Media-Whore D'oeuvres

"In the coming weeks, the United States may well be joining a new round of nuclear negotiations with Iran. But, rather than working to promote their success, most commentators seem to be consumed with explaining their anticipated failure. And their follow-up policy prescriptions seem designed to do more harm than good. Take Karim Sadjadpour's article, 'The Sources of Soviet Iranian Conduct,' in the November issue of Foreign Policy. Sadjadpour seeks to adapt George Kennan's famous 1947 'Mr. X" article -- which proposed the outlines of the Cold War 'containment' strategy used against the Soviet Union -- for America's current Iran debate.  'Like the Soviet Union, the Islamic Republic is a corrupt, inefficient, authoritarian regime whose bankrupt ideology resonates far more abroad than it does at home,' Sadjadpour writes. 'Also like the men who once ruled Moscow, Iran's current leaders have a victimization complex and, as they themselves admit, derive their internal legitimacy from thumbing their noses at Uncle Sam." It's a clever conceit, but it would be a disaster for U.S. interests if Sadjadpour's piece attains anything close to the level of influence achieved by Kennan's. That's so for three main reasons." (ForeignPolicy)

"Yesterday afternoon Alexandra Lebenthal and I had a discussion about her book The Recessionistas before a group of 45 friends and friends of friends in the 'library' of the Carlisle Collection ... We had originally planned this meeting to take place about six weeks ago when Alexandra’s book first hit the stores. However, her promotion schedule and my daily routine of appointments and events to cover, pushed it off to the point where I was afraid the topic would be old news. However, I was wrong, not having taken into consideration the subject: the girls and boys who make their living and live off of Wall Street. What ensued was a conversation about how the book evolved (beginning with her columns here on the NYSD). A comment published after a recent review in the Wall Street Journal compared it to (and not as as good as) Sex In the City. It’s nothing like Sex In the City except for the mentality of many of the characters. The Recessionistas was the first piece of fiction to describe the backstory to what is an ongoing dilemma in the world today. Its ultimate effect on our lives is far from determined. Much of it was wrought from behavior rife with fraud, but fraud as an accepted way of life and of an agreed nature. People “went along” when it was convenient for their wallet." (NYSocialDiary)

"As Ye Jingzi talks enthusiastically about her business and charity work it is easy to forget that she is a “princeling” – the privileged descendant of one of the founders of the People’s Republic of China. Business in China is famously reliant on guanxi, the concept of personal relationships and reciprocal favours that underpin all deals, from village markets to the commanding heights of the economy. So princelings are much sought-after by domestic and foreign businesses, which hope to leverage their personal networks to get ahead in the cut-throat Chinese market. As a group, Ms Ye and her princeling contemporaries are notoriously shy and almost never speak out in public. But in an extremely rare interview, Ms Ye says that being from an important family can also have its drawbacks. While she ac­knowledges, and is proud of, the “red blood” that affords her all kinds of privileges, she is also keenly aware of the responsibilities that accompany her illustrious name. 'It’s very important to me that people understand I have made things happen for myself and not just been successful because of my family background,' she says. 'It’s also important that I use my position to help my country and my people.'  Her grandfather, Marshal Ye Jian­ying, was a veteran of the Long March and a founder of the People’s Liberation Army." (FT)

"Dino De Laurentiis was a man who loved life, his family, good Italian food and the movies. So said Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Lynch and Baz Luhrmann, who shared stories about the veteran producer at his funeral Monday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. All described the Italian-born producer, who died last week at age 91, as larger than life. 'He fought big, he dreamed big, and that's the way he saw the cinema, as big,' said Lynch, who made 'Dune' and 'Blue Velvet' with De Laurentiis. 'Ten grown athletic men combined, on PCP, would not equal even a tiny fraction of the energy that Dino had every day... Dino was like a steamroller working, dreaming and thinking the movies' ...His grandchildren, including Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis, read brief passages during the service. Many guests at the 90-minute service wore red at the request of the family. 'It was Dino's color,' the pastor said. A statement released by the family late Friday explained the legendary producer 'did not want to be met with a sea of black at his funeral.'" (AP)

"Karen Gillan, co-star of BBC TV’s sci-fi show, is to play a spiky New Jersey high school teenager who finds herself trapped Alice In Wonderland-style in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Gillan wakes up in mythical 13th century Verona with all the people she knows from her high school life playing characters in the play. And she wants to get out because she knows how the play ends. Gillian Anderson will play the dual roles of Gillan’s mother and the Nurse, while Robert Sheehan, star of cult E4 TV comedy The Misfits, will play the school nerd who becomes her Romeo. The $7 million Romeo and Brittney will start shooting in May. David Baddiel, writer of The Infidel, will be making his directing debut, producer Arvind Ethan David tells me. Baddiel is well known over here as a novelist as well as a stand-up comedian. David is pitching the project as “Shakespeare In Love meets Clueless.” (Deadline)

"You only turn 30 once, so why not take over Indochine and have an A-list designer make you a dress for the occasion? That's what Julia Restoin-Roitfeld did in New York on Friday night. When you're fashion royalty, you can pull some strings—like those of Pucci creative director Peter Dundas. 'He was the first one I asked, and he said yes right away,' the birthday girl explained, as the initial round of Belvedere shots (it was that kind of party) was poured. 'I said, I want red and I want lace, and I want it very short—the rest, do whatever you want' ... cheer went up as the clock struck midnight, and waiters sought takers for chocolate cake. In addition to Restoin-Roitfeld's brother, Vladimir, and mom Carine and dad Christian, an impressive crowd of well-wishers turned up from various corners of the fashion world—including Caroline Sieber, Helena Christensen, Giovanna Battaglia, and erstwhile Pop editor Dasha Zhukova." (Style)

Jay Z on The Howard Stern Show

Jay Z was on the Howard Stern Show this morning talking about his new, arty book. "I collect art ... I got into art recently about 3 or 4 years ago ... I got a couple (of Warhols)," said Jay Z. Apparently the famous rapper had the Warhol Rorschach over his fire place in his living room. I'm fairly sure no one ever opened an interview with jay Z on his art collection. Such is the genius of Howard Stern as an interviewer. It was a rather remarkable interview.

