Yesterday I spoke about Tavern on the Green honcho Jenny Oz LeRoy, daughter of restaurateur Warner LeRoy and granddaughter of Hollywood legend Mervyn LeRoy (The Wizard of Oz, Little Caesar). Today, my old friend Cameron Douglas, son of Michael, grandson of Spartacus himself Kirk, gets a word or three. News of Cameron's bust for possession with intent to sell large amounts of methamphetamine unfortunately comes as no surprise to those familiar with the troubled kid. That's part of the problem -- he's always thought of as a kid. It's not easy, I guess, being the son and indeed grandson of such mega-stars. The pressures to succeed, to be a star, must be tremendous, yet it seems a lot easier than growing up in some rat-infested tenement with parents who don't have all that much to teach. Now, Cameron faces man-size problems. These are federal drug charges with severe sentencing guidelines, and the weight involved (over 8 ounces) and the allegations and implications that this quantity is the tip of the iceberg speaks of serious jail time. There are reports of a ginormous trust fund of as much as $80 million, so amazing legal counsel will be secured.

I never apologize for anything in life. The only thing I’m sorry about is putting a curse on Roger Ebert’s colon. If a fat pig like Roger Ebert doesn’t like my movie then I’m sorry for him. -- Vincent Gallo

I live in Little Italy, where a cast of characters right out of central casting gathers on corners to shoot the shit. Everybody knows everybody, and the stories told assure everyone that New York still exists. Every so often, a stickball game breaks out. In the second part of my sit down with my neighbor Abel Ferrara, he touches on neighborhood character Vincent Gallo. I recall a story Vincent told as he held court to a group of us one summer day on the corner of Mott and Prince streets. We saw Vincent approaching and someone said, "Should I stay, or get caught in an hour long tirade?" We all stayed after a few hey's and whatcha-been-doing's, Vincent told us a tale about the time he put a curse on Roger Ebert, after the critic had given Gallo¹s unfinished movie The Brown Bunny a bad review. Gallo wished cancer on Ebert, and shortly after it actually came to pass.