A Big Bag of M&M's (with nuts)

Dig In:

PECKING ORDER:

Have you all noticed that Hank's pecs are almost as big and perky as Pamela Lee Anderson's? Maybe you've seen one of his shirtless scenes on Huff. Well, I live with the guy, and I've noticed. The other day he bumped into me in the hallway, and his left nipple tore a hole in my shirt ... last night I did push ups and supported myself on his chest; damn they were as firm as concrete ... but I'm not complaining, a hard man is good to find! And to those of you who don't like Mr. Man's chest, too bad. Actually it seems a lot of people have a problem with Hank's rack...bunch of jealous bitches if you ask me.

MISS TOM CRUISE'S PARADE SMACK:

Maybe you read the fluff piece in Sunday's issue of Parade Magazine; a real yawner until you get to this passage:

“Before I left Cruise, he introduced me to Katie Holmes, who is about 5 foot 10 (he’s 5 foot 7) and pretty,” writes Rader. “She wore a large diamond engagement ring. She seemed dazed, passive and vacant. She never stopped smiling. The minute she appeared, Cruise’s now-familiar public mode of behavior returned. He began hooting how beautiful she was, touching and kissing her like a teenage boy on his first backseat date, aware that he was being watched.”

DORIS ROBERTS BACK ON THE SAUCE:

Sadly, she's been arrested four times in the past three months for drunk and disorderly contact.

Just last Saturday, LAPD were called to the Brentwood Home of Ray Romano to remove a prostrate and incoherent Roberts from the well manicured lawn from said estate...but Doris is a great old broad, and Hollywood loves a lush; she'll bounce back!

JACK NASTY:

Jake Gyllenhaal making goo-goo eyes at his friend, Austin Nichols means only four things: NOT GAY, NOT GAY, NOT GAY, NOT GAY ... at least that's what his publicist had to say according to L.A. Defamer -- HERE. I can back this up, just last night at The Sheldrake room, Jake told me that he was not gay and then proceeded to drink shots out of noted He-Man (Vin Diesel)'s navel!

SELF MAID DRESS SUCCSESS:

Look out Dolce & Gabbana, Guadalupe of Crenshaw is the biggest thing in designer duds these days...here's the little lady drumming up business at a private function in Brentwood last month! Surprisingly, she's kept her day job!

LIZA TO BE A MOM?!?! ERIC TO BE A DAD!?!? :

Dear god, I kid you not: Liza Minnelli checked in to Cedars Mt Sinai last week, her beloved beau, Eric Stillman by her side and sources reported that someone heard Mr. Stillman exclaim, "What? She's 60 friggin' years old! How could the rabbit have died?"

Rock-a-bye-baby!

EAT ME!

Fucking Blogger ate my post!!!

Sorry kids, I've been really busy lately and sat down tonight and cooked up a big old gossip-riddled posting and then blogger had a seizure and ka-pow it was all gone!

I am going to try again...I'm still here in Sunny So Cal and all is well.

I'm off to The Sheldrake Room.

Stay Tuned!!

Strawberry Quick and Vanilla Vodka with a splash of Heavy Cream

You may wonder what the biggest thrill of Oscar night 2006 was for the house of Baxter / Azaria ... might it have been the big win of a certain friend? Or possibly the award that went to my good buddy, Mr. Clooney? Mayhaps it was the chance to see former Sheldrake Room regular, Will Smith, speaking in French while on stage...then again...maybe it was...

...the fact that several of Hollywood's hottest babes were outfitted by the most sought after designer of glad-rags in Tinseltown these days; Guadalupe of Crenshaw! Yes it's true! Maybe you saw Charlize Theron sporting that little number that came with it's own shoulder pillow (should the wearer want to nod off during one of the long acceptance speeches), or perhaps you caught Sandra Bullock in that natty little number that was stitched together using some old slip covers (speaking of Ms. B: where the heck is Jesse these days, I'm just asking is all) ... my housekeeper has quite a little cottage industry going for herself, and I am damn proud of her;¡La manera de Ir, Guadalupe!

