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Sex and the Saudi

New novel The Girls of Riyadh gets mixed reaction in the Arab country

Photo: First-time Saudi author Rajaa al-Sanie, 24, has caused a firestorm in the Arab country with her novel The Girls of Riyadh.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – It’s hardly Sex and the City, but by Saudi standards The Girls of Riyadh is a bombshell. The fictional tale of the loves, dreams and disappointments of four young women in the capital has, not surprisingly, drawn criticism in a country where women are not supposed to date or have a love life until married. More striking, however, is the degree of support being voiced for 24-year-old author Rajaa al-Sanie and her first novel. In the novel, Sadeem's husband divorces her because she's too sexually bold for his liking. Qamra discovers soon after her wedding that her husband is in love with a Japanese woman. Mashael's boyfriend cannot marry her because her mother is American. Only Lamis finds true and lasting love. The Girls of Riyadh was published in September in Lebanon, the most liberal of Arab countries, and is going into its third printing. In Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are strictly segregated, authorities haven't decided whether to approve its sale, but pirated editions are circulating in photocopy form. Author Mariam Abdel-Karim al-Bukhari, writing in the newspaper Al Riyadh, said she hasn't read the book but nonetheless believes the title “is hurtful to the girls in our country.” She wants al-Sanie to change it, or “issue an apology to the girls of Riyadh.” But glowing praise comes from Ghazi al-Qusaibi, a renowned Saudi author who is also the kingdom's labour minister. He calls it “a work that deserves to be read. I expect a lot from this author.” Educator Hussah al-Ghanem agrees. “I support her 100 per cent,” she said. “People should talk about the positive and negative aspects of their society.” Al-Sanie, fresh out of dental school, is a petite brunette who wears an Islamic head scarf, like virtually all Saudi women. She says a few of al-Sanie's friends have cut her off because “They don't want to hurt their marriage prospects by associating with a bold friend.” Her biggest supporter is her family.  “Before the book was published, I asked Rajaa, ‘Are you willing to go the extra mile for this?’” said her brother, Ahmed. “She's not married yet, and society doesn't forgive or forget.” The book, which isn't available in English, is told in the form of weekly e-mails from a female narrator to Internet subscribers in Saudi Arabia, portrays four women whose stories are based on true-life ones that al-Sanie says she has heard at weddings, in school and at women's gatherings. Many in the Arab world are comparing it to Sex and the City, the TV series about four young women in New York City, though there is so sex in The Girls of Riyadh, only emotions. The novel opens with Qamra marrying Rashed in a lavish ceremony, having already been advised by her ultra-conservative mother not to consummate her marriage on her wedding night lest she be judged “easy.” The couple moves to the United States, only for Qamra to discover that Rashed married her to appease his parents, who wouldn't let him marry his real love, a Japanese woman. Rashed soon divorces Qamra and sends her home pregnant. To protect its reputation, her family bans her from returning to college or going out much with her girlfriends. Meanwhile, Sadeem sleeps with Walid after their marriage contract is signed but before she moves in with him. Shocked at her “boldness” and interest in sex, Walid divorces her. She develops a phone relationship with a Saudi man and would like him for a husband, but being a divorcee makes that impossible and she ends up marrying a cousin. Mashael is the half-American who once broke the ban against women driving by dressing as a man, renting a car and driving her girlfriends around the city. She and her boyfriend, Faisal, meet at a mall and fall in love but don't marry because his mother doesn't want a half-American for a daughter-in-law. And finally there's Lamis, who marries Nizar and finds happiness because unlike the other three women, she has let her head govern her heart and made sure he is right for her. Al-Sanie says she wrote the book to highlight issues that society denies. “I didn't distort the country's reputation. I wrote about humanity here,” she said. “I wanted to show that both men and women are victims of society.” Al-Sanie says that among many readers who have e-mailed her is a man who got the book from his divorced daughter. “He told me it made him cry and made him realize what women go through,” she said. “He decided that his daughter will not live the traditional life of a divorcee.”

The Most Expensive and Wanted Artworks in the World
 

If a piece is “truly, truly to die for” and is still in private hands, it is no doubt on someone else’s wish list. Like that $100 million Cézanne

By Kelly Tomas

Photo: Les baigneurs au repos , 1875-76 (160 Kb); Bathers at Rest; Oil on canvas, 82 x 102.2 cm (32 1/4 x 39 7/8 in); The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania.

 Steve Wynn is approached on a regular basis about works he owns, such as his Tahitian Gauguin, Bathers, 1902. He reportedly paid close to $35 million for it. The Museum of Modern Art has one. So does Los Angeles collector Eli Broad. They can be predictable or idiosyncratic, practical or fantastical. But most wish lists are very, very private. “That’s really personal stuff,” a top New York collector chuckled when asked to name his most wanted artworks still in private hands. Yearning—the more discreet the better—makes the art world go ’round. Dealers and auction specialists at the top of their game know where the most wanted artworks are at any given moment and what price might wrest a coveted object from its owner. Museum curators keep track of the same information to court loans and gifts. Collectors, meanwhile, no matter how desired the works in their own collections, always have an eye on something else.“ We all have our wish lists but we don’t go around talking about them. It gets in the way of our getting the work,” says Miami art collector Donald Rubell. “We hope that when our friends die, their children won’t like their art. Those are our silent wishes.

Jackson Pollock’s Lucifer, a prime 1947 drip painting owned by the Anderson Collection in San Francisco, is so coveted it could fetch $50 million or more, sources say, were it ever to come on the market. (Don’t hold your breath: entertainment mogul David Geffen, who owns Pollock’s coveted Number 5, 1948, offered the Andersons $50 million for Lucifer in the mid-1990s, according to sources, and was rejected.)Shipping magnate George Embiricos owns Cézanne’s The Cardplayers (1892–93), the only work in the series in private hands, which experts say could be worth as much as $100 million. Canadian publisher Kenneth Thomson and his son, David, recently paid $76 million for Rubens’s recently discovered The Massacre of the Innocents (ca. 1609–11) at Sotheby’s, against competition from the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Yet Rembrandt’s 1654 portrait Jan Six (owned by the Six family foundation in Amsterdam), says New York dealer Otto Naumann, is possibly the most wanted Old Master painting in private hands. “It is a killer,” says Naumann. “It is worth in excess of $150 million easily.” The whereabouts of the most expensive painting ever sold at auction—van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890), which sold for $82.5 million at Christie’s in 1990 and $90 million seven years later in a private sale through Sotheby’s—remain a mystery but to a select few. (They’re not talking.) But hotel-casino mogul Steve Wynn, for one, would rather acquire van Gogh’s Portrait of Patience Escalier (1888) or the artist’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe (1889), both of which are owned by the Niarchos family, heirs of the late Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos. “Those are the two pictures I’d want before Dr. Gachet,” Wynn told ARTnews. “Dr. Gachet is known primarily because of the amount of money that was spent on it.”   San Francisco collector John A. Pritzker owns the most expensive photograph known to have been sold: Man Ray’s Glass Tears (1932–33), for which he paid a reported $1.3 million four years ago. Today Peter MacGill, president of New York’s Pace/MacGill Gallery, who sold the vintage print to Pritzker, says the photograph’s value has increased substantially. “There are some Man Rays that are worth a couple million dollars,” says MacGill. When asked which images would command such a sum, he replied, “Now you’re putting me in a tough spot. I’m trying to get one.” Fans of Damien Hirst would love to get their hands on the artist’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)—a 14-foot tiger shark floating in formaldehyde that is owned by Charles Saatchi and could be worth several million today, sources say. Saatchi reportedly paid around $75,000 for it. And the popularity of Thomas Cole’s iconic The Falls of Kaaterskill (1826) continues to astound its owner, paper manufacturing tycoon Jack Warner of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who says, “You know, it’s been to the Vatican.” (It was shown in “A Mirror of Creation: 150 Years of American Nature Painting” at the Vatican Museums in 1980.) Specific works land on wish lists because of what collectors do, or more often don’t, already own. Some collectors are haunted by not having acted quickly enough in the past and fear they will be priced out of the market for an artist or body of work. Others are moved by a new or renewed appreciation of a particular period in an artist’s career. Or by a desire to reunite works in a series that was not kept together. Sometimes the pursuit simply comes down to ego.

“It is a matter of being persistent and finding these works and going for them,” says Simon de Pury, chairman of Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg, who adds, “People who go after these things do not want to point them out and do not want them pointed out.” When major works in private collections become available, astounding sums are paid. “Iconic paintings by key artists are what this market seems to want,” says New York dealer Michael Findlay. “There are certain artworks that are hot eternally—a Tahitian Gauguin, Monet’s “Water Lilies”—iconic things that collectors talk about generically rather than specifically.” Wynn says he is approached on a regular basis about works he owns, such as his Tahitian Gauguin, Bathers (1902), for which he reportedly paid close to $35 million, and van Gogh’s Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat (1890), for which he paid $47.5 million. “We all know what the other guy’s got,” says Wynn of major collectors willing to spend tens of millions of dollars on a work of art. “Approaches at this level are very serious. It is usually direct and done very casually. We talk back and forth: ‘If you are ever going to sell that picture, don’t call anyone. Call me." It took Wynn several years to acquire Picasso’s Le Rêve (1932), a portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter, the artist’s mistress, after losing it to collector Wolfgang Flöttl, who paid $48.4 million for it at Christie’s in 1997.

