Emily Gould was invited to write a first-person essay which appeared in the NY Times Magazine with a cool photo of Emily on its cover. No big deal to me, but it's caused a firestorm of criticism mostly aimed at the NYTimes itself for being, well, capitalist in trying to gain commenters for its new blog system.
But I think what's missing here are two things. First, is what I will call the struggle of mainstream media to have some influence and say in the blogsphere. Second, there's Emily's very revealing attack on Gawker. 
I just read her entire post -- it's long; perhaps 20,000 words or so -- and what I came away with was that, 1) she broke the heart of her now-ex boyfriend Henry who she made read like someone who's afraid of success and was good for nothing except growing out of, and 2) that she essentially jumped into a relationship with a guy -- Gawker blogger Josh Stein -- who she worked with who didn't really "get" her like Henry did, but was able to convince her to spread her legs on cue, 3), she totally hated the Gawker Culture (but not its people) but worked her way into it because she was slowly becoming like Julia Allison, who's attention seeking personality Gould claims to dislike, but only because it's really the completion of what Emily was becoming (and since they're friends, arguably has become - see photo), and 4) Emily needs a new Mac as the one she's using is really old. I think about five years old at least. 
Of course, getting wrapped up in all that totally causes one to miss the bird's eye view of things. In this case, from the air there are a lot of people really pissed off about what Jezebel blogger "Moe" -- who's a friend of Emily's -- called a "masterbatory" blog.
It was. Writing the line "Josh and I sat together on the couch, and I put my head on his shoulder in a completely friendly, professional way" made Moe and me LOL, because there's no fucking way that one could even think of such an action as either just friendly or professional. But I'm sure it gave Emily much quasi-sexual pleasure to write that. But what's not a feel-good moment is the reaction to Gould's work.
Rachel Skalar at the Huffington Post just plain unloads on Emily , taking her to the woodshed for being so, well, self-revealing. Rachel ties together every negative blog and article on Emily's "Exposed" Times work, and leaves no whipping lash unused. Rachel's point -- again -- is that there are more interesting topics than the musings of a self-absorbed blogger with boyfriend problems.
What I find totally facinating about all of the crying and whining about Emily's NYTimes blog is that people are complaining that people are reading about this; Let's face it, no one's forcing us to do so. Rachel read it -- so did thousands of others. People don't seem to get that they like to read about other people. We're voyeurs. Period. Bravo that the NY Times and NYTimes Mag Editor Gerry Marzorati recognizes that -- I guess. Of course, it could have been the happy accident of some editor there -- perhaps Gerry Marzorati -- who thinks Emily's hot. I was about to write we'll never know, but in this "new revealling media" society, I take that back. We'll find out at some point in time.
Do we care? Yes. The simple proof of this shows up in the numbers. Not just for Emily, but on a smaller scale for what -- for example -- I wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. A revealing article on a defense mechanism I used to deal with subtle racism I call my "Iron Man" suit. In writing it I discovered I gave a voice to many people who felt like me. And let's face it, we like feedback and appreciation; it's a drug that has all of us under its spell.
So what?
I think we're seeing the seeds of why some people don't succeed in new media on a personal level. One does have to be comfortable with a certain degree -- a high level -- of self-revelation. Either by the person or someone else.
What's funny is that no one is free from this, and choosing not to blog is no escape -- just ask Henry. I'm sure somewhere, he's hating every word of Emily's article as he plays a major part in it, and just because of his former association with her.
Welcome to the 21st Century. Eventually, therapists will have to properly sooth clients who's lives were exposed by some wayward blogger working for or starting their own media company. It's more the norm than you think. 
And if that's scary to you, I'm glad to get your attention because this new, revealing world of masterbatory blogging also has a sibling called "masterbatory video-blogging" both draw eyeballs, but there's something baserly attractive about seeing a video of someone talking about themselves or doing something either completely stupid or sexy or interesting. Plus, we have videos of people being caught doing something completely stupid or sexy or interesting, and its those works that get the most attention -- and that leads to money.
