One problem with having been around so damned long (besides the aches and pains & club DJ terror dreams) is that there are many people one has a history with. When my dear husband, the Mod Cousin, told me that he wanted to attend the final performance of Simply Red, I immediately went into a rant about what a HUGE asshole Mick Hucknall was back when. The ginger one was roundly despised by anyone who worked at Palladium because he never failed to act like an entitled jackass whenever he would grace us with his presence. No one would have it. As often as he would push his way through the front door crowd and jump over the rope, that’s how often security ushered him back to the outside of the rope and left ...
FRED ROTHBELL-MISTA RIP
By Anita Sarko
Friday, 3/6/2009 3:58 PM
RIP
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When I found a message on Facebook from Steve Lewis about the funeral for Fred Rothbell-Mista, I was STUNNED. I knew that Fred had the HIV virus, but he had been living with it for so long, I just assumed he could go on forever. Well, as they say, “The word ASSUME makes an ASS of U and ME.” It also made ME feel very very sad. I didn’t even know Fred had been in the hospital, let alone that he had entered a hospice. That’s the problem with knowing someone for decades: You tend to take their presence in your life for granted. Longtime friends have a tendency to float in and out of one’s life. You might not see each other for YEARS, but, when you do come together, you just carry on the conversation without any guilt trips. Those ...
A SIGHTING IN SOHO: STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!!!
By Anita Sarko
Friday, 1/9/2009 11:50 AM
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Sometimes I forget that I live in a special city. After a while, glamorous Manhattan just became HOME. And what does one do at home? You know…boring shit…like having to exchange a sweater that I somehow bought in the wrong size, despite having tried it on in the RIGHT size. THAT was a drag…a mysterious drag, but still a drag.
Therefore, off I went back to Uniglo, hoping the cashmere sale was still on and hoping that they would still have that gorgeous purple turtleneck in the right size. As I rounded the corner from the 6 train to Broadway, I was confronted by a scene out of a movie! Actually seeing a scene being shot for a movie is so commonplace in NYC, I've ceased asking the workers lounging around outside the trailers what's shooting. I just quickly glance to see if someone famous is visible and either ...
“RACHEL GETTING MARRIED” PREMIERE
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 9:06 PM
Movies
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You know you’ve had a great time at an event when you’ve made a total jackass out of yourself TWICE, yet you still recall the night fondly. I first screwed up when I asked Eric Alger, the PMc Bookings Director, to ask Andrew Saffir if I could attend his Cinema Society after party for “Rachel Getting Married”. I’m in the movie, so, since this was the premiere, I thought it would be fun to see people I hadn’t seen in a year: The scenes I was in were filmed at the end of last September and October. I told Eric to tell Andrew I didn’t need to come to the screening because I had already seen a screening. Stupid me didn’t realize that early screenings for cast and crew and family and friends actually feature a film still in flux. After the screenings, the film appeared at both ...
FASHION WEEK: BETSEY JOHNSON
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 9:05 PM
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As usual, Betsey’s show was joyous. It’s always fun to see old friends there and Betsey and Chantal’s personalities permeate the atmosphere. You can’t feel depressed at a Betsey Johnson show. Well, you CAN, but it requires great conviction. Before one recent show, a temporary cap suddenly dislodged itself in my mouth, so I became cranky as hell. I was in such PAIN, I had to dislodge the rest of myself and scamper off to the dentist. I missed the entire presentation. (sob) I chatted with my old friend Nick Graham, the great genius behind Joe Boxer. He had just arrived that morning and was off to London. Nick provided one of the most unforgettable Fashion Week moments years ago when he staged his show, the final one of the week, in ICELAND. We all met in a private Icelandic Air lounge where the party had already started. ...
FASHION WEEK: MARC!
