Friday, December 28, 2007

2007 Year End Pirates Awards



(image via scottishfriendsofisrael)

The "Stay Classy" Award Goes to ... David Landau of Ha'aretz, because he exudes savoire faire, elan, and, well, class (Averted Gaze). From The Jerusalem Post:

"Ha'aretz editor David Landau told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a recent private dinner that Israel 'wants to be raped by the US' and needed more vigorous American intervention to resolve Middle East conflicts, according to a report in the New York Jewish Week.

"Landau made the remarks at a confidential gathering of Israeli guests at the home of US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones on September 10, the Jewish Week reported on its Web site Thursday.

"The paper said that Landau, who was seated next to Rice, reportedly referred to Israel as a 'failed state' politically that needed a US-imposed settlement. It added that Landau reportedly 'implored Rice to intervene, asserting that the Israeli government wanted 'to be raped' and that it would be like a 'wet dream' for him to see this happen.'"

Class act, that David Landau.



(image via whatsthecrack)

The Did She Actually Use The Word "Lover" Pirate Goes to: Angelina Jolie. From the 3AM Girls: "Quelle surprise... Angelina Jolie just loves filming sex scenes! The mum-of-four says: 'You're two adults and you enjoy each other, and you know it doesn't mean anything.' Good job, too, as Angelina shared a sex scene with partner Brad Pitt's friend Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd. But she insists: 'The difference between kissing Matt and Brad is simple. One's a friend and the other is my lover.'''

Thursday, December 27, 2007

2007 Year End Pirates, Part Dieux

Ay-ay, Matey; Part Two of the Year-end Pirate Awards for pop-cultural harlotry high and low.



Jennifer Connely wants her look back, asshole.(image via Jaredleto.fr)

The Man-Bitch Pirate Goes To ... Jared Leto. The reasoning for ascribing an aggressive case of robust man-bitchery to Leto is obvious. "JLe" relishes picking fights with bloggers, prepubescent fans, and, quixotically, journos who can make or break his douchebag B-list career. Clearly he's as spoiled as unrefrigerated yogurt. An argument could be made that Leto is suffering from acute overdose of pussy, but George clooney also has that affliction and still turned out a pretty damned cool dude. Of Leto, We said: "Jared Leto's obnoxious 'guyliner' rankles. The multiple starlet conquests are calculated to rasp. The shitty band with the shitty name boggles the imagination; it confounds the cabbage. His attitude towards his fans leaves something to be desired. His celebrated 'Beef Cheeks'... oh, let's not go there, shall we?

''There are a host of reasons why anyone wouldn't want to lay a stiff whipsmack across Jared Leto's supine lips, and then, with a studied insouciance, return volley with a ruthless and unexpected BACKHAND, just to even things out geometrically.'' I'm just saying ...



Skank you very much! (image via timeinc)

The Does It Burn When She Pees Pirate Goes To: Janice Dickinson. Of course. Who else -- with the possible exception of arch-skank Tommy Lee -- could rock this award? In an interview with Howard Stern earlier in the year, she dished on her ... sowed oats (Eew). From Marksfriggin:

""Howard said that Janice has had sex with over 1000 guys and he's surprised that she's so uptight about talking about it. She did talk a little bit about Mick Jagger and his small penis. She said she was surprised at how small it actually was.

"... Janice talked more about Belushi and how much she misses him. She said that a lot of the guys she used to hang out with are dead now. She talked about banging Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty when they still had hair. They were her idols and she got to sleep with them. Janice said that Jack Nicholson told her not to tell anyone that she had 'star cum' inside of her after having sex. She said that's the way guys treated her."

Charmed, I'm sure.



Hey: It was the 70s. (image via bbc)

The Honorary Black Man Pirate Goeth To .. David Geffen. Brushing aside his uncanny resemblance to Don Cheadle, Geffen's lifetime passion project was Dreamgirls -- the ultimate black musical -- and he is arguably the most influential player in music over the past 30 years. And, as we know, African-Americans are a musical people. We wrote: "Is Los Angeles powerplayer David Geffen really a -- how does one say it? -- brother undercover? We ask this because of the long-delayed "Dreamgirls," the seminal African-American -- and, for that matter, everyone else -- Musical Extravaganza of the Year, has been his pet project for as long as anyone can remember. Geffen's commitment to recuscitating Edie Murphy's career and launching Jennifer Hudson into the stratosphere from her dismal job at Disney cruises can only be properly construed as ... very black of him." We couldn't have said it better ourselves. And we'll just try to forget that he once dated Cher once upon a time.



Paris is crying ...



...Paris is Burning.



Stupidest idea Pirate Goes To Cam'Ron's "Snitches-Get-Stitches" Philosophy. Clearly this philosophy is influenced by kant's categorical imperative. With big, saucer-sized eyes connoting all the sophistication and suave of a plate of warm custard, Cam'ron told Anderson Cooper that the underclass ought to keep their mouths shut as crimes are being committed in their neighborhoods. Good times. We wrote: "As we watched in abject horror on '60 Minutes' last week as Anderson "Dying Apollo" Cooper interviewed the saucer-eyed and seriously media un-savvy rapper, Cam'ron. Was Cam'ron going to give the party line on Snitches-getting-stitches? He did, astonishingly, on "60 Minutes." And we, gawking at the train wreck unfolding in front of Cooper, wondered, aloud: Does this Ignorant Ass even have a manager to restrain his Ghetonic impulses?"

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

2007 Year End Pirates Award, Part I

Ahr, that she blows: yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. It is year's end 2007, which means -- that's right kids -- it's time to give out The 5th annual Pirates for the year's dubious pop-culture and high cultural achievements. Things will be moving quickly from here on out:



Troblemaker of the Year Pirate -- cue: sultry Amy Winehouse soundtrack -- goes to ... Maureen Dowd. Who would have thought that our favorite pedantic Shakespeare-quoting OpEd journo with the vaguely sexy 1950s aestetics could cause what can only be construed as a "human cock-fight" between two sitting United States Senators, a former President, a music industry billionaire who looks not unlike Don Cheadle and a partridge in a pair tree? MoDowd, that's who. From The Corsair in March (and from The NYTimes Op-Ed):

"'Channeling Ingrid, I press on and say: 'I know (Senator Barack Obama wants) to run a high-minded campaign, but do you worry that you might be putting yourself on a pedestal too much? Because people also want to see you mix it up a little. That’s how they judge how you’d be with Putin.'"

