Around Jossip HQ, we’ve taken Stereohyped’s lead in wasting time by plugging our faces into The Face Transformer, changing our editors’ races and, in one instance, humanity (hello, manga!). Whitney at Mollygood did it over here. Below, Jossip’s own David Hauslaib transforms into West Asian, an old man, East Asian, a Manga character, and a black man.
Was it a show of goodwill on Friday night when Keith Olbermann cited a Jossip report – regarding Bill O’Reilly’s whining about not booking Scott McClellan before NBC got him – on Friday night?
We were a bit surprised to see Mr. Countdown plug the site, given our nearly regular reports from inside 30 Rock about his behavior, both on-air and off.
But given the context, perhaps we shouldn’t assume too much: A chance to engage O’Reilly in a tete-a-tete trumps any other agenda. Video below. CONTINUED »
For the record: Yes, that is the Church of Scientology advertising with Jossip.
About that rumor: Being that we traffic in gossip, perhaps we should be the least surprised to hear the suspect news, that we’re being sold, from another publication. Wouldn’t it be more amusing if the truth were the exact opposite — that we’re closing up shop? Facts are hard!
Mollygood editor Cord Jefferson is now contributing to Stereohyped, the same day Rebecca Aronauer is no longer working with Jossip. (Word has it she’s going to be contributing to another media blog.)
We at Jossip are always shooting our mouth off to our gay little brother, Queerty. And one of our ideas about blogging made into his interview with Avram Finklestein, the guy who created the logo above. To be honest, the rest of the interview is more interesting than our little Web 2.0 theory. [Queerty]
Don’t you want to help our advertisers shower you with come-ons?
Then take our little survey, where we’ll ask you semi-invasive questions like how old you are and whether you sleep with people of the opposite sex. It’ll take, at most, 3 minutes. Probably not even 2!
It’ll help us fund our habit of harping on those who deserve it. And isn’t that practically charity?
So, uh, click here to take our survey.
The website BigThink.com has scored its share of video interviews with impressive notables: Tom Freston, David Remnick, David Patrick Columbia, Patrick Byrne, people with the names David and Patrick, and “unidentifiable” striking writers.
Yesterday, they were among a number of outlets who asked us to sit down for a chat. We discussed the business of celebrity, which is all of a sudden relevant again following Heath Ledger’s death.
CULTURE WAR AT JOSSIP HQ While we thought Bell X1 was lowest common denominator indy crap, our gay little brother over at Queerty loved it, and made it his morning aural. Queerty’s editor lives in Park Slope and occasionally writes for the Huffington Post. We have bangs and are wearing stripes. Also, we told Andrew about VSL in the first place. Whose taste do you trust?
• Courtney Cox doesn’t have the much of an ass.
• Coco Chanel probably never planned on Pamela Anderson wearing her designs or anything she made being shown in Vegas.
• OK! continues to be the magazine of choice for stars not secure enough with their career prospects to abstain from selling wedding pictures to pay for their future children’s college education.
• Smart thinking: Slash wouldn’t let his kids near Michael Jackson.
• Celebrity babies: People find them interesting!
• Jossip’s New Year’s party in pictures, with pink stars.1
[Photo Credit: WireImage]
It seems like only yesterday that I first set my alarm for the ungodly hour of 7am, spilled piping hot coffee all over my impractically thin sweater* and introduced myself as your brand new Jossip editor.
As expected, I was greeted by a predictable deluge of “Hello Newman” jokes, a litany of detractors and a relative minority of staunch supporters, whose generous praise – or at least intermittent approval – was only slightly undermined by their stubborn insistence on referring to me as “Corynne.”
And while I had my share of missteps – an unnatural fixation on a picture of Hillary Clinton eating a sandwich, an ill-advised confrontation with a would-be heckler, and an overzealous response to a crazed Jared Leto fan – I prefer to focus instead on the brief, shining flashes of mediocrity. CONTINUED »
“Enjoy your blog,” writes a tipster, who then adds, “Thought you might be interested to know that you are being censored at DIA [Denver International Airport].” And she’s right—we are interested!
Although we can’t say we’re exactly surprised.
There’s no better cure for the Mondays than looking for jobs, and no better cure for hating your job than reading job listings. Each week, we remind you that as bad your job is, it could be a lot worse.
Last week, there was some debate at Jossip HQ over just how bad of a gig freelance porn criticism is. Some of us take a less ironic approach to professional ambitions than others.
But here’s one thing we can all agree on: taking your four to six years experience as an editor to launch a sister magazine for World Wrestling Entertainment, The Magazine would suck. Even for those whose idea of a good time is adding dek heds to pictures of men with shaved chests on steroids, the job is split between Stamford and New York City, which only would be semi-convenient if you lived in Westchester.
