Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(image via latimes)

"As I set forth on a long vacation trip, here are a few observations about the situation in Iran based on my own experience of watching the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis from the White House 30 years ago. Don’t expect that this will be resolved cleanly with a win or loss in short period of time. The Iranian revolution, which is usually regarded as one of the most accelerated overthrows of a well-entrenched power structure in history, started in about January 1978, and the shah departed in January 1979. During that period, there were long pauses and periods of quiescence that could lead one to believe that the revolt had subsided. This is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Endurance is at least as important as speed." (TheDailyBeast)



(image via independent-magazine)

"Joan Rivers stopped by (The Howard Stern show) to say hi and, since Ed McMahon's death was in the news, told the crew why she left her Tonight Show guest-hosting gig at NBC for Fox: 'Because they had a letter out that said, Here are the ten people that can replace Johnny. And it was all men. I wasn't on it.' Joan said she never felt supported by Johnny Carson: 'Johnny was very vindictive...he was a killer. That's why he got what he got.' Joan revealed that her most recent relationship, to an unnamed 75-year-old, ended over the weekend: 'I got dumped again last Sunday.' Howard asked if she was lonely, and Joan joked: 'Only when I'm having an MRI...it was nice to have someone pick up the check.' Joan confessed that it was almost necessary, as she's going broke: 'I have a great life, but I live very high' .. Howard asked Joan to make Sophie's Choice between her daughter and (her grandson) Cooper, and Joan was definitive: 'Melissa. Isn't that terrible?' Howard thought the decision was interesting, as Melissa frequently (and publicly) voices her anger with Joan over a nosejob Joan forced her to get at the age of 18. Joan shrugged it off: "She's furious about it...if I had been a stranger and done it, she would've said, 'This wonderful woman.'" (HowardStern)



"It may not yet be the Fourth of July, but it's always Oscar time in Hollywood. 'Slumdog Millionaire' -- winner of eight Academy Awards back in February -- is ancient history. Already, studios, indies, publicists, managers, agents, caterers, limo companies and, mostly, film geeks, are looking ahead to the 2009-2010 race. This year an army of celebrated directors returns to the fray (see sidebar): James Cameron is back. So is Peter Jackson, Jim Sheridan and Steven Soderbergh. They'll be mixing it up with Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood and Pedro Almodovar. So in the spirit of Oscar enthusiasm, here's TheWrap's ridiculously early list of potential, maybe, could-be and why-the-hell-not Oscar contenders for major awards consideration." (TheWrap)



"Michele Norris, one of the hosts of NPR’s All Things Considered, told listeners at the end of Friday’s show that they wouldn’t be hearing her voice again until the fall. The reason for her absence, she said, is that she’s going on leave for the summer to work on a book of original, reported essays about race in America. The book, which was handled by D.C.-based literary agent Gail Ross, will be published by Pantheon, an imprint of Random House, and edited by Errol McDonald. The tentative title is Say What? Ms. Norris said in an interview today that the book will focus on the 'hidden conversation on race' that has been taking place in this country since the start of the 2008 presidential campaign." (Observer)



(image via cagle)

"If Jeff Rubin is right, traders can bet on oil prices gushing to $200 a barrel. Everyone else will see 'the 18-wheeler of globalization' thrown into reverse. This is more than idle prattle. Rubin is a former chief economist at Toronto investment bank CIBC World Markets Inc. He made a name for himself with his accurate predictions that oil prices would reach $50 a barrel in 2005 and $100 a barrel in 2007. In July, they topped $140 a barrel. If you blamed the record prices on rogue traders and hedge funds, you were mistaken, he argues in his cogent book, 'Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller.' On a planet with shrinking supplies and expanding demand, there’s only one place prices can go, he says: up. The recession brought us no more than a breather. 'In the next cycle, the same imbalance will probably take us to $200 per barrel before another recession temporarily knocks back prices and demand,' he writes." (Bloomberg)



"The Nikki Finke auction is over, and the winner is… Mail.com. Jay Penske’s Mail.com Media Corporation, which owns the Mail.com email service and a small portfolio of Web sites, has acquired the blogger, whose Deadline Hollywood Daily is a must read for Hollywood. No details on pricing, yet. The fate of Finke’s site, which was managed by the LA Weekly, has been the subject of lots of speculation in recent months, including spirited back-and-forths between Finke and competitors like Variety and Sharon Waxman’s The Wrap. Reading that stuff has been nearly as entertaining as Finke’s column. She provides blow-by-blow Tinseltown coverage–she seemed to post nearly hourly during the 2007-2008 writer’s strike–and relishes her scoops." (AllThingsD)



"All State Department nominees are on hold, some Hill and other sources tell The Cable. A Congressional source says that Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) put a hold on all State Department nominees earlier this week because he is not satisifed with the information he has been receiving from the administration on the progress of arms control negotiations with Russia. 'Kyl's beef and the general Republican argument now emerging against the Obama administration's nuclear weapons policy is that they are rushing to conclude a new agreement with Russia on strategic arms levels before their Nuclear Posture Review is complete," a Democratic congressional source said. 'In an ideal world,' he continued, 'we should wait for the Nuclear Posture Review to be done before, and only then go into negotiations. But guess what: the START treaty expires December 5, after which there will be no arms control' if they don't get a new treaty negotiated. Kyl's office did not immediately return a call ..They said only two nominees were put on hold from going to a unanimous consent Senate floor vote: Rep. Ellen Tauscher, the nominee for under secretary of state for arms control and international security, and Kurt Campbell, the nominee to be assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. But a second Hill source who did not want to be identified said it was his understanding that all State nominees were currently on hold by Kyl, and that the chairman of the SFRC, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), the State Department, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) were trying to resolve the matter. A third Hill source also said it was his understanding all State nominees were currently under a blanket hold from Kyl." (ForeignPolicy)



"HBO should be thanking Artie Lange instead of blacklisting him. His segment is the best thing that could have happened to Joe Buck Live. In case you missed it, the Howard Stern sidekick went on a tirade during the premiere episode of the cable network’s new sports show and roasted the host with more insults than Triumph at Comic-Con. Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, who was sitting in the studio audience, summed it up: 'It’s just refreshing to see white-on-white crime.' Suffice to say, the Lange appearance wasn’t for the weak of constitution or those with a low threshold for vulgarity. But what did HBO expect?" (NESN)