On Tuesday night FishbowlNY tagged along with brother-in-blogging Brian Stelter (aka TVNewser to the Time Warner Center for the CNN "Holiday Media Party" (aka another deliberately-fired salvo on Christmas). I was, I admit, a tad nervous that they might clap me in leg irons and have security haul me out when they realized that I'd, er, been there before, but PR VP Christa Robinson greeted me warmly and said that it was nice to have me there for an official visit. Eek.

Or maybe they were just tolerating me because I was with Brian - the real star of the night. Honestly, I've been squired by a gent or two in my time, but never has my date been so swarmed with well-wishers or showered with attention like this one. FishbowlNY was happy to bask in the reflected glory and quietly pray that other things might be forgotten.

Besides, we got there right at the beginning so there weren't that many other people to talk to - which, perhaps is why Fishbowl was able to monopolize "American Morning" co-anchor Miles O'Brien and CNN legal analyst (and New Yorker scribe) Jeffery Toobin . Miles is much taller than he appears on TV, though of course he's pretty much sitting down the whole time. He seemed upbeat about having to get up an hour earlier in the morning, diplomatically agreeing that yes indeedy, it was early. We refrained from making any bad jokes like, "Great party, but it would be cooler to be in space" and instead complimented him on how not-tired he looked. "Makeup," he said with a smile, and I wasn't sure he was kidding but damned if that wasn't purple glitter on his eyelids.

Other O'Brien Soledad was there looking super-smashing in a black leather skirt and jacket ensemble (sounds Hells Angels-ish but it was tasteful and, may I say, hot) with her gorgeous two kids, Sophia and Cecilia. They were going to meet Mommy's boss (which we assume was CNN news prez Jim Walton, who we met on the way in). Paula Zahn was also in the house, and also in a leather skirt (women of CNN are hot!). We didn't meet her but she apparently had requested an audience with our date and apparently they got on like gangbusters.

Other attendees, in no particular order: Lou Dobbs, who assumed I was younger because I was there with Brian, and then when I told him how old I was said, "Oh! That's old!"; CNN financial reporter Gerri Willis looking camera-ready in a sharp red blazer; Ali Velshi, whose nametag was randomly sitting on a table near the front along with that of Howard Kurtz (whom we did not see); CNN Pipeline captain, executive VP David Payne and Pipeline team members Sue Grant and Jennifer Martin, who was excited to overhear random people saying nice things about Pipeline on the plane down; correspondent Kelly Wallace, very smiley and very pregnant; The NYT's Stuart Elliott, also smiley but not, obviously, also pregnant; the charming Lola Ogunnaike, also from the New York Times, who popped upstairs to the 10th floor after shooting a "Showbiz Tonight" segment, along with "Showbiz Tonight" producers Albert Lewitinn and David Levine; Entertainment Weekly's Ari Karpel, who is yet another media person with a secret past life of showtune-singing, except that oops it's not a secret any more; Anne Becker from Broadcasting & Cable; Rebecca TK from Glamour, whose last name we don't recall but who was lovely and nice; Steve Battaglio from TV Guide; CNN New York bureau chief Edith Chapin, who is in her 19th year at the network and her third month back in New York; SVP of PR Laurie Goldberg; recent marketing hire Brooks Jewell; Lloyd Grove and pretty ladyfriend Ashley, whom we met at the CBS party; and In Touch editor Richard Spencer along with colleague Sue Weiner from the magazine.

Not in attendance: Anderson Cooper, or delectable weatherman Rob Marciano. Luckily there was a big TV screen on the back wall alive with flickering images so it almost felt like they were there, except for the [deleted by Network Censors] part.

Fishbowl's chat with CNN prez Jon Klein and rundown of the tasties after the jump. Follow us there!

I am saving the best for last, of course: our chat with CNN President Jon Klein, which was interesting and enlightening on many levels but most importantly for this reason: JON KLEIN LIKES SHOWTUNES. Somehow we got it out of him that he used to write musicals while at Brown, and in fact TWO of his musicals were selected to be produced and performed while he was there. He claims, however, that he can't sing - a challenge! If we can get ten-year old boys singing "The Lonely Goatherd" at Camp Winnebagoe, Jon, then we can eke a tune out of you.*

I had been semi-scared to meet Klein based on this and, uh, this (and this and this and this), but to his credit he was not only warm and very personable but also spent a ridiculous amount of time chatting with Brian and me off to the side, for something like half an hour (the party was from 6:30 to 8:30). After asking me if I was related to his friend Mitchell Sklar (nope) he semi-offered to set me up with him (Rob Marciano would work, too) and thinks Brian will have all the anchorwomen swooning in a few years (we concur). We politely diverged on the evils of tipsters and the meaning of transparency, but when you agree on showtunes everything else is gravy. In a moment of candor, I admitted to him that my parents pay extra to get Fox in Canada. His response: "Why would they do that? Some people pay not to get it." Funny. He did, however, say nice stuff about Roger Ailes personally. Also, he is boyish.

The Food: DELICIOUS. Chicken skewers, sushi, sashimi, shrimp cocktail, and a HUGE bowl of delicious-looking guacamle that I lamentably didn't have a chance to sample, along with an equally mountainous bowl of pico de gallo and multicolored chips; cheese, crackers, champagne, dessert-y things and the kicker: specially-made CNN cookies with the CNN logo screened on to a thin edible-paper coating over icing. At least I think it's supposed to be edible. The crowd was just thin enough that you couldn't get lost grazing at the tables; people could see you chowing down and judge accordingly. Sadly that meant I ate less.

Gift bags: Sturdy tote in bright CNN-branded red. Along with a three-pack of the cookies was a silver-hued "CNN 25" spiral notepad (the fancy stationary-store kind), the New Yorker/CNN Book of Cartoons (hilarious and perfect for the subway home), and "Our Stories: CNN's Katrina Diary" which really brought me back (well I remember this day). I asked Jon Klein if they were going to sell the windbreakers. He agreed that was a good idea.

*Just to show how small the media world is: Camp Winnebagoe alumnae also includes Fox News Special Contributor Dan Senor, currently betrothed to NBC Weekend "Today" anchor Campbell Brown. Senor, however, was never famous at camp for his ability to carry a tune.