Of course, by now you have read that Eric Stillman won the award for Best Actor in A Foreign Independent Film. Needless to say it was sheer bedlam in center row five of The Kodak Theatre when his name was called. Stillman, who brought Liza Minnelli along as his date, nearly decapitated Dolly Parton, when he jumped from his seat and hopped over the next few rows to get to the stage...meanwhile, Hank and I were high-fiving everyone while Liza (who had brought along a portable mini-bar) was pouring champagne into small plastic glasses and passing them down the row screaming, "That's my boy, give 'em hell, baby!!!" Oh and how about that acceptance speech? In a rolling, cacophony of sounds and emotions, The S Man thanked everyone from his third grade elocution teacher, his Kabbalah instructor, as well as "All the former straight women I have dated"...needless to say, I wiped a tear from my eye when he thanked yours truly for always "having faith in me, no matter what catastrophe followed in my wake". A thunderous standing ovation followed and yes, a star was born!

Since Hank had to fly back to NYC the next morning to continue Spam A Lot, I dropped him off back at the house so he could get some sleep and then had the limo take me to the Vanity Fair party; Stillman and Minnelli were going to meet me there... the first thing I saw when I got out of the limo was a truly horrifying creature who approached me and said in broken English, "Dahling, Help! I Must Moisturize before I turn to Dust!!!" I threw my bottle of Evian water at the beast and watched as the liquid was absorbed into every available pore of the she-beast!

Dashing past the paparazi I bumped into Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, "See you at Clooney's party at The Sheldrake Room tonight?" Cried Mr. Brokeback. "Bring your saddle, cowboy", I shot back and continued on my way through the throng of celebs...I finally caught up with Stillman and Liza with a Z, the happy couple was holding court at a small table surrounded by press. Liza saw me first and yelled out, "Dex, sweetheart, over here!!". When I sat down she tried to shove a daiquiri in my hand so I had to remind her that I was in A.A.; looking quizzical for a second she then smiled and said, "Oh yeah, me too!" and preceded to down the cocktail ... Stillman excused himself from the reporters for a second and turned to me and, flushed with his recent success proclaimed, "Baxter, old man, I feel like the king of the world tonight! My god, you won't believe the offers coming my way ... listen, I have about twenty scripts that were slipped my way stashed in the limo, could you look them over in the next few weeks, I want your honest opinion on them..." I assured my good pal that I would take a gander at what he had and at that same moment, Madonna plopped herself down at our table and gave me a quick peck on the cheek and tried to slip Stillman her digits ... Liza, whose something of a hawk-eye, looked up at Mrs. Richie and said, "Beat it, sister skank, he's all mine!" and with that, The Material Girl slinked off into the night...

Realizing that this was Eric's night, I left him and Liza to the ever increasing bevy of new fans and tried to make my exit, but not before a photographer tried to snap a picture of me and my protege ... goddamn, at least you can see our suits!

yours truly and The S Man

At the sidewalk hailing my car, Matt Dillon dashed over and said, "Yo, Baxter - want to share a ride to The Sheldrake?" I agreed and on the way to downtown, we shared a joint and talked about the night's festivities..."Christ, my one chance at an Oscar and fucking Clooney beats me! Not like it's going to be the only one that bastard gets!" At first I thought he might be smarting but Dillon's a good guy, he was just busting stones and then we lit a couple of cigars and he said, "Oh wait, you still on the wagon? Because now is the time to fall off, have you had a 'Strawberry Quickie'? It's Strawberry Quick and vanilla vodka with a splash of heavy cream; Sandy Bullock had a flask full of it and kept passing it around during the awards ceremony, you've got to try one!" I explained that I was still dry but agreed that it sounded great as the car continued on through the magical Hollywood night...

