Quotes of the Day

“Pug wearing regal #USA sweater on red carpet. Looking exquisite. #Oscars” — NBC’s Luke Russert with the accompanying picture.

The Lost Washington Weekend

“Sunday mornings in Adams Morgan smell like broken dreams” — Bright Young Thing‘s Steve Place. Photographer Frank Turner replied, “Piss beer, puke waste.”

The Oscar Media Critics

“E! sucking really bad now, with party talk. It’s like NASCAR rain delay talk…boring. Ugh, guess we’ll change to ABC.” — The Washington Examiner‘s Paul Bedard.

“So the journo updates from Rick Santorum‘s townhall combined with Oscar tweets are gonna make for one weird Twitter stream.” — Yahoo! News’s Chris Moody.

“There is no comparison. E Red Carpet is SOOOO much better than ABC. #Oscars2012″ — SKDKnickerbocker and CNN Commentator Hilary Rosen.

“My limo is stuck behind Clooney‘s on the way to the red carpet. #annoyingOscartweets” — WSJ‘s Neil King, whose doppelganger is Clooney.

“I love Michelle Williams but seriously, Louis Vuitton, why even make a dress that ugly? Total fail. Thank goodness she a radiant beauty.” — Socialite and philanthropic advocate Katherine Kennedy.

“Why did *E* shoot Tina Fey from her left?! Terrible. Don’t they know about the gash? That’s just mean. Jerks.” — Freelance videographer Liz Glover.

“M in P sucked. And I think the young guy in Moneyball should have won best actor.” — Hollywood on the Potomac’s and D.C. publicist Janet Donovan.

“Glenn Close — love the blazer!!!!!” — ABC7′s Jummy Olabanji. Kennedy agrees, adding, “Wow! Glenn Close looks absolutely perfect! Stunning and totally age appropriate– ladies take note!”

“You want a good comedy bit? Spill something on a real deal star on the carpet and legit ruin their night. Seacrest is low hanging fruit.” — WaPo Express‘s Clinton Yates.

Ultra-feminist makes fun of fat women

“No one has the balls to criticize fat women on red carpet. #oscars” — GOP communications operative Trey Ditto, clearly the ultimate feminist.

Doocy or Douchey?

“Thanks very much for the nice words…YOU’RE a great guy for sending a compliment out, unprompted!
Thx.” — Fox & Friend’s Steve Doocy. What prompted such dripping gratitude? This nauseating tweet from a follower in Michigan: “Mr. Doocy, we consider you to be one of the nicest, most genuine human beings on the planet. Thanks for your good work!”

Kind of like Washington’s flacks right?

“Best part of watching E! right now, seeing the red carpet handlers trying to look SO important behind the “stars.” #Oscars”  — NBC’s Russert.

Redheaded journo rethinks red attire

“Emma Stone -redhead rocking the deep maroon. Making me rethink my no red rule. #Oscar.” — ABC News’s Karen Travers.

Irony is…“Heavy on the Sinatra at this Santorum event. Sinatra who supported Kennedy whose speech almost made Santorum throw up #fullcircle” — Reuter’s campaign reporter Sam Youngman.

Just what we need, more high journos…“Working on a video for a very cool high journalism program here in DC.” — NBC Cameraman Jim Long in today’s WTF tweet.

A Zen Chuck Todd

“To all overworked Washingtonians. Step outside and look up. Amazingly clear night for DC. Tons of stars visible.” — NBC’s Chuck Todd.

An 8-year-old learns to lie

“Our 8 yr old sees George Clooney & sez, “He looks a little like you.” Allowance goes from $2 a week to AmEx Platinum card.” — NPR‘s Scott Simon.

