Universal City Walk . . .

When I first moved to Los Angeles just about a decade ago, it was because I had a job selling jewelry at a little cart that would be stationed directly on Universal City Walk–a long strip of stores and restaurants adjacent to Universal Studios. 10 years ago it wasn’t as “lit up” and Vegas-style as it is today; it was kind of low-rent and on its way “up” in popularity.

A couple of weekends ago Mathew and I headed up to Universal Citywalk to see a movie at the incredibly overpriced movie theater. What did we see? I don’t remember–isn’t that sad? (Almost every movie we’ve seen up there has been lame except for the most recent Star Trek movie–Levar Burton was in line in front of us! That guy can dress–he has style!)

This past weekend we headed up there to see WHITE OUT (oh, just don’t, friends; let me save you grief, money, and 2 hours of your life–even the gratuitous shower scene is boring!). Parking up there costs 12 bucks a car (total rip off!) and they give you a 5-dollar credit towards your movie tickets, which run 12 bucks too. After the movie we walked down the Citywalk Strip for a stroll.

We keep wondering when Citywalk will put an actual, honest-to-goodness store where SAM GOODY used to be. The cool Sam Goody signage is still up, but that store’s empty. On this most recent visit we noticed that the Sparky’s toy store is going to be reopening as a donut shop. (WTH???) They were never very nice in there anyway. I remember when the raven-logo bookstore used to be an actual bookstore with books, stationery, pens and cool stuff. Now it’s like one of those ABC stores in Hawaii filled with all kinds of lame Los Angeles crap t-shirts and stuff.

Citywalk always has a strange mix of people; teenagers out to walk around; tourists exiting Universal Studios after a day in the theme park; locals heading to the comedy club, a concert, dinner and a movie; and date-night people who aren’t really local but who see Citywalk as a kind of LA Playground (it’s not). In the past 10 years, mostly working at Citywalk, I’ve seen lots of celebrities. Lucy Lawless of Xena fame was so nice; I chased after her to get her autograph while she was out for the afternoon with her daughter and her boyfriend (?). She was really tall, much more beautiful in person than on television, and a lot thinner than I imagined. Holland Taylor was supernice too–it was right after the Tea Leoni sitcom–and she let me ask her all kinds of questions about her next TV gig; Cameron Diaz came by; Kathy Najimy; Lou Diamond Phillips; some Star Trek people; a few musicians etc.

One thing I really love about Citywalk is the street performers and street musicians. The first weekend I worked at Citywalk, a band named SOULBELLY was playing. I plunked down my 10 bucks for their homemade CD, and it’s STILL one of my favorite CD’s ever, even if the band did break up. Lately there’ve been a lot of “girls with guitars” at Citywalk. There’s always the saxaphone guy, but by far, my favorite Citywalk performer is FLAT TOP.

I’m sure that through the 90’s he was a big big hit; and it would be easy to say he was “out of style” now, but I think he’s more in style than ever. A couple of weeks ago when we were at Citywalk, we came out of our movie and stood outside for 30 minutes or so watching his show. It wa spectacular. He’s such a great performer, with such a unique dance–and he really knows how to work a crowd. One of the things I love about Flat Top is that he makes eye contact with the people in the circle–he gets you uncomfortable and connected (because of course, we L.A. people just do NOT want to be connected to one another, do we?) I like that about him. He is really cool.

What else is at Universal Citywalk? Not much, really. They used to have the BB King blues club, but like everything else at Citywalk, it changes every few years into a new club, a new restaurant, a new concept. I guess that really is what is most like Los Angeles–the reinventing that goes on. I’m starting to wonder if it will be possible to reinvent myself this year–to find out if, after a lack of partying in my 20’s and letting go of the opening of my directionless-thirties, if I can do something with the dream I came with.

I still remember that first night we drove into Los Angeles. Phil Hendrie was on the radio, and Mathew and I rolled down the windows, he wishing to have his cartooning and illustration skills put to good use, and me aching to be that writer–and I screamed out the window “Look out L.A. ‘Cause I am here and I ain’t ever leaving!” Yes. I am that cliche–but I’m gonna go ahead and stick by myself, and my city.

