Daily Intel

Wells Fargo and Citigroup Fight Over Wachovia, the Aging Stripper With a Heart of Gold

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:30:52 -0500

Photo: Newscom, Wikipedia, Getty Images

The Wachovia–Citigroup–Wells Fargo affair has been getting increasingly dramatic and, dare we say, compelling. If you haven't been paying attention, the story up until now is this: Wachovia was struggling. It was in a tough spot financially, the market was bad, and it was looking increasingly unattractive to suitors. In real life, Wachovia is represented by CEO Bob Steel, but if this were a movie, the bank would be an aging stripper and single mother of a special-needs child played by Diane Lane, who has been used and abused by dudes playing Masters of the Universe her whole life, but who has had a particularly rough year. But one day, just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, a tall, dark, and sleekly handsome suitor walked into the strip club. That suitor was Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup.

Citi made an offer to Wachovia: With help from the government, it would buy the bank for $2.2 billion. It would take them away from all of this! But there was a catch: It would only buy the good parts — the banking operations and some wealth management — not the asset-management and retail-brokerage units. In other words, it did not want the special-needs child. Wachovia was torn: What would happen to the special-needs child? It would have to go live in a trailer with its toothless father!

But ultimately, Wachovia decided to accept the offer, because, it figured, this way it would at least be able pay the doctor's bills the special-needs child had accrued. And so it took the money, guiltily.

But then! Another man came along. A laid-back West Coaster called Wells Fargo. They fell immediately in love. "You're beautiful and special and you need a man that's gonna treat you right," said Wells Fargo, who in our minds could be played by Aidan from Sex and the City, but in reality is represented by chairman Richard M. Kovacevich. Wells Fargo told Wachovia that it would pay $15 billion for the bank, including the special-needs child it would accept into its warm and loving home. Wachovia was ecstatic! They happily planned their future together.

But when Citigroup found out, it was pissed. It would sue Wachovia, it growled, and ensure that it and its special-needs child would never, ever find happiness again, not as long as Citigroup lived!

Now both banks are fighting it out in court. The Federal Reserve, otherwise known as Social Services, is involved, and they are threatening to literally tear Wachovia into pieces! If that happens — well, this would be a pretty terrible movie.

Weekend Legal Frenzy Between Citigroup and Wells Fargo for Wachovia [NYT]
Fed Pushes to Resolve Wachovia Deal Dispute [WSJ]

While Pete Wentz’s Bandmate Acts Like Big Martyr, Diana Ross Tarries in Eponymously Named Playground

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:44:28 -0500

Jude Law supposedly picked up a dancer at the Box who then holed up in his Gramercy Park Hotel room for three days. Amy Harris and the other women who wrote the Sex and the City episodes are now writing a Web series called "Puppy Love" to benefit the ASPCA. Pete Wentz, bandmate Patrick Stump, and Blender editor Joe Levy all had salads at Keens Steakhouse because Patrick is vegetarian and didn't say anything about it beforehand. (Passive-aggressive.) Brandon "Greasy Bear" Davis played pool for $200 a game at the Rose Bar with some "hot skanky babes," then walked out in a tantrum when he lost and went to Bungalow 8. Diana Ross hung out at her own playground in Central Park, probably waiting for some mom to thank her for it, which some mom did, getting Diana to quip, "You're welcome."

Bill Clinton's Secret Service guys didn't recognize singer Robin Thicke and kept scrutinizing him when Clinton and Thicke were at separate functions at Top of the Rock. Kate Hudson is singing all over town while shopping to get ready for her part in the movie Nine. Julianne Moore says her young kids are so fashionable that if she were blind (like in her new movie Blindness, get the hook?) she'd let them dress her. Devorah Rose says that the fighting between her and Kristian Laliberte on their new reality show Social Heights is totally real, but she didn't need to tell us that, because if it's a reality show, of course it's real, right? That's why it's called reality TV, because it's an accurate reflection of real life.

