Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via jameswagner)

"And then there’s Susan Sontag and The Simpsons. According to Carl Rollyson’s 'Female Icons,' the intellectual who once declared, 'Television is Kleenex' liked to have a friend videotape episodes of the show so she could devour them 10 at a time." (NYTRB)

"Few will resist an invitation to Bettina Zilkha's well-appointed apartment on Madison Avenue--so no wonder her intimate cocktail party on Monday night coaxed heavyweights like Jeff Goldblum, Sam Waterson...and Sting." (Fashionweekdaily)

"In Washington, a town known for bloviation rather than whimsy or wit, the wacky season is just about to begin. It kicks off tonight when newly minted President Barack Obama makes his debut at the venerable Alfalfa Club, as the star of its annual dinner .. The Alfalfa Club dinner is part of a series of high-wattage events including the Gridiron, the Washington White House Correspondents dinner, and the Radio and Television Correspondents Association dinner; but it is the most sought-after ticket of the season because it gives members an audience with a collection of super power brokers including Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Vernon Jordan, and 400 other guests—members of the Cabinet and Supreme Court, major politicians past and present, the Joint Chiefs of Staff plus what remains of the Masters of the Universe—to schmooze with each other and exchange a handshake, or wave, with the president and first lady, who almost always attend. Wannabes are still clawing for invites to meet the Obamas tonight. Although the list is never revealed until the night of the party, this year Sarah Palin is on the roster (everyone is buzzing about whom she will sit next to), as is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Obama chum and advisor Valerie Jarrett. Also on the list: Henry Kravis, Rupert Murdoch, Warren Buffett, and George and Barbara Bush. Hillary Clinton, however, has canceled." (TheDailyBeast)

"ALLY Hilfiger raised some eyebrows at the party for photographer Russell James' self-titled book at Donna Karan's Urban Zen studio Wednesday night when she was spotted vomiting in the stairwell as the event wound down ..Other guests, including Veronica Webb, Alan Cumming and Alessandra Ambrosio, simply stepped around Hilfiger on their way out the door." (PageSix)



(image via ihc)

"Mr. Ignatieff shocked friends and colleagues three years ago by chucking the life of the mind for the hurly-burly of politics and returning, after a long exile, to his native country to win a seat in Parliament. And if he was bored, it wasn’t for long. Last December, after a tumultuous fortnight of machinations in parliament, Mr. Ignatieff, 61, became the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, which has been called Canada’s 'natural ruling party' and has been in power for much of the last century. Should his party win control of the government, something it came close to doing last week and still hopes to in the coming months, he would become the next prime minister of Canada. Among the circles in which Mr. Ignatieff once traveled, there might be a sense that anybody capable of writing a novel ('Scar Tissue') that becomes short-listed for the Booker Prize — anybody, for that matter, who had the writer Martin Amis and Michael Palin of Monty Python as guests at his wedding — could figure out a way to jump the queue of Canadian politics." (NYTimes/Style)

"Teen blogger James Kurisunkal took a week-long break from penning Park Avenue Peerage. But now he's back at college in Illinois and cranking out posts to keep socialite-loving fans happy with his coverage of black tie charities and style shindigs. We had a quick chat, and JK revealed some things to look out for. Q: What are you looking forward to covering this season?
A: Most of the major parties that benefit New York City's cultural institutions happen in the springtime; places like the American Museum of Natural History, the Frick Collection, and the American Ballet Theatre, amongst many others, hold their annual galas during this time. Those are the nights when socialites, with their charitable giving, do their best, and in their couture gowns, show their best as well.'" (Papermag)