Stern is very good about drawing interesting information from his subjects. People -- at least I am -- are fascinated by Jay Z's rise, and how he spends his wealth. The Andy Warhol Estate apparently cleared the Rorschach cover image for Jay Z's book in a day. Howard and Jay Z talked a bit about the art world -- "where do you go to buy art?" -- and whether or not he ever feels "hustled" by the art world. "I have everything from an Warhol to a Tim Noble to a Sue (Webster)" Jay Z also said that he owned a David Hammond painting because it had huge bricks at the bottom that reminded him of the Marcy Projects.

They talked about Oprah and Jay Z's first meeting. Howard Stern: When you go into a situation like that does that make you nervous?" Jay Z: "No, I wasn't nervous. We come up in deifferent eras ... She cam eup in the Ciil Rights era ... our generation turned it around." Um ...

Howard Stern disagreed on what the top record of all time was (Jay Z thinks it is "Thriller," Howard Stern thinks it is "Sgt pepper's Lonely Hearts Band.") It was an interesting moment that illustrates the difference between their backgrounds (and generations).

They spoke about Jay Z as a crack dealer, and, at one point, shooting his brother in the shoulder. Apparently, a lot of that period of his life involved the breakup of his parents marriage in the Marcy projects. "Our house was crowded, up until that point we had the fun house ... I didn't realize it but probably looking back at it (I was)." Very interesting that a rapper as guarded at Jay Z opened up to the degree that he did about his psychological history.

Jay Z's father was stabbed and his brother was killed at one point in the projects and went out nightly to get revenge on the person who did it, precipitating the end of his marriage. His mother tried to get him to forget the event, focus on his family -- to no avail. "He never was the same after that ... I just know he left," said Jay Z. They ultimately reconciled: "My mom actually made it happen." The first meeting he didn't show up. "Talk about abandonment," said Howard Stern. "yeah," replied Jay Z.

"We set up the first meeting, he didn't come ... I pretty much built up a wall to that sort of emotion ... which was not healthy," said Jay Z. At that point Jay Z was wealthy beyond imagination. "It showed (the money) didn't affect him ... which made me respect him, oddly." After they met, finally, Jay Z's father died of liver problems a month later.

"Your father, growing up, he's like Superman to you ... so you never let anyone else get that close to you," said Jay Z, who admitted he has never been into therapy. Howard Stern, who has been in therapy several times a week for years, suggested Jay Z see one. Jay Z claimed his music is his therapy. "You think that's really therapy," said Stern. "I find it very hard to self analyze," said Howard. "I need to go in to the therapist." Jay Z was not biting.

They got into the second meeting with Jay Z's father. "He's a stubborn man ... I was a child ... I shouldn't hae to go find my father," said Stern. "He passed a month later," said Jay Z. " he knew he was sck and he still chose to drink."

They talk about the nature of hustling. "A hustler is anybody who has the drive to make something happen for themselves,' said Jay Z, who went on to describe the school system as shot:

Howard Stern: Are you a great crack dealer?

Jay Z: I was incredible ... at the end of the day when you add up the hours ... you are standing out there all day long.

"He showed us a different way to be successful," he said about Russell Simmons, his inspiration. More:

Jay Z: I'm pushing our culture forward by being here right now ..the only way I've "lost touch" is that I don't sit at the bench at Marcy projects .. I have no need to.

Jay Z said he would not quit music yet because he has "expensive tastes." He has 12,000 square feet in tribeca and a couple more apartments. He wouldn't mind moving to Monaco "the taxes would maybe make up for the fact that I'm not in America."

"Right before (Obama) ran" he had conversations. Reggie Love, Obama's "body man" initiated contact between the rapper and the then Senator. "We pretty much talked about normal things, we talked about music, about language in music ... again i come in as myself." Howard Stern: Do you think he wanted your endorsement? Jay Z: "Yeah, I think as a community organizer he wants to keep in touch with the community." Since then Jay Z has been to the White House several times.

DAN WITZ “IN PLAIN VIEW: 30 Years of Artworks Illegal and Otherwise”

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"At the end of the G-20 summit, which limped to its dispiriting conclusion Friday in Seoul, where world leaders managed only to delay dealing with difficult challenges from global imbalances to trade protectionism, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proclaimed a 'temporary end' to the so-called currency wars that have reached a fever pitch over the last two months as countries have manipulated their exchange rates to gain an edge in world markets. The currency wars are far from over ...Complaints from countries like Brazil, China, and Germany about the U.S. Federal Reserve's 'quantitative easing' moves, which by default devalue the dollar, attest to these interdependences. The U.S. economy is the only white knight in the world economy because consumer-led growth in emerging markets is still distant -- China and India are bound to produce some 500 million new middle-class consumers, but not until 2030 -- while it is unattainable in aging Europe and Japan. The grand paradox of the hour is that while other countries criticize the United States for its fiscal deficits or expansive monetary policies, they would doubtless also bark at American austerity. Berlin and Beijing have taken a convenient shortcut, preaching to Washington while doing precious little to spur global demand and address their own contributions to global imbalances. Washington is condemned if it does and if it doesn't. The best and most plausible way out for the United States is an ironclad plan for fiscal solvency, tax incentives, and passage of pending trade deals, all of which will instill confidence in American businesses to start investing and hiring. That will take time, however, and patience is in short supply. Another option to defuse the currency wars would be to address the symptom instead of the cause and change the global currency regime altogether. World Bank President Robert Zoellick backhandedly hinted at the possibility of reviving the gold standard in his recent Financial Times op-ed." (Foreignpolicy)