Catherine Keener and Sean Avery are having some kind of a holding-hands-in-dark-corners-of-bars affair thing, even though there is a shocking, disgusting, culturally inappropriate 21-year age difference between them. Quincy Jones went off on Wynton Marsalis, saying he has no interest in hip-hop and that no other trumpeter "wants to play like Wynton," and Marsalis seems surprised by the comments but admits he doesn't respect hip-hop much. Liam Neeson caused such a stir at Ben & Jack's Steakhouse that no one noticed the presidents of Bulgaria, Albania, and Tajikistan. We know Liam Neeson is pretty well known, but that is just hard to believe.

Jonas Brothers manager Johnny Wright says he wants nothing to do with the music career of Lindsay Lohan's little sister, Ali. Paul McCartney's new song tells his ex Heather Mills, "You have money and no manners." Kevin Costner is in talks to do a Bull Durham sequel. Shannen Doherty doesn't go on the Internet because when she did she'd read stuff about herself and end up thinking everybody hated her. Martha Stewart could live on bread and water, even though she currently doesn't have to. The Olsen twins went to a Paris club together holding hands and were inseparable all night, proving it's not true that they hate each other.

Oliver Stone, whose Dubya movie opens October 14, says that even though nobody pays Dubya attention right now, we'll be feeling his effects for the next twenty years. Elizabeth Edwards was too sick to go to the Governors Conference in Pittsburgh. O.J. Simpson's jurors said they're not racist because they found him guilty in that whole Vegas-memorabilia-gun-heist thing, even though none of them are black. Most important, though, in going forward this week: Angelina Jolie now has "13 known tattoos."

Did You Know New York Has a ‘Dungeon Alley’?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:07:40 -0500

Photo: iStockphoto.com

We didn't. But that's what the New York Post calls the twenty-block stretch of Manhattan between Chelsea and midtown (midtown, of course) that features no fewer than ten BDSM/fetish clubs. Finally, that neighborhood has a name! Some people have called it the Tenderloin, some people have called it Chelsea/Clinton (man, the double entendres here are spanking us!), but "Dungeon Alley" really has a special ring to it. According to Time Out New York, "hoi polloi" don't yet know about this nickname (indeed, a Google search of the term comes up with only seven hits), but we think that should change. And it looks like it will! According to the Post, a gang of dominatrices working in the area want to form a union of sorts, to advocate for themselves and promote interest in their business. Apparently, the economic downturn is flogging Wall Street so hard, businessmen no longer want (or can't afford) the ministrations of these ladies. And a recent flurry of dungeon busts has been a problem, too. "It's never been worse. Business is down 70 percent," Mistress Johanna, owner of Chelsea's Le Salon DeSade, told the tabloid. And … wait for it … "We've had all these busts, and now the economy is out of control," she added. "The uncertainty is torturing us."

BINDING ARBITRATION [NYP]

Mr. Fuld Goes to Washington

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:45:33 -0500

Photo: Getty Images

Early this morning, former Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld woke up in his sprawling Greenwich manse, pulled off his footie pajamas, gargled, and plucked the errant hairs descending over his brow in preparation for his first public appearance since September 10, five days before Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. He was due to testify in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at 10 a.m. this morning, where he would be expected to defend himself against allegations that the firm misled clients and investors about the extent of its losses in the days leading up to its declaration of bankruptcy — and it was fair to say he had butterflies, in particular about that time his CFO told investors they wouldn't be seeking extra capital because "our capital position at the moment is strong" the day after they'd decided internally they needed to raise $3 billion dollars. That would be awkward.

Meanwhile, down in Washington, D.C., committee chair Henry Waxman bounded out of bed. He'd been looking forward to this all weekend. "We need to understand why Lehman failed and who should be held accountable," he'd written in an e-mailed statement the day before. The company's implosion "sparked a financial crisis on Wall Street that is causing massive economic disruption … The taxpayers are being asked to pay $700 billion to bail out Wall Street. They are entitled to know who caused the meltdown and what reforms are needed." Waxman opened his secret closet. He regarded the lube, nipple clamps, and baseball bat, and smiled ruefully, then closed the door. Not this time. This time, words would have to be enough. The hearings "are all about rich people getting money," Congressman Darrell Issa explained to Bloomberg. "Henry Waxman hates rich people."

