seal

A bunch of celebrities including Mariah Carey, Seal, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone and Paris Hilton wound up at the Mardan Palace Hotel in Antalya, Turkey this Memorial Day weekend. The NY Post reports that Carey picked up a $1.5 million paycheck for performing at the opening of the hotel which bills itself as "Europe's most expensive hotel." The Post says Tom Jones also got the same fee. Other celebs reportedly earned more modest sums simply for showing up. Pics from the event in the gallery below.

Canada's annual commercial seal hunt is the largest commercial hunt of marine mammals on the planet! Seals are killed with wooden clubs, ice pick like tools and guns. In 2001, a study was conducted by an independent team of veterinarians who found that a shocking 42 percent of the seals that are killed, are skinned alive while conscious! In addition, over 90% of the seals that die are pups around 3 months old! There have been over one million seal pups killed in the past three years alone! One of the many organizations opposing this brutal slaughter is IFAW Canada. With more than 50,000 members (many of whom are concerned Canadians), the IFAW's courageous actions have drawn international attention to the plight of the seal pups and successfully rallied worldwide condemnation of the hunt. Thanks to IFAW's continued vigilance, it is now illegal to hunt whitecoat seal pups off Canada's east coast. A victory, but there is much work ahead, as the hunt for other seal pups continues. Join IFAW in their mission, donations of time and money are needed to fight this battle. Visit the website to learn more!

From the LA Times Hot Property:
• Seal and Heidi Klum have put their one-story Bel-Air estate on the market at $5.5 million. They purchased the nearly 2-acre property for about $4.3 million last year. You can find the listing for the beautiful contemporary home (shown) here.
• James Lesure, who stars on "Las Vegas" has bought and remodeled a $1.2 million home in Glendale.
• Sandy Gallin, the producer of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" and "Father of the Bride," and the former manager of Dolly Parton and other stars, has bought his 34th house to remodel. The latest project, in Beverly Hills cost him just under $7 million.
• Tawney Kitaen has bought two units next to each other in the Sierra Towers in West Hollywood for $4.2 million. Oddly enough, Kitaen previously owned the units but sold them a year ago for a total of $3.2 million to buy a house in the area. She then decided that she missed them so much she bought them back.
• Former Real World participant Tami Roman has listed her Chatsworth home at $1.75 million. The six-bedroom home has four fireplaces, a pool and spa. The listing is here.

From the NY Post Gimme Shelter:

• Qatar's Prince Abdul Aziz al-Thani who paid $6.2 million for a three bedroom condo at the Trump Park Avenue now owes  $16,271.14 in maintenance fees to The Donald's company.
• Developer Morris Moinian paid $12.5 million for s six-story townhouse of 10,000 square feet.
• Bruce Willis is paying $60,000 a month for a four-bedroom condo on a high floor at Trump International Hotel & Tower.
• You can purchase a slice of Newport, Rhode Island luxe, Bois Dure, a Frenchified 1928 manse for $5.9 million. You can find the listing, with pictures of the beautiful ballroom and dining room here.

From Forbes Movers and Shakers:

• The spectacular Champ d'Or is back on the market for $35 million, a $10 million discount from the $45 million it was listed at back in 2004.
• A Manhattan townhouse owned by  Arthur L. Carter, publisher of The New York Observer, has gone to contract. It was on the market for $34 million.