Guinness Stout

My god kids, there is so much to celebrate these days in Hollywood- Land...first, of course, is the certain crumbling of a certain "relationship" featuring a certain (turkey baster impregnated) young actress to a certain closet case Scientologist; what will he be jumping sofas over next, one wonders...

There is also cause to celebrate as Matt Perry who is hard at work on his new series (just like I reported HERE --scroll down a bit, you'll find it), and Matt is playing a writer (based on whom, I'm not sayin') for a sketch comedy show ...read all about it HERE.

And of course, Eric Stillman's star is heading so high up in the firmament, it may very well eclipse the sun! "King Of Denial" is a go, as well as an animated series based on "El Grande Supra", and last, but certainly not least, Stillman, his film, and the film's director are all nominated for Academy Awards.

Like I reported last time, I managed to get a hold of my old agent, Wilma Stonecutter from The William Morris Agency, to represent The S Man. Wilma grilled me for about an hour over the phone before she agreed to handle Eric; Wilma did not balk over the Mafia run-ins ("Kid stuff", she snorted), or the Colombian drug cartel ("So 1994", she sighed)...then she got personal and asked me about his sex-life. I told her that as far as I knew he was straight and this made her bristle and say, "Oh Christ, he's not a baseball fan is he?" I told her that I was not aware if he was or not, and why would that matter, to which she replied, "Look honey, hetero is OK, but if he's a baseball fan, I've got two words, Kevin Costner...and you know where his career is these days..." With that business out of the way, Stonecutter agreed to taking Stillman on and said she'd have the contracts drawn up and sent out to him in a day. In the mean time, she advised me to keep him away from the press and not let him sign anything until she looks at it. Done and done I promised...

While the rest of the world was sequestered at the Grammy Awards, Hank and I were busy throwing Mister Stillman his official Hollywood 'Coming Out' party; and boy howdy, did we throw him a fucking blast... I made a few calls and had Wolfgang Puck cater the whole affair, thusly giving my housekeeper, Guadalupe the night off. I also told her that I wanted her to come to the party as a guest and she was so thrilled (as I soon discovered that she and one of Stillman's "El Grande Supra" co- stars, Xavier Gomez, have been making goo-goo eyes at each other since the Golden Globe awards)...before the night's events kicked off, Stillman and his lady, Scarlett Johanson (who were staying in our pool house) showed up in the kitchen with a problem; seemed that Eric's tux was here, but that Johanson's evening gown was lost somewhere. Once again, Guadalupe to the rescue as she ripped a set of drapes from the guest room window, pulled out the sewing machine and said, "OK skinny girl with the big senos, come on let's make the magic..." An hour later, Scarlett descended the stair case looking drop-dead movie star gorgeous in a Guadalupe of Crenshaw Original.

One disaster avoided, the guests began arriving ... Faye Dunaway was the first and she plowed into the hall saying, "Dex, thanks for the invite. Point me to the bar and to that DARLING boy, Skillman, Tillman...whatever the hell his name is, I want him to know that he is forgiven for Christmas eve..." and before I could say or do anything she made her way to the bar...Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were next (they looked great, BTW), and after their arrival it was just a non-stop parade of who's who in Tinsel Town coming to meet the new flavor of the month...Those damn bug-eyed Olson Twins were on-hand and Sandra Bullock kept trying to get them to eat something...Tom Hanks showed up after the Grammys and made a beeline for Stillman telling him that he wanted him to audition for a supporting role in his next film ... When David Spade and Rob Schneider wormed their way in, an already toasted Dunaway cried out, "Oh look everyone, the C-Lister's have arrived! Come to check coats, have you boys?" Meanwhile, Stillman was playing the role of humble super-star to the nth degree. Remaining pleasant and understated, he received Hollywood royalty like a pro, and I was damn proud of the kid!