Fuld May Blame Confidence Crisis for Lehman's Demise (Update1) [Bloomberg]
The Two Faces of Lehman's Fall [WSJ]

Because It’s Monday in October

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:20:06 -0500

Photo: Washington Post

Yesterday, the Washington Post inexplicably and wonderfully assembled a slideshow of aging canines in a Web special called "Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs." Usually it's the tabloids that engage in this type of heartstrings blackmail, but we very much appreciate this broadsheet foray into the genre. [WP]

The ‘Beast’ Has Awoken!

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:55:01 -0500

After a long wait (we heard about the site back in April and early word was that it would launch in August), Tina Brown's Website venture, the Daily Beast, has finally gone live. It looks good! It's a "soft launch," so it was done without much fanfare, but the site is up and running, already boasting content by Chris Buckley, Tucker Carlson (thank God), and, of course, Brown herself. The site, whose slogan is "Read This Skip That" (and whose logo is strikingly reminiscent of the Philly Daily News logo), features a "Buzz Board" on its front page, where prominent names like Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Christiane Amanpour, Sheryl Crow, and Rachel Maddow can recommend articles. It has a central column of staff-selected stories from elsewhere, called the "Cheat Sheet," and in its off-lead position, a rotating story box features original material — including a "Big Fat Story" feature which innovatively gathers a news and information cluster about one topic.

In her self-deprecating opening Q&A, Brown describes the site this way: "It's a speedy, smart edit of the web from the merciless point of view of what interests the editors. The Daily Beast is the omnivorous friend who hears about the best stuff and forwards it to you with a twist." (We also learn that she, in fact, does not have her staff "print out the Internet" for her). Perhaps in preemptive defense against people who might criticize her venture for its similarity to Slate or the Huffington Post, Tina answers the question as to why reporters are so "mean" to powerful women. "Don't worry," she muses. "Powerful women always interpret hostility as unrequited love." Oh, Tina.

Homepage [Daily Beast]

The ‘Gossip Girl’ Final Point Tally

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:00:51 -0500

Green is the new flattering.
Photo: Courtesy of the CW

Well, well, you people certainly had a lot to say about the last episode of Gossip Girl. So much, in fact, that it took us all week to sort through it! There were a lot of themes in your comments, like the inaccuracy of pretty much everything education-related, and the inconsistency of everybody's phones. Many people also noted that Headmistress Queller was probably named after writer Jessica Queller, whom we actually profiled in this magazine this year. And the issue of the seating charts was handled brilliantly by commenters and our good friends at the Cut blog. By the end of our lengthy recap, the totals were:

Reality points: 93
Absurdity points: 59

This seems way off, because some of the crap that went down at that fashion show was right out of a Robert Jordan novel. (R.I.P.) Luckily, you guys came in to even the score. After your comments were added in (23 reality points, 41 absurdity points), the totals came to:

Reality points:116
Absurdity points: 100

Much more fitting. After the jump, which of your awesome insights we agreed with.

Realer Than Chuck and Blair Getting Real:
• Rufus has worn that washed-up rocker rose shirt in the past ... sometime in season 1. Plus 2 for acknowledging that people wear clothes more than once. —CharlieTrout (Who later noted that the shirt was worn "at the VH1 (classics) taping in season 1!! Even better.")

• Plus 2 for Blair's cruel and hilarious burn to Chuck: "The only person with fewer friends than you is Dan Humphrey, and at least his lame 90s dad likes him." Blair would so totally find Chuck's most vulnerable spot and crush him with it! You guys are right, Blair definitely gets the A-list writers... —FiftyFootGirl (Echoed by Jo1435 and others)

• What about "Charlie Trout." Really Dan? Plus 2 because a high school writer would think he's being totally sly when in reality he's being super obvious. —TheRural Juror (Echoed by LeoTheGreat, BCorrado, JStroup, JPJB, EmmyLoser, Jebream, RebeccaRose2004, BritneySpears, AuntTilly, GhostBoy2112, HockeyMomsForObama, NDizzle, NatalieWasRight, and btangonan)

• Plus 3 for the PR girl in the front row with a headset not having a clue what she was doing ... happens at every show. —Switz29NYC.

