Gigi's sets the record straight

Dear Ivan,

One would expect, at least hope, that your community news coverage be accurate and well meaning. To that end, I insist, on behalf of Laura Pensiero of GiGi Hudson Valley, that your facts be corrected to reflect the truth.

When Laura was asked if Gigi was doing the rehearsal dinner, or catering the (Chelsea Clinton) wedding, her exact quote was: “Absolutely not.”

Her other comment "How did you find out" related to another question entirely. It seems that the news starved media cobbled these disparate comments into some “story” … not Laura. She upheld her discretion and honesty.

Kindly show us all that you do too,

Thank you,

Burnell Shively
PR, Media & Marketing Liaison
GiGi Hudson Valley

What the New York Daily News wrote:

Chef Laura Pensiero, whose GiGi Trattoria opened nine years ago in Rhinebeck, is one of the caterers for the high-profile affair.

Her restaurant uses fresh ingredients from local farms, and specializes in homemade pastas, healthy Mediterranean fare and vegetarian dishes.

The food is mouth-watering, but the chef was close-mouthed.

"I can't talk about it," Pensiero told the Daily News yesterday. "How did you find out?"

What I wrote:

Answer: The Daily News found out when Pensiero said "How did you find out?"

This mean-spirited, news-starved journalist stands corrected. Good luck getting the Daily News to correct its record, though.

I'm also told by the real Freeman reporters who covered this story that Pensiero offered no comment to us. And it should be noted that none of the Freeman's stories stated that Gigi was catering the event.

And now the question that lingers is "What did the Daily News asked that promped the "How did you find out?" response?

Clinton Vineyard's Phyllis Feder spills the beans

The blog Hudson Valley Wine Goddess sat on this for weeks.



The video's time stamp is July 18.
Go figure.

Wedding of the Decade of the Century of the Millennium on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Wedding of the Decade of the Century of the Millennium
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Madeleine Albright in Rhinebeck, the mini-video

Rhinebeck, ala New Yorker

Rhinebeck resident and New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly has something to share:

TV reporter vs. Rhinebeck bugs

Cutline contest, Rhinebeck madness edition

1.


"WELCOME! Now, GET OUT!"

---

2.


"LOOK! A PHOTO! TAKE A PHOTO!!!"

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3.

"If I wear a Mexican hat, nobody will notice my dirty sneakers"

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4.

"Would you talk to me about being a reporter with nothing to report on?"

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5.

"Looking for attention? Us? According to whom?"

---

Feel free to add your own.

(All photos via the Associated Press, because I'm in the office right now, with air conditioner)

Rhinebeck Gigi's Trattoria catering Chelsea Clinton's wedding

Laura Pensiero of Gigi's Trattoria in Rhinebeck told the New York "Let's call them 'local yokels'" Daily News about being a caterer for Chelsea's Clinton wedding at Astor Courts in Rhinebeck.

"I can't talk about it," Pensiero told the Daily News yesterday. "How did you find out?"

Answer: The Daily News found out when Pensiero said "How did you find out?"

Crazy, shameless pundit talks about Chelsea, Rhinebeck on WAMC. Shame on him

I was on the National Public Radio's affiliate WAMC-FM this morning talking to David Guistina on "Morning Edition" about why in the world anybody would talk to me about anything, and other things that start with "Rhinebeck."

Here's the clip.



Apparently, I have an accent. I'll give you five (Monopoly) bucks if you can translate what I've said.

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome's flights are on

The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome just announced that Saturday's air show featuring flying antique airplanes of the pioneer and barnstorming era will take place as planned at 2 p.m.

Temporary flight restrictions over Rhinebeck for something that's apparently happening in there "will be respected by re-routing biplane air tours away from the restricted area during the ... period between 3 p.m. on Saturday through 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning," said Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Vice President Don Fleming in a news release. "The 2 p.m. World War I Air Show and biplane rides on Sunday will not be affected at all."

“But folks signing up for a biplane ride on Saturday should not expect to be treated to a birds-eye-view of the Clinton-Mezvinski nuptials,” Fleming said.

Wait! What wedding?

Rascal wants to marry Chelsea

Rascal, the Hudson Valley Renegades baseball team mascot, holds a sign on East Market Street in this ABC photo.

