Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"It was the sale of the season. When a seminal Warhol — one of the artist’s first silk-screen paintings — came on the block at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art on Wednesday night, the auctioneer, Tobias Meyer, opened bidding at $6 million and was stunned when a bidder instantly doubled it. The price rose at breakneck speed as five collectors vied for the classic image, '200 One Dollar Bills.' It ended up selling for $43.7 million (including fees to Sotheby’s), more than three times its high estimate of $12 million. The buyer, whom Sotheby’s refused to identify, bid by telephone through Bruno Vinciguerra, the company’s chief operating officer. Sotheby’s would also not identify the seller, although people familiar with the collection said it was Pauline Karpidas, a London-based collector." (NYTimes)



"‘Nobu, Nobu, I want Nobu!' Kate Gosselin wants to go to Nobu. She’s got a night away from her eight kids—also her co-stars on the hit reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight—and a reporter is offering to take her out on the town. 'I want sushi!' Kate says, leaning back in an armchair in her suite at the Essex House hotel overlooking Central Park, checking her BlackBerry, popping gum. But Laurie Goldberg, senior vice president of communications at the Learning Channel, which airs Jon & Kate, doesn’t think Nobu’s such a great idea. Kate cried on the Today show this morning, answering questions about why she’s still wearing her wedding ring ('for them,' she said of her children, sniffling), and this afternoon she told People, 'I am so emotionally spent' (from her husband’s behavior, which has included philandering with the daughter of the plastic surgeon who gave Kate her tummy tuck), and so it might not look good for her to be out enjoying herself at a hot spot. 'You’re like a prisoner,' Kate says of her newfound fame, annoyed. Kate, who in the first season of Jon & Kate, two years ago, appeared on-screen as a dowdy, sweatpants-wearing mama hen, is now looking very much the celebrity—from her tanned, trained body to her curiously asymmetrical blond hairdo, now so iconic as to be the model for a popular Halloween wig. Her phone rings. 'Oh, it’s Kelly'—Ripa, of Live with Regis and Kelly—Kate says, holding up a French-manicured finger, signaling for us all to be silent. She’s going on the show tomorrow morning. She and Kelly gab. 'Hiya!'" (VanityFair)



"Playboy Playmate Sara Jean Underwood Visits. Howard (Stern) said they had Sara Jean Underwood coming in .. Sara said she went to college for a few years but she still doesn't know what she wants to do for a living. Howard asked her what she did when she got to L.A. He read that she dated Ryan Seacrest. She said that she was dating that guy at the time. She said she's really not into the Hollywood scene. She said it's all about going to fancy dinners and stuff and that's just not her. She said that it was always a big to do when they'd plan to go out so she wasn't into that. Howard said he would take her out one on one and not with a group of people. Sara said she just wasn't feeling that whole thing .. Howard said Sara deserves to have all of the attention when you go out to dinner. Howard said maybe the guy is so full of himself that she's just a piece of meat to him. She said she didn't feel that way. She said Ryan likes to have a group of people to entertain. Howard read that they would go to dinner and he'd tell her that he had to sit in a certain seat because it was his good side. She said that it was kind of a joke and he would do that joking around. Howard asked if she ever made love to him. She said no. Sara said they were dating on and off for like 2 years. Howard said there's something wrong with him if they didn't do it." (Marksfriggin)



"STORMY DANIELS, a 30-year-old adult film star with more than 150 steamy flicks to her name, is getting set to heat up Louisiana's 2010 Senate race. Daniels, the star of Operation Desert Stormy—in which she plays a CIA agent who fights terrorists while wearing Army-fatigue booty shorts—says she plans to toss her G-string in the ring (although she hadn't officially announced her candidacy as of press time). We asked the Baton Rouge native why she wants to forgo porn for politics .. Q: You're referring to Senator Vitter's link to a Washington, D.C. escort service . . .A: I'm not one to judge someone's sexual activity, but what annoys me is that he's so hard-core 'family values,' and he puts his wife and kids out there, saying he's a Christian family man. Then he's caught up in a prostitution scandal. He's a hypocrite. Q: How much will your résumé be a factor? A: It's actually starting to work in my favor—I have nothing to hide. A sex tape of me isn't going to pop up and shame me; there are 150 of them at the video store." (MarieClaire)