The eyeball economy meets "Masterbating Emily" - film at 11, Emily in metallic bikini.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Emily Gould Attacks Gawker and "Henry" But Give Her A Break
SEX AND THE CITY LOOK A LIKE CONTEST in NY - WINNERS ON FRIDAY
Just in time to capitalize on the "Sex And The City" craze we have this "Sex In The City" look-alike contest. Here are the details of this event to take place in Port Washington, NY, on Long Island, NY:
SEX AND THE CITY LOOK A LIKE CONTEST
Winners to be announced at Long Island at Press Conference
One of the hottest TV shows in history to open, brings millions to box office
with Fab Four LOOK A LIKES
Port Washington, NY Town of North Hempstead officials and a local radio station will join with LOOK A LIKES of the popular of Sex and the City television program. The LOOK A LIKES that recently won a contest in which 4 local Long Island women were chosen from thousands of residents from the tri-state area. The LOOK A LIKES winners will be announced in a ceremony and a press conference on Friday May 30th, 2008 at 11:30am at Harbor Links club at 1 Fairway Drive off West Shore Road in Port Washington.
The 4 women that resemble Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda will be treated like royalty with free designer shoes, manicures, cosmos etc. The blockbuster opens the same day and is expected to be one of the most popular movie openings in recent history. These women have gotten instant fame and now because of the movie are becoming rockstars.
SEX AND THE CITY LOOK A LIKE CONTEST in NY - WINNERS ON FRIDAY
Just in time to capitalize on the "Sex And The City" craze we have this "Sex In The City" look-alike contest. Here are the details of this event to take place in Port Washington, NY, on Long Island, NY:
SEX AND THE CITY LOOK A LIKE CONTEST
Winners to be announced at Long Island at Press Conference
One of the hottest TV shows in history to open, brings millions to box office
with Fab Four LOOK A LIKES
Port Washington, NY Town of North Hempstead officials and a local radio station will join with LOOK A LIKES of the popular of Sex and the City television program. The LOOK A LIKES that recently won a contest in which 4 local Long Island women were chosen from thousands of residents from the tri-state area. The LOOK A LIKES winners will be announced in a ceremony and a press conference on Friday May 30th, 2008 at 11:30am at Harbor Links club at 1 Fairway Drive off West Shore Road in Port Washington.
The 4 women that resemble Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda will be treated like royalty with free designer shoes, manicures, cosmos etc. The blockbuster opens the same day and is expected to be one of the most popular movie openings in recent history. These women have gotten instant fame and now because of the movie are becoming rockstars.
Obama Rocks Minneapolis May 31st
Trocadero's at 107 3rd Ave N in Minneapolis
will be ROCKIN' on
Saturday night, May 31st starting at 7pm.
Proceeds will support the
Obama for America campaign.
If you can't be there,
please donate now through
Obama's secure server.
Tickets are $50/guest, $100/host, and $250 to be an event sponsor.
Tickets are still available online.
Hillary Clinton's Facial Expression Of Anger
Writing of "intensity" we have Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton really looking like she's letting loose on some person she was talking to. All I can write is "yikes" she needs to get her temper in check, lest be be matched with the tempermental Senator John McCain. Whatever, that's a really frightening photo, in all honesty.
Chelsea Clinton's Other-Worldly Eyes
In all of the talk and debate about Barack v. Hillary, it's easy to forget we're talking about people -- passionate people.
That passion comes through in Chelsea Clinton's intense yet happy stare as she talks to supporters at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008, during a campaign event for her mother, Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Scott McClellan Goes Nuclear On Bush White House
Scott McClellan Goes Nuclear On Bush White House
That headline says it all. Former White House Spokesperson Scott McCllellan released a new book called..
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
.. that blasts President George Bush, accuses him of creating the "lie" of the existence of Weapons Of Mass Destruction", operating the Adminstration in "campaign mode" with constant propaganda messages, and in the process throwing the Administrations' entire Iraq War and foreign policy rationale into damage control mode, while simutaneously harming Senators John McCain, and Hillary Clinton, and the mainstream media. Only Senator Barack Obama benefited from McClellan's PR Nuclear Bomb, as McCain's strength -- foreign policy -- was just turned into a weakness.
This story dominated the news offline and on. Here's what one Flickr member NAVROC Command wrote:
FORMER WHITE HOUSE Press Spokesman Scott McClellan blasts the Bush White House, the Vice President, the deception leading up to the Iraq War, the Valerie Plume debacle - - Well, the list goes on and on. It's all in his current book: What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.
