One Premiere Just Not Enough

It doesn’t take much to confuse us here at Social Climes. And boy, did our heads start spinning when we opened invitations for two separate “World Premiere Introductions” to the Ferrari 348 Spider. We didn’t think it was legal to have two “world premiere” events.

But what do we know? The first premiere is going to be held Friday at a party at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, where actress Sharon Stone will auction off one of the cars (valued at about $125,000) to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

The second world premiere takes place the next day on Rodeo Drive, which will be closed off for the event. This one’s open to the public. We guess that’s the distinction that makes this a premiere, too.

A Ferrari spokesman said there’s a third event taking place Sunday, Feb. 28. This one’s for current Ferrari owners only, who will be able to test drive the new Spider on a race track. “That one’s really closed,” the spokesman said. “We’re not even having any media people.”

Hmph. We’ll just get in our Hyundai and go home.

Celebrity Sightings

Social Climes has had some interesting celebrity run-ins at L.A. clubs lately. Two weeks ago, at that Sunday night club with The Name That Can’t Be Printed in a Family Newspaper, Liza Minnelli strolled in with photographer Greg Gorman to mingle with the pierced ‘n’ tattooed types who frequent the four-letter-named nightspot.

Then, last Saturday, at Dragstrip 66’s second outing, “The Karen Black Valentine Party,” the club was swinging with a mixture of trendies and drag queens when the door opened and in walked . . . the real Karen Black, who made a beeline for the video monitor broadcasting her classic TV movie, “Trilogy of Terror.”

Black took it all in good humor, even shaking the hand of Dragstrip impresario and deejay Paul V. She didn’t even seem to mind that Paul V. was dressed in what looked like a Karen Black castoff ensemble, circa 1974.

Kiss Lipstick Goodby

Retail’s a tough business these days. Not only do store owners have to worry about the recession, but there’s also the problem of shoplifters.

We found out just how much of a concern this had become when we were at the M.A.C. boutique (sellers of ultra-hip makeup) at the Beverly Center. We asked the salesclerk for a tester for one of their new shades, Viva Glam.

“Hmm, let me see,” she said. Then, turning to her co-worker, she asked, “Hey, has the Viva Glam tester been stolen yet today?”