Smiling Through the Mediaocalypse
Who are these kids, exactly? Rachelle Hruska's not-a-nightlife-blog blog, Guest of a Guest, kicked off "summer" and a new season of Hamptons coverage with an apocalyptically cloudy rooftop tequila drinking thing on Sunday. [Why not check out these stunning images using our handy-dandy new gallery?] As many as three or four of these mist-braving guests will be sharing a house with a half-dozen others just like them, or maybe their parents, any weekend now. Haute smut photographer Nikola Tamindzic escorted me, my margarita, and my West Coast indifference to "summering" through Hruska's scene. Rachelle Hruska curses the dark skies with her bright, bright future. Media lady Rachel Sklar basking in the death of print and all the tight t-shirts it brings. Lonnie, left, is a stylist. Ryan B, right, is a make-up artist. For this they are permitted matchy glasses and one pocket square. Dennis Crowley, co-founder of mobile social app Foursquare, loved at least a few of Rachelle's jalapeno-laced margaritas. Caroline McCarthy of CNET News left chilly and early and so blogged before all of us, thanking Rachelle for getting puffy fingers the size of mittens after slicing peppers all night. Rachelle with ex-boy and Olympic rower Cameron Winklevoss. Now he's lending a hand around Guest of a Guest, doing "a little bit of everything," like help with the computers and investing and stuff! A turn-away from Friday night's 90's vs 90's panel at the nearby New Museum conveniently had an excuse to repurpose his outfit. He's not made of cardboard, but was kept on hand for posing. Peter Feld weighed his options and also liquor. One thing Winklevoss is not helping with: meat. Rachelle's current manfriend was on skewers for the day. To keep in theme, all guests were issued metallic dock shoes. Reformed fameballer Rex Sorgatz kept the hellhounds of gossip at bay. The end of a vampire weekend. On this roof, there is no irony in anchors. The internet, they drink just like us. Andrew Cedotal, from Abrams Research, in twee. The drinks were sugar-free and served in plastic: no artificial sweeteners and no hard edges to hurt our soft little mouths on. As near as we can tell, an extension of the Winklevoss crew. At least as of the night before. Visors know no social class. Hey it's a Journey mashup let's rock. Rex Sorgatz cares about your internet. A whiter shade of lime. The look in a nutshell: aspirational summer whites cloaked in winter's broke-ass misery. MORE >>
Peter Thiel: 'Valleywag is the Silicon Valley Equivalent of Al Qaeda'
Peter Thiel, the Facebook investor and PayPal co-founder, has never been shy about making incendiary statements. Now he's turned his guns on us. The hedge-fund chief today answered a series of questions about his press on PE Hub, a website for the private-equity industry. Valleywag's coverage of Thiel figured prominently. Some choice quotes: I think they should be described as terrorists, not as writers or reporters. I don't understand the psychology of people who would kill themselves and blow up buildings, and I don't understand people who would spend their lives being angry; it just seems unhealthy. Awww, he thinks we're angry! It's like terrorism in that you're trying to be gratuitously meaner and more sensational than the next person, like a terrorist who is trying to stand out and shock people. It's odd that Thiel would equate provocative writing with terrorism when the arch libertarian seems so comfortable saying sensational things to get attention. Last month, he wrote that women's suffrage ruined democracy in the early 20th Century. At Stanford Law School, Thiel started a conservative newspaper and is said to have had some kind of noisy fight with campus liberal Rachel Maddow, now of MSNBC fame. So it's surprising that Thiel is so tight-lipped after saying "what gets written is half right, and half entirely wrong." We'd love to hear specifics. Sadly, as in our past attempts to get comments from Thiel, none have been forthcoming. Thiel is hardly alone in trying to turn tech blogs into a rah-rah chorus. There is now an entire media ecosystem dedicated to disseminating CEO and investor spin. Thanks to Thiel, anyone who questions the publicist-approved message can now be labeled a terrorist. Whatever: Valleywag will continue to be a place that prints the truths that others are too polite to say out loud. And Peter, on this my first day as the Valleywag, you couldn't have picked a better welcome gift. MORE >>
Anna Wintour in A River In Egypt
