Saturday, March 05, 2005

A Little of the Old In and Out

anna

In: Anna Wintour. While The Corsair can understand, "in abstracto" at least, why those aggro-PETA-types would be goddam upset with magazines like Vogue, which occasionally promotes the glamour of wearing fur, and its editor, who was wearing fur on that fateful day; but Anna Wintour did not personally catch and restrain and kill those minks and chinchilla's, people. Does her negative influence merit such a public assault? The Corsair doesn't believe so.

And, like, while we're at it -- Aren't there much better candidates for a "pieing," like, oh, say --Michael Eisner, Henry Kissinger, or even the smarmy little abridger of the freedom of speech, Michael Powell? Gatecrasher reports:

"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who quarrel with Wintour's support for the fur industry, claimed responsibility for the incident.

"A rep told me: 'Yelling, Fur hag! the young woman launched the gooey pudding at Wintour, just prior to the Chanel couture show at Le Carrousel du Louvre, and made a speedy getaway. After the pieing, Anna, who was wearing a fur coat at the time, ran backstage so Karl Lagerfeld could help her clean the tofu goo off of her face.'

"Wintour was not hurt by the attack. She was reported to have joked that tofu may be good for the skin."

We'll let's hope that it was tofu-pudding and not some awful unguent of similar viscosity (Averted Gaze). Kimora Simmons could use a "pie-ing," we believe.

So could Christo and his flamboyant wife, "Jean-Fraud."

Come on, people, Anna Wintour fucked Bob Marley; that has to be a serious mitigating factor in anyone's assessment of her alleged relative loathsomeness. The Corsair, for one, finds her cooler, or at least the exhibiting the possibility of some actual warm-blooded passion.

Out: Giuliani Versus Hillary. Although this would be a superhott race, a race surpassing in any previous Senate political hottness; it is not going to happen. Giuliani is all hopped up on a run for the top spot (along with Rove's Frist Monster, John McCain and Pataki) and, According to the Prince of Darkness, Robert Novak:

"National Republican leaders would like to see Giuliani challenge Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton for re-election next year, but that does not seem to be on his agenda."

Because, well, a thrice-married moderate former municipality administrator and an ardent supporter of abortion rights, civil unions and gay rights can win in Bible tumping Dixie, yes? Of course he can. (The Corsair chuckles at the political naivete of Giuliani who is clearly drunk on his own Kool Aid)

Then again, Giuliani has personally participated in the well-beloved Dixieland tradition of "cousin marrying." He's had a taste of those familial waters. So, that Kentucky vote is looking rock solid. Just so you know.

In: Georgette Mosbacher. Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac; An alluring aged Champagne is the penultimate aphrodisiac, and rising with a bullet.

Love her or hate her (The Corsair is actually astonishingly ambivalent about the scarlet-haired conservative power-broker and make up magnate), Georgette Mosbacher is as "in" as the Republican majorities in the House, the Senate and the Executive Branch of the American Government. (Not to mention the "Judicial" and the "Talk Radio" and, most importantly, "Fox network" branches of the federal government) She's the hostess with the mostess --partypartyparty.

When Georgette calls, meetings on The Hill are put on hold; when funds are needed for an important Senate race, Georgette get the ball rolling. And, according to the always excellent David Patrick Columbia:

Tracy-Stern-Georgette-Mos

Above: Tracy Stern, Georgette, Elizabeth Scokin, and Cathy Riva

"When Georgette Mosbacher purchased Halston Borghese she learned that she also acquired, quite accidentally to her, an archive of original Halston samples. She learned of their existence only after getting an invoice for the storage. Pleasantly surprised and at the same time unsure of what to do with them, she came to the conclusion that they would be valuable to a museum collection.

"These included original pieces of clothing that the designer created for his stellar clientele including Jacqueline Onassis, Liza Minnelli and Babe Paley. She held a cocktail party at her Fifth Avenue apartment to spread the news and as a kick-off for a fundraiser for the collection to be held in Nashville today, Friday, March 4th. Attendees included Grace Hightower (Mrs. Robert DeNiro), designers Zang Toi, Maggie Norris, Michael Vollbracht, as well as socialites Tracy Stern, Elizabeth Scokin (from Nashville), Cathy Riva, Lynn Paulsin."

Not bad for a "lady who lunches."

Out: Iran. Iran is flashing defiance because of America's failure in our diplomacy with Putin at Bratislava Castle. Who knows what deals the humiliated Putin's (think: Ukraine) made with Iran, but they look to The Corsair to be forged solid, entirely unnecessary, and essentially resentful little "cock-blocks," designed to hurt us in the region, to take away our negotiating leverage. Fuck. According to the AP (link via Drudgereport):

"Iran said Saturday it will never agree to a permanent halt on enriching uranium and warned that a more unstable Middle East would result from a U.S.-backed effort to haul Tehran before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

"Any effort by Washington to bring Tehran's suspended uranium enrichment program under Security Council scrutiny is a dangerous path, warned Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hasan Rowhani."

