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The GUILD - 3-19-02
March 19, 2002

Posted on 03/19/2002 4:17:31 AM PST by mountaineer



TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: guild; springintospring
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To: Timeout
My Italian Vacation

All sorts of rentals - I'm off exploring and dreaming. ;-)

21 posted on 03/19/2002 7:36:58 AM PST by lodwick
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To: Timeout;lodwick;all
All this travel talk is getting me all worked up! I've been to Europe seven times (France, Spain, Switzerland, Croatia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, with Morocco thrown in for good measure), and I'm kind of a "$10 a day/Eurailpass/youth hostel" type of traveler, and will be glad to offer any advice I can. For our next trip, Mr. M and I are contemplating Normandy and England, with just a few days in Paris.
22 posted on 03/19/2002 7:38:14 AM PST by mountaineer
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Comment #23 Removed by Moderator

To: coteblanche
Do you have room for one more ?

I don't even know which sisters are going...one can never tell if they're going to get cold feet as it gets closer. But I'm going. And anyone who wants to tag along is more than welcome. I've put it off all my life and now I intend to travel every year. That's why I think maybe we should leave Paris off this 10-day trip and just concentrate on Italy.

Oh, and the mention of Switzerland is simply because we intend to see the Lake Como area and I've heard the drive over the Alps is magnificent there. I'd be happy to just drive up into the mountains, find a little Alpine village inn, eat some German food and and return to Italy the next morning.

24 posted on 03/19/2002 8:09:20 AM PST by Timeout
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To: lodwick
By the way, if Mrs. Lodwick went with you, this might be a good gift suggestion for Mom's day or other events. "In Tuscany" is a coffee-table type book full of gorgeous pictures of Tuscany and Italy. It also includes lovely commentary about each picture.

Look at it here///You can page through the photos for examples of the exquisite photography in this book. And it's only $25, a great price for such a book.

25 posted on 03/19/2002 8:22:00 AM PST by Timeout
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To: Timeout
Rick Steves, the travel writer who also has a show on PBS (BLECH, I can't believe I said "PBS"), has a really terrific website: rick steves.

There is a truly insightful "safety tips" section, a/w/a suggestions as to "off the beaten path" places that most tourists never see because they're always doing the typical tourist trail.

26 posted on 03/19/2002 8:28:28 AM PST by Endeavor
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To: lodwick
You are so on the money, "Pack Light." I am always a pig when I travel - I take everything and boy is it not the right strategy when going overseas. Lod, sounds like you are a great traveler & I'll bet not too shabby a tour guide.
27 posted on 03/19/2002 8:31:55 AM PST by Endeavor
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To: Timeout
So I guess that's not really a rope.
28 posted on 03/19/2002 8:43:22 AM PST by MaeWest
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To: lodwick;timeout
Lodwick, you are right on target when you say pack light and don't worry about reservations (unless you are arriving during some event that fills up all accomodations - in that case do get reservations or better yet, don't stay overnight there). We've traveled a fair amount and only a couple of times did we have any problem finding a place to stay. Try to arrive in town early enough to scout around and get a room established. The real biggie is travel light so you are mobile. The carry-on bags that convert to a backpack are ideal.
29 posted on 03/19/2002 9:00:13 AM PST by MaeWest
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To: Endeavor;Timeout;some one;everyone
Great links, guys. Thank you.

Page 10 in the book gave me a start: it looks just like The Red Door restaurant that we visited in Venice on Mr. Frommer's recommendation. We were seated across from a young couple on their back-packing Europe honeymoon, before going to Africa or some such challenging place, to begin their life together as missionaries. These kids had even less $$$ than we, so they ended up back at our hotel to enjoy their first shower in more than a few days. The wife was just singing like a songbird while enjoying the nice hot shower.

One time while driving back to Madrid from the Gold Coast, we stopped in a small village for dinner. It appeared to be the only restaurant in the town, and after being seated we noticed what had to be a rehearsal dinner in progress. The wedding party was at a long table decked out in all their finery, toasts, many toasts, were proposed throughout the meal and a terrific time was had by all. Just before adjouning for the evening, the groom got up to pass out his attendants' favors - each received a carton of Marlboro Reds. I had to join in the applause. (Marlboros are just like currency in some parts of our planet.)

30 posted on 03/19/2002 9:08:56 AM PST by lodwick
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To: Timeout
The best I can think of might be a drive from Paris to Lyon, although I've never made the drive.
You'd get to see the Rhone River Valley, and Lyon is a much nicer city, in my opinion, than Paris.
31 posted on 03/19/2002 9:12:41 AM PST by COB1
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To: dr.j'sfirst;timeout;lodwick;all
I like Paris, too. My then-18-year-old cousin accompanied me on one of my trips (I was 26), and we had a blast staying in a youth hostel in the Bastille area ($7.50 per night, including breakfast; the coed bathrooms were interesting, though). Nothing beats stopping at a market for a baguette, cheese, some fruit and a beverage, and then picnicking under the Eiffel tower.