"Mike Huckabee is the dark horse no longer. In a poll released last week of potential 2012 Republican candidates, Huckabee led the list with 40 percent of voters overall and 71 percent of Republicans who would seriously consider voting for him, followed by Mitt Romney (39/65 percent), Sarah Palin (33/65 percent), Newt Gingrich (29/60 percent), Tim Pawlenty (18/32 percent) and Haley Barbour (15/26 percent). He has the highest rated weekend cable political show, he’s just published a new book, his PAC is flush and he’s on the stump campaigning for Republican candidates. All that sends him to the top of my picks for the 2012 field." (TheDailyBeast)



"The Savannah Film Festival, now in its 12th year, shows great films that -- unlike some film festivals -- are actually open to the public. The festival took place October 31 through November 7 and was hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design. It featured 12 student films, 22 professional films, panels, gala screenings and award ceremonies. Here are some of the highlights. Opening night kicked off with a special screening of The Messenger starring Ben Foster and America's favorite pothead, Woody Harrelson. The Messenger is a considerable departure from Woody's last foray onto the big screen, Zombieland, and centers around a returning Iraq's solider transition back into the world. SCAD President Paula Wallace presented Woody and Ben with an Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award. Patricia Clarkson, who looked smashing, received an Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award for her work in Woody Allen's, Whatever Works. Hugh Dancy and Jeremy Renner were both given the Spotlight Award. Dancy won for the romantic comedy Adam, about a man with Asperger's syndrome trying to fit in. Renner was honored for his work in The Hurt Locker, the story of military bomb squad technicians. After a screening of Valentino, The Last Emperor, Michael Fink, dean of SCAD's school of fashion, hosted a Q&A with Vogue's Andre Leon Talley and director Matt Tyrnauer. A gaggle of Georgia gays came out for this one! With all the handkerchiefs fluttering in the theater you would have thought there was a swine flu outbreak!" (Papermag)



"MGM may be the best known logo in the entertainment business, but the company seems headed for another possible garage sale. Several sources say they expect that MGM will essentially be auctioned off within the next few weeks. This would mean that a major, such as Time Warner, could buy the MGM-UA library while another entity might acquire the logo, and yet another deal could be made for United Artists. Sources speculated that Kirk Kerkorian, who has already bought and sold MGM twice, might buy the logo once again. Last summer Harry Sloan was bounced as MGM's CEO and Stephen Cooper, a specialist in restructuring companies (Krispy Kreme was one of his projects) started meeting with bankers with the aim of restructuring some $3.7 billion in debt. There was speculation that the combined assets of MGM may now yield as little as $1.5 billion in the present market. The various equity owners of MGM, including several private equity firms, have already written down their $5 billion acquisition, which closed in 2004." (Variety)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"How do you get to Carnegie Hall? If you wanted to enter the legendary premises last night, you'd have to be on Cindi Leive and Bill Wackermann's good side. Glamour hosted its 19th Annual Women of the Year awards, and it was an affair of epic planning proportions. The event involved the special security forces for the former President Clinton, hundreds of screaming Girl Scouts on the balcony, dozens of stylists and manicurists in various hotel rooms around the city, countless travel negotiators, and even seat-fillers to ensure the smooth running of the event ... Even though the likes of Dr. Jane Aronson and Susan Rice took the stage to standing ovations during the night and Estelle performed, many were most eager to seeing the youngest honoree: Rihanna .. Her presenter Iman appeared impressed. 'I kind of live with a rock legend, so I know what it takes,' offered the supermodel. 'Rihanna is not there just yet, but give her another decade or so.'" (Fashionweekdaily)



"Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, on Wednesday reiterated his belief in the importance of a strong dollar, ahead of the arrival in Asia of US President Barack Obama. 'I believe deeply that it’s very important to the United States, to the economic health of the United States, that we maintain a strong dollar,' Mr Geithner told the Japanese press in Tokyo. The weakening of the dollar, which on Wednesday dropped to a 15-month low on a trade-weighted basis, has led to some concern over the future of the dollar as the central currency in the global economy. 'We bear a special responsibility for trying to make sure that we are implementing policies in the United States that will sustain confidence… in investors round the world,' he said." (FT)



"The Martha Stewart Center for Living threw its second annual gala last night in Chelsea. Liz Smith hosted the event, which honored journalist and author Sir Harold Evans, at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia headquarters on West 26th Street. Before dinner, there was a cocktail hour while guests bid on silent auction items such as photographs taken and signed by Martha, a yoga class with her personal trainer, and a teeth bleaching session with her dentist ... Stewart presented Sir Harold Evans with the 2009 Living Award, and he delivered a humorously self-deprecating acceptance speech. George McNeely of Christie's ran the live auction, which consisted of just three items: lunch for four at Le Caprice with Martha Stewart, Liz Smith, and Sir Harold Evans; an on-camera experience in a segment on The Martha Stewart Show; and a dinner party catered by Chef Pierre Schaedelin and hosted by Martha at her farm in Bedford. The dinner party was a big hit, and went to Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's Mad Money, for $12,000." (NYSocialDiary)



"The Obama administration’s attempt to relaunch the Middle East peace process isn’t just dead. The decomposing corpse is stinking up the room. The president’s personal prestige has been dinged—in the Arab world, in Israel, and in Europe and beyond. He has undercut his core strategy of reaching out to the Arab and Muslim world by showing a new, more 'even-handed' American policy in this bitter dispute. There was nothing more predictable than this embarrassing and damaging public flop. The administration dug a hole for itself and jumped merrily in. Four things went wrong, one after the other. First, Obama made what Arabs heard as a promise: that he was going to get Israel to stop all construction in all settlements in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This was rash and wrong; there is no way the Israeli government would accept this condition of its own free will—and Obama lacks the power to force this deal down Israel’s throat. Second, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to cash the check Obama rashly wrote. He declined to accept the full construction freeze that the president wanted. Third, the Arab world then refused to help Obama by making some concessions to Israel in exchange for the partial freeze Israel proposed. Finally, in those conditions, Muhammad Abbas, a weak leader of an even weaker proto-state (the Palestinian Authority), threatened to throw in the towel, saying that he can’t carry on anymore under these conditions." (Walter Russell Reade/TheDailyBeast)



"The New Yorker has never published a masthead. But four and a half years ago, this newspaper assembled the magazine’s staff list and published it to look like one. Since then, some editors, researchers and writers have left, and been replaced by new talent. The magazine has gotten a little younger too (witness the hiring of Ryan Lizza, Nick Trautwein, Ariel Levy, and 26-year-old managing editor Amelia Lester). But one thing has stayed the same: the sheer size of the magazine’s editorial staff. 'In order to do what we do, we need a sizable staff,' said editor in chief David Remnick in an interview. 'We don’t publish 10 issues a year, or 12 issues a year. We publish 46. If The New Yorker is going to be worthy of the name,' he continued, 'and achieve a level of prose or accuracy or depth, or if it’s going to give the reporters or writers the time they need to achieve what I hope we can achieve, we can’t do it with a minuscule staff.'" (Observer)

Friday's Speed Shrinking Event

 

My friend Sue Shapiro had a "Speed Shrinking" event at the New School on Friday. It was covered by the local news channel, and it was awesometastic.

