Network executives could hardly argue that viewers don’t care about politics. Last week’s Democratic debate on MSNBC drew almost eight million viewers, and won higher ratings than any of the three network’s shows — including NBC’s ill-fated debut of its made-for-the-Internet series, “Quarterlife.” That debate was the highest-rated program in MSNBC’s history — before that, the cable news station’s highest rating was 3.7 million on March 19, 2002, the night the invasion of Iraq began.
Sigh. Well, already-error-prone Stanley suddenly had to file on deadline and everything last night, just like an honest-to-god newspaper reporter. Given her track record even without these constraints, it's a miracle her copy was not, somehow, even worse.
From the Times:
"What my head tells me is that we’ve got a very sizable delegate lead that is going to be hard to overcome,” Mr. Obama said. “But, look, she is a tenacious and determined candidate, so we’re just going to make sure we work as hard as we can, as long as it takes.”
From MSNBC:
Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson, in a conference call with reporters Monday, euphemistically called the seven-week hiatus “an interesting new phase” in the struggle between Obama and Clinton. He suggested the phase would be filled with questions fired from Clinton about Obama’s relationship with indicted Chicago businessman Tony Rezko whose trial on federal corruption charges is now underway in Chicago.
MSNBC: After Ohio, a long puzzling hiatus
• Greg Giroux is particularly struck by how many Ohioans are worried about their financial situation. [Net Results/CQ Politics]
• Norah O'Donnell and Adam Verdugo write that Clinton's base has returned. [First Read/MSNBC]
• Matthew Yglesias writes that the racist vote pushed Clinton over the top in Ohio. [Atlantic]
• Andrew Sullivan notes that African-Americans also vote along racial lines, it just doesn't seem as wrong. [Atlantic]
• Greg Sargent thinks maybe Clinton's edge among late-deciders (11 points in Ohio, 23 points in Texas) is a result of Obama's NAFTA controversy. [Talking Points Memo]
• Lisa Schiffren wonders whether late-deciders had always leaned towards Clinton and were simply holding off in case something better came along. [Corner/National Review]
• Amy Walters believes Clinton's critique of Obama's national security experience moved the late-deciders to her camp. [Hotline]
• Alex Koppelman notes that even though Clinton was the one pushing for more debates, those in Ohio who thought the debates were important voted for Obama. [War Room/Salon]
• Michael Crowley is surprised by how few Ohioans named Iraq as their number one issue, and also notes that Clinton, for unknown reasons, fared much better on health care in Ohio than Texas. [Stump/New Republic]
• Joe Van Kanel wonders whether the 10 percent of Texas Democratic primary voters who were Republican cross-overs were taking orders from Rush Limbaugh to vote for Clinton. [Political Ticker/CNN]
• Jim Geraghty says that the Republican cross-overs might just be voting for Obama. [Campaign Spot/National Review] —Dan Amira
For a complete guide to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain — from First Love to Most Embarrassing Gaffe — read the 2008 Electopedia.
As you can see, the cachet of a listicle vs. the number of items listed roughly follows an inverse normal curve, with an "uncanny valley" bottoming out in the teens.
[Email tip, KiptonArt]
Lou Pearlman is going to quit playing games with the Feds.
The former music mogul responsible for assembling hitmakers the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy,...
Conspiracy theories on contestant hairpieces and unearthed, years-old DUI arrests aside, American Idol has broken its first big scandal of the season--and the Fox juggernaut's producers barely batted...
Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead has been handed the keys to the castle.
Larry Birkhead's 18-month-old daughter with Anna Nicole Smith was declared the sole beneficiary to the late model's...
Cute but costume, as Nina Garcia might say.Photo: Courtesy of Phoodie.info
• Someone designed a T-shirt commemorating Heath Ledger's death, but it just looks creepy and disturbing. [Fashion Week Daily]
• H&M booked Brazilian model Raquel Zimmerman for its upcoming resort campaign. Zimmerman has previously been the face of Viktor & Rolf's diffusion line for H&M. [Fashionista]
• Chris Benz says the heat wave is helping inspire his resort 2009 collection, which he worked on while wearing a wife beater and tattered jeans. [Moment/NYT]
• You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the season finale of Project Runway, but you don't have to wait to buy the clothes. The outfits from Chris and Sweet P's final collections are up for bidding online through tomorrow. But the other collections will follow so if you're interested, you should probably save your money. [FabSugar]
• Pete Wentz is opening a "punk-themed beauty parlor" in Chicago. We're glad we don't live in Chicago. [Female First]
She's wearing clothes behind that artsy blurPhoto: Courtesy of Opening Ceremony
FabSugar says: "It's mostly eccentric, but did we expect anything else from the quirky actress? I'm talking gingham, florals, and fun frocks — with an early '90s reference. I'd definitely wear individual pieces, though in a slightly more polished way."
We say: We can't say we'd wear any of it, especially that T-shirt on the right. Sevigny must not have gotten the memo: When the florals come out in warm weather, so do the boobs.
Photo: WireImage.
