Quotes of the Day — the Oscar edition

Oscar coverage, attendance

“I just used a port-a-potty while wearing a tux. #glamour#oscars” — WaPo‘s Dan Zak.

“I love that my ticket for the Oscars tonight specifies ‘formal’ attire.” — Garance Franke-Ruta, senior editor, The Atlantic, whose work in ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, was made into an Oscar-nominated documentary, “How to Survive a Plague.”

Editor dreads need for reading glasses

“Getting gray hair didn’t bother me. Hitting 40 was no big deal. But new realization that reading glasses are necessary isn’t sitting well.” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Sighting: rapper at DCA

“SPOTTED – @2chainz at DCA Washington Reagan National Airport this morning #DMV” — Marky Mark, a.k.a. Mark Wilkins, DC Celebrity. 2 Chainz’ real name is Tauheed Epps. His previous nickname was Tity Boi.

Dana Perino: a slave to travel size products

“Very glad to have found @3floz - products to save a woman traveler’s life. Take THAT airport security lines!” — FNC’s Dana Perino.

“On our way to the Oscars.” – Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, with wife, Elizabeth.

D.C. Oscar Observers

• “Reese Witherspoon says she let her 13-year-old pick out her dress. It shows.” — Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner.

• “Seacrest, you really don’t need to stoop down to talk to Little Q.” — Conservative freelancer Lisa De Pasquale.

• “I know everyone loves her… but every time Kerry Washington opens her mouth and I’m watching, I swear I lose brain cells.” — D.C. socialite Katherine Kennedy.

• “It is now time for me to turn off and stow electronic devices. BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SEE WHAT ANNE HATHAWAY IS WEARING? Ugh.” — The Daily Caller‘s Taylor Bigler.

• “Somebody get a box for Ryan Seacrest to stand on.” — Paul Brandus, of West Wing Reports and a columnist for The Week.

• “Whoever is pregnant lady in the black lace cap sleeve dress, it suits you vvery nicely. you are w/channiing tatum who suits well too. #Oscar.” — NPR’s Kitty Eisele.

• “OMG, Beasts of the Southern Wild won’t win because it’s too good to win, too good for this world!” — NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman.

• “John Travolta introducing the muscials tribute is pretty gay.” — BuzzFeed‘s Chris Geidner.

Splish Splash…“Just gave the one-week-old a bath. To thank me, she drenched me with urine.” — BuzzFeed Political Editor McKay Coppins.

Um, use the rear entrance

“TONIGHT: Fashion Industry Sunday Party in DC at Huxley w/sexy deep house and live sax. Open bar 8-9pm! Use rear entrance, knock twice!” — Real Housewives of D.C.’s favorite stylist Paul Wharton.

D.C. journo finds a new pet peeve and more D.C. scribes offer Oscar observations, some are even worth reading… Read more

Quotes of the Day

HIPSTER: “Dr. Paul Pellicci my amazing surgeon, dropped by the office to take me and my new hip for a walk.” — HuffPost-AOL Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington.

Best line of the Day: “Because I have the right as a senator to have no comment and who the hell are you to tell me I can or not?” — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett on why he didn’t attend the Benghazi hearing. Apparently it was an er, office scheduling error. WTF? McCain later made nice and went on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight” Thursday night. Barrett knows how to rile lawmakers. Some may recall his interaction with ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) last year at an impromptu presser on Capitol Hill in which Weiner refused to discuss his weinerous behavior. Barrett persisted and Weiner called him a “jackass.” Need a refresher? Watch here.  Important q to ponder: Would McCain have lashed out at CNN’s Dana Bash like this? Somehow we can’t imagine it.

Journo is anti-Aidan (from Sex & the City) 

“All right, time to quit hiring Aidan from Sex & the City as a voice actor. I’m used to him doing Applebee’s, now also Medicare drug plans?” — The Hill‘s Sam Baker.

Fate of Twinkies hangs in the balance

“Fox: ‘The end of Twinkies could be only hours away.’” — WaPo media opinion writer Erik Wemple.

In other mysterious life news…

“Moved furniture so the cable guy can come fix everything tomorrow. Sat down and turned on the TV and it miraculously works. #wtf” — National Journal Daily Production Editor Michelle Bloom.

It’s the little things in life.

“Krispy Kreme donuts in the office. My day just improved.” — The Hill‘s Ian Swanson.

Reporter misses print pub

“Small world problems: I don’t think I’m alone here on Capitol Hill when I say I really miss having a print edition of CQ daily.” — USA Today‘s Susan Davis.