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"It seemed like everyone and their mother was celebrating the Y chromosome last night at Glamour magazine's 2009 Women of the Year awards ceremony: Rihanna's family was up from Barbados, a delegation of Iranian equal-rights activists made the trip, and the First Lady and the President appeared in separate video clips to give respective shout-outs to the Girl Scouts and the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice. Following a performance by Estelle, a string of inspiring honorees took to the Carnegie Hall stage. "The adult version of me is still surprised that I'm here in front of you. However, the 10-year-old version of me is not," comedienne Amy Poehler joked. Like many of the evening's speakers, she offered some wisdom to the youth sitting in the upper balcony: 'If boys say something that's not funny, you don't have to laugh.' Presenting to Serena Williams, Tyra Banks mentioned a recent encounter with the tennis star's wax doppelgänger at Madame Tussauds. 'I started squeezing the biceps, squeezing the legs, squeezing the booty. Oh my God, I was in heaven!' Thankfully, President Bill Clinton offered a very different sort of introduction for Maya Angelou." (Style)



"Tribeca Prods. partners Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro have made a two-year deal with CBS Television Studios. They are working on a trio of New York-centric projects for CBS and its sister networks, two of which have taken root under the CBS Television Studios pact. Terry George has been signed to create and write 'Securing the City,' an hour-long pilot that will be based on the Christopher Dickey book 'Securing the City: Inside America's Best Counterterror Force.' The ensemble drama will chronicle the lives of the NYPD's elite counterterrorism and intelligence division, whose mission is to prevent terrorist activity by infiltrating and capturing perpetrators before they strike. The pilot will be exec produced by De Niro, Rosenthal and George, who most recently wrote and directed 'Hotel Rwanda' and 'Reservation Road.' George previously co-created the CBS drama 'The District.'" (Variety)



(image via NYSD)

"Last night. Two things. Book Parties and Harry Evans... They started at 8. Full breakfast (very good) at tables for a hundred or more guests and the discussion led by Harry Evans. He was well dressed but a little rumpled, like he’d already been up for hours working on something in the office. Or just rolled out of bed, take your pick. He has a slight figure, bantam-like in movement with a bit of leaning in to his posture as if he’s about to go into a race. But the personality that sidles up is big and authentic. The personality conducting an interview is penetrating but with furrowed brow and off-handed wit. You can’t decide which side he’s on because he seems to be on both. The journalist like very few...The other thing that intrigued: I realized that Harry Evans is 83. I never thought much about his age before. He’s just always been there, unchanging. What is it with these New York octogenarians? Barbara Carroll at the Algonquin Sunday is 84! That dowager belle of Broadway, Liz Smith is 86. And they’re so young. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean cosmetic surgery, etc., I mean their heads are young and vital. Except one thing: they know more." (NYSocialDiary)



"'I want my apartment to look just like this!' exclaimed Jean Paul Gaultier last night during Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld's curated exhibition, 'The Martus Maw,' a collection of works by French artist Nicolas Pol. While the old downtown meat market wasn't exactly the paragon of "homey," it certainly impressed Gaultier and the rest of the culture-seeking crowd as they ventured to the Lower East Side to peruse Pol's work. Friends (and family) including Carine Roitfeld, Stavros Nicharos, Erin Wasson and Tom Sachs were welcomed by a beaming Roitfeld and a swirling cloud of incense ...However, even closer was another Vogue editor...Giovanna Battaglia of Vogue Italia. 'When I was a child I hated being dragged to museums,' she said. 'I tried to escape. But now I've met Vladimir, and it seems like art follows me! My family is from art, and Vlad is bringing me back to my roots.' Conversely, her boyfriend had a different sentiment. 'You know when you're a kid and you have to go on a school trip to the museum and you get ready for a really boring day? It wasn't that way for me. I remember going to a Picasso exhibition in Paris when I was 10 years-old, and it was the best day of my life.'" (Fashionweekdaily)

Is "Cool" Recession-Resistant?