"Not people, Maureen Dowd. You. We couldn't care less about this human cockfight you are angling after, just that it soils the Op-Ed page of a respectable paper.

"Behind the baby doll voice, the copper top, the demure smile and 50s movie-speak lies a world class Instigator with a heart of stone."



...Brought to you by The Weinsteins ...

The Pimping Miss Piggy Award Goes To: Harvey Weinstein. We wrote: "Sweaty, sausage-fingered barbarian Harvey Weinstein (Ee-e-w), whose oily yet adamantine grip on American culture runs the gamut from greenlighting the astonishingly intense My Left Foot, to, in his present multimedia incarnation, a home video distribution deal with Sesame-goddam-Street. Mama says wha-a-t?!"



Baby Thug Mogul-In-Heat Award: Russell Simmons. Immediately following his public separation from his loudmouth wife Kimora(Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment), Russell "Anemic Looking" Simmons went on the prowl like an iron-poor-blood premie baby on the hunt for some strained pears. It was sad. We wrote: "Russell Simmons is in heat (The Corsair stifles a quiet yet dignified dry heave). Newly freed from the adamantine chains of marriage to that obnoxiously materialistic dingbat Kimora Lee Simmons (The Corsair makes a Dismissive gesture), his unfettered Metrosexuality (Eew) is in Full Flower under the fetid hothouse canopy of The Tents (The Corsair sips Muller Catoir Gimmeldinger Schlosse). In the moist darkness that lies therein, Russell's blooming like a mushroom (Eew) To wit, 'The Mating Rituals of Russell Simmons'. From Radar:

"'"Australian model Miranda Kerr has earned herself a few famous fans. At the Betsey Johnson show on Tuesday, the 23-year-old Victoria's Secret babe traded in her wings to open 'the Betsey Johnson School of Charm' collection, earning her a big grin from model-loving hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons.

"'As Kerr reached Simmons's front-row perch, the Phat Farm chief proceeded to fan her with his hat, provoking a show of dimples and a serious blush from Kerr, a Serbian-Turkish-Philippino sylph who has a whiff of Kimora about her. After the show, Simmons was heard boasting into his cell phone, 'I'm sure she saw me!'"

"That's one of the signs of Russell being in unmitigated heat (Eew). His 'sex' forces him to speak into his cell phone loudly."



The Even A Broken Clock Is Right Two Times A Day Pirate Goes to ... Dick Morris. Yes, he's a sleazy punk-ass political operative that is slowly eating away at the underpinnings of this Democratic-epublic; yes, he reminds us of a unnatural squid-human mating; and, yes, Morris' obsession with the Clintons probably has something to do with the fact that Bill Clinton physically kicked his ass six ways to Sunday. Dick, or, as we like to call him, "Dick" was actually right about Al Gore. He was righter than this blog, actually. We write: "Today we venture into the fevered, moist imaginings of Dick Morris (Eew). Look past the rather unremarkable-looking Virginia Call girl, and into the very shaft of 'Dick' (Eew), the Heart of Darkness ('Mistah Kurtz, he dead!'). Of course, this blog post has to do -- tangentially, at least -- with Billary, although the prinipal subject is Al Gore. From TheHill Blog:

"'Al Gore could have run in 2008 and could have beaten Hillary. But he dithered so long and sent out such negative indicators that he has blown his opportunity. Barack Obama, catching on in the polls and closing the gap with Hillary to single digits, has, quite simply, sucked all the oxygen from the room."



The Bitchface Pirate Award (see above). Damn, brother: Did it hurt? What does it ... feel like to have a .. bitchface?(image via thesun)

The Swag Hag Award Goes To Eva Longwhoria. With millions of dollars in endorsements, a hit tv show, an eccentric -- but profitable -- marriage, does Eva really need to whore-d swag free shit like Mickey Rourke at a botox party? It's just crass. Eva Longoria is like school on Saturday ...(Honorable mention: Winona Rider and Terry Hatcher)



(image via nypost)

Phony Of The Year: Bear Grylls. As Holden Caufield would say, with a melancholy, Charlie Brownish air of sadness: Phony. Remember, dear reader, when it was all about The Bear? What made anyone think that a graduate of Eton and Oxford had an ounce of grit? We said: "We must admit that Bear Grylls is one entertaining motherfucker. Fer realsies (Averted Gaze)! He amuses us greatly (The Corsair sips a Zinfandel Sonoma County Reserve 1997), what with his eating a dead, rotting zebra carcass and coughing up 'the icky bits (The Corsair softly chuckles).' Watching Bear reminds us of a primordial age in remote antiquity where a robust and manly survivalism was more societally important than Oprah.

"The pendulum swings (The Corsair ignites a La Paloma Vintage Reserva Cigar). My good man is a fraud, operating wholly without class (Averted Gaze)."



(image via theobserver)

Clubhouse of the Year: The Waverly Inn. Fuck it; we give. Graydo's Waverly inn is hott. HBO's Stephanie Burton emailed The Corsair earlier this year, "I’m telling you: Screw Michael’s for lunch. Waverly Inn is the new jamboree for dinner. We should start a Waverly Inn Count-Up. I can’t believe the stuff I see going on in there on a regular basis." And so, we blogged: "All-too-Canadian editor E. Graydon Carter always struck The Corsair as a 'clubby' sort of chap (Said with an air of restrained laughter). How else could he wear his hair the way he wears his hair without the clubby trappings of the fortress-like walls of Conde Nast, a buffer zone between Graydon Carter -- or, "E!" as we like to call him at Corsair HQ -- and the ruthless atomic-wedgie givers of the world (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

(From Observer)"... "'Even before we started Spy, he’s always wanted to start a clubhouse,' said Mr. Carter’s friend and co-founder at Spy magazine, Kurt Andersen. 'We’d be walking around Time Square, and he’d look up at different buildings and say, ‘Well, that could be a clubhouse there, and that could be clubhouse there.’"



The Sir Edmund Hillary of Social Climbers Pirate Goes to ... (see above; no further comment; image via nysocialdiary)



The Ken Auletta Open Invitational "Mantan" Award Goes To Danny Deutch. Oily, hyper-aggressive New York adman Danny Deutch -- or, as we like to call him "Douche" -- gets extra nut-brown points awarded for the novel "date-clad-in-canary-yellow-to-provide-contrast" maneuver. Do. Your. thing. Danny (Averted Gaze).