Another good source is fodors.com, particularly the discussion forums.

32 posted on 03/19/2002 9:14:50 AM PST by mountaineer
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To: mountaineer;all
Police Warning!!!!!! Serious This is something from the State Police -- Please read this "very carefully"...then send it out to all the people online that you know. Something like this is nothing to take casually; this is something you DO want to pay attention to. Think of it as a bit of advice too. - If a person with the screen-name of SweetCaliGuy4evr contacts you, do not reply. DO not talk to this person; do not answer any of his/her instant Messages or e-mail. Whoever this person may be, he/she is a suspect for murder in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted through the Internet. Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and ask them to pass this on, as well. This screen-name was seen on Yahoo, AOL, and Excite, so far. This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...just in case!

Note from me - my husband received this email from several friends in the tech field. It may be nothing, it may be something. I figure better safe than sorry!

33 posted on 03/19/2002 9:39:51 AM PST by EllaMinnow
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To: redlipstick
Origins: Information goes a long way in the Internet era, and this one's got the legs to outlast even AOL. There is some truth here, but the warning is outdated.

John Edward Robinson Sr., 56, was arrested on 2 June 2000 and charged with sexual assault on two women in the Kansas City area. Robinson lured the women (as he had others) into participating in sadomasochistic sex by contacting them over the Internet under the name "slavemaster." The two women filed charges after Robinson "brutalized them in a way that went beyond what they intended."

After Robinson's arrest, law enforcement authorities discovered two 55-gallon industrial barrels, each containing a woman's body, on land Robinson owned in Kansas. A few days later, they discovered three more bodies in barrels kept in a storage space Robinson rented in Missouri. All five women appeared to have been bludgeoned to death.

Robinson was also suspected in the mid-1980s disappearances of three women and an infant whose bodies had not yet been located. One of the bodies Robinson had stored in barrels was later identified as being one of these women, and the missing infant was discovered to have been adopted by Robinson's brother.

The "slavemaster" is monstrously real, but so far he's well short of the 56 victims claimed for him, and he remains behind bars, not out trolling the Internet for additional victims.

Hi Red! The above was found at snopes.com - where experience has taught me to check many of my email warnings. JL

34 posted on 03/19/2002 9:53:38 AM PST by lodwick
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To: mountaineer
HI Mountaineer, cute cartoon. Good morning my friend.
35 posted on 03/19/2002 10:13:15 AM PST by Snow Bunny
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To: lodwick; all
Okay, kids, here's all the scoop from our favorite NY Post gossip columns. Of course, there's still talk about the Minnelli nupts. The Chelsea story has been posted elsewhere, so I won't repost here.

Page Six:

LIZA Minnelli's new husband, David Gest, sets off Elton John's gay-dar. The pop star jokingly mocked the eyebrow-plucking, Lalique crystal-collecting producer while taping a performance for British TV Saturday.

While Minnelli and Gest were tying the knot downtown, the rocker was shooting "Elton John's Greatest Hits" at Sony Music Studios on West 54th Street. According to witnesses, John began playing "Here Comes the Bride" during a commercial break. He then told the audience, "I'm so glad I'm here so I don't have to be at that wedding!"

Titters turned to laughter as John continued, "If you want to get married, get married. I mean, I love publicity, but puh-lease!" And when the show's hostess asked Elton what he would give Liza as a wedding present, he replied, "A heterosexual husband."

"The audience went ballistic," a source tells PAGE SIX's Ian Spiegelman.

Gest's rep, Warren Cowan, insists that Gest is 100 percent heterosexual and does not believe John would say such things about him. "Elton John has never met David Gest," he says. "Not once."

....
As for Gest, now that he's married Minnelli, even his charitable work is getting a closer look. According to financial disclosure forms posted on thesmokinggun.com yesterday, the single largest expense Gest's American Cinema Awards Foundation incurs each year is "production costs" for its annual gala, which Gest pays to his own company, David Gest & Assoc.

The whopping fee in 1999 was $175,500, which jumped to $190,000 the next year. Cowan says the foundation has given $4 million to the Motion Picture Home for aging actors over the last several years.
_______________
Elton John certainly is catty, considering he also got married several years ago (before he was officially "out"), as you may recall.
____________

Liz Smith:
"ANYONE WHO is fair and who was there, can't criticize Liza and David's wedding. It was flawless," said the social observer Dominick Dunne.