Three years ago, Wynn paid close to $60 million to acquire it from Flöttl, according to sources, and bring it to Las Vegas, where he plans to install it in his $2 billion Wynn Las Vegas hotel slated to open in 2005. (Wynn declined to comment on the price he paid for the work or the identity of the seller.) Seattle collectors Mary and Jon Shirley own the most expensive sculpture known to have been sold.  The couple paid more than $30 million several years ago to acquire Constantin Brancusi’s bronze Bird in Space (1926) from collector Hester Diamond in a private sale arranged through New York dealer Vivian Horan. Last year Brancusi’s Danaïde (ca. 1913) doubled expectations to sell for $18.2 million—a record for any sculpture sold at auction—to an anonymous buyer at Christie’s. “If you have a stellar A-plus museum work, the feeling in the market is that these works keep making more than anyone would have thought,” says David Norman, cochairman of Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern department worldwide. “Whenever someone goes out on a limb and pays an unprecedented price for an outstanding work, the market always seems to catch up and exceed it.”

 

Large view of Bird in SpacePhoto: Bird in Space (L’Oiseau dans l’espace), 1932–40. Polished brass, 151.7 cm high, including base. Peggy Guggenheim Collection. 76.2553 PG 51. Constantin Brancusi © 2003 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Sold for more than $30 millions.

For example, Ronald Lauder, chairman of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, paid close to $50 million in 1997 for Cézanne’s Still Life, Flowered Curtain, and Fruit (1904–6), in a private deal arranged through Paris dealer Daniel Malingue, who was representing an unidentified seller. Two years later, Sotheby’s sold Cézanne’s Still Life with Curtain, Pitcher, and Bowl of Fruit (1893–94) for a record $60.5 million. Wynn, who bid on the painting at auction, privately acquired the work several months later for an undisclosed price. In recent years, demand has increased dramatically for postwar American artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Clyfford Still, Willem de Kooning, and Roy Lichtenstein. Leonard Lauder, chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art, paid $26 million three years ago for Johns’s 0-9 (1961) through New York dealer Arne Glimcher, acting on behalf of an anonymous seller. He then donated the painting, along with a trove of other works, to the museum. “Art of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s has passed the test of time,” says Los Angeles collector Eli Broad. “Collectors are more comfortable buying those artists now than when they first emerged because people didn’t know then how the work would be viewed historically.” Broad is looking to add a 1961 Twombly (he already owns six works by the artist) and an early Johns, from the 1950s (he has ten from other periods), to his collection. Broad, who says he would also like to acquire a Ron Mueck and a great Hirst, recently approached Saatchi, through a dealer, about the possibility of acquiring some works from Saatchi’s collection. “We are not close to doing it,” Broad told ARTnews in September. “Some works he is willing to part with. Some he is not. It always comes down to price.”

Photo: Jeff Koons, Courtesy Jeff Koons Studio

Geffen has the largest private holdings of works by Pollock, Johns, and de Kooning, including de Kooning’s Woman III (1952–53) and Interchange (1955). He owns one of the best Johns works in private hands: Target with Plaster Cast (1955), a collage with plaster casts of body parts in compartments, worth tens of millions today, says San Francisco dealer Richard Polsky. Alfred H. Barr Jr., founding director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, famously passed on acquiring the work for $1,500 because it includes a compartment containing a green cast of a penis. Geffen also owns Johns’s False Start (1959), which he bought from publisher S.I. Newhouse Jr., along with a group of other works, in the early 1990s. Newhouse had paid a breathtaking $17 million for the work in 1988. “Ninety-eight percent of Geffen’s collection should be in a museum,” says David Ross, former director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney. “Museums salivate over the collection.” Another most wanted Johns work, Diver (1962), is owned by Miami collector Norman Braman, who paid $4.18 million for it in 1988.

“Today it’s worth vastly more,” says Amy Cappellazzo, codirector of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s. New York collector Agnes Gund, president emerita of the Modern, who owns Twombly’s 1961 Untitled (Rome), regrets not acquiring one of Twombly’s “blackboard” paintings from the late 1960s when she had a chance ten years ago. “Now they are much too much,” says Gund of the works that can command nearly eight-figure sums. Arshile Gorky is another favorite. “I’ve always coveted Gorky,” says Gund, who owns his painting Housatonic Falls (1943–44). Other important Gorkys in private hands include To Project, to Conjure (1944), owned by New York collector Stephen Swid, and Scent of Apricots on the Fields (1944), which Newhouse acquired in recent years, according to sources, from collector Thomas Lee, who paid $3.9 million for it at Sotheby’s in 1995. Geffen, who owns Gorky’s Charred Beloved I (1946), has tried to lure the artist’s The Plow and the Song (1947) and Mark Rothko’s White Band, No. 27 (1954) away from collector Anne Marion, according to sources, but she won’t sell them. "They are two of the most beautiful paintings I have,” says Marion. Early 1990s works by Brice Marden, such as his “Cold Mountain” series (1988–91), are also sought after and hard to come by. Several people, according to sources, have recently tried to pry Marden’s The Muses (1991–93), an $8 to $10 million picture, away from the Daros Foundation in Zurich. A great black-and-white Gerhard Richter from the 1960s could bring a similar sum, says Gerard Goodrow, director of Art Cologne and former head of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s in London. Los Angeles collector Beth Swofford longs to own John Currin’s painting Pat (1996), which is owned by a friend, and Maurizio Cattelan’s Bidibidobidiboo (1996), an installation of a stuffed squirrel bent over a yellow kitchen table after having apparently committed suicide, a work she first saw at the 1999 Tate exhibition “Abracadabra.” “Both pieces were the first I had seen by these artists,” notes Swofford. “They made me fall in love with their work in general.” Swofford has since acquired Currin’s painting The Producer (2002) as well as Cattelan’s Charlie (2003), a freewheeling mechanical boy on a tricycle that debuted at this year’s Venice Biennale, and a small version of the artist’s 1999 La Nona Ora (Ninth Hour), which depicts the Pope struck by a meteor. Miami real-estate developer Craig Robins is looking to fill gaps in his collection with works from the 1980s and ’90s forward by John Baldessari, a 1960s wood piece by Richard Tuttle, and a basketball hoop by David Hammons. Robins says he also covets Marlene Dumas’s painting Group Show II (1993): “A friend of mine just bought it.” Photography collector Michael Mattis recently acquired Edward Weston’s Pear-Shaped Nude (1925), which was owned by the model’s descendants. “It was a picture we had been negotiating to acquire since we first learned about its existence three years ago,” says Mattis. Another most wanted photograph: The Reading Establishment (1846), by William Henry Fox Talbot, an “astonishing document from the dawn of photography,” says Mattis.  Works by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami are also in great demand, according to Cappellazzo. Chicago collector Stefan Edlis paid a record $567,500 for Murakami’s 1996 Miss ko2 (squared), a life-size fiberglass cartoon figure, at Christie’s last May. Christie’s owner François Pinault reportedly paid around $1.5 million in June to acquire Tongarikun (2003), a 30-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture, and four accompanying fiberglass mushroom figures, that were part of an installation by Murakami at Rockefeller Center this fall. Collector Kent Logan has the largest holding of Murakami’s works in the United States, including the artist’s monumental painting Super Nova (1999). He is the only collector to own both Hiropon (1997) and My Lonesome Cowboy (1998), larger-than-life, oversexed brother and sister superhero sculptures that were made in an edition of three. “I’ve always been interested in societies undergoing dramatic change,” says Logan. “Murakami’s work is about Japanese identity, which is consistent with the postwar period in Japan.” As for what remains on Logan’s wish list—a Jeff Koons painting from the artist’s “Celebration” series. Rubell says that the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago wants his Charles Ray Oh! Charley, Charley, Charley... (1992), life-size figures of the artist sexually cavorting with himself. “But they want me to give it to them,” says Rubell. Says a museum spokesperson: “We would love to have it.”  Rubell would like to own Jeff Koons’s Rabbit (1986), he says, if it weren’t for the $5 million it would likely cost him. What he would “truly, truly die for,” says Rubell, would be to acquire all of the paintings in Luc Tuymans’s “Diagnostic View” series (1992), which are now in separate collections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Cézanne’s Still Life with Curtain, sold or a record $60.5 million.

He is the only collector to own both Hiropon (1997) and My Lonesome Cowboy (1998), larger-than-life, oversexed brother and sister superhero sculptures that were made in an edition of three. “I’ve always been interested in societies undergoing dramatic change,” says Logan. “Murakami’s work is about Japanese identity, which is consistent with the postwar period in Japan.” As for what remains on Logan’s wish list—a Jeff Koons painting from the artist’s “Celebration” series. Rubell says that the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago wants his Charles Ray Oh! Charley, Charley, Charley... (1992), life-size figures of the artist sexually cavorting with himself. “But they want me to give it to them,” says Rubell. Says a museum spokesperson: “We would love to have it.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Rabbit, 1986, Stainless steel, 41 x 19 x 12 in.,  sold for $5 millions.