When my attorney, Saul Rabinowitz and his date, Courtney Love sauntered in, I knew it was time to double check the guest list ... I did not have much time to do this when Hank yanked me into the foyer to tell me that Liza Minnelli was on her way ... we put our heads together and worked out a plan; Hank would keep an eye on the door and ring my cell phone when Liza with a Z showed, that would be my cue to somehow separate Scarlett from Eric to, hopefully, avoid any fireworks ...what the fuck, it was a plan.

Dashing back into the living room, I nearly tripped over Doris Roberts who was passed out in front of the fireplace. Gingerly stepping over her, I milled amongst the guests and pressed the flesh and air-kissed those who needed to be air kissed and just barely avoided the drunken gropings of Keira Knightley,(she's been begging me to do some work on her new script for weeks now) smiling politely and laughing it off, another grope came from Colin Firth, who was sucking down the Guinness Stout like it was going to be outlawed, "Blimey, mate," he slurred while he tried to grab my crotch, "Who do you have to shag to get some food around here..." I pointed him in the direction of the dining room where Wolfgang was setting up the buffet and wished him well ... I then passed Spade and Schneider who were taking the guests coats into the den... then I came face to face with Carrie Fisher(thank god), and she took my hand and pulled me aside and said, "Dex, this Stillman kid is a god-send! My god, he's so cute in a dewy-eyed kind of way...say is it true that all of girlfriends turn gay? Poor Scarlett," she laughed, we both laughed and flopped on to the sofa and lit a couple of cigarettes and dished the rest of the guests...just as we were watching Sandra Bullock trying to force a canape into one of the Olson Twin's pouty mouth's my cell rang once...it was zero hour!

I gave Carrie a quick peck on the cheek and dashed over to the bar where Eric and Scarlett where going for refills... I tapped the man of the hour on the shoulder and said, "Mind if I borrow your date?" Stillman smiled and said, "Be careful with her, old man, she's one in a million!" I grinned and then got in close and whispered into his ear, "Watch your back, son, Liza is here", and with that I whisked his lovely little ingenue on to the dance floor where we tripped the light fantastic...several of the guests commented on her dress and wanted to know who her designer was...so far so good, Scarlett is a delight and she kept thanking me for introducing her to Eric, I told her it was my pleasure...

And then I heard the gun-shots.

Screams rang through the house and in unison, everyone turned to the center of the room where we saw my housekeeper, Guadalupe and Xavier Gomez where facing another man who had a gun trained on the both of them; "¡Bastardo, usted no merece el amor de esta mujer hermosa! " It was Juan Covier, another one of the co-stars of "El Grande..." It seems that Covier had also been trying to woo my housekeeper, and now that he'd lost his heart, he was going to kill the man who'd woo'd and won Guadalupe...another shot rang out as Covier yelled out, "¡Usted debe morir!", he'd fired his gun into the air...just then I caught site of Stillman running over to the threesome and I figured I'd better get over there quick and help. Stillman leapt through the air and just like his name-sake super hero, he did a high kick, succsefully knocking the gun out of Covier's hand... the .45 soared up into the air and I managed to catch it but not before it went off again causing the guests to disperse in panic...

Once more, I found myself in the middle of a mob scene as people ran for the exits...I looked for Hank, and saw him by the patio door trying to manage the crowd ... I ran over to him and we dashed into the yard... while inside our house, bedlam ruled...

An hour later, after the police left and took Covier with them, Hank and I sat in the living room, surveying the damage...the only guest who remained was Faye Dunaway, she was sipping her umpteenth martini and proclaimed, "Darling boys, tonight is what I call a party! Trust me, no one is going to forget this evening! And that Trillman fellow is going to be bigger than Warren Beatty", and with that she fell flat on her face next to Doris Roberts...

"Oh man, Dex, wait until the National Enquirer gets a hold of this story", Hank said laughing..."Come on, let's soak in the hot tub"...and as we made our way on to the patio we both heard something, a kind of squealing coming from the pool house. I shrugged my shoulders and walked on over to the cabana, Hank following, and opened the door and flicked on the light...

