Monday, March 09, 2009

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"I’M hearing that GUY RITCHIE and JEMIMA KHAN are two lost souls who have recently found each other — and struck up a cosy friendship. The unlucky-in-love pair have been seeing a lot more of each other in recent weeks as Jemima has proved the perfect shoulder to cry on for Guy since his split with MADONNA. And it turns out that mockney film master Guy has also proven to be a welcome distraction from Jem’s on-off relationship headache with floppy-haired fop HUGH GRANT." (Newsoftheworld)

"YSL: Kanye and Amber rose @ Viktor and Rolf. She's wearing fuchsia semi-opaque tights and black bustier top. No bottoms. Thank you, Lady Gaga .. Kanye/Amber just arrived. Her new outfit: a black lycra catsuit! Paparazzi go wild. Waiting for show; venue (Palais du Tokyo) is gorg." (TheCut/Twitter)

"Speaker Pelosi speaking at the foot of the steps of the House side of the Capitol abt Wounded Warriors Program" (newmediajim/Twitter)



(image via jake-weird)

"Given that Saturday Night Live will celebrate its 35th anniversary later this year, we doubt Lorne Michaels needs any advice from us about how to run a successful show. However, after watching this weekend's mostly harmless episode hosted by the charming Dwayne Johnson—note to studios: put him in a musical comedy co-starring Anne Hathaway post haste—we have a small suggestion: make Justin Timberlake a recurring cast member. As he does every few episodes, the superstar popped up on Weekend Update, this time as the boyfriend of comic strip character Cathy (played with horrifying accuracy by Andy Samberg), and proved to be one of the highlights of the entire show. The man is hilarious. Get him a contract already!" (Observer)

"As news broke that the economy had shed another 651,000 jobs in February, President Obama was headed to Columbus, Ohio to appear with 25 police recruits whose salaries are being paid with funds from the economic stimulus package (PL 111-5) he signed into law last month. When Obama announced a plan to slow mortgage foreclosures by reducing troubled homeowners’ monthly payments, he traveled to Mesa, Ariz., a community hit hard by the subprime crisis, where median home prices fell 35 percent over the past year. And when it came time for the president to offer a timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq, he journeyed to Camp Lejeune, N.C. to deliver the news in person to thousands of Marines at the sprawling base. One of the hallmarks of Obama’s early weeks in office is an eagerness to leave the White House behind and use campaign-like appearances across America to promote his agenda. When it came time to sign the stimulus package, Obama dispensed with customary settings like the Oval Office or Rose Garden and held the ceremony in Denver so he could be, in the words of one senior administration official, 'out west in an area hit hard economically, away from the politics of Washington.' Most presidents have found it to their benefit to be out and about, mingling with the electorate. But experts say Obama’s schedule is particularly noteworthy because it is driven by an understanding that he is personally more popular than some of the initiatives he’s selling — and by a broader desire to restore faith in the federal government." (CQPolitics)



"When we prematurely praised It's Blitz!, we noted Karen O sounds more commanding than ever. The retooled instrumentation (icy and fuzzed analog synthesizers, skittering electronic beats) puts her square in the spotlight -- a radio-ready post-punk diva, or whatever -- and it works. The Barney Clay-directed video for first single 'Zero' makes good use of this idea. O's joined by the guys here and there, but this late-night dance is all about her. Wisely, even as O mints her rock star status, she maintains the sort of awkwardness that's always humanized her (and her band). See, for instance, her interactions with passersby. As she noted to Spinner, 'It's the underdogs, the rebels, the outsiders that have always captivated me growing up so I decided why not flaunt that side of myself in the video.' She's also flaunting the Chrissie Hynde side of herself." (Stereogum)

"In the (White House) East Room waiting 4 stem cell event; in foyer: hatch, waxman. Likely audience-many personally eager for medical breakthroughs ..Also here: castle, degette, pelosi, cardin, difi, harkin...no mjfox or nancy reagan sightings yet...rumor that mrs muhammad ali may come" (Jake Tapper/Twitter)

"RICHARD Holbrooke and his wife, Kati Marton, at the Reebok Sports Club on Columbus Avenue" (PageSix)



"Cai Mingchao, the Chinese art dealer who is refusing to pay for $40 million Qing bronzes he successfully bid for in the Yves Saint Laurent auction, said he wept when he realized that his credibility was shot and he may now have to close his business. Cai, 44, spoke in an interview after turning away hundreds of calls from reporters about the Feb. 25 sale. He was praised in China for walking away from the bronzes, which were plundered by foreign troops, and has been condemned by other dealers. In the world of high-end art sales, where millions of dollars worth of items may sell on the basis of a phone call or handshake, defaulting is seen as unprofessional. 'This has damaged me: I have lost the business I love,' said Cai, in his office in the southeastern city of Xiamen. Cai said he had bid with the intention of paying, then had second thoughts and decided it’s wrong to do so. He again denied acting in concert with China’s government." (Bloomberg)

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