents can stop them from watching TV, but in today's wireless society there's little chance of protecting our kids. I guess all you can do is safeguard what happens in your home.


LOOK AT THE PICTURE BELOW of Will Smith and his family watching Miley Cyrus' performance with Robin Thicke. It says it all. These are hip people who are not prudes, and look at their faces.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????

 By the way, I am not attacking Robin Thicke in any way. He's REALLY talented, and if these women are so ignorant that they will do this stuff---what does he care? He has the style to carry it off once in a while. The audience knows and feels he's not really this way. He's a genuinely a happy husband and father with a life.

Elvis was  good boy!

The sad thing about all of this is that Miley has real talent. She's an excellent singer, and obviously knows how to move. In comparison Elvis Presley is now Pat Boone compared to Miley, but Elvis was as or more talented than Miley. He was an original. Miley's just copying Madonna and going WAY OUT into the crass, vile stratosphere. Madonna is every bit the original as Elvis, and even though she doesn't have any kind of voice, compared to those two, she gets a A+ in marketing. Harvard should make her a professor emeritus in that subject.

Fabulous entertainer.

I'm kind of glad Elvis is not around to have to face being relevant and re-inventing himself. Can you see him in silver tights and a cod-piece with a shaved head???? Or, what's worse, if he were starting out today, he probably wouldn't make it at all. He would be too authentic and, therefore, invisible.

--------------------------------------------

FROM THE DISGUSTING TO THE TRULY VALUED----

TREVOR DALEY, SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN'S CHIEF OF STAFF FOR CALIFORNIA, had a birthday party at Cecconi's the other night. Actually he had three different parties on different nights, and this one the one I could make. There is alwasy stimulating political and societal discussion and Tervor's gatherings........as well as a dash of smut.

The ladies pictured below could run the world with one hand tied behind their backs. L-R: Billie Greer, former Governor Schwarzenegger's Director who ran his Los Angeles office--Billie is now president of the Southern California Leadership Council, which consists of all former governors and other state and business leaders; Vicki Reynolds, former mayor of Beverly Hills and civic leader (especially for the new Annenberg Center for the Arts); Lane Dilg, U.S. Federal Prosecutor for Drugs and Human Trafficking in California; and Voviette Morgan, FBI Special Agent for Terrorism. Yep. Don't mess with this group.

Billie Greer, Vicki Reynolds, me, Lane Dilg, Voviette Morgan

Trevor Daley and Rusty Hamrick, Coldwell Banker "star" realtor

Vicki and Voviette

MARILYN MAYE AND DEBBIE REYNOLDS

MARILYN MAYE IS THE SINGER'S SINGER OF CABARET. IT'S ALMOST LIKE SHE'S A LEADER OF A CLUB, AND WHEN SHE PERFORMS IN LA OR NEW YORK, IT'S LIKE A BROADWAY REUNION. SHE'S 85 YEARS OLD, DOES HIGH KICKS, AND HER VOICE IS AS SMOOTH AND RICH AS SILK.

 

 

She was at the Catalina this past weekend, and it was two nights of partying NY-style.

Debbie, Charlotte Rae and John Holly

Ret Turner and Bob Mackie!!!!!

Marilyn Maye and you-know-who

Nancy

Nancy Dussault and Karen Morrow, two of the best Broadway belters ever!

Karen

 

 

 

Now check out this photo:

Left is Donald Light, the real man Debbie can't live without. On the right, is Debbie's oldest friend, Leon Tyler. Debbie and Leon met in grade school when they were seven years old. Leon and Debbie were dance partners in school and they have been tapping through each others lives for over 75 years! Leon was in "The Little Rascals," several Disney movies, tons of Jack Benny Shows, Burns and Allen, Father Knows Best--so many movie and TV shows you would faint. He deserves a book all to himself. Here are just a few stories:

Marilyn Monroe--I was doing Monkey Business with her and Cary Grant. Instead of being dressed properly, one day she showed up wearing jeans and a cut off sweatshirt with her belly button showing. Remember, this was in the early 50s. She got in trouble for doing that.

Without the camera on her she had slumping posture. I was standing with Cary one day and he said, "Watch what happens with Marilyn."
Just before the director called action, she began rotating her shoulders back and forward. With each rotation back, she got taller and taller. We literally watched her transform into Marilyn Monroe right before out eyes. Cary leaned over and said to me, 'I never get tired of watching that.'





