Hasta La Ideas

Last night, 60 Minutes aired its much-anticipated profile of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. It begins with abundant background: Morley Safer chats with Wintour (her face framed in ultra-tight camera shots), shows footage from the magazine’s offices (and The Devil Wears Prada), gets soundbites about Wintour from the likes of Andre Leon Talley, and delves into her upbringing as the daughter of “Chilly Charlie” Wintour, the editor of London’s Evening Standard. But about three quarters of the way through the segment, things change tone and Safer decides that having accompanied Wintour to the fall 2009 ready-to-wear shows, he has earned the right to mock the fashion industry and sartorially critique leading designers.

“To an outsider, these shows are another planet, part dazzling, part Rocky Horror show,” says Safer in a voice-over. “The models seem as angry as they are emaciated, wearing clothes fit for a cadaver, and shoes that make stilettos seem sensible, and a legion of camp followers, and campy followers [cue shot of Italian fashion writer Anna Piaggi], chasing the celebrities du jour and the people who dress them.” A crisply dressed Karl Lagerfeld “this season favors the Dracula look” while John Galliano is introduced as a designer “who some might think needs a better tailor.” Galliano’s boss, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, “has a better tailor.” If that’s the angle CBS was going for, why didn’t they just give this assignment to Andy Rooney? Watch the full segment after the jump.

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Adobe Flash is continuing its digital domination. Now the ubiquitous software—it’s installed on a whopping 98% of Internet-enabled PCs—is following you home. Today at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas, Adobe announced that it has inked a deal to install Flash in the chips of many Internet-connected televisions, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players. The first devices and chips with support for Flash are expected to ship in the second half of this year, according to a statement issued today.

The upshot? Delivery of HD online video to digital home devices. “Flash technology-based applications will allow users to quickly switch between television programming and Web content outside the Web browser,” notes Adobe, while David Wadhwani, a general manager and vice president at the company, promises that the advent of a Flash-at-home platform “will dramatically change the way we view content on televisions.” They’ve already signed up oodles of content providing partners, including Disney Interactive Media Group, Netflix, and The New York Times Company. So where won’t you see Flash, at least for now? On Samsung and Sony TVs, which are already interfacing with the web via Yahoo tools, and still Flash-free holy grail of mobile media: the iPhone.

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It begins as a torrid love affair and ends in tears and infantilization. Nope, it’s not Lifetime’s latest Nora Roberts adaptation but the fraught relationship among architect, client, contractor, and project costs, at least according to Frank Gehry. The avuncular starchitect psychoanalyzes his business in an interview with Michael Eisner that premieres tonight on CNBC’s Conversations with Michael Eisner. In addition to economics (how much are the titanium drawer pulls?), Gehry discusses “his latest projects, people who copy his work, and why he’ll never do a building for Donald Trump,” our friends at CNBC tell us. Click below for a clip and then tune in tonight for the full interview, which will be preceded by Eisner’s chat with Chuck Norris. Keep in mind that the kickboxer/patriot also knows a little something about economics. According to the website Chuck Norris Facts, “If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.” So true.

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In court, like in fashion, one day you’re in and the next day you’re out, and unless this is Harvey Weinstein‘s idea of an expensive April Fool’s Joke, hit reality TV show Project Runway is back in business. The lingering lawsuit that pitted Bravo parent company NBC Universal against The Weinstein Co. and has kept the show’s in-the-can sixth season off the air has been settled. “NBC Universal, The Weinstein Company and Lifetime have resolved their disputes,” notes a statement issued today by NBC Universal. “The Weinstein Company will pay NBCU for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime.” Party at the Lifetime executive suite tonight! Project Runway premieres on the erstwhile provider of “television for women” (it’s new tagline: “My Life, My Time”) this summer, when we can finally stop getting our Tim Gunn fix from Tide commercials. Make it work, Lifetime.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media