A Little of the Old In and Out



(link via Donshewy)

In: James Wolcott. Vanity Fair scribe James Wolcott has an inexhaustible supply of well crafted bile to foist upon us today, tucking in on the subject of Fox News. Fox News and James Wolcott do not get along, and we don't quite know the backstory. Wolcott's been on a tear of late on his blog. To wit:

"Over the years I've often found myself wondering if certain members of the devil's party inhale insecticide to psyche themselves up for the evil they do. Tom DeLay is a logical candidate, given his professional background, and Ann Coulter often has the bug eyes characteristic of bug-juice abuse. Watching Fox News, I figured they might keep a industrial-sized bug inhaler in the offices for their producers and hosts to take an invigorating hit from before pushing the Bush agenda.

"As is so often the case, my suspicions have been creepily confirmed. According to the ongoing reports at Media Bistro's TV Newser, production and tech workers in the NY offices of Fox News Channel in NY may have been exposed to diazinon, 'a neurotoxin class insecticide.' This is quite dangerous.

But it is gassbag Susie Estrich, the former national campaign manager during that lamentable Dukakis episode (Averted Gaze), who get the full "Wolcottian Gasface":

"... Enriched as he is with a tainted-mushroom imagination, probably even David Lynch couldn't envision a sight as sordid and debasing as that of Susan Estrich spit-shining the brass at Fox News in the otherwise pristine pages of the Christian Science Monitor, an exhibitionistic act of self-mortification brought to my attention by DCMediagirl, who inflicts a righteous whupping on Estrich, who doesn't need Dennis Hopper's inhaler to get autotoxicated--listening to her own loudmouth bullshit is enough to get her high."



(image via diu.zapato)

Out: Bette. At the risk of having all my future reservations turned down to the chic Chelsea eaterie "Bette," Amy Sacco's a ... 'lil bit wacko. Sacco's idea is to break off some of the Bette buzz with a line of designer jeans. Yeah. Cue to the Twilight Zone music any time now. According to fashionweekdaily:

"Waiters at the West 23rd Street eatery have been given unwashed, rigid jeans to wear for the next three to six months, as part of a wash development. They�ve been instructed to live in the prototypes like they would their own jeans. 'This way, they create their own whiskers and distresses, a hole here, a hole there,' said Eleanor Ylvisaker, a company spokeswoman. 'Then we give them new ones and take theirs back.' The jeans then go to the company�s laundry center in Kentucky where they�re replicated and officially christened the 'Bette Jean.' The good news is that Earnest Sewn plans on having the Bette Jean available by Christmas at their Meatpacking District store; other retailers are expected to stock the denim next summer. The only way to get them quicker would be to work at the restaurant.

�'We�re anticipating grease and oil and ketchup stains,' Ylvisaker said. 'But we�re looking most forward to them.'"

WTF?!



In: Lunch at Michael's. For Lunch at Michael's the prognosis today is: Bookish. FishbowlNY takes us through the floor plan, briskly, letting drop:

"Back room: Dick Parsons, of Time Warner, with blonde woman.

"Leslee Dart and Cynthia Schwartz, both of the Dart Group, with 20/20's editorial producer Susan Miller and Anchor Elizabeth Vargas.

"Near the front door: David Patrick Columbia, New York Social Diaries, with Allison Mason, real estate guru.

"Table 16: Evan Strome and Jason Ressler, filmmakers working on a Sid Bernstein documentary, with Time's Ali Zelenko and Lisa Dallos.

"Jim Hoge, formerly of Foreign Affairs (and now an author), with an unknown guest; Later at the same table, Don Epstein of the Greater Talent Network with the Head of Caroline's Comedy club."

Jim Hogue ... with an ... "unknown guest"? (Through clenched teeth, archly) At Michael's? (Averted Gaze) "Our" Michael's? Waiter (icily), please show that traitor to his class the door. And make sure the "unknown" (sniffs haughtily) doesn't abscond with the silverware.