Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via thedailybeast)

"Kanye got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Alexis Phifer in 2006, but last April they called it off. 808s, released last week, is an impassioned, despondent, bellicose dumper’s response. This is Kanye’s moment to yell directly at the woman he loved, but now feels emotionally betrayed him. Just as women are more open with their feelings than men, female singers have long given us tales of heartache. But how often do we hear a man singing about a broken heart?" (Touré/TheDailyBeast)

"MADONNA and Alex Rodriguez are quietly shopping for love nests on the Upper East Side and on the East End, sources told Page Six. A knowledgeable real estate source tells us the kabbalah-crazed pop queen and the skirt-chasing power hitter are 'discreetly looking at properties between Fifth and Park avenues, from just above 60th Street through the 80s. Madonna personally came to look at one house a couple of months ago, and Alex has been looking recently,' the insider said. 'We're talking about private, double-width mansions in the vicinity of $30 million to $60 million.'" (PageSix)



(Fran Lebowitz and Paloma Picasso via JH/NySocialDiary)

"Down at Tiffany’s, there was a dinner for 130 in honor of John Loring who is 'retiring' after thirty years as Design Director of Tiffany .. There was Arlene Dahl. There was Fran Lebowitz. There was Paige Rense and Ken Noland, and there was Paloma Picasso and her mother Francoise Gilot. A wide array of New Yorkers and the world .. At the end Wendy Moonan of the New York Times said she believed the evening marked the 'end of an era.' I wasn’t sure what she meant although I know she observes the history of things with a practiced eye." (NYSocialDiary)



"Last Friday, the coolest of the London hipsters gathered at the Electric Lofts in Hackney (yes, the neighborhood famous for stabbings) for The Freaky Jason 'Fauvoteque' fete. The Freaky Jason is a free magazine all about art and music created by London's less-than-mainstream and super-talented creative community. It's an interesting read and features surprisingly beautiful photography. They heart bands like Dirty Three, Beirut, Whitest Boy Alive, Grosvenor, Bat For Lashes and Kate Bush, and the not-to-be-missed section of the mag is 'The Glossary,' which unravels the theme of the issue via short snippets, bios and photos. Or as they put it, 'It's where you find out what the fuck we are talking about.'" (Papermag)

"Barack Obama's choice to shun the Democratic senatorial candidate in Georgia can be viewed as reaching across the political aisle, I suppose, but what a wimpy move to avoid helping his party by personally campaigning there. Apparently, the Obama team thinks there is too little chance for defeating Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss in today's vote to risk having the President-Elect show up there. That's smart politics for Obama, perhaps, but what a lesson it is for Democrats who think that he might ever risk his own winning image to help political friends in dire need." (Craig Crawford/CQPolitics)

"It's been fashionable to compare Barack Obama's presidential transition favorably to Bill Clinton's 16 years ago, which was supposedly a model of chaos and disorganization. This is somewhat unfair to the former president, whose popularity didn't really take a hit until after he was sworn in. But Clinton did make at least one blunder that Obama has avoided: getting involved in a Georgia Senate run-off. In late November '92, weeks after eking out a victory of his own in the state, President-elect Clinton made a last-minute campaign appearance (after first dispatching Vice President-elect Al Gore) with Senator Wyche Fowler, who was facing Republican Paul Coverdell in a run-off. Victory was certainly within reach for the Democrats - Fowler had led by a point in the preliminary vote - but when Coverdell pulled out a two-point win the next day, it was trumpeted as a slap in the face to the incoming president." (Observer)

"Financial news outlets are reporting that Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone is starting to try to unravel his financial mess. He sold his 87% stake in video game maker Midway Games for a mere $100,000. Why so low? To help restructure debts that threaten his family business." (DeadlineHollywoodDaily)

"Howard (Stern) started off the show saying his hair was changing in a way his hairdresser Toni calls 'hormonal.' Howard added that so far he's been blessed with good hair - but now the entire back of his head has lost its curl: 'It's stick-straight hair. Toni has to take a curling iron to it.' She has even suggested that Howard perm the affected area, but Howard refused .." (HowardStern)

"Sen. Joe Lieberman, the maverick lawmaker from Connecticut, has praised President-elect Barack Obama’s national security team after criticizing Obama’s ability to lead during wartime earlier this year." (TheHill)

"CNBC, high on its viewership numbers as the markets continue to nosedive, is in for its own downturn possibly by Q1 of next, a long cover story in the latest issue of B&C says. 'Despite the yuks and the huge numbers, the network is now in the process of slashing as much as 10% from its budget. People at the network, says one staffer, are ‘scared s---less.’.." (Paidcontent)