Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"The parents of slain intern Chandra Levy said this morning that D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier told them late Friday night that an arrest warrant in the eight-year old unsolved murder case is 'imminent in the next couple of days.'" (WashPo)

"This statement from former Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.) was provided by telephone exclusively to ABC7 News, WJLA-TV in Washington: 'For the Levy family, we are glad they are finally getting the answers they deserve. For my family, I am glad that their years of standing together in the face of such adversity have finally led to the truth. It is unfortunate that an insatiable appetite for sensationalism blocked so many from searching for the real answers for so long. I had always hoped to have the opportunity to tell my side of this story, but too many were not prepared to listen. Now I plan to do so, but I will have no further comments on this story at this time.' Condit is at home in Arizona with his wife, Carolyn, and had been thinking for a long time about writing a book, ABC7 reports." (Politico)



"In September, Ms. Paltrow appeared on 'Oprah' to show off her post-pregnancy workout routine, then proceeded to mystify audiences by appearing with Mario Batali, the chef, in the PBS series 'Spain ... on the Road Again,' where she drank soy milk and followed her quasi-vegan diet while others pigged out on pork .. Recent issues have offered tips on family harmony from a leader of the kabbalah community, cozy mothering anecdotes (and the revelation that her children call adults 'grownies') and a graphic regimen for detoxifying the body. Ms. Paltrow has recommended expensive hotels, restaurants and jewelry and offered tips on getting reservations at two of the Momofuku restaurants that don’t, in fact, take reservations. She has also given out recipes for banana-nut muffins, steamed peas and garlic bread. While the site does have its loyal fans, many critics find the enterprise fatuous and a bit puzzling." (NYTimes)



(image via fishbowlny)

"Despite editor Graydon Carter's earlier claims of a smaller Vanity Fair Oscar party on Sunday night, the event permit filed with the City of West Hollywood, which CityFile dug up, says they're expecting a thousand people. When Carter first announced that it would bring its usual Oscar party back this year, he said they were going to aim for a guest list of 650 instead of the customary 1,000-plus names. The move to pare down invites made sense given the recessionary times and the recent not-so-opulent mood at Conde Nast. But deciding who would get cut from the list — which, while full of celebrities, also includes more than a few advertisers who are currently being begged to buy ad pages — would have been a mighty chore." (Gawker)

"As Fashion Week draws to a close here at home, the fashion editors, buyers, models and professional party crashers are off to London, Milan and then Paris. But at the Calvin Klein show yesterday, Vogue's European editor at large, Hamish Bowles, already looked a little worn out. (By Zac Posen's show at 8 p.m. last night, the Daily Transom spotted Mr. Bowles slumped over with his elbows resting on his knees and his head down in his hands.) 'I'm a little exhausted,' he admitted in his charming accent. 'There have been some extremely good after-parties.'" (Observer)

"Nicola Anouilh is the only son of the great French playwright Jean Anouilh—more than 70 plays, including Antigone, Becket and La Sauvage—and a close friend since Paris in the Sixties. He was of a generation just below mine, one that managed to get into Jimmy’s only during the events of May 1968, when the French bourgeoisie ran off to the south, some of their places on the banquette taken by François de Caraman, my brother-in-law, Peter Bemberg, heir to an old and vast Argentine fortune, Nicola Anouilh, and Vladimir, a Russian boy whom we rechristened Prince Touchepine, a play on words for touching one’s willy. François, with whom I was very close despite his sister having left me for the dumbest reason in the world, my infidelity, died five years ago and we all got together in Paris for the Catholic service. (I wrote about it in this space, and how drunk we all got at Chez Lipp afterwards.) Le Prince Touchepine died two years ago returning from a sexual extravaganza here in Switzerland. No one looked more innocent than Vladimir. And no one was nicer or more polite, especially to ladies. He would leave Gstaad after having seduced a maid, stop in Montreux and sleep with, say, a seamstress, go on to Lausanne where he would have a roll in the hay with a schoolteacher, then have a quickie in Geneva with a diplomat’s wife, and come back to Gstaad that evening. He literally died on the train after one such trip." (Taki)

"TNT actually took the top four spots, and five out of the top ten spots and the top scripted show with The Closer. TVbytheNumbers favorite Burn Notice was down some from last week, but still in the top ten. Monk was USA’s best performing scripted show (assuming you don’t count WWE RAW as a scripted show) .. James Hibberd reports that Big Love averaged 2 million, and Flight of the Conchords averaged 826,000, while new comer Eastbound and Down only averaged 671,000 on Sunday night. Still haven’t seen any U.S. of Tara numbers." (TVByheNumbers)

"We've got a good show on CNN tomorrow morning but not all politics; Robin Roberts and I talk Oscars." (Howie Kurtz/Twitter)

"688. That's how many weeks NBC's Today show has been #1. Last week they topped #2 GMA by 1.2 million viewers. NBC was down week-to-week in Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo; ABC was up in Total Viewers, down in the demo and CBS' The Early Show was down in both measurements." (TVNewser)