“What we most want in life, we often can’t have. My mother taught me that when I was young,” says Rubell. “But we should all dream. It’s very healthy.” Such aspirations can lead to tantalizing offers. “A collector who has no intention of selling can be quite flattered by the kind of prices he can get for a work,” says de Pury. “The magnitude of an offer can be quite tempting.” Or as Old Master dealer Otto Naumann says, “You cannot make a painting for sale unless you want to grossly overpay for it.” A collector with his heart set on obtaining an early de Kooning recently offered Seattle collector Jane Lang Davis $8 million for her Town Square (1948), a small black-and-white painting. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Davis, who paid $90,000 for the work in 1976. “It shows you how hard it is to get these works at this point.” Asked if she accepted the offer, Davis laughs, “No. Where would I get another one?” For many years, Davis says, New York dealer Larry Gagosian tried to persuade her to sell her large 1963 Rothko, for which she paid $75,000 in 1972. Gagosian’s last offer was $5 million, Davis says, and that was a few years ago, before the artist’s 1958 No. 9 (White and Black on Wine) brought a record $16.4 million last spring at Christie’s. (Gagosian declined to comment for this article.) According to New York dealer and Marcel Duchamp scholar Francis Naumann, the most-wanted Duchamp work in private hands is the artist’s original L.H.O.O.Q. (1919), a postcard-size reproduction of the Mona Lisa defaced by Duchamp with a mustache and goatee. Some years ago, Naumann says, he approached the owner, who was living in Paris at the time and whom Naumann declined to identify, to ask if he might consider selling it. “He asked if I knew the highest price ever paid for a work of art,” Naumann recalls. “I said I thought it was around $65 million, having forgotten about the van Gogh. He said, ‘Okay. Bring me a collector willing to pay $66 million dollars, and we’ll talk.’” Gund was recently offered $30 million for her 1956 de Kooning, The Time of the Fire, one in a series of abstract paintings of urban subjects the artist created from 1955 to 1956. Another work in the series, Police Gazette (1955), has been acquired by Geffen from Wynn, who paid $11.9 million for it in 1998. Gund declined to sell her de Kooning, explaining, “It’s a museum picture. I think the Modern will probably get it in honor of Kirk Varnedoe,” the Modern’s late chief curator of painting and sculpture. A trustee of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association recently tried to persuade Warner to sell his 1785 Robert Edge Pine life portrait of George Washington to the association. When Warner declined, he says, he suspected she was “looking forward to my imminent demise.” As for Cole’s The Falls of Kaaterskill, for which he paid $175,000 in 1970, Warner says, people “slyly bring up Bill Gates’s name to me all the time.” Gates, a driving force in the American art market, has paid record prices for paintings in recent years, including $20 million for Childe Hassam’s The Room of Flowers (1894); $10 million for William Merritt Chase’s The Nursery (ca. 1890); $27.5 million for George Bellows’s Polo Crowd (1910); and $36 million for Winslow Homer’s Lost on the Grand Banks (1885). Warner says he’s been told the Cole is worth $15 million; he thinks it’s worth $30 million. Regardless, Warner says, it’s not for sale. Making wishes come true doesn’t come cheap or easy. The Modern recently sold Francis Bacon’s painting Dog (1952) in order to acquire a triptych by the artist. (Dog went to London dealer Gerard Faggionato for more than $8 million, according to sources.) The Modern also sold a 1909 Picasso Cubist landscape, Houses on the Hill, Horta de Ebro, left to the museum by Nelson Rockefeller, in order to acquire a superior example of the same subject. (It went to Berlin collector Heinz Berggruen, sources say, who paid around $12 million for it. Berggruen did not return phone calls seeking comment.) Likewise the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston recently sold two Degas pastels and a Renoir portrait at Sotheby’s for $16 million in order to acquire Degas’s masterpiece Duchessa di Montejasi with Her Daughters, Elena and Camilla (1876), one of the last great family portraits by the artist. Other factors, aside from finances, can also come into play. It took Michigan collector Gilbert Silverman more than a decade to track down a work that he first saw hanging from the ceiling at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York a dozen or so years ago. “I thought, ‘Boy, that would be a neat thing to get,’” recalls Silverman. When a dealer recently called Silverman to tell him she had found the unique work he’d been looking for, Silverman replied, “Well, that’s half the battle.” Silverman still had to convince his wife to allow him to acquire the work: a bronze double dildo by Lynda Benglis. (He won’t say what he paid for it.) “Initially she said ‘Forget it.’ She didn’t want it hanging in the office,” says Silverman. “But we have separate bathrooms. And she said I could hang it in mine.”

Streisand hits the road again

Photo: Actress and singer Barbra Streisand, who first rose to stardom in 1962, was born on this day in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York.

Diva will tour six years after her farewell concerts. Barbra Streisand, who stopped touring six years ago, will hit the road again -- thanks to a Canadian. The diva will perform 20 arena shows "in the round" starting this fall, according to sources. Toronto-based concert promoter Michael Cohl is behind the comeback tour, which will pay Streisand a whopping $2 million (U.S.) per show. Cohl's team is reportedly trying to secure an opening act and has its sights set on "popera" group Il Divo. No announcement about the tour has been made but sources said top-priced tickets in each city could cost more than $1500. A stop in a Canadian city hasn't been ruled out. Streisand last farewell tour opened in Las Vegas in 1999 and wrapped up with a sold-out concert at New York's Madison Square Gardens in September 2000. The star has performed only a handful of times since, including at a June 2004 fundraising event for U.S. Senator John Kerry in Los Angeles. Last year, Streisand was in Miami Beach to record a new album with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. She also starred in the hit comedy "Meet the Fockers" opposite Dustin Hoffman and Ben Stiller.


Dame Judi Dench: "I am not an intellectual".
Photo: Dame Judi plays a widowed theatre owner in Mrs Henderson. Presents

 Dame Judi Dench has admitted she never reads the plays she stars in, saying she merely takes roles "because someone asked me to". The respected actress told US magazine Newsweek that she was no intellectual. "I've got myself into real trouble by saying yes to a play, then going to the first reading and realising, 'This is a bummer!'," she said. US magazine Premiere predicts Dame Judi will be Oscar nominated for her role in Mrs Henderson Presents. Golden Globe nominee: In the movie Dame Judi plays a widow who opens a nude theatrical review in 1930s London. It earned Dame Judi her sixth Golden Globe nomination. Mrs Henderson Presents also earned eight nominations at this year's British Independent Film Awards, includingvbbest film and best director for Stephen Frears. Dame Judi and co-stars Bob Hoskins, Kelly Reilly and ex-Coronation Street star Thelma Barlow have also been nominated.

Filming of a new version of the Hollywood movie based on the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code is to take place at the Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh, UK.

Rosslyn Chapel picture courtesy of Undiscovered Scotland

Photo: Rosslyn Chapel has seen a surge in visitor numbers.

Agreement for the use of the location has been reached between the chapel's trustees and Rose Line Productions. Tom Hanks, was the star of the  original film. He played Professor Robert Langdon. This is a new production unrelated to the previous one. One similarity: Both films were shot on location at the Rosslyn Chapel, a 15th century chapel that saw a huge surge in visitors after the book's plot suggested it was built to house the secret of the Holy Grail. Despite being derided by the Catholic church and many historians, Dan Brown's work has sold 17 million copies worldwide. Trustees spokesman Stuart Beattie said: "The chapel has long been a popular destination for hundreds of years. 'Magnificent' building: "There are many stories in Rosslyn's long history and I'm sure the chapel will make a superb backdrop for this particular one." He was confident the trustees would feel the film was value for money. Location fees alone could generate $270,000.

Da Vinci Code/Tom Hanks composite imageA spokesman for Rose Line Productions described Rosslyn as a "magnificent" building which would enhance the quality of the film. Hanks will play the lead role with Audrey Tautou the female co-star. Oscar winner Ron Howard will direct the movie. The chapel will close for the filming. However, Dr Andrew Sinclair, a descendent of the family that founded the chapel and a former Cambridge historian, is reported to have said that the filming will ruin the chapel's reputation. He also said it would lead people to believe the "preposterous" claims made in the book. Theological objection: Lincoln Cathedral will double as Westminster Abbey after the latter refused permission to film, describing The Da Vinci Code as "theologically unsound". The book alleges that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. It centres on a murder in a secret society and the trail leads to Rosslyn Chapel. The chapel, which is six miles south of Edinburgh, was visited by 68,603 people in 2004-05.

MORE GRAPEVINE RUMOURS

Rock singer Bryan Adams, also a budding celebrity photographer, will have one of his signature photographs posted across the country. Canada Post has chosen one of Mr. Adams's informal photographs of Queen Elizabeth as the new definitive, or mass-circulation stamp that will be issued on Dec. 19 in preparation for next year's postage rate change. The image was selected more than a year ago by Canada Post's volunteer stamp advisory committee after its marketing department found the picture when considering new "official" photographs of Queen Elizabeth. The stamp, of which 10 million copies will initially be printed, could conceivably be used by Canada Post for several years, according to spokesman Tim McGurrin. "Bryan Adams, being a true Canadian, realizes just how significant Canada Post using his image for the Queen stamp is," he said yesterday. "It is something that will be going to every door in Canada over the next year." Mr. Adams, who lives in London, England, said the photograph was an unpublished "out-take" from a session he did with the Queen in late 2001 in preparation for her Golden Jubilee celebrations last year. "I was thrilled and honored for my photograph to be chosen by Canada Post," he said yesterday. The playful photograph breaks from Canada Post's tradition of showing an unsmiling, regal-looking Queen; in this sepia-toned image her back is to a wall, her face is creased with laugh lines and she has a broad, toothy grin. A twinkle in her eyes suggests she was sharing a joke with Mr. Adams as he snapped the shutter. Mr. Adams, who has developed a following as a "celebrity photographer of celebrities," was chosen as one of several "official" photographers to the Queen, along with her cousin Patrick Lichfield, Prince Andrew and Dazed & Confused magazine founder Paul Rankin. Mr. McGurrin said Canada Post found the photograph when it began the process of changing its most popular Queen stamp to reflect new rates that go into effect in January. It will be used on the 49¢ stamp placed on domestic mail. The stamp could conceivably be in circulation for several years, depending on when Canada Post has to raise rates again, Mr. McGurrin said. The rate is tied to inflation. At least 20 million of the stamps are expected to be issued next year. Mr. McGurrin would not say how much Mr. Adams was paid, but described it as a nominal fee. "They're [photographers] providing us with the images because it is an honor to have them on a stamp."