Lohans Living It Up on E! [E! Online]
Photo: Courtesy of The Fashion Spot
Photo: Getty Images
Reznor Not Singing All the Way to the Bank: Nine Inch Nails' online store has sold its entire run of 2,500 $300 limited-edition versions of his self-released new instrumental album, Ghosts (which just went on sale on Sunday), meaning Trent Reznor's probably already made at least $600,000 on a double album of synthesizer instrumentals. [Idolator]
The CW to Bring Underrepresented Minority to Prime Time: Because Gossip Girl clearly hasn't taught us enough about the plight of spoiled wealthy teenagers, the CW has green-lit a pilot based on Zoey Dean's How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls. [Variety]
Warner Buys Children: Charles Bock's Beautiful Children has been optioned by Warner Independent Pictures, who are reportedly in talks to have Eric Roth write the screenplay. Maybe now the press will finally start paying Bock some attention. [Variety]
Pitchfork Invents Music Televison: On April 7, Pitchfork will launch its own video site, Pitchfork.tv, finally giving their telegenic music critics a chance in the spotlight. [Pitchfork]
American Idol Scandal Roundup: Eliminated Idol contestant Robbie Carrico denies wearing a wig. Finalist David Hernandez will not lose his place on the show just because he used to be a stripper (though the controversy causes Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil to wonder if we have a national bias against male strippers). Also, the list of songs contestants are performing tonight has leaked and — spoiler alert! — it's terrible. [People, AP, Idolator]
Photo: Getty Images
Jobs: Co-hosts of Fox's lively news-and-entertainment program The Morning Show With Mike & Juliet.
Ages: Huddy is 38, and Jerrick is 57.
Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Juliet: My mom is my favorite living New Yorker. She grew up in Closter, New Jersey, but moved to New York City immediately after graduation to study acting. She moved to Miami after meeting my dad in the late sixties. Things came full circle, and now she’s back in the area. She always had such cool stories of her city days, acting at Neighborhood Playhouse and American Academy of Dramatic Arts and singing at places like the Living Room. I always thought New York had a magical appeal to it, and it’s totally because of her.
Mike: Jimmy Breslin.
What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
Mike: Definitely the black cod with edamame dumplings at Buddakan.
Juliet: I have to say, I have had some pretty sick (translated: great) late-night (translated: had been out on the town) meals (does standing at a counter constitute a meal?) at Pakistani Tea House down near Chambers Street. However, I love the filet at Del Frisco’s, near my studio. I also love starting my Del meal with the lettuce wedge slathered with blue-cheese dressing.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Juliet: I do as much as I possibly can to get on Mike’s nerves, because it’s really funny to watch him when he gets cranky.
Mike: I fight off Juliet’s sexual advances and annoy co-workers.
Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
Juliet: I would, but I’d become a hell of a lot better at letting other people foot the tab.
Mike: No.
What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
Mike: A cab hitting a hot-dog vender. The last good thing I saw was Grey Gardens.
Juliet: Young Frankenstein — I love Roger Bart. He came on our show; he was really cool and much cuter in person.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
Juliet: If they’re clearly disabled or very old it’s hard for me not to. However, nothing annoys me more than the guys who stand there with the signs saying, “Okay, I admit it, I’m just gonna use this for beer.” Ha-ha; real cute.
Mike: Yes.
What's your drink?
Juliet:
I love frozen margaritas — the mango margs at Mexican Radio are great, and the pomegranate margs at Rosa Mexicana are amazing and potent.
Mike: Mine's a Glenlivet on the rocks.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
Mike: One meal out of ten.
Juliet: Horrifyingly, I never do. I lured my boyfriend with tales of how much I love watching football and cooking. I was a great cheerleader this season for the Giants, but, in the nine months we’ve been together, I’ve cooked twice.
What's your favorite medication?
Juliet: My chewy, caramel-flavored vitamins.
Mike: Flintstones chewables and Advil liquid gels.
What's hanging above your sofa?
Mike: A downstairs neighbor. Just kidding. An abstract painting.
Juliet: Exposed pipes. I live in a loft, and the sofa is in the middle of the room.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
Juliet: Thankfully, my haircuts are taken care of through work, but hundreds of dollars for a haircut is crazy.
Mike: $300.
When's bedtime?
Mike: It's usually 11 p.m., but it should be 9 p.m.
Juliet: I was the kid growing up at slumber parties who started bitching at the girls to be quiet so I could get sleep. Bedtime is as early as I can make it without totally gypping my friends and loved ones out of quality time.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Juliet: Since I’m walking around Times Square very early in the morning to get to work, I prefer the new and safer Times Square.
Mike: New Times Square, but I miss scaring my out-of-town friends with the old Times Square.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
Juliet: I love him. He went out of his way to help me out with something a few years back, and I’ll never forget it.
Mike: Big-time fan.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Juliet: That it’s such a haul to get out to L.A., where I used to live and still have family and friends, including my dad.
Mike: That New York football is played in New Jersey.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Juliet: The girl that tries to get a guy’s attention when she knows he’s with his girlfriend or wife.
Mike: Time.
When's the last time you drove a car?
Mike: Christmas holiday in South Beach.
Juliet: A…car? What is this…car you speak of?
Who should be the next president?
