Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via solanavigator)

"NOW that Madonna isn't as interested in him anymore, Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez is playing the famous-faces field. He got hit on in Parrot Cay over New Year's by Donna Karan, and last week he took Kate Hudson out on a date. Our spy says they had a three-hour meal at the Lure Fishbar with friends and were very cozy. Later, A-Rod went with Hudson to the Rose Bar, where they met up with her friend Ron Burkle." (PageSix)

"We're told J-Lo let chatty celebrities know who was boss, commandeering conversations by saying: 'Hello, hello? Mama talkin'.' Bet that made her popular among the assembled A-listers." (Thisislondon)

"Burning Questions About Last Night's Golden Globes .. Didn't Colin Farrell seem awfully rehearsed and long winded considering he had no idea he could win?" (Musto)

"Other towns may measure status by your address, your alma mater, your income, or your shoes, but in political Washington right now, there is only one barometer of anyone's importance: How close are you to Obama? Here's how to tell .. You don't return press calls .. You have (David) Axelrod's REAL instant message screen name .. You have something to do with the Center for American Progress. Founded by John Podesta in 2003, it started out as a kind of home for Clinton administration alumni. As Podesta's relationship with Obama has grown (he's now head of the transition), it's become one of the only local institutions with a direct line to the future residents and staff of the White House." (Ana Marie Cox/TheDailyBeast)

"The news is out that Tinsley and Topper Mortimer are separated. You needed that, right? This is not surprising to many of their friends because there have always been rumors and Mr. Mortimer has always been at the center of them. Besides the goldfish bowl of New York is a lane too fast to last. However, separations and divorces are tough and often tougher for one than for the other. It is a time for partners to treat each other as kindly as humanly possible. Meanwhile The Tinz’ one time media-style arch-rival Olivia Palermo is the hot tamale on today’s celebrity scale. The most typed in keywords we get on the NYSD these days, even above Bernie Madoff, is Olivia Palermo. People want to look at her picture. What else there is to learn, I’m not sure." (NYSocialDiary)

"In early November 2008, just weeks after Bank of America agreed to purchase Merrill Lynch in a deal that would combine the nation’s largest commercial bank with the legendary brokerage firm that pioneered bringing small investors to the market, a meeting was held in Merrill’s midtown Manhattan conference center. There, about 50 of Merrill’s top brokers—executives who trade and invest money for some of the nation’s richest people—were scheduled to discuss their shotgun marriage and what it meant for them, the firm, and their clients, with the man said to be the deal’s chief architect, Merrill CEO John Thain. The meeting began promptly at 8 a.m. when breakfast was served. Normally such meetings between the CEO of a major firm and his top employees are jovial affairs, with lots of backslapping and hero worship. Not this one." (Charlie Gasparino/TheDailyBeast)

"Anyone anywhere who thinks they know anything about New York City can tell you that Brooklyn is dead--especially Williamsburg, but especially everything surrounding the first two L-train stops. But last night, fulfilling every fantasy you ever had about what Brooklyn was like back before you could grow your mustache, back before you knew the difference between Bedford Avenue and Westchester's Town of Bedford, the genuinely wonderful chanteuse Cat Power somehow played in the small back room of a bar on Union Avenue. It was like seeing Joni Mitchell sing some tunes in a living room in Los Angeles in 1978, back when everyone was complaining about the city's descent into an over-tanned, over-cocained Fleetwood Mac theme park." (Observer)

"It’s inconceivable that Democrats will dig into the myriad consulting and government contracting fees earned by John Brennan, tapped to run the White House counterterrorism office — which, in any case, doesn’t require a confirmation hearing. Nor will Democrats hammer Adm. Dennis Blair, the incoming national intelligence director, over his cordial relations with Indonesia’s brutal military chiefs as commander of Pacific forces. Likewise, no one is seriously interested in raising serious questions about his ties to the maker of the F-22. What’s past is past, for better or worse. As dreadful as the world situation is, the Democrats are eager to show a largely doubtful American public that they’ve got their national security act together and move on. But it could be a different story for Leon E. Panetta, who will likewise glide through his confirmation hearing to be director of the CIA. But depending on his staffing choices when he gets there, the shouting might just be starting. The decibel level of complaints about Panetta have already reached the screech level, mostly from CIA operations types, the people who recruit spies, chase al Qaeda and carry out dirty tricks. There’s also been an Upstairs-Downstairs flavor to it: The closer you get to the field, the louder the bellyaching, like the eternal muttering of soldiers. Actually, most of the senior former operations figures I’ve been in contact with shrug and say Panetta could work out fine, especially if he has the president’s ear." (CQPolitics)