Blonde Herring

May 242011
 

L'ex direttrice di Vogue francese, Carine Roitfeld -  protagonista del "lunch with" della settimana scorsa sul Financial Times - dimostra  una vera passione per le aringhe (d'altronde sono no carb).

Roitfeld, 55, has built a career on being cool. She made her mark as a stylist in the 1990s, when she and the photographer Mario Testino created risqué campaigns for Gucci, then designed by Tom Ford. As the editor of French Vogue, from which she resigned last December after a decade, she became one of the most powerful women in the fashion industry, famous for edgy, sometimes controversial and frequently erotic photo shoots. Then, with the explosion of street-style blogs a few years ago, she took on a cult status as the queen of the “French Vogue look” with its lingering air of le rock n’ roll. With this in mind I am a little surprised when Roitfeld picks up her menu and says, in her heavy Parisian accent, “Me, I love the herrings.” Herrings just don’t seem all that chic. Roitfeld asks me what I’d like – smoked salmon – then takes over the ordering in a charming rather than bossy manner. She recommends a variety that isn’t too salty after consulting the waitress, then orders the “saumon sauvage fumé baltique pour Madame”, a haricots verts salad for each of us, and the herring for herself.

Financial Times

Down This Way

May 242011
 

E' bastato mettere in vendita il nuovo album di Lady Gaga (Born This Way) a 99 centesimi di dollaro – una mossa promozionale per far conoscere Cloud Drive – per mandare in tilt i server di Amazon.

The discount was widely seen as a way for Amazon to promote its new Cloud Drive service, which allows users to store music files on remote servers and stream them over the Internet to their computer or smartphone. But Amazon may have underestimated the zeal (or thrift) of Lady Gaga’s fans. By early afternoon the company’s servers stalled, and many users were unable to download or listen to the album in full. Frustrated customers quickly took to Twitter and to Amazon’s user review page for “Born This Way.”

New York Times

 

Giggs, sei stato nominato

May 242011
 

Il calciatore inglese che non si poteva nominare invano è Ryan Giggs.  Alla fine a rompere l'incantesimo del gag order  – che non serviva a nulla, visto che ormai il nome circolava su tutti i social network della terra  e la stampa ormai alludeva apertamente al calciatore -  è stato un parlamentare liberale, John Hemming, che gode dell'immunità. Ora pare che un comitato parlamentare bicamerale si occuperà di esaminare le leggi sulla privacy inglesi che sono tra le più rigide del mondo.

The government's efforts to contain the controversy fell apart when Hemming used Grieve's Commons statement on the joint committee to declare: "Mr Speaker, With about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs on Twitter it is impractical to imprison them all …" His defiance led to gasps and a shout of "disgrace" before a startled Speaker quickly interrupted. "Let me just say to the honourable gentleman, I know he's already done it, but occasions such as this are occasions for raising the issues of principle involved, not seeking to flout for whatever purpose," Bercow said. Within minutes of Hemming naming Giggs, mainstream newspapers and broadcasters used the protection of privilege to identify the footballer. Hemming later said he was trying to stop lawyers for Giggs using the courts to oppress and imprison individuals in secret just for retelling gossip on Twitter. He said: "The first steps had been taken to identity people who had started the gossip. There are people who are jailed in secret in this country." Hemming had already tested judicial authority last week by revealing the banker Sir Fred Goodwin had been granted a superinjunction.

Guardian