"'These awards really took flight this year,' Warren Beatty effusively said to 2nd annual Governors Awards producer and Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences 1st Vice President Sid Ganis right after the ceremony ended around 11 PM Saturday night. It took place at the Grand Ballroom in the Hollywood and Highland complex where the Academy’s Post–Oscars Governors Ball is held every February. This time, these awards honored indelible actor Eli Wallach, film historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, iconic director Jean-Luc Godard, and Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award receipient Francis Ford Coppola. 'Can I use the ‘F’ word?,' Beatty asked. 'I think the movie industry should tell the television industry to go F*** itself.' His likely meaning (at least in ‘Warren speak’) was that commercial interests should never compel the AMPAS to sell the Governors Awards as a TV special -- a possibility raised after last year's show -- and ruin the 'specialness' of the evening." (Deadline)

"Model Jessica White was flustered before the casting call for the Victoria's Secret fashion show when the story of her arrest showed up on the company's elevator TV. Sources said that when White took the elevator in the lingerie company's Midtown offices, a TV had the news story about her arrest after she allegedly hit Enterprise Parking employee Vanessa Kian in the face as both women tried hailing the same cab in Chelsea in October. White, who insists Kian hit her first, tried to cover her face in the elevator, said a witness. White didn't walk in this year's show, which will air on CBS Nov. 30. 'Jessica White has never been shy or embarrassed about revealing her face and body for Sports Illustrated and Victoria's Secret, but it's something different when she's being misportrayed in the news. Jessica's hopeful that the television will soon flash a news story that I favorably disposed of the criminal charges against her,' said White's lawyer Mark Jay Heller." (PageSix)




"Our Lady of New York, Ms. Liz Smith fell down (but did not break her crown) last Friday night when walking a friend’s dog at the midnight hour. This resulted in a hip socket fracture which did not require surgery but has put our girl off her feet for a bit. Liz is currently in rehab in New York Hospital learning how to walk again. Various charities are already a little nervous about what they do with her because as you may know, she keeps the show on the road for a lot of us. However, you can still read her column in http://www.wowowow.com/, and she told me she doesn’t need flowers or attention -- just time to get those feet back into her dancing shoes (I notice she likes those Stubbs and Wooton jobbies)." (NySocialDiary)

"Howard (Stern) said Tracy (Morgan) was out there so he had to get him in there. Howard said Tracy is out promoting his HBO special 'Black and Blue' ... Howard said he saw Tracy on Letterman the other night. He said he had to sit through 3 segments of the Chilean Miner before Tracy. He and Tracy talked about that miner for a couple of minutes. They were wondering what it was like living in the mine for that long.
Howard asked Tracy why he wasn't on Letterman first. Tracy said he was cool with it. That guy was stuck in a mine for 60 days. Howard said he's been on Letterman before so he knows that you have to plan out what to do. Tracy said he doesn't do that too much. He said he keeps his mind open until the last minute. Howard said he'll do that too but he does have a plan just in case something doesn't happen during the show to get him going. Howard said he feels that Letterman gives Tracy attitude. He said he makes faces while he's saying things and he's kind of looking down on him. Tracy said that the condescending thing is just an act. Howard said he used to do that with Dave too but he didn't like it. He said he had to call Dave and ask him to respect him a little bit. Tracy said that's like two huge monsters going oat it. He said it's like Godzilla and Mega Godzilla going at it. Howard asked Tracy why he lets Letterman do what he does. Tracy said he gets what Howard sees there but he's comfortable with it. He said Howard is looking at it like a reality TV show but it's not like that. Howard said he thinks that Tracy is brilliant and Dave should be saying that too." (Marksfriggin)

The David Bowie Food Pyramid

via Plaztikmag:

Apparently cocaine isn't just a hell of a drug, but a food group according to David "The Thin White Duke" Bowie in the 1970s. Hey, I'm not judging. A lot of people did a lot of wild things in the 1970s (This means you, Liza Minnelli and Bianca and Jack Nicholson). I really can't vouch for all the metrics in this extremely odd chart, though.

Web junk?

Youth History/ Youth Culture

Interesting little documentary about modern youth culture via Blogaboulga:


from box1824 on Vimeo.

Social Media and the Changing Digital Landscape

More on Tuesday night's all star Hearst Changing Media Panel, 2010. From eMediaVitals:

At this week's Hearst Changing Media Panel at the Columbia Journalism School, panelists spoke about the editorial and publishing challenges of the new digital landscape, with a focus on social media. The panelists were David Karp, founder of Tumblr; Betty Wong, global managing editor of Reuters; Mark S Luckie, the national innovations editor at the Washington Post; Mashable's editor in chief, Adam Ostrow; and Hilda Garcia, the vice president of multiplatform news of Impremedia and editor of El Diario de la Prensa, the oldest Spanish language daily in the U.S.


Talk of social media and how publishers are adapting to social media dominated the panel discussion.

More here.

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"A major strategic challenge for the United States in the coming decades will be integrating emerging powers into international institutions. The dramatic growth of Brazil, China, and India -- and the emergence of middle-tier economies such as Indonesia and Turkey -- is transforming the geopolitical landscape and testing the institutional foundations of the post-World War II liberal order. The Obama administration promotes developing cooperative relations with emerging powers, believing that countries with a stake in world affairs will become responsible global actors. But the United States should be under no illusions about the ease of socializing rising nations. Emerging powers may be clamoring for greater global influence, but they often oppose the political and economic ground rules of the inherited Western liberal order, seek to transform existing multilateral arrangements, and shy away from assuming significant global responsibilities. Over the next ten years and beyond, the United States will have to accommodate new powers in reformed structures of global governance while safeguarding the Western liberal order it helped create and defend. The world is entering a chaotic era." (ForeignAffairs)

