Posts for August 7, 2008 -- Daily Intel -- New York News Blog -- New York Magazine

August 7, 2008

Photo Op

8/ 7/08

6:30 PM

Why Didn’t Anyone Run These Recent Photos of Madonna Looking Normal?

Madonna, with Michael Moore, on Saturday.Photo: Getty Images

This afternoon, on a lark, we decided to look to see whether there were any recent pictures of Madonna out there looking normal after those weird, terrible shots of her showed up in the Daily Mail one week ago. After all, we've been thinking about Madonna's face a lot lately. And lo and behold, there are pictures of the pop star looking like her regular lovely, zero-fat self — from five days ago. The singer was snapped with Michael Moore in Michigan at a screening of her film I Am Because We Are, a documentary about orphans in Malawi with AIDS.

Now, to be fair, we haven't checked everywhere, but we haven't seen these photos on many of the Websites that ran the original pictures, which were often accompanied by questions over Madonna's health and fitness regimen. And yet these were taken a mere two days after. Clearly, as we suspected, the original bad photos were nothing new: just another round of bad pictures of a celebrity without makeup.

More: Photo Op »Tags: madonna, michael moore, photos, plastic surgery

In Other News

8/ 7/08

6:10 PM

Brooklyn Teen Learns Best Way to Pick Up Girls

Photo: Nytimes.com

When you're a kid, you learn all year in school. But the important stuff, you learn in summer. Like what third base is. How to tuck in the tampon string. Be careful when shaving your knees and ankles. And stay away from Jägermeister and Southern Comfort. And Kahlúa. And Goldschläger. Anyway, this summer, Jose Pico, a rather awesome teenager the Times found working as a freak at Coney Island, learned an important lesson, too: "I meet a lot of girls out here, even though I’m wearing the costume and I’m the freak," he marveled to the Times. "They’re interested in meeting the freak.” Yes, Jose, you've nailed it. Girls are interested in meeting the freak. Don't exploit that information, the way these creeps have. Now, have you had Baileys yet?

His Job Is Acting Freaky and Getting Shot [City Room/NYT]
Related: One With The Freaks [NYM]

More: In Other News »Tags: coney island, freak

It Just Happened

8/ 7/08

4:55 PM

Man Arrested in Florida for Threatening to Assassinate Obama, Bush

Photo: Getty Images

Let's hope this is the first and the last time we hear a story like this: Raymone Hunter Geisel was arrested by federal authorities in Florida for threatening to assassinate Barack Obama. He is being held without bail. The Secret Service found a loaded handgun, knives, dozens of rounds of ammunition, body armor, and a machete in Geisel's car and hotel room. He was nabbed after a source told the Feds that he made the threat against Obama during a training class for bail bondsmen in Miami last month. Another source claimed he made a similar threat against President Bush. Geisel denies having made the threats.

Man held in Fla. on charge of threatening Obama [AP]

More: It Just Happened »Tags: assassination attempts, barack obama, crime, george bush, politics, secret service

Party Lines

8/ 7/08

4:30 PM

How to Seduce Yigal Azrouël, John Turturro, and Patricia Clarkson

Woody Allen didn’t attend last night’s premiere of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, so Jada Yuan couldn’t ask him for seduction tips. But, fortunately for us, John Turturro, Harvey Weinstein, and Patricia Clarkson offered an education. Turturro recommended food, Weinstein suggested prayer, and Clarkson looked a little offended. Watch the video and take notes: You’re on your own tonight.

More: Party Lines »Tags: harvey weinstein, john turturro, movies, patricia clarkson, vicky christina barcelona, woody allen

Neighborhood Watch

8/ 7/08

3:45 PM

Carroll Gardens Woman Will See Nanny Brought to Justice

Carroll Gardens: To the busybody mom who freaked out and made a scene in the park because she found an unattended child: We were kind of hoping that nobody else would be able to see the child and you'd be labeled a crazy having visions of imaginary elf tots. But then the nanny had to show up. You still sound kind of crazy, though, and that's probably not good for your kid. [Gowanus Lounge]
Dumbo: The city's school-construction czarina says she supports the idea of a middle school inside a proposed seventeen-story rental building, which many locals oppose because it'll wreck views of the skyline. [NYDN via Curbed]
Greenpoint: Is this post — about her local church's soup kitchen — the first time the usually satisfyingly bitchy Miss Heather has been sweet and earnest from beginning to end? Or have we just missed those prior posts? At any rate, we like this side of her (in small doses). [Newyorkshitty]

More: Neighborhood Watch »Tags: brooklyn, cardinal edward egan, carroll gardens, gentification, greenpoint, harlem, nannies, real estate, south shore, yuppies