On Thursday night we welcomed upwards of 160 guests to Lost Society on U Street for a party so full of waves that some may never forget it. Journos climbed two super steep flights of stairs to reach the rooftop, which was filled with candles and drenched in rose petals. Notable guests in the crowd: Bloomberg‘s Margaret Carlson, The Daily Caller‘s Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson, USA Today‘s Jackie Kucinich, NJ‘s Major Garrett, GOP Consultant Ron Bonjean, TWT‘s Charlie Hurt, The Weekly Standard‘s Matt Labash, ABC7′s Stephen Tschida, WaPo‘s Erik Wemple, Capitol File Editor-in-Chief Kate Bennett, The Hill‘s Editor-at-Large Al Eisele and Managing Editor Bob Cusack, and CNN and former FishbowlDC Editor Matt Dornic. There are too many names to mention, but reporters, editors and publicists from the following news outlets showed up to down Belvedere Vodka cocktails and eat fish and chips, chicken waffles and bourbon s’mores: TPM, Politico, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Washington Examiner, ABC7, CNN, USA Today, HuffPost, Roll Call, NJ, Bloomberg, WaPo, TWT, Townhall.com, Thrillist, Breitbart’s Big Journalism, Yahoo! News, Washingtonian, UrbanDaddy.com, RCP, Q&A Celebrity, DCist, WaPo Express, Metro Weekly and The Times of London. FBDC favorite, Slate‘s Dave Weigel, unfortunately didn’t show — he was home with a cold. Conversation topics swung wildly from NYT Mark Leibovich‘s upcoming book on incestuous Washington, a mini-debate on male facial hair, journos doing stories on bras, stupid intern behavior, thin skinned journalists, a newsroom recently instructed to not site a publication that never sites them, The Drudge Report, The Daily Caller’s Media Matters series , the two speeds of The Daily Beast‘s Howard Kurtz, a hypothetical weed sale and whether “getting f–ked” is a good thing or an insult. No party is complete without Raptor Strategies’ David Bass. FBDC’s newest writers Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry were on hand to say hello to journos — well, most of them, anyhow. Peter spent the evening avoiding a certain editor whose name rhymes with Rucker Rarlson. He wasn’t the only one who feared coming face to face with Rarlson. Eddie, meanwhile, plotted his way into free vodka shots. Publicist Dannia Hakki, of Moki Media, organized the event. She has the patience of a saint.

Hollywood on the Potomac blogger and publicist Janet Donovan, who unfortunately didn’t make it into the party because she forgot her ID and the big, burly bouncer wasn’t taking chances, has a funny take on the evening here. Photo Credit: Dave Phillipich.

The Fishbowl trio: Peter, Betsy and Eddie.

Meghan, Nick, Dornic, Ballard

Carlson and Company…

Margaret Carlson and Stephen Smith

View more party pictures…

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Some of the candidates for today’s final poll cover after-hours events as part of their beat.  Others have no obligation but still troll the city’s open bars like it’s their full-time job.  Either way, if you hit an event after work, you’re bound to bump into one of these open bar flies:  Examiner’s Nikki Schwab, APCO’s Gideon Lett, NBC 4′s Janet Donovan aka J. Do, and Brendan Kownacki from Merge Creative Media.  But which one do you think put away the most petite quiche and free pinot grigio this year?

After Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) described the debt bill as a “Satan Sandwich” we wondered what Washington journos (and the husband of one) would put in their own satanic sandwiches. No, it’s not a pick-up line but say it enough times and it starts to sound like one. Some reporters claimed their brains were fried from the debt deal and couldn’t think up a clever response. Others shot back quick, clear and strange replies. We don’t even want to contemplate the deeper meaning behind the fact that Mediaite‘s Tommy Christopher has his own “dry rub.”

NYT Carl Hulse: “Mine would have to be stuffed with brussels sprouts. It is practically the only food I wont eat. Probably covered in some sort of nasty vinegar.”

The Weekly Standard/Daily Caller‘s Matt Labash: “Satan Sandwich Ingredients: Bottom piece of bread: Monica Cruz; Top piece of bread: Penelope Cruz; Lunch meat: Me; Toppings:  marshmallow fluff, apple butter, and taramasalata. Just to make sure we all stick together. You can also sprinkle some tax cuts for the rich on there  – the Cruz sisters are very wealthy. We will use the spoils to buy ourselves more sticky sandwich spreads. Or perhaps something hotter and spicier. Like  pico de gallo with Red Savino habaneros – which burn our searching tongues like the fires of hell, where Tea Partiers dance, their faces painted red with with the blood of freshly slaughtered Democratic babies. (Is Barney Frank going to eat that pickle?)”

Anonymous reporter: “Steamed Brauchli.” As in WaPo Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli.

Politico White House reporter Julie Mason: “Mortadella, fingernails and a centipede. I will eat it watching the first season of ‘The Bachelor.’”

Roll Call feature writer Emily Heil: “I’m pretty sure someone otherworldly has to be behind the G-man sub at Mangialardo and Son’s over on Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s got like five kinds of meat and this bread that they bake fresh daily–possibly in the fires of hell. I dream of it sometimes.”

The Hill‘s White House Correspondent Sam Youngman: “Any sandwich with hair.”