Somethings, no one is meant to see; but we saw it nonetheless. There was Stillman and Liza caught in flagrante delicto... Stillman reached for a blanket and covered up Minnelli and himself and said, "Oh, hi guys ... uh, what can I say? I think this is the real thing! Dex could you break the news to Scarlett? Thanks, you're aces, old man".

I closed the door and Hank helped me to the chaise lounge where I collapsed in a heap and then we both laughed our asses off...

Only in Hollywood, Kids!

Lemonade

You probably have already read about it in Variety, or maybe saw the story on Entertainment Tonight ... it's all true. Former double for Macaulay Culkin, former stunt-man and former paramour of every sexually confused woman in Tinsel Town, Eric Stillman, has been nominated for an Academy Award for Male Lead in a Foreign Film ... more so, his movie, "El Grande Supra!" has been nominated for Foreign Film of The Year... Yes, yes and YES: fortune has smiled on The S-Man and is showing it's pearly whites, blinding the rest of us...now I don't want to brag, but I've been Stillman's greatest supporter since I met him on the set of "Scream 2" (where he was Jerry O'Connell's stunt double)...and while he's had his ups and downs in this crazy business we call, show, his star has finally ascended to dizzying heights ... for instance, as I write this, Stillman is currently working on a little project called, "The King of Denial"; a film that Drew Barrymore is producing and starring in with him, as a matter of fact, after she watched "El Grande Supra!" she requested a meeting with Stillman personally and was so taken with the talented lad she immediately signed him up to be her co-star! I am also happy to report that Stillman is now seeing Scarlett Johansson and they seem to be hitting it off pretty damn well! Of course there is still that issue with Liza Minnelli ... you see, Stillman is from the old-school, and while he is clearly smitten with Scarlett, well, he feels indebted to Liza as she paid his legal fees and also talked Faye Dunaway into not filing a lawsuit after what happened at her Holiday Party (SEE HERE FOR DETAILS). Meanwhile, I've had my hands full trying to get the kid situated ... luckily my lawyer, Saul Rabinowitz managed to get Stillman his S.A.G. card, and then I put in a call to William Morris and had my old agent, Wilma Stonecutter, represent him (Wilma is a tough old broad, and a damn good agent who'll look after her client's best interests ... I owe that old harpy big time for everything she did for me back in the day).

This morning, while reading the dailies, the phone rang and Hank got it, we were sitting across from each other at the breakfast table and I watched as Mr. Man rolled his eyes and put his hand over the receiver while he said to me, "It's Tom Cruise ... again! He wants to talk to Eric...again!" I laughed and whispered back, "Be firm, Hank tell that bitch that, A: Eric does not want to go to a Scientology meeting, and B: HE DON'T SWING THAT WAY!", We both began laughing so hard that Hank could almost not finish the call ... fucking Cruise, like a vulture that smells fresh meat. Later on another call came in, this one was from Madonna, she wanted Eric's cell number, I gave her Sandra Bernhardt's number instead -- much like Cruise, Madonna smells fresh meat also and is always ready to pounce on it (I guess those rumors are true).

Meanwhile, I've been busier than Katie Holmes sperm-donor trying to doctor about a half a dozen new scripts, keeping tags on Matt Perry (did you hear about his new project? Sound familiar????) ... am also head over heals thrilled that my buddy, Matt Dillon coped an Oscar nomination for "Crash" -- I knew some day he'd get his due! Way to go Matt! And to think, he almost appeared in "Disco Nation" with yours truly!!!... I also have to give props to my housekeeper, Guadalupe who, it seems has found true love with one of the other stars of "El Grande Supra!" Yes, it seems that Miss G. and Xavier Gomez have been canoodling ! Ain't love grand?