• Plus 10 for no Nate and Vanessa, not just because I was getting tired of them, but because it highlighted that Chuck and Dan really don't have any friends. —EmmyLoser (Echoed by WeeGee and others)

• How about a plus 2 for Chuck borrowing Blair's writer for a second with his comment "I don't think of you" after Dan storms his apt asking to hang out with him and says "i know you don't think much of me" —kmax (Echoed by Voixoff, DigMurlo, Severin, and Mac6)

• Plus 2 for the exceptional and topical All about Eve reference when Eleanor tries to tell Jenny her behind-the-scenes quasi-scheming is over ala Margo calling out Eve. Because fashion backstage is so this century's source of backstage drama. —LegallyBored

Faker Than Every Single Thing Anyone on This Show Has Ever Said Relating to College Admissions:
• Minus 10 because Serena said she knew of Mapplethorpe's work and was not only OKAY with her mother being one of his subjects but deemed her "the coolest mom on the Upper East Side". Pretty sure if she was actually familiar with his work she would be just a little weirded out by her mother's participation. —SharStar (Echoed by SteveFivel, LeoTheGreat, BecauseIt'sNellyYuki, RogeVampire, and LA10011)

• Blair tells 30-40 models in a major multimillion dollar fashion show after they have been dressed and had their make up done that they were over booked and not a single dresser or make up artist or anybody notices them leave? And then they are replaced with what, five people from the front row who magically fit into the dresses? And Eleanor would have had enough clout with IMG not to get slotted at same time as MJ. Minus 10 —StillmanMeyer (Echoed by XOChuckXO, NonyBotes, and LivelyWaldorf)

• Minus 5 for the fact that Serena fit into Little J's dress - Jenny is totally on the verge of an eating disorder and Serena actually has curves. —DailyIntelRoxMySox (Thanks, btw! People also objected to the idea that the dress would fit into that narrow garment bag. Echoed by Kelly0824, StuckinMidtown, Rach324008, M23, ConversationBreak, RebeccaRose2004, ARPenney, KT123, MissAlyss, KeeKay, SameStar, ReaganBreinholt and CSIMPB)

• Chuck Bass almost raped Dan’s sister. have we forgotten that? There’s no way Dan would throw a punch to protect Chuck. No matter how much he wanted to get that story. Minus 5. —NineDaves

• Minus 3 for Chuck NEVER behaving drunk. Seriously, for someone who always has a drink in his hands, a little slurred-word sloppiness is all my alcoholic self wants. —KaraMichelle (Echoed by Brynnied)

• Minus 5 for the headmistress coming to talk to Jenny alone on a Saturday. Even some public school teachers don't live in the city. —FallenAngel931 (Many others commented that Rufus would have gone with Jenny)

• Minus 2 for Rufus not telling Jenny that her dress at the Eleanor Waldorf show was COMPLETELY inappropriately short. —XOXOLU (Echoed by others)

• Minus 1 for Dan's comment about his application to Yale needing to be in by Monday. Even early decision apps aren't due until December; not even Yale wants to hear from you two weeks after school's started. —NotADoctor

Earlier: Gossip Girl Allows Its Light to Shine

Raise High the Roof Beam, Hip-hoppers

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:45:07 -0500

At VH1's Fifth Annual Hip-Hop Honors Awards last night, we learned how the performers alleviate their preshow jitters. Cypress Hill was scouting the Hammerstein Ballroom for a primo place to blaze, while Scarface defied Mayor Bloomberg's smoking laws. Find out other ways to relax from the likes of MC Lyte, Fabolous, and others in our Party Lines slideshow.

The CNBC Emotional Index

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:30:54 -0500

Photo: Getty Images/ MSNBC.com

CNBC spends its days tracking the Dow, the S&P, the NASDAQ and even the LIBOR. But in these panicky times, who's tracking CNBC?

