Gawker, Manhattan Media News and Gossip

There's no Gawker correspondent at this week's Mediabistro conference—unless a tipster volunteer for the role.

Progress

People often ask what's different about Tumblr, Twitter and the other "web 2.0" tools that are supposed to represent the future of internet publishing. Here's the answer: the eradication of joined-up writing. (via Catbird's Tumblr)

1:19 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Nick Denton
286 views, 6 comments

Books

Chuck Palahniuk Going Overboard With 3 Porn-Spoof Book Trailers

Last week, we showed you "Wizard of Ass," the book trailer (the latest dubious trend in book promotion!) for Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk's new book, Snuff. It was a parody of bad 70s porn, because his book is about an aging porn star ending her career with a bang—a gangbang! Now we've discovered that the book, out today, has two more trailers, "The Twilight Bone" and "Chitty Chitty Gang Bang." OK, Chuck: one jokey porn short film to promote your book is clever, whatever. But three? Click to judge the camera angles of the SFW "Twilight Bone" for yourself. More »

1:19 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Sheila
132 views, 4 comments

Latest by ClockOnTheStove: Chuck could write a novel about an under-water basket weaver with the power to change metal into stone using nothing but baby tears....and I would buy it. I love him. And I will buy his book--and I'm not that more »

things we actually like

Ukulele Wizard Julia Nunes

My god I'm in love with this young singer. YouTube user Julia Nunes plays the ukulele and harmonizes with herself on covers of pop music by artists including Ben Folds, the Beatles, Weezer, Say Anything, Kanye West and Destiny's Child (she almost made me cry to "Survivor"). Below are those six covers and two of Julia's original songs. Her videos have been featured on YouTube's front page and she's one of the site's most subscribed-to musicians. More »

1:15 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Nick Douglas
366 views, 5 comments

Latest by BK_KT: An a cappella nerd who doesn't want to clean her room. more »

Crime

Lindsay Lohan Coat Theft: 'Oppressive'

Here's the key section from the legal complaint against wacko famous girl Lindsay Lohan for stealing a college student's mink coat from a club in New York. She didn't just pick it up accidentally, the complaint says; her actions were "intentional, oppressive, and malicious," and the coat-deprived girl was "injured." Ouch, my mink is gone! Click to enlarge. [via The Insider]

1:06 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
195 views, 21 comments

New York Bound

Amanda Lorber, the dynamo crazy newspaper editor from MTV's delightful reality series The Paper (much loved by me and, especially, Jezebel) will be attending NYU in the fall. She plans to study journalism and to hopefully live a "normal" life, untainted by her sudden TV fame. Sure she can! Look at how the... uh, Olsens did it.

9 comments

the olds

Does McCain Remind Us Too Much of Our Own Mortality to Win?

What will be John McCain's greateast challenge in his race for the presidency? His many and varied unethical relationships? Or the fact that he looks like a terrible monster on high-definition TV? Slate's Timothy Noah argues the latter. No one cares about ethics, but many people are buying fancy new flat-screens. And John McCain, who looks grandfatherly and dignified on, like, a YouTube box, looks like a mythological monster in crisp HD. Seriously! Above, a screenshot of McCain in regular definition. After the jump, the clip that's taken from in glorious HD. More »

12:49 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Pareene
1,382 views, 13 comments

Latest by roodles: @HamptonShmampton: please tell me that's not a real procedure! more »

Your Health

Nintendo's hotly anticipated Wii Fit hits US stores today. The $90 plastic board, which Americans will stand upon while bobbing up and down and staring at various exercise-themed electronic games, is expected to sell 3 million units this year. Meanwhile, Americans consume 20% more calories than a generation ago, and Super Squats is only #96,797 in Amazon's book rankings. God.

