Karl Does Football

cityfile · 01/20/10 02:53PM

Just when you think there isn't anything left for Chanel to stamp its brand on—maybe you'd be interested in buying a temporary tattoo for $75?—and Karl Lagerfeld comes through with another surprise. Yes, Chanel-branded footballs can now be purchased for $175. Don't forget to share the good news with all the fashion-forward football fanatics in your life! [FWD]

Obama Turns Ordinary Man into Celebrity Magnet

Hamilton Nolan · 01/20/10 02:28PM

Tom was just like you: an ordinary schmoe from Jersey, with a kid and a job in banking and a pronounced inability to attract celebrities into his general vicinity. Until one day when he met Barack Obama, became magnetized, and proceeded to attract celebrities, in much the same way a magnet attracts metal. Moments ago, Tom sent out this lengthy press release, informing the world of his strange and wondrous saga of celebrity attraction. We want you to read it all. It is just that important.

Morgan Stanley Underperforms, Overdelivers

cityfile · 01/20/10 02:23PM

Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack was gracious enough to forego a bonus for 2009. But pretty much everyone else did just fine. Despite the fact the bank reported its first annual loss in its 74-year history this morning, the firm said it set aside $14.4 billion to pay employee bonuses and salaries, "an astonishing figure, even by the gilded standards of Wall Street" and one that's up 30 percent from 2008. Of course, it's always possible the windfall led a magnanimous banker to toss a couple of coins in the direction of the poor guy assigned to polish the Morgan Stanley logo this afternoon. Feel free to consider that the upside if you'd like! [NYT, FT]

More Evidence 'iPad' Is the Apple Tablet's Name

Ryan Tate · 01/20/10 02:01PM

Deep in the bowels of the Trademark Office is some fresh evidence that Steve Jobs intends to name his messiah machine the "iPad": the company is in a fight with Fujitsu over the trademark.

Limp-Wristed French Allow Woman to Run Newspaper

Hamilton Nolan · 01/20/10 01:56PM

In your progressive Wednesday media column: the typically effeminate French (whose asses we saved in WWII) think ladies can be in charge of things, the WaPo has never been to DC, Greg Mitchell's lament, and Vice meets CNN.

Scanvertising

cityfile · 01/20/10 01:33PM

It's only been a couple of weeks since the TSA announced plans to install 300 full-body scanners at airports around the country. Which is more than enough time for an ad agency to figure out a way to exploit the subject and suggest in a new ad campaign that women will now need to pay more attention to the lingerie they wear. [Copyranter]

American Idol: The Night Chicago Died

Richard Lawson · 01/20/10 01:18PM

If American Idol is all about dreams (and it is), then last night was a nightmare. Not the sit-bolt-upright-in-bed kind of nightmare. But one of those bad dreams that's difficult and long, the ones that make you wake up tired.

New York's Most Mocked Borough

cityfile · 01/20/10 01:08PM

Despite its name, MTV's Jersey Shore isn't really a reflection on New Jersey, says Slate's Jonah Weiner. It's more a comment on where half of the cast is originally from: Staten Island, "prime summer-rental feeder community," longtime haven to members of the Mafia, the site of one of the city's biggest landfills, and "home to the largest per-capita Italian-American population in New York state." [Slate]