Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"This is the third formal state dinner of the Obama administration and each time Hollywood has been invited. Last night's was for Chinese President Hu Jintao and featured a list of 225 guests: Disney CEO Robert Iger and wife Willow Bay, Wendi Deng without media mogul husband Rupert Murdoch who reportedly was traveling, Barbra Streisand with husband James Brolin, action star Jackie Chan, and Law & Order: SVU shrink B.D. Wong were among the guests, with after-dinner entertainment provided by Herbie Hancock. Also on the list: GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt who really doesn't qualify as a media mogul anymore now that the FCC has greenlighted the Comcast takeover of NBC Universal." (Deadline)

"The agenda for the state visit was dominated by trade and economic issues. The world was recovering from a recent global economic crash. There was a certain tension because the visitor had strong autocratic tendencies and according to some, imperial ambitions. He had also regularly made statements that could be interpreted as hostile to U.S. and Western influences in his country. The U.S. president, who had once enjoyed enormous popularity, was mired in the difficulties of working with a fractious Congress and poisonous political divides across the country. His main job was nation building at home but he increasingly found he had to take time to address international concerns. In the end, the best outcome the visit could produce was some limited progress on trade deals, allowing the visitor more access to a U.S. market that was vital to his country's growth. While it sounds familiar, that is the story of the first visit of a foreign head of state to the United States. It took place in 1874. The visitor was King David Kalakaua of Hawaii. The U.S. president was Ulysses S. Grant. The signing of the trade deal -- which focused primarily on agricultural commodities -- was considered a big triumph back home in Hawaii although ultimately the king was better known for his energetic world travels, for the decline in the power of the Hawaiian monarchy that took place during his reign, that he was Hawaii's last king and for the fact that during his reign he oversaw the revivals of hula dancing and surfing." (ForeignPolicy)

"I went down to Michael’s to lunch with a couple of friends including Caroline Weber who wrote that 'What Marie Antoinette Wore To the Revolution' and teaches French literature up at Barnard. She and I share an avid interest in the subject of 18th century France and many other places and people. There is a natural scholarliness to her knowledge so I’m afraid I have to admit to myself that she’s a lot smarter and sharper than I. Most of the time. I like that. So too, does our lunch partner, Charles Stevenson who has command of those qualities himself. Caroline is currently working on a book on the three French noblewomen who were the 'model' for Proust’s duchesse de Guermantes ...Meanwhile around the room, you can be certain there wasn’t a lot of Proust and Marie-Laure de Noailles talk going on at most tables. In an intensely business oriented city intensely oriented restaurants are talking business. Or its rewards ... Ally Magrino, Jim Abernathy, Priscilla Rattazzi, Esther Newberg, Wayne Kabak and Diane Dimond, Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC; the man from Manolo, George Malkemus; Barbara Cirkva, Fredi Friedman: Gillian Tett of the FT; Jimmy Finkelstein with Keith Kelly; Steve Rattner with Andrew Ross Sorkin, Steve Blacker, Jack Thomas, Kevin Sheekey, Debbie Bancroft, Sarabeth Shrager, Pax Quigley with Joan Kingsley, David Corvo; and dozens more just like ‘em." (NYSocialDiary)

"(Philip Seymour Hoffman) strikes me as a portentous blowhard, the definitive asshole-polishin’ thezzzpian. He wore a skullcap to the Oscars, which is sartorially and spiritually offensive. Nevertheless, we can agree that he can be dazzling, either as a overstuffed muffin-topped man-boy weeping inside of his cherry red car, flagellating his little rolly polly souly with the mantra 'fucking idiot, fucking idiot, fucking idiot,' or as my favorite Hoffman character: Freddie, the mouth-breathing fop bully in Talented Mr. Ripley. And truly, the Capote performance was more some demonic act of possession than impression. Sometimes he gets gaudy with his insistence on the grotesqueness of his characters and then the more recessive, immature parts of his personality bleed through (see: Synecdoche, New York — actually don’t see it. Set it on fire and run AWAY). For these reasons I ladle him out of the marriage bowl and into my fuck bucket. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is what I’d consider a trophy fuck." (TheAwl)

"THE glittery party for the Hollywood jeweler Lorraine Schwartz last November drew a small mob of carat-starved celebrities to Lavo in Midtown. Kim Kardashian held court by the dance floor, dressed in black velvet and satin. Beyoncé Knowles arrived two hours late and spent the evening behind a cordon of bodyguards. Blake Lively, resplendent in Versace, sat quietly in the corner. Gliding meekly through the morass, looking like a skinny schoolboy in his navy toggle coat, was Jared Eng, a 28-year-old blogger who was enthusiastically waved into every V.I.P. nook. An almost imperceptible ritual would ensue: Mr. Eng made contact with a handler, who in turn whispered something into the celebrity’s ear. A dim glow of recognition flashed across the celebrity’s face, and Mr. Eng was warmly received, sometimes with a kiss. No introduction was needed with Ms. Lively, the star of 'Gossip Girl' — the two had met many times before." (NYTimes)