Would You Get Naked in the City? Celebrities Weigh InWe quizzed stars like Kirsten Dunst, Will Ferrell and Simon van Kempen on where (or whom!) they’d like to get naked within the city limits. And we want to hear your stories!
party lines
Socialites Wax Philosophical on ‘Housewives,’ SuperwomenSince The Real Housewives of New York City debuted on Tuesday, we’ve been thinking a lot about women who try to do it all. We ran into a gaggle of exactly those kinds of gals at last night’s cocktail party to honor Brian Atwood and the charity New Yorkers for Children. Susan Shin, whom we see all over town at the fanciest events, told us it’s definitely possible to try to spread one’s self too thin. “I think we all have that tendency. It’s the era of the superwoman,” she said. “Husbands, kids, work, very successful careers, friends, social life, philanthropy. It’s hard to do it all.” So, Suze, what do you think of Real Housewives? “I don’t think it’s a true representation of housewives or other women in New York.”
party lines
Socialites Pinch Pennies (and Bums!) in the Face of Global RecessionIt’s not just common folk tightening the belt in anticipation of the Great Recession of 2008. Socialites, those airy creatures who are thin and rich and go to parties for a living, are also starting to (gasp!) budget. At a party to benefit the East Side Settlement show last night at Mallet Antiques, Melissa Berkelhammer vowed to take the subway more often. “I’m also buying less frivolous things,” she said. “I’m not paying $300 for a haircut.” Berkelhammer’s neighbor, Tana Dye, had a more extreme money-saving strategy: Don’t leave the house. “I live in midtown, so I have to stay in my apartment. I walk out my door, and I’m in Bergdorf or Barneys.”
the follow-up
We Glide Swiftly OnOf all things to snipe about (namely a pro-war Republican’s military creds), it was interesting to find so many Daily Kos posts dedicated to how an antiwar vet group was identified in passing. To clarify: In no way did I mean to imply that Vote Vets were actually part of the Swifties, or associated with the Swifties or all the smeary baggage that has defined the Swifties; I only meant to imply that Vote Vets was run by Dem-affiliated operatives that, similar to the more popularly known Swifties, used hard-hitting attack ads as a means to an end.
I only wish I had as many words and as much space to define Vote Vets as I did in a previous story after the November elections in which the director, Jon Soltz, refers to himself as “the Swift Boat Captain of ‘06.” Geoffrey Gray
Update: After this item posted, Vote Vets said it did not describe itself as an “antiwar” organization but rather “pro-military, pro-war, and pro-war on terror,” and “anti-escalation and antiwar against Iran.”
Swift-Boat Revenge [NYM]
Earlier: Don’t Mention the Swift Boats!