A lawmaker is overheard, sounds like an asshole and the W Hotel is a disappointment to a certain Bloomberg reporter…Also: Find out who’s heading up our FishbowlDC Fan Club Board… Read more

Quotes of the Day

Thought Bubble: Ann Romney, you are no Laura Bush

“Honor Laura Bush. She stood up for women & she puts up with the repubs.” — CNN Contributor Hilary Rosen in response to women protesting former first lady Laura Bush being given the Alice Award, for a woman who advances other women.

Father’s Day wishes (well, sort of)

“Happy father’s day — or as they call it in my family, happy brother-in-law’s day.” — Writer and human rights lawyer Ronan Farrow. Farrow is Special Adviser to the Sec. of State for Global Youth Issues. He is the only biological child of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow.

Q: Which NYT columnist follows singer/actress Katy Perry? A: David Brooks

Convo Between Two Journos

Slate‘s Matt Yglesias: “Admittedly, I found Wawa amazing when I first went. Then again I was high as a kite at the time.” InTheseTimes Magazine Labor Writer Mike Elk: “Things we both agree on.”

News You Can Use

“PSA for congressional reporters: If you forget your license, your federally issued press ID will get you thru airport security.” — USA Today‘s Susan Davis.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day: Nail Polish Alert

“A perfect summer shade thanks to @caroljoynt and @CHANEL” — Bloomberg reporter and photog Stephanie Green. (Although we must admit, the shade is pretty.)

The Appointed Media Critic

“Is there ANYTHING more painful to watch on cable TV than the 2-3 minutes transition between @BashirLive and @DylanRatigan?!” — Newsbusters’ Ken Shepherd.

Liberal analyst: Obama heckler should be stripped of press pass

“Resorting to race-baiting or pitting groups of human beings against one another is not journalism worthy of a White House press pass.” — MSNBC Analyst Karen Finney writes on The Daily Caller‘s Neil Munro‘s “Incivility” for The Hill.

Quotes of the Day

“The @DCCC is selling shirts with a crying @SpeakerBoehner that say: ‘Weeper of the House’” — USA Today‘s Susan Davis.

Office partying gone awry

“Interesting to come back to one’s office, after entertaining one’s colleagues there for drinks, to discover someone’s belt on your desk.” — The Atlantic‘s Washington Editor James Bennet.

Huntsman daughters give up Politico

“Us girls have decided to give up politico.com for lent.” — Jon2012girls.

From the Dept. of Bad Ideas…

“I wish CPAC were on a cruise ship.” — Keder.

Journo hesitates on ‘vaginal penetration’ politics

“Old rule of politics (I think it was coined by Dirksen): if your bill can be described using words ‘vaginal penetration,’ best not to pursue.”– The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza.

DCRTV Dave can’t distinguish his ass from his elbow

In this disturbing video, DCRTV’s Dave Hughes (i.e. Washington’s biggest thief of a blogger) gets confused by his own thoughts about FBDC’s recent party. Observes FBDC’s Peter Ogburn: “Seriously.  He can’t even keep up with his bullshit.  In the same breath, he says no one with any credibility went to the party and then talks about how great WaPo‘s Erik Wemple is.  F–k him a million times.” Peter later mumbled something about the way Dave puts on his socks at the beginning of the video. We think we heard this: “Looks like he’s just cleaning up after dismembering an underage prostitute.”

FishPoll: The Results. Was Politico Dave Cantanese‘s middle finger silver ring a hit or a miss at last week’s FishbowlDC party at Lost Society? A resounding 41.33 percent of you declared, “Yes, love it!.” A close second at 40 percent was, “No, rings should only be worn on a ring finger.”

Our resident ABC’s “The Bachelor” expert Emily Miller asks, “Did Kacie B lose the Bachelor over the dad who doesn’t drink, mother who wont let her live together before marriage or frizzy hair?” The Huntsman Daughters: “We wish we could tweet about The Bachelor right now. #nowords”

FNC’s Bret Baier lasts 48 hours minus tweeting

“Have a great weekend everyone! I am going to try to NOT tweet this wknd-let’s see if I can do it. Psyched to hang with the fam all wknd!!” — FNC’s Bret Baier, who was back on Monday to retweet moronic followers like this one: “My 4th tweet! Can I get an RT or reply so I can brag to the wife?” Bret obliged.

Quotes of the Day

Jack Abramoff gives heartfelt thanks to book party guests.

Party Chatter

“Sometimes it gets a little depressing  to see your picture on the front of the Post.” — Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a living room speech at Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson‘s home last night. He called the party “one of the finest evenings” of his life in the past eight years. One thing’s clear: Sure beats federal prison.

“Not a chance!” — Carlson on giving a mid-party tour of his new house.

(Much more on the Abramoff book party later…)

Um, no

“Would it be cool if I got ‘Drudge Life’ tatted on my lower lip?” — Fake Jim VandeHei.