"Let’s have a look at another exotic: the bullshot. This cocktail is a clear class indicator. If you order one and the bartender looks at you quizzically, you’re in the wrong joint. A proper bullshot, and it’s taken before lunch only, is made of Campbell’s double-strength beef broth, the juice of one half a lime, a liberal dosage of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, and a shot of vodka, shaken over ice, served straight-up in a Kelly glass. No garnish. It has to be beef broth and only Campbell’s. Consommé won’t work because it jellifies. Only one New York club makes the pukka version, but I’m not going to tell you which one. Believe it or not, you used to be able to get one at Mark’s Club in London and at the Travellers in Paris. Mark Birley shipped the Campbell’s from America, and the Travellers secured theirs from a U.S. Army PX before the Frogs dismissed our troops. A word on the Bloody Mary. This is a barely OK drink much favored by pseudo-sophisticates and suburbanites, often adulterated by celery salt, horseradish, Tabasco, celery-stalk garnishes, and for all I know, little umbrellas. If you insist on doctoring up a bullshot’s fecal color, add some V8 juice. It’s known as a Bloody Bull." ("Bunky Mortimer")

"The first body was found in a patch of weeds in L.A.'s industrial wastelands. The victim, a woman, was naked; her feet and wrists had been bound. The second body was discovered in a vacant field near a school sixty miles east of the city. The woman, also naked, lay facedown, in a semi-fetal position. The third body was found, partially clothed, in a dirt gulley of a desolate area miles away in the county of Riverside. She, like the others, had been strangled. The murders were 20 years apart yet police believe they were committed by the same person—a serial killer still on the loose." (TheDailyBeast)

"After David Letterman in the last week of October posted his first demo win over Leno since Leno's return to The Tonight Show, Leno bounced back to reclaim the lead in both 18-49 and total viewers for the first week of November. This marks Leno's first solo first-place finish at the top of the 18-49 rankings in 5 weeks, as Leno and Letterman were tied for 3 weeks before Letterman won outright the week before last. In 18-49, Leno averaged a 1.0 rating vs. a 0.9 for Letterman. The same week last year, Letterman and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien were tied at 0.9. (In 18-49 viewers, Leno's average was 1.26 million vs. 1.21 million for Conan last fall; Letterman's was 1.20 million vs. 1.22 million last year.) The two may switch places again this week as Letterman dominated Leno on Monday night. Among total viewers, Leno averaged 3.9 million for the week, up from 2.3 million for Conan last fall; Letterman drew 3.7 million vs. 3.9 million last year. As for the third airing of Conan's new latenight show on TBS, his ratings drops were far more moderate than the 33-42% between the premiere and night 2. Last night, Conan drew 2.7 million viewers, down only 3% from the night before." (Deadline)

"U.S. President Barack Obama tried hard to avoid saying the 'P' word -- Pakistan -- on his recent trip to India. He didn't mention Pakistan once during his brief remarks commemorating the 2008 Mumbai attacks, to the chagrin of Indian pundits. He treaded carefully on the subject during a question-and-answer forum with Indian students. And in his address to the Indian Parliament two days later, he got scant applause for challenging Indian legislators to support a Pakistan 'that is stable and prosperous and democratic.' For all Indian commentators may feel that the United States is hopelessly biased toward their northwestern neighbor, they are missing a key development: As the endgame in Afghanistan approaches, relations between the United States and Pakistan have plunged to their worst depths since 2001. At the heart of this crisis are years of American neglect and drift -- and the Pakistani military's determination to outlast U.S. pressure aimed at ending its ties to the Afghan Taliban. For nearly a decade, there has been no progress in U.S. aims to improve relations between India and Pakistan or U.S. attempts to persuade the Pakistani military to treat all terrorist groups as equally culpable. The military's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate still allows Afghan and Central Asian terrorist groups to operate from Pakistani soil and refuses to clamp down on the anti-Indian terrorist groups operating from Punjab province, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which launched the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The Pakistani Army admits that it has not gone after al Qaeda in Pakistan since 2006.  This malign neglect has allowed foreign militants to radicalize Pakistani Pashtun tribes, which have now linked up with militant groups in Punjab -- with the aim of overthrowing the Pakistani state. Yet Pakistani strategists still think they can crush the homegrown militants while maintaining the Afghan Taliban as a proxy force for a final settlement in Afghanistan. If that sounds delusional, so does the U.S. failure to address this crisis honestly." (ForeignPolicy)

"From 1991's Point Break to last year's Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow has blended adrenaline and artistry as well as any film director over the last few decades. MoMA is the latest institution to take notice; the museum honored Bigelow (a former painter) last night at its third annual film benefit, which also looked forward to the retrospective of her work this coming June. On her way in, performance artist Marina Abramovic was happy to insert herself among Bigelow's many admirers. 'I don't believe in female art or male art—I just believe in good art and bad art,' she said. 'I think she actually took this male part [of herself] to do blockbusters, which is fantastic, because it's so hard. You have to operate with an enormous amount of cool, and you really have to understand how infrastructure works and be at the top of everything, and she is. That's what is fascinating' ... Before dinner and an acoustic performance by Canadian indie rockers Metric, Jodie Foster gave a thoughtful summing-up of Bigelow's oeuvre. 'What I see, strangely, is a real question about male connection—what do men do, what brings them together,' she said. 'These are questions that Kathryn Bigelow is fascinated with. That may change—she may make a movie about women some day!'" (Style)

"Alexa Hampton’s new book, Alexa Hampton: The Language of Interior Design (Clarkson Potter) makes no bones about the fact that, in Ms. Hampton’s view, interior design follows rules, has its own grammar and is something that, if worked at with sufficient diligence, can be learned. She herself, not always a willing pupil, was 'dragged' by her famous father, Mark Hampton, all around every important house in Europe but despite throwing up at Giverny, says she is indebted to him for a formidable bank of knowledge upon which she now draws for her own very successful design career." (NYSocialDiary)

