Our City Guests Have Tails To Tell

Sun Herald

Sunday June 19, 2005

WILLIAM PETLEY

THE screening at Dendy Opera Quays of director Carlos Sorin's Bombon (El Perro) apparently it's terrific on Wednesday was not bon ton. First, guests were misinformed at the box office that it wasn't playing. Next, the distributor, Hopscotch Films, announced that Sorin, whom everyone was expecting to meet, had flown home to his ailing papa in Argentina. Fair enough but bon soir Bombon and over the road to check out the new Customs House Library: chandeliers, large nods to designers Massimo and Lella Vignelli and, no surprise here, books; how it will age is anyone's guess. Then, at 6.45, when strolling along Pitt Street Mall, who else was there but Mr Ratty Rattus; sleek of coat, long of tail and such a calm boulevardier among the commuters, you'd imagine him a graduate of June Dally-Watkins. Is Clover aware his type is in town?

Cracking night

VIVA Las Humpty, which mustn't be misconstrued as a message of encouragement to the Minister for Immigration, is, in fact, the upcoming Wimbledon Ball to create dollars for kids at the Royal North Shore Hospital. It will be held on July 2 at the Four Seasons Hotel and coincides with the ladies' singles final in London. Vince Sorrenti will perform. Tickets are $200. Zip kim.butler@humpty.com.au an email. The committee for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation is chaired by Paul Francis and includes Shane Barr, Kerry Chikarovski, Nick Cleaver, Dr Martin Kluckow and Karen Lindley.

Dishy new man at LV

DINESH Kandiah has arrived in town from Malaysia to take up the position of communications director at Louis Vuitton. (At drinks at Will & Toby's on Wednesday, some reinterpreted his name as "Candy Dish".) The urbane Dinesh holds a law degree from the University of Kent, England but has never practised preferring the world of luxury goods to the legal arena. He was born in Kuala Lumpur, speaks English, Malay and Urdu Hindi, is a keen sailor, a devotee of Ashtanga yoga, intends attending Kim Terakes's Boys Can Cook classes, and lives in Bellevue Hill. Now you know.

Picasso erotica

GRAND-DAUGHTER of Picasso and his muse Marie-Therese Walter, Diana Widmaier-Picasso has only good impressions of Sydney. When she visited during summer, she went swimming at Bondi. Refreshed, she returned to the beach to discover zut alors her possessions gone. Running to Campbell Parade in her bikini, she explained her predicament to a cab driver (she inherited her grandfather's inquiring eyes), who whisked her to her Double Bay hotel; gratis. So what, you say? Well, Widmaier-Picasso has just published a book Picasso: Art Can Only Be Erotic, containing 120 rarely seen erotic masterpieces, published by Prestel. It would be a decent gesture if Sydney bought as many copies as possible.

Airs and graces

GAS guarantees an audience; be it from Chaucer or children, everyone falls about. Recently, and perhaps the reasoning behind Australia's disinclination to sign the Kyoto Protocol, flatulence has reached new heights of acceptance. On Big Brother it passes as wit. Last week, again on free-to-air television, Belinda Emmett dismissed the possibility of other women being enamoured of her husband, Rove McManus, citing in detail what a windbag he is. Worse still, it's difficult now to avoid the farting monkey ring tone emanating from mobile phones. Manners arbiter Marion von Adlerstein's solution is lighting a match: a blowtorch might be better.

Adding fizz to fund-raisers

CHARITY fund-raisers rarely rest on their tuffets. The Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation has, over the years, extended its reach with the Gold and Silver committees and "An Amber Affair". This is a boutique beer tasting fine ales and lagers for a younger crowd interested in sampling local and international beers and held in September. They're presently organising a sister event wrapped around a variety of champagnes with the working title "Bubbles".

Artist of (book) mark

ON Wednesday, Marks, a show of trompe l'oeil works by David Eastwood, opened at Robin Gibson Gallery, Darlinghurst. Having worked as a librarian while a student, he's drawn inspiration from the tabs people use to mark pages. Schooled by the Patrician Brothers, Liverpool, Eastwood graduated spurred on by lecturers like Ian Grant in fine arts from the UNSW. He was the first visual artist awarded the University Medal. In 1998, a scholarship took him to Paris, and the Louvre, where he became a big fan of 17th-century Dutch paintings celebrating domestic objects. Dealer Gibson is now fully occupied scolding the fooled, fingering Eastwood's illusions.

A couple of happy bums

IN the federal budget, the Government announced additional funds for Export Market Development Grants for 2005-06 to assist small businesses become sustainable exporters. (There's a $170.4 million kitty.) Austrade's new-applicant seminars are on July 5 and 6 at the Wesley Conference Centre, Pitt Street, and in Parramatta on July 7. See www.austradeevents .com.au/emdgnsw. AussieBum, a men's swimwear and underwear brand established four years ago by Sean Ashby and Guyon Holland, has received two such grants. "It's what made aussieBum, aussieBum," said Ashby. Informed locally they were mad, the pair realised survival meant overseas; enter Austrade. AussieBum is now a multimillion-dollar operation, Premier Bob Carr swims sporting the label, it's the fourth-biggest seller in that area in Selfridges, London, and Ashby and Holland are the happiest bums in Leichhardt.