Former Editor: Playgirl's "A Relevant Brand Name Once Again," Thanks In Part To Levi

Levi Johnston is standing naked in a 13th-floor studio in midtown Manhattan holding a hockey stick.

He swivels his head and looks into the camera as -- click -- the photo is taken. This is the money shot: the one Daniel Nardicio is tweeting about right now; the one Levi's manager Tank Jones will gush about to Us Weekly; and the one Gawker and Life & Style and a cajillion other gossip outlets will mention as proof positive that, in the words of Tank Jones, "You'll see what you need to see in these photos."

But the truth is, for all the public frenzy over rumors that Levi would go full frontal for Playgirl, the outdoorsy Alaskan-kid-turned-sex-symbol was never actually interested in going "full monty." It was hard enough reassuring him his fake-tan lines weren't too extreme; and that he didn't look fat while seated with his shirt off (actually, he's gorgeous). We're settling for ass shots, torso pictures, sultry portraits, and Austin Powers-like draping of props over what usually comprise key ingredients of Playgirl photo shoots.

It's not a new concept. Most celebrities who "take it off" for Playgirl limit their exposure. David Duchovny wouldn't go past tighty whities and carefully placed tea cups, of all things; Scott Bakula went topless but revealed little; and country music singer Darryl Worley showed everything but. This is why Playgirl clings to a stable of extremely talented photographers who can make a sheltered kid from Alaska comfortable enough to stand naked in front of a camera crew from "Entertainment Tonight," several stylists, a photographer, and a half-dozen people from Playgirl's staff. It's a bummer the world won't get to see Levi's johnson; but the images you will see should satiate several primal urges.

[Read the rest of this post here.]
[Originally published on FishbowlNY.]

Media Buzz: Levi Johnston tells Playgirl's E-in-C Thanksgiving with the Palins is a no-go

Gawker.com:
By Brian Moylan
... In an interview he just finished with Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell, Levi says of the invite, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it." [See link here.]

AccessHollywood.com:
Levi told Playgirl Editor-In –Chief, Nicole Caldwell, in an upcoming interview in Playgirl that she was “full of it… you could tell by her laugh she was full of it.” He said the invite she made during her Oprah interview was “a nice gesture, but she didn’t mean it.” Levi said his presence at the Palin family Thanksgiving would be “awkward.” [See link here.]

MSNBC.com:
By Michelle Perry
According to a spokesman for "Playgirl" magazine, Levi Johnston said Sarah Palin was "full of it" to "Playgirl" editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell in an interview in the upcoming magazine. [See link here.]

Zap2It.com:
By Andrea Reiher
The back and forth between Levi Johnston and Sarah Palin just won't stop -- Johnston tells Playgirl that Palin is 'full of it.' In previews for Sarah Palin's upcoming appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Palin says that Levi Johnston is loved and is welcome at their Thanksgiving dinner table. MSNBC is reporting that a spokesperson for Playgirl says Levi has a different idea about that. Reportedly, in Levi Johnston's interview with Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell he says, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it," in regards to Palin's interview with Oprah. [See link here.]

SoSoJuicy.com:
In an interview he just finished with Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell, Levi says of the invite, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it." [See link here.]

Blood Surges Back to Playgirl With Johnston Shoot: Former Editor Dishes On Pub's Future

By Amanda Ernst on Nov 12, 2009 03:30 PM

The Internet has been abuzz about Palin-impregnator Levi Johnston's plans to pose for Playgirl, so let's just assume you know all about the photo shoot that's going down right now here in New York. It seems the magazine, which went online only after its January/February 2009 issue went to press last year -- with little success -- is planning a comeback of sorts.

So we asked Nicole Caldwell, who formerly served as editor-in-chief at Playgirl before its print edition was shuttered, to let us in on the behind the scenes workings at Playgirl today. Caldwell has been brought back on board to help put together one "special" issue of the magazine for this year and four more for 2010. She will be interviewing Johnston during his shoot today and tomorrow, and the whole package (ahem) will run online only -- and may be up on Playgirl.com by next week. She spoke to us about the relationship between Johnston and the struggling Playgirl brand, shooting down the idea that the magazine faltered because of a disconnect between the staff and the magazine's audience.

