A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via gotriad)

In: Peter Jennings, The Last of the Anchors. The era of the anchor is over with the death of the singular Peter Jennings. Howard Kurtz said it best today when he said (link via Romenesko):

"I remember hanging out in the ABC skybox at the Democratic convention in Boston last year as Jennings, in shirtsleeves, anchored a two-hour digital cable broadcast also available to America Online and cell phone users. He reveled in the spontaneity of it, without knowing whether the audience would be hundreds or hundreds of thousands, and boasted that the program would kick off with music by Jimi Hendrix.

"Jennings sent me a personal e-mail only once, and it wasn't about him. It was to thank me for an article about a colleague of his who he felt was being unfairly pilloried by some commentators.

"While Brokaw radiated midwestern earnestness and Rather a Texas tenaciousness, Jennings was smooth, witty, urbane -- too detached for some people's tastes, but to others a welcome antidote to the cacophony of network hype. In less than a year, the Big Three have all departed -- Brokaw by retirement, Rather by stepping down under pressure after a botched story about President Bush, and Jennings by the tragic illness that we all heard in his raspy voice when he announced the diagnosis, with typical grace and humor, last April."



(image via usweekly)

Out: Sloppy Seconds. After discoursing on the classy swellegance of Peter Jennings, it seems a geometrically balanced contrast to post what the great Michael Musto has to say on the downright surreality of the well staffed and funded celebrity glossies doing cover stories on ... the scoop of ... another magazine -- oh, jesus, WTF?!:

"There are so many desperate gossip rags decorating your local newsstand that the second JENNIFER ANISTON spilled her guts to Vanity Fair, they all lined up up with tongues out to mooch their own second-hand covers off the VF exclusive. 'Jen Speaks Out!' blared In Touch magazine. Yeah, but not to them. 'Jen Breaks Her Silence!' screeched People magazine. Yeah, to someone else. 'Jen Tells All,' crowed Us Weekly. Yep, to a much better magazine."

Oh no he didn't!



(image via subcin)

In: The Berlin Alexanderplatz Restoration. Just hearing the name Berlin Alexanderplatz takes me to a warm and special place. It reminds me of the first time that The Corsair heard about that artsy-profane film of Weimar decadence on the well-guarded (in case of a political kidnapping) campus of the UN School during a lunch break. Two gorgeous and sophisticated older diplobrats -- German? -- were discussing Fassbinder, spellbound, rapt.

The Corsair would have been all of seven years old at the time, already girl-crazy, and all we could make out, while ogling their sublime leginess and all that 70s hair, were the astonished whispers: 'Berlin Alexanderplatz.'

And so, all in all, we became a foreign film buff of sorts all because hot chicks were involved. Isn't that always the case? Now, this from cinematical:

"Rainer Werner Fassbinder's miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz is currently undergoing a $500,000 restoration. David at GreenCine linked to a German article on the whole shebang, and I diligently went ahead and Babel Fish-ed it (thanks, Nick) for your enjoyment.

" ... From what I can tell from the shoddy automatic translation, there is one remaining print of Alexanderplatz, Fassbinder's 15 hour miniseries based on the novel by Alfred Doblin, and its condition is so poor that it can't really be shown. A restoration, spearheaded by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation (RWFF), at the cost of 450,000 Euros (about $555,000), is underway."

More.



Fashion accessory Mr. Jessica Simpson and his wife, who brings home the bacon despite a deficit of ass. (image via something called xinhuanet)

Out: Jessica Simpson. At Moviehole, this is some real Heideggerian ground-of-being philosophy up in this bitch, yo:

"Moviehole: You looked like you had fun playing up the sex appeal of this character. Is there a line you won�t cross?

"Jessica Simpson: Oh, there�s a lot of lines I won�t cross. I did have fun playing up the sex appeal of Daisy Duke because she�s a woman, she�s a smart woman and she definitely knows how to use her body! [giggles]

"Moviehole: Did you learn anything from her? I took a lot away from the set. I took a lot from Baton Rouge and just being in the Daisy Duke shorts. How would you say she�s smart?

"Jessica Simpson: Um, she was the brains behind getting everybody out of trouble all the time. She would always undo everything that was all wound up."

Buxom; but dumb as a bag of pigsknuckles. More. (giggles)



(image via hmfus)

In: Brandon Holly. Brandon Holly and not -- as we hoped -- the bosomy Atoosa Rubenstein is the new editrix at Jane. Congrats to Brandon. As Keith J. Kelly writes in the Post:

"Brandon Holley, the founding editor of 31/2-year-old teen magazine Elle Girl, has been tapped to succeed Jane Pratt as the editor in chief of Jane, the Fairchild title aimed at twentysomething women.

"Holley, a Conde Nast veteran, was a prot�g� of Art Cooper at GQ before getting tapped as the chief editor for Elle Girl at Hachette Filipacchi.

" ... Fashion advertisers such as Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs are already said to be getting skittish on a Jane without Jane the person, and that can't be good news for a magazine that has been flat this year � with ad pages up less than one percent to 399.86 pages through July.

" ... Pratt is said to be heading to a new career with Sirius Satellite Radio, but neither she nor Sirius are divulging any details. Howard Stern, who is also heading to Sirius, said on air that Pratt was going to be getting a 24-hour channel."

Curious.