John Stewart

Comedian and author John Hodgman made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night to promote his new book, More Information Than You Require, and showed all the folks at home what to do if they ever found themselves in his position.

"Literary immortality comes at a price," Mr. Hodgman said. "Book promotion: the demeaning ritual known as the television appearance where the solitary genius is forced to hold conversations with the likes of—well, what's your title again, Jon? Master of ceremonies? Comedy barker? Oh yes, cable jester."

Mr. Hodgman's most practical advice comes down to this: Make an energetic entrance, and make sure to open with an anecdote.

• Meryl Streep has officially sold her West 12th Street townhouse for $9.1 million to Elizabeth “Libbet” Johnson, a follow-up to a Page Six item from a few months back. Also, the fourth $50 million property is now on the market, albeit "quietly." Any sale at asking could break the residential sales record. (New York Post)
• Hedge funder Daniel Loeb, who reportedly dropped $45 million on a penthouse at 15 Central Park West (which will break Rupert Murdoch’s record when it closes), is now selling his Bank Street townhouse. In May, The Observer reported on Mr. Loeb’s $11.2 million townhouse purchase from fellow art collector John Stewart. Mr. Loeb had intended to renovate the 12,000-square-foot residence to house much of his contemporary art collection. But instead, his family is now headed for a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park. (New York Times)
• Johnny Damon is not the only baseball player looking for a new apartment. The Mets' Carlos Beltran has been spotted over at 425 Fifth. Could he be purposely avoiding the popular Yankee buildings near the FDR? (New York)

-Michael Calderone  read more »

All today's Transom: Chris Hackett, a Brooklyn artist and a co-founder of the Madagascar Institute, has spent the weekend building a working suitcase bomb. Mr. Hackett, who is currently facing charges in Brooklyn for weapons possession from last year, when the police arrived at his home after one of his contraptions exploded, will put this bomb on view in an art exhibition that'll open the week of September 11th. Read more...
And, who's hunting art collector John L. Stewart? From today's story:

Splashy full-color posters depicting a plain-looking, bespectacled man—but with airbrushed Beelzebub horns and a bling necklace—appeared in Chelsea's art district and in the Hamptons this spring and summer. The poster itself asks a single question: "Have you seen This ‘Psychopath' Art Collector Recently?" And an accompanying flier made defamatory accusations about the poster's subject. The man in the photograph is John L. Stewart. He's a New York-based art dealer in his mid-50's, known as a premiere collector of Russian artist Ilya Kabakov. Associates say that he's a private man who loves his dog, hangs in the Hamptons... and is being sued by a former assistant.  read more »

Photos of the John Stewart poster and flier are by Eliot Shepard. Photo of Chris Hackett is courtesy the Madagascar Institute.