22 comments

GAWKER STALKER

Latest Gawker Stalker Sightings

Submit your Sightings: stalker@gawker.com

Dave Chappelle
Union Square W
Saw Dave Chappelle chillin outside the W in Union Sq with what appeared to be his famil.
Jennifer Connelly
6th Ave & 50th St
Jennifer Connelly looked like she was enjoying a girls' night out with a few friends. The all-American beauty was in line at Radio City Music Hall to see the Oscar award winners from Once, Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova, in concert.
Ethan Hawke
100 Centre St
Was sitting in the jury room on the 15th floor of 100 Centre St. today. He will be back tomorrow, unless they put him on the bench somewhere else in the building.
Kevin Spacey
111 W 57th St
I spotted Kevin Spacey today on 60th Street heading to XM Satelitte Radio around 9:15am.

White's Wisdom

MagHag

FROM JEZEBEL.COM: What do you say to people who say Cosmopolitan is anti-feminist? The New York Review of Magazines asks EIC Kate White. "People from the outside usually judge Cosmo that way, but the reader never does. So many of our readers write in to tell us about how empowered they are. That's what matters." More »

12:45 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Jessica
680 views, 67 comments

urban anthropology

Regional DVD Rentals Reveal Citizenry's Collective Psyche

Former Gawker Joshua "Joshy" Stein, ever-enamored of his new 'hood of Williamsburg, points out that a new Netflix feature allows people to see what films others in their zip code are renting. For 11211, he's found that the top five movies are La Jetée, The Holy Mountain, Blow Up, Do The Right Thing, and Solaris. (As Stein puts it, "Despair, pretension, easy sex, pop music, violence, hate, photography, isolation, trouble.") We put this search function to the test. What are they watching in Bridgeport, Connecticut? San Francisco? Do they conform to regional stereotypes? More »

12:39 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Sheila
1,711 views, 17 comments

Latest by britneyspearstears: I'm just a struggling Black man trying to keep my dick hard in a cruel and harsh world. Yeah Spike! In Echo Park (maybe considered the Brooklyn of Los Angeles):1) Skid Row2) Straight Time3) Walker4) The Last Mogul5) L.A. Story more »

Pic Of The Day

Google Maps Catches Chicago Kid About To Shoot Someone

Spotted on Google Maps: a kid pointing a gun at a younger kid. (Okay, it's probably a toy gun.) What is it about Chicago? We've already seen a drug deal on the South Side and a girl flashing the camera in Homewood. More »

12:24 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Nick Douglas
2,586 views, 20 comments

Race

Whites, Black Middle Class Are Friends

In an Ad Age article entitled "Guess What, America? There Is A Black Middle Class," marketing exec Moses Foster puts forth the message: There is a black middle class. So stop talking to us like we're all gangsters! When Foster and a friend went to an ad conference a couple weeks ago, they had a conversation that went like this: "I expect that you two like white women." Why? "Because you talk white. You're so articulate." That's so racist! Everyone knows that white people aren't articulate. The funniest part of the story, though, is the comment section, which is split between minorities relating their own stories of discrimination, and sympathetic white people scrambling to fulfill every I-have-a-black-friend stereotype there is: More »

12:17 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
1,584 views, 39 comments

Latest by NinaHagen: @Chaim Gnadelstein: Do you apologize all the time like a Canadian for putting the blood of newborn Catholic children in matzo? You see, Catholic schools really cover it all. more »

Videos

How Robots Are Killing Customer Service

FROM CONSUMERIST.COM: Here is the live audio and powerpoint from a recent presentation I gave called, "The 5 Things Your Customers Aren't Telling You." This is number 3, "Stop Hiding Behind Walls Of Robots." More »

12:01 PM on Tue May 20 2008
By Ben Popken
4,910 views, 27 comments

on beauty

Did America's Next Top Model's "Plus-Sized" Winner Lose Weight Right Away?