Yesterday, October 2 — the day after the Senate approved the bailout bill and the day before the House took it up — we went from Wall Street's opening bell to closing bell charting the CNBCEI (that would be the CNBC Emotional Index). Isn't it time to put politics aside and engineer a bailout for Maria Bartiromo?

The CNBCEI scale runs from Great Depression (1) to Bubbly (10)

9:30 a.m. Russell Simmons rings the NYSE's opening bell while wearing a delightfully colorful sweater-vest. 8

10 a.m. Up pops the day's first graphic showing the progress of the Dow. It's down 185. 6

10:31 a.m. Befuddled by a chart on NASDAQ stats, anchor Mark Haines simply blurts out, "What is going on here?" 5

10:46 a.m. Interview with Russell Simmons. Mood is lifted by Simmons's delightfully colorful sweater-vest. 8

11:02 a.m. Reporter Bob Pisani enthusiastically makes the case that we may soon see a bull market. He has three screens with bullet points! 9

11:09 a.m. In argument over whether the government could actually make money from the bailout bill, reporter Rick Santelli looks like he's ready to throw a punch. 7

12:23 p.m. Viewing video of the long-mothballed Intrepid aircraft carrier heading back to New York, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera says, "A strong military is what ultimately defines a strong reserve currency." Others look at her baffled. 4

12:33 p.m. Now-jovial Rick Santelli and Dennis Kneale bet cheeseburgers on the direction of European interest rates. They're going double or nothing! 7

1:43 p.m. Breaking News headline: "Dow down 300+ points." In fact, by the time the graphic loads up, the Dow's down by 310. 4

2:35 p.m. Discussing the downturn in commercial paper, Mary Thompson says, "The chill is causing significant shrinkage." She doesn't even giggle. 3

2:50 p.m. Jim Cramer likens the value of the New York Stock Exchange stock to that of a bowling alley. Erin Burnett laughs and tells him to go take a nap. 6

3 p.m. Amid a day of heavy losses, Maria Bartiromo takes over coverage. When she's not talking, she looks like she's holding her breath. 4

3:26 p.m. Uninterrupted string of Breaking News headlines: "S&P Down almost 4%," "Dow falls over 3%," "Dow below 10,500," "NASDAQ down 4%," "NASDAQ below 2000." Ouch. 3

3:43 p.m. Breaking News headline: "Dow drops almost 400 points." In fact, it's down only 360. How pessimistic. 2

3:48 p.m. Analyzing graphs of data, Jordan Kotick somberly describes the current economic downturn as a "perfect chart storm." 1

4 p.m. NYSE closing bell rung by the CEO of Wendys Arbys Group. Earlier he had enthusiastically implied that a faltering economy would be good news for Wendys Arbys because it would increase the number of people who could only afford to eat fast food. 2

Did Toby Young Plagiarize Passages From the ‘Times’ For ‘How to Lose Friends & Alienate People’?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:55:52 -0500

Photo: Getty Image

Opening in theaters today, the movie How to Lose Friends & Alienate People is based on Toby Young's lively memoir about a British journalist's cringingly disastrous stint at Vanity Fair. In a recent look back at the 2001 book, we noticed some passages that were strikingly similar to a June 16, 1996, New York Times story by John Tierney. In the story, called "Masochism Central," Tierney colorfully described the habits of the bitchy females and emasculated males at Condé Nast. Here are some comparisons:

Tierney: "350 Madison ... has been called, among other things, the Palace of Pulchritude; the two men's stores flanking the entrance, Brooks Brothers and Paul Stuart, have been compared to sentinels at the Temple of Aphrodite."
Young: "There were so many beautiful girls at 350 it was sometimes named the 'Palace of Pulchritude.' I'd even heard the two men's clothing shops that flanked the building on either side — Brooks Brothers and Paul Stewart [sic] — referred to as 'sentinels at the Temple of Aphrodite.'"

