Ever wondered about the veritable mountains of fan mail a Jossip editor typically receives in a day? Sure, we’ve all got our own fair share of admirers (especially Intern Joe!) but as it turns out, not everyone has been drinking the Kool Aid as of late.
Now, ordinarily, we’d respect the privacy of our tipsters, but since some of our respondents have expressed an ardent desire to be heard, we’ve decided to once again indulge your implicit curiosity by excerpting a representative sample from today’s giant mailbag of crazy.
Today the New York Times reports that people use the Internet for sex. And not just for sex with themselves, sex with prostitutes. To be fair, the Times did break that whole wiretapping story.
Readers of Confessions of a College Call Girl already know the fun part of using the Internet to for such business purposes—the occasional crush, weird clients and her sex rules—but apparently digital cruising is illegal. And not every prostitute is as clever and self-supporting as college call girl. Some still use pimps online. The Times reports one was such digital pimp was arrested in August for “managing the technology of it.”
CONTINUED »
Forwarded via email from a former staffer, the following supposedly appeared on Craigslist for a short while, though we can't find it.
Even more fun: Some people are said to have believed it was fo' realz.
Since we're feeling rather impoverished this Monday afternoon, we thought we'd do what we always do when we're a little short on cash: peruse the creepy "et cetera" jobs on Craigslist and try to find something that doesn't make us dry-heave.
Fortunately, we found the perfect solution in this subtle—yet tasteful—advertisement.
Today's Daily News contains a shocking revelation about honesty and integrity in today's society. Turns out that not everyone peruses Craigslist simply for the cheap housing, used furniture and unpaid internships! Apparently some misguided Minnesotan gent went on the site looking for "love." Unfortunately, the woman of his dreams turned out to be a female con artist—and an ugly one at that.
So this guy from Minnesota comes to New York looking for a good time. He goes on craigslist and sees an ad from Tiffany and a few very suggestive photos. But when boy met girl at the Intercontinental Hotel Sunday, it quickly became clear that a match made in heaven was not in store.
The tourist and [con artist Candace] Neely - the alleged "true stunning blonde bombshell" named Tiffany - began arguing over the meaning of "full service massage" and the fact that Neely did not resemble the woman in the ad, which advertised her as "5 feet 5 with a toned petite body," police said.
So, to recap, not only did Neely and her accomplice beat, batter and bruise the innocent Midwesterner, but neither woman was remotely as attractive as "Tiffany's" picture would have suggested. Meanwhile, it wasn't until the two homely females stole the tourist's cash, credit cards and left him bleeding and semi-conscious in a seedy Times Square hotel room that our eternal optimist finally realized this fairy tale would not have a "happy ending."
It's tough to be an apartment virgin here in New York. Mostly because the act of looking for an affordable apartment will fuck you. Hard.
Today's Thursday Styles takes a good look at those poor suckers who move here right after college with dreams of Manhattan and no clue what it's like to find an apartment here. They also don't want to spend a lot of money, deal with mean brokers, live in Brooklyn, look at more than four apartments, or take a small space.
So while the Times has three pages of how Craigslist Craig will protect you from these terrible brokers and how first timers can avoid getting ripped off, we think our advice is a bit more applicable.
Move to Clevland.
The first Missed Connection in years we almost felt sympathy for:
Does Anyone Have Last Night's American Idol On Tape Or DVD?
We missed the first 90 minutes of last night's American Idol final. Did anyone record it last night, and would you be willing to give me a copy of it? I would appreciate it, and I'll give you two blank VHS tapes in return.
Thank you!
Does Anyone Have Last Night's American Idol On Tape Or DVD? [Craigslist]
• "Bob Woodruff's Cameraman" otherwise known as Doug Vogt, heads on home. [Reuters]
• The Vanity Fair Oscar party is like a big prom for Hollywood, but more expensive and much more annoying. Oh, thank God we live in New York. [Biz Bash]
• Zach Braff and Mandy Moore continue to deny wedding rumors. We guess they're wedding registry is one of those "just for fun" kind of things. [The Superficial]
• Discrimination on Craigslist goes beyond race to the much more important issue of not being busted. [Curbed]
• Mischa Barton tries to steal our boyfriend. (Don't do it Jake — she doesn't wear tampons!) [I don't like you in that way]
Craigslist is a special website, especially here in New York. Where else can you go on-line and post a search like "Bi Man for LTR with Bi/Lesbian Woman - 35?" The same unique aspects apply to the housing search in New York, which everyone knows is the biggest bitch ever.
Whether you are in need of a room, or have one to rent, Craigslist lets you put your requirements out there for the type of person you want to live with. But now, everyone wants to get all PC about it, and a fair housing group in Chicago has sued the site. Bringing on accusations that CL violates the Fair Housing Act of 1968 by publishing "discriminatory advertisements," this housing group wants the site to follow newspaper rules for publishing.
