Is that John Stamos (Jesse
from Full House) playing with the Beach Boys at
Westbury Music Fair?
|
Models Of Queens
Venezuelan
Vixen
Patricia
Paredes
Home:
Astoria
Age: 21
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 123 lbs.
Stats: 34-22-34
Patricia
Paredes is an imported ingénue whose young life stands as a lovely
fulfillment of the lines inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
“Huddled masses” have never looked so good.
This
21-year-old Astoria resident by way of South America came to the U.S. only
two years ago in pursuit of life, liberty, happiness – and modeling
opportunities. “I
did some modeling work in Venezuela, some TV commercials and print work,”
she said. “The
situation in Venezuela is not so good right now.
For me as a young professional model, it was very hard.”
Leaving
wasn’t easy either, however. As her home country continues to face
political and economic turmoil, her thoughts are often with her family. But
Patricia’s adopted nation has been good to her so far.
She
hooked up with the Astoria-based Stock Model Management about six months
ago, and she has found that their unique approach suits her perfectly.
Patricia explained, “In Venezuela, I used to go to auditions all the time
and it was such a waste.
I would go and have seven auditions maybe and no job.”
Stock
Model Management works with models to develop a portfolio of images, which
are then sold directly to advertising companies. Rather than securing
auditions for the models it represents, top-level photographers are hired by
the firm to stage shoots – often in and around Astoria – with the
company’s stable of models.
Patricia
named Astoria Park as her favorite location for photo shoots, not to mention
her exercise and relaxation. She can often be found jogging around the park.
Her modeling specialty, however, is perhaps more appropriate for indoor
photo shoots. “I do a lot of intimate apparel, that’s my favorite,”
she said.
Her
specialty may be risqué, but her personal style is much more laid back.
“I’m a very casual person. I don’t wear high heels,” she said.
“I love the summer when I can wear a dress and sandals.”
Patricia
says her South American origins help her standout in this city’s
super-competitive modeling scene. “Actually, I find it easier here,” she
explained. “There a lot of competition but also a lot more work.”
Celeb
Citing
Former
Dream Street singer and “All My Children” actor Jesse McCartney
brought his song and dance to Forest Park on the evening of Aug. 11.
A
spokesperson for the Parks Department who was present at the concert
described an audience that included 500 screaming girls, with an average age
of 15.
McCartney,
16, spoke with fans after the concert, which lasted about two hours.
According
to his fan club website (www.jessemac.com),
McCartney is currently recording his first solo CD, scheduled to be released
in the fall of, 2003.
Sad
Coincidence
Just a few weeks after 10
members of his family were in a car accident in Bangladesh that killed two
of them – including his mother and brother – Jamaica Estates immigrant
activist Morshed Alam was forced to deal with yet another such
incident.
Members of the picnicking
family whose SUV rolled over on the Southern State Parkway recently – an
accident that killed a young Bangladeshi twenty-something mother and her
brother-in-law – were actually living as tenants in a Queens Village
apartment owned by Alam.
While the victims in the
recent crash lived on Alam’s property here in Queens, they weren’t
related to him and in fact were only recent acquaintances, he said.
Still, it’s gotta hurt.
“I don’t know,” Alam
said when asked how he feels about the string of tragedies. “I don’t
have any words. I’m
just depressed.”
At least friends from the
Eastern Queens Democratic Club recently hosted a fundraiser to help Alam pay
for funeral and medical expenses for his family back home.
Hang in there Morshed;
you’ve got friends who care!
Sex,
Drugs and Human Rights
In
the world of Hollywood, it’s apparently not so easy to stick to your
principles.
|
Montiel's
book
|
Just
ask Trudie Styler, the producer of an upcoming movie based on Astoria
native Dito Montiel’s autobiography. The peace-loving wife of famed
singer Sting – namesakes of the Sting and Trudie Styler Award for
Human Rights and the Environment which pays tribute to those who promote all
those warm fuzzy and proper cause-type things – is a self-proclaimed human
rights activist who is producing Montiel’s autobiography “A Guide To
Recognizing Your Saints,” which is filled with violence and drugs.
The
film, starring bad-boy Robert Downey. Jr., portrays Montiel’s life
— a boy growing up in Astoria, during the ‘80s.
As
his friends became junkies, inmates, or statistics, Montiel became a model
for Calvin Klein and started a punk-metal rock band. He credits various
“saints” for saving him and changing his fate. Scenes of this disturbing
biopic include Downy/Montiel witnessing a teenager being beaten to death as
well as hanging out with beatnik guru Allan Ginsburg of obscenity-laden
“Howl” fame –
not quite in character for an environmentalist.
But
this isn’t Skyler’s first dab into the darker side of the human race.
She was also producer of the shoot ‘em films “Snatch” and “Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”
“I’ll
be watching you”– Sting’s famous anthem with the “Police” –
might be well applied to Astoria’s Montiel and Sting’s wife Trudy.
Talk
about strange bedfellows.
Rocky
Road For Rocco
Rocco
DiSpirito, the Queens-born chef
behind NBC’s reality show “The Restaurant,” has faced more than his
share of culinary challenges since entering the national spotlight.
The
cuisine at his new Italian-American eatery, Rocco’s on 22nd, is supposed
to be based on his mother’s old world recipes, but critics have suggested
that the food and service at the fledgling restaurant have more in common
with meals from the public school cafeteria where Ms. DiSpirito worked for
years than with traditional Italian cuisine.
Now,
as if it’s not hard enough to open a new restaurant before the
uncompromising glare of TV cameras, Rocco now has a new calamity to face:
a six-count health code violation.
Documents
published by The Smoking Gun website indicate that a July 29 inspection of
Rocco’s on 22nd turned up “evidence of live flies” in the kitchen, two
large metal spoons left soaking in a “container of greasy, stagnant
water” and wiping towels “soiled in old food particles.”
The
violations, not uncommon for food establishments, extended all the way to
the employee bathroom, which was cited for uncovered garbage bins and the
lack of a self-closing door.
As
a result of the inspectors findings, DiSpirito now faces an Oct. 22 hearing
before Health Department regulators and unrelated charges that he is trying
to revive the old “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup” line of jokes.
|