Intel

8/ 7/08

3:00 PM

The Economy: Our Backlash to the Backlash

This young woman is on a "staycation." But if you passed her by, you might think she was just walking her dog on any random day of any week of the entire year.Photo: Getty Images

So you know how the economy is stinking lately? Worse than the Second Avenue F train stop? Well, the media and retailers have done their best to make you feel better about it. Now we are inundated with advertisements for "staycations," so you don't have to deal with airline costs and expensive hotels while you're off from work. Travel agents are pushing "mini-moons" to couples planning their weddings, so that they don't suffer too heavily at the hands of a weak American dollar abroad. City papers across America are suggesting "one-tank trips" to minimize the impact of gas prices on your family vacation. It's all designed to make us feel better about our place in the national economy, and it comes from a feeling of generosity.

But it doesn't help. At least, not in our opinion. The worst feeling in bad economic times is the sense that you need to be helped out. That your life has to change in order to deal with it. That people need to feel sorry for you and to try to make you feel better. Pity is often the worst part of defeat!

And, what's worse, they targeted the one thing that Americans cling to in times of stress: vacations! »

More: Intel »Tags: economy, mini-moons, staycations, travel, trend stories

Party Lines

8/ 7/08

2:15 PM

Mena Suvari Would Like to Be Smart for Fifteen Minutes

Photo: Patrick McMullan

Mena Suvari is already famous, so last night at the New Museum's celebration of Andy Warhol's 80th birthday, we asked the actress if there's anything else she'd rather have for the proverbial fifteen minutes. "Extreme knowledge," said the American Pie star. "I'd want to be that person who had, like, five degrees and just be, you know, like, a medical doctor or a scientist or engineer. I don't know," she said. "I wanted to be an archeologist when I was younger. It would be nice to be somewhere exotic and kind of dig and discover something very ancient. Maybe like a Mayan temple in the jungle." We were going to ask if Mena had ever heard that other Warhol quotation about how "having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art anybody could ever want to own," but we decided against it. —Amber Sutherland

More: Party Lines »Tags: andy warhol, mena suvari

White Men With Money

8/ 7/08

1:30 PM

New Yorkers Look Past Bloomberg’s Money, Love Him for Himself

Photo: Getty Images

We just noticed this odd little Times story, about New Yorkers' affection for Bloomberg, despite his wealth. Were it the season finale of a show like The Bachelor, it would be a really touching episode. "I think he looks out for people like us," says former cabbie Kevin Flynn. "Obviously, he cares," says a former teacher who lives in Queens. She adds, of Bloomberg's wealth, "His money is his. He doesn’t have to give it to me." As it is, it's a newspaper story basically apropos of nothing, so it's kind of weird. But whatever. Point taken: Unlike many other superrich icons, Bloomberg doesn't seem to contend with much suspicion and scorn for being awesomely, insanely, mind-bogglingly, bursting-at-the-seams-with-money rich. The Times thinks it's because he's a self-made man with a salt-of-the-earth manner. We posit an alternate theory: It's because he's short. Seriously. If he was good-looking and tall AND had all that money? We'd hate his guts.

Rich As Mayor Is, New Yorkers Feel He Cares [NYT]
Related: Breaking: Mayor Bloomberg Is Rich

More: White Men With Money »Tags: mayor bloomberg, new york times, rich people

Company Town

8/ 7/08

12:55 PM

McCain Campaign Rewarding Commenting Spammers

MEDIA
• If citizen journalists "spread the word" about John McCain on Websites, they can earn prizes, such as autographed books, preferred seating at campaign events, and even a ride with the candidate on his bus. [WP]
• A New York Times newsroom staffer says the broadsheet's reader survey that was unearthed by Vanity Fair yesterday was written by "some knucklehead in the business department." [VF, Plank/New Republic]
• The Bulletin, an alt weekly out of Texas, has been ripping off articles from Slate by reprinting Slate pieces with different bylines. [Slate]
• Judith Miller reemerges…at Reader's Digest. [Gawker]

More: Company Town »Tags: blackstone, cadwalader, campaigns, citigroup, commenters, comments, dick fuld, edgar bronfman jr., john mccain, judith miller, lehman brothers, mta, new york times, phillip seymour hoffman, plagiarism, reader's digest, subways, vanity fair, wall street

In Other News

8/ 7/08

12:15 PM

Tina Brown Resurrects Waugh’s ‘Daily Beast’

Team 'Beast': Barry Diller and Tina Brown.Photo: WireImage

Tina Brown has finally revealed something about her upcoming media Website, which she'll be launching this fall with the backing of her old pal Barry Diller. It will be called the Daily Beast, in homage to the newspaper in the British scribe Evelyn Waugh's Scoop. Gawker worries that the Internet generation won't get the reference, but we'd argue that many young kids trying to make their way in the media industry read Scoop as a matter of general preparation. Much in the way aspiring architects feel obligated to skim The Fountainhead or bankers keep Liars Poker on their bookshelves, next to Den of Thieves.