Full listing after the jump. CONTINUED »
Is Heidi Montag (who will now forever be known as the chick from The Hills who bared her soul—and her giant fake boobies—on the cover of Us Weekly under the validating headline “Revenge Plastic Surgery”) a victim of circumstances or a shameless self-promoter?
Two Jossip editors discuss, while simultaneously watching the crappiest music video in all creation.
Jossip Editor 1: it seems like being a celebrity is a pretty miserable existence
Jossip Editor 2: agreed, but that also explains why it attracts a certain breed of pathetic wannabe
case in point, my next story (sends link to heidi montag music video)
Jossip Editor 1: I’ll never get those two minutes back, right?
Jossip Editor 2: never
Although we can’t always shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.
After a long and somewhat confusing morning – spent predominantly browsing the internets while under the (still negligible) influence of non-drowsy cold medication – I stumbled onto an amazingly informative article in which WaPo’s Howie “Story Stealer” Kurtz interviews Mediabistro founder Laurel “Suck It, I’m Rich” Touby about her extraordinary success. In the course of their discussion, Kurtz helpfully explains that Touby’s website utilizes a newfangled technology called “blogging,” which are, in Touby’s case, “short real-time scooplets” written by media insiders, for media insiders, about media insiders.
Needless to say, my head is still spinning.*
Sometimes I just have to say, “what the fuck?” and the royal we doesn’t work as well. These are my thoughts—raronauer
Cord Jefferson over at Mollygood thinks I am a jerk for not paying for the new Radiohead album.
This from a man who once said Victoria Beckham’s forehead looked like an everything bagel.
I might be a jerk, but at least I’m not an idiot. Check out Cord’s justification for dropping ten bucks on a free album.
Today, Jossip celebrates its fourth wonderful year of existence. In honor of this momentous occasion, each editor has come up with a list of goals/achievements he/she hopes to have accomplished by the time Jossip turns five. It’s overlord David Hauslaib’s turn.
By this time next year, I will have …
1) Trained my staff not to regard my absence from the office as an opportunity to turn their hateful chain emails about me into in-person bickering.
2) Increased Jossip’s frenemy list – which currently hovers around just a half dozen – by adding someone new every day.
3) Curtailed expenses by cutting waste, such as Internet access. That, or boosted productivity by blocking Google chat. And banning email.
4) Posted another Match.com profile of a leading blog mogul.
Today, Jossip celebrates its fourth wonderful year of existence. In honor of this momentous occasion, each editor has come up with a list of goals/achievements he/she hopes to have accomplished by the time Jossip turns five. Next up: Corynne Steindler*
By this time next year, I will have….
1. Stopped accepting $1,000 Christmas gifts on behalf of Richard Johnson.
2. Discovered how to attend an open bar without getting intoxicated to the point of slipping off the bar stool. Twice.
3. Gotten a Blackberry.
4. Stopped referring to Liz Smith as “The Cryptkeeper.”
Today, Jossip celebrates its fourth wonderful year of existence. In honor of this momentous occasion, each editor has come up with a list of goals/achievements he/she hopes to have accomplished by the time Jossip turns five. Next up: Andrew Belonsky
By this time next year, I will….
1. Get “Jossip” in a dictionary. I don’t really care if it’s Merriam-Webster’s, Oxford or rudimentary reading’s, just as long as someone, somewhere can flip through the J’s and find us nestled between “joss stick” and “jostle”: a fitting location.
2. Coin and propagate new definition of “gay”. I must use the g-word about a billion times a day. Yes, there are other words, but some people find them offensive. Homosexual’s too clinical. Fag’s too aggressive. Queer’s unclear. Homo sounds too flippant. Like the monarchy, “queen” should be retired. [Note to self: Yag? That’s gay backwards. Could work, but lesbians may object to leading ‘Y’ for the chromosomal connotations. Find lesbian, ask her opinion, apply that opinion to all lesbians].
Today, Jossip celebrates its fourth wonderful year of existence. In honor of this momentous occasion, each editor has come up with a list of goals/achievements he/she hopes to have accomplished by the time Jossip turns five. Next up: raronauer
Wow, Debbie. Interviewing Hill Clint? I’m impressed. My goals are mostly about doing less work. Well, you know, humble goals for a humble woman.
By this time next year, I will have….
1. Figured out a way to smoke breaks without having to smoke.
2. Tricked David into giving me monthly three-day weekends.
3. Written less frequently and with more accuracy about the Times most e-mailed list.
4. Found an intern to do Wednesday Reads.
Editorial Director