White House aides appear stunned by the scathing tone of the book. Press secretary Dana Perino's statement: "Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad - this is not the Scott we knew."
Perino says POTUS is not expected to comment: "He has more pressing matters than to spend time commenting on books by former staffers."
Click to Read: Washington Post: Scott McClellan
Click to Read: Wall Street Journal Extracts
Click to Watch: NBC Tim Russert
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan and President Bush announce that Mr. McClellan is resigning his position on the South Lawn Wednesday, April 19, 2006. "One of these days he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days and his time as the Press Secretary," said the President. "And I can assure you I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, job well done."
May 2008 - White House photo by Eric Draper.
But the words don't stop there. On MSNBC's Hardball, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, and other cable shows, members of the White House Press Corp found themselves attacking Scott McClellan and thus on the same side as the Bush Administration! Scott McClellan accused the press of not digging enough to ask hard questions about the Iraq War, and CNN's Jessica Yellen labeled her old employer ABC News as pressuring her to favor stories that backed the Bush Administration's view of the Iraq War and the Mid East. (Yellen did not name ABC, but said her "former employer')
As to how the general public is receiving the story, take a look at these Amazon.com comments on the book:
wake up call, May 28, 2008
By roland (Idaho) - See all my reviews
McClellan has finally come forward, as many other people from the Bush administration have over the past few years, to tell the truth about the most corrupt and deceiving administration in our history. While many people are waking up to reality, reflected in our presidents all time record low approval rating, this book advances the much overdue debunking of Bush and his evil lying crooks in his administration. Being the former spokesperson for this administration gives McClellan's book a special poignancy and undeniable puissance. As if we needed more convincing, this country is in need of change more than at anytime in our past. Its the facts in books like this that have brought me to change parties and to reject the disgusting mess the GOP has become. The republican party deserves all the losses they have been experiencing, and will surely deserve being defeated this November. Bush is a war criminal no doubt about it. The fear mongering and manipulation of us American citizens will not work this time around. McClellan deserves to be commended for his honesty and the timeliness of this books release.
Comments (11) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
141 of 212 people found the following review helpful:
Finally....., May 28, 2008
By T. E. Zsolt "Tom From Toronto" (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
Great read, concise and well written. Finally someone with credibility confirms what we all knew was true. Too bad our press couldn't have called this out when it was apparent, a lot could have been avoided.
TEZ
Comments (8) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
130 of 200 people found the following review helpful:
A True Texan: McClellan Stands Up for the Truth, May 28, 2008
By Straight Shooter "Texan" (Texas) - See all my reviews
Takes a real Texan to stand up and tell the truth about this failed administration. McClellan even admits his faults but he tells the story like a historian not a political hack. The unfair attacks now coming at him so how pitiful this administration has become. Bush should stand up and apologize to America and to McClellan.
We'll have more on this bombshell story.
New Orleans supports Obama
NOLA is a microcosm of the USA, ethnically diverse and culturally rich. Folks there see reason to GET OUT THE VOTE and participate in our democracy, and many also celebrate Barack Obama's candidacy for the Democratic nomination. Check out the smiling faces, and no matter who you support make sure everybody votes!
A Presidency which promises to make the USA bright and beautiful again.
"As human beings seeking a better world, we recognise a gifted leader when we see one," and this article from John Hay lays out what it looks like from Australia."The only colour I see in Barack Obama, is the colour of the future! It is a hue which promises to make the world a better place."
Citing sound policy positions, diplomatic skills, political and people/management skills, personal ethics, temperament when considering the challenges involved in managing "the most demanding job in the world," in his response to an Obama supporter's concerns, Hay also adds:
Citing sound policy positions, diplomatic skills, political and people/management skills, personal ethics, temperament when considering the challenges involved in managing "the most demanding job in the world," in his response to an Obama supporter's concerns, Hay also adds:
"Around the globe people are beginning to feel more safe, more connected and more positive about the future at the prospect of an Obama Presidency. Ask anyone in any country, anywhere. Polls are confirming it. People of all age, race, colour, creed and religion have joined together as one, to work and volunteer, most for the first time, to help bring positive change. The ripple effect of this positive momentum is building like a tsunami as it reaches out and begins to touch the lives of people everywhere. It feels like an election for a world President!"A great article, with some stirring video by Akin Salawu (known at YouTube as AkinScribe5) from earlier in the campaign season.
