Media-Whore D'oeuvres

"Don't think of corporations, the term has been bastardized to the point where it means anybody or anything that has risen above and solidified an audience. That's who and what rules in the internet age. And it's harder than ever to get there. That's the untold story of the past five internet years. How we went from a free-for-all to solidification, how barriers to entry have been established that you may not be able to codify or see, but that are there nonetheless. The audience is overwhelmed with choice/input. Just think of TV. You've got the five hundred channels on cable plus Hulu, Amazon and Netflix. You can't see everything, you can't even try. It's overwhelming. So we gravitate to that which everybody else does. He or she who rises above becomes ever more popular. So a curator can be a brand. That's what's wrong with the playlists on Beats and Spotify. We have no idea who created them, and until we do, it's hard to pay attention. A curator we believe in will take us places we didn't previously choose to go, because we have faith in them. You know, a friend whose taste you trust who tells you to listen to something, which you don't like at first, but you slog through, because they said so. When a newspaper tells you to do something, you don't. That's what papers have lost, their credibility when it comes to the arts. They're in bed with the purveyors and have blown our trust. But now we've got a plethora of people trying to gain our trust online. And most are doing it for the money. Which turns us off, because so many of us are broke or challenged. We want like-minded people, in bed with us, to tell us what to do. This is the essence of the problem with the Tidal press conference, it was them versus us, no matter what they were trying to say. Curation is a nascent field. It's still being sorted out. In article curation, we've got Jason Hirschhorn, Dave Pell and the Skimm women. But Pell is a one man band, can he compete against Hirschhorn and the Skimm without investment? Just watch 'Shark Tank,' there's a tsunami of orders after you appear on the show, can you fulfill them?" (Bob Lefsetz)

The view from JH's purview on the Upper West last night at 7:30 PM. The rain clouds threatened but the rain never came.

"This is the time of year when the social calendar begins to let up because a lot of the denizens have left town. They’re headed for palmier, briskier places such as the East End or Newport or the woods and the lakes or Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire. And that’s just for starters.  I like all of that although I’m less interested on weekends in being in the company of others. I mainly like to read, work around the house (I’m an amateur hoarder — cleaning up always), to think, to write, to go to Zabar's and have dinner with friends, or no dinner with friends. It’s like a vacation. This is clearly an age thing. Fifty years ago I was on every plane, train, car, boat, that came my way. Fifty years ago I had to be entertained meeting the world, or my world. Now I’m back to the childhood boy: I like to entertain myself.  I like New York in summertime for just that reason. When the town empties out, it’s easier to move around by foot, bike or motor vehicle, and it’s easier to see the city which is full of its mesmerizing, hodge-podge, architectural polyglot of history that has been talking to us every day since the Dutch landed.On Sunday, I decided it was that time of the year to get a little garden of flora and fauna for my terrace. This is left over from my California life when they were everywhere and beautiful. I go down to the flower district on 27th Street and Seventh Avenue. The prices are very good; it’s very basic, and they have everything, most of which I don’t have space for. Besides I’m not really a gardener. I like the miracle of watching them grow, and feeding them, but a real gardener gets into it. It’s meditative and has many other restorative qualities." (NYSD)

Harry FitzRoy, the 12th Duke of Grafton, photographed at Euston Hall, in Suffolk, site of his Red Rooster music festival.

"On April 7, 2011, a day after his 33rd birthday, Henry Oliver Charles FitzRoy became Britain’s youngest duke, upon the death of his grandfather Hugh, His Grace the 11th Duke of Grafton. The distinction lasted just 22 days. 'I was gazumped by [Prince] William!' he says with mock indignation over the heir to the throne’s wedding-day creation as Duke of Cambridge. Still, Grafton remains England’s youngest nonroyal duke. Known as Harry, he presides over Euston Hall, a stupendous Palladian house in Suffolk, stocked with paintings by Van Dyck, Reynolds, and Stubbs, and set on 10,500 acres. Now Harry has become host of one of England’s most buzzed-about summer music festivals. Red Rooster, which debuted last year at Euston Hall, is back June 5 through 7 with another beguiling slate of R&B, blues, bluegrass, and country acts. Grafton became enamored with American music during the two years he lived in Nashville (2002–2004), where he worked at a music-management firm and hosted a weekly radio show. An 18-month stint on the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang world tour followed. 'It was work hard, play hard, all the way,' he says. Now settled down with his wife, Olivia, an art historian, and their two-year-old, Alfred (another child is due in July), the 12th Duke of Grafton is currently consumed with a massive two-year renovation of the estate. 'I had to step up and get on with it,' he says." (VanityFair)