DAVID BOREANAZ: SUPERNATURAL!

Like many survivors of near-death experiences, the supernatural TV thriller Angel is starting a new life. With the WB network seeking to attract a broader swath of the coveted youth audience, the show's creators have been forced to fix something that many longtime fans felt wasn't broken. Last spring, WB flirted with canceling the horror-comedy, which stars David Boreanaz as a vampire with a soul who tries to atone for centuries of wickedness by "helping the hopeless" in demon-infested Los Angeles. But influential critics praised the show's offbeat storytelling and urged WB to preserve it for a fifth season. And a spirited cult of fans rallied other viewers in a letter-writing and petition campaign. The execution was halted, but the show's budget was slashed and WB told creator-producer Joss Whedon, who spun off the show from his hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that Angel needed more ... teeth, so to speak. With a new time slot, the show is prospering. With its second episode, total viewership was up 21 per cent to 5.1 million watchers, compared to the same period last year when it drew about four million. That includes a jump of 62 per cent among the precious 18-to-34-year-old demographic. "The WB hoped for a show that would be a little more stand-alone-y," Whedon said. "When a show is in its fifth year, they don't expect it to get any sudden heat. They were hoping to pump the audience a little bit ... with episodes people could jump into without being confused." The main changes: dropping actress Charisma Carpenter by abandoning her vainglorious bombshell character Cordelia in an indefinite offscreen coma, and adding James Marsters as Spike, the bleached-blond OTHER vampire-with-a-soul who was last seen burning alive on the series finale of Buffy. "It was just a matter of trying to change the dynamics of it in order to pump it up," Boreanaz said during a break while shooting an upcoming episode about a reincarnated Aztec warrior with a vengeful streak. "We've been a show that's pretty much been under the radar." For four years, Angel and his human partners - which also include the streetfighter Charles Gunn and the bookish British occult expert Wesley Wyndam-Pryce - waged war on Wolfram & Hart, a massive law firm that secretly represents evildoers in everything from contract law and criminal cases to hexes, blood oaths and ritualistic sacrifices. Now Angel is in charge of Wolfram & Hart's Los Angeles office - but was the firm's surrender real, or just a new bid to corrupt him? "It's really brought a new energy to it, having the characters relocate to the enemy's quarters and become the generals of the opposing team," said Alexis Denisof, who plays Wesley, the conscience of the show who sees the Wolfram & Hart alliance as a nefarious ploy. "I think there's a lot of territory to explore in how the characters respond to their new environment, how they'll pull together and how they'll pull apart," Denisof said. Spike brings to the show a blood rivalry with Angel. Both vampires had a rocky romance with the vampire-slayer Buffy, and both are competing to be the one bloodsucker who gets to become human again by fulfilling an ancient apocalyptic prophecy (that's the long-term "one-armed man"-style plotline Angel established when it started in 1999.) At least for now, the two won't be getting into any fistfights: Spike has returned as a ghost, a phantom in the shape of his corporeal self connected to a mystical amulet. "I get to be the grit in the wheel," says Marsters. "I just get to make life as miserable as I could possibly make it for Angel, and poor Angel has to deal with it as a hero always does, with as much patience as he can muster."  Marsters said his transition to the new cast has been welcoming, and Boreanaz seems content - if not enthusiastic - to share the shadows with another vampire. Meanwhile, some critics are already sold on the Angel changes. "The episodes are more self-contained, and the stories are easier to follow," wrote USA Today critic Robert Bianco. "What hasn't altered is Whedon's ingenious mix of comedy and suspense; his fascination with the meanings of right, wrong and responsibility; and his ability to produce a ceaselessly entertaining hour of television." The long-time fans, however, are still debating the value of Spike, the abandonment of Cordelia and which new character should become Angel's love interest. "Right now all I can really say about whether the changes will be good, is that whatever Joss Whedon does to Angel keeps the show on the air for several more seasons, I'll be happy," said Karen Drowne, 41, an insurance claims adjuster from Lakeland, Fla., who runs the fan site www.solitaryphoenix.com. "And that will be good."

Harrison Ford: So says bone-weary hero Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first in the trilogy of Steven Spielberg-George Lucas adventure films that, much to the delight of their legions of fans, Paramount is finally releasing in a new digitally remastered set of DVDs next Tuesday. The two-fisted archeologist was referring to his bruised and battered body but it could also describe the film elements themselves that have suffered wear and tear over the last two decades or so. So the job of restoring the original picture materials fell to the industry master, Toronto native John Lowry, founder of Burbank, Calif.-based Lowry Digital Images, which is on the leading edge of the motion picture restoration business these days. Lowry says it was a painstaking job but he and his staff and their banks of powerful computers managed to remove numerous instances of flare, flicker and jitter, and an estimated half-million specks of dirt from the frames of the three features. Each title has its own special problem, too. In Raiders, it was a huge scratch right through some 30,000 frames of the opening sequence. "Nice blue scratch right through the faces and everything and that, of course, was quite challenging," says Lowry. "But it's gone now. . .there's absolutely no trace of that scratch." The Temple of Doom, meanwhile, had considerable jitter, flare and quality discrepancies. "We processed that through our entire system to reduce the granularity, reduce the flare, sharpen the image, get rid of the dirt, of course. . .and it's absolutely seamless now." And in The Last Crusade, there was a blue matte outline around Harrison Ford and Sean Connery when they jumped from the Nazi zeppelin into a biplane. "In no time we had it gone. . .we just removed the blue fringes." Lowry, who worked on image processing for NASA's Apollo moon pictures back in 1971, says the Indiana Jones images are now pristine. "They are probably looking better than anybody's ever seen them," he boasts, revealing that he is not only a technical expert, but a true fan. "Raiders, I can watch that movie over and over and over and every time I look at it I find something else." One important bit of news for diehard followers: unlike the restorations performed on Lucas' Star Wars and Spielberg's E.T. re-releases, there has been no CGI enhancement of the original special effects nor any director's cut scenes inserted. The three films are exactly as fans remember them in theatres or earlier VHS editions. Paramount has packaged the trilogy in the same manner as The Godfather movies - each film stands alone on its own disc, while a fourth disc contains all the background extras, three hours' worth, including onset home movies, a variety of making-of documentaries, trailers and all-new cast and crew interviews.

A particularly fascinating item is Tom Selleck's much-talked-about but never-before-seen screen test as Indiana. Not bad but today anyone but Harrison Ford in the role is unthinkable.  So what was it about these action films that makes them so durable and beloved? John Rhys-Davies, the ebullient, lusty-voiced Welsh actor who played Indy's pal Sallah in the first and third films, suggests it's quite simply bang for the buck, noting there's huge entertainment value in almost every frame. "The secret of making a successful movie is quite simple: give the audience $50 worth of entertainment for every 10 bucks they spend at the box office. "You have to imaginatively and creatively entertain and delight and please them." On the DVD extras, Lucas is heard saying he wanted to shoot the films "quick and dirty" much like the low-budget Saturday-matinee cliff-hanger serials they were emulating. But of course the films don't look that way at all. Rhys-Davies explains it was never their intention to make them cheesy-looking, but that the shoot was going to be quick, without the 60 or 70 takes that Spielberg often went for in his films to get scenes just right. The actor quotes Spielberg: "'What I want is a freshness and an immediacy that this film needs if we're to get away with it. Just an insouciance that comes from spontaneity.' And I think he not only captured that, he let it flower." The DVD extras also show the filmmakers conceding that the middle installment, The Temple of Doom, did turn out much darker, and less fun, than they anticipated. It may also have suffered from the absence of Sallah who was brought back for The Last Crusade." It was very gratifying, actually, to sit in the cinema and hear that great cheer when Sallah came on. It actually moved me, touched me greatly. I thought 'Oh gosh, I must have dome something right.' "Some trivia about the Indiana Jones movies, coming to DVD Oct. 21:Indiana was the name of George Lucas's dog. The line was later given to Sean Connery in the third film when he reminds Harrison Ford they called him Junior and "named the dog Indiana." The Marion Ravenwood character in Raiders of the Lost Ark was named after screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan's wife's grandmother, Marion, as well as a Los Angeles street, Ravenwood Court. SS leader Heinrich Himmler actually created an organization called the Ahnenerbe in 1935, with the mission to scour the world for archeological evidence of the superiority of the Aryan race. He was intent on finding the Holy Grail, too.  In Raiders, viewers who watch carefully during the Well of Souls scene can see hieroglyphs of Star Wars robots R2-D2 and C-3P0. And in The Temple of Doom, the Shanghai night club in the opening sequence is called Club Obi-Wan, from the Star Wars character. The submarine used in the first film was constructed for the German war film Das Boot. The original title of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was to be Temple of Death.  Temple of Doom takes place in India but lack of co-operation from the Indian government moved the production to Sri Lanka. To get the required sound of slimy snakes, an audio technician ran his fingers through his wife's cheese casserole. Sean Connery played Indy's father in The Last Crusade but is actually only 12 years older than Harrison Ford. The temple sequence in Last Crusade was actually shot at Petra, the Nabatean ruins in Jordan known as "the rose-red city half as old as time." Although the actors are seen entering the ruins, in fact there is no interior, it is just a relief on the side of a rock cliff. For his screen test as Indy, Tom Selleck read with actress Sean Young.