"'This is like a fashion show stuck in a Baz Luhrmann film,' grinned Adam Levine, taking in the Victoria’s Secret set at last night’s primetime extravaganza at The Armory. 'There's lots of pink, lots of glitter, and lots of important fashion people!' And that was before the first model (Adriana Lima) even hit the runway. Even by VS’s standards of excess, last night’s show was an epic, bombastic production. The parade featured the entire US men’s gymnastics team, three sets of dancers, five set changes, hundreds of oversized balloons, adjustable chandeliers, and, of course, Katy Perry, who played along with the long-legged Brazilians and Eastern Europeans ...Serena Williams arrived on crutches (she recently had foot surgery). 'I had to see my best friend Selita do her thing,' she said. 'I was dancing in my imagination!' After the show, practically the entire cast headed to Lavo, where Jessica Stam, Chanel Iman, and Lily Donaldson held court at the after-party. Caroline Winberg was already dreaming of normalcy. 'I can’t wait to get home, take a shower, take the extensions and make-up off, and be myself again,' she smiled." (DailyFrontRow)

Media-Whore D'Oeuvre

"Following the ABC news division cutbacks, David Westin is taking one last journey before he departs as news president at year's end -- with Diane Sawyer on her three-day trip to China to report on the country's economic growth, returning Wednesday. An ABC rep said he's 'going to China, just like he has gone on dozens of other foreign trips. This is what news presidents do, they go on reporting trips to ensure their organizations continue to have access to countries of interest to the American people. The cutbacks happened last March.'" (NYPost)



(image via gloobi)

"Down at Michael’s the clamoring crowds jacked up the decibels to almost the point where you couldn’t hear your lunch partner (at least at my table). La bella Joan Collins, there with her husband Percy Gibson, and a friend; CBS’ Les Moonves with David Zaslov of NBC Cable; Jesse Kornbluth with Geraldine Baum of the L.A. Times; Jared Kushner with Jason Binn; Mike Ovitz with Andy Walter; Tom Kranz in from L.A. Around the room: Henry Schlieff with, among others, Christopher Mason; Paul Wilmot, Wayne Kabak, William Lauder, Lauren Veronis; Tony Hoyt with Billy Wright; Harold Holzer of the Met Museum; Randy Jones; Lally Weymouth with Steve Ratner; Miki Ateyeh with Laurie Tisch; Ellen Beck with Owen Laster; Charles Schueler, Gil Schwartz; entertainment columnist Roger Friedman; Robert Zimmerman with Mort Hamburg; Luke Janklow, Euan Rellie, Joe Torre and Mrs. Torre with Tom Goodman .." (NySocialDiary)

"Talk about 'Don't be evil.' Google has helped nab a trio of drug dealers in East Williamsburg using its ubiquitous Street View technology. According to the Post, three of seven dealers arrested yesterday in an NYPD sting operation were caught in the act by Google's funny little camera car. They were photographed dealing in two locations, and the pictures, in some of which the men appear to be throwing up gang signs at the Google car, were used in the dealers' indictments. Don't believe us? See it for yourself. Almost as funny, some undercover cops dressed as hipsters to help catch the seven dealers in the act, as this was apparently a big part of their regular clientele." (Observer)



"Howard (Stern) said a thought came to his mind when he was talking to this gentleman. It turns out this guy is Grammy Award winner BeBe Winans. Howard said he has a bed in the green room for them. He's won 5 Grammy's. He said his sister has won 6. He said his family has won 30 overall. BeBe said that he produced a Whitney Houston song on the Bodyguard soundtrack. Howard said he knows BeBe as a human being from going to the gym with him ... Howard said he can imagine Robin and BeBe going out together ... Howard said that BeBe is divorced and he's taking care of his kids. He has a 15 year old girl and a son too. Howard said Robin isn't looking for more kids but she'd be taking care of his kids. Robin told him to stop it. She said that he has to stop talking for her. Howard said Robin has the 15 Foundation and BeBe has a 15 year old so that's something right there. BeBe asked Howard if he was even going to mention his show. Howard said he was just there for this date. Howard said BeBe has a show on SIRIUS and he helped get him the job. He said he told Scott Greenstein about BeBe and now he's got his own show there. Howard asked BeBe about the new CD he has out with his sister CeCe. He said she's a piece of ass. BeBe said he can't say that. Howard asked BeBe if he can get laid being the singer that he is. BeBe said he does not act like this at the gym. He said that he won't answer that question. Howard asked if his parents named their kids after the alphabet. BeBe said his name is actually Benjamin and that BeBe was his nickname. He said that CeCe's name is Priscilla." (Marksfriggin)

Columbia Journalism School's "Hearst Changing Media Panel 2010"

Sree Sreenivasan is a connector. The Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia's J-School arranged for a great panel Tuesday night. In addition to being one of the 50 Most Influential Indians in America, he knows how to throw a digital media panel (and a party). Last night at the Columbia Journalism School's "Hearst Changing Media Panel 2010"

"Changing Media Landscape, 2010" is the Columbia J-school and Hearst Foundation's annual look at the journalism revolution, with several fascinating influencers. It was webcast live (Sree's been webcasting since before webcasting was cool).

Victor Hernandez, CNN All Platform Journalist program manager was the the house. Quite a few members of the New York digeratti showed up (you can tell them by their eyeglasses and their iPhones). Jonathan Dube AOL's new Senior Vice President and General Manager, AOL News & Information was in the hizzy.  As was Arik Hesseldahl, who is about to start at WSJ's ALLThingsD on December 1, tweeting furiously.