The Cliiimb Eevry Mountaaain Award Goes To: Charlie Rose. (so many miles to go before Charlie Rose sleeps; image via nysocialdiary)

Tune in tomorrow for Part II of The Year End Pirates Awards ...
Jay Z Steps Down From Def Jam



(image via msnbc)

According to New York Times sources briefed on Jay Z's contract negotiations, Universal decided not to re-up the rapper-executive because he wanted a more lucrative contract. From The New York Times:

"After an unusual three-year turn in the corporate suite, Jay-Z, the rap superstar, said Monday that he would step down from his post as president of Def Jam Recordings, one of the world’s best-known record labels.

"Jay-Z is not revealing his plans after he leaves Def Jam Recordings, but he will continue to record for the record label.

"Jay-Z made the announcement with Def Jam’s parent, Universal Music Group, as his employment contract was expiring. Under a separate long-term recording contract with Def Jam, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, still owes the company one or more albums.
Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced Tuesday that they plan to introduce legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The House passed companion legislation earlier this month. Awarding Aung San Suu Kyi the medal would get Congress involved in the turmoil Burma experienced earlier this year when the military regime suppressed the protests led by the country’s monks." (TheHill)

"The Hilton family patriarch, Barron Hilton, will pass on the $1.2 billion windfall from the sale of Hilton Hotels Corporation - not to his famous progeny, but to his family's philanthropic foundation, Fortune has learned. Barron Hilton's donation will effectively double the size of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, named after Barron's father, the man who built Hilton Hotels from scratch and great-grandfather of celebutantes Paris and Nicky Hilton." (CNNMoney)

"But during those two terms in the White House, Mrs. Clinton did not hold a security clearance. She did not attend National Security Council meetings. She was not given a copy of the president’s daily intelligence briefing. She did not assert herself on the crises in Somalia, Haiti and Rwanda. And during one of President Bill Clinton's major tests on terrorism, whether to bomb Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, Mrs. Clinton was barely speaking to her husband, let alone advising him, as the Lewinsky scandal sizzled." (NYTimes)

"One of the most highly anticipated political telefilms being released next year is 'Recount,' a fast-paced depiction of the behind-the-scenes drama that took place in Florida during the disputed 2000 Gore-Bush election. Eager to avoid the last-minute flap over accuracy that beset the ABC miniseries 'The Path to 9/11' last year, the makers of HBO’s upcoming docudrama allowed real-life figures depicted in the project to make script notes, visit the set and offer advice to director Jay Roach." (Politico)

Friday, December 21, 2007

Happy Holidays

Happy holidays to you guys who have read this blog over the years (and to the newbies). Thank you for bearing with me:



xxoo,

Ron
Corsair Classic

Shirley MacLaine Is Coco Chanel



One of our ur favorite Hollywood celebrities who has a thing for silver-haired statesmen is back on the screen, like a sex machine. Shirley MacLaine -- a truly sexy broad from the Sinatra era -- is doing a Lifetime TV show on a fasjion icon. From Variety:

"Lifetime has its designs on 'Coco Chanel,' a miniseries featuring Shirley MacLaine as the fashion icon.

"MacLaine will play the designer in her later years, as she set out to re-establish her reputation as a fashion trendsetter. Barbora Bobulova ('In Love and War') will play the younger Chanel."

We're sure MacLaine will pull off an Emmy-worthy performance, as she probably was Coco Chanel in one of her, uh, interesting past lives.
Media-Whore D'Oevres



"In 1998, Bill Richardson, then the United States ambassador to the United Nations, flew to Japan in search of backing for potential military strikes in Iraq. Landing in Tokyo, he asked how a previous session, conducted by his boss, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, had gone. Not well, Mr. Richardson learned. Dr. Albright’s Japanese counterpart requested permission to smoke, she lectured him on the dangers of tobacco, and things never improved from there. So Mr. Richardson began his meeting with a question. 'Mind if I smoke?' he asked, pulling out the cigar he had tucked into his jacket a moment before. He left Japan with the assurances for which he had come." (NYTimes)

"At the opening of the Costume Institute's new exhibit, Blog.Mode: Addressing Fashion—where host Manolo Blahnik welcomed Vogue's Anna Wintour, Amy Fine Collins, and Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy, among others—guests were invited to visit the 'blogbar' of computer terminals and post their sartorial musings. After thinking it over, Sue Stemp decided to wait until inspiration struck. 'I'll have a few drinks and do it from home,' she said. 'The comments will be much more creative then.' Downtown, at Chelsea's Metropolitan Pavilion, meanwhile, Jessica Stam and Adrian Grenier shared hosting duties at a fundraiser for Charity: Water, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing clean water to impoverished communities. The evening's highlight (aside, of course, from raising money for an important cause) was a surprise performance by Chaka Khan." (Style)

"Meanwhile, what socialite's mama was just being herself when she tried to return a fur to Bergdorf's a year and a half after its purchase? And can you believe they accepted it?" (Musto)

"Bill Gross, founder of Pimco, one of the world's largest fixed-income managers, sounded a downbeat note on the US economy by saying it had gone into recession. 'If I had to be bold I'd say we began a recession in December,' he said in a Financial Times interview, in which he called on the Federal Reserve to bring interest rates down to 3 per cent. The recession would last 'four to five months,' he thought, but would be prolonged if the administration and Congress failed to 'take some rather unperceived and unforecasted measures in terms of fiscal stimulation' ... He also had stern words for hedge funds, describing them as a 'con.' A hedge fund, he said, was 'an unregulated bank. A bank isn't a con but a bank is a regulated entity. A hedge fund is not . . . it's been a con on the government in terms of their unwillingness to regulate the industry.'''(FT)

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Tancredo Drops Out; Bad Week For Giuliani



This blog has been keeping tabs on Tom Tancredo's quixotic quest of the White House even before he was made dark efforts to attain that unreachable ambition. Tom-Tom's obsession with illegal immigration masks the musk of a noxious crypto-racism always seething just below the oily surface. Tancredo's dropping out, but doing it strategically, annointing Mitt Romney as his successor and comrade-in-arms on the cusp of New Hampshire.

The significance of this late endorsement is twofold: one, it innoculates Romney against any more of Giuliani's adolescent illegal immigration Tartuffery. Imagine the spectacle of Romney and Giuliani -- liberal, sophisticated, Eastern seaboard Republican urban administrators both -- with pistols drawn at noon, spaghetti-western style, trying to out-cowboy and out-tobacco-spit each other on the subject of "them -- gritty close up -- Dayum Mexicans (Averted Gaze)."

