“Denise Hale went on to recall that when she first arrived in New York, aged 22, the society hostess Elsa Maxwell advised her how to throw great parties: ‘Be ruthless, my child. Don’t invite your favorite aunt and all your cousins.’”

Jesse James Hollywood was found guilty yesterday of first degree murder and kidnapping. Our reported series by courtroom attendee Natasha Vargas-Cooper is expected to conclude on Monday, with the sentencing; parts one through three of her coverage can be found here. Hollywood…

Some Thoughts on Writing from Gay Talese

INTERVIEWER: When did you realize that you had talent?

GAY TALESE: Never. (Image courtesy of Mr. Talese, printed in full here.)

World leaders at the G8 summit meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, are receiving a very special gift from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi: hookers! Oops, no, actually, they’re getting Belstaff motorcycle jackets. These…

South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint is taking some heat for remarks he made last evening at the National Press Club in Washington. Promoting his book Saving Freedom, DeMint told the audience that, “Part of what we’re trying to do in…

78 diamond back terrapins, “presumably on a mating spree, shut down a runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport Wednesday morning for 35 minutes, causing an a hour-and-a-half delay for flights.” A spokesman for the Port Authority called the…

Oh ho, a bit later than promised, now The Faster Times is live! I don’t quite know what to do with it yet and I’m not sure why it’s faster but I’m clicking on things. Oooh, I hit “surprise me” and it sent me to the wine section! That was a surprise. Ooh, I hit “surprise me” again and…

There’s a new round of protests in Iran: “Iranian police fired tear-gas and shots into the air today to disperse thousands of demonstrators who had defied official warnings and staged a march to mark the 10th anniversary of a bloody student uprising. Protesters…

“Republicans plan to call a white firefighter whose reverse discrimination claim was rejected by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to testify against her.” Great! Maybe they could also cut an ad showing a Hispanic hand…

Highly indictable Westchester resident Pedro Espada, Jr., is apparently returning to the Democratic fold, potentially ending the New York State Senate stalemate. Whoopdey-damn-doo.

There is a gigantic scandal going on in the British press-specifically, that part of it owned by Rupert Murdoch. The Guardian reports that his “News Group Newspapers has paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of his journalists’…

Annals of jurisprudence: “A Shariah court in the town of Mahd Al-Dahab is taking up an important question: Can genies be summoned . . . to appear before a judge? According to Wednesday’s Al-Watan newspaper, a family has filed a lawsuit against an unnamed…

New York’s Daily News totally owns the “Should Black Ladies Be Allowed To Have Nice Things?” beat.

I dunno, the idea of David Cross as a diva-ish Virgin Mary is absolutely hysterical to me. Then again, I’m the guy who thought a Zapatista turtles bit would be a laugh riot, so you might want to judge for yourself.

The Education Of Sarah Palin

Yesterday’s JFK misinterpretation notwithstanding, becoming the Bartlett’s of Twitter may actually be a good…

As rumored, New York Governor David Paterson named former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch to the vacant position of Lieutenant Governor. The move signals Paterson’s intention to guarantee that New York state politics will be embroiled in…