"What matters is Playgirl being back in the public eye if for no other reason than the one I joined the magazine in the first place for: Women should have every available sexual outlet men do," Caldwell told FishbowlNY. "Levi is symbolic: He's become a public figure, he holds allure for a wide cross-section of the American public, he knocked up the VP contender's daughter, and he's willing to pose nude at a time when most people stubbornly continue to consider male nudity more extreme than female nudity. He's young, he's hot, he's virile, and he goes against every stereotype out-of-touch people have for a magazine they've never read: that Fabio-type guy with locks down his chest who I've only seen in 1980s Playgirls."

[Read the rest of this article here.]
[Originally published at FishbowlNY.com]

Community Profile: Fort Greene/Clinton Hill

By Nicole Caldwell

(Note: These segments were written for a wonderful new, hyper-local Web site called My Little O.)

History of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill
The land on which Brooklyn’s Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods sit was created more than 12,000 years ago by dirt and rock washed south by icebergs during the last ice age. Since that time, the area has withstood war, disease, and racial tension; all the while leading the way in diversifying New York City’s neighborhoods, urban park development, and the arts.

Vanderbilt Avenue is the dividing line between Fort Greene and Clinton Hill (east and west, respectively). The neighborhoods fall south of Wallabout Bay, north of Prospect Heights; west of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and east of Brooklyn Heights. Walt Whitman, Mos Def, The Notorious B.I.G., and Rosie Perez—among others!—have called Fort Greene and Clinton Hill home.

(Read the rest of this history here)

Playing in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill
Museums, parks, community gardens, and neighborhood events make Fort Greene and Clinton Hill great destinations for daylong adventures, and help explain the influx of families choosing in recent years to make their homes in these historic neighborhoods.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) alone offers movies, plays, recitals, and concerts almost every night of the week. This neighborhood fixture, America's oldest continuously operating performing arts center since 1861, also has an in-house restaurant and bar. The Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery on Willoughby Avenue at Grand Street has rotating art exhibits. The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) on Hanson Place offers exhibitions, public programs, community outreach initiatives, and educational interactive tours. Then there’s UrbanGlass, the first artist-access glass center in the United States and now the largest. The space educates 900 students from around the world per year, and offers tours, classes, and studio space.

(Read the rest of this piece here.)

Eating in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill
Behind their sleepy residential exteriors, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill boast one of the widest assortments of food you can find anywhere in New York City. From South African to Indian to Italian or French , this brownstone-flecked area presents a selection rivaling most Manhattan neighborhoods. And the best part is that you can find any genre of food to fit any budget.

(Read the rest of this piece here.)

Local Woman Answers Religious Call to Help Overseas

[Originally published in the Thousand Islands Sun, Oct. 21 2009]

PRNewser Party Appearance

L-R Lara Drasin, Nicole Caldwell, Corinne Weiner

PRNewser Party Recap: How Many Flacks Can You Fit Into a Bar?
By Joe Ciarallo on Oct 15, 2009 12:48 PM

SideBAR was packed last night for PRNewser's latest happy hour party. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and enjoying the drink specials, complimentary appetizers, and of course, the good company.

[sic]

There were also a few journalists that snuck in, and some racy ones at that. Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell told us that she is consulting with the magazine on some projects including the Levi Johnston photo shoot. That's about as far as we got on that one.

[Read the rest of this story here.]

PR Newser: Playgirl and Playboy make matching 'celebrity' PR moves

by Joe Ciarallo

Both Playgirl and Playboy are getting aggressive with "celebrity" PR maneuvers this week. Marge Simpson will appear nude in Playboy's November issue to celebrate The Simpson's 20th Anniversary.

Meanwhile, Levi Johnston, ex-boyfriend of Bristol Palin and father of Sarah Palin's granddaughter will appear nude in Playgirl. Will the PR push around these covers lead to increased sales? Time will tell. It's certainly already leading to increased buzz.

Former Playgirl editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell, who is still working with the publication on some special projects, tells PRNewser, "Levi Johnston is the best and brightest thing to come out of the Palin campaign. It's a pleasure to go from the straight-talk express to the hot jock undressed. The shoot is tentatively scheduled for the first week of November, and I'm just sorry I won't be there to see this beautiful man in person."

Johnston, who is training six days a week to prep for the shoot, is also looking into reality shows (of course), his publicist Tank Jones told the AP.

