From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Hipster Murdoch. Last Wednesday the residents of Melbourne’s funky Brunswick East were surprised to spot media mogul Rupert Murdoch eating brekkie at local cafe Milkwood. And what was Murdoch doing drinking a soy latte and a long black — lactose intolerant or new-age vegan?

He had a 9am breakfast meeting with an unidentified American man. Murdoch ate just toast and jam (the famous pea and mint smash with poached eggs didn’t tempt him, apparently) and was very polite to all staff. He might be a billionaire, but his breakfast companion paid.

And despite Crikey hearing claims that perhaps Murdoch had been scouting out RRR (the enormously popular community radio station located directly across the road), RRR told Crikey that Murdoch certainly didn’t come in. Which is a shame, really — the backlash to any purchase attempt would be worth watching … one wonders if he took the opportunity to visit the cafe’s cellar. Then he would have been under Milk Wood. Murdoch-watchers can check out Murdoch walking a very picturesque Sydney here.

We’ve also been interested to see what ex-NOTW identity Rebekah Brooks got up to on a planned holiday to Australia, but despite our best crowd-sourcing efforts, we heard little back. Did she even come? A spy claimed she was spotted at Sydney’s Royal Randwick on Saturday — is that right? Black Caviar was running there on Saturday, perhaps Brooks went to have a flutter? Please forward on any Brooks sightings to us.

Dalai Lama not welcome. Interesting tip from a uni type:

“Why has the University of Sydney withdrawn its invitation to the Dalai Lama to speak to the University’s ‘Institute for Democracy and Human Rights’? Not because it might annoy the Chinese government, surely?”

It’s worth nothing that the university’s vice-chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, attended the recent Bo’ao forum in China, where he met with Chinese officials and attended a dinner given by PM Julia Gillard. He was also interviewed by the Chinese government’s media agency, Xinhua. Chinese students are certainly very big business for Australian universities.

The Dalai Lama will be in Sydney on a speaking tour from June 14-16, but his official diary contains no mention of an event involving the University of Sydney. We put the tip to the University of Sydney’s media section, who said this:

“The Dalai Lama’s representatives approached the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (IDHR) at the University of Sydney,  about a possible on-campus event for students. Following discussions with IDHR staff and the DL’s office, and mindful of the tight schedule of His Holiness, it was suggested that the wider University community in Sydney could offer a more effective and focused event, or sequence of events, featuring a number of experts, University staff and students, centred on the theme of conflict resolution and peace. Discussions are ongoing with the DL’s office and other interested bodies.”

We’re wondering how the students at the University of Sydney feel about that. You were offered a speech by the Dalai Lama, and your university said no. In Tips’ heady uni days, such a speech would have been very popular and generated a huge buzz. Are you happy to miss out?

Car mag in trouble? A caller to 3AW this morning reckons an iconic Aussie car magazine is in trouble, with some senior contributors and advertisers being poached. Know more? Drop Crikey a line.

*Heard anything that might interest Crikey? Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or use our guaranteed anonymous form