Qorvis’ partner and former TWT Editor Sam Dealey: “[NRSC Spokesman] Brian Walsh’s dog Rudy, American cheese product, and a side of Freedom Fries. Pretty much what I was served on my United Airlines flight today from San Antonio.”

Geoff Tracy (hubby to CBS’s Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell): “Catchy albeit scary name. Spicy hot perhaps.”

The Hill‘s Alex Bolton: Extra-strength Cholula sauce.

HuffPost-AOL Spokesman Mario Ruiz: “A public option, sliced by fear, w a heaping of revisionism.”

NJ Spokeswoman Taylor West: “Parking tickets. I’ve had to eat far too many of those recently. Oh, and sauerkraut. Because whenever I hear about the smell of brimstone, that’s what I imagine it smells like.”

Publicist Janet Donovan: “A Big Mac smothered in raw onions.”

WaPo‘s Aaron Blake: “Olives, brussels sprouts, Limburger cheese and Vegemite. Also, fire.”

Mediaite White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher: “Oh, that’s easy. Cold Capicola (pronounced “GabbaGHOUL”), fresh mozzarella, a good Genoa salami, prosciutto, imported ham, mayo, and pesto on a saloio roll. Hot chunks of filet mignon, my own dry rub, salt, pepper, sauteed for two minutes, with mozzarella and mayo on a fresh sub roll. For dessert, lots of nitro in the ambulance.”

Conservative writer who helped found The Daily Caller Derek Hunter: “Liverwurst with cream cheese, Dijon mustard and some bacon thrown in to make you think it might not suck, on pumpernickel with a side of having to eat it with Nancy Pelosi. If you’re going to be forced to eat a Satan Sandwich it’s safe to assume you’d be eating it in your own personal Hell.”

Labor journalist Mike Elk: “Right now I am on vacation in San Francisco and they sell all these ‘incredible edibles’ at these medical clinics. Put some of those edibles in a Satan sandwich, you can make any sandwich a really good time. Go to a reggae concert after eating that Satan sandwich and you’ll have a real gooooood time. I mean real good.”

The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle: “Fresh cape cod haddock battered with beer from The Daily Caller kegerator. I’d drizzle The DC beer-battered haddock with hot sauce. What would make it “Satanic” is how I’d get the hot sauce – I’d steal it from whoever in our office happened to have some.” (People actually bring hot sauce to the office?)

CBS White House radio reporter Mark Knoller: “What else. Deviled eggs.”

HuffPost Hill writer Eliot Nelson: “Tempeh, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sprouts, chipotle mayo and worthless T-Notes.”

Human Events‘ Tony Lee: “Lol– honey ham, deviled eggs, ABSOLUTELY NO CHEESE. Let’s say on Rye Bread, slightly burnt.”

Unnecessary Answer of the Lineup: “Um, deviled ham, goat cheese and arugula? Eh, but that’s not very good. This would all be a lot funnier if the deal had been referred to as ‘Satan’s Taco.’ That I could work with.” — MetroWeekly‘s C0-Publisher Sean Bugg (Oh, Bugg, we joke. We love your answer. Who else would say “deviled ham?”)

You know you’re one hell of a flack when a flock of journos bust their midday beat to break bread in your honor.  And such is the case of Kelley McCormick,  former partner at Qorvis Communications and Reese Witherspoon lookalike.  McCormick and her new role as Gibraltar Associates COO were toasted yesterday at a swanky lunch hosted by “Meet the Press” EP Betsy Fischer and the one and only Tammy Haddad.

Nearly 40 guests mingled over champagne before sitting down to a three-course wine luncheon of split pea soup with creme fraiche, bacon-garnished crab cake and tasty dessert.  Both Fischer and Haddad shared kind words about their friend before Gibraltar CEO Eric Bovim raised a glass to McCormick, gushing “I can’t imagine doing this without her.”

Attendees of the fancy-pants lunch fete included Politico’s Mike Allen, NBC White House producer Alicia Jennings, WaPo’s Amy Argetsinger, Examiner’s Nikki Schwab, The Hill’s Kate Oczypok, DC’s Karen Sommer Shalett, Janet Donovan, Cap File’s Kate Bennett and Sarah Schaffer, Huffington Post’s Christina Wilkie, Kiki Ryan, Bloomberg’s Ha Chan, Tracy Sefl, Washingtonian’s Sophie Gilbert, Washington Life‘s Michael Clements, Emily Lenzner, Poshbrood’s Elizabeth Thorp, Twitter’s Adam Sharp, WBJ‘s Jen Nycz-Conner and SELF‘s Marc Adleman.  Congrats to Kelley!

