Required Reading: ‘Pretty Things – The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens’ – Now in Paperback

by: Caroline M. Roman - January 19th, 2011   Filed under: Books, Caroline Roman blog, FASHION, Required Reading
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New paperback cover edition / Hard back cover edition

Mon cher amie Liz Goldwyn will be reading from and signing the NEW PAPERBACK EDITION of her book “Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens”. The paper back version is the perfect gift for anyone of any age, any sex, and any walk of life. It is a history book, a novelty item and a little bit of sexy all rolled into one. Click to Continue Reading

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Fall 2010 Fashion: Cynthia Steffe channels Eloise at the Plaza

by: Lauren Brokaw - October 7th, 2010   Filed under: Books, FASHION, Lauren Brokaw blog, New York Report, Required Reading
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Eloise makes me think of my sister, Wendy, and my tons of trips to New York per year as a little girl.  My sister’s favorite childhood book has always been Eloise at the Plaza.  We are 16 years apart, and when I was a little girl she would always read/tell me about Eloise, and I could never get enough!

I spent a lot of time in NYC as a child, and always wanted to meet and play with Eloise and her dog Weenie.  I would anxiously eat with my family at the Palm Court, hoping to get a glimpse of Eloise.  I also was known  for dragging various members of my group over to see her portrait.

Upon looking at the pictures from Cynthia Steffe’s Fall 2010 collection, I immediately thought of Eloise, and NOT just because of the white socks and black mary janes ;-)  If only the models from this show carried or walked pugs on the runway, it would of been perfecttt!

“Two years after the first Eloise book’s publication, a painting by Knight was hung in the lobby of the hotel. “We’ve had generations of mothers bringing daughters or grandmothers bringing granddaughters to the hotel to see the portrait or go to the Palm Court to have tea,” Curt Gathje, the Plaza’s manager of the office of the president and unofficial house historian said.

The portrait disappeared after a fraternity party. As the story goes, when Princess Grace toured the hotel with her children, she was dismayed to find the portrait gone. After that, Knight painted a new oil painting that now hangs opposite the hotel’s Palm Court, where Eloise lunches on rainy days. A postcard version of the portrait was sold in the hotel.” – Eloisewebsite.com

Inside the Plaza, there was an Eloise Ice Cream parlor and there was a special menu inside the Palm Court restaurant.

The Palm Court, Where Eloise ate on rainy days

I just got back from New York, which obviously meant that I went out of my way to go to the Plaza Hotel to see the new Eloise shop.  All I can say is that it is QUITE unfair this shop/tea house/boudoir/dress up haven did not exist when I was a little girl, or maybe it’s better for my family that it didn’t exist, as I would never want to leave!

About the Plaza:

The Plaza, home of Eloise is located in New York City at Fifth Avenue at Central Park South. Designed by famed architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, “the greatest hotel in the world” opened October 1, 1907. Built on the site of a 15-year-old predecessor of the same name, no expense was spared on the 19-story, French Renaissance “château.” Marble lobbies, solid mahogany doors, 1,650 crystal chandeliers, Swiss organdy curtains, privately manufactured Irish linens, and gold-encrusted china were just a few of its features. And now, as a member of America’s Family of Grand Hotels, The Fairmont Hotels, this National and City Historic Landmark structure is once again as it was always meant to be …the premier hotel of New York. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places. – Eloisewebsite.com

Sophia as Eloise in the Disney Film

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The Social Network – in Theaters today!!

by: Caroline - October 1st, 2010   Filed under: Books, Film & TV, Required Reading
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I am so in love with this story and the film and the people behind the real and retold versions. I saw two early screenings and went back to the theaters this weekend.

I want to say this movie is the best story I’ve ever heard in my life but I know I will get a lot of slack for saying it – but it’s most certainly one of them!

The Social Network made its world premiere at the New York Film Festival this week on September 24th and had an special screening with our friends over at the Cinema Society in NY a few days later.

Pretty impressive guest lists at both: Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, with whom The Daily Truffle shares several mutual acquaintances, Cameron’s right-hand woman on his new project Guest of a Guest, Rachelle Hruska, and Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg. Also there - Matthew Modine, Nacho Figueras (my love) and his wife Delfina Blaquier, Olivia Palermo, Oliver Platt, Dabney Mercer, Wendy Murdoch, Adrien Brody, Calvin Klein, Bridget Moynahan, Donna Kara, Helena Christensen, Linda Vojtova, Frederique van der Wahl, Matt Bomer, Chris Riggi, Paulina Porizkova, Gabourey Sidibe, Byrdie Bell, Tinsley Mortimer, Baz Luhrmann. Pics from Cinema Society.

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PICS – World Premiere of Columbia Pictures’ The Social Network at the Opening Night of The Film Society of Lincoln Center New York Film Festival 2010 at Alice Tully Hall – Lincoln Center. © 2010 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Aaron Sorkin, Kevin Spacey, Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg, Armie Hammer, Beth Ditto (big surprise of the evening!)

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Columbia sent over a synopsis: On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications. From director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin comes The Social Network, a film that proves you don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, and Ceán Chaffin and based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich.