Tierney: "Condé Nasties, as they call themselves, have several techniques for fostering intramural insecurities. The standard punishment for a fashion blunder is a cold stare in the elevator. Critics sometimes affect affability by nodding at the perpetrator's clothes and muttering, 'Very brave,' or the slightly more maddening, 'Aggressive choice.' ... Once a woman has stepped off the elevator, the verdicts might range from 'Awfully matchy, don't you think?' to 'That's over.'"
Young: "As they rode up the lifts every morning, they sized each other up with the cold-blooded hostility of professional athletes ... Disapproving comments ranged from the fairly mild — 'Aggressive choice!' — to the outright rude …." A few pages later: "[The female stripper Young was bringing to the office] caused a sensation in the lift. The two women we happened to be sharing with made no attempt to conceal their disdain. 'That's brave!' said one. The other agreed: 'It's kinda matchy, doncha think?'"

Upon being shown the evidence, Tierney, who had never read the book, concluded it was plagiarism. More bemused than angry, he remarked, "It's at the very least unattributed lifting … It would have been nice to have been credited." Graydon Carter, the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair who hired and fired Young, agreed: "Certainly looks like plagiarism to me."

Tierney had evidence that at least one of the book's phrases must have originated in his article. He explained, "A bachelor friend of mine had told me that Condé Nast was called the 'Pussy Palace,' but I couldn't call it that in the paper, so some friends and I agreed to call it the 'Palace of Pulchritude.'" Tierney also noted something telling in Young's word choice. "It's funny that he says the same thing, 'awfully matchy,' about a stripper."

When confronted with these similarities, Young forthrightly admitted that Tierney's article was the source for the passages, but he denied that this was "a breach of the code." "I don't think you can call that plagiarism," he said. "I'm not claiming to have coined those phrases myself." (It's worth noting what Young said in 2006 about the Kaavya Viswanathan plagiarism scandal: "The thing that amazes me about cases like hers is why the authors don't bother to put what they've lifted from other sources in their own words. I mean, even when I copied out large chunks from text books in my school essays I knew enough to do that.")

In his defense, Young emphasized that in a footnote on a nearby page he had quoted and cited Tierney's article by name. "I don't think it's a sort of mealy-mouthed or weasely defense to say that the standard that British journalists are expected to hold themselves to are not as high as the standards that some American journalists hold," he explained. "We're a little less precious about this kind of thing." Asked if that double standard also applied to book publishing, he said it did, "absolutely."

When told of Young's invocation of less-than-sterling British standards, Tierney laughed. "Well, that's an interesting defense of plagiarism," he said. "To quote the Condé Nasties: Very brave."

Palazzo Chupi Raw, Chafed

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:45:32 -0500

The Chupi is getting a face-lift of some kind, and in the meantime it is not looking pretty. Observes Curb's Joey Arak, whose love for the Schnabel family compound is as great as ours: "Its skin is peeling and it looks like there are some deep gashes over its eyes!" Alarming. You'd think they'd at least swathe it in cotton and give it some privacy. [Curbed]

Lori Levine Wants to Strangle Anyone in Front of Her in Line at a Sample Sale

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:30:29 -0500

Name: Lori Levine
Job: Founder and head of Flying Television Productions, a celebrity wrangling and brokering company
Neighborhood: Gramercy Park

Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Diane Von Furstenberg. She is the ultimate female success story.

What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
ápizz is phenomenal. Just the thought of the meatballs can drag you out of bed in a snowstorm.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
I connect corporate America with Hollywood.

Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
I’ve done it … Used to daydream about what it would feel like to pay my rent on time or own an apartment.

What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
August: Osage County.

Do you give money to panhandlers?
Yes, and sandwiches, and soup, and any leftovers from a restaurant.

What's your drink?
I love an Arnold Palmer … half lemonade, half iced tea.

How often do you prepare your own meals?
Often. I've spent the summer focusing more on organic foods and trolling the Union Square Greenmarket buying ingredients.

What's your favorite medication?
Airborne … The pink-grapefruit flavor dropped in club soda tastes exactly like a Fresca!

What's hanging above your sofa?
A painting of my Uncle Hymie by my favorite artist, Helene Dolney.

