Daily Intel

Yes, Doogie, There Is a Santa Claus

Chris Rovzar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:00:21 -0500

]]>One of our very favorite New York stories of all time, the tale of 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, Santa Claus, and the New York Sun, is set to be an animated special this holiday season. It'll star Jennifer Love Hewitt and Neil Patrick Harris, which is a little confusing, but we'll take it. [EW]

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Filed Under: holidaze, jennifer love hewitt, movies, neil patrick harris

Taconic Parkway Crash Mom’s Remains Finally to Be Retested

Steve Fishman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:45:22 -0500

]]>After Diane Schuler drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway and killed eight people because — according to the Westchester medical examiner — she was drunk and high, her husband and family vowed to clear her name. “She wasn’t an alcoholic,” her husband Danny Schuler says. For months, the family’s representatives have said they intended to do new tests to prove the medical examiner wrong. The accident occurred July 26, and after more than three months, tissue and fluid samples held by the medical examiner hadn’t been requested. Now, Schuler’s private investigator says the family has raised the money to pay for retesting. “I’m in the process of filling out the paperwork to request transfer of the medical examiner’s samples to our crime lab,” says Tom Ruskin, president of CMP investigative group. He expects results within a few weeks.

]]>The first test is to confirm that the samples do in fact belong to Diane Schuler and weren’t somehow mixed up at the time of autopsy. “If they don’t match, then the case is settled,” says Ruskin, who has already extracted Diane’s DNA from her toothbrush. If it does match, blood and fluids will be retested for, among other things, alcohol level. The medical examiner reported that Diane Schuler’s blood alcohol content was .19 percent, more than twice the legal limit. He also reported a high level of THC, the active ingredient of marijuana. But the Schuler family has insisted that "something medical" must have gone wrong with his wife that day.

Diane was driving her three nieces and two children home to Long Island from a weekend camping trip in the Catskills on July 26. She and four of the children were killed in the collision, along with three Yonkers men, Michael Bastardi Sr., his son Guy, and their friend Daniel Luongo. Westchester medical examiner Dr. Millard Hyland says he stands by the office results. And Elizabeth Spratt, his chief toxicologist, says that there is no doubt that the samples belong to Diane Schuler. Schuler’s lawyer, Dominic Barbara, has said that the family may also exhume the body for further tests.

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Filed Under: sad things, taconic tragedy

Sarah Jessica Parker: ‘I Love the Smell of Diapers’

Jessica Pressler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:20:55 -0500

]]>We've never actually smelled Sarah Jessica Parker's perfumes, but after reading the following quote from her December Elle profile, we're pretty sure we never, ever want to.

"I love the smell of diapers; I even like when they’re wet and you smell them all warm liked a baked good. Love it.”

LIKE A BAKED GOOD. Like a batch of warm chocolate-chip cookies. Really, she could just eat those diapers up. Wow, this will haunt us for days. Incidentally, how Elle failed to use the line "Sex and the City actress opens up about her scheisse fetish" on the cover is beyond us.

[Elle via D-Listed]

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Filed Under: blobs, blobs and the people who own them, gross things, sarah jessica parker, the most important people in the world

Costume Designer Eric Daman Believes Sex Is Better Than Ritalin

Charlotte Cowles — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:52:33 -0500

]]>Gossip Girl costume designer Eric Daman, the evil genius who masterminded Chuck Bass’s look and invented the Cleavage Rhombus, had a few things to say about the Parents Television Council's war against the show’s impending threesome plotline. “So, it’s okay for them to be doing blow and drinking Scotch when they’re 18, but it’s not okay for them to be having a threesome?" the designer, resplendent in a Bass-worthy skinny suit, knee-high patent leather boots, and scarf told us at last night's party for his new style book, You Know You Want It, at the Gramercy Park hotel. “What is this society that we’re living in where sex is worse than teenage drinking?” We started to say that if the PTC had their druthers, they’d probably nix the cocktail quaffing along with the ménage à trois, but we were slow from the Champagne cocktails, and the designer (who noted that he frequently tweaks hemlines and necklines to make the characters’ outfits more "TV-appropriate") was on a roll. “Sex is good! People who are enjoying each other — that’s much better than people who are ostracized and have to feel bad or have to be on Ritalin or something.” True — although we would totally watch that show, too.