Well, it's about ninety in the shade today, so I am sitting by the pool, sipping a lemonade while putting the finishing touches on tonight's party at my place. Hank and I decided that it was time to give Mr. Stillman a proper Hollywood introduction, so tonight, Casa Baxter-Azaria will be rocking; nothing but names, kids (all the B-list crowd will be at the Grammys). So, I will post on the nights festivities as soon as I can.

This is Dex Baxter, over and out (for now).

Hot Buttered Rum and Popcorn

Greetings from Park City Utah!

The Sundance Film Festival is in full swing, kids and this town is hopping. It's Hollywood In Wool Hats!

The hotel that Hank and I are staying at is just a stone's throw from downtown so we've managed to make it to almost all of the screenings so far ... of course the one we were most jazzed about seeing was the festival premiere of "El Grande Supra"... my god, kids, what can I tell you about this film? Defying all odds, this celluloid atrocity had the audience on their feet cheering, and the critics falling over themselves to come up with superlatives to recommend it! My good buddy, Eric Stillman OWNS this piece, as the tortured superhero who was born of Mormon missionaries who are murdered in Mexico by bandits and is then raised by Pancho Villa's great, great grand daughter...and then on his twenty first birthday is abducted by aliens and then returned to earth with superhuman powers that he uses to protect the citizens of his sleepy backwater, Nacho Via Skumdum...oy vey, who'd have thunk it? Nonetheless, it's the toast of Park City and Stillman is the man of the hour!

At one of the parties that Miramax was hosting (they will be distributing the film) body guards were hired to protect Stillman ... crazy! Hank and I had to put him up at our room for the past few days because of the press, as well as Liza Minnelli who is in town trying to hunt him down (as you might recall, she and Stillman were an item for a few minutes last December after Faye Dunaway's ill-fated Christmas Eve party), and Miss Liza is not one to be toyed with, just ask David Gest! Any hoots, I for one am thrilled that Stillman is finally getting the attention he deserves.

Spent yesterday on the slopes with Hank and Sting and Trudie .... have not been skiing in ages, but, frost bite be damned, we had a great time ... later on in the lodge, Scarlett Johanson asked me for Stillman's phone number. I slipped her the digits but told her to watch out for Liza (man that would be a hellacious cat fight!) ... later on Sting, Hank, Trudie, and I went to a screening of "Thank You For Smoking"...in the men's room, Robert Downey Jr. asked me if I had any blow, I gave him a line of foot powder, and boy howdy, he snorted a line of it and smiled! I felt good, knowing that I was merely providing an illusion of his addiction to him ... after the movie, we went to a party where I bumped into James Van Der Beek and we talked about his stalled career...poor kid, I think he'd do gay-pron for some exposure these days... found out later, that he was parking cars during the day and shopping around some little indie film he was working on ... so sad, but he's a good kid, he'll bounce back!

Last night, Mister Man and I went to a screening and I bumped into Tim Hutton...it was uncomfortable to say the least...Tim and I were roommates for a while back in the day and I don't think he's ever really gotten over me; not to sound all conceded about it, but Tim is a pretty clingy fellow and once he laid eyes on me, he got all puppy dog and I thought Hank was going to go ballistic and make a scene, luckily I talked Hanky down and took Tim aside and in the lobby of the theatre we talked about the old days and I slipped him Deborah Winger's unlisted home phone number in the hopes that he'd obsess over her again instead of me, that seemed to do the trick and the rest of the evening went off with out a hitch!

This morning, Hank, Eric, Greg Kinnear, Edward Norton and your's truly took to the slopes ... yes fans that is me with the yellow and black ski-jacket and Stillman is sporting the Santa Claus hat that Scarlett gave him the night before! After a great morning, we headed back to town for seven more screenings as well as an evening of parties...tonight, as I settled into my seat at The Egyptian to watch yet another documentary film on the plight of transgendered nuns from Siberia, and sipped a hot buttered rum while munching some popcorn, I thought to myself, what have I done to deserve this dream life?