Notebook
By Tamala M. Edwards, Tam M. Gray, Daniel S. Levy, Belinda Luscombe, Michele L. Orecklin, Alain L. Sanders and David E. Thigpen
WINNERS
VACLAV HAVEL Czech President shows D.C. what a moral leader looks like. Also what a friend looks like
HENRY HYDE Old muck raked, but who cares? It was the '60s! He may also have worn bell-bottoms!
DAVID MARANISS Salad days for Clinton biographer, who gets out a quickie book on Bill's big speech
& LOSERS
THE SWOOSH Nike partly shelves its famous insignia. Image problems? Falling sales? Of course: blame the logo!
JOHN CONYERS Ranking Dem on Judiciary gets "rolled" over and over in party-line votes. Howard Baker he ain't
ALLY MCBEAL Its finger is on the pulse of the zeitgeist but could only get its hands on a technical Emmy
"OHHHH, NOOOOOOOOO" America's 10 Most Embarrassing Political Videos
As the video of Bill Clinton's grand-jury testimony is absorbed by the public, Americans will have to ask themselves an important question. No, not whether he should remain in office but, rather, Is the tape embarrassing enough to dislodge one of these blush-inducing groaners from the Top 10?
RANK TITLE (YEAR) DESCRIPTION
1 BUSTED (1990) Washington Mayor Marian Barry smokes crack cocaine
2 SICK, SICK, SICK (1992) President George Bush vomits at a Japanese state dinner
3 CASH AND CARRY (1979) Abscam probers catch Rep. Richard Kelly lining his pockets
4 TANKED (1988) Governor Michael Dukakis turns into a military mite
5 YOU'RE NO J.F.K. (1988) Dan Quayle receives the all-time put-down from Lloyd Bentsen
6 HEY, SAILOR! (1980) Carter calls Hubert Humphrey, Hubert Horatio Hornblower
7 WAS IST LOS? (1985) Reagan visits Bitburg cemetery, where SS troops are buried
8 FLOP SWEAT (1960) Nixon turns pale and pasty debating J.F.K.
9 SECRETS AND LIES (1996) Monica Lewinsky gives Bill a big hug on the rope line
10 FUMBLE! (1975) Athletic Jerry Ford trips, creates a career for Chevy Chase
COLLECTIBLES I
KEEPSAKES ARE FOREVER Pop culture hit the auction block, with megasales of iconic music and movie memorabilia
SPICE GIRLS DRESS Estimated bid: $13,400-$20,150 Final bid: $69,000
ODDJOB'S HAT Estimated bid: $35,000-$43,000 Final bid: $104,700
BOND RING Estimated bid: $3,360-$5,040 Final bid: $8,110
COLLECTIBLES II
FIRM ART Last week came reports that two companies, Lake, a Japanese finance firm, and Reader's Digest, have decided to auction off hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of art, like the Modigliani to the right. Half of the Fortune 500 have collections of consequence. Among the largest collectors: Equitable, which owns hundreds of works, including murals by Thomas Hart Benton; Pepsico, famed for its sculpture garden with pieces by Henry Moore; Paine Webber, which has works by the likes of Willem de Kooning and Jasper Johns; Sara Lee, which just gave some of its best items to museums; and Forbes. Malcolm collected everything from Faberge eggs to toy soldiers.
LOU AND GENNIFER: A TALE OF TWO GIGS
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. There was a man with a big history playing at a state dinner at the White House; there was a woman with big hair playing at the Electronic Retailers Association Annual Awards Ceremony at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Both Lou Reed and Gennifer Flowers had a chance to make a statement with their playlists last week. But in a 35-minute set for Vaclav Havel, Reed avoided songs that could have been misconstrued. He performed Sweet Jane and Dirty Blvd. but omitted Walk on the Wild Side and Betrayed. The only song whose title may have given the White House pause was Why Do You Talk? But Flowers, singing during a segue in the awards show, was not subtle. "She made an off-color remark before she started singing," says Elissa Myers, ERA's president and CEO. "I couldn't even hear her after that." Flowers, who wants a singing career, sang just two songs: Who's Got the Last Laugh Now and Why Haven't I Heard from You?
NUMBERS
0 Number of African Americans on the Alabama state police force during George Wallace's first term as Governor
3 African Americans recruited when the force was integrated in 1972 during Wallace's second term
3 African Americans among the eight state police pallbearers who carried the casket at his funeral
8:53 Hour, CST, on the evening of Sept. 13 when Gary Sinese won an Emmy for his portrayal of Wallace
9:50 Hour, CST, when Wallace died that evening
106 Times per year respondents to a recent poll taken worldwide said they had sex
138 Times per year the American respondents said they had sex
27.5, 28.1 Percentage of men and of women in a study started last year who wouldn't call someone with whom they had repeated oral sex a sexual partner
62, 62 Days in jail and hours of community service a man was sentenced to for stealing a Mark McGwire baseball card
Sources: Durex 1998 Global Sex Survey; Paul Abramson, Steven Pinkerton and Laura Bogart's unpublished study, "When Is Sex Not Sex?"
60 SECOND SYMPOSIUM
Is it tragedy, comedy or both? We asked our panel of distinguished authors to compare someone from the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal to a character from literature:
DIANE WOOD MIDDLEBROOK, author of Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton: Ovid's Metamorphoses portrays gods as politicians. When the philandering Jove puts on a bull suit so he can seduce Europa, a nubile rustic princess, the poem is mocking the Emperor Augustus. "Amorousness is incompatible with Majesty," Ovid notes.
HAROLD BLOOM, author of Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human: Kenneth Starr combines the meddling propensities of the eternal busybody, Polonius, with the relentless monomania of the pyromaniac Iago. The judge contrives to appear more like Polonius, but his essence is pure Iago: he lives to ruin Clinton, as Iago's diabolic drive was to bring down Othello.
JANE SMILEY, author of The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton: The Scarlet Letter asks whether the public exposure of private passion heals or harms those who are exposed and those who do the exposing. Hester Prynne, exposed early, is matured by her ordeal. Roger Chillingworth, vengeful and cold, is rendered inhuman. Clinton reminds me of Hester.