Political convos percolate
LOBBYING firms elbow to the front of the line with every new administration. New Gov. Kathy Hochul’s focal seems to be Bolton-St. Johns, which was started by the late assembly speaker Mel Miller and his assistant Norman Adler. Like Duane Reade, its name came from the streets on which they grew up. Adler’s from Bolton Street in The Bronx. Miller played stickball on St. Johns Place in Brooklyn. Lucky Albany’s newest temp didn’t come from upstate Butts Road.
For the record’s rap sheet, Taliban speaker Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested 2010 by the Pakistanis and Americans.
He was released from prison 2018 to negotiate with Mike Pompeo. Fact: Tribal society Afghanistan listens only to its tribal chieftains. After taking five as president, Mullah whatsisname will creep back to his cave down the line. And down the same line that land will eventually revert to the Stone Age.
I was in Kabul twice — staying at our embassy with America’s then-ambassador Henry Byroade — many years back. Needing to be refreshed after an interminable flight, I first overnighted at the city’s hotel. Forget English or some alternate communication. Hand signals. My husband laid out one leg of three pairs pants and mimicked the idea of pressing. The valet in turban, harem pants, turn-up slippers nodded. Later, he returned. Only that one leg, the right leg of each of the three pairs of pants, were pressed.
Honey boo who?
REMEMBER that creature Honey Boo Boo? We met her at age 6 in 2012? On a beauty pageant circuit with her charming mom June who was as delicate and refreshing as a 10-wheeler truck?
Sweet lil’ Honey Boo Boo’s back. Age 16. Doing reality TV. She tells Teen Vogue she now wants to use her real name, Alana. Also she says: “I’ve got a little bit of extra meat on my bones . . . but I know I’m beautiful. I’ve got a banging body.”
Snips and snaps
SPEAKING of those interviews, Sunday’s the second installment of “Gossip,” a four-episode documentary series on me. It’s 8 p.m. on Showtime. Here’s some interview snippets I recall:
A bathroom stall. Upon realizing hers had no T.P., Tallulah Bankhead knocked on our mutual wall to ask: “Look in your purse and if I give you a 10, could you change it and give me back two fives?” . . . How about interviewing Panama’s Gen. Manuel Noriega? When I arrived, every airport light turned off. Soldiers with rifles wordlessly stuffed me in a car. I was terrified until I reached him . . . And Zsa Zsa’s mother Jolie, whose story I was writing? The Gabors were Jewish but she said: “In the book you make us Catholics.”
ENOUGH with designer labels. Soon it’s Calvin Klein nasal spray, Saint Laurent arch supports, Kardashian-designed aspirin, a truss with an alligator on it, Yeezy’s custom earrings. Coming next — what? Ex-Lax by Gucci?
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.