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Filed Under: eric daman, party lines, the greatest show of our time

Judah Friedlander Was Fired From a Job Handing Out Flyers

Angela Gaimari — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:15:20 -0500

]]>At last night’s after-party for the screening of Jason Reitman’s new film Up in the Air, 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander said he related to one of the movie’s themes — getting laid off. Years ago, the comedian and actor said he had a gig handing out flyers for a podiatrist on the streets of New York. He'd work on one street corner, and his manager would work across the street. "So one day, the manager goes to me, 'Fuck it, man, let's just go to McDonald's." "I'm like okay, he's the boss, so we go to McDonald's for like two hours. And we start doing that a while," Friedlander explained to us. “And then one day he calls me up, and he’s like, ‘Judah you’re fired.’” When Friedlander asked why, he was told that it was because their employer had checked on them, and they weren't on their spots."I’m like ‘Yeah, because I was at McDonald’s with you!"’ he said, asking if his boss was also fired. "'They’ve decided to keep me on,’” the boss explained. Many, many jobs later, Friedlander went on to star in a hit network television show and laugh about the whole thing.

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Filed Under: jobs, judah friendlander, party lines

The Reading Habits of Wall Street CEOs

Jessica Pressler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:45:46 -0500

"OMG, I loved The Time Traveler's Wife. Don't tell anyone."]]>Unsurprisingly, they prefer to read about great men: In Duff McDonald's Last Man Standing, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon claims to have read biographies of Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, Nelson Mandela, and ten U.S. presidents, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant. Meanwhile, Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big to Fail contains a scene in which Goldman Sachs's Lloyd Blankfein is reading David Fromkin's A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, in which Winston Churchill is a central character. [Das Krapital]

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Filed Under: business, jamie dimon, lloyd blankfein, wall street, white men who are literary as well as handsome

Fort Hood Shooter Emptied His Apartment Before Massacre

Chris Rovzar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:30:02 -0500

]]>Major Nidal Malik Hasan emptied his apartment before going on the shooting spree that left 13 people dead and 31 wounded yesterday. The Army psychiatrist was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan to offer therapy to soldiers there, so his neighbors — who say they didn't know him — were not suspicious when he began passing around his personal belongings to them. According to the Post, he visited one woman's apartment and gave her a new Quran, plus some frozen broccoli, spinach, portable shelves, and T-shirts. A day later, he gave her his air mattress, a desk lamp, and several briefcases. He then, according to reports, "offered her $60 to clean his apartment Friday morning, after he was supposed to leave."

Fort Hood shooter emptied apartment in days before attack [NYP]

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Filed Under: crime, fort hood, nidal malik hasan, shootings

If It Walks Like a Gossip Girl and Talks Like a Gossip Girl...

CBGIRL and Alexandra Martell — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:13 -0500

]]>Our beloved characters really grew up on this week's Gossip Girl and, as usual, you had a lot to say about it. Everyone appreciated the classic Beverly Hills, 90210 reference, though we have a hard time believing Blair would sit at home watching SoapNet to learn that line. You were all delighted when the writers finally admitted that Serena can sometimes be mistaken for a call girl, and praised them for finding a way to get Little J to take off the raccoon makeup. Of course, the question remains — when will Blair be back on top (double entendre intended)? And where's Wallace Shawn when you need him?

]]>Realer Than Serena Being Mistaken for a Prostitute by a Genuine Call Girl
• Why is it that the only thing that I've ever seen Serena read are articles with pictures of herself? Plus 50.  —MISERABLE

• Olivia's wearing plaid, playing Scrabble, and celebrating her one month anniversary with dinner on the floor. Plus 5 for settling into the Humphrey Lifestyle so well! —FASHIONRAT

• "I thought I was working this party alone, did the agency send you over?" Common mistake, Plus 5.  —SOUTHERNCOMFORT

• Oh and the reason why Jenny is sick is because homegirl hasn't eaten in two seasons. Plus 5. —POLISHPIEROGI

• Plus 20 for the homoerotic tension between Blair and Brandeis when they first meet. This harkens back to Blair's summary of the NYU experience as consisting of "rereading Beloved and experimenting with lesbianism." —SNARKETTE

• Plus 5 for Lily's obvious exhaustion after playing 5 hours of scrabble with Rufus & co. She doesn't spend that much time with her own kids, let alone someone else's.  —SPARKLE17

• Serena is going to be a congressman's mistress, then wife. Plus 1500. Grandma CeCe will be so proud, and Lily will be so jealous. —CACTUSFLOWERY