L to R: Betsy Fischer, Mike Allen, Kate Bennett, Halle Mayes, Tammy Haddad, Marc Adelman, Kelley McCormick.

*All photos courtesy of Haddad Media.

Licht, Brzezinski, Mike Allen, Mark Leibovich, Louis Burgdorf

If the idea of Mark Leibovich‘s impending book release strikes fear in your heart, we’ve got some bad news for you.  You’re sleepless nights won’t end anytime soon.  “I’ve finished about five pages,” the star scribe told FishbowlDC last night at a book party for “Morning Joe” EP- turned-CBS News VP, Chris Licht.

Hosted by Tammy Haddad, Constance Milstein, Jon Meacham and Kevin Sheekey, the event packed the parlor of the Jefferson Hotel with a guest list that included MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, CBS’s Chris Isham, HuffPo’s Howard Fineman, Bob Woodruff, Hilary Rosen, Politico’s Jim VandeHei, Patrick Gavin and Mike Allen, WaPo’s Jonathan Capehart, Sally Quinn, MSNBC’s Louis Burgdorf, Kelley McCormick, MTP’s Betsy Fischer, Janet Donovan, Wash Life’s Kevin Chaffee and John Arundel, Examiner’s Nikki Schwab and Anne Schroeder Mullins.

FishbowlDC also caught up with a delightful David Shuster who shared a few secrets about his investigative website project after we swore to keep the info offline for now.  But the most interesting insight of the night was gleaned from what wasn’t said:  When asked if “Morning Joe” might follow him to CBS, Licht swerved and ultimately dodged the question, leaving guests to wonder if the show’s rumored move is more than simple speculation.

For info on Licht’s book, “What I Learned When I Almost Died,” click here and check out video from his bash here.

L: Anne Mullins, Patrick Gavin, Brzezinski, Scarborough R: Licht & David Shuster

Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos asks a question during Q&A.

*All images by Bruce Vartan Boyajian/Haddad Media.

From L To R: Steven Weber, Andrea Bowen, Rachel Leigh Cook, Wilder Valderrama, Robin Bronk, CQ Press First Street’s President John Jenkins and Gloria Reuben

The White Van

Valderrama was ready for his closeup.

Last night journalists were confronted with a couple of things at CQ Press’ First Street launch party at Art and Soul. First off: The stars were late. This left a dense pack of photographers, reporters and event handlers full of anticipation on the edges of a shrunken red carpet for a good while. Secondly: When the Creative Coalition showed up to the restaurant in a nondescript white van about an hour after they were due to arrive, eager fans rushed the van in a quest for autographs. This jangled the already frayed nerves of handlers who snapped and rolled their eyes at the autograph seekers and caused the red carpet procession to be more of a scrambling chaotic frenzy than it already is.

“Each one is worse than the next,” remarked Steven Weber, an actor dispatched by the Creative Coalition to red carpet events like these. He was talking about the red carpet portion of the evening only. Some might know him from NBC’s “Wings” or ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters.” Regardless, he looks familiar and people were chattering about how nice he is.

Valderrama was seen talking quietly and patiently with journalists in attendance. Despite the harried handlers, he methodically signed a slew of autographs on his way inside.

The purpose of the evening was to launch CQ Press First Street, which is owned by Sage, a worldwide publishing house, not The Economist Group. First Street aims to be a one-stop shop for journalists, lawyers and Joe Q. Public to navigate Washington’s lobbying industry. They’ve 30 employees with more hires on the way. So far AP has signed on, but Jenkins is staying silent on who else is. He doesn’t want the competition getting wind of internal info. The cost is $3,750 per year with discounts and scholarships to those who need them. “It’ll open up the transparency and help us better understand what lobbyists are doing,” Jenkins told FishbowlDC, mentioning those scholarships. “We understand journalists would love to have this and money is tight.”

Jenkins says the best part of First Street is that journalists will be able to do in a “millisecond” what would ordinarily take a week of research.

Weber, meanwhile, used his star power to praise CQ Press’ First Street, saying it’s going to be “invaluable.” He said, “It’s going to be a great way to find out who’s paying who off. It’ll be a good tool, a good way to ensure there’s disclosure.”

