Gawker: Vacations

Greta Van Susteren Exposes Palin Family Kitchen Activities!

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:39:29 EST

Square-jawed Fox News host Greta Van Susteren is out to show that the media is not totally in the tank, by giving a fair and balanced interview to Gov. Sarah Palin right in her own back yard! And by that we mean not just "the state of Alaska," but literally "her own back yard." Greta is chronicling her trip to Wasilla on her very own blog, "GretaWire," which allows us all to take an intimate peek into this cross-continental journalistic excursion. Question: On a scale of 1-10, how much of this trip was for "journalism," and how much was for "Whoa, free snowmobile ride!"? Let Greta's own pictures guide you:

EXCLUSIVE PALIN KITCHEN PHOTO!!!!!

EXCLUSIVE PALIN YARD PHOTO!!!

Who is this masked journalistic pair?

Lo, it is Greta Van Susteren and Piper Palin, a pair of journalists!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Piper.

We can't wait for the thrilling finale! [GretaWire]

Plastic Surgery, Hamptons, Summertime, Decadence Combined In One Easy Package

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:39:42 EDT

Because some stories are nothing but blatant cries for condemnation, we're going to allow our disgust to swing around 180 degrees so that we support this idea: A Park Avenue plastic surgeon is offering a $500,000 package deal that includes a summer house rental in the Hamptons, and all the plastic surgery you want! "Within reason," of course. He's also throwing in a chauffeur, personal chef, and a nurse to tend to the surgically wounded. And tickets to the hottest parties, to show off your healing scars! This development is... a good thing.

The positives: $500,000 out of a rich person's pocket. Their absence from the New York metropolitan area from Memorial Day through Labor Day. And Hamptons parties overrun with bandaged, Joker-like figures, grinning grotesquely through their new masks of plastic.

This is like tee-ball for righteous outrage. Give us a challenge, you decadent monsters.

[NYDN]

'We're Just As Good As NYC,' Lies Rest Of New York

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:43:50 EDT

New York City: It is surrounded by New York state. This is the key message that state officials are hoping to communicate to you, the public, with their new and improved "I Love NY" campaign [NYT]. "There are a lot of beautiful pictures of serene mountains and lakes. How do you make your mountains and lakes different?" asked an ad exec. By polluting them with dioxin and a plethora of prescription drugs? No, it turns out the answer is to suggest that "we have the pulsating heart and soul of New York City in everything we do." In fact, it looks like the whole campaign is an attempt to slingshot some tourists out of the city for little jaunts upstate. Which will be hard, because New York state pretty much sucks.

I say that from a position of ignorance, because I've never bothered to explore upstate NY much. Primarily because I'm convinced that it sucks. That makes me the target audience for this campaign! So how are they pulling skeptical people away from the confines of the city?

The twist comes in using the powerful appeal of the city to woo visitors to other locales, which is encapsulated in the phrase "The state with the heart of the city."

For instance, an ad for New York vineyards asserts that the wine "has to be just as good as what the city offers."

In other words: Why not drive way the hell upstate so you can have some wine that you could've gotten anywhere in your own neighborhood? We promise that we're trying to make it just as good as what you have at home.

Pass.

Why not just stay in Brooklyn? It's the place you can do everything, "from taking a rollercoaster ride, sunning on the beach, and seeing a dolphin show in Coney Island to exploring one of the world's best Egyptian collections at the Brooklyn Museum of Art." Hey, I love New York!

Gawker to Enter Poesy-Free Fortnight; World to Continue Spinning

Jesse — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 12:15:51 EDT

We have no idea who Leon Freilich is. We have no idea why he spends his days composing bits of media news-based poetry. We have no idea why he posts those poems as Gawker comments, or sends them to Romenesko, or sends them to who knows what other sites. And we have no idea how he decides which poems go where. But we do know this: Leon Freilich is headed to Canada for two weeks, and that will leave us all doggerel-free for the duration. How do we know this? Because Leon Freilich sent us a poem, of course:

Rhyme does not pay,
Of that there is no doubt,
So here's a perfect day
To say I'm getting out.

But only for two weeks!
Vacation in the north
Away from gnawing piques,
Then back to rhyming forth.

We'll be counting the minutes.

Leon Freilich [Google]

The Only Working Boy in New York City (or Evanston)

Jesse — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 08:45:37 EST

Our early morning surfing:

Sigh.

Dominican Republic: New Home of Hell's 10th Circle

DAULERIO — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 15:43:52 EST

Our airsick bag-collecting brother at Gridskipper points us to a NY Observer story on the big acquisition of a 2000-acre plot of land in the Dominican Republic, financed by what could be the least masculine troupe of investors in history. The thin-wristed crew includes Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria, DJ-ing white vegan stain Moby, mimbo socialite Alex Von Furstenberg and bird-chested money manager Boykin Curry.

The gang hopes to turn the land into a "utopian community" for the repulsively rich called Playa Grande. Imagine a sweeping, majestic white beach festooned with hemp hammocks, Day-Glo umbrellas and the cast of The Birdcage playing paddle ball. Fire Island is so over.

Fareed Zakaria's Fantasy Island [Gridskipper]
Mr. Zakaria Builds His Own Utopia [NYO]