• Plus 1 Dan is totally one of those douches who rushes off to find the Scrabble Dictionary just to prove he really is that smart. I know, because I too am one of those douches. —JESSICHUCKA

• When S pushes B into the cake, B plants with her face only, managing to save all but a few strands of hair from becoming a sticky, icing mess. Plus 4. I'm pretty sure strategic cake falling is the sort of thing the young elite have to master before cotillion. —SHARPIEPEN

• Of course Chuck knew Blair's friend was a callgirl. He has a radar for these things, the same way Blair has a radar for expensive waitlisted bags. (I hear you can buy radar at Sharper Image.) Plus 10. —LUCYV

• Plus 2 -- Jenny is so trendy to have H1N1 while its all the rage. —MISSELISA

• After hearing about the debacle with Eric and Jonathan last episode, Lily finally did some parenting and banned Jenny from wearing that demon-powered eyeliner for a week, leaving her as weak as a kitten with it's paw out. Plus 5. —THE_DEACON

• If it walks like a duck..." is one of the best lines from the original teen drama- Beverly Hills 90210. Plus 10 because of course Blair is closet 90210 fan, and has been waiting for a chance to use the line to accuse Serena of the same thing Brenda accused Kelly of: blonde sluttyness. —CONSUELAKITKAT

• Plus 6 for the fact that Rufus, Lily, Jenny, Erik, Dan, and Olivia were absent from the party. I was just waiting to see how the writers would make sure they were all there, but for once, I was pleasantly surprised. —ALIOOP

Faker Than Serena Telling Anyone to Put Some Clothes on While Keeping a Straight Face
• Minus 10 for Vanessa's ridiculous 'dream catcher' followed by 'elephant tusk' gold hoop earrings. I was actually worried they might fall into the river and strangle a passing dolphin. —DOCLUVSBASS

• After winning an election amongst scandal, why would Trip's first move be to drink martinis with an 18 year old in a bar that as of three days ago didn't have a liquor license? Minus 3.  —BACKWARDS_WALK

• Why does Serena keep talking like she just had her wisdom teeth removed? STOP IT. Minus 5.  —JWANG9

• If they wanted us to buy that plotline about Blair befriending an escort, maybe they shouldn’t have made her look like the manicurist in Legally Blonde. Minus 5. —PETITEESTHETE

• Oh, and Serena voted? No, not even. There are far too many buttons involved. Although, there are stickers...so even.   —IM_CHUCK_BASS

• Isn't anyone in a high-brow, political inner circle of an incredibly established, blue-blood family worried about the grungy, Brooklyn street kid following everyone around with a camcorder? Minus 20 . —KDOW3

• Dan turned his shirt inside-out to hide his sweat stains? Is that one of the little-known, magical powers of plaid? —DOLLYWOULD

• Van Der Bilt? Sounds like something from EuroTrip. It's Vanderbilt. Check the mansion. Minus 1. —JUSTCALLMEBLAIR

• Serena was "just discussing the Senate Committee on Appropriations." NO. Minus 3. —BRIDGEANDTUNNEL

• I also forget to give Olivia a minus 5 for her bedroom sheets. They are the awful kind of matchy-matchy sheets sold in a bag in Wal-Mart during the "Back to School" specials. Which would normally be a plus 5 for reality (I had something equally heinous) BUT no self-respecting Hollywood starlet would choose Wal-mart poly-blend over Egyptian cotton, no matter how "real" she was trying to be. —COUNTRYMAEVE [Ed: To be fair, the sheets are sold at PB Teen]

• Minus 100 for Vanessa still trying to be all self righteous. She schemes, she plots, she blackmails, she sells out her friends and she humps anyone that will give her the time of day. Enough. —STILETTO33

• Isn't this one month anniversary thing kind of out of control? It's ONE MONTH people, and she was out of town for half of it. Minus 2. —TROCK

• Minus 15 for the unexplained absence of Dorata this entire episode, she would have clearly been there wiping the frosting off Mees Blair's face and re-applying her Dior Mascara to her lashes. —MSCHUCKBASS

• Show, when are you going to have Anderson Cooper make an appearance??? A family political event would have been the PERFECT venue for him to finally show up. Minus 100. Unless he shows up in next week's 3-way ep, in which case plus 1 million. —FROCKY

]]> Read more posts by CBGIRL and Alexandra Martell

Filed Under: gossip girl, The Greatest Show of Our Time, the recap of the recap

Former Citigroup Co-Chairman Apologizes for Creating a Monster

Jessica Pressler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:46:51 -0500

