Dan Gross: The pol and the porn star
WAS THAT STATE SEN. Larry Farnese hanging out with porn star Gina Lynn at Rouge Friday? Yes, it was. Farnese, we're told, saw some friends who were part of Lynn's party, which included wealth manager Al Heaton; his wife, Lori; Table 31 co-owners Tamar and Steve Olitsky, and marketing man Steve Rockman.
WAS THAT STATE SEN. Larry Farnese hanging out with porn star Gina Lynn at Rouge Friday?
Yes, it was. Farnese, we're told, saw some friends who were part of Lynn's party, which included wealth manager Al Heaton; his wife, Lori; Table 31 co-owners Tamar and Steve Olitsky, and marketing man Steve Rockman.
Farnese joined the table and a good time was had by all. My call to Farnese's office about his relaxing night on Rittenhouse Square was not returned yesterday.
Lynn, meanwhile, has given up making movies, but still gets into extremely compromising positions on her site ginalynn.com.
Rachael Spotlight
The Famous 4th Street Deli (4th & Bainbridge) and Barbuzzo (110 S. 13th) will be featured on Thursday's episode of "The Rachael Ray Show" (10 a.m., 6ABC). Ray taped her meals there last month while in town shooting her "Great Philly Grill-Off," which will be seen Monday.
BFFs on Berkus
Quakertown's Monica Mangin and Dublin's (Bucks County) Jessica Jackson are good friends who will renovate a room in each other's homes on Thursday's "Nate Berkus Show" (2 p.m., NBC10). The show also just picked the Philadelphia area - specifically Bucks County and New Hope - as one of its top weekend getaways. Berkus may have taken his travel expert Peter Greenberg's advice since he was here Monday staying at the Sofitel (17th and Sansom). One more local Berkus connection is local style expert Lilliana Vazquez, who writes the CheapChicas.com fashion site. She's a contributor on the show.
Big name dames
Bette Midler will be keynote speaker for Virtua's Women's Health Symposium Nov. 19 at the Convention Center. For info: virtua.org/women.
* ABC "World News Tonight" anchor Diane Sawyer will address the 211th annual meeting of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Oct. 14 at the Convention Center. She'll be interviewed by 6ABC anchor Jim Gardner about the economy, health care and other issues affecting the business community.
Crumbs of wisdom
Vinnie the Crumb, formerly of WMMR, WYSP and 97.5 The Fanatic, is now hosting Real Estate Radio for 950 ESPN, 10 to 11 a.m. Sundays. Vinnie is a mortgage originator with Gateway Funding and has worked in the mortgage business for more than 20 years.
Forensic fundraiser
Famed forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, who is Pittsburgh's medical examiner and has consulted on many celebrity deaths, will be in town tomorrow at a fundraiser for his friend Walter I. Hofman, the Montgomery County coroner who is up for re-election. The two will be at Montgomery McCracken law firm for a luncheon.
Charitably minded
Flyers great Bob "The Hound" Kelly and state Reps. Gene DiGirolamo and John Sabatina were among guests at Team Red Tiger Tae Kwon Do's MS Unity Day, which raised more than $6,000 for the Greater Delaware Valley Multiple Sclerosis Society. Team Red Tiger has raised $275,000 since 2001 for MS awareness and research. Red Tiger owner Jim Roach's wife, Nina, has MS.
Sweet ticket deals
Goldstar.com, a half-price-ticket website that offers discounts on concerts, plays and other live entertainment, launches today with Philadelphia listings.
New guy on Fox
Dave Kinchen starts Oct. 3 at Fox 29 as a general-assignment reporter. He's from the NBC station in Flint, Mich., where he was an anchor/reporter.