Jonathan Soroff

There’s a Kink for Everyone
Sticking your nose in a stranger’s nether regions and licking people’s faces are generally frowned upon in social situations, but not at Party Animals, the benefit for MSPCA-Angell.

Held at the Bank of America Pavilion, cleverly renamed “the Pup Tent” for the occasion, the annual fund-raiser gathered the city’s top dogs (and their canine companions), who sipped wine while overlooking Boston Harbor and reveled in the camaraderie of fellow dog-lovers.

Prominent among the throng: white-hot artist Hilary Harkness and business consultant Dorie Clark accompanied by contemporary art curator Al Miner, the smoking-hot twosome of Neal Minahan and Bob Vigneau with their equally beautiful hound, Newton, the affable Jason Goodell and lovely Amanda Daniels with Chappy (their Lagotto Romagnolo, an Italian truffle-sniffing dog), Brahmin restaurateur George Lewis and the stunning Claudine, the gorgeously expectant Jessica Nigrelli and her handsome other half, Andrew, XV Beacon chatelaine Amy Finsilver and Heidi (quite possibly the softest dog on the planet), Southie home-slice Jeff Finnegan, who dressed his bulldog, Charlie, in a tuxedo, kitchen supply mogul Michael Tigar with TV-personality Michael Tarshi (aka “Hyman Cashman”), and one woman who observed, “There are a lot of cute dogs here,” to which her friend responded, “More importantly, there are a lot of cute guys.

However, the evening’s funniest exchange was when a man whose husband was holding their dog’s leash said, “I’m both of their masters,” to which the person he was talking to replied, “Oh. Then where’s your husband’s collar?”   


You Can’t Write Dialogue Like That
Opening Night of the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival (proudly sponsored by The Improper Bostonian) is one of the rare social occasions on the island where the conversation doesn’t revolve entirely around real estate, and who paid what for which house or who put theirs on the market.

Instead, the convivial gathering, held beneath a tent at Saltwater Restaurant in Vineyard Haven, attracted film buffs and artistic types who chattered about the arts in general.

Present and accounted for: NPR radio stars Paula Lyons and Arnie Reisman, renowned landscape architect Carlos Montoya (son of the world-famous flamenco guitarist), award-winning cookbook author Joan Nathan, foxy actress Brooke Adams (sans husband Tony Shalhoub), Lunachick Linda Comstock, activist/midwife Pam Portney, prominent attorney Benjamin Reeve (a doppelgänger for his movie-star brother, Christopher) with his main squeeze, Kathy Sterling, documentarian Liz Witham (who was screening a film about her musician cousin, Ben Taylor), festival organizer Richard Paradise (who deserved and got three cheers for finding the festival a permanent home) and equally glittery others.

After enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the picturesque setting, guests saw the opening night picture, Searching for Sugarman, which earned kudos at the Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca film festivals.

The evening’s snarkiest exchange: a husband telling his wife, “Congratulations! That’s the shortest version of that story I’ve ever heard you tell.” To which she responded, “I left out the parts where you sound like a complete jerk.”