"Hey Em, I hear that we may see you during the Thanksgiving holiday. Great," my maternal grandfather wrote to me in an email last night. "Tell me later about the stable of bloggers (?) who do comments on your varying stories. They seem to repeat themselves. Do you liven up the comments by using in house people ? Is this a serous attraction for your readers? Does it build the number of hits to the site? It appears that the commentators view avidly each others comments. A sort of incestuous aura. Take care, stay employed, and have a good retirement plan." My grandfather is so correct (except maybe about the part about staying employed): The Gawker comments do have a sort of incestuous aura. And it's about to get even incestuous-er!.

If you've been hearing a lot of David Bowie lately (and not just because your roommate is a big Aladdin Sane fan) you might have noticed his polished - presidential even - tone. He's shown himself to be a masterful organizer: his High line Festival, which kicked off yesterday, is THE festival of the year. He's proven himself an adept diplomat, talking his way out of a feud with a gruff Bobby DeNiro and negotiating through the tangle of neighborhood activists eager to protect the High Line. And now his populist streak is on full display. As the Observer reports, Bowie is opening up a burlesque house at former mafia hangout Little Charlie's Clam House. Like any good leader, Bowie first wooed the cultural aristocracy with screenings of underexposed Latin American films and is now making his appeal to the masses through a liberal display of tits and fishnets. Has the moment finally arrived? Is Bowie making his move? Is it time, that is, to turn and face the strange? —Josh