A Little Of The Old In And Out



(image via unic.org)

In: Ban-Ki Moon. United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon will be making the rounds in Washington, meeting with a new American President committed to international issues. Today he visited Haiti -- a serious concern in our hemisphere -- with former President Bill Clinton, deeply in President Obama's foreign policy orbit. From Foreign Policy:

"U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is making the rounds in Washington this week, sources tell The Cable. An invite from Sen. John Kerry initially spurred his trip down -- sort of a second 'introduction to Washington' type of trip for the U.N. chief, who was supported for the job by the Bush administration. Ban Ki-moon pushed hard subsequently for a personal meeting with Obama, which was granted. He's also meeting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Senate Foreign Relations Committee members also have a private, members-only coffee scheduled with the U.N. chief. Issues on the agenda are expected to include Iran, climate change, Sudan/Bashir/ICC peacekeeping and human rights council/Durban Review. Ban Ki-moon had strong Bush administration support that catapulted him to the SG position, a Hill source notes, 'partially because the Bush administration viewed him as a do no harm type of leader who would be more amendable to Washington demands than the increasingly independent Kofi Annan.' UPDATE: NSC spokesman Mike Hammer writes, 'President Obama will meet with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the White House on Tuesday, March 10. It will be their first meeting since the president took office.'"

Is it just us or does Senator Kerry, presently of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but previously an honorable mention in the Secretary of State race, look to be freelancing -- is that le mot juste? -- quite a bit (On Syria, on this)?



Out: The $28 Million Chair. From Gawker:

"At last month's orgy of consumption that was the Yves Saint-Laurent's art auction, a $28 million armchair claimed the prize for decadence. Now The Economist has revealed the mogul who flaunted his obscene wealth:

"It was Henry Kravis, the Wall Street titan known for playing primarily with other people's money. Of course, the person holding the paddle in Paris was dealer Cheska Vallois, who has been suspected of secretly making purchases for Kravis before. In 2004, rumor had it that he'd purchased an entire suite of furniture by early 20th-century designer Armand-Albert Rateau."

More here.



In: The Watchmen. Who watches the Watchmen? Exit polling showed 65% of the Watchmen's audience this weekend was male, and 65% over the age of 25. The film, adapted from the popular Alan Moore graphic novel, landed atop the box office in three days of showings. From DeadlineHollywoodDaily:

"Warner Bros' superhero doomsday thriller with no stars and lots of violence opened to a $25.1 million Friday and $19M Saturday for a blockbuster $55.6M weekend with Sunday's estimate of $11.5M. But that's lower than the $60sM which the studio was hoping for Watchmen .. But moviegoers didn't necessarily like the movie as shown by a Cinemascore of only "B". However, pumping up Friday's total was the $4.5M from 1,600 Thursday midnight and Friday 12:01 AM shows including all 124 sold-out Imax screenings. (IMAX even added about 20 more 3 AM shows to accommodate the big demand.)

The long running time of two hours, 43 minutes and an "R" rating didn't hurt the pic.