And I agree. Truman Capote's "Black and White" ball back in 1966 is often rated as America's greatest party. (It had top names like Babe and Bill Paley, Kay Graham and other swells.) I'm here to tell you that Liza's controversial wedding falls into the same category. It may not have had the class, but it had smash and pizzazz.

I have lots of dish. From the moment the artist Peter Rogers picked me up to go to the Marble Collegiate Church I began having a good time. And that prevailed through the friendly and informal atmosphere of the ceremony and the fabulous party after at Wall Street's Regent Hotel. In a lifetime of celebrity watching, party-going, reporting and being a guest, I have never had such a good time.

SO PHOOEY and a big Fap! to all the naysayers. I am stunned and amazed at the efficiency and command of entrepreneur David Gest, the most enthusiastic bridegroom since the Duke of Windsor or King David. He pulled off the impossible and he all but kissed his bride to pieces before she could say "I do!" It was delightfully funny.

Liza herself masterminded the wedding rehearsal on Friday night. David was busy downtown organizing his 52 performers and urging the lighting titan Bentley Meeker and the flower maven Preston Bailey into feats of beauty at the hotel, which must resemble Grand Central Station when it isn't festooned with flowers, people and perfect pink lowered lights.

Liza ran her wedding rehearsal like World War II's General Patton with a touch of her director father, Vincente Minnelli. To the flower boy, Spencer Hoge, age 3, she admonished as he tossed his petals like grenades, "A little less sound effects, kid-o!"

Missing two of her bridesmaids, Claudia Cardinale and Esther Williams, Liza blithely rearranged her chosen 15. She had already made life supremely easy. They all wore black of their own choosing and carried wonderful red bouquets. The most impressive - Mia Farrow, who came down the aisle in a kind of Quaker frock coat and felt hat with a beatific smile on her lovely face. Marisa Berenson, the matron of honor, was utterly divine in a Gianfranco Ferre outfit that exposed her back. And I loved the black lace-beaded affair Arnold Scaasi created for Cynthia McFadden of ABC News. But every single woman looked great. I even bowed to my gorgeous confrere, Cindy Adams, as she passed.

There was no traditional music. It was all popular, sentimental and romantic, save for a few "come to Jesus" gospel songs (Shirley Caesar did "Amazing Grace" to a rock beat.) Liza is a believer and hers seemed to be a wedding with explicit Christian overtones. She came down the aisle wearing a crystal cross, smiling and radiant in a glorious Bob Mackie gown with a long train, stepping to "Daddy's Favorite," "Embraceable You."

Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson, those big stars, participated the least. They appeared only far away, at the altar, and mostly disappeared soon after, but let's give them credit. They came. And contrary to those nasty rumors, Miss Taylor had her own borrowed private plane. I am told David Gest didn't pay her anything and, in fact, he says, not a single person in the party even accepted a plane ticket.

When Natalie Cole was asked to stand in for Whitney Houston, she refused even to let others pay to fly her up from Nashville. She came on her own. Participation in this wedding was as a gift to Liza.

Let me say that Whitney simply wasn't missed. Natalie Cole did a great offering of Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." The bride and groom did the rest, welded in an embrace at the altar before the minister could say a word. Liza finally calmed David down before they both said, "I do!" There was lots of laughter, even a little tap dancing as vows were exchanged.

The only glitch in the night was the 50-minute wait while someone went back for Miss Taylor's forgotten shoes. She sat through the wedding in a little black hat with veil, looking for all the world like a leading lady in Durrenmatt's drama "The Visit." She nixed the party after. But even the wait couldn't dim an audience of old Hollywood hands, longtime pals, family and friends. People schmoozed in the church. Two beauties, Anne Jeffreys and June Haver, offered my group candy during the wait and Jill St. John filled us in with stuff about life with her beloved, R.J. Wagner, who was a groomsman.

I visited on the aisle with the newlyweds Joan Collins and Percy Gibson and everybody else I'd admired in the days when MGM had more stars than there were in the heavens.

36 posted on 03/19/2002 10:14:02 AM PST by mountaineer
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To: lodwick
Thanks, Lodwick! I shall forward your Snopes to husband so he can inform those who sent it to him.
37 posted on 03/19/2002 10:18:43 AM PST by EllaMinnow
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To: Snow Bunny
Hello, SB, nice to see you!
38 posted on 03/19/2002 10:19:14 AM PST by mountaineer
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To: mountaineer
Here's a little information about David Gest's little charity endeavors, including his IRS returns.
I think when you continue to list a man who is dead as being foundation chairman, something weird is happening.

Stomp Here

39 posted on 03/19/2002 11:07:10 AM PST by pubmom
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To: mountaineer
...even a little tap dancing as vows were exchanged.

Ah, yes. There's nothing quite like a little tap dancing during the vows......

40 posted on 03/19/2002 11:23:54 AM PST by MaeWest
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