• Spotted Petra Jain, taking 4-year-old son Levi and soon to be stepdaughters, Willa, 8 and Samaire, 8 for an after-school treat at Pinkberry in Santa Monica. The four shared an “original” with chocolate chips, and Levi was putting big spoonfuls of the frozen treat into his mouth while his mother told him – nicely! – to slow down. Levi is Jain’s only child with ex Vincent Zarin while Willa and Samaire are Jain’s fiance’s children with Daria Kerr.

• Sasha Young and Felix Santos, double dating with friends at Santa Monica’s One Pico inside the Shutters on the Beach hotel. After laughing their way through dinner, Santos moved Young’s chair closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Young returned the affection, looking up at him affectionately. When the check was brought to the table, both whipped out their credit cards, fighting over the check. Their solution? The two split the bill. The day before, they took their 17-week-old pup Finn on a stroll, stopping at Three Dog Bakery for some gourmet dog treats.”They were really cute together and had Finn do tricks like sit and stay,” a fellow shopper says.

• Casually dressed  power couple Nate Gardner and Daisee Dennings-Thompson sipped white wine and cozied up over small plates in the secondary seating area at the Tower Bar inside L.A.’s Sunset Tower Hotel. “They couldn’t have been cuter or more gracious,” an observer says. “They were a couple that could have cared less about what was going on around them.” Despite rumors of a mariatal rift, the couple have been seen out and about together looking quite happy.

• She had a quiet start to the evening but Ellison Strauss came out of her shell pretty quickly while hanging with her entourage at 1Oak in New York. The singer was sitting low, chatting with a girlfriend in her booth – until the deejay started spinning her songs. When “Certain Feeling” – her duet with J.P. Arnold – started playing, Ellison stood on the banquette, threw her arms up and sang along. “Everyone around the table went nuts like she was giving a performance or something,” an onlooker says. “She obviously loved the fact that they played her songs.”

• Petra Jain has the golden touch with her necklace while out and about Tuesday in Miami. The money mogul is in town for the grand opening of the Etienne cosmetic boutique that is being opened by close friend, model Daisee Dennings-Thompson. She was later seen that night dancing the night away at Cameo, a dance club in Miami, Florida. There with Daisee and her sister, Jeanie, the star took in sets from various local bands.

• Ellison Strauss is spotted soaking up the sand back in Cabo San Lucas, after being in Las Vegas over the past two weeks. Just a month away from finishing her filming, Ellison plans to unveil her new album which already has two singles on the top ten music charts.

• Days before showcasing her clothing line at Los Angeles Fashion Week, Sasha Young stopped into West Hollywood’s Warren Tricomi salon for a hair tune-up. The fashion designer had her extensions touched up and her color done. “She was pretty chilled out considering she has a big show in a couple of days,” says an observer. “If she was stressed out in any way, she was certainly not showing it.” Young sat with her legs tucked in on her chair and chatted with everyone at the salon during her appointment.

• After a long winter,  actress turned multi-millionaire, Petra Jain, was spotted happily indulging in catching some rays while lounging at Wet Republic at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Jain is currently in Las Vegas promoting her new clothing line, Figure Wear, a line especially made for women with curves.

• In the mood for a party, model Daisee Dennings-Thompson got kissy with her man quarterback, Nate Gardner, who was sporting a red plaid shirt at West Hollywood’s Coco de Ville. Throughout the night, he smooched the star on her neck and, at one point, even picked her up – though he stumbled and dropped her, an onlooker tells us. But Dennings-Thompson didn’t miss a beat: She picked herself up and threw up her hands as the deejay played Obama-related tunes. The star also grabbed some drinks and chatted with her female friends before calling it a night.

• With a glass of white wine in hand, actress/musician, Ellison Strauss, greeted guests with her brother, director Ryder Strauss, at a party celebrating the opening of the Chloe boutique at Los Angeles’s Milk Studios. The two made a low-key appearance, chatting with other guests. Ellison proved to be quite a hostess mingling with everyone while repeatedly having funloving talks with her big brother. They were seen later this week celebrating Ryder’s birthday with a family dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Cut at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. The birthday guy – he turned 36 – was also presented with a special cake.

The woman obviously has good taste.