Once everyone barreled inside, the rest of the evening went off smoothly with speeches, booze flowing, big fried cheese balls and delicious miniature cupcakes with bright Pepto pink frosting for dessert. Journos mixed and mingled and dissected who all the stars were and in what movies or TV shows they’ve appeared. There was also chatter about Rep. Aaron Schock‘s (R-Ill.) shocking abfest on the cover of Men’s Health.

Find out who was there and see more photographs after the jump…

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Before appearing at last night’s Congressional Correspondents Dinner, Miss America 2011 Teresa Scanlan lunched with Washington media types at Cafe Milano. Hosted Milano owner Franco Nuschese, Tammy Haddad, Regina Hopper (former Miss Arkansas and president of America’s Natural Gas Alliance), and Kelley McCormick, the midday event offered journos a chance to spend some personal time with the pageant winner. Guests included WJLA’s Pamela Brown, Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne from TLC’s “DC Cupcakes,” Meet the Press’ Betsy Fischer, ABC News’ Polson Kanneth, Politico‘s Patrick Gavin, Cap File‘s Kate Bennett, Janet Donovan, and The Hill‘s Emily Goodin.

Mary Kathryn Covert, Glenn Ballard, Michael Steel, Brianna Keilar

The Kalorama manse of lobbyist Juleanna Glover played host to The Week‘s first annual Academy Awards party last night.  Complete with Oscar-shaped cookies, popcorn and tuxedo-clad servers passing trays of Junior Mints, Milk Duds and Redvines, the event was a perfect balance of festive glitz and a casual night at the movies.

Despite the all-star lineup of party hosts (Ron Bonjean, Tammy Haddad, Juleanna Glover and Karen Finney), the fete was not over-attended, offering around 100 guests a relaxed atmosphere to mix, mingle and eat their weight in miniature grilled cheese sandwiches* (see: me).  Spotted taking in the festivities were FD’s Mary Kathryn Covert and Michael Steel, CNN’s Brianna Keilar, Sam Dealey of Qorvis, Sarah Bonjean, Janet Donovan, NRSC’s Brian Walsh,  Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times, soon-to-be USA Today‘s Jackie Kucinich, Doug Heye, The Hill‘s Emily Goodin, Mark Paustenbach, Glenn Ballard, Pepper Watkins, Jay Newton-Small, Jeremy Bash of the CIA, Barbara Martin, Becca Glover Watkins, Kimball Stroud, Washington Life‘s Kevin Chaffee, WaPo‘s Jonathan Capehart, Daily Caller’s Megan Mulligan,  UrbanDaddy’s Jeff Dufour and an uber-preggers Jayne Sandman.

L: Ron Bonjean and Jackie Kucinich R: Popcorn served in The Week funnels

L: Tammy Haddad with Lynn Sweet R: FishbowlDC entourage

Howard Fineman’s hair. Prostitution in Washington. Hoecakes. Weight loss. These were some of the topics that arose at a media luncheon Wednesday at Art and Soul hosted by Chef Art Smith.

Along with pubic hair.

The meal was a magical seven-course culinary journey into tasting some of Art’s most spectacular specialties. For example, the meal included those aforementioned hoecakes (an oval shaped southern delicacy that looks and tastes like a pancake) with pulled pork piled on top, buttermilk mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese as well as the monumentally juicy fried chicken that put Art on Oprah’s map. Oprah loved the chicken so much that she sought Art out and made him her personal chef (and one of her disciples).

He loves her to fried chicken pieces and sang her praises during lunch. In his opinion, she is unrivaled, unmatched in every way that matters.

Conversation soon moved into name dropping heaven. Lady Gaga. Priscilla Presley. Moby. Barbara Bush. Art has rubbed elbows with them all. He has also kept off the serious poundage he shed last year after being diagnosed with diabetes. As in 75 pounds. He said Bush ordered him not to lose any more. He says drinking water in January and eating oatmeal with toasted quinoa, agave syrup and granola for breakfast will change your life. Asked if he gave up booze as part of his dieting, he snapped, “No, honey, please, I love vodka.”

Apart from food and drink, Art’s media diet consists of WaPo, Politico, Atlantic Monthly, Washingtonian, DC File and The Blade. “I have to keep up with my people in this town,” he said, emphasizing his reading that last publication.

And finally, the hair. Fineman’s hair came up when someone at the table remarked that he has great lush locks. Pubic hair? A woman remarked that after a person has cancer, the hair sometimes “grows back like pubic hair.”

Bon Appetit.

Find out who attended the lunch…

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