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 9:00 PM
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Happily, I live two minutes from the New York State Armory, which has always been (except for a VERY few times) the home of Marc’s shows. In fact, as I was peddling past the Armory late in the afternoon of the Monday show, I spied current SHE’S EVERYWHERE! SHE’S EVERYWHERE! It-model, Agyness Deyn…who looks like another of the funny-named spawn of the late infamous Brit mess Paula Yates… meandering about the side door. And many people were going in and out to many trucks. Showtime! I love living so near because I can just leave home right at showtime and, if the start time been held up (as it usually is), I can go back home until it is REALLY slated to go on. That’s a great option when the weather is poor and they won’t even let people in the front door. This time, I literally floated ...
FASHION WEEK CONTINUES: VICTORIA SECRET’S SWEET SUITE
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 8:58 PM
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God, am I glad I went to this! Thankfully, the sky had rained itself out by sun-up, so I climbed on my trusty pink Schwinn and peddled over to the Bryant Park Hotel on Sunday. I parked the bike and walked through Bryant Park, which was packed with people noshing and enjoying the fab weather. I passed a photographer from PMc past, who, though enjoying a beverage and basking in the sun, was bemoaning the lack of celebrities. Poor baby. Really poor baby since, just as I crossed the front of the entrance to the tents, ANNA was click-clacking down the steps to the street. The bob and glasses were in place and she was wearing a colorful yellow summery cotton full bell-ish skirt. This was topped with a white man’s shirt. Maybe it was Shelby’s. Got to the hotel and shocked the person with the list because ...
FASHION EEEK!!!!!!!! BEGINS FOR ME: PATRICIA FIELD
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 8:57 PM
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“Oh, Anita’s going to write ALL about it!” I heard Patty McMelt say to somebody, as we assembled our rain gear while exiting the Edison Ballroom. Easy for HIM to say! Nevertheless, here I am tap-tapping away in the wee hours on the ol’ Mac (the desktop, not Patrick) in order to please Masser. (Sob) “It” referred to the spectacular spectacle we had just witnessed: “Destination Style”, Pat Field and David Dalrymple’s ROCKIN’ fashion show. It was a regular happening, a be-in, a celebration, a glorious attack on one’s senses, etc., etc. In fact, unlike 99% of Fashion Week offerings, it was FUN! What a brave new concept! Before I go any further, I would like to thank Loren and Christopher for saving my giant ass by seeing that that ass was seated after I was given a dreaded STANDING assignment. “I’d rather go home than stand.” I ...
“HAMLET 2”: A REVIEW
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 8:55 PM
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If you’re looking for the ultimate end-of-summer date movie, go see “Hamlet 2”.
I’ll assume that you’ve already seen “The Dark Knight”. And I hope you saw that on IMAX because, if you didn’t, you fucked up. The cinematographer (Wally Pfister) and director (Christopher Nolan) really knew how to exploit “The IMAX Experience”. The night I saw it, the entire audience audibly moaned, “Wow!” as soon as the opening shot completed its trippy course. It was honestly worth getting home at 4 AM afterwards. Now the big box office champ is “Tropic Thunder”, which I haven’t seen and, because it’s number one, I’ll wait a couple of weeks to fill that void.
So…if you’ve seen one and can’t get into the other, go see “Hamlet 2”. It’s adorable. The ending isn’t going to take you by surprise, but it’s a ...
A PARTY FOR BRIAN ANTONI’S “SOUTH BEACH: THE NOVEL”
By Anita Sarko
Saturday, 1/3/2009 8:54 PM
Books
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I must admit that I inwardly groaned when Patty Mac suggested I might want to attend the party he was co-hosting for his dear friend Brian Antoni’s newest tome, South Beach: The Novel. My reluctance had NOTHING whatsoever to do with Brian, who I have always found to be a kind and lovely man. My problem was one that many of you will relate to: After a full day of work I am usually so tired I just want to sit on my big fat ass and drown in TV.
The day approached and I decided to be a good girl. I even brought a change of clothing to the PMc studio to get all gussied up in. My usual slovenly daytime costume is a thrift store sweater, a pair of Vans and old six-waist-sizes-too-large jeans that I’ve been told ...
