FishbowlDC
 
Receive mediabistro.com's Daily FishbowlDC Feed via email


Daily Media Newsfeed Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Media Newsfeed via email.

"I do think that the quality which makes a man want to write and be read is essentially a desire for self-exposure and is masochistic. Like one of those guys who has a compulsion to take his thing out and show it on the street." - James Jones

Thursday, Aug 10

Howard Mortman: The FishbowlDC Interview

mortman2.JPGThis week, we sit down with the Extreme-ness himself: Seasoned media veteran Howard Mortman.

How many suits do you own? 7, excluding my sensational Sonny Crockett collection

What word do you routinely misspell? Mispell

Did you see Brokeback Mountain? I saw the cheap knock off -- Brokeback Mortman. Cried my eyes out -- particularly during the broken leg scene. Now called Brokeleg Mortman. I can't quit Hugh.

Did you see The Da Vinci Code? I saw the cheaper knock off -- Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Vinci.

What's the name of your cell phone ring? "Darth Vader Arrives"

What time did you get up this morning? We have a young child at home, so I got up at 4:30. Then again at 5. Then 5:30. Again at 6:00. Then I showered, brushed my teeth, went poop, and at 6:30 got out of bed.

When did you last cry and why? Truthfully? During one of the scenes in "Crash" when the guy's daughter almost gets shot trying to rescue him. Before that, I last cried when John Riggins ran for the touchdown in the '83 Super Bowl. Of course, like most Americans, my eyes always get a wee bit moist on those rare occasions when Chuck Schumer or John McCain are on TV.

More when you click below...


Which of the seven deadly sins are you? Equal parts sloth and gluttony -- with a dash of Tabasco.

Beach, city or country? "Potomac Beach" written by my friend Eron Shosteck, now available on Amazon. It's a must-read. In fact, one of these days I must read it. Now in it's second printing. The first one got smeared.

Would you say you're cute? Pretty? Hot? Beautiful? I'm frequently mistaken for Eliot Abrams, so yes, I'm hot. Damn hot.

What color is your bathroom? The same as my parachute -- golden.

How many emails do you receive a day, roughly? Hundreds. Turns out, there are lots of really nice people whom I've never met who think I could benefit from enlarging special parts of my body. How thoughtful. I'm also big on sending my paycheck to Nigeria.

What's your opinion of New York City? Like Sinatra, I wanna wake up in a city that never sweeps. Seriously, when I think of New York, I think of an apple. A big apple. A really big apple. I mean, this apple is HUGE. This apple is so big you can actually see the top of it over a huge pile of garbage lined up on the street during a New York City trash collection strike. We're talking gigantic. Hey, there’s an idea - let's call New York City the Gigantic Apple. You can use that, by the way.

What's your favorite letter? I have three favorite letters -- NMS, for New Media Strategies, where I proudly work.

What single person played the biggest role / had the biggest influence on your journalism career? The great comedian Garry Shandling. Never met him. But I've always admired how he structures jokes. Enormously helped my writing. He also got me thinking my ass is too big.

Have you ever downloaded a podcast? If so, which one? Yes -- podcasts produced by New Media Strategies, where I still proudly work.

Who's your all-time favorite American Idol candidate? Does Billy Idol count?

When's the last time you volunteered? Where? I volunteered to fight to bring freedom and democracy to Grenada, to help search for weapons of mass destruction -- and empties. Alas, my flight was delayed and I missed the whole thing. But trust me, I would have bravely stormed those tiki bars.

Who is your favorite active journalist? My old boss Ken Tomlinson -- technically not active, but still greatly involved in international broadcasting, and as former Readers Digest editor, a tremendous writer. Among active journalists, Brit Hume. Love the name.

What did you have for breakfast? A big apple. A huge apple. The size of Manhattan.

What's your favorite item of clothing? Yarmulke.

What one toiletry item could you not live without? Black shoe polish for my graying beard.

If you could have one superpower, which one would it be? The power to digest corn.

Better role model: GIJoe? Barbie? Neither. Barbies glorify ditzy women and are a sexist leftover from unenlightened earlier times. GIJoes are insensitive, don’t communicate well, prefer introspection, and don't help around the house. I'd say the best role model is still Michael Jackson.

Each FishbowlDC Interview subject is asked to contribute a word to this ongoing thread. Thus far we have..."Leprechaun suits shimmer Sensenbrennerly. Never regurgitate, orginate! Ideally, chutzpah..." feathers...

Email This Post

Fill out the following information and click on the Send button in order to send this post, Howard Mortman: The FishbowlDC Interview, to a friend.
Friend's name
Friend's email address
Your name
Your email address
Note to your friend (optional, max 200 Characters)

Read more on FishbowlDC >

Interested in advertising on FishbowlDC?

fishbowlDC: a gossip blog about Washington, D.C. media

Editor:
Patrick W. Gavin

Email:

Contributor:

Inky

Email:


About Us

Syndication

Anonymous Tips


Forum

Washington, DC, Issues 62 topics
Anyone work or interviewed at National Geographic? (2) 5/9/2008
Seeking DC green businesses and news (11) 4/16/2008
Printing Special (1) 4/3/2008
Creative Genius Networking Happy Hour (1) 3/25/2008
more... - post new topic

mb Blogs

TVNewser

PRNewser

GalleyCat

UnBeige

MobileContentToday

AgencySpy

FishbowlNY

FishbowlLA

FishbowlDC

Links

Wonkette

DCist

Washington City Paper

Washingtonian

Kevin Drum's Political Animal

Regret the Error

Romenesko's MediaNews

The Politico

PressThink

First Draft

DailyHowler

Micro Persuasion

Dan Gillmor

Media Matters

News Busters

White House Chronicle

Daily Show

Media Notes

FAIR

The Note

First Read

Washington Flyer

Roll Call

Joel Achenbach

The Hill

Slate.com

Talking Points Memo

TAPPED

Matthew Yglesias

Altercation

Political Wire

White House Briefing

BlogNetNews

Reliable Source

KausFiles

BoingBoing.net

MyDD

Atrios

Instapundit

Andrew Sullivan

Republic of T

DCRTV

Hit & Run

Categories

About

About Us - Modules

About Us - Subheader Module

Awards

Books

Capitol Hill

Events

Hottest Media Types

In Memoriam

Is This News?

Magazines

Networks

News Notes

Newspapers

Online Media

Poetry by Jake

Politicos

Prom

Punditry

Quote of the Day

Radio

Rumors and/or Gossip

SCOTUS

Sort of Serious Stuff

Sports

Stinky Fish

Taking Out The Trash

Teapot Tempests

Television

The Revolving Door

Things You Might Have Missed...

Useless Information

West Wing Reportage

Wires

[sic]

Archives

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008

more...


Recent

Happy Hour

Norton Named WaPo's Technology Editor

Today's Most Popular Stories

Subscribe

Click here to receive the Daily Media News Feed by email.

Job Listings

Featured Listings

Assistant Editor
Archaeology publisher
Washington, DC

Policy and Communications Associate
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research
Washington, DC

Production Specialist
American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science
Washington, DC

FX Writer
Need To Know News
Washington, DC

Become a partner


ADVERTISEMENT


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l mbToolbox l PRNewser l AgencySpy l MobileContentToday
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

JupiterOnlineMedia

internet.comearthweb.comDevx.commediabistro.comGraphics.com

Search:

Jupitermedia Corporation has two divisions: Jupiterimages and JupiterOnlineMedia

Jupitermedia Corporate Info


Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, & Permissions, Privacy Policy.

Web Hosting | Newsletters | Tech Jobs | Shopping | E-mail Offers