Doggie Bag Archives

New York, June 10-16, 2006 – We finally learned the name of Paris Hilton’s new fragrance - “Just Me” – on Friday at the official launch at Macy’s department store in Manhattan. A crowd of fans packed the store to smell Hilton and to take in her witty comments.

The most popular candy at Dylan’s Candy Bar on Wednesday was pop singer Jesse McCartney, who hung with owner Dylan Lauren and the Oompa Loompas to unveil some new Willy Wonka brand confections.

That same morning, we were in glamorous Red Hook, Brooklyn, poolside on a cruise ship, with American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee singing live, just for us, while Martha Stewart and Gavin MacLeod, captain of The Love Boat, talked to us. This was not some bizarre dream; it was the launch of Princess Cruise Line’s new ship, the Crown Princess, at the new Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. It certainly was surreal, though.

Equally surreal is Senator Ted Kennedy's new children’s book, written from a dog’s perspective, My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C. Ted read to children at a school in New York City, and appeared at a bookstore - promotional activities that had been delayed several weeks thanks to his son Patrick Kennedy’s poorly-timed DUI “incident”.

You’d think rocker Prince could use some publicity these days, but the ultra-control freak insisted on erecting giant walls around Good Morning America’s stage in Bryant Park – to block anyone from filming his rehearsals. This was a first for GMA, as far as we know, and workers removed the black fabric-covered barriers when the purple one was ready.

New York, May 20-26, 2006 – You didn’t really expect celebrities to stay at home and pack for the Hamptons last week, did you? We mingled with some famous folks before they all decamped to their summer outposts, and here are a few loose ends from the week leading up to summer 2006.

West Point grads heard from President Bush, but the engineering nerds at Cooper Union got tips from future first husband Bill Clinton. Marrying a brilliant lawyer, like Bill did, is a great career move.

Geeks and democrats also got together on Thursday, when Wired magazine sponsored a panel discussion on Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Seriously, the global warming documentary could be a summer blockbuster. Don’t forget that Gore invented that Internet thing, and that’s gotten huge, from what we hear.

Chris Rock was in Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, smoking cigarettes in scenes for the movie I Think I Love My Wife. It was outdoors, people, outdoors, and it’s just a movie, but no doubt, every anti-smoking site will now link to this. They’ll all hate Chris.

Denis Leary rode a fire engine to the season premiere of his hit show, Rescue Me, where some reporter was asking about first jobs. Leary ticked off a slew of what he called lousy jobs, from washing dishes to cutting meat, while trying to make it in show business. He said he only got his first credit card at age 33. Co-star Tatum O’Neal said her first job was her Oscar-winning role in Paper Moon, at age ten.

The Longchamps boutique opening party on Tuesday was star-studded – Lucy Liu, Eva Mendes, Isabella Rossellini and Susan Sarandon with her dog and her daughter, Eva Amurri, all checked out the new Soho digs. The party was so packed you could barely move, and we know Uma Thurman loves sweaty parties. It was a bit overwhelming for pregnant Maggie Gyllenhaal, who took a seat, and whose eyes were drooping.

May 27-29, 2006 – With Hollywood and New York deserted for the long Memorial Day weekend, we headed out of town, too, following the celebrity trail through mid-America.

Famous folks are addressing college graduations everywhere at this time of year, but the U.S. Military Academy at West Point caught the biggest fish, President George W. Bush. W. personally greeted each 2006 graduate, and also waved to those families seated in the audience that yelled the loudest. Bush discussed the war on terrorism, and also officially “pardoned” the cadets for minor infractions committed during their school careers.

General H. Norman “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf, class of 1956, attended the ceremony, and, as you can tell by the frumpy chair he sat in, West Point has yet to embrace mid-century modern, or hire Philippe Starck to update their image. (No wonder yuppies aren’t attracted to military careers.)

Anyway, we took off for Indianapolis, where auto racing fans Ludacris, James Caviezel, Tim Allen, David Letterman and Ashley Judd all flitted around at the Indy 500. Singer Josh Kelley entertained the crowd, and he alluded to his lover from the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy – reportedly Katherine Heigl – but it was Dr. McDreamy, Patrick Dempsey, who joined him at the Indy. We’re just saying.

And then we headed through the heartland to Chicago, where Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston did not allude to their love at the premiere of The Break-Up.

New York, May 14-20, 2006 – Naomi Watts’ swearing in as a UNAIDS envoy was bitterly disappointing, as she didn’t wear the ring that her beau, Liev Schreiber, reportedly bought for her.

Of course, throughout the press conference, we focused entirely on the actress’ left hand, which, as at other recent public appearances, she kept inside her pocket much of the time. However, unlike at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, where she kept us guessing by wearing a ring on her middle finger, at the U.N. Watts’ hand was bare. This was especially disappointing since we hoped that Watts would take a cue from her good friend and fellow Australian Nicole Kidman, who carelessly flashed her diamond engagement ring at the U.N. back in January, long before she even acknowledged her relationship with country star Keith Urban. Clearly, Naomi Watts needs to relax.

Despite our assumption that the newly created “CW” TV network has something to do with “Country Western”, apparently it doesn’t. The network’s upfront presentation wasn’t the most exciting of the week, but they’re sure to have teenaged girls tuning in with hunks like Chad Michael Murray, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles in their shows. Unless she has a new concept in her corset, Tyra Banks won’t be doing country on the CW either.

