Pandora

RUPERT MURDOCH has put his foot in it again. William Shawcross, his tame biographer, reports the meglamaniac old mogul as describing the Dalai Lama as "a very political old monk shuffling round in Gucci shoes". Beeeeg mistake to tastelessly dismiss the spiritual leader of some 300 million people (they can't all have cable TV). Despite Murdoch's crawling sycophancy to the authoritarian Chinese, someone really should have told him not to discuss religion. Especially in Vanity Fair, a magazine not exactly unknown to Steven Seagal, Martin Scorsese, Goldie Hawn, Harrison Ford and Sharon Stone - all active "Free Tibet" campaigners. None of the above is likely to take a favourable view of any Fox projects for a while.

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BRAD PITT, Kate Moss (pictured) and Jade Jagger all showed up at Saffron Aldridge's party this week. Aldridge, a recent Tatler cover girl who models for Ralph Lauren, threw the binge to showcase Ian Schrager's new hotel at St Martin's Lane in London's theatreland. Schrager, the straight guy in the legendary Studio 54 partnership, still owns Morgans, the Royalton, and Paramount hotels in Manhattan. He has again chosen Philippe Starck to design his sleek new 204-room caravanserai. As Pitt flitted into its restaurant to dine with pals, Damien Hirst came, saw, drank and left. Saffron, Kate, Jade and their posse schmoozed at the bar and were joined by Alexandra Shulman, editrix of Vogue. Meanwhile, elsewhere on Planet Jagger...

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...MUMMY'S MODELLING on location. Daddy's in the South of France, shooting the breeze about Enigma, the Robert Harris novel based on Bletchley's Second World War code-breakers. Mick the Lip recently bought the film rights; now he listens as his people discuss Hugh Grant's suitability for the key role of the mad Oxbridge mathematician. Then, Jagger suddenly realises it's his boy Jimmy's first day at school; he shoots off in a mad dash to do that paternal thing. Jagger ferries his boy down to Stowe, the Buckinghamshire school that's Eton for groovy people. Which raises an interesting question, given that Jimmy is at an age when parents frequently describe their teenagers as "going through a difficult stage". If your dad is Mick Jagger, what form could your teenage rebellion take? Remixing Ludwig Van for the dance floor? Exploring, perhaps, the hidden mystique of chartered surveying...?

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BEST BET? Calum Best, another celebrity scion, is through his difficult phase. "Missing flights and turning up late because he's chasing girls - he must get it from his mum," jokes father George. Dad's influence, however, is clear: the 6ft 3in 18-year-old has lined up a pre-season trial with Portsmouth FC for next summer...

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DOMINIC TAPLIN is the player to watch in Nightworld as we exit the 20th century. This month Taplin, a 20-year veteran of London clubland, opens two new venues. This week it's Abigail's Party, the intimate members- only club on Brewer Street. And later this month, Taplin relaunches the venue formerly known as Legends. Bye-bye black and chrome, and a big "hello" to LA kitsch, potent cocktails and a club called Loung-jing.

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HARVEY GOLDSMITH, the West End promoter, makes his first foray on to the legitimate stage this season. He'll announce today that he's bankrolling Dancing on Dangerous Ground. The show, booked for an eight-week run at Drury Lane's Theatre Royal, stars Jean Butler, the good-looking one who moved in Riverdance. "It's more Ballet Rambert than clog-hoppers," Goldsmith says.

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KEITH RICHARDS, as Pandora predicted (21 July) won GQ's Man of the Year award. He collected it during a refreshingly succinct video presentation (other award organisers, please note) at Home, Ron McCulloch's seven-floor "super-club" in Leicester Square. Play of the day was the encounter between Nicholas Coleridge, Conde Nast's managing director, and Goldie, the toothy vocalist. "Wicked frames," Goldie said of Coleridge's specs. Coleridge refrained from commenting on Goldie's teeth...

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