Photo: Getty Images

• Blake Lively's going to the ball, too. Check her out in this new Vanity Fair spread of her wearing couture in Paris. Consider it a warm-up for all those gala photos you'll see of everybody tomorrow. [VF]

• Audrey Tautou is the new face of Chanel No. 5, confirming earlier reports she'd replace Nicole Kidman. So that explains why she's wearing Chanel at the gala tonight. [Fashion Week Daily]

• Agyness Deyn isn't going to the Met gala tonight because of a European shoot, so Burberry designer Christopher Bailey is taking Lily Donaldson instead. [Fashionista]

• Speaking of Burberry, we JUST received a press release that revealed Mario Testino will also wear Burberry. Lily Donaldson will wear a "custom-made nude strapless, ruched-bust, chiffon floor-length gown, amber gem clutch, jewelry and shoes, all by Burberry."

Being Helpful in New York Can Be the Death of You

No good deed went unpunished this weekend. Gothamist points out that one person was pummeled and another was killed while trying to save other people. Tragically, a 28-year-old was left dead Saturday after trying to save his brother from an angry mob. The fatal incident started when Bronx resident Alex Cruz looked out the window of his family's apartment and saw a group of twenty teenagers beating his older brother, Javier, in the street. Javier pleaded for his brother to stay upstairs, but Alex came to his rescue anyway. When he got downstairs, the teens attacked him and he died on his apartment-building steps from knife wounds to the neck and torso. Javier escaped unharmed.

In less deadly news, a 23-year-old financial associate was beaten unconscious early Sunday after coming to the aid of a woman being harassed by two “thugs” (in the words of the New York Post). Andrew Mindnich was on his way home at 12:30 a.m. when he came upon a pair of men accosting a woman on a sidewalk in the West Village. "I heard her saying, 'Leave me alone.' I said, 'What's going on?' It was a spur-of-the-moment thing," Mindnich told the Post. The assailants then attacked Mindnich, “punching, kicking and stomping him in the head and chest.” Officers arrested the two men, and the woman who had been rescued fled the scene. This is where Cindy Adams would say, "Only in New York, kid. Only in New York." But sometimes we just don't have the heart. —Noelle Hancock

Samaritan Pummeled in Village [NYP]
Police: Mob Kills Man Trying to Protect Brother [WNBC]
Helping Others Results in a Beating and a Death [Gothamist]

Girlicious Lands the Perfect Beauty Deal

Step one: Meet Girlicious. Step two: Roll eyes.Photo: WireImage

COSMETIC SURGERY
• Ever wonder how stars are able to wear heels so darn much? Michael Kors revealed "absolutely everybody in New York" gets biodegradable hyaluronic acid and Sephadex injected to the balls of their feet for extra cushioning. Why not? It only costs $500 and doesn't take away one's ability to emote. [Globe and Mail via SugarShock Beauty]

• An anonymous commenter claims the Very Voluptuous Ultimate Bust Plumper from Victoria’s Secret actually boosted her bust one whole cup size. We don't believe her. [Makeup Loves Me]

SKIN
• The market for skin-lightening creams in India grew 150 percent. For example, sales of Fair and Handsome, a “fairness cream for men” increased enormously. In America brighteners are also popular, but just targeted to those who want to eliminate under-eye circles. [Jezebel]

FRAGRANCE
• The new Hermès fragrance Un Jardin Apres La Mousson smells like melon on the inhale and floral on the exhale. Talk about nuance. [Now Smell This]

NAILS
• The Gossip collection by Zoya is made of bright, creamy colors and named after the Hills girls: Audrina’s purple, Heidi’s orange (perhaps to match her skin), Whitney’s fuchsia, LC’s red, Lo’s pink, and Elodie is poppy. They only cost $6 each. [Blogdorf Goodman]

Nelly Goes West

Photo: Getty Images

2. J Dilla, "Trucks"
On this previously unreleased track, Dilla takes Gary Numan's "Cars" — a spooky social critique of the isolation of technology and consumerism — and uses it for the basis of "Trucks," a song about how awesome trucks are. [Nialler9]

3. Britney Spears, "Something More"
An unreleased Britney track has surfaced, and as nobody's sure whether it's a new song or just an outtake, we can be certain of only one thing: It's terrible. [Pretty Much Amazing]

4. DJ Shadow, "San Francisco"
Nokia asked DJ Shadow to help launch a contest which asks people to record a song with the sounds that define their city. Shadow's approach is to basically use the whole city as a turntable, Lauryn Hill style. It's got trolley bells and harbor fog horns, and, if you listen carefully, you can hear Web 2.0 applications being overvalued. [So Much Silence]

5. Nine Inch Nails, "Echoplex"
Trent says thanks to fans with this second single from his free new album. Well worth the money you won't be spending to get it. [ Deaf Indie Elephants]
—Ehren Gresehover

Tom Hanks backs Obama

Great Moments in Liquor PR: The Cointreau Teese and the Jagger Dagger

Dita Von Teese shilling for Cointreau, and Jade Jagger wielding her Belvedere dagger.Photo: Getty Images

