Media-Whore's D'Oevres



"One of the highlights of my life out here in La La Land was getting the opportunity to meet (Gore Vidal). Several times. The last time I saw Mr. Vidal was at the premiere for Jarhead. I saw someone wheel him out of the men's room after the screening and I chased after him like a bobby-soxer going after Sinatra. "What did you think of the movie Mr. Vidal?" I asked breathlessly. He didn't really remember I'd met him before ( with his nephew Burr Stears, director of Igby Goes Down) but I didn't care. Just to stand near this legend (that no one else seemed to recognize) was worth having to suffer through the movie. 'I lived during World War II,' he said, then mumbled something I couldn't hear above the din emitting from the cluster-fuck of Prada-suited power-agents near the popcorn stand. "It's all a waste," I finally heard from the ageing historian. 'A terrible waste.'" (Papermag)

"Ms. Winfrey ... is definitely Obama’s girl, supporting the Illinois senator’s presidential bid in her typically big, multiplatform way. And now, the the “My Girl” interchange is campaign-famous. In what the Internet universe refers to as 'meatspace,' there’s the big Sept. 8 fund-raiser for Mr. Obama—to be held at her $64 million estate in Montecito, Calif. (Tara II, it’s called.) That’s going well: It was apparently so in demand among Democrats that tickets were restricted to the 250 members of Mr. Obama’s national finance committee. Each got seven of the coveted $2,300 tickets to sell to friends who want to give the primary-season limit to Mr. Obama—or who just want to get a look at the talk-show queen’s 23,000-square-foot Georgian style mansion, or stroll the 42 acres of ponds, orchards and rustic outbuildings. But the millions of dollars the event will raise for Mr. Obama is not the most interesting thing Ms. Winfrey has to offer his campaign. 'My money isn’t going to make any difference,' Ms. Winfrey told Larry King in May. 'My value to him, my support of him is probably worth more than any check that I could write.'" (Observer)

"Tamara Mellon has upped her ante for fall. The president and founder of Jimmy Choo has created the Jet Set Collection, the perfect complement to her client’s high-flying lifestyle. The Bari bag, designed in collaboration with creative director Sandra Choi, is a $28,000 limited-edition crocodile bag that comes complete with its own fur blanket." (Fashionweekdaily)

"In any given summer, the Hamptons are transformed into an A.T.M. for national politicians, particularly Democrats who are running for president. This year, the moneyed parts of Long Island have become a 24-hour bank machine for one campaign in particular. 'There’s no question about it,' said corporate P.R. man Morris Reid. 'Hillary Clinton owns the Hamptons.'" (Observer)