Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Fashion's elite waited in line for a half hour to get a photo with Michelle Obama at a fund-raiser at Donna Karan's Upper West Side apartment last night. Diane von Furstenberg, Harvey Weinstein and wife Georgina Chapman, Andre Leon Talley, Isaac Mizrahi, Michael Kors and Tory Burch all came out to greet the first lady, who was accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill. 'Everyone stood in between Mrs. Biden and Mrs. Obama while staff held the guests' purses and sweaters,' said one attendee." (PageSix)

"Last night I went over to the Frick where they were holding their annual Autumn Dinner. Like the Conservancy luncheon, this is an important dinner in New York. As a major museum, it has its own special cachet and group of supporters. The house has an air of distinction ... This annual dinner is a fund-raiser. There were 250 guests and they raised $940,000 which goes to help support the full range of programs of The Frick Collection, including educational and curatorial initiatives, and the Frick Art Reference Library, which is considered one of the best in the world. The tables are set up in the West Gallery as well as the Oval portrait room and another gallery beyond that. There was a cocktail reception in the atrium – the Garden Court – with a lighting and an atmosphere that under the circumstances, the guests, black tie, long dresses, always conjures up for me shades of Edith Wharton’s New York. I took a couple of pictures in an effort to capture the idea. Guests were allowed to wander through the permanent collection galleries including the newly refurbished Boucher Room and the major fall exhibition The Spanish Manner: Drawing from Ribera to Goya. In the nearby Frick family Dining Room, one could see four newly installed pieces of royal Hanoverian silver on loan from a private collection, never shown before in the United States, surrounded by 18th century English portraits by Hopner, Gainsborough and Romney. I was seated in the West Gallery with its Rembrandts, Vermeer, Veronese, Turner."(NYSocialDiary)




"One of the interesting things about elections is how races ebb and flow. Some incumbents who seemed to have no chance to survive a couple of months ago are still hanging in there, even giving themselves a real chance to win. On the other hand, some presumably safe incumbents suddenly look to be in serious trouble."(CQPolitics)

"Howard had the guys bring in Nick Di Paolo. Howard said it was good to see him. Nick said Robin was still skinny. Howard said he thinks there are a few guys out there who are at the top level and Nick is one of them. Howard asked what happened to Greg Giraldo. Howard said Greg was a Harvard graduate. Nick said that he quit that to do comedy so that's one of the reasons they loved him. Howard said his parents must have gone insane when he quit school to do that.Nick said he used to hang out with Greg at clubs and they were very friendly. Howard said it has to be hard being a comedian. Howard said he walked away from something that could have led to making millions. Nick said that Greg hated that though so he admires him for walking away from it. Nick said the guy didn't have a minute to himself because he had to take care of his kids after being out on the road. Howard asked Nick about what happened to Greg and if he was clean or not. Nick said he's not a good judge of that. Howard said he wasn't very good at it either because he believed Artie when he said that he was clean. He said he'd fall asleep during the show and he had no idea he was on drugs. Nick said he's the same way. Howard asked Nick if he went to the funeral for Greg. Nick said he did. He said it was way out on Long Island. He said that he was from Queens so it should have been out there. Nick said it really did suck going to that funeral. He said the kids were running around and it was rough. Nick said that Colin Quinn killed at the wake the night before." (Marksfriggin)