A Little of the Old In and Out

In: LA.com's blog. Let's break for a second to consider Hollywood and not Washington for a second (And, incidentally, of Tinseltown, mirabile dictu, Fashionweekdaily reports: "Soho House is scouting spots for their L.A. outpost and calling in the opinions of fashion insiders to see if they should actually make the move out west," which means, of course, that leaky air conditioners can now leak on you on both coasts). Anyhoo: The LA.com blog gives us this deliciously nasty blind item:

"Dolly wonders how long that fresh, funky movie star will get away free and clear before someone busts her Winona-style for her light-fingered ways. All her friends know that she has such a mania for keeping her sensitive skin looking great that she seeks out the best spas and salons for facials and treatments wherever she goes. But though she makes plenty of moolah, she just loves to snake expensive skin care products when the busy facialists and salon owners aren?t looking. Recently at a Santa Monica spa, she got caught red-handed with a bagful of pricey product and, being famed for her skill at improv, she quickly spun a tale to the beautician about how she only put the goodies in the bag so that she could remember exactly which items had been used on her so she could buy them before checking out. They didn?t buy it any more than we do, but they let her slip that one time. "

Out: Bonnie Fuller. Can she get more out after the public excoriation by Vanity Fair? Possibly. But she has the cunning of Machiavelli with regard to damage control in the wake of Star Magazine's tough gossip, and the fostering of future goodwill among those A-Listers. According to Fashionweekdaily's Daily Spy:

"It looks like Bonnie Fuller has found a novel way to ensure she has at least a friend or two in Hollywood, in her continual efforts to win over celebrity flacks despite the damaging stories Star magazine does on their clients.  Fuller has apparently hired top PR firm PMK /HBH, which reps everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Gwyneth Paltrow, to handle PR for next month's Star-sponsored premiere of 'Growing Up Gotti,' A&E?s new reality show vehicle for Star writer and mob daughter Victoria Gotti . Considering the often antagonistic relationship between PMK/HBH and Fuller?Gwyneth Paltrow once referred to her as 'the devil' and Paltrow?s rep Stephen Huvane seems to support that view?it's surprising that the company took the job at all. 'It must be costing Bonnie?or should we say David Pecker?a bundle,' says one insider."

In: Terry McAuliffe. Despite the fact that, in many ways, the Clinton loyalist is DNC Chair in name only, todays Washington Post hails him, thusly:

"(McAuliffe) forced a controversial change in the primary campaign schedule and pressed state chairmen to give up exclusive control of their voter lists. He also invested millions in a new headquarters, and gambled that the party could mount a challenge to the GOP's three decades of dominating fundraising.

"Every one of these high-risk tactics paid off. The schedule change gave Kerry time to raise more than $200 million; the DNC now has a voter list with information on more than 170 million people, which allows the party to develop its own direct-mail donor list. The new headquarters, in turn, is wired to run an operation increasingly dependent on the Internet and the facilities to produce all forms of telecommunications and traditional media."

But don't expect Terry to cut impromptu checks, true believer, according to a June 4th Page Six item, "No checks are written until (general election chairman of the DNC John) Sasso signs off. No decisions are made until Sasso says so," said one Democrat. "Terry McAuliffe was told to take it, or take a hike. And he's taking it."  

And Teresa's shoving it ....

Out:  Teresa Heinz Kerry, Liability? Teresa is, by all accounts, a bright, sexy and sophisticated woman of 65. Teresa speaks five languages, and, those who know her say, she speaks all of them with a charming sass. The Corsair is not averse to a saucy woman of the Heinz variety (no pun intended). But Heinz-Kerry is an eccentric billionaire, used to speaking her mind, on anything, and -- we won't say we told you so -- she is having difficulties sticking to the Kerry-Edwards script, staying, as it were, on point, according to the Washington Post:

"Teresa Heinz Kerry urged home-state delegates to the Democratic National Convention to restore a more civil tone to politics, then minutes later told a journalist to 'shove it.'

"'We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics,' the wife of Democratic candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) told fellow Pennsylvanians on Sunday night at a Massachusetts Statehouse reception.

"Minutes later, Colin McNickle, editorial page editor of the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, questioned her on what she meant by the term 'un-American,' according to a tape of the encounter recorded by Pittsburgh station WTAE-TV.

"Heinz Kerry said, 'I didn't say that' several times to McNickle. She turned to confer with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and others.

"When she faced McNickle again a short time later, he continued to question her, and she replied, 'You said something I didn't say. Now shove it.'"

And, of course, this will be discussed hotly in Teresa's home state (and, ironically, the important swing state) Pennsylvania. 
 
In: Tina Brown's Painful to Watch Larry Flynt Interview. Not that Tina Brown is a prude or anything, but how uncomfortable did it seem when Tina, "Lady Evans" (2nd item) if you're nasty,  interviewed porcine pornographer Larry Flynt, the man with the pink jet,  a man not known for elegant and sophisticated discussion. Gawker's Henry the Intern captures the tone:

"Tina then cornered pornographer Larry Flynt for publishing photos of Jackie Onassis naked. 'I would publish photographs of Queen Elizabeth,' he said. 'You're not selling sex in those photographs, you're selling the icon status of the individuals involved.' Good thing Tina interrupted him from nearly equating the rise of religion and increased porn sales to Bush and Kerry voters, respectively, but she couldn't stop him from describing 70 naked women: 'their pubes were all gone. . . they think men want to see these big, [implanted] watermelons.' Flynt said he doesn't know the current version of Courtney Love. 'The book is provocative,' closed Tina. 'And so are you.'"

Thanks for sharing, Larry. Like school on Saturday,  Mr. Flynt has -- altogether now, gang, "no class"!

Out: Former Governor John Rowlands. (The Corsair's favorite political punching bag). According to Page Six, Rowlands is going from the State House to the Big House:

"JOHN Rowland ? who stepped down in disgrace as governor of Connecticut before the state legislature could impeach him ? will soon cop a plea to tax evasion, sources say. Rowland has been under investigation for months by the office of U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor, who has recused himself from working on the case personally because of his friendship with Rowland. The Republican has yet to be formally charged. 'A deal has been made,' said one insider. 'The feds originally insisted he do 11 months in jail, but have agreed to five.' When the five-month figure was run past another well-connected insider, the power-broker said, 'Even less.'"

In: Public Restrooms at the Democrat Convention. So funny, from the AP (A pee-pee?):

"Media members, already perturbed by long security lines, may find themselves waiting in line for something nearly as important. As the majority of the print reporters arrived Saturday at the FleetCenter for the Democratic National Convention, tongues clucked when they saw the restroom facilities that they will be using for the next week. 

"Twenty portable restrooms, like those used on construction sites, are lined up in front of the media pavilion to service nearly 1,200 members of the print media who will be working around the clock. That's about 60 serious coffee-drinkers per toilet.

"'That's absurd,' said Jim Drinkard, a political reporter for USA Today, when he heard of the ratio of toilets per media member."

All the news that's fit to ...