As if this weren't a bad enough moment in Giuliani Time, Il Doucebag had a impromptu visit to the Emergency Room. Giuliani really does losing badly. Remember the aftermath of his race against that largely ineffective David Dinkins where Rudy essentially shadowed the Mayor, like a jackal corraling a wounded gazelle, for years --! -- after he lost the Mayoralty by a razor-thin margin.

And then Giulianus Maximus pulled out of his Senate race with Hillary Clinton when it became clear he was going to have his ass handed to him by the Clinton-Rangel machine. It will be interesting and instructive to see how Giuliani, egomaniac, handles the inevitable ass-whipping that is coming his way fast and furious come election night in New Hampshire in January.

Fer realsies!
McCain-Huckabee?




It is not inconceiveable that the Republican Party, confused, unhappy at its choices, bucks all polls and when comes Iowa and New Hampshire, behaves in the hierarchical manner to which we have become accustomed and votes McCain -- because ... it is his turn (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

But conservatives, of course, have never trusted McCain, not since he was lionized by the Centrist Eastern Establishment (tm)-- The Media (NYTimes, 60 Minutes); The New Republic; Charlie Rose; etc, &c -- so the Arizona Senator would be forced to balance the ticket with someone with red-state steak-and-potatoes bona fides.

Enter: Mike Huckabee, the Mr. Thank-You-Jesus candidate.

Even Southern Baptists are not united on Huckabee. Still, Huckabee would be politically useful to McCain because he would keep the Evangelicals -- more or less -- pleased, leaving the Senator to shore up stray Independents and Neocons. Already he seems to be herding those cats (bitchsmacking The New York Times is to conservatives what exotic ethnic restaurants are to liberals, see). Huckabee, for all his godawful ass-backwardness, also adds a dash of humor and down-home kick off your shoes folksiness to John McCain, who, as would befit a former prisoner-of-war, comes across as grave and stiff on the campaign trail.

A McCain-Huckabee ticket would be formidable, and it is a real possibility.
Corsair Classic

Mike Huckabee?

Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Putin also takes a swipe at NATO in (Time) magazine, saying that while it isn't exactly a "stinking corpse," it certainly is a holdover from the past. He emphasizes that NATO cannot protect its members in today's world, but adds that those threats can be dealt with by increasing trust and relationships with other countries -- such as Russia. This is a theme Putin has been hammering with many of the former Soviet bloc states, especially Ukraine and Georgia: NATO will not come to their aid, especially against Russia. In the interview, Putin directly blames the United States for the instability seen in many of these countries, accusing it of threatening their sovereignty and territorial integrity." (Stratfor/GeopoliticalDiary)

"Christy Turlington and Ed Burns, Bob Woodruff, James Kaliardos, Rory Kennedy, and Serena Altschul all convened downtown at Chanterelle Tuesday night for an intimate dinner celebrating the launch of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund. Hosted by Tribeca Film Institute co-chairmen Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, the initiative seeks to fund emerging talent currently missing from mainstream media--a notion that was enthusiastically embraced by Cecilia Dean." (Fashionweekdaily)

"Nigeria's stance on the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has been clarified following confusion sparked by a statement made by Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua during a visit to Washington, DC. After meeting US President George Bush in the White House on 13 December, Yar'Adua announced that Nigeria had resolved to partner with AFRICOM 'to actualise its peace initiatives and security on the continent.' The statement, taken as an endorsement of the command, elicited angry reactions in Nigeria, with the opposition Action Congress slamming Yar'Adua for 'elevating expediency over Nigeria's sovereignty' by endorsing AFRICOM in return for a US recognition of his government." (Janes)

"Tomorrow is D-Day for rapper turned alleged child pornographer R. Kelly. A Chicago judge will decide whether or not to clip the wings of the 'I Believe I Can Fly' crooner." (PageSix)

"I don’t know how John Edwards’s union members will do in the caucuses. My guess is that they will be pretty good at intimidating the yuppies who make up the bulk of the Obama campaign. I also don’t what promises Hillary has been making to Joe Biden, Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd to get their supporters to vote for her after they don’t meet the 15 percent threshold. Horse-trading vs. union thuggery? What wins? Either way, Obama’s folks could be squeezed out." (TheHill)

"(Madonna's husband Guy) Ritchie's new movie, crime thriller Revolver, has followed in the footsteps of its UK release, and flopped at the US box office, according to reports. Despite being re-dited for the US market, Revolver - which was orginally released in the UK in 2005 - has failed to make an impact on its release on US screens earlier this month, taking just under £40,000 ($75,000) in its first 12 days of release." (Thisislondon)

"So this actually is, for reporters, the fun part of covering a campaign like this. I'm writing this from a shed in the Cedar County Fair Grounds in Tipton, IA, covering a couple of Clinton events before getting on an Obama bus tomorrow. The suspense of who's going to win the caucuses, and the primary, is real." (Politico)

"Johnny Depp has a lot to thank friend Nicolas Cage for. Over a game of Monopoly, Face Off star Nicolas, 43, suggested Depp give up guitar playing to try acting. Nicolas said: 'There was just something about him, so I introduced him to my agent.' Johnny, 44, landed a role in Nightmare On Elm Street the very next day." (3AMGirls)

"Still unseen by the general public as the year comes to a close, Paul Thomas Anderson's 'There Will Be Blood' dominated indieWIRE's annual survey of more than 100 North American film critics. Set for a limited U.S. release starting next week, the exceptional fifth feature by P.T. Anderson was named best film of the year in indieWIRE's poll of 106 film critics. Notably, the film topped five categories: Anderson was singled out for best director and best screenplay, while Daniel Day-Lewis' role as oil man Daniel Plainview was named the best performance of 2007 and Robert Elswit was singled out for best cinematography." (Indiewire)
Lunch At Michaels



"'Tis the season for some serious celeb spotting at 55th & Fifth. After a few less than stellar weeks, the joint was jumping today as a few A-list actors mixed and mingled with the positively giddy regulars who all seemed more than eager to start their holiday vacations early. We've come to act a bit jaded when we met up with Natasha Richardson at the coat check but all bets were off when her hubby — none other than Liam Neeson — lumbered into the dining room ... Table 17. Kathie Lee Gifford looking like a ski bunny in black leggings and adorable flat boots. Kathie Lee told me her choice of footwear was one of function over fashion. 'I just had surgery on my feet five weeks ago. I have 80-year-old feet after 40 years of show business. I got these long ago on a trip to Aspen.'"(FishbowlNY)

