Quotes of the Day

“I don’t get this guy. Just strange movements. Weird. I just don’t get it.” — MSNBC “Morning Joe” Co-host Mika Brzezinkski on Psy, the South Korean SMOKING rapper and dancer after the show ran a clip of Tommy LaSorda being perplexed and unamused by Psy performing some moves at Dodgers Stadium during a game.

Journo snoozes in White House briefing room

“When Jay Carney is 30 minutes late, I take naps in the briefing room.” — MetroWeekly‘s Justin Snow.

SOS: Tweeting and untweeting

“Dernit! how do you unretweet a tweet on this new version of twitter tweetdeck??” — WaPo and MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart.

WHAT HAPPENS IN MEXICO STAYS IN MEXICO – “It’s an early morning call for the press and WH staff as we wait to load the charter for Obama’s trip to Mexico.” — NYT‘s Michael Shear with the accompanying photograph.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 5:07 a.m.

Crossing our fingers for Stephen Tschida’s new condo

“So I won the bidding war. Now I have to win over the condo board.” — ABC7′s Stephen Tschida in his war quest to purchase a new condo. As some who have been following his saga know, the Condo Board on his last potential bid fell through because of his adorable dogs. Except…a few days ago he wrote, “Kids… holding my breath and waiting to put pen to paper… seller went for MY OFFER! enough of bidding wars… and *#%&@#! condo boards!” We agree and hope the new one isn’t reading this.

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

For its White House Correspondents’ Dinner party, BuzzFeed brought its entire politics team to D.C., but one of its members was noticeably absent from the party.

Andrew Kaczynski, the prolific tweeter and Internet video resurfacer, skipped out. He was at the actual Dinner, the one BuzzFeed had failed to secure a table at. CSPAN brought him as a guest.

“It must be nice, right,” BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith told FishbowlDC that night. “He’s like our celebrity.”

Even without their own version of a celebrity in attendance, the party was packed with hundreds of people, causing long waits at the bar, but even worse: Long lines outside to even get in. Senior Press Director Ashley McCollum manned the mess outside. At one point the general guest line stretched almost 100 people-deep.

For Dorsey Shaw, BuzzFeed‘s resident TV news watcher, it was his first time down from New York since the publication celebrated the launch of it’s Washington bureau in early August last year. He told us he was disappointed that he wouldn’t have time to see the monuments and other sights but that he’d make sure to schedule them in next time he’s in town. (He ended up being able to schedule in some time to see them Sunday, we hear.)

What and who else did we see? Read more

Justin Snow had never covered a Supreme Court case or even been inside the building until this week, when the justices heard arguments on two separate cases regarding same-sex marriage. Perfect timing, if a little overwhelming, for someone who has been with the gay magazine Metro Weekly for not even a year.

Electronic devices aren’t allowed in the courtroom, a particularly challenging rule for journalists who rely on tape recorders and (more and more often) their smartphones to take notes and, you know, report. Snow told FishbowlDC that was the hardest part in covering the hearings. “Selecting what I think are the key statements,” he said, “while feverishly taking notes and then working them into a story for the Web before transcripts or audio is released of the proceedings.”

The other hard part: “Because I’m not a lawyer, sometimes deciphering the legal jargon can be a challenge.”

Like WaPo’s Jonathan Capehart, Snow, who is also gay, gets his fair share of anti-gay tweets. Read more

The audio was kind of a wreck but the second installment of BuzzFeed Brews, this time a Q&A with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), otherwise went just fine.

Gillibrand is apparently unafraid to drink with the big boys. Literally, big boys. She gave the towering D.C. Bureau Chief John Stanton a bottle of Jameson whiskey at the end of the interview, during which she downed the beer that sat at her side. Her glass of water went hardly touched.

Afterward, the open bar continued for another hour. What was Gillibrand doing? Read more

Quotes of the Day

Burying the lead

“Magistrate in Pistorius case really knows how to bury the lead. He’s been reading back the case for more than 1/2 hr now w/o ruling on bail.” — Jon Belmont, AP Radio News.