That's right. ABC "News."

It's official: Obama not invited to Chelsea Clinton wedding; you still don't care

President Obama was on ABC's "The View," which airs this morning.

He talked about important things. But who cares about those things, right?

Fox News reports (in the politics section, seriously?) that he was not invited to the wedding of Chelsea Clinton in Rhinebeck Saturday.

"I was not invited to the wedding because I think Hillary and Bill, properly, want to keep this thing for Chelsea and her soon-to-be husband," the president said.

He did joke to the ladies of "The View," though, "You don’t want two presidents at one wedding. All the secret service, guests going through metal detectors, all the gifts being torn apart."

FAA: Rhinebeck a no-fly-zone

The Federal Aviation Administration has declared Rhinebeck a no-fly-zone Saturday from 3 p.m. to Sunday at 3:30 a.m.

The reason?

"Temporary flight restrictions for VIP (Very Important Person) Movement"

In case you don't know where Rhinebeck is, here's the agency's map:

Life imitates column that was not meant to be imitated by life

Yours truly, today:

• The media doesn’t know anything concrete about the wedding.
• The media will report that they don’t know anything concrete about the wedding.

USA Today's front page story, today:

We don't know for certain who's coming (but probably not President Obama, and not Oprah), nor precisely how many (400 to 500 seems to be the most popular guess). We don't know about the dress (maybe Vera Wang, maybe Oscar de la Renta, according to various media reports), we don't know about the décor (air-conditioned tents already are up) or the menu or the music. Is the rehearsal dinner in a stone barn at a local estate, Grasmere, or at the nearby mansion of Clinton supporters Toni and Martin Sosnoff?
We don't even know who is officiating and whether the ceremony will be Jewish (he's Jewish) or Methodist-Baptist (Chelsea's parents) or some combination.

We don't know anything. Read all about it.

Also, National Public Radio called as I was writing this to talk about how nobody knows anything, or something like that. It's a haze now. so as always, I blame Obamacare.

Chelsea update: Free library cards and expensive crappers

The library says (yes, it speaks):
Psssst... Don't worry, regular readers --
you, too, can get a free public library card at
Morton Memorial Library and Community House in Rhinecliff!

Also: The gossip site TMZ "reports" that the port-a-potties cost $15,000, because they look like this:

UPDATE: Nobody is coming to Chelsea Clinton wedding, report says

Emily Miller of Human Affairs - Leading Conservative Media Since 1944! - reports on the issue of most importance for conservatives - the reported wedding of Chelsea Clinton in Rhinebeck on July 31.

Miller points out that all the reports about the star-studded guest list originated from the Hudson Valley News (where have I heard that?). Furthermore:

HUMAN EVENTS called the published guest list and discovered that none of these luminaries is attending, and, many were not even invited to the wedding.

This raises an important question: How do you call a published guest list?

The Hudson Valley News used unnamed sources to publish its list. So Human Events proceeds to debunk the report, with unnamed sources, to establish that two celebrities, Oprah Winfrey and Ted Turner, are not coming. And the other "Powerful Democrats"? They either didn't respond or didn't get back to the reporter. So, in conclusion, Human Events doesn't know how to write headlines, or count (two equals "none"?), or the difference between Democrats and celebrities. (I'm not blaming Miller. Reporters don't write headlines. If she did, that's why reporters don't write headlines). I used the same logic to write my headline.

Also, an anonymous source debunks an anonymous source. Anonymous source wins.

Extra!: Gawker's Maureen O'Connor "reports" that, "Everything you heard about the location might be a lie." O'Connor uses a Wall Street Journal story, which I also used previously in a different context, to reach that conclusion.

But that story partially reports (with names!):

Earlier this week, a local (Wappingers Falls) helicopter company, Associated Aircraft Group, inquired about the availability during the weekend of July 31 of the helipad located at Rhinebeck's Dutchess County Fair, according to fairground general manager Bob Grems. The helicopter company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, and "Sikorskys helicopters are used for Marine One, the Presidential helicopter," according to the company's website. The inquiry "was clearly in the context of the wedding," Mr. Grems said. Associated's director of sales and marketing, Carolyn Marino, declined to comment.

In conclusion: Is it August already?