The ads the housing group said it spotted on Craigslist contained language like "African-Americans and Arabians tend to clash with me" and "No kids allowed." Other ads the group flagged gave requirements like "single occupancy only" or "no minorities."
So what about artists looking to live with other artists? Or Jews who prefer to live with other Jews? Should they not be allowed to specifically search for that type of roommate? (Plus, if somebody doesn't want to live with a minority, and you're a minority, wouldn't you want to know that before trekking your ass all over the city?)
Come on, it's only a given that every listing from now on is going to include "no drum makers who use African hides." That's not discrimination, it's just common sense.
Craigslist Is Accused of Bias in Housing Ads [New York Times]
• Craigslist will be cutting down on the brokers bombarding the sites living section by slapping a $10 charge on rental listings. Don't worry, though, diamond thiefs can still post for free. [Curbed]
• The Olsen Twins are helping Jodie Sweeten get off drugs? Are we missing something? [People]
• Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't care about her Oscar neglect. She's having a baby girl! They should name her something really crazy like Jane. [Star]
• What is this, Project Runway? Harvey Weinstein, we know your movie didn’t get an Oscar, but save your tears — maybe the hostess at Morimoto will take pity on you and give you reservation next week. [NYO]
• China is so crazy. They have no problem with children being trafficked through their country, but god forbid their actresses play Japanese characters. [MSNBC]
Who is Craig, and where did his beloved list come from? Will The Strokes ever be cool again? What the hell is Index magazine?
New York magazine answers all of our burning, passionate desires in this week's issue. Oh, also, they laugh at the New York Times really hard for being about four months late on that whole JT LeRoy thing.
The models are absolutely gone from the Look Book, and Jared Paul Stern can finally breathe a sigh of relief that his fedora is back in style. But the best part of this week's NYMag? It's more or less all about California.
• Fresh off the back page of Vanity Fair, Jay McInerney brings his hipster insight to New York's music scene. He also reveals the dangers of reporting, such as getting booze spilled all over you and creaming your pants. [Group Therapy]
• Is Craigslist's Craig Newmark the Exploder of Journalism, or The Exploder of Pee? Who cares, this man can get you laid, and take down the New York Times. Mwaahaahaaa. [A Guy Named Craig]
• Keeping the gay porn industry alive is so in fashion right now. Very Brokeback Mountain meets Andy Warhol. [New York Screen: Peter Berlin]
• Does New York talk more about Tina Brown or Hillary Clinton? [Can Anything Stop Tina Brown?]
All this, plus advice on how to get NYC ranked even higher on the list of fattest cities. Now all we need to figure out is how to get an invite to that premiere party at Duvet …
• Which turkey gets the better deal: the one with feathers who gets "pardoned" and heads off to Disneyland for a parade with Mickey and Minnie, or the one who has to stay at the White House and run the country? [AP]
• Say goodbye the Trio, the NBC-owned channel that will shutter its channel at the end of the year. But come 2006, it'll be reborn as a "broadband destination" on BravoTV.com. [Media Week]
• We expected Howard Stern to be one of Maer Roshan's biggest fans, but Rush Limbaugh enjoys him some Radar too? There's gonna be a fight for fan club president. [MIN]
• So tired of being overwhelmed with advertising everyday, former ad exec Ji Lee has been slapping blank speech bubbles on subway station and bus shelter ads throughout the city. The bubbles, of course, are then defaced with witty comments like "For a good time call 555-0399" and "Jay wuz here." [NYDN]
• Jack Shafer foresees the downfall of Google while managing to indirectly call (new Slate colleague) Adam Penenberg a deadline johnny for questioning the search giant. Except we don't know Adam to meet his deadlines by writing techno-fairytales. [Slate]
• Craiglist's Craig Newmark wants to do for journalism what he did for classified ads: democratize it. Oh, and still even more revenue from newspapers. [Guardian]
• Martha Stewart may have long ago ditched her ankle bracelet, but convicted cohort Peter Bacanovic just got his removed. Now he can return to being the hottest white collar ex-con, sans accessories. [Radar]
Google inadvertently offered visitors a sneak peak at its upcoming classified listings service, which is sure to trigger a yawn from Craig Newmark and a flurry of tears at eBay. It's called Google Base and, as you can read, will soon be the uber popular free way to sell anything from your car or apartment to your dignity or soul.
Or, as they claim, "articles on current events from your website." Which we're pretty sure they already do.
