Archive for October 7th, 2008
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Business & Media, Oct. 6, 2008:
It seems anxiety from the financial crisis is reaching new highs, but the tipping point for one individual came at the Lehman Brothers gym in the midst of the company’s collapse.
While former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld was testifying before the House Oversight Committee Oct. 6, CNBC reported he had been punched in the face at the Lehman Brothers gym after it was announced the firm was going bankrupt. CNBC and Vanity Fair contributor Vicki Ward said Fuld was attacked at the gym on a Sunday following the bankruptcy.
“Frankly, I sat there and listened and I’m with the guy who apparently, the day before Barclays announced they were coming in and Lehman had already filed for bankruptcy, went over to him in the gym and punched him because that’s how I feel when I, you know, when I watched that,” Ward said on the Oct. 6 Power Lunch. “I didn’t think he was contrite at all, I thought he was arrogant.”
ABC News, Oct. 7, 2008:
Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today.
“Rooms at this resort can cost over $1,000 a night,” Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said this morning as his committee continued its investigation of Wall Street and its CEOs.
AIG documents obtained by Waxman’s investigators show the company paid more than $440,000 for the retreat, including nearly $200,000 for rooms, $150,000 for meals and $23,000 in spa charges….
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Photo by Jonathan Bachman
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Oh boy, the hits just keep on coming from last night. It seems all of the sports world has been thrown into a tizzy after Reggie Bush’s record-setting performance last night against the Vikings. Deadspin had a great video of ESPN’s Robert Flores so excited pulled a Sarah Palin on air (video after the jump): Read the rest of this entry »
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 Filmmaker/actress Jocelyn Marquis hosts an artists’ salon this evening to debut the trailer for her film Difficult Death, an adaptation of Rene Crevel’s 1926 novel of the same name about art, homoeroticism and social revolution. Cast and crew will be on hand to discuss the project, which is filming at locations around the city. Marquis plays Perinne Dumont (pictured), an art school student who becomes enthralled with the artistic life of a transgendered poet, Arthur. She also has feelings for a young painter named Daniel and is torn between the excitement of Arthur’s spontaneous and unconstrained lifestyle and the peace and stability of Daniel’s companionship. The salon takes place from 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 1128 St. Roch St. (at Marais St.) in the Marigny. Cash bar.
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It’s part of American presidential politics that the vice presidential candidates are usually the attack dogs. So it makes sense that Sarah Palin has described herself as a pit bull with lipstick. And Joe “That’s Not Change. That’s More of the Same” Biden is no slouch either when it comes to chewing up his partner’s opponent.
But sometimes all that barking — all of that incendiary yapping — can produce nothing short of mob rule. Take the situation that the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes about that just occurred in Florida, where Palin boosters screamed at members of the press and waved thunder sticks. Even worse, one Palinite verbally abused an African American network sound man with racial epithets and told him, “Sit down, boy.”
This needs to stop.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Can’t find confirmation elsewhere on the Web, but WDSU is reporting that:
Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin may visit Louisiana at the end of this month for a fundraiser.
Insiders told NewsChannel 6 that she will travel to Pensacola, Fla., next week prior to her visit to New Orleans.
Nothing about it on the official McCain/Palin Web site (yet), but the possibilities are intriguing, if not mindboggling. Since it’s deer-hunting season, will the RNC be offering a hunting trip with John McCain’s co-maverick? (Better to go hunting with Gov. Palin than with the current veep, obviously.)
Should Palin’s visit come to pass and you’re unable or unwilling to afford the (no doubt) megabuck donation, you have a more affordable option. Comedian Julie Brown has rewritten her 80s novelty hit “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun,” and is selling her all-new single “The Girl V.P.’s Got a Gun” for the low, low price of only $1.99.