"CONSIDER the perils of parenting in the White House. There is a movie theater, a bowling alley, a horseshoe pit, a swimming pool, five full-time chefs and dozens of household staff members ready to dish up ice cream at all hours. There are trips to foreign lands, dinners with kings and celebrities, swarming paparazzi and blaring motorcades, all with the potential to transform sweet little children into bossy, self-important ones. (Or lonely, dysfunctional ones.)What are presidential parents to do? Lay down the law, according to the newest parental unit in the executive mansion. President Obama and his wife, Michelle, might not be in Chicago anymore, but they say the old rules still apply when it comes to their daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. In the Obama White House, bedtime is still at 8 p.m. The girls still set their own alarm clocks and get themselves up for school in the morning. They make their own beds and clean their own rooms. And when the much-anticipated pet arrives, they will walk the dog and scoop its poop." (NYTimes)

"The White House expressed concern Friday, Feb. 20, about a new International Atomic Energy Agency report that said Iran recently understated how much uranium it had enriched. The nuclear watchdog reported Thursday, Feb. 19, that Iran had stocked more than one tonne of low enriched uranium hexafluoride at Natanz alone. If enriched, it could produce more than 20 kilos of fissile material – enough for a bomb. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner spoke Friday of a new enrichment plant capable of housing thousands of centrifuges the Iranians had built at a secret site. DEBKAfile reported on Nov. 28, 2008, that by February, Iran would have enough enriched uranium to approach production of its first nuclear bomb. This crosses a 'red line' that for years Israel has said it would not accept." (DEBKAFile)



"We bet hunky Brazilian model Jesus Luz never expected to end up on the menu when the Queen of Pop took him out for dinner. But from where we were sitting, the 22-year-old seemed to be her starter, main course and dessert. Madonna, 50, risked turning a pre-Oscars dinner True Blue with a very public show of affection at the Grey Goose Cecconi’s party in the swanky Melrose suburb of LA .. Madonna was seen kissing her toyboy, and Jesus was glimpsed stroking her thigh and gazing deep into her eyes .. And they paid no attention to the stares from actor Josh Hartnett and his posse on the next table." (3AMGirls)



"hree and a half years after succeeding to the throne, King Abdullah is being widely lauded as finally making good on his reputation as the champion of reform in Saudi Arabia. In a dramatic shake-up of the kingdom's cabinet and key religious institutions this past Valentine's Day, the venerable monarch made a series of personnel changes that have been heralded as the dawn of a Saudi spring, a watershed that some observers suggest will usher in an age of tolerance, moderation, and opportunity. Don't count on it. It is simply too early to celebrate the king's move as the signal of a new political era. In reality, several of Abdullah's most important changes indicate that the king is more interested in shoring up the power of the central state than reforming it. Abdullah's Valentine's Day initiative does possess elements of what might be considered a progressive shift, at least in Saudi Arabia. In a country better known for its draconian form of patriarchy and an intolerant Islamic orthodoxy, the king's shake-up seems to take on both. For the first time in the country's history, a woman will occupy a position in the king's cabinet. Noura al-Fayez, previously head of Saudi Arabia's National Dialogue, a program created in 2003 that is nominally aimed at promoting tolerance inside the kingdom, will assume the post of deputy minister of girls' education." (ForeignPolicy)



"Stand aside Pixie Geldof. Move over Alice Dellal. A new and younger model is stepping into town. Courtney Love will bring her daughter Frances Bean Cobain when she moves to the UK. As Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's daughter (and no stranger to parties, after her mum splashed ($285,000) on her 'suicide-themed' 16th birthday party last year), Frances is guaranteed to fit right in among London's it-crowd. Courtney, 44, has been house-hunting around Primrose Hill, and is also considering a Victorian country residence in Buckinghamshire .. Courtney also regrets not having a child with Fight Club actor Ed Norton, who she says is the true love of her life. She said: 'I never had a child with him and, at 44, I am looking at 10 more years of child-bearing. It is a vague regret, considering I was given many chances. He [Edward] loved the Himalayas and there is nothing physical he cannot do. He has his own Cessna [aeroplane] now. If he perishes it will be this nonsense 'character building' daring thing." (Thisislondon)

"This horrifying email came in from a reader whose recent night at the movies ended at the hospital for his boyfriend and himself. Here goes: 'On Sunday evening February 15th, my boyfriend and I attended the Regal Union Square theater on 13th Street and Broadway. While inside, he had placed his head on my shoulder and four boys behind us began calling us 'faggots' and 'homos' and began forcefully kicking the back of our chairs. We contacted the management twice and they did nothing, and the second time I was speaking of what happened and the manager rolled his eyes and walked off and ignored me while I was talking.'" (Musto)

"Top Chef still doing open casting calls for season 6. Tomorrow (2/22) is Atlanta. Here's the rest of the schedule" (SkinnyJeans)

"The London bookmakers have set the odds for Sunday's Oscars! What can we learn from the pros? Slumdog Millionaire is a heavy favorite for Best Picture. (Most books have Benjamin Button next, at 5-1.) Heath Ledger is a total lock. (Some books are paying off just 1:100 odds on Best Supporting Actor.) And Taraji P. Henson is a 24-to-1 underdog for Best Supporting Actress. (Nate Silver's gonna be rich!)" (NYMag)