Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"BOY, can former President Bill Clinton dish on world leaders! In a series of oral-history interviews, the sax-swing ex-Leader of the Free World at reveals that then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin was so boozed up during an official DC visit in 1995 that Secret Service agents found him standing outside the White House dressed only in his skivvies -- trying to hail a taxi to buy a pizza. The next night, the sloshed leader managed to ditch his own bodyguards to wander into the basement of his guest house, where he was briefly mistaken for an intruder. The Clinton tapes are set to be published in an upcoming book." (PageSix)

"The conventional opinion voiced by pundits and politicians back then presumed that Bill Clinton would (or at least could) become a problem rather than a solution. Amplified whispers from the incoming administration suggested deep concern over possible conflicts between Bill’s philanthropy and Hillary’s diplomacy. Fundraising for his foundation—and for CGI, his enormous international effort to coordinate citizen and corporate efforts against disease, poverty, ethnic conflict, and climate change—would embarrass the United States. Relationships between his foundation and foreign governments would compromise her and the president. And sooner or later, a shadowy figure would turn up among his donors whose money would taint the State Department and the White House. Somehow, he needed to be held in check—or so said his perennial antagonists in the capital. None of their dire predictions has materialized, of course." (TheDailyBeast)



"Taylor Branch is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, a specialist on civil rights issues, who lives in Baltimore, about an hour's drive from Washington.
During the Clinton administration, he was down in Washington a lot. In fact, President Clinton called 79 times and asked him to come down and chat. The two were old pals, having roomed together in an apartment in Austin in 1972, managing George McGovern's presidential campaign in Texas. Their candid conversations were so secret that Clinton put the tapes in his sock drawer. But Branch made notes, and as he drove home to Baltimore the historian would record his own impressions of their conversations, summoning every verbatim quote he could remember ...In an interview today with Page, Branch laid out some of the book's highlights: ... Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore had an explosive conversation about the 2000 campaign. Clinton said that if Gore had utilized him to campaign for the ticket in Arkansas or New Hampshire he would have won the election. Gore blistered that Clinton's impeachment over his affair with Lewinsky had been a "drag" on the campaign. Branch reports the two 'exploded' at each other in mutual recrimination." (LATimes)



"The posh London eatery at the Ivy Club is accustomed to a boldfaced crowd. But there were more glam fashion types than usual packed in on Sunday night for the dinner that Sir Philip Green hosted to celebrate his Topshop Unique show: Natalia Vodianova, Naomi Campbell, and Dree Hemingway sat in one corner; Alexa Chung, Vivienne Westwood, and Henry Holland in another; and smack-dab in the middle was Vogue's Anna Wintour, flanked by Burberry's Christopher Bailey and Kate Moss. Even the notoriously hard-to-please Simon Cowell was impressed: 'There are some pretty birds here,' he was overheard telling a friend ... The night ended with a surprise concert on the top floor of the Ivy. 'Don't worry, it's not Simon,' Green jested at the start of dinner. In fact, it was Bryan Ferry, and his intimate set had practically everyone marching up the staircases. 'Vivienne Westwood's hair whipped me in the face when she went for the dance floor,' Leigh Lezark laughed. 'Which was completely OK with me.'" (Style)



"Heads of state from over 100 countries are scheduled to attend Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s 'high level meeting' on climate change. The idea behind the meeting is to generate some political momentum ahead of the critical international climate talks in Copenhagen this December. This momentum is badly needed: The Kyoto Protocols will expire in 2012, and it will likely take a few years for countries to ratify a new climate change treaty. Last time the secretary general hosted one of these confabs was in September 2007. Back then, heads of state from the two top emitters, China and the United States, didn’t even bother to show up. The atmospherics, as it were, are different this time around. Both U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao plan to attend the meeting. The Chinese government in particular is playing up Hu’s scheduled speech as an 'important address' that will lay out policies China is willing to undertake to combat climate change. Because China recently surpassed the United States as the world’s largest carbon emitter, environmentalists will be watching closely." (ForeignPolicy)



"The circumstances of Dick Cook’s sudden ouster from the Walt Disney Company continues to preoccupy Hollywood as many wonder both privately and publicly: Who made a misstep? Was it Bob Iger? Or Dick Cook? No one considers it a normal state of affairs when the head of a studio is summarily dismissed -- 'effective immediately,' said the statement -- on a Friday afternoon after 38 years as a company man. 'I was shocked. Saddened,' said uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer on Monday, who got the call on Friday from both Cook and Iger. 'Neither one of them gave me a reason.' Could Cook have done something to require his immediate removal? Or did Iger make an error in jettisoning an executive with deep relationships around the town and affection within the halls of Mickey Mouse?" (TheWrap)

"It seems I missed on one of the Real Housewives of DC, though my error, Mai Abdo, was apparently seriously considered to the point of shooting an audition. According to someone close to Mai, 'they didn't want her after her casting tape because they were afraid she would be 'too buttoned up' - i.e. no table throwing.' She may be thanking her good luck. Table throwing doesn't go down well in genuinely buttoned up Washington. The actual fifth cast member is Edwina Rogers, who lives with her husband, Ed, in an 18,000 square foot mansion in McLean, Va., and is infamous in Washington for preferring to wrap her presents in real dollars bills she buys in sheets from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Clearly, Edwina is recession-proof. Her husband co-founded a successful Republican lobbying firm with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour." (WashingtonSocialDiary)



"Last night, Simon Hammerstein welcomed guests to his den of iniquity, The Box, for the premiere of the movie, 'Rage.' Guests included Jude Law, who joined Director Sally Potter as well as model Lily Cole, Countess Nathalie von Bismarck, Bob Balaban, Astrid Munoz, Katrina Pavlos, Steve Buscemi and John Leguizamo for the viewing. A piece largely influenced by Steven Speilberg’s 1970’s classic Duel, the suspense-thriller follows a game of cat and mouse as it transforms into a violent rampage." (Guestofaguest)