]]>Citigroup's former chairman John Reed, who along with Sandy Weill helped build Citigroup into a giant fat dangerous waddling monster that is now a ward of the state, has apologized. “I’m sorry,” Reed, 70, told Bloomberg. You should know he's hurting, too: “You could imagine emotionally it’s not easy to see what’s happened.” Well. At least with the $23.4 million he took home between 1997 and 1999, he can afford therapy. [Bloomberg]

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Filed Under: business, citigroup, john reed, sandy weill, still waiting to hear from sandy on this matter, white men who can stuff their sorries in a sack, white men with money

A Few People in Congress Aren’t Millionaires

Dan Amira — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:30:00 -0500

Representative Darrell Issa can afford to bite this microphone in half because he's the richest person in Congress.]]>Ever wonder why Congress so often feels so out of touch with regular Americans? It's because they're not regular Americans! A study by the Center for Responsive Politics finds that out of the 535 members of the Senate and House of Representatives, 237 of them are millionaires. That means millionaires make up 44 percent of the members of Congress, compared to just 1 percent of all Americans. That's a lot more millionaires!

]]>Part of the discrepancy can be chalked up to the inherent advantages that rich candidates have getting elected in the first place — they have money to spend on campaigns, and powerful friends with influence and money as well. But we're also reminded of a study a few years ago that found that senators, on average, outperform the stock market by 12 percent annually, a remarkable number considering that "a mutual-fund manager who beats the market by two or three per cent a year is considered a genius," according to The New Yorker. It's not because they're smarter; they just put their inside information to good use. Anyway, one man you can assume wasn't inside trading — or was doing it very ineptly — is former senator Joe Biden, who has a net worth of $27,000, God love him.

Report: 237 millionaires in Congress [Politico]

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Filed Under: oh congress!, politics

Was Yesterday Obama’s ‘Pet Goat’ Moment?

Dan Amira — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:04:00 -0500

]]>This morning, President Obama made an appearance in the White House Rose Garden to provide remarks about the new unemployment numbers and the tragedy at Fort Hood. This time, Fort Hood came first. Yesterday, at around 5 p.m., President Obama stepped to the podium at the Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior and offered thanks to various officials for their participation. He then gave a "shout out" and a little wave to Dr. Joe Medicine Crow, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner. Then he spoke about continuing a dialogue with Native Americans beyond the day's conference. Nearly two minutes into his remarks, Obama finally addressed the massacre at Fort Hood.

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It didn't take long before conservative commentators began expressing their disgust at Obama's allegedly out-of-whack priorities. Some even went so far as to compare it to George W. Bush's reaction upon hearing about the 9/11 attacks, the notorious "My Pet Goat" moment (a misnomer, as the book Bush was reading to children is called The Pet Goat). Linda Chavez was the first to make the connection, on Commentary's Contentions blog:

He treated the event like a pep rally rather than a tragic occasion with a wider audience than those gathered in the room. I wonder how many media outlets will compare Obama’s performance to President Bush’s “Pet Goat” moment on 9/11. I won’t hold my breath.

She was hardly the only one, though. National Review's Jonah Goldberg agreed that the media had revealed another "shabby double standard" by criticizing Bush's 9/11 response but letting Obama off the hook yesterday. And Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, also comparing the incident to Bush's "Pet Goat" moment, said that Obama acted as if the "shooting has intruded itself on his daily business."

Indeed, watching the press conference live yesterday, we were a little surprised that Obama didn't jump right into his remarks on Fort Hood. Offering introductory pleasantries and shout-outs just didn't seem to jibe with the gravity of the situation. That said, the comparison to Bush's "Pet Goat" moment seems like a stretch. With Bush, the 9/11 attacks were an ongoing threat, and required immediate action from the president to coordinate a military response. Every second he continued to read to children was a second without a commander-in-chief. On the other hand, the response to the Fort Hood attacker was carried out by base security and local law enforcement, and by the time Obama made his remarks, the gunman had been neutralized. His choice wasn't between action and delay, but between offering condolences at 5:01 p.m. or 5:03 p.m. — making his offense not much more than a failure of decorum.

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Filed Under: barack obama, fort hood, george w. bush, the pet goat

Artie Lange Never Misses an Opportunity to Suck Up to His Boss

Vanita Salisbury — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:41:05 -0500

]]>Name: Artie Lange
Age: 42
Neighborhood: Hoboken
Occupation: Comedian and co-host of the Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. He’ll be performing tonight at the Beacon Theater as part of the New York Comedy Festival.

Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
Howard Stern.

What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
Roy White knishes.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Read the "Sports" section and ask strippers if they can burp a Led Zeppelin song.

]]>Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
Yeah, if I could get cable in the Port Authority bathroom.

What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
A homeless person throwing up.

Do you give money to panhandlers?
Only if I am positive they will use it for drugs.

What's your drink?
Smartwater with extra electrolytes.

How often do you prepare your own meals?
No.

What's your favorite medication?
Aloe vera.

What's hanging above your sofa?
A Hirschfeld lithograph of Abbey Road.

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
$18.50.

When's bedtime?
When Howard and Robin start talking about American Idol.

Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
The old Times Square, because you can’t buy angel dust from a homeless midget outside The Lion King.

What do you think of Donald Trump?
I like him, but he owes me $42k from the last time I was at the Taj.

What do you hate most about living in New York?
The fact that I don’t.

Who is your mortal enemy?
Anyone with abs.

When's the last time you drove a car?
The bumper cars at the Seaside boardwalk.

How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
Well, it’s back to domestic wines.

Times, Post, or Daily News?
Post.

Where do you go to be alone?
A tanning salon in Harlem.

What makes someone a New Yorker?
They live in New York.

]]> Read more posts by Vanita Salisbury

Filed Under: 21 questions, artie lange

Kushner Wanted Sorkin for Observer Job

Gabriel Sherman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:15:43 -0500

]]>New York Times star business reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin has had a big couple of weeks. His blockbuster book Too Big to Fail is debuting this Sunday at No. 4 on the New York Times best-seller list (and he will be profiled in next week's New York Magazine). Sorkin is in London this week promoting the book's European launch. In addition to being a best-seller, Sorkin has been fielding job offers. New York Observer owner Jared Kushner tried recruiting Sorkin twice during the past year. Most recently, he talked to Sorkin last month about taking over the paper before editor Tom McGeveran announced his resignation on October 28, according to several sources familiar with the matter. According to an Observer insider, Kushner ran into Sorkin at a party three weeks ago and said "let's get together." The two had a meeting, but the talks never progressed very far. Last March, Kushner had also tried to recruit Sorkin to take over the Observer, as longtime editor Peter Kaplan was preparing to leave.

]]>Yesterday, Kushner announced that he had appointed former Portfolio deputy editor Kyle Pope to run the paper, and last night, Kushner held a book party for the Observer's just-published anthology, The Kingdom of New York, where Sorkin and former New York Press editor David Blum, another candidate, were topics of conversation. Staffers speculated that talks foundered on the issue of an ownership stake in the paper — which, given Sorkin’s unusual incentive arrangements with the Times, might very well have come up eventually. But a source close to Kushner says talks never progressed to that point.

]]> Read more posts by Gabriel Sherman

Filed Under: andrew ross sorkin, business, ink-stained wretches, jared kushner, media, observer

Shooting At Orlando Office Building

Jessica Pressler — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:12:15 -0500

]]>At least six* people have been shot at the Gateway Center, a sixteen-story office building in downtown Orlando. One of fifteen employees that came streaming out of the building in the aftermath told CNN affiliate WESH that just before the shooting, which occurred shortly before noon, "a former employee came into the office who hadn't worked at the company in over a year." The network is reporting that two of the victims are dead, and six have been injured. The shooter has not been found. [CNN]

Update: The shooter, who has been identified as Jason Rodriguez, 40, has been apprehended. Sgt. Barbara Jones of the Orlando police just said that he was found and arrested at his mother's house, where they always go.
Update 2:* The tally is now one dead, five wounded.
Update 3: As reporters followed the captive Rodriguez, they asked him on camera why he did it. "They left me to rot," he said.

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Filed Under: florida, horrifying things, orlando, shootings

For Stephanie Seymour, Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Nude

Chris Rovzar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:50:36 -0500

]]>Supermodel and former Victoria's Secret angel Stephanie Seymour wouldn't talk about her terrible divorce from multimillionaire Peter Brant to Vanity Fair for their next issue. But for photographer Mario Testino, she would pose nude — and spectacular — which, as everyone knows, when you are a supermodel, is the best revenge. [VF]

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Filed Under: divorce, great divorces, peter brant, stephanie seymour, vanity fair