Calvin Barry

National Post
Arts & LifeTuesday, March 7, 2006
SHINANGOVANI

If we could have read his mind...
Gordon Lighfoot joined a cast of characters, including a psychic, a criminal lawyer and a Latina firecracker, at a party in his honour.

Gordon Lightfoot is combing his hair.I'm in an elevator with the great, groovy geezer-crooner having coincidentally arrived with him at a partyin his honour.
He's flying solo. Looking swell. His lips, as always appear as though they are fighting back aghastly grin. When the elevator reaches its summit, Lightfoot sneaks his comb into his back pocket - where else? - andwe stumble out to meet our host, the matchless Canadian PR man and celebrity hand-holder Gino Empry." My bartender hasn't shown up!" Empry exclaims almost by way of a greeting. Lightfoot doesn't seem tomind. Nor do any of the many other guests in Empry's party penthouse.Parly a scene out of cafe society (the kind we don't see anymore), partly an orgy of the golden-oldievariety, the night some weeks back is filled with many familiar faces. There's Dini Petty, who used to beCanada's Oprah. There's Art Eggleton, who used to be Toronto's mayor. There's Moses Znaimer, who used to be the Ruler of All.With theatre-red curtains flanked by the winding windows, a panoramic view of the city fills up before us, including a close-up of the edgy Primrose Hotel- with the "e" in the Primrose sign perilously burnt-out! There is, inevitably enough, some zebra on the floor, some figurines from places like Fiji and a Vegas-worthycollection of showbiz knacks. In the library, for instance, every diva is accounted for - Liz, Liza, Marilyn,Nancy Reagan - and there is a tape and DVD for seemingly every significant film of the last century.(Curiously though, most of the DVDs are still intact in their bubble-wrap!)There is song and what some might classify as dance. A woman who does a dead-on Marlene Dietrich sings her lungs out, accompanied by a man on the piano.The up-and-coming torch singer Serafin does his thing, wowing us with his rendition of Etta James 'At Last'. The final performer is less convincing all around. A Latina firecracker with a surfeit of enthusiasm and an apparentl oveo f telenovelass, he really drives home her act.Like cream-cheese taking to a poppy seed bagel she does her thing while slamming her rear many times into our dear dear Gino.( He half-looks like he's enjoying it.)Lightfoot doesn't utter a note. Why, after all, give away the milk for free, especially when the legendarysinger is about to hit the concert circuit soon in an 11-city tour?" This is definitely not The Spoke," a friend of mine says at one point, as we watch the room full of delightfulgeeks and delicious freaks." Yes, you might say it's the Anti-Spoke, " I reply instantly, thinking right away of the privatem embers' clubdowntown where, increasingly the crowd seems to consist of colour-inside-the-line types with 2.2 kids,women whose sole idea of adventure is Pilates and a vast solar system of UCC grads. (Don't get me wrong: I like UCC grads. I just don't like too many in one room!)
The party plugs along without much punctuation Lightfoot - who's separated from his most recent wife -shows us he still has a way with the ladies." I once had a weekend in one night in Paris," he tells me at onepoint. I can't exactly remember why. Also there for the long haul that night is well-known criminal attorney Calvin Barry. "If you ever need alawyer ..." he says to moi, handing me - and everyone else - a card'. And last but not least here is the quasi-famous Nikki Layne, Psychic to the Stars - Gino's sometime consort-in all her fortune-telling blonde beehive-sporting glory. If you could read my mind? Well, yes, love, she could.I SEE, I HEAR...That MTV Canada honcho Brad Schwartz - the plucked from - New York progamming boss who is the subject of some curiosity in TV circles - showed that he's got his finger on the pulse during a party recently at The Beaconsfield on Queen.Bradley performed guest DJ duties at the dusky and trendy bar when he was celebrating there withmembers of his freshly assembled MW team. The pop-culture station - as they're calling it - is set to stormthe airwaves Mar. 21.AND ALSO ...That an overly affectionate fan walked up to Clive Owen when he was sitting at The Drake Hotel a few nightsback minding his own hubba-hubba business She got a little Closer whispered something in his ear, andthen planted one on his lips before the star could get in a single word. Then she bolted just as quickly.

National Post

http://www.ginoempry.com/news/natpost_03072006.htm