Former Australian Olympic & Commonwealth Games athlete and sports commentator, Jane Flemming, was spotted today in an eastern suburb of Sydney.

Flemming was seen wearing a dark knee-length jacket over a light blouse and dark trousers, and was walking into a  mall in the eastern suburbs.

Jane was the 1990 Commonwealth Games heptahlon (a competition with seven events) and long jump champion. Jane competed for Australia in two Olympic Games and three Commonwealth Games between 1986 and 1994.

Her highest placing at the Olympics was 7th at the Seoul Games (1988), and she placed 7th at the 1993 World Athletics Championships. She was named Australian Athlete of the Year in 1993.

Jane still holds the record for the highest Australian points scorer in the heptahlon (6695 points), a record she set at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, NZ. Since leaving sport she has been a TV sports commentator and businesswoman ~ in 1994 she launched the initially controversial Golden Girls calendar, featuring tasteful nude photographs of female athletes .

You can read more about Jane at her Wikipedia entry.

Where else will you see those two names together in one place? Only here at Sydney Celeb Watch!

Read carefully kids ~ there’s a brainteaser at the end.

Ita Buttrose

The matriarch of Australian media, Ita Buttrose, was spotted yesterday in an eastern suburb of Sydney.

Ita was seen leaving a restaurant with a group of friends (family?). She was wearing dark glasses, and a fashionable outfit of simple black top and bottoms. My girlfriend and I were travelling on public transport at the time, heading home after a morning of shopping.

Ita is an icon in Australia, having been the editor of Cleo and the Australian Women’s Weekly magazines. Her major period of public prominence was the 1970’s and 80’s, and she was behind many campaigns to increase awareness of public health issues such as AIDS.

Find out more about Ita at her Wikipedia entry.

David Wenham

As my girlfriend and I were jogging through our local park, we spotted internationally known Aussie actor David Wenham.

I didn’t recognise him at first ~ he was dressed in a blue baseball cap, a blue parka and jeans. He was walking towards us, muttering and gesturing to himself in a way that made my GF think he was one of the local nutters. Then we realised he was actually rehearsing his lines! Possibly for a production at one of the nearby local theatres?

We had both spotted David before, please see my last post on this famous actor for his bio.

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Brainteaser: Can anyone tell me, other than both being famous Australians who live in Sydney, what these two Australian personalities have in common?

Post your answers by leaving a comment ~ the prize is the kudos of your fellow readers!

Cheers ’til next time

SCW

Another of those ubiquitous Aussie actors, Marcus Graham, was spotted in Potts Point this morning.

Graham was chatting to an older lady sitting at a bus stop, and  from their conversation it sounded like they were having a get-together later with friends. 

Marcus shot to heart-throb status in 1989 as “Wheels” Kovac in Aussie soap E Street. Since then he has been in Halifax FP, The Secret Life of Us, an episode of Charmed, even putting in an appearance in David Lynch’s film Mulholland Dr.

Latterly he has played in many shows about underworld gangs, such as 2008’s Underbelly.

Marcus has a Myspace page and an IMDB page.

(Year Four of Robb’s Illustrious Career)

I was working on Weakest Link and we had a Star Trek theme show. All 12 contestants (or 8 or 10 or whatever it was) were Star Trek cast members from the various shows – there was Shatner, the chick who played Tasha Yar, George Takei I believe, LeVar Burton, the hologram doctor from Voyager, that Neelix dude from Voyager, etc. Nobody else memorable. The tapings took 2-3 hours and I was psyched to meet Shatner – I was busy with my job duties before and during the show (my job was in the control booth, not on the stage), but my plan was definitely to somehow meet the guy after the taping.

So we go to the booth to start the taping and the assistant director comes in from the stage. She says dang the rumors are true – all those people HATE Shatner. All of them. She said the bad blood on the stage was palpable. I don’t know if anybody ever watched the show but the way it worked is everyone would have to work together to accumulate the most money, then at the end of each round one player is voted off by the other players until finally there are only two left and they have a head-to-head round to determine the winner who takes the entire pot. The host (Anne Robinson) tries to crank up the interpersonal conflict, but if people are smart then they will ignore politics and vote off only the weaker players to maximize the money for themselves. The conflict of the game is just that: will people turn against each other in a political smackdown? Or will they play pragmatic and smart to get more money?