James Dean--When I first met him he was so in love with Ursula Andress he couldn't see straight. I was doing a TV show with him and Natalie Wood. I actually called Nick Ray and told him to watch the show, and from there he cast Jimmy and Natalie in 'Rebel' in an instant. Jimmy also ran around a lot with Eartha Kitt, and he would do really crazy things. One night I was at a party at Joan Davis' house (famous comedienne then), and Jimmy put an apple on his head and let some guy shoot it off with a bow and arrow. He came from a very difficult background, and when he first came to Hollywood he had to 'work the streets' if you know what I mean.


--------------------------------------------------------------




AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JESSICA WALTER ON HER FIRST GRANDCHILD. Her daughter, Brooke Bowman,  very successful v-p of development for ABC Family, and her husband, actor David Heymann, welcomed Micah Walter Heymann into the world. He's adorable.

Brooke

EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN..........

THIS HAS BEEN A GLORIOUS SUMMER OF READING, RELAXING, EATING AND EXERCISING WELL, SOCIALIZING AND TRAVELING. I'VE BEEN LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

JUST FINISHED THE AVA GARDNER BOOK by Peter Evans. He was a ghost writer assigned to her who taped all his interviews and started writing, and then Ava died. The book was held up. Then, years later, he finished it and then he died!!!! It's out now and you cannot put it down. The truth comes out in his transcripts of her many late night phone calls where she is "feeling no pain." She'd already had her stroke and was in need of money. That's why she did it. It's a good thing most of the people mentioned in the book are dead, because they would die from reading it.

Here's an excerpt on Mickey Rooney:

 “I was still a virgin. Going to the fights every Friday night in L.A., that was an education. We’d go along with George Raft and Betty Grable. Mickey always insisted on sitting ringside. Those little bantamweights were the worst—they’d nearly kill each other to entertain us. That fact bothered me more than any of the rest of it—the things people would do to please you if you were famous enough, and there was nobody more famous than George Raft, Betty G., and Mickey in those days. You have to remember Mickey was bigger than Gable in those days. At least, his pictures took more money than Gable’s, although they each earned the same five grand a week when $5,000 was real money. [Rooney, in his 1991 autobiography, gives a much lower figure, saying his contract took him up to $1,250 a week in 1941.]“I can remember that first meeting with Mick very clearly—probably because he was wearing a bowl of fruit on his head. He was playing this Carmen Miranda character—do you remember Carmen Miranda? She was a Brazilian dancer, a hot little number while she lasted. Mickey was playing her, complete with false eyelashes, false boobs, his mouth smothered with lipstick.
“It was my first day in Hollywood. I was being hauled around the sets to be photographed with the stars. He came over to me and said, ‘Hi, I’m Mickey Rooney.’ He did a little soft-shoe-shuffle kind of dance, and bowed to me.

I remember asking him one evening, shortly after we were married, what he thought of me that first time we met. We had a kind of truth game we used to play in bed. We’d spend a lot of time in the sack in the early days, a lot of time: talking, laughing, making love. I must have seemed so f--g awkward, so f---g gauche. Anyway, I asked him what went through his mind when he saw me on the set that day.
“He said, ‘O.K., when they said you were a new contract player, I figured you were a new piece of p---y for one of the executives. The prettiest ones were usually spoken for before they even stepped off the train. I didn’t give a damn. I wanted to f--k you the moment I saw you.’
I still didn’t know that he was the biggest wolf on the lot. He was catnip to the ladies. He knew it, too. The little sod was not above admiring himself in the mirror. All five foot two of him! He probably banged most of the starlets who appeared in his Andy Hardy films—Lana Turner among them. She called him Andy Hard-on."




--------------------------------

 SHOREH AGDASHLOO'S NEW BOOK

Another actress I have found to be interesting is Shoreh Agdashloo from Iran. Her first big thing here was the series, "24," and then she was Oscar-nominated for "House of Sand and Fog." She has an unusually deep voice and wise eyes. Her autobiography came out and it's called
The Alley of Love and Yellow Jasmines."

 "Those tiny alleys in Iran, like in Italy, like in Egypt, I’m sure you’ve seen these alleys. They are tiny, only two people, supposedly hand in hand, can fit to go through these alleys, " said Agdashloo. "The generation before me called it the truth alleys; my generation called it the love alleys. Because we could take our friends to those alleys and recite poetry to them."

This book is her sometimes harrowing journey escaping the violence in Iran; how she lived and what jobs she had to take just to get to America. It is a real look inside that world.

