Q Confidential

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Q Confidential is edited by Michael Schenkler and Tamara Hartman. Contributors:
Steve Azzara, Ira Cohen, Marcia Moxam Comrie, Barbara Jarvie, Arlene Lewis,
Stephen McGuire, Angela Montefinise, Mike Nussbaum, and Dee Richard.

 

Photos By Steve Azzara - steveazzara.com

Models Of Queens
A Career Grows In Queens

Shani Robin
Age: 18
Home: Long Island
Height 5’9”
Weight: 135lbs
Stats: 34B,26,38
Camera Two Studios  

    She may not currently live in Queens, but she owes her modeling career to our borough.

    Lithe and an acrobatic student dancer, Shani has been turning heads ever since she was “discovered” while eating in a fast food restaurant over a year ago.

    “A woman came in who was a model…she was looking at me the whole time,” Shani said. Eventually, the woman approached Shani and offered to set her up with some connections. 

    Shani said she was “a little weirded out” at first, but after finding out the woman was legitimate, Shani was ready to break into the modeling world.   The woman – herself a Queens native – soon became Shani’s mentor.

    Shani got set up with Camera Two,  an agency in Forest Hills, and has been doing tons of work in the area ever since. 

    “All my work so far has been runway,” Shani explained,  although she hopes to break into new markets as soon as she can. 

    In the fall, Shani’s going to attend Hofstra, where she hopes to major in Communications.  

    Shani’s grown up loving dance and athletics, and is hoping to join the competitive dance team at school.  In high school, she “played every sport,” including varsity track, soccer, and basketball.

    Shani says she’s grateful for the opportunities that Queens has provided to her modeling career. 

Without her mentor and her agency, she said her career definitely wouldn’t be where it is today.

  Welcome to Queens!

Delicious, Nutritious Snack Time


Photo by Angela Montefinise

A QConfer was recently taking a stroll through the beer section of a local Waldbaum’s in Fresh Meadows when she noticed a very strange sign hanging overhead.

The sign, which was intended to inform shoppers of which section they are in, said: “Beer. Delicious and nutritious treats. Great on the go.”

The writer did a double take. “Wait a minute,” she thought. “What kind of ridiculous sign is that? Beer delicious? Yes. Nutritious, absolutely not. And great on the go? What does that mean? Is it advocating drinking and driving?”

After taking a closer look at the sign, it became clear that the word “Beer” was covering an older word, and the rest of the sign was describing something in a different section. After laughing for a moment, a worker at the store explained to the writer that the sign was originally in a “health food section or something.”

Too bad — for a minute, we thought they had discovered the perfect elixir!

Naughty By Nature

Rapper Ja-Rule is raising some eyebrows in Jamaica by not showing up for a court date. The Queens rapper was summoned to face charges for indecent language over his constant cussing at the Reggae SumFest concert last year in Jamaica – the country, that is.


Ja-Rule

A Montego Bay court spokesperson said an arrest warrant could be issued for his failure to show and he could face up to 10 days in jail or a fine of up to 4,000 Jamaican dollars — an equivalent of $83 American.  But as of late this week, Ja-Rule did not have to face the music.

Ja-Rule said in a statement, “I tries to keep the profanity down last year as much as I could.  This is hop-hop — if one skips out here and there, I’m sorry if I offended anybody, but it’s not done purposely.  I’m sorry.”

    The rapper is further exploring an acting career, will appear in an upcoming film “Half Past Dead” with Steven Seagal and is included in talks about having a role in “Charlie’s Angels 2.”

Cathedral Crime Spree

It looks like St. Patrick’s Cathedral became one of the City’s most unholy places last week as cops broke up the wild sex-ploits of a couple caught in the act inside the house of worship followed by the near-mugging of a church-going Queens woman – all in the same day.

According to police, Maspeth resident Patricia Fitzpatrick, who was on her way into the church to buy a mass card, was told by a man standing at the Cathedral’s side entrance to find another way inside. The man then led Fitzpatrick to another door where he grabbed her and tried to snatch her jewelry.

“He put me in a headlock . . . then he twisted my arm and I started to scream. He pulled at my rings and then he ran,” Fitzpatrick said in published reports.

 She also said that the commotion caused by the arrest of a couple having sex in a church vestibule as part of a radio-show stunt kept police from arriving promptly on the scene.

Oh Brother!

Ever hear the one about the rabbi and the psychologist who disagreed on adultery?

Well, now you have.

Dr. Joyce Brothers, famed psychologist and advice columnist who is a product of Far Rockaway  H.S., aired her opinions in the Daily News recently on Kosher Adultery, the latest from rabbi and sex counselor Shmuley Boteach, the author of Kosher Sex.

In his new book, Rabbi Boteach touts the powers of tension, envy and distrust in revving up any marital relationship. In Kosher Adultery he urges  readers to tell his or her spouse about “three people you encountered during the day …that you find particularly attractive. Explain why they attract you.”

“People feel a certain amount of inferiority,” Dr. Brothers responds, “and why feed into that, instead of feeding into a feeling of success? I think that you can really send a marriage into a very wrong direction.”

However, Dr. Brothers was able to see the sense in the Rabbi’s suggestion of “sneaking into your neighbor’s backyard and doing it in their garden.”

“This isn’t that bad,” Brothers admitted. “People do find excitement where they might be discovered.”

Oh, doctor!

Happy Birthday

Former teacher and community activist John Frank may have made a losing bid in the District 19 City Council race last year, but he’s not depressed. In fact, he’s keeping himself chipper by celebrating the birthdays of complete strangers.

Frank, a Bayside resident, developed a name for himself during his campaign as a hard-working, door-knocking, phone-calling, friend of the people. He gave out his home number, and returned every call. He also mailed out birthday cards to people he met while shaking hands and kissing babies.

More than 10 months after he lost to Tony Avella in the Democratic primary, a QConfer's father received a card from Frank in the mail, despite the fact that is Frank is not currently running for anything.

Frank told QConf that he is still sending out the cards because, in his words, “I love birthdays.” Although he said, “Someday, I will run for public office again,” he said, “ I just met a lot of great folks during the campaign, and I wanted to help them celebrate their birthdays. It’s just a nice thing I like to do. For the price of a stamp and card, you can make someone’s day a little brighter.”

The cards say “Happy Birthday” on the front, and read, “I noticed – after looking at my voting data – that it was your birthday!!! So I want to say, Happy Birthday! To you, health, happiness and lots of good will.”

The back of the card then says, “Have a concern in the community? Maybe I can help. Write, call or e-mail me. Let’s see what we can do.” The card  gives Frank’s home address, phone number and e-mail address. Frank said, “I’m just reaching out to the community. It’s what I do best.”

 

Confidentially New York . . .

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