(image via brooklynvegan)

Don't think the title of this blog post suggests that the author is some arbiter of cool. Quite the contrary. Our enduring love of the Howard Stern Show and, even more deplorably, the new TV show "V" should automatically set off red flags as to our trustworthiness as a taste maker (Averted Gaze). We know, for example, that fast food is recession-resistant. But what about "Cool." Is "Coolness" recession-resistant? It certainly does well when the economy is going gangbusters and everyone has discretionary cash for luxury, for cool. But what about when the economy is in a negative cycle? Paper magazine, if you've attended any of their recent parties or seen the sumptuous ads in their pages, appears to have bucked the recession. People, presumably not just the wealthy in Abu Dhabi, are still finding a way to get their iPhones and tech gadgets. The flattening of the world has not affected Apple Computer's bottom line. Liquor companies are still foisting cases on the party scene in NY and LA. From Forbes:

"Paper Publishing has been trying for years to diversify. With revenue from the magazine falling, the company created Buzzeteria in 2007, an ad network that shills space on other niche online publications, including music blog brooklynvegan.com, fashion gossip site fashionista.com and Wall Street scandal sheet dealbreaker.com. Revenues from the network are up 55% year to date, the company says.

"As well, Paper Publishing has sought to make money by connecting the corporate world of advertisers and manufacturers with the artists and designers it covers. Last year, it recruited 28-year-old Drew Elliott, Paper's former marketing head, to revive its branding, trend forecasting and event production arm called Extra Extra, which had been virtually dormant since its creation six years ago. Revenues in the division increased nine-fold in the last year. Hastreiter says she expects a growth rate of at least 100% next year. Each division--the magazine, consulting division Extra Extra and Buzzeteria--produces a third of Paper Publishing's total revenue."

Attending some NYC media parties recently, and observing the tech sector's rise --and the tech sector, like it or not, is now Revenge-of-the-Nerds cool -- it is not clear to me that the things we associate with the discretionary capital of trustafarians is nearly as affected by the recession as, say, manufacturing. Any thoughts?

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Lee Daniels’ 'Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire' has exceeded even the highest of expectations in its opening weekend, according to estimates provided by Rentrak earlier today. The film - which has been the source of much anticipation and buzz since its Sundance debut in January - grossed a stunning $1,800,000 from just 18 theaters over the weekend, averaging an essentially unheard of $100,000. That gives it the third best live action per-theater-average of all time, surpassed only by 2006’s 'Dreamgirls' and 2005’s 'Brokeback Mountain.' However, those two films had opened on 3 and 5 theaters respectively. 'Precious‘s' wide-by-comparison 18 theaters make it all the more impressive. 'Precious' was distributed by Lionsgate, who had acquired the film shortly after Sundance in a heated bidding war. The deal, brokered by Cinetic, was said to be worth $5.5 million, and weaved in the support of both Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, who came on board as executive producers. The plan obviously seems to have worked so far, with theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta reporting large crowds and sell out shows for 'Precious.'" (IndieWIRE)



"Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell. And as soon as it did, a myth began to arise: that it was Ronald Reagan’s uncompromising anti-communism that brought the Soviet Union to its knees. The myth’s consequences have been immense: Again and again, post-Cold War hawks have invoked Reagan to oppose negotiations with America’s enemies, and to justify the threat—if not the actual use—of force. There’s just one problem: The myth is almost entirely false. Two decades later, it’s high time ordinary Americans learn what most serious historians already know: that Reagan didn’t end the Cold War because he was a hawk. He ended it because he turned into a dove. To be sure, Reagan began his presidency as a hawk: He jacked up defense spending, created "Star Wars," and called the Soviet Union an 'evil empire.' That’s the Reagan conservatives know and love today. What they conveniently forget is that Reagan began to ditch that hard line in early 1984—more than a year before Mikhail Gorbachev took power. In a dramatic January 1984 speech, Reagan abandoned his previous hostility to negotiations, declaring that 'the fact that neither of us likes the other’s system is no reason not to talk.'" (Peter Beinart/TheDailyBeast)



"Last night at the hip Lehmann Maupin Gallery, art lovers gathered to celebrate Tracy Emin’s latest American exhibit, 'Only God Knows I’m Good'. The exhibition is comprised of 53 works all following the themes of love, sex and lust. Those in attendance included gallery co-owner David Maupin, restaurateur Michael Chow and wife Eva Chow, Tony Shafrazi, Linda Yablonsk, and Vincent Fremont. The works, including a large-scale film projection, never-before-seen neons and sculptures, and a collection of embroideries and monoprints; will be featured in the Chrystie street gallery until mid December." (Guestofaguest)