--------------------------


NOW ONTO THE RIDICULOUS----AN INSANE 13-HOUR BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE involving friends, a limo, massages, fortune telling, and amazing food from Susan Feniger's STREET. We started at Noon and I got home at 1 a.m. Enough said. BUT--

No names. If you can figure it out...good for you.

SUSAN FENIGER

OUR MEAL AT STREET WAS ONE OF THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD ANYWHERE. READ THE SELECTIONS BELOW AND YOU WILL FREAK OUT WITH JOY. WE HAD ALMOST ALL OF THEM, AND WE WANT TO GO BACK ONCE A WEEK.

• KAYA TOAST Singapore toast filled with coconut jam; soft egg, dark soy, white pepper …..
• ANGRY EGGS spicy deviled eggs with red sriracha, green sriracha and reshampati chile …..
• BARBEQUE JACKFRUIT BAO* Hong Kong style steamed bun with homemade peanut hoisin and tangerine salad …..
• CHICKEN, BACON ; WAFFLE CROQUETTES spicy maple sauce …..YOU'LL DIE FROM THIS--IT'S SO GOOD. I WENT OFF DIET FOR THIS.
• SZECHUAN POTSTICKERS spiced shrimp, pork, scallion and shiitake mushroom; chinese mustard and dark soy …..12
• PUMPKIN CAULIFLOWER CANNELLONI* Italian stuffed pasta shells with hazelnut chimichurri sauce …..
• SHAVED KALE AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS* goat cheese and lemon picada  
• CURRY FRIES* fried yuca, niramish coconut curry sauce, pickled tomatoes, cilantro   

-----------------------

AND WHILE WE'RE AT FOOD, DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS NOW A REALLY GOOD VERSION OF THE OLD TRADER VIC'S BACK AT THE BEVERLY HILLS HILTON??

They've taken over a bar room and decorated it exactly the same, and THEY HAVE THE SAME CHEF! Your Crab Rangoon, Fried Shrimp, Almond Duck, Cho Cho Bits---it's all there and it's great. The drinks are the same, too. I went with Lucie Arnaz and her husband Larry Luckinbill recently. We loved it.


--------------------- OFF TO CATALINA BAR AND GRILL

Marilyn Maye

Debbie

OFF TONIGHT TO SEE THE INCREDIBLE 85-YEAR-OLD SINGER MARILYN MAYE at the Catalina Bar and Grill. She is the singer's singer; the consummate performer. She's Debbie Reynolds' favorite, so Debbie and I are heading out tonight.

HOW TO GET RID OF TIME-WARNER AND SURVIVE

I HATE TIME WARNER. I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS. THEY LIE ALL THE TIME. THEY ARE SATAN.

 I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET RID OF THEM FOR THREE WEEKS. THEY ARE HEMORRHAGING CUSTOMERS AND FREAKING OUT. YOU DON'T JUST PULL THE PLUG ON THE CBS EMPIRE. YOU LOSE.

 AS BACKGROUND, IN CASE YOU ARE CATCHING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME....

IN ORDER TO GET RID OF TW, I HAD TO CALL AT&T AND GET THEM TO COME OUT AND TAKE OVER THE INTERNET AND PHONE. BUT AT&T COULDN'T CONNECT U-VERSE TV BECAUSE IT'S NOT AVAILABLE ON MY BLOCK (?!) I THEN CALLED DIRECT TV AND BOOKED AN APPOINTMENT WITH THEM FOR THE TRANSFER. THEY SAID TO ME, "DON'T CANCEL TW UNTIL WE HAVE FINISHED OUR SET UP." VERY WISE OF THEM. AT LEAST AT&T DID THE PHONE AND INTERNET.

THREE DAYS LATER THE DIRECT TV GUY ARRIVES, LOOKS AT THE SET-UP AND INFORMS ME THAT TW IS HOLDING MY CABLE HOSTAGE IN THEIR LOCKED BOX AND THAT HE CAN'T HOOK ME UP. IT SEEMS THAT TW DECIDED TO LOCK ALL THEIR BOXES TO MAKE TW VERY DIFFICULT FOR CUSTOMERS TO LEAVE.

I CALLED TW BACK (ALL THIS IS OVER DAYS AND DAYS). I BOOKED THEM TO COME PICK UP THEIR EQUIPMENT--BOXES AND MODEMS--ON A CERTAIN DAY. I THEN CALLED DIRECT TV BACK TO BOOK ONE THEIR GUYS RIGHT AFTER TW SO WE COULD SHIFT THE CABLE. AND REMEMBER, IN MY BUILDING, THERE IS A SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT WITH ANOTHER COMPANY TO INSTALL DIRECT TV. THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT INFO SOON ENOUGH.