"Over at Michael’s the place was mobbed. Joan Rivers was seated at the top center of the round table in the bay with eight others who were guests of somebody who bid $15000 at a Bard College fundraiser to have a lunch with Joan. I’m sure they got their money’s worth. At the table in front of Joan (and next to ours) Liam Neeson was lunching with casting director-turned-producer Bonnie Timmerman. On the other side of us, Maria Bartiromo. Across the aisle Blythe Danner was lunching with Kim McCarty. On the other side of Timmerman and Neeson, former prosecutor and prolific mystery novelist Linda Fairstein was lunching with three women who are experts on DNA forensics. Linda was carrying the galleys to her 10th detective thriller, Killer Heat. And at the table next to her media mogul Barry Diller was lunching with a colleague." (NYSD)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Georgette Mosbacher held her annual Holiday cocktail party last night in her Fifth Avenue apartment. This is one of the highlights of the Christmas/Holiday season in New York because Georgette gives a Very Good party ... Last night, for example in the flow of rooms, around the buffet, quaffing the bubbly, were Monica Crowley, Bill O’Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh, separately, that is. Mr. O’Reilly in person looks like a long, tall, almost-ornery son of an Irishman. Mr. Limbaugh looks a little like Spanky from Our Gang, grown up in sunnier climes. And Ms. Crowley is a very pretty woman with a warm, friendly smile and bright eyes." (NYSocialDiary)

"Wu-Tang Clan have been all over the place in late 2007, with Raekwon performing at the J.A.M. Awards last month, Ghostface doing Hip Hop Live!, RZA on the road, and Wu about to set off-- not to mention the arrival of Ghostface's Big Doe Rehab and the first Wu record in six years, 8 Diagrams. And then of course, we have GZA's pair of performances at the Knitting Factory, the first of which went down last night and saw his 1995 classic Liquid Swords cut up, reworked, enhanced by enthusiastic crowd participation, and temporarily abandoned in favor of Wu-Tang or Ol' Dirty Bastard songs." (Pitchforkmedia)

"Donna Karan's annual holiday party is always an end-of-the-year treat, and Tuesday night's shindig was no exception. Held at the Stephan Weiss Studio in the West Village, the space afforded guests, most of whom work for the designer in some capacity or another, a symbiotic balance of loud and festive downstairs or calm and Zen-like upstairs, where the quarters were decked out in large orchid plants, candles, and low-lying lounge sofas ... Making a fashionably late arrival was Coleman Feltes. Mingling with the likes of Dan Baker and Gabby Karan de Felice over plates of shrimp scampi and lamb, the celebrated deejay, a favorite of Valentino, Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford's, revealed that he's been asked by Karan to develop music for her Urban Zen initiative. 'We're working on trying to figure out how to incorporate music into Urban Zen,' he said of the project, which is still in its infancy stages." (Fashionweekdaily)

"Mr. Mickey and his trusty pal Michael Musto (whose fabulous book La Dolce Musto is available at Amazon.com and makes a great last minute hollandaise gift!) recently spent a fabulous weekend in Providence, Rhode Island. MM had made a cameo appearance in Providence a few years ago but this was the first real visit and Providence is goooorgeous! So many cute restaurants and gay bars (thanks to the kids from Brown and RISD) to say nothing of the blocks of amazing Georgian architecture. This city is a jewel. Johnson & Wales Culinary University is there which helps explain the cavalcade of scrumptuous cuisine. We were lucky enough to meet with the openly gay mayor David Cicilline (our sources say he's shacked up with a local TV newscaster but there is no official 'first lady')." (Papermag)

"Covering Mrs. Clinton in particular can feel like watching a candidate through thick aquarium glass—she sees you but can’t hear your questions no matter how hard you tap. As a result, the reporters who cover her sometimes seem positively starved for small kindnesses. For the most part, the food provided to journalists on the Clinton campaign bus, while plentiful, is very, very bad. A vegetable wrap turns out to be a mayonnaise burrito, the pizza slices are tiny, like Trivial Pursuit wedges. The campaign aides dole out Tums like press releases." (Observer)

"I caught Mike Huckabee defending his Christmas campaign ad to Meredith Vieira. Vieira pressed him on the issue of whether the bookshelf was subliminally framed as a cross in the ad ...What the ad is clearly, unambiguously saying, without aid of any psycho-juju, is: 'I am a deeply Christian man.' And, only slightly more subtextually: 'Jesus wants Mitt Romney to stop running attack ads about me.'" (TimeMagazine)

"When a Roitfeld’s involved, it’s never a run-of-the-mill affair. Carine Roitfeld jetted to New York over the weekend to celebrate her son Vladimir’s 23rd birthday. Hosting a dinner at her favorite Manhattan restaurant, Indochine, the intimate family gathering drew daughter Julia Restoin Roitfeld and close friends Lily Donaldson (Vladimir’s squeeze) and Stavros Niarchos." (Fashionweekdaily)
Corsair Classic

Dodd For Senate Majority Leader?



Clearly Chris Dodd is a good man, but his candidacy for the White House is going nowhere. Perhaps it is time to sweeten the pot and offer him something else -- somewhere that he could be useful to the country and his party -- in order to oil the wheels from his transition from candidate to legislative leader. From HuffingtonPost:


"As the political season reaches its Iowa caucus climax, momentum is building for Sen. Chris Dodd to parlay his presidential campaign into a bid to challenge Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, for Majority Leader. Almost all of the support for this effort now comes from the netroots, much of which favors such a move. But talk of Dodd making a run at the post has slowly crept into the corners of Capitol Hill as well. And in light of the Connecticut Democrat's successful filibuster threat this week over granting immunity to telecommunications firms that conducted warrantless surveillance, some in the progressive community see the framework for a potential shakeup."

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Is This The End Of Senator Byrd?



Above: Bobby Byrd, catching up on some zzz's!

Senator William Byrd, the oldest serving member of the United States Senate (he is 90), has, for years been in decline. While still able to hold forth on the history of the Senate, he is increasingly frail. And so Politico's lead story came as no surprise:

"A group of Senate Democrats has begun quietly exploring ways to replace the venerable Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) as chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, believing he’s no longer physically up to the job, according to Democratic senators and leadership aides familiar with the discussions.

