Turn On:
Blondie -- in support of their recent "Curse of Blondie" -- will be playing live and, well, taking requests on "A&E's Live by Request Starring Blondie" (9 p.m. ET; A&E). Bill Moyers discusses job loss and outsourcing on "Now" (PBS; check local listings).
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Gasping for Air America? Two more top dogs at the liberal talk network Air America Radio -- co-founder and chairman Evan Cohen and vice chairman and investor Rex Sorensen -- resigned Thursday. Their departure came one day after the fledgling company failed to pay its 100 writers and producers on Wednesday. Last week, its checks to on-air talent including Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and Randi Rhodes reportedly bounced. John Sinton, the network's president, said the company is "on a wild ride" but intends to stick around. Asked whether replacements for Cohen and former chief executive Mark Walsh, who resigned last week, would soon be announced, Sinton replied, "I wouldn't hold my breath." (Chicago Tribune)
Maybe Air America should hire Kurt Vonnegut ... Actually, the 81-year-old writer says he'd like to be a war analyst on CNN. "They've got all these generals and stuff and military retired consultants to CNN and so forth, I want 'em to have a retired corporal -- me!" A sample of what he has to say about President Bush and his crew? "They're adroit criminals. They're committing war crimes -- attacking a country that hasn't attacked us. Pretending it had. And torturing prisoners and filling countless graves with dead Iraqis. But adroit, sure." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Major oops: On the podium at a Women Who Care lunch at Tavern on the Green yesterday, sponsored by United Cerebral Palsy of New York City, Helen Gurley Brown apparently became quite irritated at persistent moaning noises from the crowd. "Who is making that noise?" Brown barked. "Can someone please make that child be quiet?" Turns out it was a middle-aged person with cerebral palsy. Brown now says she's "profoundly sorry" for her mistake. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Pronounce this: MSNBC's Deborah Norville apparently pissed off Jean-Claude Van Damme during a taping of her show on Wednesday night by mispronouncing his name. After he corrected her, Norville replied, "Well, I'm from Georgia. I do the best I can with names like yours." (Rush and Molloy)
And speaking of scary pronouncements: What does former Operation Iraqi Freedom head Gen. Tommy Franks think should be done with Iraqis who ally with insurgents in Fallujah? "If they aren't true to our cause, we'll kill 'em ... You can quote me!" (Rush and Molloy)
Strange, yet heartwarming: Someone has forked over $1,075 for the shattered grille of the 1967 Citroën Billy Joel smashed into a Long Island house the other week. But don't worry, the reporter who snagged and sold the car part on eBay is donating the sale's proceeds to a women's health charity. (N.Y. Daily News)
Glenda, bad witch? Top-level staffers are streaming out the door at Harper's Bazaar: Managing editor Regan Solmo, star photographer Patrick Demarchelier and now executive editor Kristina Stewart are jumping ship. One former employee is placing the blame for the departures squarely on the shoulders of Glenda Bailey, the editor in chief, saying, "Sixty percent of the staff at Harper's is gone. It is a ghost town ... Anna Wintour keeps people for years; Glenda's lucky if they last six months." (Page Six)
Money Quote:
Donald Trump on Rob Lowe: "This is the most beautiful guy I've ever seen." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
-- Amy Reiter
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