Media-Whore's D'Oevres

"Bill Clinton, accompanying Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in Iowa (this past week) ..At the Dairy Treat in Nashua, Iowa, the former president whipped out $60 and bought malts for reporters following his wife." (Novak)

"Sitting serenely beneath the Bronzino portrait in his office in a 16th-century palazzo near the Spanish Steps, it is impossible to imagine Valentino — 'Va-Va' to the press, and 'Rudy' (as in Rudolph Valentino) to Elizabeth Taylor — worrying about anything, at least for very long. At the age of 75, he still has the charmed air of the golden boy, who smiles at the world knowing that it will smile right back. And he retains all the hallmarks of those paparazzi shots of him lounging on his yacht with Gwynnie, and hosting balls at his Louis XIII chateau. There’s the caramel tan. The helmet of hair. The impeccable suit. The impossibly big Cartier watch. Beneath the Bronzino is a desk loaded with photographs of the 'very close friends' that Valentino has dressed through the decades: Babe Paley, Marella Agnelli, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sharon Stone. Snoring contentedly at his feet are five pugs, impeccably groomed by their dog butler." (NYTimes)

"The website quotes an unnamed Japanese source and the information is unverifiable. However, it corroborates and elaborates on a story released by Bloomberg on 14 June that (Kim Jung-il) underwent heart surgery in Pyongyang. The South Korean report states that Kim received percutaneous transarterial coronary angioplasty from Berlin Heart Centre doctors to widen a narrow artery. The leader's health was described as good, save for some symptoms of diabetes and kidney hypertrophy." (Janes)

"There are persistent rumors that partisans try to game the online political stock markets, like Intrade. These are the sort of rumors that markets like this always drive, and the best political market rumor was that, in 2004, George Soros was doing it. Who knows if it's ever true." (Politico)

"I just got in. It’s after midnight, the end of my Independence Day. Around 9:30, I went over to Lagerfeld’s for a party he was having with Dom Perignon. Lagerfeld wasn’t there—I don’t think anyone honestly expected him to arrive before 11—but there were a lot of people in the downstairs salons and out in the garden, where the grass was covered with a platform. It was a beautiful night, with a light breeze. I saw Rick Owens, Sidney Toledano, the chief executive of Dior, and Olivier Theyskens. I stayed for about an hour. On my way out I saw Amanda Harlech and Daphne Guinness, who looked really great. Amanda has a streak of emerald green in her black hair." (Runway.Blogs)

"This is Holly Peterson’s moment. Actually it’s been her moment for some time now. Years actually. Since she first got an idea for a novel and first sat down to write it. You’ve probably heard about it now because it’s Out There. 'The Manny.' The life and times of a healthy, bright, enthusiastic, good looking, hunky young guy working for wealthy family looking after their kids .. The book party in East Hampton was hosted by Vogue and Ralph Lauren (the business) and Michael Peterson and Alan and Susan Patricof. All the right names to make a party ample, cozy, well-attended and down-home, Hamptons-style." (NewYorkSocialDiary)

"The red-soled shoes of Christian Louboutin are already fetish objects in their own right, but the designer went one step further for his collaboration with director and sometime photographer David Lynch. On display at Pierre Passebon was a series of nudes Lynch took of two dancers from Paris' renowned Crazy Horse cabaret, cast by Louboutin for 'their perfect arches' ... In the crowd were Fanny Ardant, Roland Mouret, Laura Dern, Ben Harper, and Cécilia Sarkozy. The French 'First Lady' showed up in an elegant black pantsuit sans security team and didn't appear to notice, much less inhale, a certain burning herb that perfumed the First Arrondissement gallery." (Style)