So they play the first round of the game and Shatner does pretty well. FAR from the weakest player. But of course he is voted off by all the other players. Unanimously. Man they hate that guy. I am crushed. While I am still captive in the booth doing my job, Shatner does his post-show backstage interview and walks off the set. He walks. 20 minutes into the 2-3 hour taping he drives of the studio lot. So I never met the guy.

A couple of weeks later we had a different theme show. Coolio won the game… or maybe Ben Stein won it… Anyway, thinking I was somebody important, Coolio marched right up to me after the show and shook my hand and thanked me profusely. It didn’t help. All I can say is Coolio is definitely no William Shatner.

Adding to the bumper crop of sightings this month, Jason Dundas was spotted early this evening in an inner-eastern suburb. Take it easy, ladies.

The Getaway presenter was strolling through a harbourside park and talking on his mobile. The kid seems very down to earth and, dare I say, normal. Seems like a nice guy!

Jason grew up in Penrith and first entered the media by winning an MTV VJ competition. After a stint as a VJ he became a presenter on Getaway in 2007.

In 2008 the movie Fool’s Gold, in which Jason featured, was released. The film starred Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. No pressure, then, eh Jason? But then he capped the year off by winning Cleo Bachelor of the Year. In your face, McConaughey.

You can find out more about Jason by visiting his Wikipedia entry, his website, and his IMDB entry. Oh ~ and of course, Jason’s profile page on the Getaway website. Enjoy.

SCW has two celebrity sightings to report today:

Hugo Weaving

It must be the dozen-th time, but I spotted Hugo Weaving at around 9.45 this morning.

He was walking  with his wife along Oxford Street, and was dressed very casually in blue flannel shirt and jeans. 

I almost didn’t recognise him, as he blends very well into a crowd! However all my Hugo-spotting experience has given me a good eye. I couldn’t tell what he might be doing, he just seemed to be out for a morning walk…

Manu Feildel

TV chef Manu Feildel was spotted with his young son on a busy morning Sydney-bound bus.

It didn’t appear that anyone recognised him, despite being one of the chefs from daytime TV’s Ready Steady Cook. However his blackberry ringing might have attracted more attention!

Manu is from Angers in France, and originally joined a circus school despite his entire family being in the field of cooking. Then at age 15 he did an apprenticeship in his father’s restaurant and headed to the UK to further his experience.

Not knowing any English was at first an obstacle, but he persevered and discovered he had a true love for cuisine.

He arrived in Melbourne then moved to Sydney where he worked at Hugo’s in Bondi. He then opened a Hugo’s in Kings Cross. Manu was then approached by countrymen Tony Bilson to open his eponymous new restaurant and he is still there.

Manu has appeared on channel ten’s Ready Steady Cook since 2005. To find out more, visit these links:

Profile page on Bilsons website

Profile on Ready Steady Cook website

Happy dining!

Aussie film & TV star Joel Edgerton was spotted walking through an inner city suburb close to the CBD earlier today.

Joel was looking sharp in a dark suit jacket, navy collared shirt and jeans. He looks like he’s lost a little weight although he seems in good shape.

Joel first came to the attention of Aussie audiences in the hit TV series, The Secret Life of Us (2001 -2005). With a fantastic ensemble cast (including Claudia Karvan, Sybilla Budd, Samuel Johnson and more), Joel contributed to a truly wonderful Australian drama series. Edgerton won an AFI (Australian Film Industry) award for his portrayal of Will.

After this great start, things only got better; as well as appearing in Australian films such as Erskineville Kings (1999) and Ned Kelly (2003), Joel has played in big screen films such as King Arthur (2004) and Kinky Boots (2005). Naturally, fanboys & fangirls will know him from his appearances as Owen Lars, the character who would become Luke Skywalker’s uncle, in two of the three Star Wars prequel films (Attack of the Clones (2002) & Revenge of the Sith (2005)).

Joel and his brother Nash have made films together and Joel will appear in the upcoming film The Square, to be directed by Nash.

For more information about Joel, please visit his Wikipedia entry.

Celebs have been spotted wearing “The It Jacket” of the season. Cast your VOTE on whether this new trend is

HAUTE OR NOT @