Jessie Eisenerberg and Justin Timberlake star in in The Social Network (due out from Columbia Pictures October 1, 2010) which chronicles the many different claims to Facebook. “The Facebook movie” (as it’s being loosely called) is produced and adapted by West Wing scribe Aaron Sorkin from Ben Mezrich‘s book The Accidental Billionaires who also wrote Bringing down the House (about the famous Vegas/MIT card-counting ring which came to the big screen as 21 and starred Kevin Spacey, who is also executive producing the Facebook movie).

David Fincher directed this little gem, who also directed Alien 3, Se7en (Brad Pitt) and Fight Club (yes, also Brad Pitt).

The heavyweight ensemble will keep this flick in the top tiers whereas other equally time-appropriate corporate scandal films of their era like Pirates of Silicon Valley and Barbarians at the Gates fell short for lack of Hollywood heavy-weight involvement, and put them straight to video.

Also producing the upcoming Facebook movie are Mike De Luca, Scott Rudin and Aaron Sorkin whose screenplay, we hear will include more content from other interviews conducted with people not included in Mezrich’s book.

Andrew Garfield who was just announced (7/02/10) to take over as Peter Parker for Tobey Maguire in the upcoming Spiderman film, due out in 2012,
will play Eduardo Saverin (another co-founder of Facebook with settled claim to the throne).  Andrew also happens to have been born in LA, which makes him an LA native !

As of the original post date of the article (4/30/10) Deadline Hollywood, Variety and Sony Pictures itself have not put out anything on the scandal of the decade but I am watching with baited breath.

This movie has all the right components:

  1. AFFLUENCE: The affluent Winklevoss twins from Harvard who’s father helped them fight for their financial stake to the Facebook empire, yielding them a $65 Million settlement
  2. OLD WISE GURU & YOUNG NEW PADOWAN: Sean Parker, the God-father of music hacking who co-founded Napster and was brought to justice in the 90s, returns as the wise mentor to young Mark Zuckerberg, who taught him how to unravel his start-up from classmate claims by making it bigger better and incorporating. *Sean, who the world should know, is the most interesting person to watch in this movie for sure, why else would JT pick the part to play? After Napster, Sean Parker also co-founded contact sharing software company Plaxo, and then helped Zuckerberg to do new rounds of financing and used his expertise and savvy to propel the site from a cool new video game into Facebook, Inc., of which his fee included becoming “Founding President”. Sean Parker is now at the Founders Fund, a venture capital fund that specializes in social networking start-ups.
  3. CHANGING OF THE GUARD: Mark Zuckerberg is to Bill Gates as your PC is to Facebook mobile.
  4. POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Consumer vs. big business changes dramatically when people stare at a screen for 70% of their day -information is faster and communication is quicker. Meaning people are now aware more than ever of better deals, pricing and offers that before when we were a captive audience to whichever store we were in or whatever newspaper we were reading or whatever channel we were watching. The interest makes it easier to police pricing and Facebook is a major reason to be – and stay – online.
  5. RIDICULOUSLY GOOD-LOOKING CAST: Justin Timberlake plays Facebook Inc. & Napster founder Sean Parker, Armie Hammer (Poppy Lifton’s accomplice who duped Serena last season on Gossip Girl) & Josh Pence (V magazine model, and an *LA native ~ SAMO High ’00) play real life twins Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss *(world class rowing champions for Harvard U, Oxford and the US Olympic team who invented an early concept for what later became Facebook, called ConnectU), Jessie Eisenberg who plays Mark Zuckerberg, and new-comer  Andrew Garfield is super hot and plays Eduardo Saverin (a third Facebook co-founder claimer with a settled lawsuit with Mark).

Here are 10 more reasons to get excited about this film out October 15th, 2010:

  1. Pirates of Silicon Valley, part 2 with Mark Zuckerberg as the Bill Gates 2.0
  2. Barbarians at the Login page – Five claims to the social networking giant
  3. Tale of a bunch of cute Harvard boys who all stumbled onto the next new thing at the same time
  4. The Winklevoss twins competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the US Rowing Team – not in the movie but very impressive – they’re Olympics heros and you should support them
  5. A deeper look at Mark Zuckerberg’s inner circle who turned Facebook from the “new Friendster” into an advertising, marketing, emailing, IM-ing, photo-sharing machine
  6. V magazine model Josh Pence plays stand in for Cameron and Tyler
  7. Gossip Girl cutie Armie Hammer plays Cameron and Tyler
  8. Prince Albert of Monaco – aka Charlotte Casiraghi’s uncle – is portrayed in a boat race scene
  9. LA native Rashida Jones (Buckley, daughter of Quincy) plays Mark’s voice of reason attorney
  10. Kevin Spacey X Justin Timberlake X Aaron Sorkin X David Fincher = AMAZING

CAST & CREDITS:

Title: “The Social Network” but being referred to as “The Facebook Movie”
Plot: Zuckerberg vs the Winklevoss Twins vs another co-founder from Harvard named Eduardo vs the brains from Napster Sean Parker that pulled Facebook, and Mark, out of the sandbox and into Palo Alto
Director: David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en, Alien)
Producer: Kevin Spacey, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin, Aaron Sorkin
Script: Aaron Sorkin (West Wing)
Distributor: Sony Pictures

