Media-Whore D'Oevres



"I dragged my Fashion Week-fatigued ass all the way over to Midtown West last night to catch Cat Power at Terminal 5! It was the first show of the Cat Power with Dirty Delta Blues tour they're kicking off for the new album Jukebox. It was a three-floor mob scene. The opening band was Appaloosa which I missed. Chan Marsahall looked casually great in her Flashdance-cut-up 'France' T-shirt, Acme black jeans and one fishnet Chanel glove, while sporting a bouncy ponytail. Chan and the boys (Judah Bauer, Jim White, Gregg Foreman and Eric Paparozzi) played their hearts out but the sound system at Terminal 5 is just so terrible." (Papermag)

"Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has emerged battered but unbowed after three weeks that have seen the imposition, then lifting of a hermetic siege on Gaza, the subsequent breaching of the Gaza-Egypt border fence, the first suicide bomb attack in Israel since January 2007 and the publication of the Winograd Commission's report into the 2006 war in Lebanon. Domestic shock at the suicide attack in Dimona on 4 February was considerable. Israel has become accustomed to the almost daily barrage of Qassam rockets emanating from the northern Gaza Strip, but suicide attacks have become rare occurrences in the past three years. The government and military's inability to effectively counter the Qassam attacks has become a proverbial thorn in their side, with increased calls from the nationalist Likud opposition for a more robust military response. Olmert has resisted, fearing the deaths of large numbers of Palestinians will see Israel accused of trying to scupper the newly reborn peace process with the Palestinians. Olmert's strategy of negotiating with the Palestinians is stretching the composition of his governing coalition to breaking point." (Janes)

"There was a pronounced absence of flashbulbs, and serious, older-looking editors and industry types, rather than young television starlets. Those bearing microphones had only rapper and clothing designer P. Diddy (who will show his Sean John line today), omnipresent stylist Rachel Zoe and actress Joy Bryant, who was seated between Vogue’s Sally Singer and Shelby Bryan, Anna Wintour’s beau, to choose from. (Oh! And beleaguered socialite Olivia Palermo, who, relegated to the third row, sat unmolested by photographers.) Mr. Posen’s collection, set against a background tableau of falling chairs, had an Alice-In-Wonderland vibe, beginning with costumey black and white tuxedo concoctions in sparkly fabrics and ending with long evening dresses. Each model wore two black pom-poms in her hair. Two tripped mid-walk, and a third, Karen Elson, wife of rocker Jack White, wiped out entirely as she stepped out to close the show in a diaphanous white gown. Diddy and another model came to her rescue, she laughed her way down the runway, and received an extra round of cheers. Mr. Posen clutched both Ms. Elson and his sister, Alexandra, the brand’s creative director, as he took his turn on the runway—in a tuxedo, of course—at the end." (Observer)

"I ruminate in this way because something is happening. Mrs. Clinton is losing this thing. It's not one big primary, it's a rolling loss, a daily one, an inch-by-inch deflation. The trends and indices are not in her favor. She is having trouble raising big money, she's funding her campaign with her own wealth, her moral standing within her own party and among her own followers has been dragged down, and the legacy of Clintonism tarnished by what Bill Clinton did in South Carolina. Unfavorable primaries lie ahead. She doesn't have the excitement, the great whoosh of feeling that accompanies a winning campaign. The guy from Chicago who was unknown a year ago continues to gain purchase, to move forward. For a soft little innocent, he's played a tough and knowing inside/outside game. The day she admitted she'd written herself a check for $5 million, Obama's people crowed they'd just raised $3 million. But then his staff is happy. They're all getting paid." (WSJ)

"Those who weren't hanging out at the U.N. Wednesday evening made the rounds in SoHo, starting with Liz McClean's photographic collection presentation (shot by Mary Rozzi and installed by Simone Rubi, who also performed at the event) at the Open House gallery (photos featured Julie Gilhart, Keri Russell, Feist, and Melissa Auf der Maur, among others, wearing McClean's Fall 2008 collection). The crowd included Elijah Wood, whose girlfriend Pamela Racine--of the band Gogol Bordello--is featured in one of the pictures, as well as Chiara Clemente, Waris Ahluwalia, and Leslie Feist, who sipped on Domaine de Canton, Pravda vodka cocktails, and Caribou Coffee. 'I wanted to celebrate hardworking, passionate, amazing women,' explained McClean. 'I would let the women choose their dresses, where they wanted to be shot, how, with what. I wanted to honor women. This was a dream project and tonight is a dream night.'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"Martin Scorsese, Steve Bing's Shangri-La Entertainment and international sales agent Fortissimo Films will reteam for the helmer's next musically themed effort -- a yet-to-be-titled documentary about legendary reggae star Bob Marley." (Variety)