Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"When John Edwards returned to North Carolina in the course of his long quest for the presidency, Andrew Young always met him at the airport in Edwards’s big black Chevy Tahoe. Young drove, and Edwards rode shotgun, silently raising his left hand whenever he wanted a Diet Coke, which Young would wordlessly supply." (Politico)



"Michael Moore stopped by (The Howard Stern Show) to promote his new film, 'Capitalism: A Love Story,' and explained the security detail he brought with him by citing some people’s reaction to his infamous 'we live in fictitious times' Oscar acceptance speech: 'The next day our home was vandalized...people posted signs saying move to Canada on our trees.' Michael said he has a galvanizing effect on people ('When they see me on the street, they go crazy.'), citing one incident in which a crazed man tried to scald him with hot coffee. Michael blamed incendiary right wing talk show hosts for inciting such behavior because they tell people his films are filled with lies without ever actually identifying any of those lies. Michael even challenged anyone to find a factual error in his movies: 'The opinions in my films are mine...but the facts are facts. I offered $10,000 to anyone who can prove there is a factual lie in one of my movies.'" (HowardStern)



"DICK Parsons -- the former Time Warner chairman who served on President Obama's transition team and now runs Citigroup -- insists he has no intention of running for governor, as some have speculated. 'I honestly feel my race is almost run,' the affable exec, 61, told William O'Shaughnessy on WVOX Radio. "That's not a spring chicken anymore.' Parsons -- who was Nelson Rockefeller's lawyer back in the day and then chairman of the Dime Savings Bank -- mentioned his new grandson, but didn't mention his baby daughter, Ella, borne by Liberian refugee MacDella Cooper, who runs a foundation for Liberian orphans. Parsons, who owns a vineyard in Tuscany, said, "We are the only vineyard in Italy with a motto . . . 'We drink all that we can . . . and then we sell the rest.' What kind of platform is that?' he laughed. 'How can you run on that?'" (PageSix)



"Did you know that Stuart Weitzman is a competitive ping pong player? According to Derek Blasberg, he practices with a robot. We’re not exactly sure what that means, but last night, the shoe designer/table tennis pro hosted a ping pong tournament at the new SPiN ping pong club, in support of Ovarian Cancer Research. Guests, including Joy Bryant, Kristian Laliberte, Carol Han and Robert Fowler snacked on mini hamburgers, truffled popcorn, and cheesecake balls.." (Guestofaguest)



"indieWIRE is conducting a survey of various bloggers and critics, surveying the films from the 2009 New York Film Festival. We asked them to grade all of the films that they’ve seen so far, and we will continue updating their responses through October 11th, the fest’s closing night." (IndieWIRE)



"As a senator, the former 'Saturday Night Live' star has delivered only one speech on the floor, introduced low-profile legislation and declined many media interview requests .. (Senator Al) Franken does talk to media outlets in Minnesota. But otherwise — on a daily basis — the 58-year-old lawmaker travels with a press aide who cuts off all press queries by saying, 'No questions, no questions.' Franken declined The Hill’s request for an interview. After being declared the winner over Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), one of Franken’s first moves was to hire Drew Littman, a veteran of Capitol Hill, as his chief of staff. Littman has assisted more than a handful of Democrats over the past decade in making the transition from senators-elect to members of the upper chamber. Franken has thus far been a reliable vote for Democratic leadership. And of the 72 bills he has formally endorsed, only four were introduced by Republicans. Franken has crafted few pieces of legislation. His Service Dogs for Veterans Act, which seeks to pair service dogs with veterans who need them, was successfully attached to the defense appropriations bill this summer." (TheHill)



"A guard looks out from a temporary grandstand erected in Tiananmen Square. On Thursday, the largest military parade in China's modern history will pass through the square as part of elaborately planned celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China." (ForeignPolicy)



"Former Senator Rick Santorum has expressed interest in running for President in 2012. Although Santorum said in a conference call that he has "no plans," he will be delivering speeches in Des Moines and Dubuque, Iowa, the nation's first presidential caucus state. The former Senator from Pennsylvania fueled speculation of a Presidential run earlier this month when he spoke at a private reception at the Values Voters Summit." (AirAmerica)



"Once the incendiary allegations in the motions aired, the DA’s office had to do something. Granted, at first the 'something' seemed to be claims that flew all over the place. The office initially denied that there’d been misconduct when the case was originally prosecuted; then, faced with what was shown in the 2008 documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, it withdrew that statement. The reaction was a confusing, muddled mess. But what no one—apparently including Polanski’s lawyers—knew was that while the public response was on the skids, privately, the DA’s office was setting up for a checkmate. After many aborted efforts over the years, it got him, and law enforcement sources have acknowledged that Polanski has his own lawyers and their strident motions to thank for finally landing him behind bars. Now the magic act begins for Polanski’s lawyers. Because unless they can bend bars the way Uri Geller bends spoons, the director will soon end his 30-year exile and appear once again in a U.S. courtroom. His lawyers will then have to show why a rape case should disappear." (Marcia Clarke/TheDailyBeast)



"Some two and a half years later, on his first day in the heart of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, Mr. (Don) Imus took a sidelong glance back at his old lair. 'You can nearly see our old office at NBC from here,' said Mr. Imus. 'I’m just wondering if they ever found the cocaine in there. It was hidden in the walls.'" (Observer)

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