Dune club owner Matt Shendell was really - and literally - burned up last week after his seven-bedroom Southampton house used to house his staff and guests burned to the ground as a result of an electrical fire on the 4th of July, with one person narrowly escaping. Not quite the fireworks the genial club proprietor expected. Staff lost most of their hot club going clothes but the good folk's at Mickey Drexler's J. Crew are giving the club kids new threads.

Sean "P Diddy" Combs. Photo by PatrickMcMullan.com

Club goers finally allowed the opportunity to attend the so-called party of the year, P. Diddy's annual White Party were mighty disappointed that the music mogul didn't show up until 2:15am pulling a Grace Jones. My spies say he stayed just long enough to pick up a check for showing his face, grabbed a couple of hot babes and sped off with his caravan of SUVs.

Much more guest friendly I hear was Russell Simmons' after the 4th barbecue for his East End pals. Russell, a vegetarian, had Elegant Affairs' Andrea Correale grill up a mess of local veggies for the non-carnivores.

The tabloids have newly minted kitchen goddess Rachael Ray ready to divvy up the contents of the refrigerator and part with hubby of two years John Cusimano whom many of you remember from his camera excursions for Channel 12's What's Hot in the Hamptons. Well from what I hear from reliable ears, the couple are not splitting and indeed have been playing house in a Hamptons hideaway where they have stayed in previous summers. More interesting say my spies who have been observing the pair over the holiday weekend, there is lots of cooing and sweet talk only and word is they are SERIOUSLY looking at a property together on the East End.

Will the aggravation never end for Alec Baldwin? After disassociating himself from what insiders say is a grade A turkey, "The Devil and Daniel Webster", word is out that the movie, now under the title, "Shortcut to Happiness", will open in six cities on Friday the 13th. Alec is only relieved that the distributors have removed his credit as director and producer even after he had pulled together a seemingly bankable cast that included Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Patric, Dan Aykroyd, and Kim Cattrall.

He was however thrilled to be involved with this weekend's Live Earth Concert at Giants Stadium where he joined Al Gore's best eco-spokes-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Sting and a host of others. Too bad there was so much bad feedback about the waste of thousands of tons of jet fuel used to fly the A List crowds to the events scattered around the globe further adding to the depleting ozone problem. I think Alec simply drove over to the stadium, didn't you Alec?

All the choppers flitting in and out of the East End like so many hummingbirds are starting to get the ire of locals especially in East Hampton where the skies often look like an air show in progress. Nobody seemed to mind however when Jersey boy Jon Bon Jovi was choppered in from Giants Stadium for Ron Perelman's super exclusive bash this weekend.

There were extra police and private security everywhere in the Georgica area to watch over such bold facers as Gwyneth Paltrow, Shirley MacLaine (who probably teleported herself there), Judy and Al Taubman, Chevy and Jaynie Chase, Camille and Kelsey Grammer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, architect Richard Meier, and Martha Stewart. I hear they all dined on old fashioned picnic fare fried chicken, barbecued brisket and mac & cheese. Who says the rich are different?

Not everyone however was dining locally on such provincial fare. Christine and Stephen Schwarzman, flush with the success of the IPO offering for his Blackstone Group, skipped the East End for a little celebrating St. Tropez style. Ditto Tommy Hilfiger, Countess Lu Ann de Lesseps, and our BFF Caroline Lieberman who I am sure are missing the local cuisine. How do you say mac & cheese in French?

Meanwhile I am going to be right here juggling the invites from near and far, working out my travel schedule, counting miles and minutes in between all the hot bashes and wishing that I wasn't so eco-conscious (and pennywise) to hire a helicopter to whoosh me up from party to party.

Like every weekend in summer I have simply got toooo many choices! As always on Saturdays, I'll be changing in my car hopping between a host of fun parties. Very casual and cool for the Empire State Pride Agenda Hamptons Tea Dance always a hot dance party. Then slipping into a sexy Tory Burch number for Sarah Ehrlich's on the bay cocktail for Help for Orphans International and catch up with my friends Jill Zarin and those wild Gastineau Girls. Add a little bling and a gauzy shawl and its over to bid farewell to Trudy Kramer the dynamic head of the museum and to toast her on her 26 years of transforming the Parrish into a national treasure. Note to self: Wear the already broken-in Jimmy Choo's!

