A Little of the Old In and Out



Coffee, tea, or me? (image via hellomagazine)

In: Athina Roussel nee Onaissis Turns 21. It was at the outset a dark Greek Tragedy with lots of money involved that slowly metamorphosed into a modern romance with an estranged father, JLo and a dashing Brazillian horseman rounding out the cast of supporting characters. Such is the life of Christina Roussel Onassis, the richest young lady in the world. On Sunday she turned 21, and the Third Act begins; enter: Her Trust Fund's Angry Administrators, AKA The Chorus. According to Hello!Magazine:

"One might assume that since she took possession of the vast Onassis fortune on her 18th birthday, Athina Roussel was a woman free of financial worries. Three years later, the pretty brunette's legal headaches are continuing, however. Under rules set out by Aristotle Onassis, who built the empire, his granddaughter should have taken control of his charitable foundation when she turned 21 on January 29 this year, but the fund's administrators are currently doing all in their power to prevent her. They say that since she knows little of the country's culture, she is unfit to take charge of the fund, which would give her an influential role in Greek public life."

We predict a glorious international courtroom battle for those billions. More here.



(image via ziyue)

Out: "Big Momma's House." Damn this shit to Hell. (The Corsair expectorates into the blogosphere angrily) How could America, the greatest nation in the history of the world, allow this to happen? "Big Momma's House" was, sadly, the number one film in the country, bringing in $28 million of disposable -- and we do mean disposable -- cash to Fox. According to Defamer via the AP:

"People like the Big Momma character, pure and simple. She�s funny, she�s sassy, but it�s a guy underneath there,' Snyder said."

Think of all the studio-homeless films coming out of The Dance in Park City, and this -- this! -- barels into, no doubt, a triquel. (Averted Gaze)



(image via yahoo.movies)

In: Larry David. This sucky season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" notwithstanding, we adore Larry David. We, quite frankly, would have preferred that he, not Jon Stewart, host the Oscars. (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) We didn't quite have the "gatekeeper" juice to make that happen, though. Check us out, perhaps, in another couple of years.

Cindy Adams serves up this delicious quote that only makes David's Croesean wealth and Horatio Alger-ish rags to riches story more "Movie-of-the Week" than ever. Witness: "Super-rich Larry David on his poor, early stand-up comic days: 'I'd fill empty juice containers with pennies until I saved enough to buy Chef Boyardee beefaroni at the Hell's Kitchen deli.'"

As the professional wrestler "Dusty" Rhodes used to riff, "I've wined and dined with Kings and Queens, and I've lain in the gutter eating pork and beans .."



(image via NYTCO)

Out: A CBS-CNN Collabo? While this is a not inconceiveable possibility: a) CBS already has a "cable channel" in buzzy online presence CBSNews.com, and, b) Would CNN brass be as into this prestige-proposition with, say Katie Couric as anchor (Diane Sawyer might be a better fit, though)? According to ths provocative piece in Mediaweek, though:

"A successful launch of CW could very well presage a momentous transformation in how co-parents Time Warner and CBS Corp. gather and disseminate news. According to sources in both camps, CNN and CBS have never quite closed the door on the idea of merging their news operations, although the last formal talks were dissolved in 2003, thanks in large part to the financial distractions posed by Time Warner�s struggling AOL.

"Now that the companies have sidled closer to each other, many observers expect merger talks to resume. 'Some kind of combination is inevitable,' said Hal Vogel, principal of Vogel Capital Management. 'The cost of having far-flung bureaus is way too high for any one organization to take on alone.' Financial considerations aside, the affinities between CNN and CBS are inarguable. CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein served more than 20 years at CBS News before joining the cable news net in November 2004, so he knows the operation inside and out. And like CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves, Klein has been searching for the formula that will propel his news organization into first place. 'CBS clearly has been looking for a cable presence for awhile,' said Prof. Robert Thompson, director, Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. 'If the evening news does finally die, it would hasten a lot of things�but I don�t think it will happen in the short term.'"

Neither do we. As has been said exhaustively, CBSNews.com is their cable station. As we go further down the digital highway -- foot on the accelerator -- ad revenues will grow; CBSNews.com will be the premiere online destination for the up-to-the-minute Internationalist news connoisseur.

Still, considering the intriguing links between CBS News' 60 Minutes -- borrowing, say, Bob Simon and Christianne Amanpour for reports -- this is, as we said, a not an inconceiveable development. Just unlikely in the short end of things. More here.



Diane von Furstenberg's iconic branch print. (image via fashionweekdaily)

In: Prints and Patterns of Fashion. As jet-setting eyes avert their jaded gazes from the action on the slopes of Davos and Sundance and prepare to fix their reptilian attention on the emaciated honeys at Seventh on Sixth (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment), Fashionweekdaily reminds us, briskly:

"... For the fall 2006 shows at Olympus Fashion Week, to take place February 3-10, 7th on Sixth executive director Fern Mallis and her executive team worked with its branding and communications agency, ink&co, to engage five prominent New York designers�Carmen Marc Valvo, Diane von Furstenberg, Milly by Michelle Smith, Tibi�s Amy Smilovic, and Heatherette designers Richie Rich and Traver Raines�to create graphic identities for the Tents and all the event materials involved.

"The designers were asked to select a fabric print�and in some cases, multiple prints�that they will be using in their upcoming fall show. A total of eight prints were submitted, and those designs will cover everything from program covers and credentials, to street banners, t-shirts, and signage. Tibi�s design features a rainbow; Milly, floral and lantern prints, and an additional black-and-white graphic. Heatherette shows off its flower power; Carmen Marc Valvo has selected two abstract floral prints; and Diane von Furstenberg will use the opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its iconic branch print."

Sweet; we're so there. The full story here.