Jesse Eisenberg … Mark Zuckerberg (co-founder of Facebook, former employee at ConnectU)
Justin Timberlake … Sean Parker (former Napster co-founder, and current Facebook, Inc. Founder)
Armie Hammer … Cameron Winklevoss (co-founder of ConnectU – an early version of Facebook for the Ivy League)
Josh Pence … Tyler Winklevoss (co-founder of ConnectU – an early version of Facebook for the Ivy League)
John Hayden … Mr. Winklevoss, their dad and backer of his son’s brainstorm for the first Facebook at Harvard, called ConnectU, which Mark Zuckerberg was hired to code
James Shanklin … Prince Albert (of Monaco who is in some of the Winklevoss boat race scenes)
Andrew Garfield … Eduardo Saverin (another co-founder of Facebook with settled claim to the throne)
Joseph Mazzello … Dustin Moskovitz
Rashida Jones (LA NATIVE) … plays the girlfriend of Mark or Edward, not sure which
Malese Jow (Vampire Diaries) … Alice, another girlfriend, not sure who’s will update one day, soon

POWER FLOW IN CONSUMER AMERICA:

  • In the 70s we had the Pirates of Silicon Valley with the infamous early computer adopters Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who changed the world by taking computers out of obscurity and putting them into every home in America.
  • In the 80s we met The Barbarians at the Gates - the new Wall Street became all about M&A and the infamous KKR boys Henry Kravis, George Roberts, and Jerome Kohlberg defined a new capitalism that turned America into a monopoly-driven kingdom for 2 decades.
  • In the 90s we had the tech crunch and internet start-ups. A new set up Kings took the helm and American business moved online with AOL, Amazon and Napster. Everything became either cheap, easy or free and the previous structures became to change.
  • In the 2000s, online social networks were born and American society & culture moved online. Social lives, scrapbooks, dating, and email were trumped by Friendster, MySpace and Facebook, changing the consumer process forever and giving individuals a own voice in their own communities.

Buy the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Billionaires-Founding-Facebook-Betrayal/dp/0385529376

IMAGES FROM THE FILM:


PS – Andrew Garfield was just announced (7/02/10) to take over as Peter Parker for Tobey Maguire, in the upcoming Spiderman film, due out in 2012.  Andrew also happens to have been born in LA, which makes him an LA native!

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Lauren Weisberger new novel: Last Night At Chateau Marmont, in bookstores this week

by: Our Little Truffle Hunters - August 22nd, 2010   Filed under: Books, Culture, Required Reading
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Uh, did someone say the author of The Devil Wears Prada (Laura Weisberger) has a new book out called Last Night at Chateau Marmont?? If I had a dime for every time one of my friends said or someone at the Chateau said – “I should totally write a book about this place” … but never does.

After reading Publishers Weekly’s review, it sounds like this book is about people who move to L.A. and haven’t a clue (read: F.O.B.s) rather than people who just naturally hang out at Chateau and are in the scene. Who wants yet another book about a wannabe who gottobe? Sounds like this book (tho I LOVED Devil) is just trading on a good name. Boo already. The Chateau is not for gawking; its for ordering spaghetti bolognese and smoking on patios (illegal in L.A. now everywhere except here).

See Lauren Weisberger’s website for more info.

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NYC: Hamptons book Event w Dinner at Roger Water’s House: Candace Bushnell, Alec Baldwin, Jay McInerney

by: Sumi Trenholme - August 17th, 2010   Filed under: Books, New York Report, Required Reading, Sumi Trenholme blog
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Candace Bushnell

It’s a smorgasbord of over 100 writers at the East Hampton library who patiently sign copies of their newest novels at the 5th Annual Authors Night.  The event founded by actor/novelist Alec Baldwin (A Promise to Ourselves) features Pulitzer Prize winners Robert A. Caro and poet Philip Schultz, and best-selling authors like Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle, One Fifth Avenue), Jay McInerney (Bright Lights Big City, Brightness Falls, The Good Life), Melissa Bank (The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing, The Wonder Spot), Danielle Ganek (The Summer We Read Gatsby), Ken Auletta (Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman), and Florence Fabricant (Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations).

Having studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College I’m pretty jazzed up and immediately look for Candace Bushnell.  A frail, petite blond with large eyes, and a slightly lost look, I long to give her a fan for the heat, a mint julep and a big hug.  I say hi and tell her I’m a writer a la Carrie Bradshaw who writes about the city not sex.  She smiles slightly and there is an awkward pause so I offer to buy her latest book The Carrie Diaries: Meet Carrie Before Sex and the City which she signs with much flourish.  She has misspelled my name.