Just curious: What former hot shot publisher who thought he would, to paraphrase Leo DiCaprio, be "the King of the Hamptons," is now offering his services as a bartender to anyone not on the social press radar. We're told that while working a bartending gig this weekend, he doffed his trousers and dove into his employer's pool right in the middle of the party to the embarrassment of the hosts. Great reference I'm sure.

Seen around the Villages

As usual the club scene was at full throttle! Jay-Z and Beyoncé partied hard at Stereo-by the Shore in Southampton last week. Lil Jon, Eve, and The Sopranos Robert Iler made the scene at Pink Elephant and socialites Anna Anisimova, and Tinsley Mortimer joined Fall Out Boy bass player Pete Wentz and his girlfriend Ashlee Simpson for serious fun at Stereo by the Shore. Fabolous was on the mic at the Star Room.

Southampton is once again the place to catch the boldfaced crowd lunching and shopping. Kelsey Grammer picked up several armfuls of colorful summer duds at Harmont & Blaine on Jobs Lane in Southampton. Barbara Walters looking low key casual and elegant in a pink Juicy Couture track suit and sans make up lunched at Barrister's. The View producer and co-host stopped to say a friendly hello to Floral Butler designers Denise Size and Ed. Barbara is also a fan of Plaza Café's lobster-shrimp shepards pie.

Celebrity biographer Mark Bego was spotted talking up his new book on Piano Man Billy Joel at Sant Ambroeus. The Big Idea's Donny Deutsch with pals Brad Grey and Bo Dietl popped into Nello Summertimes for some snacks. Matt Lauer was out and about in Water Mill.

East Enders love their local seafood but still have a craving for a little bit of Italian now and then which is probably why the Hamptons has more then their share of top trattorias. Idea House interior decorator Robert Stillin celebrated over dinner with a group of friends including Richard Gere and wife Carey Lowell at Della Femina.

Musical brothers Russell Simmons and the Rev. Joseph Simmons, better known as "Run" of Run-DMC, got a brick oven pizza fix at Tutto Italiano in East Hampton. Inside The Actors Studio host James Lipton and his wife Kedakai have a passion for MUSE Restaurant and Aquatic Lounge in Water Mill. They just love their special "Not Yo Mamma's Meatballs". Betsey Johnson attended a birthday luncheon for friends at the new Italian trattoria, Matto for some serious pizzas, pastas and antipasto.

Jerry Della Femina's East Hampton hot spot continues to draw folks of every stripe. Fellow restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, top toque Alfred Portale and former Mets pitcher John Franco all sampled Della Femina's great cuisine.

Wei Fun on Pantigo Road in East Hampton has become a favorite for family dining. NBA Coach Larry Brown dined their recently with his child and their friends

East Hampton Point was the choice for a number of boldfacers this week: Heather Graham and beau Charles Ferri of the Star Room shared the house's terrific key lime pie. Congressman Peter King lunched with friends and Gerry Adams, the head of the Irish Political Party Sinn Fein, was toasted at a special fete in his honor.

Nick & Toni's as usual remains tops in the celebrity ogling category, although everyone is too cool to take notice when Gwyneth Paltrow or regular Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw pop by with their kids.

Here's the short list of folks who supped "anonymously" at the famed East End watering hole this week: Isaac Mizrahi, Starbucks honcho Howard Schultz, Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert, music mogul Tommy Mottola, artists April Gornik and Eric Fischl, actor Mark Feurstein, Leslie and Chuck Close, Rudy and Judith Giuliani, Martha Stewart on crutches, Jon Bon Jovi, Howard Stern and fiancée Beth Ostrosky, Morris and Jaci Reid, and Elie Tahari. Whew!

Off shore sighting: Kayakers returning to Sag Harbor Sailing spotted Mayor Michael Bloomberg aboard his yacht anchored right outside on Noyac Bay this Sunday, and Broadway's own Bernadette Peters was seen boating about on the 4th with friends.