"I was invited by Nazee Moinian to a book party at the Plaza ..The Moinians are New Yorkers, Americans, but naturally self-identified as Persian Jews, many of whom emigrated to America in the 1970s after the fall of the Shah and during the Iranian Revolution. They all became American citizens. Many families moved to Los Angeles and soon created a 'presence' in L.A. culture and business. However, for a long time, generally, they were an isolated community socially, which is common in the American process of assimilation. The second generation, now Americans, however, are changing all that. The Moinians are prominent here in New York. Joe Moinian is in the real estate business and his wife, mother of five, is deeply interested in international relations and the political process. She is now pursuing her doctorate at Columbia and has been actively involved with the Council on Foreign Relations ... The party was for Angella Nazarian and her memoir 'Life As A Visitor.' Angella came to the United States (and Beverly Hills) when she was eleven. Shortly thereafter her parents were smuggled out of Iran and months later arrived on American soil. Those who come to this country as exiles escaping political regimes are more appreciative of the American ideal of freedom than a lot of Americans by birth. There were a lot of familiar faces as well as many new faces to this writer. The guest of honor (besides the author of course) was the Shabanou of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, the widow of the Shah." (NYSocialDiary)



"Tensions between Venezuela and Colombia increased over the weekend as President Hugo Chavez urged his country to prepare for war. Chavez ordered 15,000 troops to the border last Thursday. 'Let's not waste a day on our main aim: to prepare for war and to help the people prepare for war, because it is everyone's responsibility,' Chavez said on his weekly TV show. Such preparation is the 'best way to avoid war,' he said. Chavez objects to a leasing agreement giving the U.S. military greater access to Colombian military, saying it could set the stage for a U.S. invasion of Venezuela. 'Don't make a mistake, Mr. Obama, by ordering an attack against Venezuela by way of Colombia,' Chavez said. A series of shooting along the border has also increased tensions in recent weeks. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is appealing to the United Nations and Organization of American States after Chavez's 'threats of war.'" (ForeignPolicy)



"Paris Review editor Philip Gourevitch told his staff this afternoon that he will be stepping down in April after five years on the job. Mr. Gourevitch, who is also a New Yorker staff writer, said in an interview that his decision to resign was motivated by a desire to focus his energies on his writing, and that his current book project, which is about Rwanda, is proving too time-consuming to allow for a successful balancing act. 'I want to give that everything,' he said. 'You can't take time off when you're in charge.' Mr. Gourevitch's decision to step down in order to write a book distinguishes himself from a number of other prominent New York magazine editors-- hello Jon Meacham, Rick Stengel, and David Remnick!-- who have elected to pull double duty." (Observer)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Is living nude the best revenge? Stephanie Seymour, the 41-year-old former supermodel and veteran of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, Victoria’s Secret catalogs, and, not least, two Playboy pictorials, would seem to be making that claim on these pages. (A protocol question: Is one still entitled to be addressed as a supermodel even after leaving office, like governors and secretaries of state?) Her marriage to Peter Brant, a wealthy businessman who resembles a taller, more dashing version of Buddy Hackett, must have seemed like something out of a fairy tale back in 1995, when they tied the knot in Paris and then settled into a comfortable life that included homes in Greenwich, Connecticut, the Hamptons, and Palm Beach. She was 26, he 48. 'He’s strong, intelligent, sensitive, and very masculine,' she purred while discussing her then fiancé with People magazine in 1994, on the occasion of her election as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. Brant cannot claim that level of renown, but his résumé is not shabby. In People’s words, he is 'the polo-playing owner of Interview, Antiques, and Art in America,' while a recent court filing reminds us that he is also 'a newsprint entrepreneur, an art collector, film producer, and owner/breeder of thoroughbred horses.' Oh dear. Did we say 'court filing'? Well, yes, Mr. and Mrs. Brant truly did have a fairy-tale marriage, or at least a fairy-tale divorce, because if you’ve recently read any fairy tales you know that they are unpleasant little narratives full of rage, jealousy, misbehavior, and vengeance." (Vanity Fair)