Juliet: I’m still undecided, but I will say this is the most exciting election in my memory. We have, in hot contention, a former POW, a woman, and an African-American.
Mike: Michael Bloomberg.
Times, Post, or Daily News?
Juliet: I am a New York Post fan.
Mike: The Post.
Where do you go to be alone?
Mike: St. Mary’s Church on West 47th.
Juliet: I love the view from the waterfront in Jersey — the New York skyline is unbelievable from 14th Street in Hoboken. In the evening, it literally glitters. One of my favorite things to do is to sit on a bench by the water in the warm weather and watch the cruise ships go by on Sunday afternoon.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
Juliet: A love of starting a night on the town at 11 p.m. and trying to convince out-of-towners that it’s cool and not crazy.
Mike: After ten years of living here, you still celebrate the good, the bad, and the ugly, and it irks you off when people dis it.
Bob Marley may soon be jammin' on the big screen.
The Weinstein Company has sealed a deal to develop, produce and distribute the first-ever biopic of the late reggae legend after snagging...
Here's a look at the 10 most watched broadcast network prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
1. "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 28.6...
From left, Koons; MardenPhotos: Patrick McMullan
Brice Marden was one of several big-name artists who turned out last night for a gala dinner at Gagosian Gallery celebrating the 30th anniversary of Studio in a School, a nonprofit that hooks up public-school students with materials and artist mentors — with the goal, Marden seemed to be hoping, of improving all the crappy public art in the city.
"Who's that guy with the bulls? I don't like those," he said, referring to Arturo Di Modica, the sculptor best known for a certain 7,000-pound bronze icon just off Wall Street. "It's just anecdotal, it doesn't have much art involved." He was being charmingly vague and off-handed and unashamedly highfalutin — probably the way all accomplished abstract painters are, come to think of it. What would his next target be? Surely not Garden in Transit, the ambitious taxi-painting project conceived of as a creative outlet for disabled children! "I hated the daisies on the cabs," he said. "Disgusting! Just awful. They're the tritest, most banal — you know, and this is like New York City, the great cultural center."
We suggested that maybe Marden, best known for his gorgeous squiggles, could hit the streets and show those kids how it's done? He shrugged. "I don't know. There's enough public art out there already."
We have to admit, we love the man's candor. Plus, Jeff Koons had his back. Moments later, when we asked the oversize-kitsch specialist how he felt about New York public art, he said he was more concerned about potholes. Maybe Koons had some ideas for dressing them up? We had a vision of brigades of enormous topiary puppies replacing those boring old pylons. "No," Koons said. "Just, uh — fix 'em." —Darrell Hartman
Julie Rofman’s Left Over (2008).Image courtesy of the artist and Caren Golden Fine Art, New York.
Painter Julie Rofman rigs this high-school gymnasium with such an abundance of junk it makes it hard to say if she's decorating for a dance (balloons!) or playing a prank (chandeliers, paper cutouts, carpets, the kitchen sink, etc.). Her work is part of a group exhibition up at Chelsea's Caren Golden gallery through March 15. —Rachel Wolff
From left: Michael Kors, Balenciaga, and Lanvin.Photos: Imaxtree
:( Photo: Getty Images
In attempting to counter Obama’s lead in popular votes and states won, the Clinton campaign has argued that superdelegates should be free to exercise their own judgment in deciding where to cast their lots, however pledged delegates are allocated. Problem is, superdelegates have been drifting away from Clinton ever since Super Tuesday. Every week, Obama has picked up a clutch of them, while Clinton has lured hardly any. Clinton’s superdelegate lead over Obama, nearly 100 on February 10, has shrunk to just 46, according to Democratic Convention Watch, which maintains handy lists of exactly which superdelegates are supporting which candidates.
The Clinton camp has also been holding in reserve the results from Michigan and Florida, where Hillary’s name was on the ballot despite DNC sanctions against those states for holding their primaries too early. But between Obama’s string of victories and his gains among superdelegates, his lead over Clinton is almost enough to survive even if Michigan and Florida are counted.
Consider this best-case scenario for Hillary: Freeze the superdelegates where they are and add all of them, plus all the committed delegates from Michigan and Florida, to the pledged delegates. Pretend Michigan’s 55 uncommitted delegates (which resulted from anti-Clinton votes) don’t exist and forget John Edwards’s 25 delegates, too. Do all that, and Clinton leads Obama, but by just 1,468 to 1,453.
Sometime soon — maybe not Tuesday night, but perhaps after Mississippi on the 11th or when another handful of superdelegates reading swing-state polls declare for Obama — that fifteen-delegate lead is going to vanish. And then Clinton will be out of trumps.
Hillary will have to significantly outgain Obama in pledged delegates in April and May for any of her side arguments about superdelegates and excluded delegations to even matter. Just something to keep in mind, whatever narrative emerges after tonight. —Peter Keating
Lord of the Seals, Nigel BarkerPhotos: Nigel Barker
See, in a few weeks a seal hunt will take place on the very ice Barker's body hath grazed, and these adorable seal pups that can barely outrun glaciers will be unable to escape the spears of hunters after their fur. Barker will heroically return to document the hunt at the end of the month. In an online video about the shoot, Barker remarks, "It's ridiculous to think that we can come out here in a few weeks' time and kill these beautiful creatures for their fur that looks more beautiful on them than it will ever look on us."
