plus 3, Manhattan's Diva of Dirt - Daily Beast

How to Make it a Reality

Manhattan's Diva of Dirt - Daily Beast
Tabloid Wins Pulitzer. Just Kidding. - New University Newspaper
FP Tech Desk: Ten of YouTube's most influential videos - Nationalpost.com
Teen Driving Safety - Associated Content

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 06:25 PM PST

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Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images Michael Musto has spent 25 years as New York's gossipmonger in chief. He talks to Matthew Hays about his new book, the biggest story of his career, and why Sarah Palin should be president.

"You instill a lot of mixed emotions in people," says Michael Musto, New York's downtown gossip virtuoso. "Sometimes, when I walk into a room, I can smell the fear in people's eyes and it feels kind of wonderful. But then you also get the manic displays of public ass-kissing, which are delightful as well. I don't have to say a word—I just stand there and watch people try to decide whether to run away or run toward."

The life of a muckraking gossip columnist is buckets of fun. So much fun that Musto, the silver-tongued author of the Village Voice's version of a society column, "La Dolce Musto," has been doing it for 25 years and counting. His new book, Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back, reflects on a quarter century of dishing on everyone from Hollywood's A-listers to the Lower East Side celebrity hipsterati. It's an anecdote treasure trove. Musto delves into his brushes with porn tycoons, actors, singers, and hangers-on in a high-speed mashup of high and low culture. He's celebrating his 25th year at a private party on March 2, hosted by Joan Rivers.

"I'm actually hoping Palin does get elected president. She'll step down after two weeks when she gets a better paying offer."

In person, Musto is an unassuming, slightly nerdy figure. Endowed with a gentle demeanour, he is almost always clutching a small notebook, which he scribbles on intermittently. When you attend an event with him, you know he's on to something when he stares intently at a scene unfolding, raises a knowing eyebrow, then scrawls another line on his pad. It's a pretty clear indication that moment will be generated into something scathing in his column or blog.

Musto says the best part about being a gossip columnist comes with the strange conundrum he represents to celebrities: Will he bring good publicity or stir up bad sentiment? "You get to live an enchanted lifestyle full of cultural events, over-the-top people and wild bashes, then go home and write whatever you want about it. I can't recommend it highly enough!"

Fork on the Left, Knife in the Back. By Michael Musto. 275 Pages. Alyson Books. $14.95. But there are tough days, too, hard slogs where epic scandals translate into something resembling manual labor for a hardworking rumor-monger. "My busiest day happened in that very dark part of 2007 when Britney Spears broke down and shaved her head. Somehow the mass media deemed this the biggest news event since World War II, and for the sake of the huge exposure, I went right along with it, saying yes to every possible chance to stick my face—and hair—in front of a camera. My entire day was spent being breathlessly interviewed on every imaginable news program, making me a sort of one-man Woodward & Bernstein of this explosive, hair-related scandal. Nothing since has come close—not even Paris Hilton losing her Chihuahua. Once Britney's hair grew back, I felt like my career was pretty much over."

Musto's favorite scandal is one that, despite its age, just seems to keep on giving. "The formation of Brangelina at the expense of poor little Jennifer Aniston keeps on rolling. It was five years ago, and the tabloids are still making hay out of this, as if it just happened yesterday. 'Jennifer's upset… Brad's leaving… Angelina's mad… Jennifer's happy.' And so on, until Liz-Eddie-Debbie becomes an even more obscure footnote in Carrie Fisher's one-woman show. People are so reliant on these three for drama that a recent rumor in a British rag that Brangelina was breaking up set the entire planet upside down. We need this couple! Once I got over the initial loss of Angelina as a wild child with vials of blood and accepted her as the sexpot version of Mother Teresa, Brangelina totally delivered the gossip goods for me."

As Musto notes in the book, our celebrity-drenched media and insta-response online universe has made Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame" theory sound almost quaint. Today, it's more like 15 nanoseconds of fame. "I would be hard-pressed to name the most salacious scandal of the past year. It was Rihanna… no, Letterman… no, Tiger Woods… no, Charlie Sheen. It was all of them and none of them. The glory of gossip these days is that there are so many celebrities and such quick-access media that the scandal stories blow up huge and all-encompassing, then are replaced by the next one three days later. I just feel for Ashton Kutcher who had to spend the whole year tweeting, 'We lost a little ray of sunshine' over and over again."

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Tabloid Wins Pulitzer. Just Kidding. - New University Newspaper

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 05:49 PM PST

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Tell me something. What is the point of a newspaper? Why has society created a system that provides a paying job motivating me to sit down every week and write to you about something that happened to John Whosawhatsit in the Land of Oz?

The purpose is the dissemination of information. People like you and I rely on the media as a trustworthy source of crucial information every day. The exceptions are tabloids. These papers are more concerned with the color of Lindsey Lohan's arm hair and the size of Britney Spears' muffin-top than what is going on in Haiti or even here in the United States.

And now — get this — an Enquirer executive, Barry Levine, plans to submit the tabloid as a candidate for a Pulitzer Prize.