At the event, I weave from author table to author table chatting and buying books.  I am dressed to the 9′s in a long black evening gown and am completely out of place in the sea of seersucker suits and Lily dresses.  I precariously teeter on 4 inches heels as I balance a stack of books, a quilted Chanel clutch, a glass of white wine and not so daintily attempt to keep my dress from dragging on the ground.  Later that night I will be attending finance philanthropist George Soros’ 80th birthday party and there is no time to change… after this I have the Author’s Dinner with Hilary Thayer Hamann (Anthropology of An American Girl). Fyi, my girlfriend Elizabeth Cohen stopped by after the dinner Roger Waters of Pink Floyd hosted for Candace Bushnell and Jay McInerney.  She says the mix of music Roger played was really good and everybody had fun playing pool…

The Author’s Dinner I am attending for Hilary is hosted at the home of Julie Ratner and Sam Eskenazi in East Hampton.  It turns out that Julie is the founder of the Ellen’s Run Charity for breast cancer from which her sister Ellen Hermanson passed 22 years ago.  This Saturday there will be another benefit for Ellen’s Run (http://www.ellensrun.org/) at Steven Klein’s estate in Southampton which is where I attended the Vanity Fair Acria party a few weeks ago.  Julie and Sam are gracious hosts.  They love the Hamptons as does our guest of honor, Hilary Thayer Hamann who grew up there.  As a result, one of the main topics of our dinner conversation is a round table discussion of what first brought us to the Hamptons or our most poignant memory of the Hamptons.

Hilary’s novel is a poetic, multi-layered piece that takes place in her youth in East Hampton and beyond in New York City in the 1970′s and early 80′s.  An Oprah recommended book selection you can find it on Amazon.com or in your local bookstore.

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#LAnatives: Ahmet Zappa, King of Disney’s Kingdom Comics

by: Caroline - July 25th, 2010   Filed under: Books, L.A. Natives, Required Reading
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Friend and fellow L.A. Native, Ahmet Zappa (Country School, school of life ’92) introduced the concept of Disney’s first graphic-novel-to-film division to studio head Bob Eiger and thus “Kingdom Comics” was born …

Friend and fellow L.A. Native, Ahmet Zappa (Country School, school of life ’92) introduced the idea of developing a graphic-novel-to-film division to Disney’s studio head, Bob Eiger. Eiger, understanding the studio’s need for such an entity, allowed Ahmet to run with the idea and granted him full riegn to what became known as “Disney’s Kingdom Comics.” Now situated on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, Ahmet has his own staff and offices where he developes story concepts based off the Disney library as well as scouts new talent.  Click to Continue Reading

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NYC: Equus in East Hampton – Alec Baldwin, Sam Underwood

by: Sumi Trenholme - June 18th, 2010   Filed under: Books, New York Report, Required Reading, Sumi Trenholme blog
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Steve Hamilton, Sam Underwood as "Alan Strang", Georgia Warner

Typically summer theater consists of light comedies not a heavy psychological mystery about why a 17 year old English boy would senselessly blind 6 horses in a fit of passion.  However, this is no ordinary play – it”s the 1970′s play “Equus” – a modern classic – and actor Alec Baldwin seeking to constantly challenge himself as an actor immediately said “Equus” when asked what play he most wanted to perform.  Playwright Sir Peter Shaffer made minor revisions specifically for this performance.

Baldwin stars as one of the two leads, psychologist Dr. Martin Dysart and Sam Underwood serves as his foil, the troubled Alan Strang whose sympathy we gain and whose strange passion we attempt to understand.  Indeed, passion is the crux of the play.   Baldwin’s Dr. Dysart is a fascinating character for he is a tormented man with romantic longings.  Every night he reads books of far away civilizations and dreams of escape.  He lives vicariously through his patients who he bitterly realizes it’s his civic duty to anesthetize of passion when it goes awry and wonders if they are any better off for now they are just like him.

22 year old Underwood is yet another enormously talented young British import Hollywood should keep its eyes out for.  He was impressive to say the least. Newcomer Georgia Warner skillfully plays Alan’s love interest who attempts to seduce him the night he goes mad.  Baldwin is sympathetic as Dysart, and I enjoyed his performance.

An after party took place in the garden behind the theater and an unofficial after party across the street at the Maidstone hotel.  Director Sidney Lumet (Network, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico) was in attendance and playwright Peter Shaffer.

“Equus” runs at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton until July 3rd.

Sam Underwood, Alec Baldwin

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The Apple iPad has landed

by: Lauren Brokaw - April 4th, 2010   Filed under: Books, Lauren Brokaw blog, Required Reading, Technology & Gadgets
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(more…)

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Bastide restaurant re-opens with Assouline bookstore inside!

by: Caroline - December 11th, 2009   Filed under: Books, New in L.A., Required Reading, Restaurants & Food, Weekly Juice
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Assouline Los Angeles Bastide Melrose Place Daily Truffle 2

Prosper & Martine Assouline (founders) have essentially created a restaurant AND a book boutique in a European type cottage here in Los Angeles!  Mark your calendar, Monday, December 14, 2009 there is an open house from 11am-8pm. Click to Continue Reading

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Obessesion of the Moment: Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception

by: Caroline - November 5th, 2009   Filed under: Books, Required Reading, Unique & Unusual
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You might not be surprised to find a magic wand hanging next to a hidden camera in a toy shop, but what about a real-life magician working at the C.I.A.? Back in the 1950s, the Agency did in fact employ a magic man named John Mulholland, who wrote a surprisingly entertaining and illuminating manual on deception that has just now been published as part of The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception. For spy buffs and those interested in the art of illusion, it’s a quick and delightful read, complete with wonderful sketches of spy tools and plenty of history, too.