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That be a screen grab of Bobby McCray standing next to his mom. ESPN the Magazine had him cook some food for Mike McKenzie, Will Smith and Sedrick Ellis (in full USC garb). On the menu was some chicken-shrimp fettucini alfredo. Sound delicious. I think that Chef Who Dat may be feeling the heat at the moment.
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Thanks to Saints Gab for picking up what I miss.
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 Like many people in New Orleans, my husband and I are in the midst of home restoration. While this project is underway we (my husband, son and I) reside in the carriage-house-cum-pool-house on our lot. We are right on schedule with renovations now, just about 20 months into a 6-month project, 125% into our budget and there is no end in sight.
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Because we live in a house we were planning to use only for pool users and weekend guests our entertaining capacity is exactly two. That is us. We have 2-stools, a minibar sized refrigerator and the only high-chair that fit in the confines of the space was one that clips onto our breakfast bar leaving Cheerio cantilevered off of the counter at such a precarious angle even Frank Lloyd Wright would be nervous.
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However, our limited space and temporary living conditions do not preclude us from having dinner parties. Most famously we invited everyone we knew in the neighborhood over for a BBQ exactly 4 days after we arrived from London and moved into the carriage house. Tables were made of saw horses and old doors and it took us 7 tries before we found the box that contained our wine glasses.
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So last night, when Nick’s plans to meet a friend for drinks fell thru because of illness and exhaustion, we decided Slice Pizza at our place was the natural answer. Our friend Eric came over, we had amazing Pizza, ice-cold beer and great conversation.
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The two guys were happily drinking beer and chatting about the economy and politics when I opened a bottle of wine, poured three glasses and returned to my perch on the sofa and waited. It took them a minute to switch from beer to wine, but they did. As I knew they would. Sip. Bite of pizza. Sip. “Hey – this is great wine.” Nick picked up the bottle.” “What is this?” “A Merlot from Southern France.” I answered. “Mmmm. It is really good. Where did you find it?” I stayed quiet for long enough to let them think they were drinking a small vineyard wine from Southern France and enjoying it with their gourmet dinner selection. Then I let it drop, “The wine was $9.99 from Dorignacs.” Since the conversation was largely about the poor state of the economy, it was a well-timed bit of information.
Read the rest of this entry »
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 That’s the estimated aggregate bill — so far — of the war on Iraq and the financial “rescue” package. (”And that’s without tip!” Garry Shandling quipped on Real Time with Bill Maher.) It’s a number I hope gets mentioned every time John McCain or Sarah Palin utter the words, “Where is that money going to come from?” in response to one of Barack Obama’s proposals for universal health care or alternative energy. Shandling and Maher, of all people, spoke such simple truths on the HBO program last week that I actually stopped my DVR, backed up and wrote down their words. Here they are in their entirety:
Shandling: ”John McCain cannot be saying we’re winning the war in Iraq at the same time we’re going bankrupt. That means we’re losing, because everybody has forgotten the connection. The planes [hitting] the buildings was an economic attack, am I correct? And if we didn’t spend X trillion into this war, we might not have to put — we might be able to handle the housing issue.”
Maher: ”Fareed Zakaria, in one of his columns, recently said that for the cost of the war, we could’ve had health care for every man, woman and child in America; could’ve rebuilt every road, bridge and school in America; and started multiple Manhattan Projects for alternative energy. Now why doesn’t the Democrat say that, the next time one of them says, ‘The surge is working!’”
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All photos by Jonathan Bachman
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Sports are supposed to be a distraction; a way for people to forget about the real world for a dozen or so hours a week and worry about things that have little-to-no consequence on their daily lives.
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But at their worst, sports can also be a painful reminder of everything that’s wrong with the world right now. Think about the Saints’ fans in the picture up there. They took the time to make a sign that made a statement — not just to pander to ESPN’s cameras. It was one that reminded us of the troubling reality that is our times and what we assign value to when the times are at their most dire. What are you to tell these fans now after watching last night’s cruel and unusual turn of events?
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Read the rest of this entry »
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