"COMMON sense is not so common," said Voltaire.
I KNOW I shouldn't be, but I continue to be astounded by what people at the highest levels of various business -- and just plain folks -- put into emails, on Facebook, iPhone, iCloud, Twitter, Instagram and whatever else is out there, making fools of so many.
I'm probably guilty of being too indiscreet at times in my own emails, but I can't imagine anybody mucking through my hard drive, or caring. Anyway, I still actually write notes, a lot of notes. And I make phone calls.
The latest computer hacking scandals, with movie executives calling Angelina Jolie a "minimally talented spoiled brat" and others making somewhat racist jokes about President Obama's taste in films, is amazing. Especially the latter. Not that these exchanges were so terrible, just people attempting to be "funny."
Does nobody think before pressing "send"? This is hardly the first hacking event, hardly the first time emails or photos have come back to bite movie actors and politicians in the backside. Not to mention all the regular people out there who have found intimate online conversations and picture exchanges made public and "gone viral."
Of course, sometimes these things are not accidents. Nobody can make me believe that the aide to a GOP congressman, who typed out a vicious Facebook rant about the daughters of President Obama, didn't know exactly what she was doing. That the remarks would get out, get big play and then be applauded by all those conservatives who irrationally loathe Obama boggles the mind. Her "apology" was a joke. She never mentioned the teenage girls she trashed. It was all about her prayer, and her parents and her regret. Her, her, her! Then she was fired. But I can't help feeling that is exactly what she wanted -- martyrdom. We'll see this person again, believe me.
EMBARASSED Hollywood execs will survive joking about Obama, especially with the president's popularity down.
Sony Picture's co-chairman, Amy Pascal, whose producer pal Scott Rudin trashed Angelina Jolie, actually has a bigger problem, although photos have surfaced of Pascal and Jolie embracing -- this after the "leak." In the pic, Jolie is staring blankly, with a slight grasp on Pascal. Amy has a firm two-armed grip on the star. Pascal's face is obscured, but you just know she's saying, "Angie, darling!"
The profits of Jolie's movies -- like those of all actors, even the biggest -- vary. But this actress remains probably the top female star in the world, still.
And it's not just Jolie. She and hubby Brad are a juggernaut, especially in certain types of films. Everybody wants a slice of that pie. And some people want to join in their philanthropies.
Bring back the postal service!
OH, and all the brouhaha over Sony's comedy "The Interview" about two idiots (James Franco and Seth Rogen) attempting to assassinate North Korea's Kim Jong-un, is well deserved.
What an appalling idea, no matter what kind of man or leader Kim is. Imagine if North Korea made a movie about assassinating an American president -- just for "fun." Nobody here would think it was very funny.
"IN HER EXQUISITE, almost painterly studies, in both individual portraits and in groups, Annie Leibovitz has produced an unparalleled portrait of the men and women who have driven the culture of the last half century," writes Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter.
This is just one of the quotes extolling Annie, and now for the gift for that person who thinks they have almost everything. "ANNIE'S BIG BOOK" comes for only $2,500 and is a collector's edition of No. 1,000 to 10,000 volumes of great photo after photo. (There is also an "Art Edition" for $5,000.) The promotion of this item from Taschen can be seen in their stores all over the world from Amsterdam to Brussels, Cologne, Hamburg, Hollywood, New York and Paris, of course. When you unfold the promo for this work of art with Whoopi Goldberg on the cover, barely exposing herself in a milk bath, you have to stretch both arms wide to look at it. (In addition to Whoopi, you can buy this very special book with Patti Smith, David Byrne or Keith Haring on the cover you select.)
I have been photographed by Annie myself, twice, but I'm betting I'm not in this work of art because everybody else is in it. And I don't know anybody who can afford to buy it. But there must be people simply itching to throw money around. And then they can pay extra for Marc Newson's specially designed tripod stand on which to display the book. Onward and upward with the arts!
SPEAKING OF spending money, I love it that almost every one of my Christmas cards so far is of famous people's children. I even heard from the controversial screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who helped make a star out of Sharon Stone in "Basic Instinct," went so far as to threaten the Hollywood agent Michael Eisner, got off drug and eventually moved with the woman he loved (Naomi) to an aptly named Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and got religion. He quotes Mother Teresa in his card ("It is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand") and his boys Joe, Nick, John Law and Luke are movie star handsome themselves.
And just to keep our standards up here, how about the card and photo from Audrey and Martin Gruss, who I usually associate with Palm Beach. Their card shows them posing with a 1936 Bugatti Type 57 in front of Hampton Court Palace in London. (And Palm Beach natives used to say this marriage would "never last." I guess the Gruss family and the Bugatti showed them!)
I RECEIVED one of those "nostalgia" letters this week from Jim Mitchell, who, in his and my heyday, used to visit El Morocco every night -- he to "work" and me to look on. He expresses sadness over the death of former fashion designer and good guy, Luis Estevez, a friend of ours for over 50 years. Jim writes: "I arranged a party for Luis and his wife, Betty, to give at Le Bijou on West 4th Street in New York. It was to celebrate Vivien Leigh and Jean-Pierre Aumont, who were starring in "Tovarich" on Broadway.
At the supper party none other than Greta Garbo appeared, as well as Rock Hudson, George Hamilton, Arlene Dahl and Jerome Zipkin, who later scored as a friend of the Reagans. I just invited people and they came. I didn't know what I was doing in those days, as you told it in your memoir; we were both just having a ball observing the rich and famous at play. When word got around that Garbo and Rock were in Le Bijou, 1,000 people gathered outside the restaurant. There were lots of police on call. It was madness. But fun. And, p.s., Dolores Sherwood Guinle Littman Ruspoli Bosshard died this week in Palm Beach. Her ashes are being buried at Trinity Church in Manhattan on January 17. -- Too much sadness. I am going to start having a good time again this very night. You do too!"
YOU CAN plan to join the gang New Year's Eve at Barbetta, which has been operating on West 46th Street since 1906. Ballroom dancing to the Felix Swing Band, multicourse dinner, black tie suggested, white tie would be divine! Call 212-246-9171, or email barbetta100yrs(at)aol.com. Only $185 for a night to remember! Sorry I won't be there, I'll be having fun in the sun somewhere.
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