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Archive for February, 2010

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Got Bonus Envy?

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
THE NEW YORK OBSERVER
December 25, 2000
By James Verini

 

Kerry Sulkowicz, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, has his hands full this time of year. And it’s not just because the holidays are tough.

 

Dr. Sulkowicz specializes in issues of money and power, and counts among his patients many of Wall Street’s deal-makers and market players. And these bankers and traders — members of a species not exactly known for introspection or self-flagellation — may find themselves spending some extra time on the couch during these cold winter months.

 

It is, after all, bonus season. (more…)


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The Last Dance: They Decease for Credit Suisse.

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
THE NEW YORK OBSERVER
December 11, 2000
By James Verini Around 6 p.m. on Oct. 3, what was left of the equities division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. began packing into the Supper Club for its last official fall party. In past years, the affair could be counted on to turn into a tipsy blast. Equities analysts and salespeople work hard, and they take their unwinding seriously. But the mood at this year’s party was more somber. Even as they drank their cocktails and nibbled on roast beef, or retreated to the cigar room or the dance floor, the D.L.J.-ers were continually reminded of one morbid fact: Their beloved firm would soon be extinct. (more…)


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Hollywood and Kvetch

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
LA WEEKLY
December 16, 2004
By James Verini

 

On Friday evenings, the streets of L.A. are alive with observant Jewry. From Larchmont to Westwood, from Wilshire to Van Nuys, men in dark suits and yarmulkes and women in boxy dresses can be seen strolling through the dusk, on their way to Shabbat services. On a recent Friday, I stopped into Temple Beth Am on La Cienega, where a breezy service was in progress. It is at Beth Am that the Creative Arts Temple, a loose congregation of Hollywood elders, meets once a month. The tone was casual, Hebrew speaking was at a minimum. People milled about, children played in the aisles. See Full Story

 


Posted in L.A. Weekly | Comments Off

Thrilla on Third

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
LA WEEKLY
January 27, 2005
By James Verini

 

In the nearly 14 years that Cynthia Hirsch has owned and run Cynthia’s restaurant on Third Street, she’s always been known as an eccentric. If some people have found her antics endearing – flirting with male diners and occasionally yelling at customers, calling women “princess” in tones not always sincere – others have thought her intrusive and downright rude. But in the last two weeks, the balance of opinion has tipped decidedly toward the rude end of the scale. On January 8, a rainy Saturday night, Hirsch indulged in a remarkable tirade, reports of which – an e-mail chronicling the scene has shot across town – have tapped an undercurrent of resentment against her. Outraged customers once humiliated by Hirsch have come out of the woodwork to commiserate. See Full Story

 


Posted in L.A. Weekly | Comments Off

Friends and Pranksters

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
LA WEEKLY
January 27, 2005
By James Verini

 

Shortly after Jon Lucas and his wife, Erin Walsh, moved into their new home on Flores Street in West Hollywood in early 2003, they met their neighbors. Lucas, a screenwriter, and Walsh, then a corporate attorney, immediately took to P.J. Brill, a restaurateur, and Lauren Scherr, a handbag designer. This only made sense. Both couples were in their late 20s, educated, successful. Both of their houses were accordingly nice, with front and backyards and modest but bubbling fountains (they share a gardener). Lucas and Walsh are tall and fair-skinned, Brill and Scherr are smaller and darker. See Full Story

 


Posted in L.A. Weekly | Comments Off

Gossip, It Seems, Is Now Unprintable

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
THE NEW YORK TIMES
February 27, 2005
By James Verini

On a Friday night late in January at the Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills a small group of producers, agents and their minions gathered for a screening of a documentary about 10 days in the life of Los Angeles preceding Oscar night. The film includes some amusing cameos, the highlight belonging to the director Brett Ratner, who in one scene strips completely to change clothes in his stretch limousine with the aid of a butler. See Full Story

 


Posted in New York Times | Comments Off

All eyes on San Diego

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
SALON
June 6, 2006
By James Verini

If a liberal women’s studies professor can win a congressional seat in this conservative bastion, November could be a GOP nightmare. Made up of sleepy beach towns basking in the sun just north of San Diego, the California 50th is surely one of the most placid congressional districts in the country. But nobody would have known that Friday evening at the community center in Carlsbad, where emotions were running high. As surfers stepped off a gorgeous beach nearby, Democrat Francine Busby and Republican Brian Bilbray were exchanging barbs in their last debate before Tuesday’s special election, an election “brought to you,” as the moderator put it, “by congressional corruption.” See Full Story


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The tale of “Red Scorpion”

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
SALON
August, 2005
By James Verini

The strange Hollywood interlude of the most scandal-ridden man in Washington. Before fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff assumed his role as the most scrutinized man in Washington, he had a brief career as a budding Hollywood producer. He made just one movie, the 1989 Cold War bomb “Red Scorpion.” With its blatant propaganda, its collaboration with the apartheid South African government, and financial misdealing, it’s notable, even for Hollywood, for being one of the seamiest productions in recent memory. See Full Story

 


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Missionary man

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
SALON
June, 2005
By James Verini

Tom Cruise has become a top proselytizer for Scientology. Is it because of a new private conviction, or a new public role for the church itself? The buzz in some Scientology circles is that Cruise may have reached one of the highest echelons of the Church of Scientology. While not a lot is known about this level, known cryptically as OT-VII, Scientology observers say that attaining it could explain Cruise’s behavior in recent months. According to experts and the church’s own literature, OT-VII (“OT” stands for Operating Thetan, “thetan” being the Scientology term for soul) is the penultimate tier in the church’s spiritual hierarchy — the exact details of which are fiercely guarded and forbidden to be discussed even among top members. See Full Story

 


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It’s the incompetence, stupid

Monday, February 22nd, 2010
SALON
December, 2004
By James Verini

Forget MoveOn and ACT — the real downfall of the Democrats was the Kerry campaign itself. A volunteer speaks out. In his Dec. 15 Salon article,  “The Revolution Failed — for Now,” Farhad Manjoo spotlights the “lack of coordination” between the Kerry campaign and the celebrated liberal third-party groups, MoveOn.org and America Coming Together. Lack of coordination? Let me tell you about the disorder and complacency inside the Kerry-Edwards campaign itself. Look no further for why Democrats lost the election. See Full Story

 


Posted in Salon | Comments Off

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