Tim Matheson, meanwhile, read with Karen Allen, who eventually played Marion in Raiders. Raiders was filmed in Tunisia, at the same locations used for Star Wars. Actor John Rhys-Davies, who played Sallah, admitted his strongest memory of the filming was the agonizing dysentery that struck the cast and crew.  Steven Spielberg admits that Temple of Doom was his least favorite of the Indy trilogy. But in the end he got the girl, marrying female lead Kate Capshaw. Affleck avoids ‘f' word in reference to J-Lo. “Classy” choice of words, Ben. Accepting an award from the liberal People for the American Way Foundation, Ben Affleck didn't use the f-word — as in fiancée — when referring to Jennifer Lopez. “I only accept it in the hopes that the absurd amounts of publicity that I received lately, that as far as I can tell is chiefly because I have a pretty girlfriend, that's what I did, I am a champion of the American way with a pretty girlfriend — bring it on, paparazzi, news at 11 — in the hopes that some of that publicity might be pointed at something more significant, something more positive, productive and meaningful,” Affleck said, according to an Associated Press Television News tape. The actor made the remarks while accepting a Spirit of Liberty Award Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Lopez and Affleck, whose recent film “Gigli” bombed after abysmal reviews, had planned to marry Sept. 14 before abruptly calling off the wedding. It would have been the third marriage for Lopez, 33, and the first for Affleck, 31. Since then, media scrutiny has intensified, with everyone wondering, will-they-or-won't-they? When they bought a pickup truck in Georgia and attended a Red Sox game in Boston, it was news. Affleck and Lopez also co-star in the Kevin Smith movie “Jersey Girl,” set for release next year.

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Dogs suffer the fashion whims of their owners

They're not an accessory yet people treat them  and discard them as if they were.

Recently three ladies on the bike path in Whistler stopped their animated conversation when Callie, our golden retriever, approached them for a pat and a sniff. The ladies happily obliged her, all parties were pleased with the brief encounter, and various nice remarks were made about golden retriever charm. But as they passed by, I heard one of the women say, in reference to this breed, "Yes, but everybody and his brother has one." I was disturbed by the comment, not because of any personal affront, but because of the underlying attitude it conveyed -- that pets could be valued as symbols of status or prestige. The notion of pet as status symbol is not new, but it seems to have reached particularly egregious heights lately. Consider Tinkerbell, the chihuahua often seen nestled in the embrace of Paris Hilton like the fashion accessory to which she has been reduced. Although Tinkerbell may have stellar canine qualities of her own, one suspects that her role is of no more significance to Hilton than the pair of Manolos adorning her feet. The principle of celebrity endorsement seems to operate as successfully in the matter of livestock as it does in the sale of razor blades, and Tinkerbell has spawned a run not only on chihuahuas but on other "tea cup" sub-breeds as well. My sources tell me that other young lovelies such as Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff and Tori Spelling can also frequently be seen crushing tiny critters to their breasts. Another trend, created in part by media hype, is the repackaging of cross breeds to quasi- purebred status--labra doodles, golden doodles, puggles, schnoodles, as well as older crosses such as cock-a-poos, maltipoos and peke-a-poos. That some of these couplings produce wonderful specimens is a result more accidental than intended. The primary drive behind these crosses is not the improvement of the breed's condition but the improvement of the breeder's. You can go down to the local pound and find a mix that suits your purposes or you can buy, say, a labra doodle for as much as $2,500. The usual cost of a purebred dog is only $500-$1000, so why the premium for a crossbreed? One labra doodle owner quoted in the National Post says, "They're the newest, sexiest yuppie dog. Everybody's looking to get one."

So what's wrong with all this? The first casualty of popularity is usually the dog itself. A labrador-poodle mating can yield 10 pups, twice a year. With a gestation period of 9 weeks, and with only one pair of dogs a breeder can make as much as $50,000 per year. Puppy mills with dozens of constantly pregnant bitches can make even more. Those experienced in the particular sub-culture of commercial pet breeding know that fads end as quickly as they begin, and in order to profit, they must get in on the action early. Whereas conscientious hobby breeders will have records of generations of offspring to guide their breeding choices, the quick-buck artists will have no qualms about breeding and selling anything they can, regardless of quality or suitability. During the 1980s, the shar-pei's abnormally wrinkled skin caught the fancy of North Americans. From a narrow gene pool of only about a dozen dogs, the number of shar-peis reached 50,000 in the US within a decade.

The breed had unrelenting skin problems, eye problems, hip problems and unstable aggressive tendencies. By 1990, the market had collapsed and shelters filled with unwanted shar-peis. It is a truism in dog breeding circles that popularity is the kiss of death to a breed. Profit-driven breeding leads to inevitable decline in the genetic stock. The list of casualties over the years includes beloved breeds such as the German shepherd and cocker spaniel, once robust but now plagued with genetic problems. Buyers who are seduced by fads may end up buying disappointment. In the end, you have to live with your dog. Better to choose one based on your needs rather than the capricious fancies of the mass media.-By Moe Listein

 

Sharon Stone doesn't mind doing nude scenes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Sharon Stone admitted she doesn't mind doing nude scenes in films like her new release, Basic Instinct 2.

Sharon Stone, who returns as the seductive Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2, says she has no problem doing a nude scene — if it's right for the role. "It's pretty easy for me to be naked," the 48-year-old actress said Wednesday. "I'm a person who feels that if it's appropriate for the character I'm playing or the mood of the piece, then it's no big thing." Stone is famously known for her leg crossing scene in 1992's Basic Instinct, which also starred Michael Douglas. The actress said she wouldn't object to her children seeing the movies — but added that it's not going to be anytime soon. "When they're old enough to see that kind of material, then they're old enough to see that kind of material," said Stone, who has two young sons. Stone, who was nominated for a best actress Oscar for 1995's Casino, said she was happy that she didn't try to lie about her age to get roles after she turned 40. "You have to give them you until you is what they want," she said. Basic Instinct 2 will be released later this month. Stone was in Berlin to promote the movie.

Britney's popularity to plummet?Britney's popularity to plummet?

Photo: Kevin Federline has struggled to find a label willing to launch his tune Popozao.


It seems Britney Spears may be in for a disappointing 2006 - a US poll predicts the new mum's popularity will plummet this year. However the news is brighter for talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, with her reign over American television expected to continue. Meanwhile, Britney's hubby will be hoping his own popularity will soar with the release of his debut rap single. Kevin Federline has struggled to find a label willing to launch his tune Popozao. But the former backing dancer is convinced that once we hear it, the track will storm straight to the top of the charts.

Madge pimps her rideMadge pimps her ride

Photo: Madge is ditching her snazzy range of motors to delight legions of boy racers with a Pimp My Ride-style video for her next single .

Queen of Pop Madonna is getting Tim Westwood onside to jazz up her Ford Cortina in the video for her new single. The Ford banger is a world away from the £300,000 Mercedes Maybach limo she relaxes in whilst at her home in LA. Madge is ditching her snazzy range of motors to delight legions of boy racers with a Pimp My Ride-style video for her next single Sorry. UK Pimp My Ride host Tim Westwood will make a cameo appearance in the new video by taking the Cortina and shaping it up so it looks as good as new. The idea behind the video is a rags-to-riches story and the track it is being made for will be remixed by the Pet Shop Boys. It seems Madonna likes a bit of car bling in her video's - for her No1 single Music in 2000, Ali G turned up dripping with gold and diamonds whilst driving her limo.

ENRIQUE IGLESIAS IS ON A ROLL

Enrique Iglesias is on a roll. He recently padded his bank account by beating out J.Lo and Justin Timberlake to become the mole-less face of Pepsi and he's been well-received on the big screen opposite Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas in the kick-ass blockbuster Once Upon a Time in Mexico. If recent quotes are any indication though, his good fortune may be going to his mole-free head. The spawn of Julio recently revealed, "I haven't found a girlfriend I want to be with more than a week at a time and I haven't had a steady girlfriend for the last five years." That may be news to Anna Kournikova. What happens after one week? Does the Latin lothario have his women removed like an unwanted mole? (Sorry, the mole makes me giggle.) 

PENELOPE CRUZ IS SPINNING

Penélope Cruz. Penélope Cruz has recently been forced into spin duty to combat rumours that her relationship with Tom Cruise is kaput. In a recent interview, Cruz assured inquiring minds with the soothing words "everything is fine." Well, that's a ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one. I don't want to seem skeptical but lately Tom and Penélope have been seen together as often as Clark Kent and Superman. Kevin Costner raised a few eyebrows with a recent declaration that he would never compromise his artistic integrity by making a sequel.  "I have not made Tin Cup 2 or Bull Durham 2 or Dancing with Wolves Twice... I won't spit on my life to get a big fat hit." It's true -- Kevin's cinematic résumé boasts remarkable range. I mean he makes sports movies AND westerns. (Please, Tin Cup was Bull Durham on a golf course and Open Range should be called Dances Without Oscars.) Cindy Crawford was recently asked to remove her US$900 Jimmy Choo shoes while going through security at JFK airport. Somehow, amidst all the metal detecting and whatnot, the high-priced heels went AWOL. While I support stepping-up security in the fight against terrorism, this instance seems to be a bit much. I can assure you that no woman would ever try to set fire to $900 shoes

ANNE MURRAY CALLED AND SHE WANTS HER HAIR BACK.

