BusyBee

Last night I went to the WA business News 40under40 awards. The event was held on a soon to be commissioned car and passenger ferry bound for Istanbul in the next month, with the sit-down dinner for 754 being held on the car deck of the enormous ship. The evening was a night of ego’s, young gun’s, success stories, and a breakthrough for the girls, with Julie Smith-Massara taking out the First Among Equals Award from the field of 40 winners.

The evening was MC’d by Tim Gossage from Channel 10, who realised very early that he was going to have his work cut out for him because no-one in the crowd stopped talking while he was introducing the event. But he can take some solace from the fact that the crowd at least kept it down to a dull roar while he was speaking. WA Business News Executive Director, Elton Swarts had to ask the crowd for their attention more than once, and his requests were largely ignored. Poor guy, I felt really sorry for him.   The event has been run for six years now, and offers an impressive list of previous winners.  Some, however have raised eyebrows, and conversation on our table drifted to the likelihood that some of the names would hit the headlines in the future but not perhaps for their business prowess, but more their fall from grace.
The black tie event had lots of glitz and glamour, although when it came to the girls dresses, it would seem that black is the new black. On a balmy evening, the guys found little use for their tux jackets, especially during dinner when the airconditioners were working overtime to keep the crowd cool. The ferry, however, really showcased the skills and quality of the boatbuilders at Austal Ships, and Chairman John Rothwell had every reason to feel proud of his talented team and their latest project. The only thing that perplexed the party-goers was how to negotiate the squat-toilets in some of the bathrooms - a few alcoholic beverages and a tux or long dress proving a tricky combination!! Needless to say queues for the Western toilets were long…

Everyone loves the circus, and when the PM is in town, he attracts a lot of clowns…. On Tuesday, there was a fundraising dinner for the Liberal Party, well oiled types paying a motza for the privilege of sitting down to lunch with a Federal Minister and hoping to influence them in one way or another. Anyway, at this particular lunch, Bianca Rhinehart, Granddaughter of the late Lang Hancock and newly appointed head of her mother Gina Rhinehart’s mining interests since her brother, John, removed himself from the business and the family, gave the keynote address. Bianca used this particular forum to lambast the Federal Government over the difficulties those in the mining industry are facing, and how much the Federal Government was NOT helping their cause. A spy tells me that at Treasurer Peter Costello’s table, the comments went down like a lead balloon with the Treasurer, who quipped to his lunch companions that “the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree there…”.

Then, after Bianca finished berating the pollies, in a beautiful piece of theatre of the absurd, she handed the microphone over to William Porteous - the husband of her step-grandmother and her mother Gina’s nemesis - Rose Porteous. Apparently even Willie looked a little embarrassed as he auctioned of two trifling items that were all the state Liberal Party could muster for their fundraising effort.

Firstly, she checks herself INTO, then OUT OF rehab in Antigua, then on her return to LA she does this to her head!!!! WTF!!! The family intervention that sent Britney Spears into rehab obviously didn’t pack much punch. 24 hours after checking into Eric Clapton’s Crossroads rehab facility, Brits was back on her private jet outta there, texting her friends this incredibly mature message: “u said i had 2 go, didnt say how long. c u at d club ;)”.

The photo above was taken as she went to a tattoo parlour in California to have a red pair of lips inked onto her wrist. Looking at this video footage, it looks like she may also have also got a tattoo on the back of her neck.  But if you can’t look away from this trainwreck, look here and you will see pictures of Brits actually shaving her head herself!  There is some serious self-loathing going on here. Hope the kids are ok - Kevin is certainly looking more saintly as each day goes by!!!

Here is a surprise for you all…not!! Our dearly beloved, Robbie Williams, has checked himself into rehab in the United States to deal with his prescription drug issues. Hopefully, it was tthe prescription drugs that made him say that Perth was an incredibly boring place that he didn’t wish to return to in a hurry… Rehab is the new black in Hollywood - everyone is doing it. One can only hope that it is a fashion trend that Britney Spears catches on to!!!

According to infamous celebrity blogger PerezHilton.com, Naomi Watts is in the family way. The Australian actress and her boyfriend, Liev Schreiber, are understood to be expecting their first child in July.

A ‘friend’ has reportedly said “This wasn’t planned, but Naomi and Liev are thrilled. They’ll probably be married before the baby is born.”

How exciting for Naomi if this is true! … and how jealous her BFF Nicole Kidman will be.