"A dreamer is one who can
only find his way by moonlight,
and his punishment is
that he sees the dawn."
only find his way by moonlight,
and his punishment is
that he sees the dawn."
WALL•E Trailer Includes Homage To Star Trek Original TV Series
If you watch this trailer for the upcoming -- as of this writing -- Pixar movie called "Wall-E" to the end, you will see our hero shooting himself through space using a fire hydrant and humming a tune. That tune is from Star Trek, The Original Series, second season eipsodes, and was featured in "The Doomsday Machine" as well as "The Ultimate Computer.
It goes DA-DA-DA-DAA DA-DA-DA-DE-DA, or something like that.
So there's a trivial bit of information you can wow your friends with.
Here's a video of re-mixed scenes from "The Ultimate Computer" where the music plays at 2:20 and various points, even though the clip jumps so much it's hard to get the full tune, but you can pick it up if you listen:
Teacher Sex Scandal Again - Man Had Sex 20 Times With 18-Year-Old Student
Generally, publicly-reported Teacher / Student sex scandals involved women instructors and young boys. Not this time. Even though the girl is 18, this story involves a male teacher at Travis High School and not in Florida, but in Austin, Texas. The teacher, Allen James Cole, faces a charge of "an improper relationship between educator and student", and is a 2nd degree felony.
KXAN in Austin, Texas reports:
AUSTIN, TEXAS (KXAN)-- Austin police arrested government teacher Allen James Cole on the charge of having "an improper relationship" with an 18-year-old Travis High School student.
Another teacher notified police about the inappropriate relationship between Cole and the student. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KXAN.com, the student told police she had met Cole, 34, several times at his apartment between May 6 and May 10. The student told police she had sex with Cole more than 20 times over that 5-day period.
The girl was able to describe the furnishings in the apartment's living room and bedroom. A search warrant confirmed the details the girl identified.
The charge, an improper relationship between educator and student, is a 2nd degree felony.
The Austin Independent School District could not be reached for comment.
But it makes you wonder with all of these accounts posted on Internet websites, in some cases places like Badjocks.com and the "TeacherTrash" blog that cover only these stories or related tales, how many actual relationships like this are out there but not known!
This video explains why -- in that case -- women teachers would decide to wreck their careers for sex with a student.
KXAN in Austin, Texas reports:
AUSTIN, TEXAS (KXAN)-- Austin police arrested government teacher Allen James Cole on the charge of having "an improper relationship" with an 18-year-old Travis High School student.
Another teacher notified police about the inappropriate relationship between Cole and the student. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KXAN.com, the student told police she had met Cole, 34, several times at his apartment between May 6 and May 10. The student told police she had sex with Cole more than 20 times over that 5-day period.
The girl was able to describe the furnishings in the apartment's living room and bedroom. A search warrant confirmed the details the girl identified.
The charge, an improper relationship between educator and student, is a 2nd degree felony.
The Austin Independent School District could not be reached for comment.
But it makes you wonder with all of these accounts posted on Internet websites, in some cases places like Badjocks.com and the "TeacherTrash" blog that cover only these stories or related tales, how many actual relationships like this are out there but not known!
This video explains why -- in that case -- women teachers would decide to wreck their careers for sex with a student.
John McCain Credibility Damaged By Lobbyist Ties
According to many sources, but the best being Josh Marshall in "Talking Points Memo", Senator and Presidential Canidate John McCain is in some PR trouble regarding his loobyist ties, particularly with former Senator and Texan Phil Gramm, who as a lobbyist was representing the bank USB, a swiss bank connected with the mortgage crisis, at the same time he was advising McCain on matters associated with sub-prime lending, which caused the mortgage crisis.
Get it?
Any time you see that kind of circuitous connection with a politician, it's not good ethically. McCain has several ties of this kind, with Charlie Black, and other lobbyists. But the main point is the person who's bragged that he's not influenced by Federal lobbyists or has "cozy relationships", seems to be surrounded by them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)