The Rainbow Room is just the most New York you can get and the NBC (how ironic) Rockefeller Center building is a testament to magnificent art deco architecure. Very Howard Roark.........and it was all such an Ayn Rand moment..
There were so many great little blog moments. Riding up in the elevator. A handsome gentlemen
politely introduced himself and I responded in kind. When I asked him if he was attending the pajama media event, he said "I hope so", I said "so who are you?"..he said "Astute Blogger" (whose blog I adore and link to frequently) and of course I went off. Love his passion.
The strange peculiar wonder of the blogosphere is you can be standing next to a complete stranger and suddenly, you find out he/she is someone you know/love/adore/admire.
So great. No photos of Astute, he must remain anonymous. He has already lost business due to his political leanings on the blog.
Views breathtaking, cuisine Cipriani - but everything paled in the incandesce of these these John Galts.
IT was a moment. I believe I witnessed history being made. I know there is this ginormous question mark as to the viability of such an enterprise. But there is no doubt, none, there is a void which grows with each misstep the MSM takes.
Roger opened the program and Charles followed, you could just feel the love for thiese guys. They laid out the objective of OSM, talk about preaching to the converted.
The first panel on fashion/beauty blogs was weak, silly and somewhat demeaning to smart women (actually to all women) but it was worth the price of admission to watch the opening panelist, Elizabeth Hayte (pronounced eerily enough - Hate ) of The New York Times (d'oh) whine that she had no idea why she was there, that she doesn't read blogs, none of her friends read blogs, "blogs are for rich people with nothing to do" and this priceless chestnut "I don't care what the layman thinks"............so elitist, condescending and out of touch (but she did love my jacket). Worth noting , Beauty Addict. She was poised, articulate and on top of her game. Gorgeous too. Smart little blog.
The second panel was really juicy. Kudlow moderated Podhoretz (so klug*), Corn, Richard (Belmont Club - so smart and thoughtful), and "where is her Pulitzer?" Rosset...........great discourse on the current state of news dissemination.
Lunch followed, dined with La Shawn (so fabulous is she), Tim Blair, Wizbang, Roger (Business Week), Evan Brain-terminal.com, Clive Davis et al
Pictured Wizbang, Atlas, Evan Brain-terminal.com, La Shawn (so fabi!)
Lots of my Hawk peeps were there........Judith, Susan, Asher Abrams of Dreams into Lightning, Bruce of Gay Patriot, and Luigi, LGF commenter popped in! He works across the street (very cool). Pieter Dorsman of Peaktalk and I grabbed each other for a lamentation on Eurabia, he is in thick of it.....read his blog.
Keynote speaker Judith Miller, Senator Cornyn (good man) followed. They must have written Judith one ginormous golden parachute check, because she did fall over herself to insist the NYT was a great institution, and a wonderful yada yada yada.
Loved the topic..............the current shield law up for a vote, should apply to bloggers as well.
I don't how it all will shake out but meeting these people was a once in a lifetime. If we can't make it go, Western Civilization will suffer, baby.
With La Shawn (she rocks) and Judith Jailbird Miller
gotta go, there is the partay................
UPDATE: Party pics uh huh uh huh!
Claudia Rosett, Cliff May(on my left) has the best intelligence on the web, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Judith from Keshertalk and Mara Tigerhawk and Austin Bay (Great)
VodkaPundit (drinking wine - heh heh)
UPDATE: November 18th (chai!)
Having exhaled, I just read my breathless mid-inertia post on the OSM event on some troll infested left wing blog. My sophomoric exuberance is almost pathetic (at my age sophmoric is inexcusable).
But that is exactly how I felt and how I continue to feel. More so in the radioactive glow of the post-launch snarkfest.
Apparently, nobody "gets it". It's a "non working business model". It is not economically feasable (even the attendees expressed some skepticism).
But I get it. Non working business model? It is an "original" business model. Organizing chaos. An intelligent conduit to harness and make sense of the incredible depth, breath and intelligence of an unbridled blogosphere.
Not only was a witness to history, I was a part of it.
Hooha.........
wink art: subgenius
UPDATE: Landes over at Solomonia has an excellent post on his observations of the OSM launch. I find him and Pedro Zuquete, (the Portuguese Errol Flynn) very entertaining , smart. I was ROTLMAO, looking forward to parts 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Bad Hair Blog weighs in here
Iowahawk gives us the OSM Q&A here
Isn’t OSM just a collection of right wing blogs?
Not true! The OSM roster includes several voices from the Left, like David Corn, who will soon be known as the “Alan Colmes of the Internet.”
