Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via nymag)

"I have always suspected that Hillary Clinton wept when she was taking questions from a small group of women at Cafe Expresso in Portsmouth, just before the New Hampshire primary, because of the subtext of the question she was asked: 'How do you stay so upbeat and so wonderful?' Surely it was the mere thought of those predawn blow-dry sessions (while Barack Obama got his extra half-hour in bed) that made the steel-nerved junior senator from New York tear up for the first time and reveal the bone-tired effort of it all. Women across the state knew all about that daily effort to look good when you feel like shit. They emotionally identified with Hillary Clinton as they had failed to do in the months before. And they voted for her." (Tina Brown/TheDailyBeast)

"President-elect Obama is strongly considering keeping Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates in that post for a limited time in the new administration, several sources close to the discussions said Tuesday. Under the still-tentative plan, former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig would become deputy secretary and take over the job when Gates departs, perhaps after up to one year. Gates has not formally been asked to stay, sources close to the Pentagon and the transition team said. A source close to Gates said he is reluctant but willing to stay on in the short term." (CQPolitics)

"Howard (Stern) started off the show discussing Ralph's mooch-tendencies: 'Ralph works that whole celebrity Kato Kaelin thing better...he's terrific at sucking up and working his way into people's lives. He makes Kato look like a piker.' Howard added that Ralph nearly pulled off the 'ultimate' freeloader's move when he was living in Sam Simon's guest house and almost got a salary for it: 'But even Sam got nervous.'" (Howard Stern Show)



(Rose McGowan via fashionweekdaily)

"There was no shortage of glamour at Monday night's private dinner party and photo exhibition held at the Wallis Annenberg Cultural Center in Beverly Hills hosted by Christina Aguilera and sponsored by Louis XIII Black Pearl de Rémy Martin. The occasion? Honoring photographer Matthew Rolston and his new book, beautyLIGHT ... 'Matthew is incredibly interested in making women look beautiful. When I shot with him, I had to wear a belt made of World War II bullets cobbled together with hinges, and by the time we were done, I had deep bullet-shaped bruises circling my entire waist for about two months!' recalled Rose McGowan with a laugh. 'Not very sexy, but the photos looked amazing. Beauty is pain!'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"'Whatever Nancy wants, Nancy gets,' a Democratic lawmaker said, speaking on the condition of anonymity ... As Pelosi enters her third year as speaker, by any measure, she has become the most powerful woman in U.S. political history and is now preparing to wield her gavel in a way that few, if any, recent speakers could match. Even former Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the architect of the 1994 Republican Revolution, pales in comparison. Pelosi is being mentioned by observers in the same breath as the legendary Sam Rayburn and Tip O’Neill, although she has yet to assemble a legislative record to match theirs." (Politico)

" According to Variety, Jaden Smith, Will's son, is set to star in a remake of The Karate Kid. Now usually, I laugh at people when they get upset over a planned redux. (Here's an idea: Don't watch it! Problem solved!) But this one got to me. I understand why you'd want a new generation to see The Karate Kid: They've got Cobra Kai problems that they need to learn how to deal with, too. But the thing is, they are seeing it. I remember chatting with Ralph Macchio when The Karate Kid Collection DVD was released in 2005 and him telling me how often he hears that parents, who were fans of the film 20+ years ago, are now showing it to their children. The movie still holds up, and, more importantly, it has the late Pat Morita, who earned an Oscar nomination as Mr. Miyagi (and who tears up while talking about the role on that aforementioned DVD). Why would you want to show a child a Karate Kid that doesn't have Morita?!" (Popwatch)

"Coming out of Michael’s, looking for a cab wasn’t easy. Off-duty signs everywhere, heading in, leaving Manhattan. I hailed an 'off duty' on 58th Street just as another man was hailing. When the cabdriver heard our separate destinations which were both Upper East Side, he suggested we both ride. So we did. My travel partner was a lawyer from Washington who had just come from a meeting where someone had left wearing his overcoat (which also had his gloves and scarf in the pockets). So there was that. When he heard I lived near the river the conversation drifted into boats and yachts and the Mediterranean last summer when he was on a big yacht that was cruising the heavenly coast of Italy and visiting Capri. To me, a yacht is the ultimate luxury especially one that can cruise the cradle of civilization. My co-fare described the big yachts (and especially those of Roman Abramovich, the famous Russian Oligarch, who had three, each bigger than the other). Then we had a laugh over whether Mr. Abramovich was going to be yachting about much more, whatwith the state of things financial." (NYSocialDiary)