But does the name tell us anything about Brown's hush-hush site? Not really. Sure, it will be run by a tyrannical press baron (in the book, Lord Copper; in real life, Barry Diller), but the similarities will likely end there. One of the central jokes of Scoop is that the Beast will create its own news if there is nothing else to report. From what we've heard about Brown's site, it will be largely an aggregator, along the lines of the Huffington Post. So it, in fact, will be doing the opposite — only repeating outside news, while generating little or none of its own. Perhaps this is Brown's larger commentary on the state of where media is going.

Liz Smith: Susan Sarandon talks about HBO movie [Baltimore Sun]
Related: Barry Diller and Tina Brown Team Up to Start News-Aggregator Site

More: In Other News »Tags: barry diller, daily beast, evelyn waugh, tina brown

In Other News

8/ 7/08

11:30 AM

Jonathan Adler Helps New Yorkers With Their Decorating, and So Much More

Photo: WireImage

In the first installment of his new advice column on the Huffington Post, Jonathan Adler answers queries from a "Sebastian" who intends to begin collecting photography "once my hedge fund delivers" (good luck with that, dude) and an Upper West Side married couple whose vision for her apartment includes ostrich feathers and velvet, much to her husband's dismay. "I like color and glamour," Kate complains. "He is very beige and boring." Adler's advice:

We have a saying in my company: The wife is always right unless the husband is gay. This is an excellent saying and questioning your husband's sexuality is a great way to get him to shut up. Assuming that this is not the case and your husband is straight (is he?), you simply have no recourse other than to eliminate him from the process. Take into account some of his functional needs, and then ignore everything else.

We find this to be very sound advice in general, but if we were Kate we might be disturbed. After all, aren't the men whose wives describe them as "beige and boring" the ones you tend to see late night at the Eagle?

Ask Jonathan Adler [HuffPo]

More: In Other News »Tags: hedge funds, jonathan adler

Early and Often

8/ 7/08

11:10 AM

Clinton Hopes for ‘Cathartic’ Convention

The Democrats may have preemptively eradicated the threat of flying buckets of feces at the convention in three weeks, but can they stop the metaphorical shit from hitting the fan? A new video of Hillary Clinton speaking to a bunch of supporters shows there's a chance the nomination of Barack Obama might not be so picture-perfect. Clinton told the small gathering that she's negotiating a strategy for having their voices heard, and specifically did not rule out having her name placed into nomination for a vote.

"It's as old as, you know, Greek drama," she said. "There is a catharsis. I mean everybody comes and they want to yell and scream and have their opportunity, and I think that's all to the good." And after the venting is over and the passionate emotions of the bitter primary are revisited, the party is more unified and "goes out and wins," her logic goes. But we can think of at least one guy who probably doesn't think publicly showcasing widespread dissent within the party would be a good thing. It's likely the threat of a symbolic vote is simply a cleverly wielded bargaining chip, but it's clear that things are still less than hunky-dory between Obama and the Clinton nation.

If only Obama had that dinner with Bill. »

More: Early and Often »Tags: barack obama, democratic national convention, hillary clinton, politics

In Other News

8/ 7/08

10:39 AM

Times Square Club-Murder Victim May Have Lived If She Were a Celebrity

LisaRaye McCoy.Photo: Getty Images

The body of a woman who was bludgeoned to death was found last night on the roof of the nightclub Spotlight Live, a popular Times Square karaoke spot. It's unknown what happened to Ingrid Rivera, 24, other than that she was initially kicked out of the bar three nights ago for being too drunk. The club was really rocking that Sunday night because it was formerly jailed rapper Lil' Kim's birthday party — the reason that Rivera had made the trek in from Richmond Hill, Queens. Police are still questioning partygoers, but at least one celebrity has weighed in on the events of the night: LisaRaye McCoy, who is a former CW star, half-sister to Da Brat, and the wife of Turks and Caicos premier Michael Misick. LisaRaye is a friend of Lil' Kim's and was at the birthday party. This was her insight, as told to the Times:

When I was there, everything was cool. But we didn’t stay very long. Celebrities never do. And everything was fine then.

Ah. Because only hoi polloi stay at a club long to get bludgeoned to death, clearly. We're sure the cops will be grateful for the help.

Woman Is Found Dead at Club Three Days After Party for Lil’ Kim [NYT]

More: In Other News »Tags: crime, lisaraye mccoy, murder, spotlight live, times square

In Other News

8/ 7/08

10:10 AM

Atlanta Strikes Back!