Unless you bought a ticket for the super-fun Kids for Kids carnival, you probably didn’t want to go anywhere near the West Village on Saturday. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation fundraiser closed off a slew of neighborhood streets, as well as all of the gigantic Industria Superstudios space. Food, games, storytelling, music, face painting and even a luxe hair and makeup salon for little girls made the celebrity-filled carnival a smash.

April 30 - May 6, 2006 – As hard as we tried to infiltrate George Clooney’s hotel room after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, we had to wait until the next morning to see him. While we hoped for a romantic Sunday brunch, outdoorsy George insisted on a walk on the Washington mall, and we thought we’d snagged Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor when he introduced us to his father, Nick Clooney. But it turned out that George had organized a rally to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur, and invited a few hundred thousand other people along to meet his father, too. George should have asked his good buddies Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to have their baby in Darfur; the paparazzi would have elbowed those rebels out of the way within minutes!

Back in New York, George’s pal Julia Roberts faced David Letterman, despite poor reviews on her Broadway debut. While Scientology zealot Tom Cruise was taking over New York, Richard Gere quietly accepted the James Parks Morton interfaith award on Tuesday.

If you think Jerry Springer’s trashy talk show is repulsive, you should try watching him eat his namesake sandwich at the Carnegie Deli. We’re still having nightmares.

No wonder everyone cleared out of the Met’s Costume Institute Gala early on Monday - Clive Davis was giving out free donuts at Tower Records. Just before midnight, the music industry legend delivered the treats to Pearl Jam fans that had camped out for over 48 hours, waiting for the band’s new self-titled album to go on sale, May 2.

New York, April 10-16, 2006 – We pictured Anderson Cooper as the toga-clad star of Ridley Scott’s new Gladiator-based series on TNT, but it turned out that Cooper was only interviewing the British-born director at the network's upfront presentation. The two were at Madison Square Garden, where Turner Broadcasting wooed advertisers with stars like William H. Macy, Kyra Sedgwick, Magic Johnson and a performance by Lenny Kravitz. ER hottie Noah Wyle has a project in the upcoming season, but will apparently not be wearing a toga.

Monday was hectic in New York, with both the Scary Movie 4 and The Notorious Bettie Page premieres competing with some serious beauty over at the Waldorf, where Elizabeth Hurley and Ashley Judd hit the Very Hot Pink Party, a breast cancer research benefit. Elton John’s performance was beautiful to listen to.

A year after her smash album, The Emancipation of Mimi, was released, Mariah Carey’s popularity shows no signs of waning. Leaving MTV studios on Wednesday after a TRL appearance, Mariah was mobbed by fans in a Beatles-esque frenzy of adoration, the likes of which we’ve rarely seen.

LL Cool J continues on his way to being the cuddliest rapper around, and he greeted fans at Virgin Megastore to promote his new radio-friendly album, Todd Smith. Todd Smith is his real name.

Tennis pro Maria Sharapova is model-tall, gorgeous, graceful, and at 19, has a slew of endorsement contracts. She made us feel inadequate at Macy’s, where she signed autographs and promoted Tag Heuer watches. We’ve got to lose that ten pounds!

March 27 - April 2, 2006 - Immediately after Tuesday’s premiere of the box office blockbuster Ice Age 2, we dashed around the corner to the Museum of Modern Art, for a screening of the movie Drawing Restraint 9. Directed by Matthew Barney, and starring his girlfriend, Icelandic singer Bjork, Drawing Restraint 9 is expected to gross far less than Ice Age 2. (But you never know, right?) Anyway, Bjork didn’t disappoint, displaying her unusual sartorial daring in a colorful Asian-inspired outfit. She refused interviews, and charmingly declined to smile.

The week brought a very small premiere for the very big star of 95 Miles to Go, a documentary following Ray Romano and his friend, Tom Caltabiano, on their drive through the south on a standup comedy tour. We thought Ray never leaves Long Island.

Hip-hop artist Big Boi copped a leading role in ATL, and half of Hollywood turned up at the premiere to wish him luck. Will Smith, Kelly Rowland, Venus and Serena Williams, Diana Ross, Brandy and Bow Wow were just some of those checking out the film.

March 20-26 – Latin pop star Thalia shopped at Kmart this week, she paid cash, and when the paparazzi appeared, she didn’t even try to hide it! And even though she’s married to wealthy music executive Tommy Mottola, the Mexican-born singer then walked – yes walked! - ten blocks to her next destination. But this wasn’t exactly a case of stars being just like us. Thalia was at Kmart to support the work of the March of Dimes, and 100 of her fans got to walk with her to the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, where she rang the closing bell on Tuesday. Maybe tech stocks really are coming back.

You probably won’t get to talk to Cynthia Nixon if you call 1-866-KIDS-NYC, but the Sex and the City alum helped launch the hotline, aimed at improving education for New York City schoolchildren, at City Hall on Thursday.

Friends star David Schwimmer began rehearsals for the play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial this week, and while he allowed the press in for a look, he was his usual less-than-friendly self, and didn’t say much.

Courtney Peldon, sometime Boston Public guest star, fulltime Go Fug Yourself star, was at the Hollywood premiere of the HBO documentary Dealing in Dogs. Peldon confirmed that she is, in fact, engaged to actor Crispin Glover, and held up her ring for us to see. She said she’ll be changing her name to Glover, so keep an eye out for a Courtney Glover page on GFY. Maybe Peldon picked up some style tips from Project Runway contestant Santino Rice, who was also at the premiere.