BusyBee

Last night, I took the kids to see the Perth City Ballet production of Peter and the Wolf at Prompt Corner, Kings Park. They thoroughly enjoyed it! This classic tale, written to music by Sergei Prokofiev, is a great introduction to music and the instruments of the orchestra. In this adaptation, the character of the Wolf transforms from young woman to wolf before their very eyes as she donned clever make-up and a fur coat in front of their eyes before the performance began. The proximity of the stage and the intimacy of the setting meant the children felt part of the production, but none more so than the 6 brave kids who volunteered to be the Hunters!

The production is not slick or overcomplicated, and to be honest probably a little overpriced at $13.50/head, but for one hour, between 5pm and 6pm last night, my children were mesmerised, and at this end of the school holidays, that is saying something! Peter and the Wolf has being playing since January 5, but it finishes on January 21, so get in quick if you have a spare evening, pack a picnic and enjoy this enchanting performance. Tickets are available through BOCS ticketing, or are available on the night for cash only.

Ok, I know I have already blown my resolution to post more frequently, but I have to tell you, it has been a wild weekend!

On Saturday, I joined the flotilla of boats that headed for Rottnest for what promised to be one of the best weekends of the year so far. Admittedly, it ended up being a little windy on Saturday, but that didn’t stop us or what seemed like thousands of others from jumping into their tinnies, dinghies and launches in search of the perfect mooring. We found it a little difficult to find an empty bay - Longreach, Geordie and both Parakeets were full. However, we managed to find a mooring in Catherine Bay and enjoyed a great day’s fun in the sun. We missed out on the huge SeaRay raft-up in Little Parakeet, which was really going off with about 16 boats joining up for a great day. My sources tell me that the Quokka Arms went off on Saturday night, and that everyone seemed to be generally in favour of the new hotel development and pub upgrade that was announced last week. Given that many visitors to the island arrive by private boat and stay on them, upgrades to the infrastructure that would service them were well received.

After a few beers on Rotto, we headed back to Perth to get ready for the Party of the Year - Man About Town David Anthony held his 40th birthday party at his recently renovated award-winning house in North Fremantle. Man, what a party. The festivities kicked off with a petting zoo and a ballon artist for the kiddies (although they must have been whisked off straight after that entertainment because they were not seen for the rest of the night). I got my first inkling of what a night it was going to be when we were ushered up to the roof deck, which offered the most spectacular panoramic views of Fremantle and its surrounds. On the deck, Fremantle band ‘The Sunshine Brothers’ were working their magic and getting the crowd in the mood as they played their original music and serenaded the sunset. They were joined at the microphone briefly by Phil Ceberano (yes, Kate’s brother) who flew in for the party. David’s wife organised for the food to be served by twin topless male waiters from Hotbodies, who mentioned a few times that this was the first time they had ever done a mixed party - it was usually just hen’s nights for these guys! They still got plenty of appreciative looks from the young glamazon’s in the crowd who took full advantage of a hot summers day and wore as little as they possibly could. They all looked absolutely amazing! (Fella’s, just a warning, even if you are wearing sunglasses, you can still see your eyes and where they are looking…. youknow who you are and exactly what I mean!)
After the sun went down, the party spread out over the four levels of the house although most of the action was around the cocktail bar, where the guys from Becointreauversial were working the cocktail shakers, along with serious hair and smouldering looks and attitude. The lychee martini’s were delicious, but deadly… Birthday cake time was a hoot, when a Marilyn Monroe look alike jumped out of it and sang ‘Happy Birthday to You” in her huskiest voice. This was followed by a real birthday cake which was laden with sparklers. After a quick speech and a smooch with his wife, the entertainment continued with fire dancers who performed around the pool. By this stage, my head was swimming from the combination of a full day in the sun, killer corona’s and cocktails, and the amazing ‘it’ crowd surrounding me. There were models, footy players, players, filmakers, doctors, brokers, composers, musicians… you name it! We called it quits at around midnight, but this party was definitely headed for dawn. When we returned in the morning to pick up our car, the bottles, glasses and general debris strewn over every balcony of the 4 story house told the story. As the mercury hit 40 degrees, my thoughts turned to the hosts and the mess they woke up to…always the sign of a great party.
One of the guests I met at the party was Iain Grandage, who has composed the Lotterywest Overture for the opening night of the Perth International Arts Festival. Iain has accomplished a lot in his 35 years, and this PIAF project is just one of many that he is currently working on. After chatting to him, I had to check out the festival programme and see for myself what great events this year’s festival has in store. I have already bookmarked a few. Emma Matthews, an old school friend of mine, graduated from Musical Theatre at WAAPA, and is returning to Perth from Sydney, where she lives and works with Opera Australia, to sing in the World Premiere of a new opera by Richard Mills, who composed Batavia. The new opera is called “The Love of the Nightingale” and also features another home grown talent, Sara Macliver. I will definitely be getting a ticket to that! Once again, the Beck’s Verandah Bar promises to be THE place to see and be seen during the PIAF, with a fabulous line-up of musical talent to help you chill out after a hard day and night of cultural feasting. Bring it on!!