TODAY WAS THE BIG DAY. TW SHOWED UP ON TIME AND TOOK ALL THE EQUIPMENT. I SAID TO THE MAN, "NOW YOU GO DOWN TO THE GARAGE AND UNLOCK YOUR BOX AND RELEASE MY CABLE." HE SAID THAT WASN'T HIS DEPARTMENT, AND THAT ANOTHER MAN WOULD BE ALONG IN 45 MINUTES TO DO THAT. I REMINDED HIM THAT TW DOESNT OWN MY CABLE; THEY ONLY OWN THE BOX AND THEY MUST RELEASE IT. I ASKED HIM TO CALL THE NEXT MAN TO CONFIRM THIS IS WHAT'S HAPPENING. HE SAID HE WOULD, AS SOON AS HE GOT BACK IN HIS TRUCK.  WHEN HE SENDS THAT MESSAGE OVER THE TW PHONES IT WILL GO THROUGH THE WHOLE SYSTEM AND GUARANTEE MY ORDER. (SO HE CLAIMS) HE ALSO TIPS ME OFF THAT THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED A SOFT DISCONNECT AND A HARD DISCONNECT. TW CAN DO THE SOFT (MEANING FROM THEIR OFFICE) OR THE HARD (YOUR HOUSE OR A TELEPHONE POLE). I FELT THEN THAT I WAS IN TROUBLE.

WELL, OF COURSE HE DIDN'T SHOW UP.

DING DONG---IT'S DIRECT TV READY TO INSTALL. BUT MY CABLE IS STILL LOCKED IN THE BOX AFTER TWO WEEKS OF TRYING TO DISCONNECT!

THE FIRST THING WE DID WAS GO INTO THE GARAGE TO SEE IF TW DID INDEED PULL MY CABLE OUT AND PLACE IT ON TOP. OF COURSE THEY DIDN'T!!!! THEY HAD NO INTENTION OF EVER COOPERATING!!! I THREATENED TO SHOOT THE LOCK. HE DIDN'T GO FOR IT.

SO.....I KNEW MY CABLE WAS WHITE, AND THERE WERE ONLY TWO WHITE ONES COMING FROM THE TOP, MIXED IN WITH THE BLACKS. ONE OF THEM WAS MINE. "CAN YOU JUST CUT A CABLE AND PUT A NEW HEAD ON IT?' I ASKED. "SURE," HE ANSWERED, "BUT IT BETTER BE THE RIGHT ONE." 50-50 SHOT, RIGHT? SO I POINTED TO THE ONE CLOSEST TO THE DIRECT TV BOX.

I CARRIED A LARGE LADDER FOR HIM AND HE PULLED THE CABLE AS FAR OUT OF THE LOCKED BOX AS POSSIBLE THROUGH A HOLE IN THE TOP. THEN HE CUT. WE RAN UPSTAIRS TO SEE IF THERE WAS CHARGE ON WHAT WAS HOPEFULLY THE OTHER END. THERE WAS!!!!!

I WAS FINALLY HOOKED UP AND THEN WE HAD TO CALL DIRECT TV TO SEND THE REAL SIGNAL. WELL, THAT'S NOT SO EASY. SINCE THE GUY IN MY HOUSE WAS FROM CONSOLIDATED INSTALLATIONS, WHILE HE WAS APPROVED BY DIRECT TV, HE'S NOT EXACTLY WITH THEIR COMPANY. SO, THEY PROCEEDED TO PUT HIM ON HOLD.

AFTER 35 MINUTES PASSED (!) WE BOTH WERE UPSET. I CALLED THEM ON A CUSTOMER LINE, WHICH THEY HAVE TO ANSWER. I SAID, "I'M HAVING YOU INSTALLED TODAY BECAUSE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER THAN TW, AND NOW YOU'RE CAUSING ME TROUBLE, TOO."

P.S. I GOT THE SIGNAL RIGHT AWAY. EVERYTHING IS WORKING--PHONES, INTERNET AND TV.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY--TRUST NO ONE, AND LEARN TO SET UP A PUPPET SHOW  FOR YOURSELF (YOU CAN PLAY ALL THE PARTS) IN YOUR LIVING ROOM BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY ENTERTAINMENT YOU CAN GUARANTEE.