TRY AOL for 90 Days RISK-FREE!

Good news for anglophones -- Céline Dion's next album will be en français. 1 fille & 4 types will be her first French disc in four years. Also, having suffered a hernia, Dion no longer does her flying stunt during her Vegas show; a body double now takes flight. Actually, I'm not surprised the songbird has grounded herself. Hell, I don't even buy her when she belts out "I drove all night" in her Chrysler ads -- mainly because she didn't even walk down the aisle at her wedding. She was carried Cleopatra-style behind a pair of camels. The zoological allusion seems apt. I'm convinced she's morphing into one of Siegfried & Roy's white tigers.

TARA REID IS UPSET WITH HOLLYWOOD DOUBLE STANDARD

Tara Reid has lashed out at what she sees as a Hollywood double standard . While Reid has been forced to work desperately to reform her (rather well-deserved) party-girl image, she's annoyed to see Colin Farrell's roguish behaviour rewarded. "You watch that guy smoking endless cigarettes, every other word is f**k, f**k, f**k, 'I'll screw any girl in the world.' If I did that I'd be blackballed out of the industry." You know, Reid may have a point. Of course Tinseltown's selective prejudice is based on talent, not gender. Farrell is a gifted actor whereas Reid's last two credits are National Lampoon's Van Wilder and My Boss's Daughter. Tara, make a decent movie and you too can sleep with as many women as you want. Speaking of Demi, the dark angel has decided to furnish her new US$4.8 million love palace with furniture from IKEA. While this may sound like she's going cheap on the décor, I think Demi's just a hopeless romantic.

MARK BOROVITZ: A MOST EXTRAORDINARY RABBI

 "I met this rabbi. Picture the rabbi from central casting. Long white beard. Long black robe. Hunched over. Myopic. Soft-spoken. Inaccessible. That's not him. Sixteen years ago Rabbi Mark Borovitz was in a prison cell... for the second time. He was a mobster, gangster, con man, gambler, thief, and drunk. Then trapped in a ten-by-twelve-foot cage, he found his soul. Rabbi Mark's incredible story is something no fiction writer could make up. His life is larger than life. It is TONY SOPRANO MEETS HAROLD KUSHNER. ", wrote author, Alan Eisenstock. Rabbi Borovitz is one those Danteisque-Maimonidish unforgettable images. Mesmerizing when he talks. Bigger than life when you get to sail in his soul...and dare to explore his past and present. Once upon a time, Mark Borovitz was a real-life gangster. Today, he walks on the path of holiness And his friend, Alan Eisenstock painted the image of Mark with affectionate shadows and bursting lights. He wrote: "Rabbi Mark is a wrestler and a thief. He wrestles your devils and steals your sins, then sends them adrift into the sea. He is there, in your life, giving you a hug, a push, whatever you need. He is a force. "Mark Borovitz  wrote a heart-felt book, "The Holy Thief". A master piece in the genre. The book is a memoir of a remarkable man. It echoes his  dark and  tumultuous past, and  sheds light on his present honorable deeds. The book rotates and evolves around Rabbi Mark Borovitz  when he was a mobster, gangster, con man, gambler, thief, and drunk. He has seen it all. Now, in this inspiring memoir, he takes you on a journey from the streets to discovering his soul in a ten-by-twelve-foot prison cell.

The Holy Thief is the remarkable memoir of an amazing man. It is a true-life gangster story, a passionate love story, and a case study in redemption. Regardless of your faith, you will find Mark's story tragic, funny, uplifting, and inspirational. Mark Oppenheimer wrote: "Rabbi Mark Borovitz's memoir of how prison Torah study turned an alcoholic grifter and check-kiter into a successful rehabilitator of Jewish cokeheads, gamblers, and other addicts, is a blustering and grandiose book, marred by clichés and solecisms. And yet I liked The Holy Thief: A Con Man's Journey from Darkness to Light, very much. There have been so many bad recovery memoirs cultivating readers' cynicism that one can forget how amazing the redemption of a human soul is; something about the blunt, antiliterary voice of Borovitz (or, more probably, his co-writer, Alan Eisenstock) perfectly conveys the hustler, the tough Jew who turns his talent for persuasion to better ends. The book whispers this story: "When Mark was fourteen, his father died and his world came crashing down. Within months, he was selling stolen goods for the mob out of his high school locker, beginning a twenty-year life of crime that ran the gamut from bar hustles and con games to check-cashing scams. Mark stole and gambled and drank, all the while trying to be the good son, the good brother, the good boy, but his life only spun more out of control until the mob put a hit out on him.  Then ended up in prison. After his release, the drinking and thieving continued unabated until, at the edge of oblivion. Mark experienced a moment of true divine intervention, a startling revelation that both saved his life and sent him back to prison, where he actually wanted to be. There he found the keys to saving his soul. Mark Borovitz proves that you can change your life -- profoundly. He is now the rabbi at Beit T'Shuvah in Los Angeles, the House of Return, a rehabilitation facility for addicts of all kinds. Mark knows what these people feel and who they are because he was one of them. He is now, as he says, an advocate for the soul. Rabbi Borovitz has committed his life to using Jewish faith to save Jewish addicts and to bring them back their dignity. "The worst crime that anyone can commit is to rob a human being of their dignity.", said Borovitz. He adds: "Addiction is a malady of the body, it is a malady of the mind and it's a malady of the soul. So we take the language of the soul of Jewish people, we go back, we help them return to the language that their soul understands and to knowledge that they have, and we bring it together and we bring a community together." Mark Borovitz is truthful, honest, humble and straightforward. He does not deny he was a bad boy. He admits it. But his confession is not a sign of weakness or a strategic thinking to attract the attention of the media and the sympathy of the public. He uses his life experience, ups and downs to enlighten us and to prevent us from falling in the abyss of despair, evil-doing and addiction. He explains: "I'm sixteen and a half years sober and sixteen and a half years out of prison. I was a bad guy. There were times when I carried a gun. There were times when I was hanging out with Mafia people. I was a bad guy. I was a nightmare. When I got into high school, I was getting stolen merchandise on credit, you know, on consignment actually. Yeah. Whatever somebody wanted, I would get. I was the guy who could get you anything. I was a really good con man, so I could convince somebody that I was just helping out and I'm just this nice guy and all of this kind of stuff. And then, all of a sudden, I'm stealing." He poses for a while and continues: "Then,  I started praying again, and I started studying the Torah, and I read the story of Jacob. Jacob was a con man, a thief. He was a liar and a cheat. I loved him. I loved him...I'm still a hustler. I'm using all of those skills. It's what we call in Judaism "tikkun". What you used for negativity, you use to repair. So I use all of those skills to listen to people and to convince and to manipulate and to control and to move them. All this stuff, all those tools -- I use them right now. I am in action all of the time. I love it. I love it. And I'm using everything that I have in me and, instead of hustling and using it for myself, I'm using it to serve God. That's freedom. That's really action."
 

A MIRACLE HAPPENED

A thief, a con man, and armed robber, a crooked used car salesman, a check forger, a hustler, an embezzler, a gangster, a gambler, and a drunk, Rabbi Mark Borovitz was in prison for the second time 15 years ago. Yet in his tiny barred cage, a miracle happened. He found his soul. Today, he is a devoted dad, loving husband, community activist, and the spiritual leader of Congregation Beit T’Shuvah – House of Return – a shelter for all faiths that is both a house of worship and halfway house whose residents battle addictions to drugs and alcohol. "I know what it’s like to be in despair, to be in darkness so black that you can’t see, that you think you never can and never will, that there is no way out. Well, there is a way out. Come on. I’ll show you.", said Rabbi Mark Borovitz. In his 50-year lifetime, Borovitz has lived 50 lives. In this extraordinary memoir, he recalls his personal journey from hell to holiness, from darkness to light. Unabashedly honest yet never maudlin, this tale of crime and redemption will inspire readers everywhere."

Today, Mark Borovitz is the Spiritual Leader of Beit T’Shuvah and the person who makes Judaism come alive for the Beit T’Shuvah community. During his ten years at Beit T’Shuvah, he has helped make Torah accessible and relevant to an expanding group of residents, staff, and family members. Many of them have become so “turned on” to Torah that they study independently after leaving. Mark takes T’Shuvah seriously and uses himself as the example that anyone can return. At 16, he was President of the United Synagogue Youth Group at his temple in Cleveland, Ohio. At 38, he was the Rabbi’s inmate clerk at the California Institution for Men. He lost his way as an adolescent when feelings of insecurity prompted him to adopt the lifestyle of a big shot (macher). He mistakenly equated self-worth with net worth and committed many crimes to feed his habit. His T’Shuvah began when the Rabbi at the prison embraced him and accepted him as "one of my own”. .Mark met the counselors from Beit T’Shuvah while he was in prison and came to help when he was released. He was hired by Harriet Rossetto as her administrative assistant and a working partnership was formed. That partnership became a marriage two years later. Mark helped create the Outreach Program to Synagogues and “tells his story” to youth groups whenever he is asked.  Mark’s message is being carried to the far corners of the country as invitations come for him to speak at conferences and institutions. He draws attention to the problem of addiction in the Jewish community and to the powerful ammunition against it, both to counteract and to prevent. Mark has been invited to speak at numerous Temples, Federations and Jewish Community Centers across the United States. He has been a panelist at many seminars discussing Spirituality and Recovery. In this past month, Mark was one of 7 people invited to a roundtable discussion with President George W. Bush about faith and recovery. Mark was also mentioned in President Bush’s speech before the 11th Conference on Faith-Based Initiatives. He has been on a panel with the President at the National Conference on Faith-Based Initiatives. Unquestionably, Rabbi Mark Borovitz is one of the most fascinating men you will ever meet in your life.