Morley Safer's 60 Minutes sitdown with Vogue editrix Anna Wintour was pretty soft. But there were some striking images of the fashion industry. Luxe and stridently over-the-top, even as it peers into a black abyss. [Hey, why not check out this post using the super-duper gallery format the tech team has been building?] Yes, fashion is in deep dark trouble, as The Atlantic observes this month. They even dig up a delicious F. Scott Fitzgerald quote about cocktail party revelers in Great Depression-era New York. It sounds eerily familiar to what we saw last night: A last hollow survival of the days of carnival [in which] a few childish wraiths still played to keep up the pretense that they were alive, betraying by their feverish voices and hectic cheeks the thinness of the masquerade. Yes, these doyennes and dandies of Fashion may have appeared snootily unaware of their own cratering last night, but perhaps those expressions have since changed. What with this morning's news and all. "What are you doing all the way over there?" Wintour lovingly reenacts dinner table scene from Jaws. Paul Reubens thinks fashion is wearable art. Jeanne Tripplehorn and Joel Grey star in Wintour biopic. We warned you not to go into room 237, Anna. Andre Leon Talley's alley. "Around noon I like to walk around the office with bird seed so the girls get some lunch." "Morley darling, could you bend over and get that oilcan over there? I seem to be stuck." Harve Presnell really not sure just what the goddamned hell he's doing here. Postcards from the Wedge Heel. "No. Dance sexy." "My famous gyrodirigible can travel seventeen hectares on one jug of hippopotamus laughs." "Wait... I don't see any fucking sailboat." "They rub my head for good luck. And to warm up the circuitry." Andre Leon Talley pretty sure his new "O, bam!" catchphrase will catch on. "The inseam on those trousers is all wrong. But, just to be sure, why don't you come a bit closer?" Vogue employee suddenly realizes he's gonna lose his job no matter what he does. "Hm. He is, isn't he?" MORE >>
Theo Spielberg, Student, Joins New York, as Intern
Celebrity spawn news! New York magazine has used a fair and impartial process to hire new interns, and one of them happens to be Steven Spielberg's son! Allow him to introduce himself [UPDATED below]: Hello everyone, We have a new intern starting today: My name is Theo Spielberg. I am a Los Angeles native but (clearly) I love New York City. I am a rising senior at Yale University, studying comparative literature. Since as long as I can remember, my main interest has been music - playing it, watching it be played, writing about it, thinking about it etc. In high school I discovered a similar passion for writing, and have been pursuing creative and journalistic writing ever since. I look forward to spending an awesome summer here at New York Magazine. You can reach him at [TOP SECRET CONTACT METHOD] He starts today! Research on the infallible internet reveals that Theo is the adopted son of Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, and he has six brothers and sisters. Hopefully he will find Manhattan to be more "band-centric" than shitty New Haven, where the music scene sucks. We've emailed Theo to find out more about his internship, and we'll let you know what we hear. Do you know any other celebrity kids doing media internships? Email us immediately. Non-celebrity students are also free to apply for New York internships! UPDATE: NY Mag spokesperson extraordinario Serena Torrey responded to our email to Theo, because "Company policy prevents interns from responding to external press inquiries." She says he's an editorial intern and referred us to the job description on their site, which indicates that right this moment, Theo may be engaged in "database production, fact-checking, research, reporting, and writing," for $7.15 per hour. Which is more than Donald Trump's making from the media, hey-o! [Pic via] MORE >>
Conde Nast: Halfway Through Hell in a Gasoline Suit
For magazines, the first quarter of this year was hell. Particularly for Conde Nast. Now, ad sales figures for the first half are out. They're hell. Particularly for Conde Nast! Min says that overall ad revenue for the first half is down 23% for monthly magazines. It's the worst ad environment they've seen in 62 years. And Conde, the be-sequined one, is having the hardest time. Still: Condé Nast, the glitziest of all magazine publishers, is reeling more than any other publisher. Only four of its magazines are off by less than 30 percent. Industry sources said it is increasingly unlikely that Condé Nast, which does more than $2 billion a year in revenues, will be able to avoid losing millions of dollars this year. The dive is said to be so steep that even decent September issues — traditionally the fattest of the year in the fashion world — will not be able to wipe out the red ink. That last bit is very bad news, because the September issues are, literally, Conde's only hope this year. And, just like last quarter, Wired's ad sales continue to be the worst of all at Conde. The magazine's publisher tells the NYT, on the record, that his new ad sales strategy is to "pray," which indicates a certain I'm-past-the-point-of-giving-a-fuck-itude. Well, we've done our part. Did you know Wired editor Chris Anderson makes $2 MILLION per year, giving speeches? Maybe he can buy some ads? [NYP, NYT] MORE >>