At the height of U.S. paranoia over the spread of communism, the C.I.A. would stop at nothing to give American spies the edge. Authors H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace describe the fear and paranoia over Fidel Castro, the K.G.B. and other Cold War enemies, and delve deep into a top-secret program called MK Ultra, for which Mulholland was recruited to write his manual. Hollow pencils hiding secret powders, trick matchbooks, disguises—all the James Bond stuff is in here. What’s most shocking is that it was all for regular men, and not for Daniel Craig.

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“Sweet Valley High”: The Movie??

by: Caroline - September 23rd, 2009   Filed under: Books, Film & TV, Required Reading
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What you may hear today is that Diablo Cody has just signed on to write and produce an adaptation of the “Sweet Valley High” book series for Universal Studios. Mason Novick, the former Bender-Spink producer who discovered and manages her, will produce, along with Adam Siegel and Marc Platt.

What you may not know is that author Francine Pascal based the twin California blonds on her friend Kate Capshaw’s adolescent daughter, Jessica; the premiere issue of the series has a dedication to the L.A. Native Jessica (Harvard-Westlake) in the beginning.

Mason! Get JC on for a cameo!

The “Sweet Valley” novels followed the lives of identical twins with dissimilar personalities — the sensitive and practical Elizabeth and the flighty and boy-crazy Jessica — in the fictional town of Sweet Valley. There were more than 150 books in the series between 1983 and 2003 and a TV series with 88 episodes between 1994 and 1997.

 

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Disney gets into Comics, L.A. Native Ahmet Zappa paves the way

by: Caroline - September 8th, 2009   Filed under: Books, L.A. Natives, Required Reading
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This morning Disney unveiled a surprise $4bn bid for Marvel Entertainment, which would bring Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor into the Mickey Mouse studio, along with 5,000 other characters. This would not Disney’s first venture into the comic realm.
A few months ago, friend and fellow L.A. Native, Ahmet Zappa (Country School, school of life ’92) introduced the idea of developing a graphic-novel-to-film division to Disney’s studio head, Bob Eiger. Eiger, understanding the studio’s need for such an entity, allowed Ahmet to run with the idea and granted him full riegn to what became known as “Disney’s Kingdom Comics.” Now situated on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, Ahmet has his own staff and offices where he developes story concepts based off the Disney library as well as scouts new talent.
Photo: Ahmet with his mouse ears in the new Kingdom Comics offices in Hollywood
Ahmet, the reigning King of Kingdom comics had waltz with the mouse before in 2006 … Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Walt Disney Pictures optioned his self-illustrated children’s book “The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless” for $1.5 million – an unprecedented amount for a first time author (though not a lot if you ever heard Ahmet’s story telling).

Photo: Ahmet signing copies of his book “The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless” at 2008 Wizard World in Los Angeles. “McFearless” tells of a young brother and sister who one day discover they are actually part of a long line of monster hunters.

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Ahmet Zappa is one of my favorite people in town. He is hilarious and a HUGE sweetheart! When Hyde first opened in West Hollywood, he made it a point to introduce me to the doorman, and back when I was in desperate need of a location for my Drive-In events, Ahmet found me the perfect place at a park overlooking the Hollywood reservoir. Though we’ve had simular circles for years, my first face-to-face was when our mutual friend, Tory Mell, brought him along to meet with me at the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset during my brief stint in development at Maverick films in ’04. They chattered endlessly, pitching me ideas for reality shows and feature films, including one about Zappa’s own childhood growing up with famous rocker father, Frank Zappa, and his siblings Dweezil, Moon and Diva (think The Osbournes meets The Cosby Show). Both were impressive; their youthful, playful gift of story-telling was impassioned and clever. It became clear very quickly I could easily be sitting with the most talented men in Hollywood. Ahmet was clearly most passionate about adventure dramas for kids; I was not surprised when he published “McFearless” two years later, or when Disney’s high-priced option was annouced in 2006. Ahmet is now also in development on “The Odd Life of Timothy Green”, a movie based on another one of his genius ideas. And he is also set to executive produce Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock: The Movie, due in 2011.

Photo: Ahmet, from AhmetZappa.com

Ahmet attended the Country School in Los Angeles, and like myself, suffered from a learning disability that prompted him to leave school at a young age and go on tour with his father. There he honed in on his other powerful assets and began a career as an actor, musician and TV personality. As a child, he won roles in TV shows like Roseanne and Growing Pains, as well as feature films like Pump Up the Volume. Ahmet released several albums with his brother Dweezil Zappa and has made numerous appearances as himself on TV Shows like Head Case, Conan O’Brien and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.