Hotlanta?Photo: Getty Images

Last month, we wrote about a Bloomberg story that reported a lot of New Yorkers are moving to Hotlanta and find it to be, er, Notlanta. "If my kids have a southern accent, I will kill myself," ex-Brooklynite Jodi Fleisig, who has probably changed her name and address by now, told the news service. The story generated a lot of hateration from Atlantans in our comments, and now Creative Loafing, the city's alt-weekly, has compiled a counterattack, with a cover story titled "I ~~Love~~ New York," which is basically a list of grievances Atlanta natives who live in New York have with their adopted city. "You hear the F-word all day long, from kids on skateboards to old folks on walkers," one guy says folksily.

Okay, Atlanta, we'll bite. »

More: In Other News »Tags: atlanta, sixth borough

Gossipmonger

8/ 7/08

9:50 AM

Cindy McCain Betrays Beer

Photo: Getty Images

Cindy McCain sipped sake with some friends at Tao. Charlie Rose says his cameo as Charlie Rose in Elegy was difficult for him because it was all scripted. Donald Trump bought a fancy golf club complete with 90,000-square-foot clubhouse in Colts Neck, New Jersey, for $28 million. Graydon Carter bought the lease to the Monkey Bar, on East 54th Street. Marquee owner Noah Tepperberg is having three birthday parties: one at Marquee; one at Dune, in the Hamptons; and one at Tao, in Vegas. Former supermodel Beverly Johnson is getting work again partly because of the success of Italian Vogue's all-black-model issue and also because she lost twenty pounds by taking some diet pills. Eben Bronfman, special assistant to the Manhattan D.A., was sucker-punched at a bar in Hell's Kitchen by lobbyist Bernie Cohen because Cohen was annoyed that Bronfman wouldn't back someone for a surrogate-court judgeship.

More: Gossipmonger »Tags: balthazar getty, beverly johnson, bill clinton, candy spelling, charlie rose, cindy mccain, donald trump, graydon carter, james franco, morgan freeman, noah tepperberg, russian tea room, seth rogen, sienna miller

In Other News

8/ 7/08

9:20 AM

Feds Drop Their Pursuit of Mary-Kate Olsen

Photo: Getty Images

We are, for once, in total agreement with the Post, which this morning referred to the news that Feds won't force Mary-Kate Olsen to tell them what she knows about Heath Ledger's death as "vexing." Apparently, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office has a subpoena and could compel her to testify but won't because why? They're pussying out for some reason. But they must have the same questions we have: Why would Mary-Kate insist on immunity unless she had done something wrong and, therefore, what could the wrong thing possibly be? Would it even be interesting? Is she afraid of being capped for her testimony by lackeys of a scarred Colombian drug kingpin or something? Why is she tormenting us like this? How was she even friends with Heath Ledger, can't she just say? And wait, how did the Olsen twins get rich and famous again? Was it really just Full House and Holiday in the Sun and stuff? Is she waiting 25 years so that she can disclose all this information in a hardcover memoir? If so, fuck you, Mary-Kate.

See? We really are vexed, probably because we're used to having these kinds of crime dramas solved for us in under an hour. If this were The Closer, Kyra Sedgwick would bring M-K in on a routine fashion violation and have her talking in no time.

Twin-dictated [NYP]

More: In Other News »Tags: dea, heath ledger, mary kate olsen, pussies, u.s. attorney

The Sports Section

8/ 7/08

9:00 AM

The Jets Land Brett Favre

Photo: WireImage

Late last night we learned that the Jets finalized a headline-stealing trade for former Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre. The team will release QB Chad Pennington and will keep on Kellen Clemens as Favre's backup. (Favre is scheduled to make $12.7 million this season, and freeing up Pennington's scheduled $6 million will help the Jets clear their salary-cap limitations.) Landing the Super Bowl winner — a nine-time Pro Bowl pick and an eleven-time playoff quarterback — is a huge score for the team as coach Eric Mangini scrambles to rebuild his team. Talks officially began between Favre and New York two weeks ago, but it was rumored that Favre himself didn't want to play for the team, and that the likelihood of his coming to play at the Meadowlands was slim. But Favre is reported to have signed off on the deal, after Mangini gave him the hard sell on the team's new offensive line and how Favre himself would be the centerpiece of both the team's playing and marketing strategies. The quarterback, who played in Wisconsin for sixteen seasons, was said to be concerned about living in the crowded New York area, but the Daily News reported that Mangini emphasized the proximity of the new Jets training facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, to many rural living areas. Yet, given the hopes and enthusiasms of New York fans riding on this newest Jet, we're betting he's not going to get much peace and quiet time anytime soon.

Jets Trade for Brett Favre [NYDN]
Earlier: Favre Cools the Jets