"Under one scenario being circulated in Democratic circles, the 90-year-old Byrd would be named 'chairman emeritus,' and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would become 'acting chairwoman' for the remainder of the 110th Congress."

That would be a good move. Byrd is so old he was a actually an "Exalted Cyclopse" of the KKK back at the dawn of the 20th Century (as opposed to the Homeric Cyclops, Polephemos, at the dawn of the 8th century B.C.), when it was an influential force in West Virginia. He has, of course, denounced his youthful indiscretions and had an honorable career in the Senate. But it might be time for a new generation -- at the very least one of the latter half of the 20th century -- still, to take the reins and perform acts of progress.
Media-Whore D'Oevres

"Green tea, cognac, champagne—it's difficult to make. Also, a Chatham Artillery Punch, which is equally elaborate. This is pretty close to the end. At this point, maybe shots of whiskey till I pass out. Then I don't want to know what happens." (VillageVoice)

"Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Tuesday blasted President Bush’s foreign policy record, saying that 'his judgments will be subject to the harsh light of history, and the verdict will not be kind.'" (TheHill)

"Yesterday over at Swifty’s, Tory Burch took over the restaurant to give a girl’s lunch for her friend Samantha Boardman Rosen. The young lionesses: ... Peggy Siegal, Blaine Trump ... Stephanie Seymour Brant, Cristina Greeven ... Renee Rockefeller ... Shoshanna Gruss, Gigi Mortimer, Aerin Lauder, Kimberly Kravis ..." (NYSD)

"The fashion-laden streets of Manhattan will be that much emptier come the New Year, when a who's who of society circles will gather in Cartagena, Colombia, for the wedding of Lauren Davis to Andres Santo Domingo. Nine bridesmaids have been selected to join the Vogue contributing editor on her big day, and each PYT has been paired with a specific designer for the January 8 affair." (Fashionweekdaily)

"One way to cause pandemonium in a Hy-Vee supermarket in Des Moines is to send Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Magic Johnson there at the same time. The trio entered, in size order, this morning and greeted a group of high school students in the market’s coffee shop, (Hillary said, 'Hello!' Bill said, 'Good Morning' and Magic said,'What’s up baby.') Magic caused the biggest stir, literally overshadowing the politicians." (Observer)

"Hey, former HBO CEO Chris Albrecht is going to make an honest woman out of the ladyfriend he choked in public earlier this year! That is great. We bet her mother is so proud." (Gawker)

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit Tuesday to Kirkuk in the oil-rich Kurdish region, where the U.S. administration has emphasized what it sees as new signs of cooperation and progress, and then flew to the Iraqi capital for meetings with national leaders." (Time)
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Monday, December 17, 2007

Huckabee Invokes Christ In TV Ad



While fomer Governor Huckabee once appeared mildly amusing -- however geekish and wholly unitellectual -- with his clumsy foisting of the D-list endorsement of Chuck Norris into the staid campaign scrum, the sheer noxiousness of his present oily message has been made patently clear with the above YouTube video. From ABCNews Blogs:

"Tomorrow in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee launches a new TV ad called 'What Really Matters.'

"... With 'Silent Night' strumming as soothing background music, Huckabee tells voters he doesn't blame them if they're 'worn out' from all the political ads.

"As the camera pans to reveal a Christmas tree behind him, the former Baptist minister says that at this time of year 'what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends.'

"I cannot remember a presidential candidate ever invoking Christ in a TV ad before."

Could you please, Governor Huckabee, like, kindly keep your last-minute low grade piece of ass appeals to the lowest, drooling nature of the American electorate to yourself? We prefer candidates who speak to the highest emotional and intellectual aspirations of these United States of America.

Thank you!
Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Former President Bill Clinton's decision to reconsider a business relationship with California billionaire Ron Burkle reflects concern those financial dealings may embarrass his wife's presidential candidacy. Securities and Exchange Commission documents and financial- disclosure forms filed by Hillary Clinton show that Bill Clinton, 61, has a financial stake in three investment entities registered in the Cayman Islands by Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. LLC." (Bloomberg)

"Peggy Siegal and Andrew Saffir are familiar faces to NYSD readers. For years now their faces have graced our Party Picture pages frequently, measuring, in fact, the velocity of their social engagement in Little Ole New York. Both are Out There in a big way. Collectively they probably know thousands of people between them ... Last summer, in the Hamptons, the Cinema Society seemed to have come into its own as a social barometer when Donna Karan opened her beach house to the screening guests for the dinner afterwards. Soon there was a buzz that Andrew Saffir was not only competing with Peggy Siegal but beating her at her own game. Last Friday in the Wall Street Journal, there was a report making the same claim and implying that he was winning, pointing out also that while Mr. Saffir was 40, Ms. Siegal was 60 – nudge-nudge." (NYSD)

"Filmmaker Michel Gondry will participate in a discussion and show scenes from his latest film, 'Be Kind Rewind,' which stars Jack Black and Mos Def, at Apple Store SoHo on Friday, January 11th, 7:00pm-8:00pm. When a man whose body accidentally becomes magnetized unintentionally erases every tape in his friend's video store, the pair set out to remake the lost films, including 'Back To The Future' and 'The Lion King'. New Line Cinema will release the film in theaters in January 2008." (Indiewire)

"Who needs a New Year's celebration when they've attended Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman's wedding?

That was the sentiment expressed by many of the A-list guests invited to the evening nuptials of the 55-year-old movie mogul and his 31-year-old British design darling, one half of the Marchesa label. The ceremony took place overlooking the Long Island Sound at the Weinstein Co. executive's manse in tony Westport, Connecticut, where guests, all of whom were sworn to secrecy, were escorted via shuttles to the estate after a fleet of black SUVs deposited them at a nearby school. Following ample portions of truffled risotto, baked tagliolini, and bite-size potatoes with caviar and crème fraîche (catered by Cipriani and Nobu) served during the cocktail hour, the well-represented fashion crowd, which included Anna Wintour, Graydon Carter, Glenda Bailey, Natalia Vodianova, Helena Christensen, Margherita Missoni, Jacquetta Wheeler, Rachel Zoe, and Karolina Kurkova, supped on Cipriani-prepared Dover sole and veal osso buco before hitting the dance floor to a live performance by the Gipsy Kings." (Fashionweekdaily)

"Key endorsements from the crucial state of Iowa are coming fast and furious with the first-in-the-nation caucuses just more than two weeks away. Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) scored a big name Monday, when conservative Iowan Rep. Steve King (R) announced he is backing the ex-senator on the same day Thompson launched an Iowa bus tour. Meanwhile, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign announced that freshman Iowa Rep. David Loebsack (D) is supporting his bid. That follows the weekend news of The Des Moines Register’s endorsement of his chief rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.)." (TheHill)

Friday, December 14, 2007

Poor Josh Brolin



In any other year Josh Brolin would win the Oscar for his masterful, sanguinary performance in No Country For Old Men. Unfortunately, this is the year that Daniel-Day Lewis left semi-retirement to give a superhuman performance. Before that Brolin was considered a boytoy for the more serious and gifted actor, Diane Lane.

