South O' the Highway (and the North too)

Seventeen-year-old overnight music sensation Sean Kingston was at Linda Shapiro and Matt Kassover's home last Friday for the birthday party of their daughter, KK. Kingston is number one on the billboard charts with his infectious summertime hit, "Beautiful Girls," which pays homage to Ben E. King.

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The South Fork Breast Health Coaliton's 3rd Annual Bird House Auction has a poster to go along with it, featuring a painting by North Haven artist Dan Rizzie, from the collection of Kelsey Grammer. The pretty red poster will be sold at the auction.

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The benefit for John Edwards took place last Sunday at the home of director Dennis Erdman. Among the attendees were Kyle MacLachlan, Cynthia Nixon, Christine Ebersole, Heather Mills and Russell Simmons. Senator Edwards discussed his plans for Iraq while his wife, Elizabeth, encouraged support for Edwards' campaign, explaining the likelihood of winning swing states New Hampshire and Iowa.

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Last Saturday's Hamptons Social Concert at the Ross School featured Grammy winner James Taylor. The Fire and Rainman sung his songs to a crowd of celebrities including Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Mischa Barton, James Blunt, Christie Brinkley and David Blaine. Friend and fellow icon Paul McCartney was in the crowd as well and rushed the stage at one point, before Jimmy Buffet got up there to do the encore alongside Taylor. How sweet it was.

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Mandy Moore hosted this past Saturday's Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge. She chatted with friends, including David Lauren, Lauren Bush and Jill Hennesey and stomped divots between chukkas in her heels. Last week's host, Brooke Shields, and her mother also showed up for the social sporting event. Hostess Moore later partied at the Social Life Magazine party at the Stereo House, where she was staying, while James Blunt, post-James Taylor, partied at the Pink Elephant in Southampton.

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Jamie Foxx's new film The Kingdom, about an FBI agent in Saudi Arabia, had a sneak screening last weekend in Southampton. Howard Stern, Beth Ostrosky, Caroline Hirsch, Kelly Bensimon, Chris and Cristina Cuomo, Jeff Zucker and Sandy Gallin and Kathy and Rick Hilton were among the moviegoers taking in the political thriller.

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Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani was spotted picking up some seafood salad with his wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani, at Sag Harbor's seaside fish shack, The Dockhouse, this past Sunday.

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Tommy Mottola and his wife, Thalia, dined with their family at East Hampton's Della Femina last weekend. After enjoying their meal, the Mottolas chatted with Chef Michael Rozzi, and gave him their compliments. Meanwhile, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cynthia Rowley celebrated dual birthdays at Fresno, also in East Hampton.

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The 32nd Annual Hampton Classic Horse Show will return to Bridgehampton on August 26. The Classic hosts exciting hunter/jumper competition from junior levels up to the pinnacle of the sport, Grand Prix show jumping, culminating with the $150,000 FTI Grand Prix on the afternoon of Sunday September 2. Past competitors have included Hamptons riding champion Joe Fargis, Beezie Madden, Margie Goldstein Engle, Kelly Klein, Austen and Addison Phillips, Brianne and Clementine Goutal, Maggie MacAlary, Lou Dobbs' daughter, Hillary, and a host of other notable athletes.

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Benchmark Hospitality International, a Texas-based, independent hospitality management company that helps operate resorts and country clubs, appointed Linda Cerra as the new general manager of the historic Montauk Yacht Club. Cerra, a Montauk resident, was previously the human resources director for the yacht club.

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Susyn Reeves will be heading the upcoming Forgiveness Workshop at the Ross School Center for Well-Being. Reeves hopes to remind Hamptonites to be understanding and forgiving, even in the thick of Hamptons traffic.

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On August 18 at "A Way Above" Estate and Studio (the highest point in the Hamptons) in Bridgehampton, artist Setsuo Ito and Native American activist Russell Means are unveiling a new sculpture and book to benefit the American Indian School. The sculpture, "Earthscapture," is a mixed media piece of art inspired by the Southwestern landscape and the books of the same title explains its meaning fully.

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A meeting went down this past Tuesday at Town Hall in Sag Harbor between the Sag Harbor Board of Trustees and Sag Harbor residents, discussing Sag Harbor zoning laws that could disallow the coming, controversial CVS. Artist April Gornick was one of the many concerned citizens at the meeting.

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This September's Toofy Film Festival in Boulder, CO, which showcases important independent movies, music and art, will feature "Mystic Knights of the Loom," a short film by Dan's Papers' artists Michael and Betty Paraskevas.

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