WHO PAYS FOR A DATE?

I'm not sure what to make of Gawker's Emily Gould. I've heard that she's terrific to work with...but then again, she writes for Gawker. Still, I was impressed when she used her bully pulpit to ask Why Do Otherwise Normal Girls Refuse to Go Dutch? and follow up on it here.

Here's a lively discussion on the subject—not at all how Blog About Town would approach it, but so be it.



Source (00:39)

THERE STILL IS SEX IN NEW YORK PRESS

The new New York Press dropped Dr. Dot and dumped its sex ads (love 'em or hate 'em, they inspired some great work by Jonathan Ames), yet sex can still be found throbbing inside the current issue, where Stephanie Sellars writes about lesbian kink at Burning Man and possibly perverted publicist Kelly Kreth offers a cover story about dating her notorious-for-Gawker client Eric Schaeffer.

Here's Kreth talking up an expensive spa routine as well as a blink-or-you'll-miss-it dating gimmick.



Source (4:17)


Photo: David Marc Fischer

MEDIABISTRO: BOUGHT/SOLD!

I learned from Gothamist that Jupitermedia has acquired the New York-based website Mediabistro (once known as hireminds.com) for $23 million.

Here is Mediabistro maven Laurel Touby's announcement.

Here is Jupitermedia's press release.

Here is New York Times coverage.

Eventually Gawker will publish something on this, I'm sure. Ah yes: 9:40.

Best wishes to everyone involved/affected, of course....

COCKMOPOLITAN?

Gawker takes issue with Cosmopolitan sex tips. Priceless.

Photo: David Marc Fischer

VOICELESS: KRISTEN LOMBARDI

I learned from Gawker that journalist Kristen Lombardi was "let go" from The Village Voice last Friday. As I noted in January, Lombardi was active in covering health issues of Ground Zero workers. I wish her well in whatever she does next.

BONUS FOR GOOD SPELLING In other Gawker news, the snarksite's Alex Balk points out that a recent New York Observer letter mispells Joe Conason's name. I could devote an entire item to Balk's mispelling of Lombardi's first name as K-r-i-s-t-i-n, but why bother with such petty matters when there's a National Spelling Bee to cover?

So far New Yorkers Adrian Acevedo and Paul Lindseth are still in the running, having spelled condemn and dutifully, respectively. [DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT: Adrian is actually out, felled by the written portion.] Also in the game: Long Island returnee Prateek Kohli (Martian) and the Lone Star State's veteran competitor Samir Patel (décor).

Last year's coverage can be found via this post.

SIMPLY RIDICULOUS. Recent highlights are indented.

Worth1000 Picture of the Day

the whole Mona Lisa
Ocean express

Gallery of the Absurd

The Anna Nicole Smith Media Circus: Prince Von Anhalt
The Anna Nicole Smith Media Circus: Bobby Trendy

EXTRA I learned about the controversy over the recent Village Voice cover depicting Bob Dylan and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio through the remarks of Martin Perna (of Antibalas and TV on the Radio) in the weekly's letters column. Is the cover racist? I'm not 100% sure about that...but I do think that the David O'Keefe illustration--which I hardly even noticed on my own--was a bad editorial choice for many of the reasons that Perna offers. Dylan and TV on the Radio were in a virtual dead heat in the Pazz & Jop poll, but the image just doesn't respect or even convey their mutually strong performance. Showing them racing neck-and-neck would have captured the reality and perhaps piqued interest in learning the outcome. In Rob Harvilla's words, it was "the narrowest and gnarliest finish in Pazz & Jop history."