No one will say that now with his back-to-back Oscar worthy performances in American Gangster and No Country, but it would have been inspirational if he went all the way. But he won't. Because no one -- perhaps ever -- has done a more unnaturally brilliant job of transforming himself into someone else than Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood.
Joe Biden Will Not Be The Next President



There comes a time in a Presidential campaign when some of the candidates have to accept the fact that they will not be the next President of these United States. Kindley exit stage left, gentlemen (Averted Gaze). Alan Keyes, for example, will not be flying Air Force One in the near future (unless he gets his pilots license and applies for the job). Neither will Senator Chris Dodd, though he is, by all accounts a decent man (some of that presently has to do with the fact that his old tomcatting buddy, Teddy "Boom-Boom" Kennedy is now a married man and has no sloppy seconds to parsel out). So why don't they -- those hapless candidates -- simply get out of the way?

Psychologically, it is not so difficult to comprehend. Senator Biden, for example, was won state-wide election in Delaware for the past three decades receiving only the slightest amount of competition in the process. Of course, America isn't Wilmington; it is alot easier to be a big fish in a little pond than to the the biggest cat in the jungle. But the seemless victories conditions a man, tempermentally, to continue to compete for higher offices. It must be confounding for someone with as many electoral victories as he, be confounded at achieving the highest office of the land.

The United States Senate is known to insiders as "the waiting room" because each and every one of the 100 memebers feel that they have what it takes to be President. Of course, statistics-wise, Governors -- who have managerial experience -- have histroically done better on the road to the White House. Foreign policy knowledge, with has a learning curve of 10 years to master, alas, has never really been a major factor in American Presidential races. If it did, to be sujre, Biden would be a shoo-in for the Oval Office. As would that glorious Bill Richardson.
Corsair Classic

Media-Whore D'Oevres



(image via patrickmcmullen)

"The annual Marc Jacobs holiday parties have always been unparalleled, but 600 gyrating, half-naked, Arabian Nights-inspired guests took the designer's bash this year to what can only be described as legendary proportions ... In the midst of the fashion house's many employees who flew in from around the world, recognizable guests like Kiera Chaplin, Patrick McMullan, Bill Cunningham, Amanda Lepore, and Richie Rich enjoyed the earth-shattering dance floor and generous buffet of hearty pasta, imported salmon, meats, Turkish delights, and assorted cakes. "I feel overdressed at this party!' laughed Benjamin Cho, clad in a white bejeweled tunic. 'Everywhere I look there are naked bodies and nipples!'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"At Tuesday's Neue Galerie Winter Gala, partygoers like Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Zac Posen, and Craig McDean split the evening between ground-floor socializing and second-level art appreciation—though they were dressed more for the former than the latter. 'I just have to stop going up and down in these heels,' said Zani Gugelmann. 'They weren't made for stairs.'" (Style)

"The Guggenheim Artist's Ball never disappoints, and Thursday night's soirée, sponsored by Chloé and honoring artist Ryan McGinley, was no exception. Paulo Melim Andersson, Chloé's shy but talented design head, presided over a mix of artists, celebrities, models, and fashion folk which included Erin Wasson, Todd Eberle, Natalia Vodianova, Eva Lorenzotti, Allison Sarofim, and one very satisfied chief executive. 'It feels so good; this is what we are working for,' Ralph Toledano said, as Blake Lively, Julia Restoin Roitfeld, Arden Wohl, Becki Newton, and Emily Mortimer sauntered by in Chloé's latest looks." (Fashionweekdaily)

"This is the event where anyone over 20 worth less than two mill gets kicked to the curb!! This year’s Guggenheim Young Collectors Ball payed tribute to photographer Ryan McGinley. It was fun to see some of his 'riper' images of beautiful body parts on a huge screen at quite possibly the most beautiful museum ever." (Papermag)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Media-Whore D'Oevres



"Meanwhile, at Donna Karan's Greenwich Street studio, ACRIA toasted Bob Colacello at its 12th annual holiday dinner. Accepting a portrait of himself by the artist Martin Saar, the author reminisced about the organization's first dinner: 'As Bridget Berlin gave a monologue on her eating disorders, Nan Kempner and the rest of the uptown ladies I was responsible for bringing to Tribeca sat there not knowing whether they should laugh or walk out.' Guests including Francisco Costa, Nicole Miller, and Cyndi Lauper lingered well past dessert to hear Vanessa Carlton perform songs from her new album." (Style)

"'Tom Harkin’s been working like a Trojan,' says Hillary, in a generation gap moment." (Today's Iowa debate)

"Just when I thought this week would mark a first — a celeb-free Wednesday! — I caught a glimpse of Judy Collins swaddled up in a pink pashmina chatting with a snowy haired gent at the door when I was on my way out ... Table 1. The Imber gang — or at least most of them — Dr. Gerry Imber, Michael Kramer and Jerry Della Femina. Where was Jeff Greenfield? ... Table 3. 'Mayor' Joe Armstrong and Men's Health honcho Dave Zinczenko ...17. Ed Rollins and Steve Cohen." (FishbowlNY)
The Mark Jacobs Holiday Party



camel toe, anyone?

Excess; Filthy decadence, thy name is the Marc Jacobs holiday party (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). The annual event is more an Imperial burlesque worthy of a goddam Nero. Last year, Damon Dash, André Leon Talley and Richie Rich -- among other boldfacers -- attended his party in which, according to New York merited a zesty, "And: Wow. We'd never seen anything like it. Ever." From the very cool Carolyn Torem Craig in Papermag.com:

"Anytime Amanda Lepore appears somewhat over-dressed for the occasion, we know all hell has broken loose. There was a mystery in The Rainbow Room at Marc Jacobs' Arabian-Nights-themed year-end bash. Why was Marc holed up inside a huge furry camel toe the whole night??? Was he doing some kind of penance for having a good year? Did he lose a bet? Someone said he was shy."