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
Francky L'Official Salon on Madison Avenue makes me look as if I spent a fortune on my hair … And it's worth every penny!

When's bedtime?
After my daily dose of Larry King, Letterman, and TMZ. Thank the Lord for my DVR.

Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
The lights were, and still are, inspiring … It is the center of the universe.

What do you think of Donald Trump?
Ivanka is the new Donald.

What do you hate most about living in New York?
No cabs on a rainy day.

Who is your mortal enemy?
I want to strangle anyone on line in front of me at a sample sale.

When's the last time you drove a car?
… Is this a metaphor? New Yorkers do drive!

Who should be the next president?
Norman Lear.

Times, Post, or Daily News?
Post and Daily News every day, "Style" section of the Times on Thursdays and Sundays.

Where do you go to be alone?
Under the nail dryer at Dashing Diva.

What makes someone a New Yorker?
When you firmly believe anywhere outside Manhattan is a suburb.

Michael Cera Traumatized by Angry Williamsburg Mobs

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:15:01 -0500

Photo: WireImage

Michael Cera says that when he was shooting Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist in Williamsburg and on the Lower East Side, locals revolted on his ass: "Sometimes on Friday or Saturdays if we were shooting at 2am and bars were letting out we'd get the spillover of drunk people ... And drunks can be pretty obnoxious sometimes and were screaming and running through the shots. We even had things thrown at us. An avocado was thrown at us by a homeless guy." What a waste of an avocado, which is rich in good fats. We think. [Williamsburg Is Dead]

What If You Could Redesign the White House?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:00:01 -0500

Photo: WhiteHouseRedux.org

Mere hours before the much-anticipated vice-presidential debate was set to start, a skinny, bespectacled crowd stood in front of the Storefront for Urban Design and Architecture in Nolita. They were waiting for the opening exhibition of SFUDA's White House Redux project. The project — co-organized by the sinister-sounding Control Group — was an open call to redesign the "ultimate symbol of power," the White House. The winner, as selected by a jury, would win $5,000 — however, in true democratic fashion, an online vote was organized as well.

The murmuring within the predictable design crowd did not bode well for democracy. "Where's the booze?" asked a tan middle-aged man with short white hair and Sarah Palin glasses, slouching toward the tubs of Dos Equis. Another be-flanneled guest explained to a friend, "I was going to do it but I didn't have time." Apathy! One wall was dedicated to showcasing the designs, many of which "explored" the meme of the political industrial complex. "Obey Your Thirst and Your Government" advertised one submission called, duh, Sprite House. Another entrant, Brandon Shigeta, had made a White House symbol in the familiar style of the Disney logo. Get it? He received 3,013 popular votes.

The most popular project, Project 655 by Jorge Rocha Antunes, called for encasing the White House in a "bioLogical Protective living organism" or, as Antunes explains, "placenta." That won 4,263 votes online, but was ominously ignored by the jury. Antunes has to make do with a meager $87.60 estimated prize for the popular vote. Instead, the jury awarded $5,000 to J.P. Maruszczak for a project called "Revenge of the Lawn." According to the artist statement, it portrays the "luminous, spellbinding environment of those inhabitants of White Welling who live so close to iDeath and must know the sun not only shines a different color each day, but the world needs constants scripts to renew its own meaning." The winner received only 54 popular online votes, an ironic echo of 2000 and 2004.

Has Gentrification Led to Decrease in Ghoulishness of Clinton Hill?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:45:14 -0500

Last year the Clinton Hill Blog posted a photo of a local "haunted" (read: decrepit and/or abandoned) house every day in October, but this year they'll do only one a week. "It took me days of work last year to find 31 creepy houses, upload the photos and photoshop them, and draft up the posts with locations and witty comments," writes blog proprietor Robin Lester. "This year, I do not have the time." Aww. Is a plunge in the haunted-housing stock yet another metric of gentrification? And from the hood that once had New York's quintessential, Dave Chappelle–endorsed haunted house? Sad. Where is the gnarled old lady who snatches and tortures children supposed to live now? Starrett City? That's not very creepy. [Clinton Hill Blog]