New York Times Will Take Any Damn Ad

Hamilton Nolan · 07/15/09 01:07PM

Look at this nasty ad for shingles medication. It is featured prominently on the New York Times home page today. Is there no gross ad the Hobo NYT will not display, in exchange for precious money? (Click for full grossness!)

Potter Debuts, Fortune Revamps, Twitter Gets Hacked

cityfile · 07/15/09 01:07PM

• The Harry Potter frenzy kicked off last night when the latest installment debuted at midnight last night and raked in $22.2 million in the process. [THR]
• Jared Kushner's struggling Observer is still hunting for a new editor. [DF]
• Time Inc. has "assembled a high-level SWAT team" to revamp Fortune. [NYP]
• The most successful magazine at the moment? Fitness. Obviously! [Folio]
• Ukraine's Culture Ministry has banned Brüno because "it's immoral." [THR]
• A hacker accessed the computers of several Twitter employees, made off with a big bunch of documents, and is now leaking the info online. Technology! [TC]
• Is NBC's wacky, new terrorist-hunting reality show going to put war correspondents in danger's way? Guess we'll find out shortly, right? [NYO]

Uncle Junior Will Show You Around Now

cityfile · 07/15/09 12:49PM

It's a dream come true for the fame-obsessed: "A volunteer tour organization called Big Apple Greeters is offering free personalized tours led by celebrities. Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and "Sopranos" star Dominic Chianese were at City Hall on Wednesday to advertise their services." You can find more info here. And you can thank us later. [AP]

Delusional Americans Love Fitness Magazine

Hamilton Nolan · 07/15/09 12:36PM

In your level-headed Wednesday media column: Jared Kushner congratulates his busy employees, the New York Times Co. explains how broke it is, a great idea for J-schools, and Fitness magazine finds success in fat America, somehow.

NYC Prep: Mr. PC and the Vicious Circle

Richard Lawson · 07/15/09 12:06PM

Meow! Last night's episode was all about people being bitchy. Girls being bitchy, boys being bitchy, couples being bitchy, dates being bitchy. Bitchiest of all, though, was darling PC Peterson, a confused and disorderly young man who's basically King Bitch.

Tory Burch's Tear-Down in Southampton

cityfile · 07/15/09 11:58AM

If Tory Burch is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, she certainly isn't showing it. The designer and social fixture is now petitioning Southampton's Architectural Review Board for permission to demolish the Meadow Lane home that she purchased for $22.5 million earlier this year.

Out: Manhattan Office. In: Chicken

Hamilton Nolan · 07/15/09 11:29AM

The Way We Live Now: In Manhattan! You can rent office space there now, cheap! Well, not you. "You" are a part-time chicken farmer and failed celebrity chef. But, you know, other people can rent in Manhattan!

Hogwarts Democracy Threatened by Insurgent Undead

Natasha VC · 07/15/09 11:04AM

Are you still trying to write the perfect 140 character review for Harry Potter? Whatever you say, Quentin Tarantino thinks he could do it better. Also, they're going to bring back the Twlight Zone it will be the awful revision.

Michael Jackson's Famous Hair Fire: The Video

Richard Lawson · 07/15/09 11:00AM

Oh, holy god. Remember when Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984? Well Us Weekly got the harrowing footage and claims the injury spurred his terrible painkiller addiction. His head just... catches on fire.

Arianna's Best Birthday Ever

cityfile · 07/15/09 10:55AM

How has Arianna Huffington been spending her 59th birthday? She started the day in Greece before making her way to Croatia, reportedly aboard the Rising Sun, the 454-foot, $250 million yacht that is co-owned by billionaires David Geffen and Larry Ellison. [Gawker]

Jake Tapper Knows How to Grease a Gatekeeper

John Cook · 07/15/09 10:50AM

ABC News' Jake "The Octogon" Tapper thinks NBC News is totally "slimy" for their gross and "insulting" reporting during South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's disappearance. The nerve of those guys, suggesting that something untoward was going on!