MEN ON PAUSE? 49 AND HOLDING: WHY?

Menopause Maven Stephen King, explained the whole story...

Women 49 and holding…What is the significance of that age and why is this topic worthy for your talk show guest consideration? Is it because they don’t want to reveal the secret that they passed the big 50 milestone? No. Could it be that they’ve been on our incoming hotline for 49 minutes and holding? Hopefully not. Is that the number of spam emails they received for female viagra? Close but not quite. It’s the age of: MEN ON PAUSE, otherwise known as Menopause. There, we said the “M” word and lived to tell about it. It’s the time when your “49 and Holding” loyal lady listeners begin experiencing hot flashes, wild mood swings, and suddenly become strangely similar to the every day temperament of your station’s General Manager (yikes!) So, before you begin to get inundated with calls from aging Baby Boomers who view their local talk show hosts as experts on everything, who are you going to call? Ghost Busters?  NO. Call Stephen King. Not the horror novelist, but Stephen E. King, the one and only, the man of the moment, the life of the party, world class moody woman expert extraordinaire and all around great guy, otherwise known as: The Menopause Maven.  Menopause Maven Stephen King, explained how 49 nine years of age is the approximate time when millions of women across America begin experiencing symptoms caused by rising FSH in their bodies that cause them a number of symptoms, including sometimes backing down shying away from the amorous evening offers of affection by their beloved spouses. In easy to understand language, he detailed the relationship between FSH and Menopause and how tough it used to be to get a diagnosis of the stage of Menopause a women might be in at any given time. Stephen explains how women used to have to go for multiple, expensive, time consuming and needlessly invasive doctor’s appointments only to find out that “that time” had not yet arrived. Instead, Stephen King puts an end to such horror (see, the name did come in handy), sharing with your lady listeners, as well as their sometimes frustrated husbands, that there is now a convenient home test kit for Menopause, called Menocheck®, not Men On Pause, Not Men on Check, but Menocheck, the wonder kit that emancipates men and empowers women. Now all your lovely ladies or their desperate husbands need to do is take a test in the privacy of their own bathroom and, voila! They will instantly know if they are justifiably in a roler-coaster mood swing of a lifetime or if is just the subject matter of their local Talk Show host that got them going off on a wild rant.  Menocheck® is a simple, one-step urine test that allows a woman to accurately check for the onset of menopause in the privacy of her own home. It is easy-to-use and is an attractive, non-invasive alternative to clinical blood testing for initial screenings. Menocheck® is similar to an at-home pregnancy test in design, and works by measuring levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in the urine. FSH levels can fluctuate. However, as women enter menopause, these levels gradually rise and become permanently elevated once menopause has set in. Menocheck® is FDA approved and has been shown to be 99% accurate when used as directed. Synova began offering and distributing Menocheck® for retail sale in November 2003. It is currently available for purchase in more than 15 retail distributors including Walgreens, Albertson's, Happy Harry's, Brooks/Eckerd Drugs, Rite Aid, Longs Drugs and Duane Reade. About “Menopause Maven” Stephen King: Why is this man smiling? Because he is making millions of women—and men—happy, empowering them with knowledge as to where they stand regarding Mid Life and the Age of Menopause. STEVEN E. KING is Chief Executive Officer of Synova Healthcare, Inc, makers of Menocheck® Menopause test kits.  Before he was dubbed the “Menopause Maven” for marketing menopause home test kits, his professional experience included 17 years of pharmaceutical sales and marketing, both nationally and internationally.  Mr. King has been directly responsible for the marketing activities of several well-known pharmaceutical brands, focusing in Women's Health and the Neurosciences, while working with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline.  He holds a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education from Brock University, with a major in Biological Sciences. From May 1995 to October 1999, Mr. King served in various progressive marketing and management positions with GlaxoSmithKline. From October 1999 to January 2003, Mr. King served in various progressive marketing and management positions with Wyeth, including Senior Director of Marketing from October 1999 to December 2000, and Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing - Neuroscience from December 2000 to January 2003. From 2000 to 2003 he served as a member of the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Global Strategic Marketing Management Team.

 

SCIENTOLOGISTS DECLARE WAR ON SOUTH PARK

Reports indicated that Tom Cruise and Church of Scientology pressured Comedy Central to pull South Park episode mocking the Hollywood religion, suggests an escalating war between the cartoon's creators and Scientology. Best-selling children's author Katharine DeBrecht -- whose new book "Help! Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper!" also satirizes Scientology and Cruise -- condemns this as blatant censorship.  Hollywood indicate that the Church of Scientology used its well known celebrity muscle to pressure the cable network Comedy Central into pulling an upcoming episode of the cartoon South Park that satirized the religion. Variety is reporting that the clash between Scientology and the South Park creators is escalating. News of the tension first gained national attention earlier this week when Isaac Hayes, the voice of the character Chef, quit the cast over an episode mocking Scientology and its most famous adherent, Tom Cruise. Variety reports that rumors suggest that Cruise stepped in at the request of the Church of Scientology by saying he would refuse to help promote his upcoming movie "Mission: Impossible 3" unless the episode was pulled. Viacom owns both Comedy Central and Paramount, the studio behind the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. "These reports, if true, mean that this is a blatant display of censorship on the part of the Church of Scientology," says best-selling children's author Katharine DeBrecht, whose new book Help! Mom! Hollywood's in My Hamper! also satirizes Scientology and Cruise, as well as a number of other Hollywood personalities. "While I may not be a particular fan of South Park, and I certainly don't think it's an appropriate show for children, but I'll defend their right to parody this religion and Tom Cruise, it's most outspoken advocate. "I also satirize Scientology and other trendy Hollywood religions in my new book as something called 'Toenailology,'" adds DeBrecht. "Does this mean the Church of Scientology will come after me next?" DeBrecht adds that Scientology -- which has many Hollywood stars and power brokers in its ranks, including John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Beck, Jenna Elfman, and Lisa Marie Presley -- teaches that humans can reach a godlike state, something she believes is opposed to traditional values. "Where is George Clooney and his liberal Hollywood friends?" notes DeBecht, chiding the outspoken liberal who claims to be a supporter of free speech. "It's ironic that this censorship is happening right under Hollywood's nose, but maybe the celebrities on the Left Coast are more interested in promoting their own liberal agenda to worry about free speech."

IS HE USING JAILBAIT ON THAT HOOK?

Flipping through the IKEA catalogue must remind her of Ashton -- pages and pages of unpolished wood. IS HE USING JAILBAIT ON THAT HOOK? At my editor's behest, I've made a conscious effort to stay away from all things MJ, but I just had to share this little nugget. The onetime King of Pop was recently spotted arriving at an airport in Santa Barbara wearing pyjamas and carrying an umbrella, a hand fan and a fishing rod. It's as though the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy got a hold of Huck Finn. Cuba Gooding Jr. Academy Award-winner (yes, it's true) Cuba Gooding Jr. was recently spotted shopping at a Costco in Van Nuys, CA, bragging to fellow bargain-seekers that his membership card was a present from Jerry Maguire costar Tom Cruise. Hey Cuba, maybe the cashier at Costco isn't the only one you should be reminding that you once starred in an A-list blockbuster. While you're hauling that lifetime supply of mayonnaise home to the wife and kids, you might also want to give your agent a gentle reminder lest the producers of Snow Dogs 2 or Another Boat Trip come a-calling.

SMALL THINGS COME WITH BIG PACKAGES?

Verne Troyer's little heart was broken after his engagement to 6-foot tall model/yoga instructor Genevieve Gallen was abruptly called off. Apparently the relationship fell apart because the mismatched couple couldn't handle the scrutiny of the curious media. The media aren't the only ones who are curious. Let's see -- he's a mere 32 inches (vertically) and despite her amazonian stature she claims to have been completely satisfied in the boudoir. How does that work? Was she using him like a loofah? Scott Weiland. Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland has filed for divorce from his wife. The 35-year-old singer said in court documents filed Tuesday that he's divorcing Mary Weiland, with whom he has two children, because of irreconcilable differences. The couple has a prenuptial agreement. The two married in May 2000 and separated in September 2002. Mary Weiland filed for divorce after their separation, but dropped the matter in August. Scott Weiland was sentenced to three years' probation in August after pleading no contest to one count of possessing heroin. He's scheduled to return to court Monday for a progress report. He had a prior drug arrest and was jailed in 1999 after he violated probation and didn't complete drug rehabilitation programs. In 2001, Weiland pleaded guilty to domestic battery after a fight with his wife at the Hard Rock hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The judge agreed to dismiss the charges as long as Weiland underwent counseling

he Worst and Most Decadent Art Show of the Year. Rubbish and Decadence of the Modern Art in England!!

By F. Gibons and Allison Robert.