Ahmet writes this of himself on his website: “I was born Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa on May 15, 1974, in Los Angeles, CA, three months premature and with a collapsed lung. I don’t smoke, have never taken any drugs, and don’t really much enjoy it when other people do them, either. I’m the third of four children born to the late rock musician/ composer, Frank Zappa, and a super-powered psychic witch businesswoman named Gail. I always called them by their first names, never using “Mom” or “Dad”, and drank iced coffee almost every night before bedtime.”

Ahmet is working on the second installment in the McFearless series and lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Shana Muldoon (Marymount) and their three dogs Sandwich (a yummy pomeranian), Luna, a sacred white pekingese and gift from Ahmet to Shana and Figgy, a brand new half pekingese, half havanese puppy.

Photo: Ahmet Zappa, Shana Muldoon

Shana, who has had her own jewelry line (Muldoon-LA), is also a celeb wardrobe stylist, and is in the midst of creating her own vintage inspired fashion and lifestyle brand…. “Lady California” …which will incorporate all the above under one fabulous brand. For inquiries on her popular vintage silk dresses (Fergie just fell in love with them), u can email her privately @ muldoonsmm@aol.com.


Ahmet Zappa, Shana Muldoon, Ahmet and his puppies, photo from Shana Muldoon


Isky, Jules Urbach and me at Ahmet’s birthday party at SKinny’s. Photo by LaLa Sloatman.

Addendum December 22, 2009: Since the time of this post Ahmet and Shana have gotten engaged. Congratulations to Ahmet Zappa & Shana Muldoon!

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Fall Book List

by: Caroline - August 24th, 2009   Filed under: Books, Culture, Required Reading
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Someday My Prince Will Come: True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess by Jerramy Fine

From Publishers Weekly
Many little girls dream of becoming a princess and finding their Prince Charming. Fine was no different and, at the age of six, traced the Windsor family tree to Peter Phillips, an English royal of her same age, and announced she would marry him. Unlike other girls, however, this dream did not fade away with adolescence. With a story line akin to a chick lit novel, her memoir follows her single-minded path to become suitable wife material for a prince, to move to England and to be swept away in a royal romance. Born to hippie parents in rural Colorado, Fine comes of age feeling out of place and escapes to the East Coast for college and then to graduate school in London. There she ingratiates herself into English social circles, eventually rubbing shoulders with Princess Anne, the Duchess of York and others. Amid her lessons in British society and the universal woes of dating, she also gains the important knowledge that the strength of one’s conviction can be the strongest predictor of one’s fate. Provided the reader doesn’t grimace to see her determination, intelligence and grace used to pursue a man she’s never met, Fine’s is a charming and humorous story.

Jerramy Fine wants to be a princess. At age 6, she announces that she is going to meet and marry the Queen of England’s grandson and even as she gets older, not once does she change her mind! But growing up with hippie parents in the middle of a rodeo-loving farm town makes finding her prince a bigger challenge than Jerramy ever bargained for. How can she prepare to lead a royal life when she’s surrounded by nothing but tofu and tractors?

Jerramy spends her lonely childhood writing love-letters to Buckingham Palace, and years later, when her sense of destiny finally brings her to London, she dives head first into a whirlwind of champagne-fuelled society parties in search of her royal soul mate. She drinks way too many martinis and kisses far too many Hugh Grant look-a-likes, but life in England is not the Disney fairytale she hoped it would be. Her flatmates are lunatics, London is expensive, and British boys (despite their cute accents) are infuriating. Sure, she’s rubbing shoulders with Princess Anne, Earl Spencer and the Duchess of York – but will she ever meet her prince?

The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life by Ivanka Trump

From a rising star in the business world, The Trump Card is a book for young women on how to achieve success in any field. Ivanka Marie Trump is a businesswoman, a one-time fashion model, and the daughter of Ivana and Donald Trump. Ivanka joined The Trump Organization in 2005 as a member of the development team and is currently Vice President of Real Estate Development and Acquisitions. She actively participates in all aspects of real estate development from deal evaluation, analysis and pre-development planning to construction, marketing, operations, sales and leasing.


Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger

Amazon.com Review: Lauren Weisberger, whose bestselling debut The Devil Wears Prada outed the vicious antics of the magazine industry elite, is back at it with Everyone Worth Knowing, another cautionary tale of sex, power, and fame. This time around, the PR industry is her target, and Prada fans will recognize similar themes throughout this entertaining, if at times overly dramatic, exposé.

Bette Robinson is a twentysomething Emory graduate who shunned her parents’ hippie ideals in favor of a high-paying yet excruciatingly boring job at a prestigious investment bank. One day, after a particularly condescending exchange with her boss (who sends her daily inspirational e-mails), Bette walks out on her job in a huff. After a few weeks of sleeping late, watching Dr. Phil and entertaining her dog Millington, Bette’s uncle scores her a job at an up-and-coming public relations firm, where her entire job seems to revolve around staying out late partying and providing fodder for clandestine gossip columns. What follows is one episode after another of Bette climbing up the social ladder at the expense of her friends, family, and the one guy who actually seems worth pursuing.

