A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via gothamist via Marilyn K. Yee/NYTimes)

In: Nick Denton. Even as the Gawker commenters are regale us with an anthem of tongue-in-cheek "sell outs," delivered with great gusto, smothering our darling Nicky with faux opprobrium, you'll have to admit, as far as traffic-generating ideas this one is fucking evil-genius brilliant. Leveraging the Gawker cool with Yahoo! traffic equals beaucoup ad revenues. Denton's old school like that. According to PaidContent:

"Once again, Nick Denton zigs where Jason Calacanis zags. Instead of shopping Gawker Media, Denton is teaming up with Yahoo for the blog network's first multi-blog major distribution deal. Dozens of posts from Gawker's five best-known blogs -- Gawker, Wonkette, Gizmodo, Defamer and Lifehacker -- will be published on Yahoo News starting today; the portal already publishes selections from the Huffington Post. Eventually, the other Gawker blogs will be included and the distribution will spread to other Yahoo sites. For instance, Defamer will show up on Yahoo Entertainment. Terms aren't being disclosed but a lot of emphasis is placed on the amount of traffic Yahoo can drive back to Gawker Media ... Yahoo gets Gawker's content; Gawker gets access to tens of millions of Yahoo's users."

Congrats, Nick.



From Rick Salomon, her "kinky Jew," to this marsupial, an actual "Kinkajou" (image via justjared via addict3d)

Out: "Baby Luv." (Averted Gaze) We have learned of the ... existence ... of a Paris Hilton Monkey (tm), or, as we like to call him, "Kinkajou X (The beast is in need of liberation)." If this animal is indeed a Kinkajou, a "hideous kinky (if you will)," as various news media -- ! -- are reporting, it is not a "monkey," but rather a tree-dwelling marsupial. (The Corsair pours himself a glass of Montrachet) Just so you know.

Appartently, the whatever-it-is is as mercurial as its owner, biting yesterday, as reported by the intrepid Page Sixxies, and now, goddamn it, pulling a fucking disappearing act. Today, Fashionweekdaily tells us that the fruit-munching member of the racoon family was almost lost to us -- (sotto voce) and we hardly knew it -- at the Agent Provocateur party in Vegas:

"...Notorious party girl Paris Hilton�who flew in especially for the event�made her usual circuit of very public appearances. The heiress first hit the AP store for a shopping spree�with her monkey Baby Luv in tow�that included a bullwhip, causing a huge flash-happy crowd to amass outside. But while her pet proved to be a must-have accessory in the store, it later went missing prior to the fashion show at Body English. Vigilant club staff immediately began a hectic search, but Baby Luv was eventually returned to Hilton, safe and sound within half an hour. And the show went off without another hitch."



Denise Rich, seen here in a rare photo without a black person hugging her. (image via mushroommusic)

In: Sharon Stone Versus Denise Rich. In the corner to my left (far left), we have that socialite-songstress whom black people love and former wife of disgraced financier Mark Rich, Denise. (Mild applause) And, on the right, we have the flaky but goodhearted AIDS and Third World activist (and, lest we forget, actress), Sharon Stone. Let's get ready to rumble! According to those intrepid Page Sixxies:

"'A DUCK quacks like a duck, a leopard doesn't change its spots, and Sharon Stone will always be, well, Sharon Stone,' laughed one observer when the erratic star failed to show up to present an award to Patti LaBelle at Denise Rich's G&P Foundation gala, other wise known as the Angel Ball. Sources say Rich had, at Stone's request, co-written a song with her called 'Come Together Now' to aid tsunami victims, and then ponied up more than $300,000 to finance an all-star recording and video. 'Sharon paid Denise back by going on Ellen DeGeneres and Larry King and claiming all the credit for herself,' says an in sider. 'Denise was hurt, but didn't respond because Sharon promised she'd attend the G&P fund-raiser. Then Sharon screwed her again."

Sounds positively fucky.



(image via beatsandrants)

Out: Dave Chappelle. Whatever happened to Dave Chappelle? You know him, the amiable African-American comedian who, like Richard Pryor before him, had a brilliant comedy show that died before its time (Jinx?). According to Medialifemagazine:

"Dave Chappelle knows exactly what people think of him after he walked away from a $50 million contract with Comedy Central earlier this year. During a show at The Comedy Works in Denver Monday, Chappelle addressed the rumors about himself straight on. 'I don't know if you've read about me in the papers, but I'm fucking insane,' Chappelle told the crowd. 'Don't ever buck the system because your ass is finished.'"

Ah, "bucking the system." (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) Is that what he calls walking off the hottest cable comedy show to chill out with a "deep" Muslim pal in Johannesberg?

"Earlier this year, the cable network superstar became TV�s biggest mystery after abandoning production of season three of his popular 'Chappelle�s Show' and reportedly checking into a mental health facility in South Africa. But in an interview with Time magazine Chapelle dispelled those notions, saying that he was staying with a friend, and merely needed to get away for awhile. While it may have been the right choice for him, it certainly wasn�t easy: 'Don't think you can walk away from $50 million, and your wife will just be cool with it,' he joked with the Denver audience. Chappelle is about to embark on a national comedy tour but has no plans to return to Comedy Central."



Pure as the driven Olympia Snowe. (image via uma.edu)

In: The Moderates. This is turning out to be, as we duly predicted, the week of the Moderates. First, Senator Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, supported a tax cut package that didn't include a 15 percent capital gains and dividends cut. According to TheHill:

"The clash over the rate on capital-gains and dividend taxes, which are not set to expire until 2008, is the latest in a long-running series of battles between GOP centrists and conservatives over tax policy. Even some conservative lawmakers had hinted shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit in August that the rate extensions could be delayed � though they have since said they support extensions.

"Many centrists, including Snowe, are wary of cutting taxes amid cuts to spending on programs for the poor and mounting federal debt."

And Republican Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector, ironically a Jew, sliced up some pork in the budget, according to TheHill:

"Sen. Arlen Specter, has angered colleagues facing reelection in 2006 by cutting $1 billion in pet projects from his subcommittee�s spending bill to pay for programs popular with Democrats and centrist Republicans.

"Historically, the labor, health and human services, and education bill is one of the most project-loaded of the annual spending bills, say congressional observers who track what they denounce as pork-barrel spending.

"A senior GOP aide said yesterday that members of the appropriations committee who are facing election next year are balking at Specter�s plan to cut their projects. Specter is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health, and Human Services (HHS) and Education Subcommittee."