Hot Type, for the week of December 19, 2003 -- continued Partying With the Enemy? “That's so beyond the pale," says Red Streak's Susanna Homan, on learning she's been accused of drinking RedEye's booze. "The bartender made me a tiramisu cocktail. It wasn't even an item on the free-drink menu." And what about the complimentary red Instamatic she was seen leaving Gaslight with on December 4, the night of the RedEye party? "I do remember taking that with the intention of bringing it back to the Sun-Times and showing it to them," replies Homan, hostess of the "Susanna's Night Out" page in Red Streak and the Sun-Times. "But I ended up throwing it away. It sounds to me like it was very contrived when someone handed it to me. It sounds like they were paying very close attention to me there." No doubt they were. Homan is, as she says herself, a public figure. And RedEye asks no quarter and gives none in its struggle with Red Streak for dominance of the coveted 18-to-35, attention-deficit-disorder market. After two weeks of intense hype, RedEye threw a party at Gaslight, the new bar on Racine near Fullerton -- and Homan was spotted on the premises. Homan has a compelling explanation. "I was there for a birthday party for my friend the same night," she says. "It was very obviously a birthday party going on. There was a group of 30 or 40 people at one part of the bar and a giant birthday cake." No matter. A circling RedEye photographer snapped a couple of pictures of Homan that showed up Friday, December 12, in a full-page RedEye ad celebrating the event. Said the ad, "RedEye knows how to throw a grand-opening bash. Three hours of open bar brought to you by Ketel One, Pilsner Urquell and Fosters Lager, great food and a packed house made for one 'had to be there' night. Just ask SUSANNA HOMAN from Red Streak. Guess they know a good party when they read about it too." "I think it speaks volumes that in order to validate their own party they need to turn to me," says Homan. "I'm the only reason their party can be cool." Red Streak's editor, Deborah Douglas, called RedEye coeditor Joe Knowles and Tribune communications manager Patty Wetli to protest. She got no satisfaction. When I called on Monday, Knowles said he had nothing to do with the institutional advertising, and Wetli failed to regard the matter with the gravity Homan believes it deserves. "There's no way a person wouldn't have known it was a RedEye party," Wetli said. "We even gave her some gifts." She mentioned the open bar as well. "Certainly there won't be a retraction," she said. "It was in an advertisement, not editorial content." But to Homan, the fact that her photo was in an advertisement is the point. She called Wetli herself Monday, then called me. "It was a brutal conversation. I hate her," she said. "She was completely in denial. She was completely rude. She completely refused to make any concessions. She was being a complete bitch. I just can't believe in this society people can get away with this. I wanted to know who did this. I want to know this. I said to her, 'You can't take a picture of Richard Roeper standing next to the Tribune and say "Richard Roeper reads the Tribune." That's illegal. You can't use someone's likeness for financial gain.'" Homan came up with a plan. She would bill the Tribune $2,500 as an "appearance fee." Her sister, a lawyer, wrote her a cover letter.It said, "Note that I have never authorized the use of my likeness for any advertisement in RedEye or the Tribune, and that any future attempt on the part of either publication (or its advertisers) to derive economic gain from my image or cast me in a false light will be met with appropriate legal action." She told Wetli to expect an invoice. How did that news go over? I asked. "That one got her," said Homan. "It was awesome." News Bites • Behold the modern newspaper in all its amplitude. The Tribune of December 14. Perspective section: "Indeed, looking over the increasingly desperate holiday effort at renewals of faith, the ironic end of all this delirium is to prevent us from remembering God. Society is essentially the sum total of souls seeking redemption, but today, in these United States -- with the holidays approaching -- we preoccupy ourselves with consumption, mimickry and empty ritual." The Q section, from a story listing "perfect kiss-off" lines when you need to blow off the "date from hell": "I'm sorry, but I can't see you again. You're nowhere near as slutty as the bathroom stall says." • About 50 pieces of artwork by Jeff MacNelly go on permanent display next month in the Tribune Tower. "It's a reflection of the esteem in which Jeff was held here," John Twohey, a vice president of Tribune Media Services, told Editor & Publisher. Other cartoonists think a living memorial would be more appropriate. The president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, Mike Ritter of the suburban Phoenix Tribune, told me, "Putting up a cartoon show as a permanent exhibit but not hiring a new cartoonist comes off as a tombstone more than anything else." Send tips, tirades, and comments to hottype@chicagoreader.com Copyright © 2003 Chicago Reader, Inc. All rights reserved.