Last Thursday, former presidential candidate John Edwards admitted to fathering Rielle Hunter's baby. The Enquirer broke the scandal in 2007. Levine told the Washington Post that this scoop makes the Enquirer a contender for the Pulitzer.

I don't know what the journalistic standards are for supermarket tabloids. Maybe I don't have too much room to criticize them from the opinion section of a student newspaper. But doesn't journalistic reporting hinge on the truth of a story? If a newspaper builds a reputation for publishing false or half-true stories, shouldn't it be shunned? Why award someone for finally doing the job right?

Levine seems to be elated that an Enquirer story finally turned out to be true, and believe me, I am, too. But who cares about a tryst between a former presidential candidate and his aide? Who cares about every piddling intimate detail about a politician or celebrity's personal life?

Tabloids like the National Enquirer should be taken as seriously as the names of their articles make them look ("Dr. Phil to Oprah: 'I'll Destroy You!'" and "Inside Whitney's Drug Den!") Good for Levine that the Edwards scandal story worked out to be true. But with all the hardworking newspapers out there covering Afghanistan and Haiti — current events that actually make a difference in the world — is it even fair to award a Pulitzer to a paper whose covers are primarily dominated by close-ups of cellulite and back-flab? The mere suggestion of submitting a paper like the Enquirer for a Pulitzer is an insult to serious journalists and news media groups the world over.

Aaron Elias is a fourth-year English major. He can be reached at eliasa@uci.edu.

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FP Tech Desk: Ten of YouTube's most influential videos - Nationalpost.com

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 03:33 PM PST

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By Matt Hartley

Be sure to check out Matt Hartley's article on YouTube in Saturday's National Post

Ten of YouTube's landmark videos:

"Me at the Zoo"

The first video ever uploaded to YouTube shows site co-founder Jawed Karim outside the elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo.

"George Allen introduces macaca"

Virginia Senator George Allen uses an allegedly racist phrase at a campaign rally in 2006. The video went viral and he went on to lost the election.

"Leave Britney Alone"

Britney Spears fan Chris Crocker's tearful plea to the Internet for everyone to lay off the pop star after a rough performance at an awards show.

"The Evolution of Dance"

Judson Laipply was a little known motivational speaker before this video of him performing a series of famous dances became a YouTube phenomenon and one of the most watched videos of all time.

"NYPD Officer Tackles Cyclist in Times Square"

During a Critical Mass ride in New York's Times Square, a police officer appears to tackle a cyclist. Although the cyclist faced several charges, the video led to the officer being placed on probation and a lawsuit against the department.

"William Shatner: Rocket Man"

An example of one of the many fine moments from TV history which YouTube has helped immortalize, Star Trek's Captain Kirk sings Elton John's classic Rocket Man as only the great William Shatner can.

"Susan Boyle – singer – Britain's Got Talent 2009"

What else is there to say about Susan Boyle? Even Simon Cowell was impressed.

Click here, this video cannot be embedded.

"Vote Different"

Philip de Vellis was a designer who helped create Barack Obama's website before he combined Apple's classic "1984" ad with video of Hillary Clinton. The ad was never officially sanctioned by the Obama campaign and Mr. de Vellis eventually was forced to resign from his job at Blue State Digital.

"OK GO – Here it Goes Again"

Arguably one of the most famous music videos in the history of YouTube, the online popularity of the four band members dancing on treadmills turned the Chicago foursome into stars.

"LonelyGirl15"

At first, thousands of YouTube users were infatuated with Bree, the pretty young video blogger who went by the screen name of "lonelygirl15." That is, until they learned that Bree was actually a fictional character played by actress Jessica Rose. The ruse brought international mainstream attention to YouTube and created legions of online skeptics who seek to learn the truth about online videos.

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Teen Driving Safety - Associated Content

Posted: 19 Feb 2010 02:15 PM PST

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There are some state laws that forbid a newly-licensed teen to drive alone for a year or more. During that time, there must be a licensed person in the car. They're good laws, but they may not go far enough.

Parents or older siblings should always be in the car with a licensed teen until they're absolutely certain that the teen will drive responsibly. This will not make the teen driver very happy, especially if he/she wants to drive around with friends and when going on a date. However, this should not be allowed if there is still any indication of excess speeding or other recklessness.

AAA statistics show that teens are involved in at least half of the 50,000 traffic fatalities in the US each year. Another more frightening statistic is that one of every four teens involved in fatal accidents had been drinking ... illegally, of course ... beyond the percentage level for drunken driving.

Also if you read The National Enquirer or TMZ.com you will see many stories of teen stars like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, who have all had serious, multiple driving problems, from accidents, traffic tickets and D.U.I.'s.

In our family, as in most others, our teens were overly eager at age 16 to get a license and start driving independently. We were pressured and pleaded with, but we upheld our state laws and didn't permit solo driving until we were satisfied our child could be totally responsible. We had some glitches, followed by lectures and few groundings, but eventually it worked out well.

Today, 20 years later, our adult children are good drivers. No, let me rephrase it. Today, our children are much better drivers than their now-uncertain, sight-and-sound-challenged parents. We no longer monitor their driving, and prefer to be their passengers. Perhaps the next serious query should be: How to ensure that your elderly relative drives safely.

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