FILM FESTERING

It’s nearing the end of TIFF and I have been negligent. Last year we were in Sicily and avoided the whole festival, the first time in about a quarter of a century of covering it. And guess what? No one died. So this year I have been cherry-picking TIFF events and just attending things I have been invited to and/or attached to people I know. Or involving champagne and seafood.

The three large noggins occupied by Gene Valaitis, Geoffrey Dawe and Rob Salem at the pre-festival cocktailer held in the green room at Roy Thomson Hall and hosted by Dawe’s TIFF Festival Style magazine.

Massage therapist Claire Blondeau, moi and broadcaster Gloria Martin at RT Hall. Claire inevitably gets busier as the festival progresses.

Moi and Bill Marshall, co-founder of TIFF, at his All Star Luncheon at Barberian’s Steak House, serving arguably the best food at the fest. I mean, c’mon: monster shrimp, oyster bar and pass-around fare like oysters Rockefeller. Yumola!!!

Moi and dueling Robs: Rob Salem and Robert DeNiro, part of a celeb portrait installation by veteran photographer Tom Sandler.

The huge wine cellar at Barberian’s, which houses 20,000 bottles of red wine, with an additional 18,000 bottles of white secreted across the street. Imagine being locked there overnight with a cork screw. I have been told that should one find oneself corkscrew-less in such a scenario, one can use the heel of a shoe to uncork the wine. I have yet to try this at home, kids.

The irrepressible Jaymz Bee with comely companion at the luncheon. Told he is channeling Colonel Sanders with that goatee, Bee retorted that he was going for Burl Ives.

Henk Van der Kolk, another co-founder of TIFF when it was called Festival of Festivals, with wife Yanka, iconic photographer and stylist, with just a walk-on by effervescent actor/singer/DJ Melleny Melody at the luncheon.

Rob Salem with the ultimate accessory at TIFF – a moustache fashioned from swizzle sticks.

 

I bumped into this sign in the window of a shop on Queen Street West and it spoke to me, unrepentant shoe slut that I am.

My Marni fake fur shoes face off with Melleny Melody’s glow-in-the-dark high-tops at the All Star Luncheon.

A pair of Chanel see-throughs I encountered and coveted during a non-TIFF cocktailer at a penthouse apartment on Avenue Road. I was a plus-one.

A fabulous pair of men’s Louboutin slip-ons worn by a femme guest at the Birks Diamond Tribute party for this year’s Women in Film honorees at the Shangri-La Hotel.

A killer pair of $20 shoes purchased at Kind Exchange thrift store sported by another guest, who checked the label because she thought they were Betsey Johnson’s but they weren’t. Never mind. They were cool and only $10 a foot.

Actor/comic Naomi Snieckus (right) killed it in a sexy black concoction designed by the fashionable woman beside her and made from vintage fabric.

Another standout gown in a sea of babeliciousness at the Birks event.

I met this delightful staffer at The Bay while I was interviewing a leopard clutch by Brian Atwood. Note how her hair colour perfectly matches the tassel on the bag.

Loved the red Mohawk rocked by a fellow passenger on the Queen streetcar, a.k.a “a streetcar named perspire.” Though a streetcar is not nearly as sweat-drenching as the non-air conditioned subway cars on line two.

OUT AND ABOOT

I am an unrepentant shoe slut. That is no deep dark secret. As I have variously proclaimed, footwear is my crack. I have been known to stop total strangers to gush about their boots/shoes. I found my thrill last Thursday at the first anniversary cocktailer for Clementine’s luxe resale boutique in Rosedale.

Two of my favourite things: the colour fuchsia and suede booties, stalked at Clementine’s.

I also had a come-to-mama moment with these black fringe Chanel boots at Clementine’s.

Clementine’s owner Christina McDowell (left), designer Dennis Merotto (former senior designer at Lida Baday) and Merotto’s muse/wife Anna toasting the anniversary. McDowell stocks Merotto’s edgy line in her shop.

But it’s not all high-end for the pedal extremities. Loved these personalized boots I spotted at Starbucks on King St. and Brant. Their owner is a stylist. Ya think?

The perfect gift for the Republicans on your list available for only $18.95 at Rolo on Bellair, arguably the best gift and card shop in the city.

THUMBNAIL SKETCHES

Producer Gene Mascardelli celebrate his 70^th last weekend with a party at his digs featuring a cast of musicians, actors and civilians. His partner broadcast journalist Gloria Martin makes a mean pot of chili.
 

You are nobody till thumb buddy loves you and Gene and I are clearly thumb buddies, exhibiting our matching wounds.

A musical interlude at the birthday party, with two seasoned guitar pickers and an aspiring vocalist gamely performing random requests.

Rob Salem rocking the camo look at the Wineva and Queen bus stop. Note the homage to David Bowie hoodie.

SECOND HELPINGS

On Sunday afternoon, we screened the film The Second Time Around starring Linda Thorson and Stuart Margolin. It is a tender love story shot on such a shoe-string budget that Thorson wore clothing from her own wardrobe, including a fabulous Japanese-styled YSL robe.

The script is life-affirming, proving that love doesn’t have a best-before date. As I’ve always maintained: in your 20s, you can’t get your shit together. In your 30s, you get your shit together but you can’t lift it. In your 40s you lift it. In your 50s you sift it and in your 60s you shift it.

I haven’t gotten to the 70s yet.

Linda Thorson, moi and broadcaster Gloria Martin at the Second Time Around after-party at Monarch Tavern.

This from the rumours-of-his-death-have-been-exaggerated department. No, it’s not Alan Rickman. It is his doppelganger, producer Gene Mascardelli, Gloria Martin's partner, at the Monarch Tavern.