"So here's a more cheerful subject: terrorism in the Middle East. Did you know that Iran is one of the largest aid donors to our allies in the government of Afghanistan? That it builds roads and other development projects there? That way back in 2002, after the U.S. overthrew the Taliban, it pledged $500 million for Afghan redevelopment -- compared to just $390 million from the U.S.? I got these facts from Ambassador James F. Dobbins, a remarkable public servant who started his State Department career at the Vietnam peace talks when he was still in his late 20s. He managed the diplomatic end of the U.S. withdrawal from Somalia in 1993, the intervention in Haiti in 1994, Bosnia in 1995, and Kosovo in 1999. When George Bush took over in 2000, Dobbins worked with Colin Powell to stop Donald Rumsfeld from abandoning the Bosnians. After 9/11, as Bush's special envoy to the Afghan opposition, Dobbins helped put together the Karzai government. And here's the thing: In order to do that -- to find a replacement for the Taliban -- Dobbins had to get help from Iran." (ESKY)



(image via thisislondon)

"Victoria Beckham had some explaining to do when she took her youngest son to see Santa Claus - and he wasn't there .. A tearful Cruz banged on the door in vain, and his mother picked him up for a cuddle and to wipe his eyes. Luckily he was given a Santa hat to make up for the disappointment, which he happily showed his dad, David, when they met later for lunch." (Thisislondon)

"NBC Political Director and on-air analyst Chuck Todd and his colleague, the polling expert Sheldon Gawiser, are rushing to put together How Obama Won, a state-by-state guide to President-elect Barack Obama's victory that will be published as a paperback original through Knopf's Vintage imprint sometime before the inauguration in January. According to editor Errol McDonald, who approached Mr. Todd with the idea about a month before the election, the book will be divided into four sections: Battleground states, emerging battleground states, receding battleground states, and all the rest." (Observer)

"Johnny laughed that he'd collected some good Chuck Zito stories during his time at Scores: 'One thing about Chuck that everyone needs to know: when he says he's gonna do something, he's gonna do it.' Johnny said he's come across a few dudes that met the wrong end of Chuck's fist, like Mickey Rourke and AJ Benza, and all of them got knocked out: 'And then they sit down and have dinner. That's the best part.'" (Howard Stern Show)

"Bit by tenuous bit, Todd Solondz's next film is coming together. It started brewing in June of 2007, then stalled due to money issues, and then got cooking again in August with the help of Werc Werk Works. But now, oh now, the film has got its superstar. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Paris Hilton has signed onto the dramatic comedy, along with Allison Janney and Charlotte Rampling ... This could be terrible, and help along Solondz's cinematic decline, but I wonder if this could have House of Yes potential -- in other words, could Paris pull off something Tori Spelling-esque?" (Cinematical)

"When we caught up with Vivian Schiller, the just-announced president and CEO of National Public Radio, she was in a surprising location: her own kitchen in Bethesda, catching a breath after the NPR board meeting this morning when her appointment was approved. Schiller has been commuting for the past two-plus years from the DC area to her job as SVP-GM of NYTimes.com; tomorrow she’ll be back in the NYT building, preparing to wrap up by the end of the month .. Schiller admitted to getting teary when she met with Arthur Sulzberger to tell him she was leaving. 'I wouldn’t have left the New York Times to go just anywhere.' But she was drawn to NPR’s news operation with 36 bureaus, including 18 overseas, what she calls 'a powerhouse' organization and 'constellation of stations.' Plus, 'if all of that were not enough, my family lives here.'" (Paidcontent)

"Last night, Mr. Goldstein hosted a one-year anniversary party at his Bowery store that--in keeping up with the theme of displaying art alongside fashion--doubled as an exhibit of 'iconic images' from party photographer Patrick McMullan's archive that were for sale. But since Mr. McMullan is pretty busy these days, his son, party-boy and new Page Six Magazine columnist Liam, was put in charge of choosing the images for display and modifying them in different ways. 'It's really all Liam, he is going to get the money from these,' said Mr. McMullan, the elder, as he was showing off the blown-up photos on the walls to the Daily Transom. 'Here's a photo of Barry Diller. I think Liam picked this one because he knew Barry growing up," said Mr. McMullan, pointing out a photo of the IAC chairman in 1987 at a party at Limelight, dressed down with his jacket thrown over one shoulder and looking surprisingly James Dean-ish." (Observer)

"Senate leaders return to Washington next week amid growing pressure across the political spectrum to reprimand two senior members of the usually collegial upper chamber. From the right, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) plans to offer a motion to kick Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska out of the Republican Conference, even though Stevens has served longer in it than any other senator in history. On the left, Senate Democrats and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are under enormous pressure to punish Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) for campaigning against President-elect Barack Obama. They could take away his chairmanship of a powerful committee, even though he was the party’s 2000 vice presidential nominee and has served in the caucus for 20 years.How everything ends up remains far from clear, with the two men’s fates likely resting on secret Nov. 18 votes during each conference’s internal meetings." (TheHill)

"A nostalgic Roger Ailes returned to his hometown of Warren, Ohio yesterday speaking at the dedication of a new World War II memorial in the town. Ailes put up an 'unspecified gift' which made the bronze statue possible. Ailes told the crowd, 'In my travels over the years, I've always taken Ohio with me. Everywhere I've traveled, I've taken the traditions, the values I've learned in this town. It's a part of everything I've done, including Fox News,' he said." (TVNewser)