In 2005 (see above), the "shy" Marc Jacobs dressed as a swine -- that's so meaningful -- furthering the stink of animale motif that runs through the designer's life. Fashionweek Daily wrote, then:

"... Elsewhere, models in chaps and models in no chaps (and not much else) made themselves comfortable on hay bales, where they feasted on cornbread, coleslaw, pulled-pork sandwiches, and baked beans."

To which we responded, icily: Yes well (Averted Gaze) sitting chapless is a sure recipe for 'pulled-pork sandwiches.'

(images via papermag, fashionweekdaily)
Media-Whore D'Oevres



"A gathering of Lucian Freud fans and collectors celebrated the opening of the artist's first-ever solo exhibition at the MoMA in New York, 'Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings,' Tuesday evening ... Rufus Wainwright was mesmerized by the artist's treatment of the over-the-top performance artist and designer. 'I'm a big Leigh Bowery fan and I thought that it was one of the great meetings between two dynamic people,' he said. 'They're both such great purists.' Wainwright said he's in New York for a few days before heading off to Montreal for Christmas, 'to enjoy a frozen French-Canadian feast.'"(Fashionweekdaily)

"'I got a call around 5:30 but I was up believe it or not. I think it's such an unbelievable gift to be able to play a character that you can jump into and completely commit to. The greatest compliment I've received was from Tim Robbins who taught me comedia del arte, and its this kind of method of acting that allows me to fully enter the character and get pretty big and expansive with him.'" (Jeremy Piven on his Golden Globe nomination/Variety)

"From the Carolina Herrera boutique, it was back out into the beautiful New York night and a taxi to take me down Fifth Avenue to the brand new penthouse apartment of Wilbur and Hilary Ross ... The elegant new Ross apartment was literally mobbed – and it is a spacious apartment with an enormous spacious terrace, as my pictures give you an idea. There were lots of familiar faces, many of those who see each other in Palm Beach and Southampton, and of course, New York. There were two generations (and sometimes three) of families who’ve grown up together. Many of these people were at Bob Colacello’s book signing but many were not and never would have been. Meaning there are clear diversities in the New York upper sets, and while they mix and mingle, they remain diverse." (NYSocialDiary)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Hillary Surrogates: Did Obama Sell Drugs?



This blog told you on November 17th that there were rumors floating about the ethers that the Hillary camp would go negative on Obama's cocaine use if they started falling in the polls. The time has just about come. As the snow falls in the Midwest, Clinton surrogates once again prove how goddam ugly political dynasties can get when their hold on power is threatened and the reptilian survival instinct kicks in. From The Washington Post blog via Politico:

"'The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight ... and one of the things they're certainly going to jump on is his drug use,' said Shaheen, the husband of former N.H. governor Jeanne Shaheen, who is planning to run for the Senate next year. Billy Shaheen contrasted Obama's openness about his past drug use -- which Obama mentioned again at a recent campaign appearance in New Hampshire -- with the approach taken by George W. Bush in 1999 and 2000, when he ruled out questions about his behavior when he was "young and irresponsible.'

"Shaheen said Obama's candor on the subject would 'open the door' to further questions. 'It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?' Shaheen said. 'There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome.'"

Ah, we almost forgot about the ugliness -- expediency? -- of Clinton politics.
Media-Whore D'Oevres



"That Kate Moss doesn't care who she stands up. The model, still 33, was supposed to meet Sir Paul McCartney and his daughter Stella in the O2's VIP bar - but she disappeared to a better party. Fashion designer Stella, 36, was overheard shouting into her mobile: 'Kate where are you? What do you mean you're in the cool bar - this is the cool bar!'" (3AMGirls)

"Liquor heir Matthew Bronfman paid $3 million in 1994 for his old townhouse on East 67th Street, and sold the place this year for $33 million ... And on the bright side, it's massively bigger than the 'pod' condos Mr. Bronfman has developed with Rolling Stone daughter Jade Jagger on West 19th Street." (Observer)

"In her inauguration speech (Argentina's first woman President) Fernandez de Kirchner vowed to continue the broad economic policies of her husband's administration, policies that have fuelled a high rate of inflation and exacerbated potentially destabilising economic distortions, according to many independent analysts ... If the government continues to maintain inflation figures wildly at odds with independent estimates, however, then the risk of labour unrest in the first half of 2008 will increase." (Janes)

"Golden Globe noms will be announced Thursday, but this year there's double the suspense: not only who will be nominated, but who will attend.
The Globes, to be telecast Jan. 13 on NBC, has asked for a waiver from the Writers Guild of America in order to allow guild scribes to pen the kudocast's script, but few expect it will be granted.So will the stars -- both presenters and nominees -- be willing to cross the picket line?" (Variety)

"Dammit, this is what Christmas is all about: pushing and shoving and standing in line with a gift for a sweet little tot in one hand and a vodka in the other! The legendary party queen that is Susanne Bartsch and her absolutely adorable cuddly stud David Barton welcomed 'regulars' and just about everyone else in New York for their annual Toys for Tots party. Seriously, at one point the stampede to the door was maniacal." (Papermag)
Naomi Campbell, Shaken, Not Stirred



security (and assistant) to the rescus (image via Greg Brennan/thisislondon)

As rough and tough and tuble as the lovely --and we do mean lovely -- Naomi "Blackberry Morasses" Campbell is, a rowdy Led Zeppelin concert is probably not the scrum she should be in the middle of. Especially without her cell phones! From ThisisLondon:

"The 37-year-old was left shaken after an over-zealous fan tried to rip the VIP security pass from around her neck after the one-off reunion gig at the O2 Arena on Monday evening.

"An eyewitness said: 'This guy, who looked a bit drunk, ran up alongside Naomi and tried to lift the passes from around her neck but it got tangled in her scarf and hair.

"'He yanked the pass quite forcefully which dragged her down, half throttling her, before security stepped in.'

"She was screaming 'He's got the pass' but it sounded as if she was being choked. The guy eventually got the pass and ran off. It all happened so quickly. Naomi looked very shaken."

Let him try it when she's armed with a rhinestone PDA.