It is time to hear the latest tale of media relations mastery by Ronn [sic] Torossian, incompetent superflack CEO of sock-puppet specialist firm 5WPR. Ronn Torossian's business strategy is to send angry emails to everyone, about everything, damn the consequences.
Joey Lucas plotted a return to TV; Jennifer 8. Lee spotted a trend; and Roger Ebert issued a cinematic fatwa. The Twitterati were up to their old tricks.
Tom Hanks rejoiced in his green-room tray; Brian Caufield frantically defended his lunch truck; and Owen Thomas carefully nurtured his new ironic catchphrase. The Twitterati protected their precioussss.
We never imagined Josh Quittner would burn a previous Valleywag editor in effigy, but after seeing the video he's posted on Time.com, we wonder if we might need a restraining order.
After terrorizing tech managers, Owen Thomas has decided to join 'em. Emerging from the shadows to replace him as the Valleywag is Ryan Tate, who's already relishing the idea of life in the sunshine.
Mary Rambin, colon cleanse enthusiast and until this week, one third of dating columnist Julia Allison's egoblogging startup, would like to shoot one of this site's writers "in the scrotum."
Sarah Lacy, the Silicon Valley author, BusinessWeek reporter and notorious interviewer, worked a bit of grave-dancing into her blog "tribute" to Valleywag, the site gutted by Gawker Media Wednesday. Gawker Media chief Nick Denton was the "best" Valleywag editor, and his posts were "sexy, fun... and important." The…
As a human being with a soul in there somewhere, I've avoided blogging about the Xeni-Violet scandal. But as a wannabe comedy writer, I found myself obsessively poring over the 1,200-plus Metafilter comments on our report. I'd forgotten why I love-hated Metafilter: It's a boyzone of spiteful, pseudonymous insult…
I promised I wouldn't take another vacation. The last time I did, all hell broke loose. Larry and Sergey turned a Nasa base into their private jet hangar, Six Apart dumped its CEO, and Kevin Rose broke his iPhone. I dread the notion of leaving the Valley unsupervised for a week. But since September, I've replaced my…
Sweater-bear editor Owen Thomas just sent the following email to staff here. It's so obviously designed to be leaked that my only reaction is: Owen, can you please not use the little asterisks for bullet points? Movable Type screws up the formatting when you blockquote them. MORE
"At first, she wore a va-va-va-voom dress. I told her she'd catch pneumonia. Now she wears a sweater and jeans. I'm very proud of that." — Valleywag editor and sweater bear Owen Thomas, bragging — bragging! — about his campaign to stamp out the last remnants of glam in Silicon Valley. Thanks for nothing, bosstard.
Not every conversation happens online. A phrase you won't find on Twitter or Technorati is The 250 — pronounced "two-fifty" — a cruelly sarcastic euphemism used in real-life conversations for the small, cliquey group of self-appointed Web 2.0 insiders who seem to spend their days blogging and Twittering about one…
Your editor, awkwardly embraced at Six Lounge in Austin. (Photo by Caroline McCarthy)
Think of a high-school reunion held the day after you graduate: That was the vibe at the Side Bar Sunday night, where Gawker Media (publisher of fine weblog media products) threw a party for Valleywag and our sister sites, io9 and Lifehacker. We won Twitter praise for the free beer and minimal line out front, despite…
"I'm bored as fuck and jealous all those assholes are in Austin and I'm not," my colleague and professional troublemaker Richard Blakelely told me over the weekend. Social media minx Alisa Leonard concurred in a Twitter: "not at sxsw and feeling like everyone went to the prom besides me." My sentiments, exactly.
Mashable's Pete Cashmore and your editor at the Side Bar in Austin. (Photo by Caroline McCarthy)
Professional funnylady and amateur gossip Heather Gold just invited Julia Allison, professional gossip and amateur tech event crasher, onto her panel on — ha, ha — Gossip. "Explain to Shaila [Dewan, New York Times correspondent] what you do again," asks Heather, "since her coverage is of real disasters and not the…
owenthomas: Landed at AUS. What's the plan, folks? I'm on California time and the night is barely legal.
My gripe about Web 2.0 invites has prickled a few PR 2.0 types who fervently believe that my career will just explode if I sign up to get spammed on Eventbrite. Look, people: In one day, Valleywag nitpicker-in-chief Owen Thomas will typically contact me through (1) email, (2) SMS, (3) IM, (4) voicemail, (5) Campfire,…