Travel Bitches

“Nothing like starting off the day with a 4 am wake up for a 6 am flight.” — WaPo‘s Karen Tumulty.

“Instead of “quiet car” Amtrak should have one where everyone who screams on their phones all the way from DC to NY sits together.” — MSNBC “Daily Rundown” Executive Producer Brooke Brower.

“Longest Circulator ride of. My. Life.” — MetroWeekly‘s Justin Snow.

“Seatmate warns: ‘I didn’t sleep last night, so I may doze on your shoulder.’ #StrangerDanger” — Erica Elliot, the avid travel tweeter who is also the Communications Director for the Major Whip of the House, Kevin McCarthy.

Ouch and more ouch!

“@ErikWemple Looking forward to your next piece when you ask the Obama campaign which Politico and WaPo stories helped them the most.” — The Daily Caller‘s Alex Pappas to WaPo‘s Erik Wemple for this story, in which he takes Breitbart.com and The Daily Caller and lumps them together into a story on shoddy conservative media reporting. Shockingly (and yes, we’re being sarcastic), no one from either publication would speak to the Erik Wemple Blog for his story. Before he began writing for WaPo, Wemple indicated that he would not be covering WaPo. He has broken this declaration a few times, but has mostly stuck with it.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 9:39 a.m.

New D.C. slang: “the metch” 

“Today in IMing: a friend refers to Metro as ‘the metch’ which is not shorter than ‘metro’ but is more fun to say I guess.” — TPM‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro.

Moving woes

“It was a huge mistake to think that I could install my internet by myself.” — BuzzFeed‘s Rosie Gray, who recently moved to Washington from New York.

Bon Voyage!

“Thank you so much everyone for your kind notes. Psyched to head to Beijing but sad to be leaving such amazing friends & colleagues in DC.” — WaPo‘s Felicia Sonmez. We inquired what Sonmez was up to in Bejing. She replied, “Today is my last day at the Post. I am planning to move to Beijing in the next few months and study Chinese, and then find a reporting job there.” All the best to Sonmez on her new adventure.

Self-Appointed Media Critics

• “Local news doing a fabulous job with storm coverage. Too bad they suck at covering most everything else.” — Conservative radio host and gun enthusiast Dana Loesch.

• “Every year National Journal’s ratings of conservatives and liberals come out I’m reminded of just how stupid National Journal can be.” — FNC and RedState‘s Erick Erickson.

Senate gets new rail to protect clock from reporters chasing senators (a joke, sort of, of course)…

Read more

Asked to describe the idea behind “BuzzFeed Brews,” John Stanton says, “It’s like a first date. Get them a little drunk and relaxed so they can talk about things people don’t normally hear them talk about.”

Stanton is the Washington Bureau Chief for BuzzFeed and last night was the launch of the website’s new series wherein newsmakers are invited to sit before an audience and answer questions. And there’s free beer.

It’s essentially the same thing as Politico‘s Playbook Breakfast, “minus the stale bagels, plus the beer,” cracked BuzzFeed‘s Politics Editor McKay Coppins to FishbowlDC. (The site’s publicist Ashley McCollum boasts that she came up with that description.)

The first guest: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). For roughly 45 minutes Rubio answered questions from BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith about immigration, gay marriage and the future of the Republican Party. Of course, lengthy segments here and there were spent on why Rubio prefers Tupac over Biggie Smalls (“His lyrics are more insightful in my opinion.”) and whether he had to “think long and hard” before letting his son play recreational football. Stanton said that’s another thing distinguishing the Brews series from Playbook Breakfast, whose audience may not be interested in those things. Read more

Quotes of the Day

Dear Fishbowlers: Various things stole our attention this morning, so just for today we’re offering an afternoon version of Morning Chatter. Won’t be a habit.

The “sexy-ass” Michael Tomasky

“@bpshow always good 2 get up early in san fran 2 see the sexy-ass Michael Tomasky on the tube. Bill, have him on more often!!” — Rhonda. Tomasky is a special correspondent for Newsweek/The Daily Beast.

