Daily Transom

By Drew Grant 5/22 5:25pm

Porn parody

Been there, seen that. (Hustler)

GIRLS Porn Parody to Feature Less-Weird Sex Than Actual HBO Show

You could say “It was only a matter of time,” but in the case of a GIRLS porno, is that really true? The HBO show–which already features more controversial sex scenes than most actual pornos–is getting its own Hustler parody, This Ain’t Girls XXX. And as you may intuit from the title, there is a strange reversal of the norm going on here, with the pornography trying to market itself as less transgressive than the original series. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/22 4:14pm

60 Minutes

Video

Two-year-old Taylor tales. (CBS)

60 Minutes Rebroadcasts Two Year Old Segment on Taylor Swift and No One Notices

If anyone missed Lesley Stahl’s segment this weekend on 60 Minutes (though come on, how unlikely is that?), you might not have noticed that her profile of Taylor Swift, “A Young Singer’s Meteoric Rise,” was actually just a re-aired interview from 2011.

Which is fine–Ms. Stahl tells the audience that “we first met Taylor Swift in 2011, during her Speak Now tour,” and on the 60 Minutes website, they disclose “The following is a script of “Taylor Swift” which originally aired on Nov. 20, 2011 and was rebroadcast on May 19, 2013″–except that it says something about Taylor Swift’s “meteoric rise” that most people would have no idea that this interview was two years old. Or that on Twitter, 60 Minutes gave no clue that this would be a rebroadcast episode. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/21 7:12pm

Reality Bites

Ryan Serhant, at home and on TV.

Million Dollar Day: Riding Along with Real Estate Reality Star Ryan Serhant

7:45 AM: Ryan Serhant, the former hand model/soap opera actor-turned-real estate superstar, beats The Observer to his Tribeca office by an hour. “I’m always the first one in,” brags the 28-year-old broker at Nest Seekers International, a boutique real estate brokerage firm.

He has been up since 4:23 a.m, was at the gym by 5 a.m. and in the office shortly thereafter. When we offer to go for a bleary-eyed coffee run, he yells from his office, “Don’t forget to write about how you were an hour late!” Read More

By Drew Grant 5/21 6:30pm

Party Time

The Kanye Pyramid. (Wireimage c/o Adult Swim.)

Adult Swimming with Kanye West

“Tru$t U$,” read the sign behind the bar of the Roseland Ballroom last Thursday night, as a couple hundred reporters, ad sales reps, financial backers and celebrities crammed into the performance space to see the Adult Swim upfronts. Well, that wasn’t exactly true—most people weren’t there to see the new lineup of shows that will air on Cartoon Network, or to rub elbows with Lake Bell (Childrens Hospital), Paul Scheer (Filthy Sexy Teen$), Seth Green (Robot Chicken) or Aziz Ansari, who will be doing a voice cameo on Venture Bros. Instead, they were there to see the night’s entertainment: Kanye West.

Somehow, Adult Swim, owned by Turner Broadcasting, has always managed to book the most impossible talent for its upfront events. Two years ago, Jay-Z performed a 50-minute set; last year, T.I. was the main draw. But something about booking Mr. West—who had been the star guest and musical entertainment at the Met Gala the previous week, and would be closing out the season of Saturday Night Live two days later, and whose new album (the title leaked to the press: Yeezus) drops June 18—was an extra-special get. Read More

By Matthew Kassel 5/21 5:51pm

The Transom

Dennis Rodman, always on the rebound.

The Birthday Worm: Dennis Rodman Hits NYC Strip Club to Celebrate His 52nd

At Dennis Rodman’s 52nd birthday party at Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club on Monday evening, the flamboyant former basketball star slunk from one designated VIP section to the next, protected by bouncers and surrounded by throngs of obsequious followers. (They don’t call him “The Worm” for nothing.)

One can’t blame Mr. Rodman—wearing a relatively tame ensemble of Read More

By Kim Velsey 5/21 5:47pm

The Transom

Artist_Credit Amanda Cohen_63

New Kid on the Block: Investigating West 44th’s Artist in Residence

The artist appeared on our block two weeks ago. A lean man with inky fingers covered in silver rings, he wore a cap, a small button fastened to the bottom of his shirt—“I love porn”—and a menthol-flavored Marlboro tucked behind one ear. He would arrive around 9 a.m., arrange his scroll of paper, his pot of ink and his various clips on the sidewalk between The Observer offices and the adjacent Japanese barbecue joint, remaining there, painting intently, until 6 or 7 p.m. As he painted, he scrunched himself into contorted positions and seemed not to take breaks or register the passersby, who invariably stared.

We were curious about the new arrival on our block. Though of course West 44th between Eighth and Ninth Avenues hardly belongs to us alone. We share it with a lumber yard, a theatrical supply company, the Intercontinental Hotel, several parking lots and a convenience store whose clientele appear to buy nothing but lottery tickets. And, as we recently learned, we also share it with the dingy walk-up where Cuban novelist and poet Reinaldo Arenas spent the last years of his life and committed suicide in 1990 at age 47, impoverished and suffering from AIDS. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/21 3:31pm

Hate crime

10 Photos

US-CRIME-PROTEST-GAYS

Photos: Thousands March in Memorial of Hate Crime Victim

(Photos via Getty Images)

Last night, New Yorkers came together to mourn the death of 32-year-old Mark Carson, a gay man who was shot in the head this weekend in Greenwich Village; the victim of an alleged hate crime. Crowds gathered at the LGBT Center on West 13th and marched to 8th Street and Sixth Avenue, the location of the shooting, where a rally/vigil was held to memorialize Mr. Carson and express the outrage of the city’s denizens. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/20 6:01pm

Hate crime

Speaker Quinn Divides March for Greenwich Hate Crime Victim

The horrific, cold-blooded murder of 32-year-old Mark Carson in Greenwich Village Friday night has shocked New Yorkers into action. In what is believed to have been a hate crime, Mr. Carson, a homosexual man, was stalked and gunned down for what he was wearing, mere blocks away from the site of the historic Stonewall riots. The suspect, Elliot Morales, allegedly laughed when cornered by the police, boasting, “I shot him in the face.”

An outpouring of sentiment followed as hundreds left vigils at the site of the crime over the weekend. This evening, you can find organizers from GLAAD, along with city officials and New Yorkers–gay and straight–in a solidarity march starting at the LGBT Community Center of New York at 5:30PM and ending with a rally at the murder site, where friends, family, community leaders and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn will read from prepared statements.

However, not everyone wants the mayoral candidate using this tragic incident as a stumping ground, and have organized their own event in solidarity with Mr. Carson. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/20 12:45pm

The Real Housewives of New York City

The cast of RHONY, approximately. (Bravo)

Real Housewives of New York City Will Go On: Cast Filming in NYC, But What’s the Headcount?

Despite the finger-biting anxiety of the last two weeks, when negotiations between Bravo and the members of The Real Housewives of New York City broke down, causing the network to threaten cancellation, it looks like all’s well in the RHONY world after all.

Reports have seen the women out and about together with a camera crew at various NYC locales, including the studio of celebrity trainer Will Torres.

But the question remains: will all the Real Housewives be making it back for the next season? Read More