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Model Student
Mairee
Rodriguez Working
towards a dual career as both model and actress is a lot to do –
especially when you’re only in sixth grade.
But Woodhaven native Mairee Rodriguez is well on her way towards
both. Mairee
felt drawn to these roles and she did what any 12-year-old might: find
someone more knowledgeable to teach her.
She told Models of Queens, “I started off with a list of modeling
schools and agencies, and I saw Susie’s class and decided to go there.” Susie
Moses trains Mairee in the skills needed to achieve her aspirations.
“She teaches us how to express ourselves and how to do
monologues,” Mairee said. And
the learning has already paid off.
After only two months, Mairee landed her first acting job as an extra
in the film Miracle Kids, which was recently shot in Manhattan. Mairee
also attends St. Elizabeth in Ozone Park, where she applies herself towards
being a model student so she can have the looks and the brains needed to
succeed. Mairee
described her personal style as “fancy and very delicate.” Model
Citizen
What
do all of these people have in common:
Elle
MacPherson, Christy Brinkley, Tara Banks, Cindy Crawford, and
City Councilman Dennis Gallagher? Believe
it or not, they’ve all been models at one time or another. Yes,
it’s true, the only Republican Councilman from Queens used to strike a
pose as a child model in his younger days, although he said he stopped in
high school because, he tells us, “The older I got, the uglier I got. So I
figured there was no hope.” His
portfolio includes work for the Daily News and True Romance,
in which he posed as the “17-year-old that terrorized the
neighborhood.” He also posed on the cover of the Starsky and Hutch Radio
Control Command Center toy box. He
told QConf that he didn’t really enjoy modeling because
“it was so time consuming,” but looking back on it, he said, “It was
fun.” He added that his brothers Kevin and Mike also modeled, and he said,
“The whole family got involved in it.” Would
he consider leaving the world of public service to model again?
“Absolutely not,” he quickly said with a laugh. Stupid
Security in Queens
Queensites
don’t really need the federal terrorism alert index with its color-coded
threat indicators — all we have to do is take a morning ride westbound on
the BQE. Sure,
traffic normally crawls, but extra security measures on the East River
bridge crossings have slowed BQE morning traffic to a one-legged crawl. The
police dragnet on the Manhattan-bound bridge entrances may or may not
confound would-be bad guys. A maniac could still stow dangerous devices in
car trunks, though it might take hours to drive it anywhere. Queens
can take pride, however, that one of our own airports has been awarded for
the Stupid Security prize given by Privacy International, a worldwide
libertarian organization.
The
group considered over 5,000 nominees and chose the security screeners at JFK
Airport as the winner in the Most Flagrantly Intrusive category over an
incident involving an Oceanside woman last year. Elizabeth
McGanny was ordered by airport security to drink her own breast milk in
order to prove that the baby bottles in her carry-on contained no
explosives. The
wacky screeners didn’t just ask her to taste the breast milk, they
demanded that she chug all three bottles in her baby bag. Sure,
she was holding a 4-month-old baby, but that didn’t put her beyond the
suspicions of the now Stupid Security guards.
We
can all rest assured that nursing mothers will not threaten our national
safety ever again. Weiner
Problem
Queens
Congressman Anthony Weiner may be a hot shot in the House of
Representatives, but apparently not in the world of romance. At
a recent “Support the Troops” rally in Kew Gardens Hills, a well-dressed
and well-trimmed Weiner took the stage to give one of his captivating
speeches. He
talked about how all residents should honor the military heroes fighting
overseas, and appreciate the “vitally important” rights that they are
risking their lives to protect. To emphasize his point, he discussed future
generations, and how important the war is to their freedom. He dramatically
said, “Someday, when I’m bouncing my grandchildren on my knee . . .” He
then stopped, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, “Well, I need a
wife first, but that’s another story.” The
crowd erupted in laughter, especially when City Council-member Jim Gennaro
pointed at Weiner’s body from head to toe to offer him to the crowd’s
eligible ladies. Reality
TV?
America’s
favorite fictional mobsters were at Long Island City’s Silvercup Studios
shooting scenes for their show’s fifth season. HBO’s mafia drama “The
Sopranos” is acclaimed for its accuracy in depicting the world of
organized crime. Maybe
a little too accurate. Richard
“Richie Blue Eyes” Maldone, an actor who plays crime “Capo”
Albert Barese on the show was arrested recently for his connection to a
Howard Beach drug ring. Maldone
also played a driver in “Analyze That,” a mafia comedy starring Robert
DeNiro and Billy Crystal. Type
casting has reached new heights in Queens. Kids
Love LL Cool J
It looks like it’s not just the Ladies who Love LL Cool J.
Keith
Perrin,
a Hollis native and co-founder of FUBU — one of the most lucrative urban
clothing brands in history — visited his elementary alma mater recently as
part of a program in which celebrities and professionals act as “Principal
for a Day.”
But
the kids at Queens Village’s P.S. 33 were more interested in hearing about
one of Perrin’s closest friends and business associates — Hollis native
LL Cool J — than Perrin himself.
It
started when Perrin was explaining how his multi-national company began as a
hat-making operation in his house and grew into one of the most recognizable
brands in hip-hop today.
His first spokesman, he said, was rapper and neighbor LL Cool J.
“You
guys know LL Cool J?” Perrin asked.
Hundreds
of hands shot up in the air. The entire auditorium erupted in whoops.
And
that opened up the proverbial can of worms: “What’s LL Cool J like?”
“Do you know LL Cool J’s phone number?”
“Are you taller than LL Cool J?”
“I want you to take me to LL Cool J.”
Perrin
smiled and answered the questions (except the phone number one) as his
publicist blushed and shared laughs with the school’s Principal for The
Rest Of The Year, Lawrence Cohen.
“Next year we’re bringing LL!” Cohen told Perrin with a wink.
E-MAIL your items to: conf@queenstribune.com
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