Weisberger is clever enough to turn seemingly outrageous circumstances into amusing anecdotes, like the tale of a woman who was close to suicide until she found out she was only 18 months away from scoring a highly coveted Birkin bag (“You simply cannot kill yourself when you’re that close … it’s just not an option.”). This wit, combined a hint of voyeurism that most of us can’t deny, is what makes Everyone Worth Knowing a guilty pleasure that’s well worth the indulgence. –Gisele Toueg

From Publishers WeeklyLily Rabe throws herself enthusiastically into her narration; she sounds like she’s having a ball, and listeners will, too. Rabe especially has fun with over-the-top Brazilian sexpot Adriana, making melodramatic pronouncements and calling everyone querida in a sexy, throaty exotic accent. She’s also great as Emmy, the marriage-and-family–obsessed member of the trio: Rabe’s sobbing, outraged delivery of Emmy’s rant about her boyfriend dumping her for his personal trainer is simultaneously touching and hilarious. Leigh is the straight man of the group, but Rabe’s performance conveys her doubts about her engagement realistically and sympathetically. This fun audio brings out the best in the novel.

One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

From Publishers Weekly: Sex in the City goes middle-aged, mordant and slapstick in Bushnell’s chronicle of writers, actors and Wall Street whizzes clashing at One Fifth Avenue, a Greenwich Village art deco jewel crammed with regal rich, tarty upstarts and misguided lovers. When a Queen of Society dies, a vicious scramble for her penthouse apartment ensues, and it’s attorney Annalisa and her hedge-funder husband, Paul Rice, who land the palatial pad, roiling the building’s rivalries. There’s Billy Litchfield, an art dealer who slobbers over the wealthy; strivers Mindy and James Gooch, and their tech-savvy 13-year-old Sam, the most hilariously bitter (and strangely successful) family in the building; gossip columnist Enid Merle and her screenwriter nephew, Philip Oakland, who struggle to uphold traditions and their souls; actress Schiffer Diamond, who lands a hit TV series, and her old love; and Lola Fabrikant, a cunning Atlanta gold digger whose greatest ambition is to become Carrie Bradshaw. Here are bloggers and bullies, misfits and misanthropes, dear hearts and black-hearts, dogfights and catty squalls spun into a darkly humorous chick-lit saga.

Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

Amazon.com Review
Glamorama is a satirical mass-murder opus more ambitious than Bret Easton Ellis’s 1990 American Psycho. It starts as a spritz-of-consciousness romp about kid-club entrepreneur Victor Ward, “the It boy of the moment,” an actor-model up for Flatliners II. Ellis has perfect pitch for glam-speak, and he gives nightlife the fizz, pace, and shimmer it lacks in drab reality. Anyone could cite the right celeb names and tunes, but like a rock-polishing machine, his prose gives literary sheen to fame-chasing air-kissers. He’s coldly funny: when Victor’s girl tries to argue him out of a breakup, she angrily snorts six bumps of coke, stops, mutters, “Wrong vial,” snorts four corrective doses from whatever she has in her other fist, then objects to a rival at the party wearing the same dress she’s wearing. You had to be there; Ellis makes you feel you are. But such satire is a very smart bomb targeting a very large barn. Models’ status anxiety doesn’t merit Ellis’s Tom Wolfe-esque expertise. Glamorama gets better when Victor gets drafted into a mysterious group of model-terrorists who bomb 747s and the Ritz in Paris, wearing Kevlar-lined Armani suits. Oh, they still behave like shallow snobs, pronouncing “cool” as if it had 12 o’s. But now when somebody swills Cristal, it’s apt to be poisoned, to horrific effect, which Ellis expertly, affectlessly describes. His enfant-terrible debut, Less Than Zero, aped Joan Didion. Now Ellis has grown into a lesser Don DeLillo–and that’s high praise. –Tim Appelo –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
The evil twin of fellow brat-packer Jay McInerney’s Model Behavior, Ellis’s (The Informers) bad trip through glitterary New York has everything his fans (and critics) have come to expect: graphic sex, designer drugs, rock ‘n’ roll allusions, splatterpunk violence and characters as deep as 8″x10″ glossies. Protagonist Victor Ward, a “model-slash-loser,” is opening his own trendy Manhattan club while cheating on his supermodel girlfriend and back-stabbing his partner. After some adventures in clubland, the plot takes a turn for the paranoid. Victor is recruited by a mysterious figure, F. Fred Palakon, to track down a former girlfriend gone missing in London. There he becomes unwillingly drawn into a terrorist group?run, like so much else in the novel, by a supermodel?that bombs fashionable hangouts, hotels and jetliners. Throughout, Ellis clutters his hallmark proper-noun realism with excessive name-dropping and strung-out plotting. The satirist in Ellis seems to want to indict celebrity-obsessed, materialistic and superficial contemporary culture. With this novel he, perhaps unwittingly but certainly ironically, provides Exhibit A. 100,000 first printing.

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Scott Caan book launch party: “Scott Caan: Photographs Vol. 1″ at Otero Plassart gallery in L.A.

by: Caroline - May 31st, 2009   Filed under: Books, Culture, L.A. Natives, Men's blog, Required Reading
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Scott Caan and his father at Scott’s first book party last night in L.A.