“TEETH” DOESN’T BITE
By Anita Sarko
Wednesday, 1/30/2008 3:57 PM
Movies
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I was steadfastly avoiding every screening I had been invited to to see “Teeth”. I was afraid it would either be some cheesy misogynistic nightmare or some overly earnest feminist dribble. I’m so tired of bad movies.
Besides, I’ve always considered January to be a vacation month and, if I can’t get away physically, I can certainly do it mentally. Nevertheless, I was getting kind of bored. Along came another “Teeth” screening. This one was at MOMA, so it possessed a special allure. In the end, the boredom over-rode the fear of bad movies and the luxury of total inactivity.
On the day of the screening, I almost cancelled because I had slept poorly the night before, it was raining and both of my knees ached as a result of two separate holiday mishaps. The idea of schlepping around ...
I AM EXTRA
By Anita Sarko
Thursday, 1/10/2008 11:10 PM
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It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything here, but I have some good excuses (as far as I’M concerned). First, Hollywood called (well, actually it was Stamford, Connecticut) and then London emailed. Too bad the modes of communication weren’t reversed so I could have sound tracked this with a nice Clash song. But, alas…
As much as I can tell you about the Hollywood adventure is this:
Sometime last year, my pal Jenny Lumet and I were both at the housewarming our old pal Lisa Edelstein (don’t you just LOVE “House”?) threw at her lovely new Manhattan apartment. Or, maybe it was a birthday party…I can’t remember, actually. I know I’ve been to Lisa’s new place twice and ONCE was for a housewarming. But, that’s not the point. The point is that Jenny ...
Linda Stein
By Anita Sarko
Sunday, 11/4/2007 6:12 PM
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I have absolutely no idea how I met Linda Stein; she just seemed to appear in my life. Her appearances were infrequent, but always a joy. She was just a part of THE SCENE …in its most macro definition. Having arrived in NYC in 1979, I’ll assume that she and Danny Fields were no longer managing The Ramones at that time, so it couldn’t have been through hanging around THEM. I attended a lot of their shows, but it was at the behest of Arturo Vega, who was their artistic director & lighting director. I never recall Linda being part of those bus trips to gigs and, believe me, if Linda was ANYWHERE, you knew it. She was hardly a quiet mouse.
What I do know is that she was always a positive presence. She hired me to DJ her daughter Samantha’s ...
JURY DUTY DIARIES
By Anita Sarko
Sunday, 8/26/2007 9:14 PM
Jury Duty
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Everyone (living here legally) knows that sick feeling one gets when a certain white multi-layered cardboard “envelope” sporting a red slash above the addressee’s name appears in the mailbox. You know what it is even before you read the dreaded words “Important: Jury Summons Enclosed”. Argh!
Mine summoned me during a really busy time here at the PMc studio, so I immediately requested a postponement for August. Alas…along came August and along came my new summons. The gig was up. Nowadays, we are only allowed one extension and outright dismissal from one’s civic duty has gone the way of those cell phones that were the size of baby whales.
I still get misty-eyed over those halcyon days of yore. I was free and clear for YEARS because I had dragged my ass over to the County Clerk… ...
“THE SIMPSONS” SCREENING AND THE “EL CANTANTE” AFTER PARTY: A NIGHT OUT WITH MUSTO
By Anita Sarko
Tuesday, 8/21/2007 8:33 PM
Movies
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My darling Musto invited me to accompany him to a screening and another movie’s after party. The screening was for “The Simpsons” and the after party was for “El Cantante”, which Musto had already seen. It all sounded great because I’m not enough of a “Simpsons” fan to have ever thought to pay to see the LONG version and, even though I’m a big Marc Anthony fan and would have wanted to see THAT movie (I’m also a fan of Hector Lavoe’s work, whose bio “El Cantante” is based upon), I was sure it would play well on TV some other time. Besides, I already knew the story of Lavoe’s messed-up life.
The party was slated for Cipriani 42nd St., so it was certain to be lavish and filled with food and drink. Of course, WHY it was at an ...