Jewish World Review July 30, 2004 / 12 Menachem-Av, 5764

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Consumer Reports


Bubba goes shopping; in the Bono bubble; more


http://www.jewishworldreview.com | BOSTON — Never mind Mayor Thomas Menino's wet-blanket curfews.


Democratic nightlife finally kicked in with a bang at the big convention, and partisans gleefully partied Wednesday till the sun came up.


Here's my clear-eyed report:


Even before John Kerry's running mate John Edwards took the stage Wednesday night, thousands converged on the Creative Coalition's $1,000-a-head fund-raiser to hear the Red Hot Chili Peppers rock out.


But first, Coalition member Harry Shearer, the voice of Montgomery Burns on "The Simpsons," tore up a paper napkin, balled up the pieces and stuffed them in his ears.


"Too loud," he explained.


What?


Shearer headed for the VIP room at the Louis Boston men's store — where Billy Baldwin, Bianca Jagger, Wendy Malik and Alfre Woodward listened to Edwards — but it turns out there was another, super-secret VIP room where Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio huddled safely from the prying eyes of lesser celebrities.


Shortly after midnight, ornery fire marshals finally evicted the threesome from the store, with one putting his hand on hometown boy Affleck's chest and applying steady pressure. On the floor below, an army of cops marched through the partygoers shouting: "OK, everybody, time to leave! The party's over!"


Not to be deterred, hip-hop phenoms The Black Eyed Peas invited a lucky few to their after-party at Clio Restaurant.


Keeping it real, the band members crowded into one big black rental van while everyone else followed in cabs. Once inside the darkened restaurant, actor Alan Cumming jumped behind the bar and played bartender, pouring drinks for 50 or so of the band's guests, including "West Wing" star Richard Schiff and Steve Schirripa of "The Sopranos."


I asked Schiff, who plays a speechwriter, what he thought of Edwards' delivery. "I liked it," he answered. "I'll come back and talk to you about this more later."


But he never did.


Black Eyed Pea will.i.am insisted he felt a connection to John Kerry. "When I mentioned to Kerry that I wanted to make a song about America, he said, 'Why don't you go to Quincy Jones?'" the dreadlocked rapper said. "It let me know that this person is no different than me."


At the Park Plaza, the Creative Coalition hosted an exclusive afterparty where Vanessa Kerry and Cate Edwards mingled with the likes of Lisa Ling, Richard Kind, Barack Obama and Blink 182 frontman Tom DeLonge.


Cate Edwards stood by the bar fielding compliments on her dad's speech.


At one point DeLonge pulled Kerry aside, entered her number in his phone, and then settled into a private, close-talking chat in the hallway outside the hotel's Bonfire Restaurant.


The loud music stymied my attempts to eavesdrop on the animated conversation.


But two words were clearly audible: "Bush Twins."

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IN THE BONO BUBBLE


When it comes to star power, it's hard to compete with Bono.


During a week when politicians are pretending to be rock stars, he's the real thing.


When I caught up with the stubble-chinned, shade-wearing Irishman and his fetching wife, Ali Hewson — who blew in to town Tuesday to meet with powerful Dems and talk up government funding for the war on AIDS in Africa — they were in the middle of a terrifying scrum of fans, staffers and security types on the floor of the FleetCenter.


Bono — cameras flashing in his face, delegates shouting his name while he signed autographs at every step — was riding the wave on his way to a live shot with CNN's Anderson Cooper. From there it was backstage to meet with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle — and then to the Kennedy family seats with his pal and adviser, Bobby Shriver, to listen to Sen. Ted Kennedy's barn-burner.


The bipartisan Bono — who prides himself on his cordial relations with Republicans, including President Bush — happily waved a "KENNEDY" sign when the senator came on stage but sat on his hands during Teddy's attack lines.


When Kennedy harshed Bush and the crowd went wild, Bono briefly lifted his hands and quickly replaced them in his lap. "I almost clapped," he joked to Shriver.


Then it was off to sing a couple of tunes with the Boston Pops for the Teddy tribute at Symphony Hall. Bono, Hewson, Shriver and a staffer climbed into a state police cruiser and sped off through the Boston traffic, leaving me to fend for myself and follow in a cab.


"Did you get your own police cruiser?" Bono asked me backstage. "Oh, a cab. Well police cruisers are so passe. Next year we'll all be in cabs. This is the end of the police cruiser thing."


I felt better.


At the show, Bono sang "The Hands That Built America," which he wrote for "Gangs of New York" and tweaked to celebrate Kennedy. On stage he mentioned his censor-maddening use of the F-word on NBC after winning a Golden Globe for Best Song. "I met (Vice President) Dick Cheney at the Golden Globes and then I used an expletive," he joked.


In a totally bipartisan way.


THE BRIEFING


IMPULSE BUY?: Newly minted multi-millionaire Bill Clinton is apparently making the most of his Bush tax cut. The ex-president strolled into the Alpha Omega jewelry store in Harvard Square Tuesday afternoon and plunked down $10,000 for a stunning diamond necklace — and another $20,000 for a whole bunch of other baubles. This column hears that Clinton couldn't resist chatting up fellow shoppers about the nuances of, oh, U.S. policy on Syria and Turkey. "I love Istanbul," he announced. "I've never had a bad time there." The mind reels. Two hours later and $30,000 lighter, Bill finally left the store with an armful of bags and greeted a mob of fans outside. When asked Wednesday if she has seen the necklace, Hillary muttered, "I'm not going to talk to you about that," and walked away.


SOMETIMES LUNCH IS JUST LUNCH: That was Rudy Giuliani chowing down on the chicken Caesar with albino anchovies Thursday at The Last Hurrah, the Boston restaurant named for the Edwin O'Connor novel about a big-city mayor waging his final political campaign.



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© 2003, Creators Syndicate