Last night I went to L.A. native, actor and photographer Scott Caan’s book party at Otero Plassart gallery on Fairfax. I know Scott from growing up in L.A. and the thing about him I relate to most is that we both have a deep passion towards our town and our childhoods here – and we both, in our own ways, seek to document them.

I first met Scott at Century City (not Westfield, Century City) where I use to hang out with my Westlake friends and other various groups of friends from other schools. Beverly (not West Beverly, Beverly) was right around the corner from CC, and there was always a bunch of cool guys who would come by. Oddly most of them are famous now – besides Scott, they included the likes of infamous beat artist Alan Maman better known as ”The Alchemist”, Neil Maman, Alan’s brother and a rather heavy-hitting manager, Seth Binzer or “Shifty” from Crazytown, Kairi Scott, who owns and designs for Kingsbury on 3rd street, and so on … It wasn’t just Beverly though – kids would come from all over town … actor Balthazar Getty, singer Jenny Lewis, actresses Mila Jovevich, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Capshaw, celebrity publicist Kari Feinstein & Ashlee Margolis, designer Desanka Fasiska, filmmaker Liz Goldwyn, reggae front-man for The Wailers Elan Atias , and so on … They were as infamous in our small circles then as they are in these big circles now. Something was definitely a buzz in 1976 when our parents were having babies.

Scott’s book thanks his father twice, once at the beginning and once at the end – the man who gave him his first camera, AND an additional camera each year. His father, much like my mom who bought my brother a drum set and a Harley Davidson when he expressed interest, is receptive to Scott’s passions – whatever they may be – and supports his son unconditionally, with a passion all his own.

Scott also loves his friends, acting, making movies, growing up in L.A., and taking photos. You don’t have to know him to know that – all you have to do is look at his work. You will also finds tons of women, children, celebrities, foreign lands both better and worse than here … and lots of cigarettes, skaters and L.A. figures you’d see around if you, too, lived here.

The book’s product description says it best when they describe Scott as “passionate and gutsy”. Who else can push through deals to sell scripts at 23, take on the task of being a Hollywood renaissance man with multiple talents and pursuits and still make it to Cannes to stand on the red carpet with his heavy-weight cast of Ocean’s 11 and manage to shine just as bright.

 
The invitation to Scott’s party featuring one of his famous photos from Cannes.
  

See all these photos on Scott’s website

Women:




Celebrities:

Lindsay Lohan at Jared Leto’s

Dennis Hopper

The cast of Ocean’s 11 at the Cannes Film Festival


Brad Pitt

L.A. Friends:

Seth Binzer (“Shifty Shellshock”) from Crazytown

Alan Maman (“The Alchemist”)

Marcos Ferraez boosts Jay Diola in the air at Oakstone. Scott Oster, Med Abrous, Steve Olson, Alex Olson, Marc Rose, Cliff Cantor, and Keith Kandell seen in the background.



 Book party pictures from last night

Brett Ratner (publisher) with Howard Nourmand (book editor/designer)
Scott Caan with his friend and actress Erika Christensen

Jeremy Piven 
Kate Mara and Kevin Connelly

Scott Patterson and Me

Howard Nourmand is a friend of Scott’s who said to me last night … “Anything can be something” but followed it up quickly saying “but it’s all about the execution!” Howard runs a graphic design company called Grand Jeté in Los Angeles and designed & edited Scott’s book. The book’s cover is good-looking and handsome in that same elegant way a man should be. He also wrote the foreword for the book in which he likened Scott to the Robert Frost quote: “Freedom lies in being bold.” Howard add then adds: “Scott Caan embodies that Robert Frost quote more than anyone I have ever met.”

About Grand Jeté: Grand Jeté is a production company specializing in motion, graphics and live-action design. It is led by executive creative director Howard Nourmand, and its portfolio includes projects for the worlds top ad agencies, brands, recording artists, and filmmakers. www.grand-jete.com

 

About Rat Press: Rat Press is everything that film is not. It’s the biographies written by directors. It’s the interviews with actors and producers. It’s the novels and scripts and photographs and artworks that come from the most prolific individuals in film, but which you never have the opportunity to see in a theater. Our series aims to make this part of film history available to everyone. http://www.ratpress.com/

 
 
 
 
 
About Otero Plassart Gallery:
820 N Fairfax Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90046
t. 323 951 1068 f. 323 951 9222 / gallery@oteroplassart.com
gallery hours: Tuesday thru Saturday – 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM and by appointment http://www.oteroplassart.com/

About the book: This book exposes the raw photojournalism of actor/writer/director/photographer Scott Caan, chronicling his work thus far. This series of unapologetic photos is directed at art connoiseurs, young Hollywood voyeurs, fashionistas, and street-obsessed youth. Scott’s passionate, and gutsy, attitude has distinguished him as a photographer and allowed him to compose intimate images that are without question inaccessible to the masses.

 
 
 
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DailyLit.com Free Reads

by: Caroline - August 11th, 2008   Filed under: Books, Culture, Required Reading
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DailyLit.com sends free 5 minute chunks of your favorite books straight to your email account! Wikipedia has co-conspired to create “tours” for religions, wine, presidents, Oscar winners, poets, women in history, inventors and wonders of the world.

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