The only thing to say about this is that it’s really sad and I was a fan. Maybe tomorrow I’ll affectionately tease the memory of NBC political analyst, bureau chief and Meet the Press host Tim Russert with something about that ridiculous 8×10 white board he sported during the 2000 election. Maybe not. Now brace yourselves for the slew of speculative pieces in the coming days over which heir apparent will, ought, won’t, should, deserves, has been groomed, and so on to fill that Sunday morning chair. You know Katie Couric’s agent has already made a few calls.
Tim Russert Keels Over Dead At Work. Sucks.
June 13, 2008
2 Comments | 
Media | Tagged: and now he's dead, deaths, katie couric, media musical chairs, meet the press, nbc, tim russert, tim russert death | 
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Posted by Maggie
Congrats To A Couple Of Old Colleagues
June 9, 2008
In the sense of former, not, you know, old, okay Tom? Anyway, three cheers for the Village Voice’s Tom Robbins and music ed Rob Harvilla, who both took home nods from this weekend’s Annual AltWeekly Awards for, respectively, their political columns and music criticism.
Rob is hugely talented, hard-working and a great guy. But Tom Robbins will always have a special place in my heart, partly because of a yelling match we once got into about Mike Lacey; partly because he sat three feet behind me when I worked at the Voice and you’ve never eavesdropped on a conversation until you’ve heard the almost daily one wherein Robbins picks up his ringing phone and goes “Eeeyy, Jimmy, what’s the news?” and he means Breslin; but mostly because the guy could have been running the place and still had the class to take me out to lunch—or bring it to me for chrissakes. “We’re just talkin’ here, right, Mag?” he’d say. Always, Tom Robbins, always.
Jesus Christ, it sounds like I’m writing his obit, a mark of a lazy writer if I ever saw one. Sorry. Fucker’s alive, well, and if I know him at all, constantly kicking. Congrats again.
No Comments » | 
Old School Odes | Tagged: awards, congratulations, Old School Odes, rob harvilla, the village voice, tom robbins | 
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Posted by Maggie
Impossible. Helen Thomas Is Indestructible, People.
June 9, 2008
“Washington, D.C. legend Helen Thomas has been off the job for the past three weeks suffering from a gastric infection that has caused her to miss her weekly column for Hearst Newspapers, according to Hearst D.C. Bureau Chief Chuck Lewis.” [E&P]
Oooh! An octogenarian “gastric infection!” Just in time for the lunch hour! You can thank me later. (Um. Ew, gross, Helen Thomas’ rattley insides, ew, ew, retch.)
1 Comment | 
Media | Tagged: hearst, helen thomas, old people's ailments, she shall outlive us all | 
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Posted by Maggie
Toddler Pokes Through Bars At Monkey. Who Then, Quite Naturally, Bites Off Tyke’s Finger
June 9, 2008
And this is somehow the monkey’s fault? Oh and of course they’re going to off the chimp so it can be tested for rabies. Nice. [Newsday]
No Comments » | Idiots | Tagged: dangling appendages, monkeys, The Children | Permalink
Posted by Maggie
Just In Time To Cause Panic Amongst Suburban Mothers Who Thought CitiHabitats Would Protect Their Young Grads
June 9, 2008
“A woman was found stabbed to death in her Chelsea apartment late Sunday, police said…Investigators are combing the area and also trying to determine how her assailant got into her building, which is staffed by a doorman.” [WCBS]
I had no idea that doormen were armed with special powers with which to ward off the crazy neighbors already inside! Not to mention those regular visitors whom they regularly motion right upstairs! Perhaps New Yorkers would be safer if all doormen were required to dress like the Harrod’s doormen in London. Even crazy stab-happyists wouldn’t go near a dude dressed like a leprechaun.
No Comments » | New York City | Tagged: crime, doormen, real estate | Permalink
Posted by Maggie
That Black Man Looks Not At All Menacing, Cablevision
June 6, 2008
Cablevision, for the love of God. Seriously? Why not just call it Ghetto Programming Starring Negroes and call it a day?
3 Comments | Idiots | Tagged: cablevision, executive decisions, race-baiting, television programming | Permalink
Posted by Maggie
Misleading Headlines: Obama Still Doesn’t Have A Date To The Prom
June 6, 2008
Oh, CNN, he did not. This looky-here headline implies that John Edwards gave Barack Obama the Heisman after the Democratic nominee asked him to be his running mate. What does CNN’s story actually say? Edwards is doing the de rigeur political courtship thing: “Oh no, not for me, thanks anyway, though, gee shucks,” whilst likely angling for a spot with more punch and less profile inside an Obama cabinet. Should have read “Ticker: Edwards would say no to being Obama’s VP,” but then again, I wouldn’t have clicked on something so dull, so I guess CNN wins.
2 Comments | Misleading Headlines | Tagged: barack obama, CNN, john edwards, Media | Permalink
Posted by Maggie
Okay, Okay, Pareene, FINE.
June 6, 2008
Maybe this is Pareene’s way of cyber-jostling me. “Hey! Maggie, would you sit up and for the love of Mike and your bank account compose something for chrissakes?” Probably not, but if it was, he’d be right. I had the urge the other day to write something about this ridiculous thing and this admirably well-executed damage control session, and then I realized that, you know what? Who the hell am I to judge, at $2 per word and the cover of a 1.6 million-circulation magazine? When The Guardian asked me to write a “first-person account” of being fired from Gawker, was I tempted? Um, yes. I admit it. And then all of a sudden they were discussing sending a photographer to my house to “capture me in all my defenestrated glory,” (I swear, this approximates the phrase used) and I thought to myself, “Wait just a goddamned minute here.“ So really? There but for the grace of God, a hard-up (but also ingenious!) New York Times Magazine editor, and my own bullshit meter go I. Now if I’d known that photog might be toting a check for fifteen grand, that might have been a whole something else. But those Brits are so irritatingly frugal.
Gawker Alum Report: Where Are They Now?
No Comments » | Gazel-Naving | Tagged: gawker, Emily Gould, Alex Pareene, Motivation, Blog Post Confidential, New York Times Magazine | Permalink
Posted by Maggie