"'I don't usually wear a tux to go the movies!' laughed the dapper Colin Powell, arriving at the Cooper Square Hotel for the Cinema Society and Tommy Hilfiger's after-party for Precious. The legend missed the screening due to an official dinner, but he has imminent plans to catch it in theaters. 'Like everyone else, I've heard a lot about it,' said Quincy Jones, arriving a few minutes post-Powell. Those who did catch the film in the hotel's gleaming, comfy screening room--a new regular spot for the Cinema Society, one hopes--had plenty to discuss. 'Did you cry?' Andrew Saffir asked Donna Karan afterwards. 'Of course!' the designer responded, embracing the CS impresario. "I came here in waterproof mascara," said Kyra Sedgwick. 'I was ready for all the tears!'" (Fashionweekdaily)



(image via NYSD)

"Spotted: The most au courant stylist and his starlet (in that order) enjoying a soigne soiree. Last night was an evening for those in the young and fashionable social circles to be seen and talked about. The exclusive and deliciously chic Rooftop Club of The Gramercy Park Hotel was the setting. The occasion: the launch party for Eric Daman's new book, You Know You Want It: Style-Inspiration-Confidence ...Daman is the Emmy Award-winning costume designer and stylist behind the hugely popular television show Gossip Girl, which chronicles the feuds and trysts of fictional young, well-to-do New Yorkers.The luminary of the evening, the oft discussed Leighton Meester (who penned the introduction to Daman's book), is an exceptionally beautiful star ... The most entertaining relationship was between stylist and client. Meester and Daman's discreet smirks and giggles bespoke an almost familial relationshipn - sister and brother reunited." (NYSocialDiary)



"Darren James once led a busy life as a porn star. 'Sometimes it'd be 10 women in an orgy scene -- nonstop,' he said, talking about his career at its busiest. "And you work from eight in the morning to maybe eight at night. And that's one scene. All these women. Nonstop.' It was part of a job James did successfully for nearly eight years. Until he got the call all porn performers dread. 'I get that call,' he said, shaking his head. 'Everything stops. I had the virus. I'm like, whoa, what happened? This can't be happening to me. ... I thought I did everything right. And my whole world just crashed.' James learned he was HIV-positive in 2004. And he doesn't know, he said, how he got infected. 'I don't. There was just so many women pressed up in that short period of time,' he said. James passed the virus to co-workers, although 'not knowingly,' he said. 'I'd known three girls I'd infected and I knew them,' James said. 'They're nice people and I felt bad.' James' HIV infection shut down Southern California's porn industry for a month. When his identity as the original infection was made public, he says the isolation that followed drove him to attempt suicide. 'I know porn ain't the best business in the world, but it's all I had,' he said." (ABCNews)



"I see that my old friend Marc Rich has come clean in a book and admitted that he traded with the enemy and made billions in return. He would, wouldn’t he? About ten years ago, the then Spectator proprietor, Lord Black, had a fit against the poor little Greek boy when I wrote that Mossad had tipped off Rich not to fly privately to Spain because the Feds were planning to force down his plane and bring him back to justice in the States. Among some of the epithets he called me was Goebbels. Boris Johnson, then practising a much nobler profession as editor of the Speccie, defended me as best he could and I survived. Not that Lord Black wanted me fired, more likely suspended, like a naughty schoolboy caught talking in chapel. Now Taki has been justified. Once the Swiss refused to extradite him—I wonder why?—the Americans planned a snatch job by helicopter, landing in Zug, where the bum lives, but they backed off. My source is as good as it gets, and the plane job was on until Mossad, listening in on the American base in Italy, got wind of it ... Rich is, of course, unapologetic about a life in crime .. Some readers might remember that I ran into this rat in the garage of my chalet, of all places. He was staying with my next-door neighbour and that Marie Christine of Kent woman (a nice little groupetto). I shouted at him and told him he belonged in jail." (Takimag)