It's fashion week downtown Hurricane Ophelia hangs over the city and last night Young and his manager Elliott Roberts missed The
It's fashion week downtown, Hurricane Ophelia hangs over the city, and last night Young and his manager, Elliott Roberts, missed The Rolling Stones' concert at Madison Square Garden because they were stuck in a traffic jam caused by a burning man jumping off the bridge into the Hudson River. "This sure is a jumpin' place," Young remarks in his wry, deadpan Canadian manner.Young, who could pass in aspect and manner for a reasonably prosperous Midwestern farmer, is promoting his new record, Prairie Wind. Downstairs, in the lobby of The Carlyle hotel, the Prime Minister's security men have been demanding to know what kind of black-clad ageing hippie revolutionary they have here They look as if they might put him in a choke-hold. Anti-terrorist barricades have been set up outside the hotel. "Welcome to Fortress Blair," says Neil Young, offering his hand. But I'm not paying $395 for a medal which is probably brass," he tells me.
"They've sent me the same letter for the last three years: I've got better things to spend the money on."pandora independent.co.uk. in recognition of your contribution to society and culture."It then asks for $395 for his medal."If I could be 100 per cent sure I'd get a nice gold medal, I might feel differently. They're offering him a "Man of the Year award"."Very few people could claim to be our Man of the Year," reads their missive "We commend you ... "I am sure Ruth would enjoy it."* You could call it a suspicious mind - but William G Stewart believes he's the target of a money-making scam from America.The Fifteen to One game-show host called Pandora yesterday to complain that he's received a letter of congratulation from the (unknown) American Biographical Institute. "My son John has landed the part of a Tory MP."Ever the proud father, Mr Shearman plans to arrange a trip to the Courtyard Theatre in Covent Garden and has invited the Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, to join him."It's a thought-provoking play," he adds. "We'll obviously do our best to find some for him, but it's a bit much if we have to ship the stuff over from Blighty."I hope they manage it.
Without the brew, Holland is legally entitled to back out of his contract.* Some MPs do enjoy a spot of irony. Barry Shearman - the left-winger who chairs the Education Select Committee in the Commons - has just heard that his son, a 25-year-old budding actor, is to appear in a new play about the state of education in the country today."It's called Amy Evans's Strike, and is about a schoolgirl who downs her crayons in protest at the goings-on at her school," he tells me. While most rockers refuse to appear on stage unless they know that champagne on ice - or at least a nice bottle of scotch - will be waiting for them in their dressing rooms, Jools Holland requires a fridge full of Old Speckled Hen.The dashing jazzman has requested that the traditional ale should be available when he appears at the Ko Samui Music Festival in Thailand this weekend, causing something of a headache for organisers."You can't get the beer out there," says one. The designer is one of the high-profile firms targeted by Peta for selling fur clothes.Ellis Bextor sees no hypocrisy here. "I did that campaign to raise awareness, so people think about what they're buying before they do," she tells me "I don't have a complicated view about it. I don't wear fur, but I don't mind other people wearing it, or standing here in a shop that sells it at all."The Peta advertisement showed Ellis Bextor in a photo by Paul McCartney's daughter, Mary.