`` before we switch to sports , '' the announcer said , `` we have a special report from amanda blakesly , who 's attending a fabulous weekend shindig in pacific palisades at the palatial estate of zachary benedict ... '' the mention of zack 's name shut down conversations all over the restaurant as people glanced with nervous sympathy at julie 's booth , then began talking with renewed force in a futile effort to block out the volume of the set .