 

 

 

 

Some investment bankers lead a varied life. If 35-year-old Emma Chan is not clinching deals at her desk, or snowboarding in Switzerland, she can be found chatting to celebrities on London's South Bank - in the nude. Chan, from Twickenham, and her boyfriend Rob, who is also an investment banker, spent months upstaging Nigella Lawson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Grant at the opening of the Saatchi Gallery in County Hall. She was one of 160 'extra ordinary, ordinary' people who volunteered to take their clothes off in public for the American artist Spencer Tunick. 'It was so liberating. I just feel so lucky to be one of the few who did it,' she said. Chan and her fellow nudists were tempted into participation by the offer of a signed photograph of the event and they were not paid. The disparate group had been recruited through a listings magazine after art collector Charles Saatchi secretly commissioned Tunick to create a nude tableau to launch his contemporary art gallery. 'I automatically applied to join in,' said Chan. 'I had already taken part in his Greenwich installation with my sister, although I had never done anything else like it before that.' Along with the other volunteers, Chan and her boyfriend were asked to take their clothes off and lie flat on the terrace of County Hall as the sun set.

Photo: Trace by Jenny Saville (1993-94)

After their exposure, they were invited to the champagne party inside - on condition they keep their clothes off. 'At first when we heard we could go into the party as long as we went nude, we all said no,' recalled Chan. 'But then, after the photographs had been taken, our adrenalin was running so high that we just went in. We all thought "Well, we are art and these people are here to see art". Mann: "The first floor is the most sensitive part of Knott's building from an English Heritage point of view, so we have had to tread very carefully." The funny thing was, I didn't feel naked at all.' Strolling past Jade Jagger and Tracey Emin, Chan found herself being photographed with Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow. 'People talked to us about what was on the walls,' she said. 'But I looked around at one point and there were three women taking photographs of me.' The fact that Chan had already taken part in another Tunick tableau makes her something of a veteran. The artist prefers to work with newcomers. 'I don't really use the same people,' he said. 'I try to stay away from nudist organizations. On Tuesday they were just everyday people and they often have strong reactions because it might be the first time they are nude in public. They each have their own reactions to participation. Most people think they can predict what it feels like, but it's a collective, new experience for the body.'  The Saatchi gallery occupies 40,000 sq foot of space in London's Edwardian County Hall. Its prime position on the South Bank is opposite the Palace of Westminster. The building was designed in 1908. In New York, where Tunick lives, he customarily appeals for helpers by handing out flyers on the street. 'I never wanted to have the same people following me around, so I just hand them out. Occasionally someone finds out about it, but it is usually fresh people who take part.' One of the newcomers last week was also the oldest participant. Sixty-one-year-old Jane Roberts from Winchester has never had any interest in public nudity, but took the train to London on Tuesday to disrobe on the South Bank. 'I didn't even know it was the opening of the Saatchi Gallery,' she said. 'But once we were all there was such a good atmosphere. Spencer was very reassuring.' Roberts also joined revelers at the party. 'I couldn't believe I was walking around naked with all these famous people. Lots of people congratulated us. I did it because I firmly believe the body is something of beauty and in a way this was a challenge to people. I thought, "I am old, fat and short - come on, accuse me!" No one has done more to shape modern British art. But the so-called Super collector has as many critics as admirers. In the most revealing portrait of the 21st-century Medici, Jonathan Jones goes in search of the real Charles Saatchi. Charles Saatchi stands on the steps of the Marriott Hotel inside London's County Hall, looking down into the circular courtyard. In the middle of this hollow space is a turfed ziggurat, bright green in the afternoon sun. He is telling me about what lives below it: two and a half million rats. This appears to please him hugely. Two and a half million rats under the building in which he is about to open his new art gallery. It reminds me, oddly, of a previous conversation about rats. When I spoke to the curators of Tate Modern on the eve of its opening three years ago, they told me with some embarrassment that the hordes of rats from Bankside power station had fled to a nearby council estate. Perhaps all this tells you is that if you live by the Thames, you'd better not be scared of rats.  But I can't help thinking that the two contrasting images - Saatchi gloating about all his rats and Tate Modern vanquishing theirs - represent two versions of art about to do battle beside the river: the Tate's high-minded vision of a politicised and serious contemporary art, and the rather more ratty and gothic version in the collection of Charles Saatchi, with its rotting cow head, dead shark, child murderer and porn cuttings.

The Worst and Most Decadent Art Show of the Year. Rubbish and Decadence of the Modern Art in England!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Bunny by Sarah Lucas (1997).

From afar - and the notoriously reclusive collector has gone out of his way to ensure that most perceptions of him are from afar - Saatchi can seem a sinister, controlling, calculating figure. Up close he is very different - a man of passion and enthusiasm, a bit of a romantic, at least about artists and rats. With all the myths that surround him, he seems to have the excessive quality of a character in fiction: the Great Gatsby or the Last Tycoon, perhaps. Or, as his harsher critics would have it, the sinister Kurtz from Heart of Darkness. The Saatchi Gallery: Empty since Margaret Thatcher abolished the GLC in 1986, County Hall was bought for £60m in 1993 by the Shirayama Shokusan Corporation. Charles Saatchi is a man who assiduously cultivates his own myth. Removing yourself from the ordinary channels of communication, refusing interviews, absenting yourself from openings and parties is not so much normal shyness as a way of producing narratives of power and influence. In the past few years, as some in the London art world have claimed he was losing his sure touch as a discoverer of young art, he has taken steps to ensure that his reputation as the man who discovered Damien Hirst is written into history. Now he is about to unveil a monument to himself as patron of modern British art. When rumours first circulated that Saatchi planned to close his London gallery in St John's Wood and open his own museum in County Hall, a brisk walk upstream from the colossally successful Tate Modern, the very idea seemed stupendous. Saatchi's new gallery is an open defiance of Tate Modern and Tate director Nicholas Serota; it sounded megalomaniacal even for him. But he meant it. Now the classics of British art in his collection are displayed in the wood-paneled debating chambers and corridors once filled with the cigarette smoke of huddled councilors. It looks good. Saatchi has the best collection in the world of British art from the past 15 years - a period in which British artists, notably Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Tracey Emin, Gary Hume, Sarah Lucas, Chris Ofili and latterly Jake and Dinos Chapman, were at the forefront of international art in a way not seen since the early 19th century. There is no question that Saatchi beat public collections to the best of this stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Spot Mini by Damien Hirst (2002).

Saatchi modern art collection shares space in County Hall with, amongst others, a five-star Marriott hotel, a two-star Travel Inn, the FA Premier League Hall of Fame, the London Aquarium, the Diana Princess of Wales memorial fund, and the Dali Universe. "Something went wrong with the Tate," says Edward Booth-Clibborn, a fellow advertising man turned art publisher who has known and admired Saatchi since the 1960s. "Somebody went to sleep. How is it that an individual has this collection?" It's a good question. Who on earth is this man so confident of his taste (though he claims he has no taste) that he is launching a private museum of modern art? I spent more than two hours in Saatchi's company, during which he led me around the new gallery then to the Marriott bar, and we had a wide-ranging conversation about art and collecting, but it was explicitly "not an interview". He was warm, if shy, wearing a baggy white shirt, smoking a lot. Now I know him, he intimated, I could call any time. Except that he neglected to give me his number. Since the late 80s, Young British Art has been both admired and hated for its outrage and gutter heart. Saatchi started collecting it almost at the very beginning, and if you want to see Hirst's shark, Emin's bed, Marcus Harvey's portrait of Myra Hindley, Ofili's Holy Virgin Mary - if you want to see the works that caused the rows - this is where they are. But does this mean that Saatchi is the true begetter of modern British art, that it could not have happened without him? Here, as with everything else about Saatchi, myth and reality are ornately entwined. Picture this. The owner of an art gallery is just closing up for the evening, the sun setting on a quiet London street. Business, too, has been quiet. Just then, a black Rolls-Royce sweeps up. Out gets a man in tennis shorts, accompanied by "this beautiful blonde girl in a mink coat". By the time he leaves, Saatchi has bought four paintings and asked the dealer to provide him with catalogues on all the artists he represents. Over the next few years they will do a lot of business together. Geoff Mann, one of the architects who redeveloped County Hall: "given that Saatchi could have chosen other floors where we could have ...done more or less what he liked, the first floor, with its ornate interiors, might seem an odd choice." It's a scene that would be repeated time and again in the years to come. This particular evening must be in 1973, when the Saatchi Collection was just taking off. In the future, the Rolls would nose through mean streets in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, and artists just out of college would see their entire exhibitions at small galleries in terraced houses and warehouses bought lock, stock and barrel. The blonde would disappear; so would many artworks, sold to make way for the collector's latest enthusiasm. Saatchi, says Nicholas Logsdail, one of London's most influential art dealers and the narrator of this particular story, "has got this impulsive craziness about him". That day in the 70s when Saatchi rolled up to the Lisson Gallery was, according to Logsdail, the beginning of Saatchi's infatuation with the New York minimalist art of Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin and Robert Ryman. These were the artists that Logsdail represented, and these were the artists of whose difficult work Saatchi would become the leading private collector. Before he was notorious as the patron of Damien Hirst, he created, with his first wife Doris Saatchi (the blonde), a museum-quality collection of minimalist art shown at the appropriately cool, white gallery they opened in 1985 at 98a Boundary Road. Saatchi fell in love with Andre's floor arrangements of tiles and bricks, with Dan Flavin's neon light pieces, with this art of mute objecthood. Logsdail had trouble persuading him about the more conceptual Sol LeWitt; it took a weekend's discussion and showing of catalogues in 1974 before Saatchi phoned at 6am one Sunday to say he wanted to buy one of LeWitt's major works immediately. If you read published biographies of Saatchi, however, you will read that Charles and Doris's "first Sol