Of the many ways Starbucks has had an impact on society—speeding neighborhood gentrification, making us go crazy, killing off independent coffee shops, helping launch the career of Naomi Klein—none is quite as annoying as the constant reminder that the price of a product or service is merely what you spend on lattes.
LuAnn de Lesseps of Real Housewives fame—sorry, make that Countess LuAnn de Lesseps—just sold an etiquette book called Class With the Countess: How to Live With Elegance and Flair. She already has a website set up to promote it, though. And the"TV star" and "celebrity personality" is even kind enough to share a few bits of advice from her forthcoming book! Here's one to chew on: "Telling racial jokes—expressing prejudice about race, religion, nationality, politics is unattractive." Duly noted!
Patrick McGoohan, best known as the ex-spy who thwarted authority on the cult-classic series The Prisoner before ruthlessly enforcing it in Braveheart, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 80.
Last night, a karaoke leviathan reemerged from the depths of the Pacific to terrorize the TV landscape, its destructive appetite unsated until a virginal white-soul prodigy (preferably Mormon) is sacrificed at its easy-listening feet.
Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen may have been willing to support Calvin Klein's plan to tear down his Southampton castle and build a more modern home on the site, but it seems their enthusiasm isn't shared by all of Calvin's neighbors on Meadow Lane. Bill Williams Jr., who recently retired as a partner at the white-shoe law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, filed a letter of complaint with Southampton's Architectural Review Board in advance of a public hearing earlier this week. Williams' objection to Klein's proposal, however, doesn't have anything to do with any interest in preserving the gaudy castle. He just doesn't care for Calvin's taste.
Your daily fest-news buffet continues with a saint-making Brett Ratner and a worrisome slowdown at the Sundance ticket booth.
McCain couldn't beat Obama by painting him as a celebrity. He is a celebrity, and people love it! But other celebrities are getting greedy now. They're trying to work their way into the Obama cabinet.
It's a bad time to be a Marvel movie actor, unless you're Robert Downey Jr. (or Gwyneth Paltrow, who'd be the first to say that it is always a good time to be Gwyneth Paltrow).
A judge denied an appeal by federal prosecutors to revoke Bernie Madoff's bail and send him to jail pending trial. He should be back at 133 East 64th Street for afternoon tea. The judge did impose several new bail requirements, however: Madoff's possessions at each of his various homes around the world—not just his NYC apartment—will now be inventoried. Looks like a lucky federal employee is getting a free trip to St. Tropez! [Bloomberg]
Economy got you down? Can't afford your precious mushrooms or acid tabs anymore? Well, fear not. The keys to your next hallucinogenic high are right in front of you. In coffee! And ping-pong balls.