Noted fashion photographer? Only during American's Next Top Model air times. Noted human being? Yeah, we're gonna have to give him that one.
Photo: Joan Marcus
On Friday, February 8, T. Ryder Smith was heading into a five-show closing weekend of In This Corner at San Diego's Old Globe when director Anne Bogart called him from New York and asked him to take the role of the titular carcass in Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone, opposite Mary-Louise Parker. (Actor Bill Camp had a scheduling conflict.) "They said, 'Can you be here Tuesday?'" says Smith, who ditched his plans — and an already-leased car — in L.A. to do just that. He spoke with Vulture about learning lines under pressure and playing dead onstage. Cell Phone opens tonight from Playwrights Horizons.
What was it like stepping into the role midway through previews?
Like taking over the wheel of a truck on the highway. Years ago I had done Underneath the Lintel downtown under rather grim circumstances — it was right after 9/11, and it was in a frozen zone. There was a complication with the theater rental, and the producer said, “Here’s the situation. We’ve lost rehearsal weeks so you’d have to start tomorrow morning, you would rehearse six days, and you would open for press on the seventh. Are you willing to do it?” It was a one-person show, 60 pages of single-spaced text, and we did it. And I thought, Surely that now fixes some sort of mark. It will never be that stressful again. Till this came along. I don’t know what my possible encore could be after this in terms of pressure.
Maybe a day next time?
I think I will memorize, rehearse, and perform a one-man Coriolanus. I’ll do it in three hours.
You do have quite a monologue in the second act. Is that something you just keep going over and over?
I’ve done a lot of one-person shows, and I’ve found that just in order to have some sort of psychic ease, you need to run through the entire show twice before you do it each day. So when I did Thom Pain, I recited that entire hour-and-twenty-minute piece twice a day before I walked onstage. I do this one a couple of times when I wake up, I do it while riding the subway — I probably do the monologue eight times a day.
Whereas in the first act you’re essentially just playing dead. Mary-Louise Parker pokes you a little, but you’re really not moving. How do you sit so still?
Yes, it’s bizarre. It seems like a simple assignment: Don’t swallow, don’t move, don’t blink for seven or ten minutes of the scene. But I guess it makes you aware of how much instinctive nervous movement the human body has when you try to prevent it from doing any of those things. I’ve never gotten through a performance yet where I didn’t blink once, and on one particularly bad matinee — the heat in the theater must have been dry — I was actually crying. Tears were just streaming down my cheeks because I was trying so hard to keep my lids up. I can often hear sort of a running narration about my character down there in the first couple of rows: “Is he dead?" "Oh, he didn’t move," "Is that his phone ringing?”
You can hear people saying that?
Oh, I can hear them, yeah. And of course you’re aware of every sound backstage, and the things you have to guard against are instinctive blinking when someone gets close to you. When she touches the spoon to my nostrils to see if I am breathing, it sometimes sends a static-electricity spark up my nose. I feel I can now have a second career as one of those people on the subway who stands there not moving, make a couple of dollars on the way home.
Do you think you’ll get a break after this one?
A break? I don’t know what that word means! I have to look that up. —Lori Fradkin
Bedford-Stuyvesant: Wait a minute. Is this entire building just a carefully executed, giant beer bong? [Newyorkshitty]
Dumbo: This hood's waterfront is getting rezoned. What does it mean for you and your view? [DumboNYC]
Long Island City: The G train might be 50 percent more useful? Stop the world, we wanna get off! [Clinton Hill Blog]
South Bronx: Hip-hop landmark 1520 Sedgwick Avenue has been saved by the city. Watch this video to learn about why that's a good thing. [RazorApple]
Staten Island: The only thing better than this story about Wiccans feeding stray cats are the comments on it. [Staten Island Advance]
Williamsburg: The Domino Sugar factory's future is not exactly, um, refined yet. [Curbed]
Photo: Alan De Smet/Wikipedia
In sad news today, Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has died. He passed away at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and is survived by his wife and [rolls dice] six children. (This joke brought to you courtesy of Futurama.) To learn more about the fascinating Gygax, check out this terrific 2006 profile by Paul La Farge in The Believer, written in the format of a Dungeons and Dragons manual.
Dungeons & Dragons co-creator dies at 69 [AP]
Destroy All Monsters [Believer]
Julie White at last night's benefit.Photo illustration: Everett Bogue; Photo: Getty Images
Okay, Cave-fans: The bad news is that ABC still hasn't decided when, if ever, to renew Cavemen on ABC. The good news is that the stars of TV's furriest sitcom have heard Vulture's pleas and are hoping for more! At last night's benefit for the Jackie Robinson Foundation, series star (and hilarious Tony winner) Julie White lit up like a mother meeting her daughter's Cro-Magnon boyfriend when we told her we were from New York. "It may be," she said cheerfully, "that Cavemen was so cutting-edge and before its time that only a few readers of New York magazine got it." But what about our crusade? Hadn't Stephen McPherson changed his mind when he received envelopes full of hair? A giggling White replied, "We so appreciate your support, but apparently there was not the avalanche of hair that New York Magazine had hoped for."