Mark S. Luckie, the Washington Post's national Innovations editor, was on the panel. He had just sold 10,000 words for an undisclosed sum to Mediabistro and unfortunately didn't get to speak about the sale. Writers are by their very nature a jealous breed, so i wonder if I really even would want to know the actual figure. The other panelists were Hilda Garcia, the VP, multiplatform news and information of Impremedia, the largest Hispanic news and information company & editor of El Diario La Prensa, the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States; Adam Ostrow, the
Editor-in-chief, Mashable; Betty Wong, the Global managing editor, Reuters and David Karp
the 23-year old founder of the buzzy microblog Tumblr -- and the only panelist brave enough to drink a beer on stage.

Amazon Ups Revenue Share Ante in Courting Publishers to Kindle

Amazon picked an interesting time to get hypercompetetive with apple over newspaper and magazine publishers. From eMediaVitals:

"Amazon is turbocharging its efforts to become the leading digital newsstand by altering the structure of its existing revenue sharing terms for publishers. Starting Dec. 1, the online retailer is upping its offer to publishers for each title sold in the Kindle store. The increased revenue sharing allows publishers of electronic magazines and newspapers to earn 70 percent of retail price -- up from 30 percent from earlier in the year -- which is more in line with its competitor, Apple. Kindle Publishing for Publishers-- KPP -- which is currently in Beta, is only available in the United States with plans to go global in the future.

"... Increasing the revenue share comes at a particularly interesting time, on the heels of a recent ABC survey revealing increasing worry among publishers over Apple's influence in the e-reader space. In that survey of the Audit Bureau of Circulation's US and Canadian newspaper and magazine industry members, only 11 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Apple's handling of subscriber information and analytics, with a startling 15 percent saying they were dissatisfied. Nineteen percent of ABC responders said they were actually satisfied with Apple's app business model."

The full story here.

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Bush chooses to depict Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell—instead of any in a long line of congressional Democrats—as the person urging Bush to withdraw forces from Iraq, making the distinguished McConnell a member of the "cut-and-run" crowd. It is apparently McConnell who Bush defies with his courageous and counterintuitive decision to order a surge of forces into Iraq. Along with McConnell, Bush cites the usual boogeymen—Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, former Attorney General John Ashcroft—for any misjudgments in his administration. If there is anyone Bush seems peeved at in the book, with the exceptions of the French and Senator John Kerry (whom Bush apparently thinks he is still campaigning against), it is conservatives—those who opposed him when he ran for Congress, who complained about his stem-cell compromise, and who blocked Harriet Miers for the U.S. Supreme Court, among other offenses. Even Reagan, the patron saint of the GOP, gets an obligatory mention. When Reagan offers to campaign for Bush as he runs for Congress, Bush says no thanks to the man who bested his father. The book itself is light, nearly 300 pages fewer than Ronald Reagan's and 550 fewer than Bill Clinton's. The former president has a surprising lack of interest in detailing the successful and groundbreaking dispatch of the Afghan and Iraqi regimes; both are described in a thin seven pages. Oddly, much of Bush's descriptions of the war and its deliberations seems lifted from Bob Woodward's books, which have tended to heavily favor Condi Rice and Colin Powell's versions of events. (In a sign of his partiality, Woodward is now pushing his 'reluctant' friend Colin Powell as the nation's next secretary of Defense.) Once again presidential favorites, no matter how much they bungled, elude accountability. Throughout the book, Powell, Rice, and even the human bulls-eye Karl Rove, do not receive a single word of criticism. Perhaps it paid off for Condi Rice to have been tasked with reviewing the full manuscript—This book sometimes sounds like it was her story more than Bush's." (TheDailyBeast)

"At a Lavo party for Due Date—about an ultimately likable mess who attaches himself to an uptight urban professional—Courtney Love jumped me and kept me so feverishly entertained I forgot to work the rest of the room. At the New York Comedy Festival–hosted event, the rocker/personality told me she has a new place to live in New York (though she had to put down a year's rent in advance) and a brand-new Social Security Number, because of 'identity problems' that sprung up. 'I understand New York now,' Love said. 'I talk to people and listen more. I've lived in New York for over a year—this time without going to Bellevue!' And the grunge widow has been getting noticed for it. She said she had a lunch date planned with Page Six's Emily Smith; Radar.com was tracking her for a story about whether she owns the Knickerbocker Hotel (she swore she doesn't); and the Times's Sunday Styles section was about to declare her the new queen of Fashion Week. 'Supposedly, they'll say I've replaced Tinsley Mortimer,' said Love. 'I don't know who that is,' she added blithely." (Musto)

"Reading literature can be the best preparation for a discussion of a county’s budget deficit. Every place and every conversation is embedded in the centuries and the rivers and mountains that shaped the people who shape the centuries. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and withdrew to the borders of old Muscovy, there were those who said that this was the end of the Russian empire. Nations and empires are living things until they die. While they live they grow to the limits set by other nations. They don’t grow like this because they are evil. They do this because they are composed of humans who always want to be more secure, more prosperous and more respected. It is inconceivable to me that Russia, alive and unrestrained, would not seek to return to what it once was. The frontiers of Czarist Russia and the Soviet Union had reasons for being where they were, and in my mind, Russia would inevitably seek to return to its borders. This has nothing to do with leaders or policies. There is no New World Order, only the old one replaying itself in infinitely varying detail, like a kaleidoscope." (STRATFOR)

"Steve Martin may now be a more bankable star at the auction house than the box office. In 2006, Sotheby's anticipated a $15 million yield for a Martin-owned Edward Hopper painting, Night Window. Instead, the piece fetched $26.9 million. The Martin Factor will be tested again on Nov. 10 as Christie's plans to auction Ohhh...Alright..., Roy Lichtenstein's 1964 Pop masterpiece. The painting, once owned by Martin, is being sold by casino mogul—and power vegan—Steve Wynn. Expected cost: $40 million. The Martin Factor: priceless. Despite its well-cultivated veneer of elitism, the art world caters to our celebrity-obsessed culture nearly as much as USWeekly. The newest evidence comes in the form of Christie's auction of 35 pieces from the late Dennis Hopper's collection on Nov. 10. One of those pieces is a portrait of Hopper painted by his friend Andy Warhol in 1971. Twelve years ago, Hopper shelled out $162,000 for the canvas. Now the work could be worth up to $1.2 million, according to Christie's.  While the leap in value has a lot to do with the skyrocketing prices for Warhols, this painting has extra cachet: Simply put, it belonged to a movie star." (BusinessWeek)

"Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer were among the presenters at last night’s Glamour Women of the Year awards ceremony. ABC’s Christiane Amanpour appeared in taped message presenting an award. Other tvnewsers in the audience at Carnegie Hall: CBS Evening News EP Rick Kaplan, CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux and Oprah BFF and former local news anchor Gayle King. Winfrey presented an award to Julia Roberts. Other winners included Fergie, Donatella Versace, four female heads of state and Cher, who was presented a lifetime achievement award." (TVNewser)

"Meanwhile, up at the Café Carlyle, they held the Opening Night Performance of Steve Tyrell making his 6th holiday engagement, “I’ll Take Romance.” And down at Swifty’s – which was packed – DPC was having dinner with Ann Colton Nussbaum, whom he has known (and sung and danced with) since the First Grade back in our hometown of Westfield, Massachusetts. Always a reason for a celebration. Dining nearby were Sydney and Stan Shuman, Dick Nye and Francesca Stanfill, Wendy Moonan and friends, Hilary and Wilbur Ross, Gigi and Harry Benson, Mary McFadden." (NYSocialDiary)

"After three previous cancellations, U.S. President Barack Obama has finally made his long-overdue visit to Indonesia, where he lived for four years as a child. The trip provides the perfect venue to use his personal history to reset an engagement strategy with international Muslim communities that has proved strikingly deficient. Indonesia is not only the fourth-most populous country in the world, it is also the nation with the largest Muslim population -- larger than Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria combined. Indonesians have traditionally practiced a moderate form of Islam while, more recently, also committing to modern democracy. Indonesia's strong economy quickly shrugged off the global recession and is forecast to grow 6.3 percent next year, according to the Asian Development Bank. Indonesians are proud of Obama's personal ties to their country and remember the compassionate American response to 2004's devastating tsunami. Indonesians continue to give high favorability and confidence ratings to the United States (59 percent) and Muslim Indonesians to Obama personally (65 percent), according to the Pew Research Center." (ForeignPolicy)

"Over the past month, college campuses have started to ban or otherwise reduce availability of the increasingly popular Four Loko. The combination stimulant and depressant has led to hospitalizations amongst college-aged binge drinkers. But for mature fun-seekers, the drink isn't just for rappers any more: it can be a cost-effective way to feel the euphoric effects of far more expensive drugs in the midst of this Great Recession. On Friday night, after discovering that the Barcade in L.A.'s Koreatown is unrelated to the one in Williamsburg, we sat down at a diner to eat french fries and drink more beers. As I was making poor ordering decisions (stay away from the BBQ beef sandwich), my friend Cate mentioned that she enjoyed the 'Premium Malt Beverage with Artificial Flavors • Guarana • Taurine • Caffeine and FD&C Red #40.'" (TheAwl)



"Two weeks ago, at the Bowery Hotel, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, the younger half-sibling of the artistically diverse Ronson family, described what can happen nowadays to kids like herself who don't have professional representation ... A few years ago, this newspaper would have called Ms. Dexter-Jones a socialite, a title that has become increasingly difficult to dispense given how much young men and women have capitalized on their socializing by designing, modeling, acting, styling, photographing and DJ'ing-possibly all at the same time. These are the kids who take lunch meetings at the Smile and reconvene later that evening at the Jane or the Bowery hotel-activities that instead of intervening with their careers have actually helped make them. The marketing departments of companies like Levi's, Club Monaco and Target-eager, in this economy, to re-brand, downsize and cozy up to the buyer looking for their local designer boutique-have begun asking them (often through Facebook, how else?) to lend their distinguished coolness to national brands: Could Ms. Dexter-Jones design a capsule collection? DJ a brand launch? Make a video short for our Web site? What about television-does she want to do television?!" (Observer)

The New York Times' Upcoming Metered Approach: A 'Softer Gate'

From eMediaVitals:

Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president of digital operations at the New York Times Co., recently referred to the paper of record's upcoming metered model on Bloomberg as a "softer approach." Said Nisenholtz:

"We haven't tried it before. The metered model is a new approach... The FT actually has that approach ...it's a certain number of free articles then after that it tips into a paywall and the reason you want to do this is that is to keep your big base -- you want to keep that big audience of people coming in from Twitter and elsewhere. And you're monetizing the people who are drinking very deeply, using a lot of the content."

Nisenholtz is bullish about social media and in particular Twitter in adding to the Gray Lady's user base. "I think the thing that surprises me most is the power of social media in spreading the news," said Nisenholtz. "It's just been an enormous turbo charger on Times content: Tweeted, blogged, Facebooked -- whatever. Huge. it's just added millions of new users to the franchise." The New York Times, according to Journalistics, is the top newspaper on Twitter (Anil Dash, rather convincingly, disagrees).

