A Little of the Old In and Out



(image via jrts)

In: Lloyd Braun. If Yahoo! Media Group head cheese, the "well-connected" powerplayer Lloyd Braun has his way, Howard Stern's theatrical exit from terrestrial radio will be streamed live online by his company. Stern has been hinting about this for the past three weeks and it looks like it is going to happen. According to Broadcast & Cable (via paidcontent):

"Howard Stern is planning a ceremonial walk from terrestrial to satellite radio, and Yahoo! may be there to cover it. When Stern finishes his final show on Dec. 16 for Infinity Broadcasting, he plans to walk out of the building and greet fans and show regulars. While the event is still in the works, Stern has said on-air that he would like to host some sort of �surprise� or party for fans at that time.

"Yahoo! declined to comment for this story, but word is the company is interested in streaming video of the event.

"Stern�s connection to the Internet giant: Yahoo! honcho Lloyd Braun, in a past life as a Hollywood lawyer, represented Stern during the 1990s. The two are said to share a mutual admiration."



(image via spiegel.de via AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Out: Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. What?! (The Corsair spits up his 1962 Offley Boa Vista) Sulzberger is held in low regard in the Old Gray Lady's newsroom? Heaven forfend!

If the Chairman of The New York Times Company has to exit unceremoniously, will his stuffed moose (4th item) have to leave with him? Enquiring minds want to know, and all that. According to The Lowdown:

"Insiders at The New York Times are speculating that the fallout from the Judy Miller imbroglio will prove fatal to Times Co. CEO Arthur Sulzberger Jr. He presided over the paper's staunch defense - and then searing criticism - of his longtime friend Miller, the controversial Plamegate figure who went to jail rather than reveal her source, vice presidential aide Scooter Libby, only to strike a deal with the special prosecutor to testify about her dealings with Libby in return for her freedom. Vanity Fair writer Seth Mnookin - whose story Miller tried to have killed - notes that the buzz in The Times newsroom is that 'if Judy is the new Jayson [Blair], then Arthur is the new Howell' Raines, the executive editor who lost his job amid the Blair scandal. A Times editor tells Mnookin: 'I feel it's inevitable that Arthur's going to go, as I felt it was that Howell was going to go.' Of course, that's up to Sulzberger's relatives, who control the Class B voting stock."



Deal making; booty shaking. (image via house.gov)

In: Rahm "Rahmbo" Emmanuel. Rahm Emmanuel, the most intriguing ballet dancer-turned Wasington powerbroker (Averted Gaze), is on a tear. Big time. He's traded in his Tutu for legislative power suits.

Infamous for his brusque, on-message, no-nonsense manner, Rahm Emmanuel seems to embody the Democratic Party zeitgeist of "I'm-Mad-As-Hell-and-I'm-Not-Gonna-take-It-anymore." Like Hegel's Napoleon, the Democratic Party's Emmanuel is taking no prisoners as the Owl of Minerva hovers, menacingly. Chicago is Rahm Emmanuel's Jena.

While, as you may know, we think he sucks (We abhor the excessive partisan spin), we cannot ignore the "rib-busting ox-strength" he wields within the Party.

Has anyone ever come so far so fast within the Democratic Party? Taking over spinning duties during the Clinton administration from the elvin George Stephanopoulos (Emmanuel is a sort of dark, elvin alalog of Steph). Stephanopoulos, you'll remember, broke out in hives from his own ceaseless ambition, grew a beard to hide it; then, famously, exited turncoatlike the embattled Clinton White House for the greener pastures of the alphabet's perennially low rated "This Week," only to be shut out of his coveted "Nightline" talking head position. Nice. (Averted Gaze)

But we digress. Rahm-bo was of great service to the Clinton Administration, where he learned the dark arts of fundraising. Afterwards, Emmanuel carpetbagged his way into Illinois' prestigious, Eastern European-flavored 5th district (Think: the legacy of Congressman Rostenkowski and Daley), astonishingly beating out longtime Chicago pols. We have to adnit, that was fucking smooth.

From there, Rahm cut ahead of line (Emmanuel, the Democratic Party's "Hotspur," doesn't quite believe in "know one's place"), all shoulders-and-elbows, rising, aggressively, with all the sangfroid of a professional hockey player, to the rank of DCCC head.

Rahm is the "It" boy. What "It" is, though, we don't quite know. (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment)

But it is interesting to watch what he becomes ...



(image via gatopardo)

Out: Gisele's Booty. Gisele Bundchen's Brazillian "bunches" are off limits. That's not really a problem for us, as we prefer our women to have a little "Arroz con pollo" flavor -- if you know what we mean -- on the rebound. According to British Vogue:

"GISELE BUNDCHEN has revealed that she has a clause in her modelling contracts so that she does not have to bare her bottom. 'I make a point about that because I don't want my booty [on show],' she says. 'I can't wear like a nun outfit, or something like that, but I make sure that they understand that my booty has to be covered. It's my booty and I feel like� when you're walking on the runway, God knows where they're looking. You're walking and all those people are there and the runway is higher. It's not that I feel self-conscious, it's that I feel like my booty should be shown on special occasions, for special people.'"

And who said Giselle wasn't a deep ground-of-being thinker?



Robert Redford at the Kennedy Center honors. (image via smh.com.au)

In: "The Sundance Process." Will Toni Collette and Timothy Hutton be the Prom King and Queen of this year's Sundance? Or, rather, will it be Ashley Judd and Paul Giamati? Whatever the case, one thing can be certain: The bar at Sundance will be, as always, too fucking small.

If you haven't already digested the Sundance selection process, John Clark of the Old Gray Lady lays it out like so. Sean P. Means of the Salt Lake Tribune laments the exclusion of Gretchen Mol, the misguided former nippleicious "It" Girl of Graydon Carter's imaginings.

Means observes:

"I would have bet you five bucks 'The Notorious Bettie Page' would be screening in Park City in January. The movie, starring Gretchen Mol as the famous pinup girl, seemed to have it all: A strong critical reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance alumni in the directing and writer's chairs ('American Psycho's' Mary Harron and 'Go Fish' screenwriter Guinevere Turner, respectively) and enough buzz to fill a beehive. But when the 2006 Sundance lineup was announced this week, 'The Notorious Bettie Page' was not on the list.

"... Where's Miss Sundance? In 1996, Lili Taylor appeared in three Sundance films. The next year, Parker Posey was in three Sundance movies. Christina Ricci did the hat trick in 2002, and Patricia Clarkson had four in 2003. Nobody comes close to that level of ubiquity this year, though several performers are double-dipping: Sarah Polley, Toni Collette, Paul Giamatti, Bruce Willis, Timothy Hutton, Tim Blake Nelson, Justin Kirk and Joel Edgerton. (No, I have no idea who those last two guys are - but by the end of the festival, I will.)

"The British aren't coming! Of the 42 foreign films on this year's slate, only six are from the United Kingdom - four in the World Cinema Documentary competition, one in the Midnight sidebar ('The Descent') "

Read the rest here.


and one in the Premieres ("Kinky Boots"). The World Cinema competition, where the cr me de la cr me of new international films will duke it out, has no British films.

And, while you're at it, Guess the Sundance entry here.