A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via Fashionweekdaily)

In: Art and Fashion. Although the classical but temperamentally conservative Philippe de Montebello allegedly looks askance on any connections between "High Art" and the sordid world of haute couture (Averted Gaze, sniffs huffily), rogue intellectuals like Valerie Steele and Camille Paglia would "get it." What is "it"? This: On the legs of the Costume Institute's Party of the Year came Thursday night's Art Party at The Whitney where, according to Fashionweekdaily:

"'It?s incredible, walking in and having this young, sexy pick-up scene under the auspices of art,' described a very pregnant Rachel Feinstein (clad in Club Monaco and Marc Jacobs). Cynthia Rowley agreed. 'It?s just nice to see people dress up for art.'

"Certainly Feinstein wasn?t referring to Claire Danes, Julia Stiles, Anna Paquin, Bridget Moynahan (in Lanvin), or Emmy Rossum (in Ralph Lauren, of course), all of whom took time out from their busy magazine cover shoots and independent projects to come support a worthy cause. Even those still reeling from partying the night before made an appearance. 'I saw people here tonight that apparently were at my [keg] party the night before, but after six hours of tequila's, who knows?' said a Hollywould-clad Holly Dunlap ...

?'It has that Brett Easton Ellis vibe to it,' Gretchen Gunlocke noted of the black chandelier and wild light display ...

" ...Zac Posen, who dressed several of the evening's ladies, including Roopal Patel ... Zani Gugelmann, and Celerie Kemble, said he'd been going to the Whitney forever, since he was young. 'Last year it was only a quarter of the people you see tonight,' he shouted as the live performance from Ren� Risqu� & the Art Lovers went on. 'Oh this is so much fun,' Kemble added. 'I feel so dark, brooding, and sassy, and I'm not just referring to my dress!'" (more here)

Out: The African Tragedy NYTimes Magazine Story. The Sudanese Lost Boys, the Nigerian woman who was nearly stoned for premarital sex, then, Drawings from children in Darfur refugee camps, now (Averted Gaze), The Old Gray Lady serves us the latest little hors d'oevre in "The African Tragedy Drama"(TM) in tomorrows Lord's Resistance Army article on Uganda, a place where The Corsair was born.

Is there some perverse pleasure enjoyed by liberals in spending their Sunday afternoons feeling good about themselves because they can feel ... je ne connais pas ... shock at the plight of poor Africans in tragedy? Or is this just a Times Magazine thing. What the fuck is up with all the Scarlet-and-Burnt-Ochre-victim-charcoal NYTimes Magazine sketches of the soi-dissant "Dark Continent"? Is there not some subtler art with which to render the fleshtones of the verdant Africa, oh knowledgeable and wise Old Gray Lady?

What be of the Africa's great successes? There have been quite a few of late. Must the Africa stories always be of rape and war and murder and the saintly forgiveness that those long-suffering and inspirational people exhibit? Is the African existential reality really so fucking one-dimensional, Old Gray Lady?

Why not paint with it a lively palette, goddamn it! (The Corsair rolls up his sleeves and gets sassy) What about Botswanan growth? What about the intriguing yet problematic mechanics emerging out of the Sino-African relationship? The archaeological excavations at the continent's oldest University (circa 12th Century)? Or the return of the Ethiopian obelisk (Axumite Kingdom) from Rome? These are all positive stories that need to be told of Africa.

But -- No. Only far too many African stories of "numbness," of "laughter without mirth," of "sobbing" and, mirabile dictu (Averted Gaze), "beautiful praise" from Hillary Clinton. Swell.



Above: Sith Lord Nick Ashford of "Ashford and Simspon" fame with his new apprentice, Darth Van Zandt. (image via NYSocialDiary)

In: The We Are Family Foundation. We turn now to Our Favorite Social Chronicler, David Patrick Columbia, who writes in NYSocialDiary:

"The We Are Family Foundation held their 3rd annual celebration at Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom at 311 West 34th Street. They honored Peter Gabriel with the Humanitarian Award, Dr. Maya Angelou with the Mattie J. T. Stepanek Peacemaker Award and Daniel Crown, CEO, Crown Theatres with their Visionary Award. The evening was hosted by Montel Williams and they celebrated with a musical concert by the B-52s, and Chic.

"... Nile (Rodgers) brought down the house by introducing Sponge Bob, who ignited what many consider to be the year's silliest controversy when Rev. James Dobson -- at President Bush's Inaugural Dinner -- condemned the We Are Family Foundation for including him in a video designed to teach kids about tolerance. (The video, which was just sent out to 66,000 elementary schools free of charge, thanks to a grant from the Toni Mendez Foundation and Fed. Ex, was co-produced by Nile Rodgers and Christopher Cerf, longtime Sesame Street veteran, and the co-creator of PBS's award-winning literacy-education show, Between the Lions.)It was a fantastic night, and all for a wonderful cause -- helping children learn to understand the concept of family, diversity, and respect."

Bravo.



Out:Topic A with Tina Brown. The Corsair means "Out" not in a bad way. So, Tina Brown is packing it in in late May, ending her association with Topic A, for a multimillion dollar Di Bio, according to Il Maestro, Richard Johnson and the Page Sixxies.

This is probably extremely un-PC to say out in the blogosphere, but The Corsair genuinely liked Topic A. There. We said it. Topic A with Tina Brown was a very smart and well edited show. Alas, we did did not make the "Hot Pick." (Averted Gaze) But we still thought it was smart, if even for this oversight. Now, why don't you put Arianna Huffington in that spot -- schnell! We cannot believe that the Dark Ms. Huffington doesn't have a weekly cable gabfest.