And, of course, with Russia on the Security Council, the idea of taking this issue there -- where it sure to get vetoed -- is dead in the water. Another unilateral invasion, anyone? Say, by summertime, when the living is easy.

In: The Chitlin' Circuit. Keeping it real, as they say. We -- by this The Corsair means African-American's -- try to keep these things private, on the DL; but every once in a while the secret gets out and so everyone knows.

Hollywood took another haymaker to their proverbial breadbasket last week with the astonishing media discovery that ... there is such a market as "The Chitlin' Circuit," (PC alias: "urban theater," averted gaze) namely, the ferociously loyal African-American theater and filmgoing audiences who like traditional morality plays with men in drag and -- so to speak -- happy endings. You can see their advertisements usually during "Like It Is," and the other Sunday afternoon urban programming (i.e. Saturday night hangover remedies). They are most fun and singularly unique in the fact that the audience gets to participate by "voicing" their opinions collectively. No one "shushes" anyone on the Chitlin' Circuit (Do so at your own peril), and we are curious if that phenomenon will become ancillary to the movie house reincarnation of the genre.

The Corsair went to see "Mama I Want to Sing" in the late 80s, and we are still hard of hearing from the enthusiastic audience. Very profitable too. The AP reports of Diary of a Mad Black Woman:

"' Diary,' about a woman's emotional comeback from being dumped by her wealthy, philandering husband, earned nearly $22 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters last weekend.

"Box office experts thought Will Smith comedy 'Hitch' or one of the new movies like horror flick 'Cursed' would top charts, but "Diary" beat them by attracting Perry's loyal fans in black communities. Now the movie's distributor, Lions Gate Films, hopes to lure more mainstream audiences who, most likely, have never heard of Perry before."

Lion's Gate gets it. Prediction: Ed Bradley will do a 60 Minutes piece on Perry and the history of the Chitlin Circuit within 3 weeks.

Out: Carrie Fisher. Hollywood is taking politics waay too far, according to the AP:

"Republican media adviser R. Gregory Stevens, who recently served as co-chairman of the Bush/Cheney Entertainment Task Force, was found dead Saturday in the Hollywood home of actress Carrie Fisher.

"'He passed away here, and in a place where he was loved,' Miss Fisher said yesterday from her home in Los Angeles.

"... The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said yesterday that the cause of death was unknown, pending results of toxicology tests."

Fuck the toxicology, keemo sabe. Look for blaster marks.

In: Nine Objections. The Corsair is all for Prince Charles' marriage to Camilla-Parker Bowles. Love that lasts the years is so rare that we embrace its every manifestation. That having been said, there is something so formal (The Corsair's Moon is in Libra, thus my obsessions with these things), so majestic and yet democratic about the Nine Objections, which, we believe, will ultimately validate the love. According to The Scotsman:

"NINE formal objections have been made against the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles, it was reported last night.

"The deadline for objections passed at 5pm yesterday and the details have been sent to the office of the Registrar General for England and Wales, who will decide whether they are valid.

"The details of the objections and who filed them are not known but no marriage certificate can be issued until all sticking points have been dealt with.

"The wedding is due to take place at Windsor Guildhall on 8 April. Should the objections not be deemed valid, applications by those who filed them could be made for judicial review at the High Court.

"Known as caveats, the objections were lodged at the local register offices at Chippenham and Cirencester, where the prince and Mrs Parker Bowles have their homes."

And if they are not made valid, does the public get to view them at TheSmokingMusket.com?

Out: Clinton Agitating Taiwan. We love Clinton, he's America's lascivious uncle, he hugs the female relations a little too long, he flirts with the wives, only he's wicked smaert. But this whole ... this Taiwan thing (The Corsair gets uncomfortable) ... with it's implications of rogue statesmanship in Cross Straight Disputes ... NOT COOL.

According to the Beeb:

"... Former US President Bill Clinton has called on China and Taiwan to set aside their differences and work together for common economic goals.

"Mr Clinton made the remarks during a visit to Taiwan that has drawn criticism from China, but he said he stood by Beijing's One-China policy.

"He later met Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for a private dinner.

"China fears Mr Chen wants to push towards independence for Taiwan - a move it would regard as an act of war.

"The BBC's Chris Hogg in Hong Kong says that even though it is four years since Mr Clinton left the White House, Beijing does not like such a high-profile elder statesman setting foot on Taiwan.

"The Chinese leadership regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and does all it can to exclude the island from international bodies and summits."

The Corsair would pay $1000 to find out what Condi Rice and Dick Cheney think about this. Is Clinton in contact with the White House at all? Or has he gone entirely rogue? Is he in search of his legacy? The profanity used at the China desk regarding this must be incendiary. In-CEN-diary.

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