Last week we wondered loudly if this season of America's Next Top Model had been fixed. A plus-sized model won and all and yeah, yeah isn't that great. Some people, though, smelled a rat. Did she really deserve to win? Was this just producer plotting to make the show seem more fair? In much the same way that rumors have been circulating that, per producer decree, a woman has to win this (the fourth) season of Top Chef, critics have suggested that the show, after umpteen "cycles" featuring plus-sized girls, predetermined that a "larger" model would win this season. A token, if you will. Adding to the fervor is the Seventeen magazine cover shoot that the winner, Whitney Thompson, received as a prize. Does she really look like a size 14, as she claims she is? Did she just pack on pounds to be The Plus-Sized and then drop weight again after the victory, as some have suggested? Having little to no knowledge of sizes and whatnot (boys!), tell me: does she look like a size 14 in these photos? I'm sure some airbrushing occurred, but does she look anything close to her purported size? It would be something of a scandal if the whole thing was, you know, staged. Click to enlarge (heh) the photo. (More at Mollygood.)

11:57 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Richard
2,197 views, 55 comments

Latest by Sebaceous: She looks like she is just one of those big boned, corn-fed girls. She is not small framed and skinny but looks like an in-shape, toned bigger girl. Not all size 12s or 14s are necessarily fat and flabby. She more »

Neighborhoods

The Lower East Side: Not What It Used To Be

The Lower East Side is changing! You blink once, and the neighborhood has gone from an immigrant-packed hovel of tenements to a rich jerk-packed hovel. Of condos! The National Trust for Historic Preservation has just named the entire freaking neighborhood one the nation's 11 most endangered places: More »

11:40 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
1,819 views, 23 comments

Futurism

Facebook Funder Buys Stake in Fantastical Ocean Utopia

Hooray! A bunch of eccentric rich people are striking out to create their own sovereign nation in the middle of the ocean! Again! You may remember back in the 60s when a pirate radio broadcaster occupied a sea-bound fort 6 miles off the coast of Great Britain and declared it the Principality of Sealand. (It's for sale, btw.) But while that little adventure in sovereignty was merely for kicks, Wired reports today on a venture much more exciting for its batshit reasoning, impressive backers, and fantastic scope. More »

11:23 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Pareene
1,234 views, 21 comments

Latest by Phyllis Nefler: @DorothyMantooth: Be careful lest you wind up as Lady Dumpling. more »

open caption

Edvard Munch Fan Reacts to Celebrity Sighting

[Actress Gwyneth Paltrow at Cannes today; image via Splash]

Advertising

Celebrity Supergroup Redeems Racist Taco Bell Ads

Taco Bell's Value Menu slogan is "Why Pay More?" But if a rapper were to say it, they would say, "Why Pay Mo'?" Because black people can't talk right, ha! Cannily tapping into urban culture, the fast food chain is running a "Why Pay Mo'?"online promotion, complete with a Rap Name Generator (mine is Super Fly H. Nach!). Taco Bell's beef tastes like dog food, and their ad agency is making them look like a bunch of tone-deaf racists. But I can almost forgive them for all that, because their site's "Why Pay Mo' Rhyme Generator" allowed me to create a hip hop supergroup featuring evil columnist Andrea Peyser, Spitzer hooker Ashley Alexandra Dupre, drunk Post editor Col Allan, and author of the year Keith Gessen, all kicking rhymes about the fat value menu. Action photos below!: More »

11:07 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
1,090 views, 29 comments

Latest by Yessizzle: Doesn't any edit posts around here. Come on, this is wrong: (mine is Super Fly H. Nach!) It should be: (mine be Super Fly H. Nach!) Let's get ebonical in this bish! more »

Web 2.0

Should We Just Decide Every Single Thing By Online Vote Now?

