Media-Whore D'Oevres



(image via NYTimes magazine)

"For black Americans born in the 20th century, the chasms of experience that separate one generation from the next— those who came of age before the movement, those who lived it, those who came along after — have always been hard to traverse. Elijah Cummings, the former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and an early Obama supporter, told me a story about watching his father, a South Carolina sharecropper with a fourth-grade education, weep uncontrollably when Cummings was sworn in as a representative in 1996. Afterward, Cummings asked his dad if he had been crying tears of joy. 'Oh, you know, I’m happy,' his father replied. 'But now I realize, had I been given the opportunity, what I could have been. And I’m about to die.'" (NYTimes)

"In 2006 and 2007, 124 countries grew at a rate of 4 percent or more. That includes more than 30 countries in Africa, two-thirds of the continent. Antoine van Agtmael, the fund manager who coined the term 'emerging markets,' has identified the 125 countries most likely to be the world's next great multinationals. His list includes each from brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan; three from India; two from China; and one each from Argentina Chile, Malaysia and South Africa ... At the politico-military level we remain in a single-superpower world. but in every other dimension -- industrial, financial, educational, social, cultural -- the distribution of power is shifting, moving away from American dominance." (Fareed Zakaria/ The Rise of the Rest)

"The girls today in society go shopping. From High Society to High Promo. And the lucky ones, or the clever ones, pick up a hefty fee or a piece of the business (handbags, jewelry, smocks, fragrances) while they’re at it. Shopping or the promotion thereof dominated last week’s social events in New York and out at its eastern social sister in the Hamptons. This has been a successful marketing technique for years -- fashion businesses entertaining their customers (and selling their wares) at cocktails, etc., and usually with a charity attached to legitimize and enhance the list. Now in the world of High Promo, charities are no longer imperative. A few boldfaced names along with their personal email lists can do just as much. A real celebrity can always dress up the ambience and enhance the brand. Also, sometimes the ambience is best served by dressing down. Or just plain taking it off. Like the Lydia Hearst hosted party at Espace commemorating the 6th Annual National Underwear Day." (NYSocialDiary)



"Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester claims to have little in common with her scheming TV alter ego, but at Piaget's launch of its Limelight Paris-New York Collection on Thursday night, she did prove to have Blair Waldorf's eye for dramatic entertainment venues .. a glittery-in-its-own-right crowd that included Liv Tyler and Maggie Gyllenhaal mingled with models draped in Piaget diamonds." (Style)