But there's still hope, she said. "Now I think what the blog should agitate for is just the seven episodes that we made that have never aired to at least get on the air. Because I thought they were pretty funny." Well, where are they?, we asked. "Didn't you see the end of Indiana Jones, with that long big vault with all that stuff in it?" she asked. "That's where those seven episodes are." So until such time as Indy busts in and saves the day, people, get cracking! If you haven't had a chance to clip-and-save Cavemen, it's not too late! If you've already sent one nice, big envelope full of hair, send another one! (Shave a cat, or your girlfriend!) Julie White — and Cave-fans everywhere — demands it. —Stephen Haskell
Earlier: Help Vulture Save ‘Cavemen’: Send Your Hair to ABC!
The ‘Cavemen’ Crusade Continues: We Send Hair to ABC!
Photo courtesy of EsteeLauder.com
Courtesy of Silver Arrow Records
It's the Crowes' first album since 2001's Lions, and it's pretty much exactly what you'd think — the same well-played, inoffensive, mostly forgettable refried bar blues they've been peddling since 1990's Shake Your Money Maker . On a five-star scale (with one being poor and five being a classic), Warpaint isn't poor, but while it comfortably surpasses fair, it definitely falls short of good. As far as reunion albums go, it's better than some, but even Black Crowes fans probably won't really ever listen to it. Deep down we sort of half-expected there to be one or two great songs that might've earned it that coveted third star, but they never really materialize. And now, having heard Warpaint, we find it almost hard to think of another album more emblematic of everything a two-and-a-half-star record should be. Sure, they flouted a few critical ethics, but in the end, Maxim made the right call and saved themselves 54 minutes.
Photo: Getty Images
Jessica Simpson's Boyfriends Meet in New York [HuffPo]
The rich and tacky bandy about in our very own city! On camera!Photo: Getty Images
Left: Best Dressed goes to LuAnn de Lesseps. The color on the dress is a bit garish, but the cut does great things for her figure. Right: Bethenny Frankel's dress looks like it was made entirely out of the trim of something you might find on the cape of a magician or circus performer.Photo: Getty Images
Left: BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS. Also, didn't our roommate buy that at Forever 21 a year ago? Still, you're in third place, Jill Zarin! Right: We knew Alex McCord was the swift one who sneaked into our parents' house and stole our elementary-school textbook covers! Thievery won't get you past fourth place, sister.Photo: Getty Images
We wore this to the Easter block party we were forced to attend in our youth. And you know what? We grew up in the SUBURBS. In the SOUTH. So you lose, Ramona Singer.Photo: Getty Images
From left, Cady Huffman; Tom Cruise on that fateful night in 1986.Photos: Walter McBride/Retna, WireImage
Cady Huffman, who won a Tony in 2001 playing Ulla in The Producers, has been woefully absent from the musical-theater scene since. Our hopes are high, though, for the show Huffman told us she's working on: My Date With Tom Cruise. The one-woman cabaret, which she mentioned to us last night at the Actors Company Theater's fifteenth-anniversary gala, is indeed based in truth — she says she and Cruise met years ago at the New York premiere of Top Gun. "I was there with a friend of mine, Tony Edwards, who played Goose." (GOOOOOOOOSE!) "I was in a Broadway show at the time" — 1986's short-lived Bob Fosse musical Big Deal — "and, you know, we were just hanging out."
So what happened between her and Maverick? "We danced the night away," she said, adding slyly, "I'll just say he ended up riding me home on his motorcycle at 7:30 in the morning." (Later, though, she confessed, "It was not as exciting as it sounds.") My Date With Tom Cruise will go up soon, “hopefully in the Metropolitan Room, like in May or something,” Huffman told us, adding, “I gotta get it all situated, figure out what songs I want to sing.” Given the short-lived nature of the romance (she confessed the premiere was “our one evening together”), we’re hoping for at least one heart-stopping torch song about the cultist who got away. We’re also trying to think of a song about unrequited love for a gay guy (leave suggestions in the comments!) … but Huffman does not believe the endless rumors. “The baby is his!” —Ben Kawaller
Ready, America? Lights, camera, Lohan!
The brood that birthed Lindsay is getting ready for a close-up of its own, with E! confirming, at long last, that mother Dina and kid sister Ali will...
Photo: Getty Images
Daily Intel: Will you be up all night [tonight] watching returns?
Morley Safer: I think this is the most compelling election in my lifetime or my memory, I should say. Would I have predicted this six months ago? No, I don't think anyone could have.
D.I.: Do you buy the idea that the media is biased toward Obama and against Clinton?
M.S.: No, not at all. Look, I think that candidates get the responses they deserve, pretty much. I think that Mrs. Clinton is a very, very tough woman, who is very commanding. She's also very seasoned, she's a fighter, and she knows how to give it out. And she's learning how to take. She has taken a particular road, and Mr. Obama has taken another road, another approach — not just to the politics of it, but to the people. She has hers, and he has his. And they both seem to be very effective.