[Originally posted on PRNewser Oct. 8, 2009]

Spotlight On... Gowanus Canal Conservancy

By Nicole Caldwell

The Gowanus Canal has a logic-defying reputation for being as repulsive as it is enchanting. Tagged with nicknames such as Lavender Lake and Perfume Creek (neither due to lovely hues or pleasant smells), you wouldn’t think much could live in or near this dirty little estuary, which stretches from Gowanus Bay on the New York Harbor to Gowanus, an industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn a mile and a half east.

Yet against all odds, this purple-hued water—used as a virtual toxic dumping ground for industry along it well into the 1960s and beyond—has stolen the hearts and imaginations of people intent on saving it. New developments and shopping centers seem to spring up overnight along the canal. Property values climb despite debates over whether the pollution in this Brooklyn waterway causes asthma. There are documented accounts of fishermen catching striped bass and Atlantic silversides in the murky, badly polluted canal.

Read the rest of this article here.

[Originally published in the September 2009 issue of The Leaflet]

Getting There

“Everything you are against weakens you.

Everything you are for empowers you.”—fortune cookie

A few months ago, I read The Bell Jar and felt relieved that, at least, I was in better shape than Sylvia Plath’s character. A crazed electro-shock patient: This was my litmus test for sanity and coping.

Then, the veils began to lift (they really do always lift, as annoying as that adage about “giving it time” is). Drives in convertibles. Beach-sitting. Boardwalk-strolling. A sunburn that makes your flesh tingle. Writing again. The feeling that some part of you is waking up from a very long slumber. Expansion, expansion, expansion. Kayaks on lakes that look like mirrors. Carnivals. Parades. The Better Theory. Bonfires.

The biggest challenge I faced: learning to extricate myself from these attachments I form. It is so hard to let go—to grieve as you would over a death. Why usher that in?

Because, silly girl. If you get yourself healthy, health will follow.

But it’s a bear to figure out. It’s thinking with your heart and then trying to apply logic to it. It’s no longer making excuses ("Change! Outlined goals! The problem’s been recognized!”) and seeing your subtext when you speak (“Come back! Come back!”). It’s learning all of that, and seeing where there is disease, and figuring out a way to move forward without anger or hostility or resentment. Everything—and everyone—I am for, empowers me. So, I decide to root for those who would hurt me. I wish them the best, I blow them kisses, I throw them flowers and smile and say, simply, “I love you. And I have done all I can.”

True empathy—true love—is knowing when someone is better off without you.

The sense of being strong and doing what is right felt good; even as it became increasingly difficult. That knot in my belly! My growing disconnect. A burdensome sense that I’m too far ahead now; these last months reconnected me to the woman I always wanted to be: independent, unafraid, giggly, excited all the time. I’d been so worried; made timid by the possibility of sliding backward. Unhinged by all these dreams.

I did all this for you, and you still __________.

I made these changes like you asked, and you turned around and __________.

The scorecard perpetuated itself (most behaviors are quite easy to predict). And then, silence (but not always).

Travel opened up. Nigerian headpieces in church vestibules with empty wine bottles and giggling girls. Hotel bars shaped like living rooms with fishing bait available behind the counter. Speed boats down creeks. A Chevy truck on the open highway. The north, the south, the sensation of seeing something completely new.

I stop sometimes and whisper to myself, “Thank goodness it’s you. I really missed you a whole lot.”

I may actually be realizing the life I have always longed for.

Daring to Bare: Your Big Apple guide to naked New York

By Nicole Caldwell

The New York Post last July covered a recent surge in New York City's nudist culture. It seems that beyond the city's vast repertoire of adult novelty stores, gentlemen's clubs, and mature entertainment, there's an increasingly mainstream undercurrent of people who just assume less really is more—at least, when it comes to clothing.

Whether you've perfected the art of changing in public without a speck of skin showing; or drop trow anytime you're in a sauna or locker room, you may want to turn your adventurous side over to the nude events happening in and around New York City every day.

For as long as summer lasts, head over to Geocities for a comprehensive list of nude beaches in the area. Or, if you're into meditation and relaxation, pay a visit to Naked Yoga NYC in Midtown. You can also get a listing of non-sexual naked yoga classes throughout the week from Yahoo Groups.

If you’re more into being the voyeur, check out Naked Comedy Showcase on the first Saturday of every month at The People's Improv Theatre in New York (click here for tickets).

Those of you who will spring on any opportunity to let it all hang out with relish a Clothing-Optional Dinner. And if you don't mind sweating without any, ahem, support, have a go at naked hiking. Just promise to pack some bugspray.

[Originally published at Examiner.com]