Oh what a surprise: Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff brags about himself. “The CIA (!) reviewed @thethreatmatrix this week in its in-house journal, calling it a ‘reading pleasure.’”

Resumé Gems

“Don’t overlook me.” — FBDC applicant in a cover letter.

Bio of the Day

NJ (soon to be USA Today‘s) Susan Davis: “I’m a reporter. Despite that, people seem to like me.”

Like father like daughter: The art of self-pimping

“Self-promo alert: Blast from the past! Back to my old stomping grounds at DC’s NewsChannel8 to appear on @LetsTalkLiveDC on Wed in 11a hour!” — The Hill‘s Howeesha (a.k.a. Judy Kurtz, daughter of the illustrious Sexy Daily Beast Howie).

In an internal memo this afternoon, NJ‘s Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier, expresses his sadness for the departure of two journalists — Susan Davis, a “quiet leader” and Managing Editor for Politics Kathy Kiely, a “gentle spirit.” Davis is off to USA Today. Kiely is going to work for the Sunlight Foundation.

Read Fournier’s heartfelt note…

Read more

NJ‘s Susan Davis is headed to USA Today.

The internal memo to staff at USA Today reads like this:

Subject: Announcement

Importance: High

“Susan Davis will join us on December 5 as our congressional reporter.  Davis previously covered Congress for the National Journal, following three years as the lead writer for the Wall Street Journal’s ‘Washington Wire’ column.  Davis will be based in our Washington, D.C. office. Please join us in welcoming her to USA TODAY. — John, Susan, David.”

Congratulations to Davis!

Mark McKinnon, political communications strategist and columnist for The Daily Beast, chatted with Politico‘s Executive Editor Jim VandeHei over the weekend at the Shorenstein Center’s 25th celebration at Harvard Kennedy School. What emerged might surprise you.

Among the topics: Twitter. Watch out Politico scribes. “I don’t like reporters tweeting when they should be reporting,” said VandeHei. “If they are doing it right, they are reporting.”

His own Twitter habits are anorexic. VandeHei has never written a single tweet, but has 716 followers and follows 144. In the mix of those he follows are USA Today‘s Susan Page, HuffPost‘s Michael Calderone, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell, GMA’s George Stephanopoulos, MSNBC “Morning Joe” Hosts Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist, NJ‘s Marc Ambinder and Susan Davis, CNN’s Candy Crowley, Dana Bash and John King, ABC’s Jake Tapper, NYT Jeff Zeleny, Mark Leibovich and Carl Hulse, WaPo‘s Ezra Klein, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, and WSJ‘s Jonathan Weisman to name a few. He doesn’t follow every Politico reporter, but he follows usual suspects like Mike Allen, Jonathan Martin, Jonathan Allen, James Hohmann, Ben Smith and Jake Sherman. He’s also still following Kendra Marr, who was recently forced to resign for plagiarism.

In the Harvard interview, VandeHei noted that the problem with young recent grads he interviews today is they’re brilliant, but incapable of shifting through large quantities of information. He described many  as very smart but “incapable of coherence.” He went on to talk about the importance of oversight, saying, “editors are essential.” The Politico co-founder also  introduced uncommon journalism lingo into the conversation as he discussed “deeper dive” pieces. He calls them key to the future of journalism. He said Mike Allen has the most “readers” and “feeders.” He showered Allen with praise, saying he has a “special gift of getting people to talk. He’s nice, trusted.”

For those waiting fitfully for the day when VandeHei utters his first tweet he’s at @JimVandeHei. But don’t hold your breath.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin and wife, Kory Apton

Former Democratic PA Gov. Ed Rendell and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell

MSNBC’s top brass pulled out the metaphorical pom poms Thursday night for the network’s 15th birthday party in downtown Washington. MSNBC President Phil Griffin dramatically climbed stairs, looked out at the crowd and profoundly praised some of the network’s top stars such as Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and Chuck Todd.

On Schultz: “Honesty he’s got more heart than anyone on TV.”  On Todd: “Honestly the best political show in the morning after the 9 o’clock hour,” Griffin told a chuckling audience, making a clear reference to the popular “Morning Joe.” On Matthews: “He’s the heart and soul of MSNBC.” He praised Mitchell for being to go all over the world and back just to meet a deadline.

Matthews arrived at 7:45 p.m., an hour and a half after the party began, and left within 25 minutes. While awaiting his turn to speak, he folded his arms tightly to his chest and had a sourpuss look planted on his face — this is typical Matthews. Grumpy. Impatient. Glancing skeptically around the room.  He did manage dry humor. “Thank you for letting me speak freely, mostly,” he said pointedly, eying Griffin. Matthews then gave a shout-out to former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, a star in this D.C.-centric crowd. “He’s skinnier than he should be,” Matthews said. “I liked it better when he was fat.” At the end of his speech, his speech turned into a one-man pep rally with each passing word getting louder and LOUDER to the point where people turned to look at one another.