Country music singer (and former Renee Zellweger husband) Kenny Chesney was "honored but upset" to win the Academy of Country Music's Entertainer of the Year Award for the fourth time. Why? Because this year, it was someone's idea to decide the thing by a freaking online vote, instead of by Academy members. That's country music's version of the Oscars being decided by the clicks of AOL users. Chesney told the AP that the process was "disrespectful" and turned the awards "into a sweepstakes to see who can push people's buttons the hardest on the Internet." God, it's almost like being paid in pageviews. Sure, this is the age of 2.0, and it's not 2.0 without "audience participation," but just because the Person of the Year is You does not mean we need to turn every single event into the Teen Choice Awards in a desperate attempt to shore up interest and make people feel included. [NYT]

10:56 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Sheila
217 views, 13 comments

Latest by In Other News...: A) Yes. B) No. more »

Gossip Girl

Chuck and Blair Steal the Show

Well, that's that, eh? Gossip Girl's dizzying, dismaying, frustrating, and fabulous first season came to a breezy, sun-soaked end last night. I thought it was pretty good. Sure the last ten or so minutes may have been a bit overstuffed with plot developments, but that was kind of refreshing for a show that can be a bit slack, plus it was the finale. They're allowed to set up cliffhangers and new possibilities for next season. As we look down the barrel of a summer TV landscape populated by American Gladiators and Last Comic Standing, let's take a look at where our fakest New York friends ended up, and where they might be headed. More »

10:47 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Richard
5,651 views, 49 comments

Latest by hotdogfingers: @bess marvin, girl detective: most. obnoxious. commercials. ever. not to mention the photo of him sprawled across every bus in the city. HUGE, BUFFALO, HUUUUUUUUUGE!!! more »

Obsessives

Disney Struggles To Appease Scary Adult Fans

To help promote the 50th anniversary of Disneyland, Disney launched a free "Virtual Magic Kingdom" website, where fans could make little avatars and walk around the virtual theme park doing little virtual activities. The VMK was originally scheduled to run for 18 months. But now, three years after it launched, the site is still going. Why? Because creepy Disney-obsessed adults who scare everyone have staked their claim to the site, and they're not about to let the company shut down this free temporary children's amusement. Their very identities depend upon it! The company says it makes no money on the site, and it needs to shutter it and move on. The fans say: we are creepy obsessed adults, and we are picketing your theme parks. As well as making slick protest websites, which showcase their virtual "Save VMK" protest videos. Like this one, in which a virtual boy in a feathered head dress persuades the multibillion-dollar corporation to listen to reason: More »

10:18 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
1,281 views, 25 comments

Latest by scroll_lock: The guy on the far right with the goatee buys Disney tchotckes with money he stole from his Mom's purse. He lives with her, after all. They squeak by on her $899 monthly Social Security check. He used to have more »

shut up, college

Depress-y College Writing Can Get You Committed, Expelled

Lord knows what kind of disturbing essays dark writers like David Lynch, Chuck Palahniuk, or Bret Easton Ellis might've written in a college class. But that shit will get you kicked out or committed these days—thanks to the Virginia Tech shooter, who not only killed people, but ruined college creative writing for the rest of us by turning in many a disturbing story. Reports the Wall Street Journal, 23-year-old Steven Barber's story, which included murder and suicide, got him locked up in the nuthouse for the weekend and expelled.
More »

10:15 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Sheila
2,171 views, 32 comments

Latest by nycheartbreaker: Christopher Scalia is the son of Antonin (read the story). No wonder he's such a dick. more »

'Times' Considers the Walrus

Shit, I know this one. Paul! No, wait... Bhudda! [NYT]

14 comments

blind item roundup

Who Slept Her Way Onto the News?

Today's blind items deal with cross-dressing and bisexuality, a reality TV gold digger, and a caddish actor. Basically, nothing out of the ordinary for the seedier corners of showbiz. One wonders what would happen if all the blind items were revealed, if everything was laid bare. Hopefully the world would be a better, more honest place. The "Entertainment Lawyer" from Crazy Days and Nights plans to reveal all of his recent items in a matter of weeks. Transparency! Somewhat exciting. For now, though, you'll have to do with guessing, after the jump. More »

9:50 AM on Tue May 20 2008
By Richard
4,774 views, 17 comments

Latest by monaflambe: Dare I say it - #5. Celine Dion? more »

Google Maps Catches Chicago Kid About To Shoot Someone

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