Maybe we misunderstand our colonial history, but — what with a government far away attempting to manage its colonial outpost, an insurrection by the locals against those foreign rulers, a king named George who may well be crazy — doesn't that analogy make us the bad guys?
As some of you have noticed, Anderson Cooper 360° has, it seems, colonized our website, often occupying every ad space around the perimeter of the page. We couldn't be happier — presumably CNN's paying our bosses nicely for the privilege, and, well, we've long dreamed of being inside Anderson. (Others, meantime, aren't as unequivocally pleased. "What's up with Anderson Cooper all over the fucking place?" Sven wondered in a comment.)
• Dave Eggers and Isaac Mizrahi: separated at birth? [Radar]
• If you're going to attempt to make your own Hot Toddy, you better do it right. The Webtender allows you to search a database and prevent any throat-burning fuck-ups. [Lifehacker]
• Gay "it boy" designer Zac Posen may not make clothes for fatties, but if you're a pregnant supermodel, he might be willing to help you out. [WWD]
• She may not be able to lure Lindsay Lohan onto her show, but Kelly Ripa can wheel and deal her way to the top of Manhattan's real estate pile. Homegirl's busy, yo. [Curbed]
• Dear Prudence: If my boyfriend's dad calls me a "bitch," does that mean I have to make him dinner and get his slippers, too? [Slate]
• Happy Something-or-Another to CNN, who celebrates its 1000th day in Iraq. Gosh, it seems like just yesterday that we first saw military light a reporter's face with that beautiful, fiery glow. [What's Happening at CNN]
• David Schwimmer is slated to star in the Broadway revival of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Sadly, there will be no monkey, no Rachel, and no interest. [Reuters]
• And, last but certainly not least, today marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. Commemorate in your own special way, be it listening to Imagine, cursing Yoko, or taking LSD. [CBS]
Sure, it seems cruel. But, on the other hand, "Watch grandmother sit in her chair and knit" tested really, really badly. And such is the tyranny of Nielsen.
Funny thing: When CNN goes with a "Bush is the Messiah" photo, we almost believe what he's telling us.
The users of CNN's website are fairly sure of one thing: Information on a user-generated online encyclopedia is inherently untrustworthy.
Dear Diary,
It's nice to see, every now and then, that Americans aren't quite as gullible as we often fear they are:
If anything was going to come between us and our beloved Wonkette, we always knew it would be a man. And so we're both entirely distraught and, deep down, not at all surprised, that she's trying to take Anderson Cooper away from us. So, though we're ashamed she brought her readers this news before we brought it to ours, we'll just steal her writeup and remind her that, when all's said and done, he's not on her team, anyway.*
Because, hey, it's not like there's a war on or anything.
• Simon Dumenco doesn't buy the revisionist history that Jann Wenner pushed out Kent Brownridge, but he knows the often-incompetent mag business will miss the man Dumenco dubbed Dr. Evil. [AdAge]
• New Plamegate wrinkle: Now the prosecutor wants to talk to Time's Viveca Novak, who's so far cooperating with the investigation. It's nice to officially know that at least one Novak is, even if the wrong one. [NYT]
• Bad news for our favorite gray-haired boytoy: Anderson Cooper's rating are down 19 percent relative to Aaron Brown's last week as anchor. [Mediaweek]
• It's hard being Bob Woodward these days. [WP]
• For its 1,000th issue, Rolling Stone to go 3-D on its cover. Because flashy sales gimmicks are always a sign of a strong, vibrant product. [NYT]
• Another reason you can never leave the city: Newly hired report at Manchester, N.H., newspaper is fired for having "a New York attitude." [Boston Phoenix]
• Hearst's new Quick & Simple simply ain't selling very quickly, suggesting the women's-mag market is cooling — or even cooled off. Also: Maxim learns to appreciate older women. [WWD (second and third items)]
• Four years later, the de-anthraxing of American Media's former HQ in Florida is nearly complete. They're still working on how to de-Bonnie. [Jossip]
• Kazakhstan takes four-page ad in New York Times to refute allegations made by Ali G's Borat. Next week, USPS will take four-page ad to refute allegations made by Seinfeld's Newman. [E&P]
• Good editors protect their staffers. Except, you know, when they don't. [MB]
• Forthcoming New York mag article on Hasidic sect ruffles feathers even before its published. [Canonist]
Like it's not bad enough some of us have to work today, CNN really needs to tease us, too?
"Ever wonder what dinner-table conversation between Larry King and wife No. 7, country singer Shawn Southwick-King, is like?" asks an Intelligencer item in this week's New York, and the funny is, we have wondered. More than once. Perhaps it's the simple fact she's his seventh wife, perhaps it's the 26-year age difference between them, perhaps it's that he's a cranky old Jew and she's a pert young Mormon. But we've often wondered what the hell they talk about. Thankfully, red-carpet reporter Jada Yuan finally provides the answer: intelligent design!
According to a very indignant Drudge Report, CNN repeatedly flashed a large "X" over Vice-President Cheney's face during a live speech aired yesterday.
"Good one," President Bush said in an aside to Prime Minster Shinawatra. "Wish I'd thought of that first. Heh."
• As the news business reels — layoffs, papers for sale, Google Base, Judy Miller — j-students become even more characteristically naive and optimistic. [USAT]
• Jon Friedman thinks Adam Moss's New York can be one of the legendarily great magazines, like Gurley Brown's Cosmo, Ross and Shawn's New Yorkers, or Felker's New York. Moss's staffers, meantime, are all afraid they're going to be fired. [MW]
• This just in: Howie Kurtz has conflicting roles, covering media for both WP and CNN. As he has for years. [NYT]
• Times public editor Barney Calame's latest earth-shattering announcement: "Anonymous sourcing can be both a blessing and a curse for journalism." [NYT]
• Miller got axed and Woodward won't because Woodward's one of the cool kids and Miller isn't. Or something like that. [BG]
• On CNN, Maureen Dowd — did you know she wrote a book? — calls for more female columnists. [E&P]
People's Sexiest Man Alive issue is out today, and, while we already knew Matthew McConaughey is the winner, we're for the first time discovering that Anderson Cooper is a ranked runner-up. [Click on the photo at right to enlarge.] We're not surprised by his inclusion — both because he is, objectively, sexy, and also because his fucking publicity blitz is everywhere — but we are, as always, surprised by some of his quotations, all of which are at least moderately gay. Then there's this one:
Either that, or, as a tipster points out, Soledad O'Brien was lactating on American Morning this morning.
Ryan Seacrest, subbing for Larry King last night, checked in with Anderson Cooper for a teaser of what was coming up on 360°.