Rehydrate. Rehabilitate. Intoxicate. Introducing Adequite, the world’s first single-grain triple-distilled luxury vodka available in a discreet plastic container that resembles an innocent - yet stylish - water bottle. Specially developed by troubled alcohol enthusiast and occasional movie actress Lindsay Lohan, Adequite is the solution to the problem you’re not ready to admit you have.

I just want to point out that the captions on the photo are not mine.  I would have said “healthier”, not “fatter’, but I have to say that I was relieved to see that since ditching stylist Rachel “Zombie” Zoe, Nicole  Richie looks a whole lot better.  Well done Team Richie!

It is so quiet out there! Everyone must have decided to take my advice and lay low for a few days, hang out with their kids and not bait the paparazzi. Spoilsports. It is handy though, that even when the usual suspects let you down (and you know who you are…), Kate Moss and Pete Doherty are always reliable. Apparently, Pete is saying that he and Kate DID get married in Thailand over the Festive season. However, it seems that marital bliss was not enough to keep him away from his one true love - drugs, and he got arrested by Thai police after he was involved in an altercation with a taxi driver whilst he was out and about trying to score. He told an autograph hunter at Heathrow Airport that after he was arrested, he and Kate had a huge barney and she kicked him out. She then started issuing statements that the wedding never happened and the publicity machine went into overdrive. I do love a good trainwreck. Thanks Pete and Kate. If you did actually get married, you have proven everyone correct who said it wouldn’t last a week!

Did you also catch the news that Jamie Packer proposed to girlfriend Erica Baxter on Christmas Eve? Romantic old bugger. Remember I told you they were back together in one of my first blogs. Jamerica... The proposal came almost a year to the day after his father, Kerry, died.

After three weeks of self-imposed exile (AKA a family holiday in Mandurah with no internet connection) I have realised that going cold-turkey from my net-addiction is just plain ugly for me and all those who had to suffer my horrible withdrawal symptoms. I feel now that I can truly sympathise with young Lindsay Lohan, although I noticed that when she said she was no longer going to drink alcohol, what she meant was that she was no longer going to drink it out of cocktail glasses, but rather out of something more discrete, like, say, a bottle of water instead. Gotta admire her cheatin’ ways… Anyway, not being able to connect with the internet meant that I had lots more time on my hands over the Christmas/New Year holidays to spend with my family. (Frankly, there is a strong possibility that family time is overrated. ;D) To be honest, as part of my rehab (after an intervention from those closest to me) I had to face up to some of my own inner demons. And make some resolutions going forward. Here is an example of some of the conversations I had with myself:

1. Britney is low-rent, white trash. No-one wants to hear about her anymore. (And yet, she was the celebrity most googled last year, and everyone, and I mean everyone, even my grandmother, knows the shape of her caesarian scar, amongst other intimate details of her life). I resolve to avoid taking cheap shots at the poor girl who obviously needs sympathy and understanding, a night in her own house, less alcohol, family and childrens services intervention, a GOOD friend, not an enabler, a personal stylist, an exorcism, Paris Hilton out of her life and quite frankly, to just disappear for the next six to eighteen years…. However, I appreciate that I am only human, and sometimes, she will do something so outrageous that I will overwhelmingly tempted to blog about her. Please forgive me any weakness on my behalf.

2. Anna Nicole Smith is a train wreck. I love that about her!/I hate that about her! It’s very yin/yang. That works for me.

3. Posh Spice. For goodness sake, eat something you stupid waste of space then go and join Britney on an island somewhere. Phew. Thank God I got that off my chest. I feel much better. Now I never have to talk about her again.

4. The big stuff: What do I really want to blog about? Look, I have to admit, as much fun and totally addictive all the global celebrity stuff is, I know that you guys can get it from many other sources, not just me. What I want to do is really bring a Perth flavour to this gossip site. Whilst I like to think I have one ear to the ground and and the other eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation, the truth is, I am going to need a little help. So if you, my fellow Cit J’s, hear any juicy gossip, please help me out and forward it on to me. To that end, I do have a couple of stories that came my way over the holidays. They may be a little old now, but indulge me nonetheless.

I heard that on a certain high-profile AFL players bucks party, the charter boat skipper that took the revellers to Rotto had to turn his vessel around before schedule due to the drunkeness of the partygoers. As the boat (which has a need, a need for speed…) powered back to Freo at 22 knots, it is rumoured that the ’spiritual leader’ of the gang felt a little hot and bothered and decided that what he needed was a cool and refreshing swim. Which resulted in a full-scale emergency man-overboard rescue. Needless to say, when the boat got into Freo Port, there were some men in blue to greet them. I guess the swim may have sobered him up, because the party was allowed to carry on their merry way. Although, it seems that it wouldn’t be the last time that evening they would cross paths. After venturing up the coast to a hotel by the beach, the boys next attracted the attention of the police when residents of an apartment block nearby complained that they had obviously not understood the directions they had been given for the toilets and had taken a left turn instead of a right, which had them relieving themselves in the lobby of the apartment owners building… Luckily, they were able to flee the scene and take refuge at a nightclub in Subi, where the Groom is often seen, accompanied by his minder, because the lad has got himself in trouble in night clubs before, and quite frankly, needs minding. So, quite an adventurous night for the boys who like to fly high… (Mind you, judging by the pictures I saw on the Channel Nine News a few days later, they all scrubbed up alright on the big day).