D.I.: What do you think of the new Wall Street Journal?
M.S.: Nothing that I've seen, but I'm obviously always very dubious about mass-media ownership.
D.I.: Why are you dubious?
M.S.: Well, put it this way: Mr. Murdoch has a mixed record.
D.I.: Do you have an opinion on the Dan Rather–CBS fight?
M.S.: I have no idea. I don't have an opinion and know nothing about it.
D.I.: Are you in contact with Dan?
M.S.: I am not.
D.I.: Do you support him or your employer?
M.S.: I support me. —Justin Ravitz
Related: Previous Editions of "Tuesdays With Morley"
From left, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, and RodartePhotos: Imaxtree
Photo: Getty Images
Why did you decide to set Lush Life on the Lower East Side?
The Lower East Side is my ancestral home, and right now there's complete chaos of culture. It's also got a million ghosts. Historically, everybody staggered off the boat at Ellis Island, landed on the Lower East Side, and then instantly proceeded to figure out how to get out of there. After five generations we've come full circle back to the Lower East Side. My kids who know the neighborhood so well as it is now only have a marginal awareness that 100 yards away from where they are listening to bands, their great-grandfather was in a kill-or-be-killed situation every day.
Clockers was set in the fictional Dempsy, New Jersey, in large part because you couldn't get access to the NYPD for research. What changed this time?
I just lucked out. Normally if you go through channels, forget it – you won't get permission to hang out with the cops. One of my friends is Michael Daly from the Daily News, and I think he made a call that got the ball rolling. I got permission to go and speak to commander of the 7th Precinct on Pitt Street, and luckily, he'd read some of my stuff and said, "What do you want?" It was paralyzing. No one's ever said that to me, and I couldn't think of an answer when I didn't even know what the questions were. I never go anywhere with a specific aim to find out this, this, and this. I have to know specific things exist before I realize I don't know anything about them.
You're in the process of adapting Tom Rob Smith's debut novel, Child 44, to the screen. How did that come about?
It was offered to me by my agent at CAA who set me up to talk with Ridley Scott, who apparently wanted to work with me for a long time. The book is sort of like a Martin Cruz Smith–type Russian thriller of a particular year, 1953, the year Stalin died. It just seemed so not like me or what I write so I figured, "Why not?"
You had to put it on hold because of the strike, right?
Yeah. But now I'm back. But now I also have a book out, so I'm in the tenth house of madness. I'm half-pitching Lush Life, half-thinking about the life of a KGB agent circa 1953.
I remember reading that you were also behind on your last screenplay…
Nobody ever hands in anything on time, and when they do, it's probably because it's superficial and they didn't do a good job. It's like construction work; a guy looks at your kitchen, says the job will take two weeks. Three months later he says "Ah, the stuff from Italy didn't come, sorry about that." From the outside, anticipating how it's supposed to go is nice, but there's that saying, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.
Screencap from YouTube
So, how did you get involved in writing the dialogue for the video of Michael Jackson’s "Bad"?
Oh my God.
It's on YouTube, you know.
Too late to deny it then. Listen, it sounded like a great idea. Martin Scorsese came to me and said Quincy Jones came to him on behalf of Michael Jackson to do a music video. This was when music videos were just becoming a big thing. So Jackson wanted to show people that he's "down." Think about it: Richard Price, Scorsese, Michael Jackson, who the hell is going to say no? Of course I was going do it. And everybody did their job. Jackson is not a bad actor, and Scorsese, well, he's great. I wrote a really good eight-page script. Problem is that Michael Jackson is Michael Jackson … he looks like Minnie Mouse. And you forget the whole thing has to end with a song. Looking at it now, I think it's cool I did it. No one holds it against me, anyway.
It's definitely one of the more unusual writing credits.
True dat.
— Sarah Weinman
Related: Sam Anderson's review of Lush Life
Photo Illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images
After the jump, we take Kate and Agyness to the sartorial cage match.
Photos: Getty Images
Photos: Deyn (Patrick McMullan), Moss (Getty)
Photos: Getty Images
Photos: Getty Images
Photos: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Missing was Dan Rather.
The original anchor of 48 Hours — who, along with Stringer, got the show off the ground in 1986 with a highly rated pilot, "48 Hours on Crack Street," and pushed the network suits to put it on the weekly schedule — wasn’t invited. In an awkward phone call before the celebration, Zirinsky explained to Rather that he couldn’t come under the circumstances.
The 76-year-old Rather, who had read about the party on the Internet, is, of course, suing the network for $70 million, alleging wrongful termination and a host of other abuses. He left CBS in 2006 after being forced out of his 24-year anchor job at CBS Evening News (along with fourteen years anchoring 48 Hours) amid a scandal involving allegedly forged documents used in Rather’s notorious pre-election 2004 60 Minutes report on President Bush’s National Guard service.