During Griffin’s speech, one chatty D.C. writer got the evil eye as he told the vast crowd to quiet down. “It’s like I am in high school. I was always getting yelled at for talking during the program,” the writer whispered to FishbowlDC.

Moving on to more unusual party topics: the Casey Anthony trial and CNN’s dumping of Eliot Spitzer. FishbowlDC polled a wide swath of journos at the party. We asked, “What did you think of the Casey Anthony verdict?” Most were happy to respond, even if their answer was that they purposefully stayed as far away from story as possible.

“That and synchronized swimming,” said MSNBC Contributor Richard Wolffe, naming topics besides the Casey Anthony trial that he doesn’t readily discuss. “Justice is blind and so am I.” Onto the topic of Spitzer, Wolffe remarked, “Inevitable. That was so predictable. Smart guy, but the show never took off. I don’t think you can find redemption  by anchoring a cable TV show. Redemption requires good deeds, community service and charitable work.”

Strangely, Schultz went mute on the topic of the trial and would not say a single word about that or anything. His amiable wife, Wendy, tried to coax him out of his shell. “This is a fun little event,” she said eating chips and guacamole. “Come on Eddie.” No budging. No speaking. Wendy kindly responded to our questions. She said neither she nor Ed followed the trial in any in-depth way.

The couple, who have been married for 13 years,  lives part-time in Detroit Lakes, Minn. and the rest in Manhattan. Wendy prefers Minnesota. She says she offers her husband feedback, but always makes sure it’s supportive. “I give him honest feedback,” she said. “A lot of it is pillow talk. I’ve always encouraged him.”

Read about the journo who got scolded by Griffin and see more photographs…

Read more

QUOTES of the DAY

Photograph by Politico’s Patrick Gavin posted this week. The dark clouds are meant to convey, however jokingly, congressional battles.

Bio of the Day

NJ‘s Susan Davis: “I’m a reporter. Despite that, people seem to like me.”

(Bios will be taken from Twitter and publication websites. If you have someone you’d like us to feature, write me at FishbowlBetsy@gmail.com. Your anonymity will be protected.)

Journo says father doesn’t pass gas

“Shopping for a Father’s Day card, I was shocked by the lack of quality, options. Come on, Hallmark. My Dad is not a farting, sexist drunk.” — WJLA-TV reporter Mike Conneen in the most comical tweet we came across on Wednesday.

Ezzy in dream world

“Had a dream in which dream-me realized I could save items I wanted to blog later by starring them in Google Reader. Pro tip, subconscious!” — WaPo liberal blogger Ezra Klein in a Wednesday tweet. We think he was awake when he wrote this, but we can’t possibly be certain.

Crystal ball prediction

“Anyone else feel like at this point a TMZ-Politico merger is almost a foregone conclusion?” — The Nation‘s Washington Bureau Chief Chris Hayes in a Wednesday tweet.

Chuck Todd questions sense of TV banner

“There’s a TV banner (thankfully not NBC fam) that said “Ex-Porn Star Joins Weiner Scandal”; Can u “join” a scandal? Really? Sign up sheet?” — NBC’s Chuck Todd in a Wednesday tweet.

Weiner’s inevitable future in TV?

“Then there is the inevitable foreshadowing of what might be a career in television: Weiner could cash in on his notoriety by moving to TV, as have others caught in similar scandals before him. He has been, after all, a ubiquitous presence on cable TV, coming across as an antsy, energetic liberal who is always willing to take on Republicans and conservatives.” — NJ‘s Billy House in a story about Rep. Anthony Weiner‘s (D-N.Y.) financial disclosure forms for 2010.

Definition of a successful press day

“We just got like 20 TV  Google alerts for @DarrellIssa within 1 minute. Wow, that’s a lot of coverage for the hearing today.” — Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) flak Becca Glover in a Wednesday tweet.

Radio host is all Weinered out

“I am seeking therapy for my compulsive behavior in following the Weiner story more closely than events in Yemen.” — NPR’s Scott Simon in a Wednesday tweet.

David Gregory was into rap (but not the ‘nasty’ stuff)

“A lot of suburban white kids like me were into that stuff,” — NBC “MTP” Host David Gregory told the Washington Examiner this week after Monday night’s GOP presidential debate. Growing up in LA, Gregory said he was big into rap, but stressed that he was never really into the “nasty stuff.” Read the full item here.