The Way We Live Now: Sucked of our nectar. How far does this hellacious recession reach? All the way into Nantucket, hallowed home of corporate titans. Jack Welch now supports himself by re-selling home run balls he caught, fact.
• Aquavit's owner says the rumor the eatery is closing is pure nonsense. [GS]
• More good news: Although it appeared as if Ama has gone bust a couple of weeks ago, the closure was temporary and it's now back in business. [Eater]
• The critics: Frank Bruni of the Times gives Aldea a very solid two-star review today; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton is pretty pleased with Locanda Verde; and the Post's Steve Cuzzo is happy to report Benoit is "a lot better." [NYT, BN, NYP]
• Rumor has it William Grimes may step in as the New York Times' temporary restaurant critic when Frank Bruni takes his leave next month. [TFB]
• A roundup of restaurants that have opened recently. [NYT]
• Joey Chestnut's record-setting 68 hot dogs at the Nathan's eating competition translates into 20,200 calories, in case you were wondering. [TFB]
Did you fly in or out of Kennedy Airport this morning and find yourself delayed for a good hour and a half or so? There's a good explanation for that. One of the runways was shut down after a pilot reported running over some turtles, and wildlife control workers later had to remove 78 diamondback turtles who'd positioned themselves on the runway because they were "looking for friends of the opposite sex. Yes, it's turtle mating season. And, yes, turtles were responsible for screwing up your schedule today. [NYP]
Security experts have to admit they kind of admire him, the hacker who is bizarrely attacking every last boring part of the U.S. government, online. His mysterious army is living the American Dream, really.
Many people have criticized The Huffington Post for not paying its writers. But Ken Lerer, who co-founded the site with Arianna Huffington and remains the company's chairman, sure has one heck of a generous streak. Last week, we noticed that Joey Bartolomeo, a senior writer at People and frequent TV talking head, had purchased an apartment on the Upper East Side. What was strange was that Bartolomeo didn't buy the $1.025 million co-op on her own. Lerer's name appeared on the property documents as well. And it turns out that Joey isn't the first member of the Bartolomeo family to have benefited from Lerer's largesse. Bartolomeo's older sister, Stephanie Bartolomeo, picked up a $1.25 million co-op on the Upper West Side back in March. And once again, Lerer co-signed for the apartment.
In your woebegone Wednesday media column: the WSJ takes on the NYT's culture section in a total death match, TV networks not upset they lost $23 in ad money covering MJ, more Hobo New York Times coverage, and newspapers burn.
Not that we minded, because the real guy is pretty charming and a great raconteur, but it was just curious because in the past the comedian, currently promoting Brüno, has been so committed to in-character appearances.
To stave off dementia! Yes, today the befuddled screech owls on Fox & Friends were discussing a study that states that those that stay married fend off Alzheimer's and dementia better than lonely divorcees. Brian Kilmeade took issue with this.
The Brooke Astor trial has been delayed. Again. Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, had to be rushed to the hospital today after he fell in the men's room, hit his head, and reported feeling dizzy. The bad news is that the trial has been suspended indefinitely. The good: Once his trial is over, Marshall will get to come back as the plaintiff in a slip-and-fall personal injury suit against the city. [NYDN, previously]