Zirinsky declined to comment. Reached this morning, Rather — who these days anchors Dan Rather Reports on Mark Cuban's HDNet — would say only, “I’m very proud of the people who work at 48 Hours.” —Lloyd Grove
Who wouldn't take this seriously?Photo: 944.com
"[P]eople don't know the real me, and I'm a very hard worker. I travel around the world constantly promoting my projects and endorsing products. Yes, I do get paid to go to parties; in fact, I'm the person who started the whole trend of paid appearances. But when you see me at a party, I'm always working or promoting something, even if it's as simple as wearing my clothing line for the pictures."
Or, let's say, drinking or pretending to eat (we've seen it, y'all!). But if Hilton is so good at promotion, why isn't she wearing more of the clothes she designed in the shoot instead of H&M underwear? No, we think she's got things all wrong. Since this story proves she's not ever going to go away, we've provided a bit of advice for Paris's upcoming projects after the jump so she can become less of a walking contradiction and make it easier for us all to bear her.
944: Will you be starring in another reality show? Hilton: I'm developing another one right now! But I'm also looking for shows to produce. I've been in front of the camera for so many years, so I think it would be interesting to be on the other side for a change, making creative decisions and putting a show together.We suggest: Darling, you were born for the screen! We'd love to see Paris Hilton Fear Factor, where Paris does all the things Fear Factor contestants do, like eat cow patties while maggots crawl all over their faces. We wouldn't miss that.
944: Speaking of being creative, aren't you launching your clothing line this year? Hilton: I actually have two: one international line and one for the U.S. and Canada. It's currently being sold across the nation in Macy's stores and Nordstrom, also Fred Segal, Kitson and a few others, I think. I'm also launching a shoe line this month on the same day my first movie comes out. That's my problem — sometimes I have to be in two places at once.We suggest: Sending a blow-up doll in your place. It will get just as much press, probably more.
944: How much of your work is done in foreign markets? Hilton: The Rich Prosecco beverage hasn't even come to America yet, but it will be coming this year. We've already sold over 10 million cans in Europe.We suggest: Not signing up to market any more alcoholic beverages, especially if you're going to appear in their ads clad entirely in sequins.
944: How many products are you currently endorsing? Hilton: Let's see. I have Dream Catchers, which are my hair extensions, a high-end beverage called Rich Prosecco, my new fragrance Can Can, my dog apparel line with Little Lily and a jewelry line with Damiani. And I'm the face of FILA Sportswear for the Korean market.We suggest: Staying overseas! If Europeans and Koreans like you so much, stay there. You even have a language barrier to justify acting like a ninny.
Quick Change Artist [944]
Related: Paris Hilton: AIDS Bad, Animals Good [NYM]
San Francisco is the right place for Radiohead fans.
The alterna-rockers will join Tom Petty and Jack Johnson in headlining the inaugural Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival set to take...Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek at what your friends and neighbors are doing behind doors left slightly ajar. Today, the Temporarily Celibate Actress: 23, female, Astoria, straight, single.
DAY ONE
10:13 a.m.: Co-worker from my part-time job resurfaces from her walk of shame and begins to give me details of her date last night. I am living vicariously through her. I walk away before I get TMI (too much information).
12:04 p.m.: Working out at the gym during lunch has sufficed to get rid of my sexual frustration, since I don’t seem to do sex lately. I’ve only slept with one guy and am singly in pursuit of lucky number two. The gym provides eye candy, although working out in the theater district leaves me constantly questioning what team they’re on.
12:23 p.m.: Male co-worker is scoping me out as I am elliptical-ing and wording lines to myself to memorize my audition for the end of the week. He asks me if I’m working later. I would probably hook up with him if he didn’t already have a kid.
2 p.m.: Just got an e-mail about a speed-dating event this weekend. E-mailed one of my last single female friends to see if she thought it would be a scary experience and if it seemed too desperate. I wonder if any decent people would actually go to something like this. Humph.
DAY TWO
1:22 p.m.: There are two things about the gym that I hate, and they both involve the women’s locker room: the women who walk around naked and shouldn’t and the women who walk around in their Skivvies and make you wish you looked like them.
1:41 p.m.: I hate how I still think about my ex. The song that was on his MySpace page just played in the subway, and the back of the guy’s head totally looked like him. I really wish I could say I didn’t think about him. I do. A lot.
11:01 p.m.: Just got done watching Lipstick Jungle. Why can’t guys like Kirby exist and not be jerks? I would let him have his way with me in a millisecond.
DAY THREE
7:18 p.m.: My weeklong dream of being the sexy starlet who has an affair with the hot producer was just crushed at the audition I had been preparing for all week. Old, unattractive, etc. The audition went fine.
7:43 p.m.: I phone my roommate to tell her about the audition. She understands the depths of a single girl’s dreams.
DAY FOUR
7 p.m.: My roommate’s friend tells me he’d like to take me to dinner. I find out later he has a fiancée. WTF?
10:12 p.m.: Facebook’s news feed notified me that my long-distance crush was tagged in new pictures from the Super Bowl. I click over immediately, and find…his hand located on the thigh of the girl sitting next to him. And by "girl" I mean "not me." I was totally planning on making him number two on “the list” when he came to visit. Scratch that. There’s a total lack of offers on my end. Life is so unfair.
DAY FIVE
10:39 a.m.: Had the weirdest dream of my ex last night. We were hooking up while he had a girlfriend (nothing new there), but then my mom found out! I’m sure a therapist would have a field day deciphering that one. The dream catcher in my room does not work.