Spotted in D.C…. BuzzFeed publicist Ashley McCollum, who was visited from Manhattan, drinking Jasmine-flavored tea last night at a mysterious tea house off Dupont Circle. We hear she later dined with BuzzFeed‘s Zeke Miller and Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

A word of advice to D.C. flacks

“Tip of day for DC flacks: If subj line of your email simply reads ‘Press Release,’ there is zero chance I am looking at it.” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Um, he’s has what?

“Hint: He’s white and has a penis.” — Metro Weekly political reporter, Justin Snow, reaction to a tweet from National Journal that asks, “Who will replace Jack Lew as Chief of Staff?”

Reporter gets yogurt news from Sen. Chuck Schumer

“Inbox: ‘SCHUMER REVEALS FAGE YOGURT TO BE SERVED AT THE PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL CEREMONIES ­ PRESIDENT WILL GET A TASTE OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY’ — Roll Call‘s Meredith Shiner.

Important Q’s to Ponder: “Do I go to the gym four nights in a row? Am I that serious about losing weight?” — Randy Shulman, co-publisher of Metro Weekly.

A typical Washington scene setter, complete with doughy men who haven’t seen a gym in awhile…Also: see who’s now on the FishbowlDC Fan Club Board…

Read more

Say hello to Justin Snow, Metro Weekly‘s political reporter and bacon lover. Earlier this year he replaced Chris Geidner, who went to work for BuzzFeed. Before he joined the gay news magazine, Snow was a reporter for MarylandReporter.com and Baltimore magazine. He also freelanced for the New York Post and the American Prospect.

Snow told FishbowlDC he never “set out” to cover the gay beat. “I’ve always been a political junkie and a reporter who has covered a wide range of topics, which have included LGBT issues, but that has never been my sole interest,” he said. We asked him to help save a hypothetically dying out population and gave him three options of media women with whom to procreate. That went over real well. On a more serious note, mags are Snow’s preferred medium and he said working for Metro Weekly has so far been “fantastic.” On a cheery note, he added, “I hope to be writing for magazines for as long as readers are still reading them,” he said.

Let’s begin.

Diane Sawyer, under the condition that the Chardonnay flow as freely as it did on election night.

As well-known as Bay Buchanan is in political circles, she’s not nearly famous enough to be prohibited from answering a few questions from media. She’s small potatoes, if you will.

Buchanan, sister of conservative commentator Pat Buchanan and a Mitt Romney campaign strategist, attended a fundraiser last night at the Hotel Monaco. It was hosted by and for the gay Republican group GOProud, which charged $50 per ticket to attend.

(One attendee was spotted wearing two buttons: one supporting Romney, the other Ron Paul. The attendee pointed to his Paul button. “It’s going to take his people,” he said, before pointing to the Romney button, “to get him elected.” The torn supporter may have missed the interview Paul did with Fox News last week. In it, Paul suggested he could vote for Gary Johnson.)

Because other news media — including Metro Weekly, Washington Blade and a random European publication — showed up to cover the small event (it was a cash bar, if that tells you anything), we were under the impression that the headliner would be taking questions. One other reporter in attendance said the same. And we were right. But Jimmy LaSalvia, GOProud’s co-founder, wouldn’t let Buchanan talk to media.

“We’re not doing questions,” LaSalvia said as Buchanan walked in. But after meeting Buchanan, FishbowlDC asked if she’d do a quick interview anyway. “Well, we’ll have to clear it with [LaSalvia],” she said gracefully. LaSalvia chimed in: “I’ll take care of the questions later.”

It was a kind gesture but we just weren’t sure Jimmy could tell us how he felt about his brother being canned from MSNBC; largely because LaSalvia’s brother, as it turns out, isn’t Pat Buchanan. We passed on the offer but hope he removes the stick from his ass.

Notables: Think tank E21′s Lisa De Pasquale, GOProud Co-Founder Chris Barron, Metro Weekly‘s Justin Snow and Washington Blade‘s Chris Johnson.

Quotable: “I just dripped all over my hand.”– LaSalvia, as he frantically wiped food from his hands with a napkin.