The $13,000 HuffPo Intern Speaks
Last week we identified Luisa from Rio as the probable lucky future journalist who's the $13,000 high bidder on a (priceless) Huffington Post internship in a charity auction. Then she emailed us! Meet her: Why did she bid on this blogger-tunity? Ariana Huffington is my God (should that be Goddess?) and I bow down to her. Writing for free is not enough for me. I would like to pay her to allow me to write. But seriously, The Huffington Post is a good place to be seen and is a good place to start a writing career. And after all, charity is good! I don't know why you're so against it on your website. Perhaps you're forgetting the charity aspect. What does she do, in the remainder of her time? What do I do? Right now I'm taking a few classes. I also like to write. Right now I'm a correspondant for The Anti-Green Movement blog. What is it she loves about Arianna so much? The Huffington Post is just alright. I don't like it how famous people think they are a knowledgeable source of information when they are not qualified at all. (*Cough* Jim Carrey in his article for Jenny McCarthy *cough*) I do like charity. So, may we ask how you make your money, given your generous charitable proclivities? No, you can't ask. Sadly Luisa has deleted her Twitter page now, but let's be clear: we fully support this outrageous value being attached to a worthless unpaid blog internship. If this thing succeeds there is no limit to the number of internships we personally expect to be auctioning off, on the side. This new revenue stream could save the once-new media. Luisa, we are with you. [Previously. And it's not too late to bid!] MORE >>
What Barack Obama Did and Didn't Say at Notre Dame
Today, after much protest, controversy and hysterical outrage, Barack Obama delivered the commencement address at Notre Dame. In his speech to the Catholic school's graduates, Obama addressed growing concerns about his "respect for life" head-on. According to the transcript of the speech, the President was only 241 words into his address, having just made a well-received joke about the elusiveness of honorary degrees, when a heckler screamed, "Abortion is murder! Stop killing children!" The majority of the audience responded by condemning the jackass responsible for the disruption with a loud chorus of boos that eventually morphed into a "yes we can" chant. Obama handled the disturbance deftly, as he always seems to do with an almost disgusting penchant for grace and humility under pressure, moved on with his prepared text, and then returned to the subject of his, in the words of protesting Bishop John D'Arcy, "long-stated unwillingness to hold human life as sacred," about a quarter of the way into his address. Let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies. (Applause.) Let's make adoption more available. (Applause.) Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. (Applause.) Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women." Those are things we can do. (Applause.) Now, understand — understand, Class of 2009, I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it — indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory — the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature. Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words. It's a way of life that has always been the Notre Dame tradition. (Applause.) Father Hesburgh has long spoken of this institution as both a lighthouse and a crossroads. A lighthouse that stands apart, shining with the wisdom of the Catholic tradition, while the crossroads is where "¼differences of culture and religion and conviction can co-exist with friendship, civility, hospitality, and especially love." And I want to join him and Father John in saying how inspired I am by the maturity and responsibility with which this class has approached the debate surrounding today's ceremony. You are an example of what Notre Dame is about. (Applause.) This tradition of cooperation and understanding is one that I learned in my own life many years ago — also with the help of the Catholic Church. From there... MORE >>
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