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"In a single, unexpected stroke President Barack Obama may have made his trip to India one of the most important of his presidency. By announcing his support for Indian permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council, Obama advanced a number of important goals. First, he went a long way toward establishing a truly special relationship between the world's largest democracy and the United States. He embraced an issue that was important to Indians and, despite the certainty of Pakistan's public unhappiness with the decision and China's less public but nonetheless undoubted discomfort with it, he showed courage and vision in doing so. Second, he found an issue that could measure up to or even trump the Bush administration's nuclear deal with India, thus ensuring a strong sense of momentum in a relationship that must move forward if both countries are to rise to the challenges of the new century. Third, he underscored that his administration was serious about turning rhetoric about rethinking multilateralism, and working with a new set of powers, into action. While working within the framework of the G-20 was a step in that direction, that process actually began two years ago under the Bush administration. Adjustments made in the structure of international financial institutions were another positive step, but frankly were rather underwhelming, leaving behind serious representational imbalances." (David Rothkopf/ForeignPolicy)

"A ticking clock situation is playing out at Paramount Pictures over the sci-fi classic Dune, one that is emblematic of how studio infatuation for branded fare has brought with it the added burden of pleasing rights holders who not only get gross deals but also a big say in how movies are made and released. Rumors raced recently that Paramount would end four years of development on the Frank Herbert novel by putting the project in turnaround. I'm told that's not true, but the studio will be done with Dune by next spring if it hasn't firmed a production start by then. The rights holders won't grant another option extension. Armed with a new Dune draft by Chase Palmer, the studio and producers Kevin Misher and Richard P. Rubinstein are going out to directors today to create a new movie out of the 1965 book that is reputed to be the biggest selling science fiction novel ever." (Deadline)

"The New York Times hosted a party for Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds who have co-edited The New York Times Complete Civil War-1861-1865. Hefty and handsome, this book is an anthology of coverage of the Civil War by the newspaper of record. The party was held on the 15th floor of the Times building on West 41st Street. The highlight of the evening was when actor André De Shields read the famous battle-field correspondence by New York Times' correspondent, Samuel Wilkeson." (NYSocialDiary)

"Has Courtney Love set her sights on a new man? Despite recently complaining of money woes, she bid a whopping $17,000 for tea with Oscar winner Adrien Brody at Paul Haggis' Artists for Peace and Justice fund-raiser for Haitian schools Friday night. Spies said Love got into a fierce bidding war with Gerard Butler over Brody at the bash, which also marked the opening of restaurant Salon Millesime at the Carlton Hotel on Madison Avenue. She also scooped up a walk-on part in Haggis' next movie. Also there: Russell Crowe, Susan Sarandon, Salman Rushdie, Edward Norton, Trudie Styler, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andre Balazs." (PageSix)

Adam Sandler Bought The Stars of Grown Ups Cars

Adam Sandler is kind of famous among comedians for being a "good guy" --and a Republican. How else does one explain the quixotic, frequent appearances of Rob Schneider in his films other than a supreme act of selfless friendship (Averted Gaze)? But even for Sandler, this is kind of extreme. This morning Chris Rock called in The Howard Stern Show, promoting a DVD release. As always, Howard Stern -- with the gift of gab -- managed to get the guest to reveal something interesting (the life of movie stars). From HowardStern:

Chris Rock called in to promote the DVD release of 'Grown Ups,' leading Howard to ask if he had points on the film's back end, as he thought it was Adam Sandler's film. Chris shrugged: 'You know what? I don't know. I don't even know.' Chris said Adam had sent him a brand new Maserati after the film became an international success: 'He gave all of us cars...I bullshit you not, Howard.' Chris said he was also getting pressure from the studio: 'Somebody at the studio must listen to your show because they insisted--they insisted!--I do the show.'

Howard asked if family members hit Chris up for cash very often, and Chris laughed that he'd actually had some pretty extreme requests: 'I had an uncle ask me to buy his house to hide it in a divorce.' Chris said he just doesn't reply: "You just become missing. You start having another 'another number.'"

And, better yet (thanks to Anthony De Rosa for the refresher):

Howard referenced a story about Chris warming up the audience at a taping of 'The Cosby Show,' so Chris laughed that he'd just been on hand when the regular guy was out sick. Chris bombed: "One of my big bits at the time was how racist I thought Fat Albert was...so I'm doing that material at 'The Cosby Show.' Cosby hears it and I'm literally thrown outside."


Later, the two became friends. Bill even invited Chris over to his home: "Legend has it--even though I don't know this [at the time]--that he has two houses on one block. So you're in the entertaining house. You're not even in the real house. But he gave me some books...some heavy black books, you know. Get in touch with your blackness."

Full story here.

Will Apple do to Publishers what it did to the Record Labels?

There is real concern over the power of Apple among newspaper and magazine publishers. From my day job at eMediaVitals:

The Audit Bureau of Circulations and ABC Interactive have released a new study, "Going Mobile: How Publishers are solidifying strategies and Adapting to the Mobile Market."

...Still, last year responders were somewhat divided as to which company would have the largest impact on the mobile publishing industry. In 2009, responders said Apple eventually would, but -- and this is key -- Amazon ran a close second.

What a difference a year makes. In 2010, 86 percent of respondents cited Apple as the e-reader company most likely to impact the publishing market. Google/Android was a distant second while Amazon came in at number three.

As Apple becomes an indispensable middleman for newspaper and magazine publishers in the e-reader space, the company is also creating unease, due largely to the increasing frustration publishers have with its subscription model. Only 11 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Apple's handling of subscriber information and analytics, with 15 percent saying they were dissatisfied. Further, a paltry 19 percent of responders said they were actually satisfied with Apple's app business model.

Kind of interesting how perceived "hyperpower" affects both corporations and states. The full article here.

60 Minutes: David Stockman



I missed this interview from last week (did you?). Interesting, conversation worthy -- what a long, strange trip Stockman has been on. Stockman was also on The Week with Christiane Amanpour on Sunday debating the newly empowered conservative Congressman Mike Pence (A Robert Novak fave).

This comes from Ronald Reagan's old budget director. "Stockman, if you remember, was the perfect Picture of Dorian Gray Republican counter-persona hiding behind the broad-shouldered, muscular cowboy image Reagan projected when he was lecturing the world about how poor people had to give up the welfare tit and do their own damn work," is how Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi recently put it.

Even back then, the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan -- one of the towering figures of the age -- said that Stockman had confided in him that even Reagan doubted the tax cut theory. Try explaining that to the teabaggers.