A Little of the Old In and Out

In: The Mediterranean, baby. The jet set have always frequented the Mediterranean, but this year it appears to have extra-special cachet among the celebrity class. Yesterday's Page Six reported that Lionel Ritchie is in Sardinia, and:

"THE St.-Tropez social season kicked into high gear on Saturday when Sean ("P. Diddy") Combs hosted an all-nighter at Pappagallo. His guests included Denzel and Pauletta Washington (who have chartered Greg Norman's yacht, Aussie Rules), Ivana Trump and Rossano Rubicondi (she owns a small villa in the Riviera resort), P.M.'s Unik, and Food Network star Sandra Lee, who graced the cover of last week's TV Guide. Staying with Combs aboard his own chartered yacht are Lee and her husband, L.A. builder Bruce Karatz; billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, Bill Clinton's buddy who is said to be an investor in the Sean John clothing company; and Combs' sons, Justin and Christian; and Christian's mother Kim Porter."

And, according to Hello! Magazine:

"In June, (Tom Hanks) and his actress wife Rita Wilson stopped by the tiny Greek isle of Antiparo population 800 located about 240 miles southeast of Athens, and reachable only by ferry or private boat. The pair, who cruised into the harbour of the Aegean Sea hideaway on a luxury yacht, joins a growing roster of celebrities, including Madonna and Angelina Jolie, who have visited the Greek islands on their own getaways.

"And summer isn't over yet. More recently Tom and Rita took to the high seas again, cruising the Turkish coastline on board an opulent yacht, the four-masted, $250,000-a-week charter Phocea.

"The Mediterranean country is growing in popularity among the jet-set, with Uma Thurman and her hotel tycoon beau, Andrea Balazs, recently taking a romantic break in the charming port town of Bodrum."

Out: Kentucky born Johnny Depp crashed his brand new Mercedes in the electric gates of his home in Plan de La Tour on the Cote DAzur, according to the Sun:

"He knocked the gates electric motor straight off the wall and left an almighty dent in the back of the car. Judging by the look on his face he got quite a fright. Once he got out of the Merc he started cursing himself for being so stupid."

Very 21 Jump Street, that. Comment here on on the VH1 Best Week Ever Blog.
 
In: Teresa Heinz-Kerry. Sure, she used some verbal kung fu to turn around the fact that she is actually an eccentric, thereby turning it into a feminist issue, quite groovy, really, but, to change the subject: is Teresa Heinz-Kerry Edina Monsoon? (link via Wonkette).

Ben Affleck, on the other hand, is all over DC, and thinks Teresa is sweel, he tells the Boston Globe, "'You're not going to get platitudes,' he said, 'and you're not going to get a Stepford wife.'"
 
Out: Pierce Brosnan. It wasn't a very good week for the Remington Steele, now, was it? According to that significant cultural artifact, The Star, his son was admitted to rehab. On the heels of that bad news, James Bond is a distant memory. And, to cap off your own irrelevance, Orlando Bloom is set to play a "younger," "sexier" James Bond. To borrow from Nancy Reagan's response to George Bush the Elder's inaugural Address, The Corsair bets Remington is asking himself, "younger and sexier than whom." Not a good week.

In: Alexandra Richards, according to fashionweekdaily:

"Alexandra Richards, daughter of Rolling Stone Keith Richards and Patti Hansen is now the face of Versus for fall/winter 2004. Richards, who turns 18 today, most recently starred as the face of Guerlains Shalimar fragrance, along with her mother, Hansen, and sister, Theodora. 'Shes just a smart, dedicated, and focused individual,' said Ivan Bart, a vice president and Richards representative at the models division of IMG (which also owns The Daily), 'And shes got a star quality to her.'

"Steven Meisel photographed Richards for the Italian line geared towards a younger fashion crowd producing a total of six images for the global campaign, which will debut in select September books around the world. In this particular Bill Mullen-styled image, Richards accompanied by models Dovile, Christoffer Fagerli, and Boyd wears a viscose jersey ruched front turtleneck dress. 'Were excited to represent Alexandra and the Versace house apparently saw the same thing we did that shes painfully beautiful,' Bart added. "

Out: Me. How embarrassed am I right about now ? I got into this deep, convoluted argument about the nature of art (bad idea to do on a blog) and the differences between the Ancient and the Modern style of painting, with whom I believed to be Interview Magazine's editor Ingrid Sischy at TMFTML, and -- of course -- it wasn't. God, I'm so embarrassed.