Speaking of footballers, there has been much hype about the debut of Rebecca Twigley as the new weekend weather girl on Channel Seven. She seems to be following the footsteps of Natalia Cooper over at Channel Nine, being groomed by the networks whilst still completing their degrees at Curtin University. Natalia started with Nine whilst she was still a journalism student. Rebecca is studying Speech Pathology. Maybe so she can help all those poor souls who drool in her presence….

And finally, because, well, I just can’t resist a good bitch-fight, I feel compelled to tell you that in an absolutely classic case of pot-calling-kettle-black, Angelina Jolie has decided that kicking Jennifer Anniston when she was down by admitting she stole Brad from her just isn’t as much fun as having a go at Madonna for ‘illegally’ adopting baby David from Malawi and that basically, all the angst Madonna is copping from the press is her own fault. Not only that, but St Angelina would ‘never take a child from a place where adoption is illegal’. Now, this promises to get juicy. Madonna loves a fight….

So, there you go. Sorry I haven’t posted for such a long time, but, onwards and upwards for 2007!

So that is why she has been wearing all those crazy clothes, starving herself and hanging out with weirdo’s - it was all preparation for her latest movie role… I can’t quite believe it, only because surely it would be the final nail in the coffin of Tom Cruise’s Hollywood career, but, apparently, he is going to make a movie called The Thetan, based on Scientology, and he has signed Victoria Beckham to play an alien bride.  What an absolutely brilliant piece of casting.  So perfect.  But, where does that leave Katie? Or would that role be just a little too close to home for her?

OMG! I can’t believe it! Martha Stewart, that self-made queen of taste, class and dignity ( as long as you forget about that teensy, tiny little stay in a federal penitentiary…) has admitted in a radio interview with New York shock jock Howard Stern that she has a $1,200US vibrator, which she says is ‘a very handy little tool!’

Not only that, Martha once had an affair with actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, but she reckons that she couldn’t get past the “Hannibal Lecter thing”. Martha said “Do you want someone eating your brain while you are sitting in your beautiful dining room in Maine?” Fair enough, although perhaps it would inspire a story for her magazine - ‘Removing Blood Stains 101…’

On Friday night at The Raffles Hotel in Applecross, ousted Education Minister Ljiljianna Ravlich drowning her sorrows and having a few lung biscuits with Union heavyweight (although less-so since the stomach stapling operation…) Kevin Reynolds who lives in a nearby apartment in the ritzy riverside development.

Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams enjoying the nuptials of Heath’s dad, Kim Ledger and his lovely new bride Ines, who is well known to customers at Maurice Meade in Claremont as the gorgeous lady who meets and greets everyone. The weather on Friday night perfectly suited the riverside location of Acqua Viva, previously known as JoJo’s Cafe on the Nedlands foreshore. Acqua Viva is run by Christian Tinelli, whose father, Umberto is well known to many Perth diners as the charming man who runs Cafe Gran Il Principe in West Perth and previously Campo di Fiore in Applecross. It is expected that Heath, Michelle and their daughter Matilda will enjoy Christmas together in Perth with the Ledger family before returning to their home in New Jersey.

At the cricket on Saturday, Adam Gilchrist’s parents were absolutely delighted to see their son amass the second fastest century in history on his home ground in front of his home crowd. They shared their joy with the families of all the other test cricketers, who all sat together in front of the Australian team’s dressing rooms. Shane Warne’s parents were here to cheer Shane on as he approaches his 700th test wicket, but they will not be disappointed if he doesn’t get the necessary wickets during the Perth test. A more appropriate setting for the Victorian bowler would be the MCG during the Boxing Day test according to some….

While we are talking about the Ashes, ABC Commentator Kerry O’Keefe has been entertaining the crowds at lunchtime at various functions during the course of the test. Kerry can be very funny, but, to be honest Kerry, if you tell the same stories over and over at every function, the crowd will start talking over you and not finding you all that funny. Especially if they have also been hearing the same stories during the commentary on ABC radio…

Well, Britney might think that she deserves to be sut a little slack, given that she has just given Kev the flick and all, but I am just not sure that the poor girl realises just how out of control her life is. Especially in light of recent reports that Brits has been seeking support of the pharmaceutical kind… American magazine In Touch Weekly is reporting that whilst Britney was out on the town on Nov.27th, she dined at Dan Tana’s restaurant in West Hollywood, went to the toilets, plonked her purse down on the counter and started rifling through it, pulling out bottles of Paxil (an anti-depressant) and Xanax (anti-anxiety) amongst others. This is in addition to rumours that Britney may have picked up a few ‘habits’ from some of her new BFF’s, and that she may soon expect a visit from the Californian Department of Children and Family Services. Go home and lay low, Britney, for goodness sake. No-one wants to see Kev end up with the kids!!!! You were the one who wanted to be a young Mum - go do it!