1:45 p.m.: I walk to the dollar store and scope out a potential hookup. I think I have a serious problem: I cannot even walk into the dollar store without trying to scope out a potential hookup!
6:47 p.m.: Friend never got back to me about the speed-dating e-mail, and I feel too embarrassed to bring it up. Guess I’m staying in tonight.
DAY SIX
7:37 p.m.: A guy came into my job today with a fedora. I am in love! Not sure if he’s straight. If he isn’t, I can see our interactions being very reminiscent of a scene from Clueless.
8:14 p.m.: Really cute French guy comes in to work. We have a chat. He’s going to Vegas for a week. I make active plans to seduce him when he gets back. This is the sum total of my love life.
9:49 p.m.: Co-worker tells me that I have a “secret admirer.” By the look on her face, I know she means the old, short, dark-from-too-much-fake-baking co-worker. I’m lacking in the sex department, but even I have standards.
DAY SEVEN
12:52 p.m.: Saw a guy at the gym that looked like fedora guy, minus the fedora. I went into stalker mode and went to the front desk to inquire his name. Not him. I am completely OOC (out of control).
1:23 p.m.: Friend whom I e-mailed about the speed dating calls to invite me to go to her friend’s birthday party. The friend is 26 and one of three male triplets. This gives me two impressions: (1) She knows how long it’s been since I’ve had any sort of interaction with the opposite sex and how desperately single I am, which is true. (2) She knows I’ve been eyeing younger guys lately and is disapproving. Noted. I’m thinking she did get that e-mail after all.
10:01 p.m.: Caught up on Cashmere Mafia online. New hottie alert! Looks just like Kirby. I’m melting in my computer chair. Loving television’s casting decisions lately.
11:38 p.m.: In a not-uncommon panic that I am wasting away my sexual peak, I Google “sexual peak of women.” The good news is that I have until my thirties. The bad news is that I am still wasting my youth with no game.
Totals: Zero acts of intercourse; zero acts of masturbation; zero orgasms; two spontaneous meetings with potential husbands who may well be gay; two acts of reminiscing about the ex.
Photo: Getty Images
"Then the dress comes on, and it's slit so high you can see my utilitarian flesh-colored thong. Unfortunately, this is the Oscars and not a stripper convention. (I've been to both!)" —Diablo Cody [EW]
"I just finished a movie called J.C.V.D. We're going to premiere it in Cannes. It's an acting type of film, a dramatic part." —Jean-Claude Van Damme on trying acting types of films for a change [MTV]
"I could get caught in a hotel room with Gary Coleman, four hookers and an ounce of blow, but since I brought my mom…" —Mark Ronson on looking like a nice guy for taking his mother to the Grammys [Rolling Stone]
"I think that's a similar feeling to what I have now. Not so much as in fuck you, it's more like fuck it. I can only do what feels right." —the Jayhawks' Gary Louris on recording music for himself [A.V. Club]
"You know, he didn't even have a beard back then. I had the very first beard in all of country music. And he used to give me a lot of shit for it!" —Kris Kristofferson on Willie Nelson [Guardian]
Photo: Newscom, Getty Images
The Clintons are lawyers and they’ve been pushing language ever since Bill said "depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."… That’s my problem as a Democrat with the Clintons and the people around Hillary, which include Harold Ickes and Howard Wolfson — all of these people are so self-infatuated with their own clever superiority, that in fact they're quite transparent.
Okay, sure, but Camiiiiilllllllleeeeee! Throw us a bone! What did you think about when Hillary helped Us Weekly pick out her worst outfits of all time? "I don't approve," Paglia snapped. Ahh. Now that's more like it.
This is the other part of the interview we liked:
Hillary gets restrained — this kind of acoustic kind of like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford side of her. But she doesn’t own it. She doesn’t own it, so it’s not funny. She still wants to be this smiling, this Gloria Steinem brand. This pasted-on-smile brand of blonde feminism. She wants to be that when in fact she’s really a b-tch behind the scenes and she won’t cop to that part of her personality. So we don’t get that rampaging humor writing that we get from someone who acknowledges the Joan Crawford within.
Not to quibble, but we kind of prefer imagining her as a Tina Fey kind of bitch, if you don't mind.
Camille Paglia: Hillary Clinton Has "Egg on Her Face" After 60 Minutes [Us Weekly]
Forget just who Kenny Chesney is--just what he is is a music award magnet.
The country superstar continued his stronghold at the top of the twang-happy heap Tuesday, raking in a leading 11...
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Inside the grass-roots field operation of Barack Obama, who is
transforming the way political campaigns are run Click here for Jann S. Wenner's endorsement of Barack Obama. It's Presidents day, two weeks before the Texas primary, and Adam Ukman has come to the small city of San Marcos to train precinct captains for Barack Obama. A soft-spoken native of Houston, Ukman has served on the campaign's front lines in Iowa and Utah, organizing grass-roots supporters to secure decisive victories in both states. This evening, more than eighty residents of San Marcos have crammed into a yellow clapboard... |
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