Google Gives Peek at Classified Ad Service [E&P]
Related: Google Base (offline as of publishing)
• Not sure why Anna Wintour's friend Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods, would put his own daughter Camilla in harm's way, but he's managed to enlist her to be the Vogue editrix's personal intern this fall
• Conde Nast's business title might be nearly two years away, but it's already got Forbes owners worried enough to send out a missive to the entire biz staff.
• Jason Binn's luxe publishing house Niche Media unleashes its latest ode to wealth, Capitol File. The D.C. glossy weighs in at a heft 346 pages and probably weighs more than its cover subject, Ashley Judd.
• News Corp, fresh off its MySpace.com $580 million acquisition, continues its buying spree with a $650 million offer for Internet video gaming company IGN Entertainment.
• Men's Health will feature a disabled person for the first time on its November cover. Though don't expect David Zinczenko to pick a wheelchair-rolling ab maniac anytime soon — Cpl. Peter Sprenger "only" lost an eye and dons a patch.
• Apprentice no more! Bill Rancic, the winner from the show's first season, announced at a Malaysian conference that he's leaving The Donald next March to start his own business (and maybe have an office with a window?). But he's not totally severing ties, since he'll make guest appearances in Seasons 4 and 5 of the reality hit.
• NBC might be in fourth place in the ratings war but it's leading the buzz game when it comes to its fall season. At least that's based on what the society agenda-determining blogosphere is saying.
• eBay, already part owner of Craigslist, is looking to expand its one-of-the-people image with the purchase of VoIP company Skype. The price tag? An outrageous $2 to $3 billion, or as much as $5 billion.
• Today we celebrate NY1's 13th anniversary! Yey for local cable news actually worth watching more than its big brother cable nets.
• The Village Voice is said to be in talks to merge with the New Times, which you might know as that free marketplace weekly. The move would require all stories to be cleared by the publisher's Denver hub, then wrapped in four-line classified ads.
• The hottest ticket in town isn't Rosie O'Donnell's Sept. 20 Fiddler on the Roof debut but a chance to visit Judith Miller in prison. So far the TKTS line includes Tom Brokaw, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Bill Keller, Abe Rosenthal and, of course, Matt Cooper.
• When we first learned Simon Dumenco would be penning a weekly column for Advertising Age, we thought he'd match the rest of the magazine's stiff copy with straight-forward inches of his own. Instead, as he proves again this week, he reminds us the ad game is more comedy than drama.
• After losing more than half their net worth, the Bancroft family is making a carefully orchestrated exit from its Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones ownership to ensure future offspring will be able to revel in their wealth.
• If you haven't been keeping up with Rupert Murdoch's bedding of Hillary Clinton, David Carr's item on the New York Post's growing fondness with the senator should bring you up to speed.
• Craigslist users will have to beg and plead with Craig Newmark for advertising to ever show up on the site.
• Tim Gray is taking the reigns at Variety and Daily Variety, unless you count the fact that Peter Bart will remain editor-in-chief.
• Google and Yahoo are bitching about the size of the Web, which makes about as much sense as Anna Nicole Smith and Courtney Love arguing over smarts.
Hung black men short on cash never had it so good.
$400 - Room for rent, Optional payment plan
Hey I am a 29 yr.old female looking for a roommate to share a beautiful apartment in the east village. There is an optional payment plan, if the renter can met the requirments that I ask for or the rent would be paying $400 per month. First important thing is that you must be a black male with a huge D*k, a man that can please me not only physical but mentally, and that can keep my mind going with dirty thoughts. I’m a gorgeous white female with dirty blonde hair; I am a personal trainer in the NY city area. So if you are interested please contact me and tell me how much of a huge C*K you have. My contact # is (347) [redacted]; oh my name is Amy by the way. Keep that name in mind when you’re pulling my hair….
So, uhm, what forms of payment are accepted?
Respond quickly, this offer won't last long.
$200 - Wanna Spoon with Another Male?
Looking for a roommate will share bed, head to foot only if male. I'm a cleptomaniac, slight DRUG habit. I need a place to stay rent-free till this law suit blows over. I have two pitbulls…must not mind pitbulls…Contact me soon this offer won't last long…
If finding your last apartment via Craigslist (NEW! Now complete with rental scam, free!) didn't turn you off the last time, it just got more exciting than ever. Teaming it up with Google Maps's technology, Paul Rademacher put together a fancy schmancy graphic interface for your housing needs.
You'll want to know his name when you start throwing exposed bricks upson seeing only Queens listings that fit your budget.
If you've ever worried about getting conned while apartment hunting on Craigslist, rest assured you're in good hands when you find an ad claiming:
"LICENSED APARTMENT SHARING AGENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE OF NEW YORK."
Yep, the State of New York has a whole department unto itself now.
Editorial Director