As impressed as we were by the cultural permeation of the Cointreau Teese, we were blown away by something even more far-fetched: the Jagger Dagger. The Dagger was invented by the creative minds at Belvedere Vodka (if you go to their Website, there's a Terry Richardson film commercial to watch, starring Vincent Gallo. It's that kind of company.) Basically, they spent millions of dollars getting Jade Jagger (daughter of Mick) to design and promote a $250,000 ice pick. The PR geniuses at LaForce & Stevens had events all over the country, including one at — surprise! — the Angel Orensanz Foundation. For their troubles, they got stories in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Mail, the Observer, and even a "scandalous" "Page Six" lead item about how Jade may have copied the design from a Nazi sword. As Dita might say, "How Cointreauversial!" You can't pay for that kind of publicity. Or, well, actually, you can.

Sarah Jessica Parker Heralds Triumphant Return of ‘Sex’

Photo: Andrew Eccles; Styling by Alex Slavycz; Hair by Orlando Pita; For Orlo; Makeup by Leslie Lopez; Manicure by Gina Eppolito; Dress by Lanvin; Shoes by Vicini; Diamond Studs by Cartier

Robert Downey Jr.

The Final Countdown to the Best Party Ever

Iman and David Bowie are probably getting their hair
done right about now.Photo: Getty Images

Meet the New Girl: Natalia Schueroff

The new girl in town.Photo: Imaxtree

Model profile: Natalia Schueroff

For more minute details on the runway's finest, check out our extensive Model Manual.

Artist Matthew Pillsbury Spaces Out in the Park

Matthew Pillsbury's On the Phone With Bonni, Eaton Square, London (2007)Courtesy of Bonni Benrubi Gallery, Inc.

The ‘Post’ and ‘Daily News’ Have Contrary Takes on the Future of the Atlantic Yards

Atlantic Yards: Behold these dueling visions of the future Atlantic Yards: Gehry's dramatic, all-promises fulfilled futurescape or the Post's stadium and office tower only surrounded by acres of parking lots where homes were demolished. Which will it be? [Curbed]
Dumbo: The remake of the seventies subway-heist classic The Taking of Pelham 123, which will star John Travolta and Denzel Washington, shoots here tomorrow. [DumboNYC]
East Village: The old Italianate building at 62 East 4th Street used to house Andy Warhol's gay-porn theater, but why are the top three floors empty today? [Gothamist]

Harlem: The woman at Prudential Douglas Elliman ready to bring a bunch of new retail to Harlem says you have to nod along with old-timers up there that the neighborhood has more history than others, even though that's not necessarily true. [NYT via Uptown Flavor]
Park Slope: Nabe native Jennifer Connelly and her actor hub, Paul Bettany, are selling their limestone mansion here (probably for $8.5 mil) and moving to a $7 mil penthouse in the West Village. [Brownstoner]
Rockaways: On May 12, ferry service will start between here and Pier 11 in lower Manhattan. That's cool, but have you ever biked across the Marine Parkway Bridge over Jamaica Bay that connects Brooklyn and the Rockaways? That's really cool. You should try it! [NYC.gov]
Upper East Side: Fancy locals around here are actually against the closing of a longtime 77th Street homeless shelter, saying that it does "remarkably good work." Maybe we all shouldn't be so quick to pigeonhole those Upper East Siders as richy-snooties. Maybe they're richy-snooties with a heart, hm? [NYP]

How Old Is Gina Gershon, Anyway?

Photo: WireImage

According to Wikipedia and IMDb, Gershon was born on June 10, 1962, which means she's now 45 years old. Then again, there's been confusion in the past, so we're not totally sure: "Last year, the Internet said I was 26," Gershon told Blender in 2003. "I'm not fucking 26! Then 53, and I got mad. Then all of a sudden I was 43 and I said, 'OK, whatever.'" (Blender, by the way, also went with "in her forties.")

Honestly, Gina, why so hush-hush about your birthday? We're Bound (har) to find the truth some day, and there's nothing to be ashamed of. We hope you're not worried about being judged for not looking exactly like you did in Showgirls — that was twelve and a half years ago! (And for the record, In Style reported then that you were 30.) You're still the same sultry brunette (even when you're stuffing your face with ribs), and it's not like there's any law against middle-age nudity. As your Love Ranch co-star Helen Mirren can attest, it can even win you awards! —Lori Fradkin

Coffee, Tea or Meat? [NYT]

Our ‘Gossip Girl’ Paparazzi Moment

Photo: Joe DeLessio

Photo: Joe DeLessio

Kate Moss's New Lingerie Ads Are Fraught With Politics

Photo: Courtesy of Agent Provocateur

But more important, Corre wanted to express his views on marriage and the Vatican:

"For me, the idea of marriage, of two people committing to one another, is incredibly beautiful. But at a certain point you hand over the control of that to a different organisation, to something that is disconnected, whether it's the Church or, if it's a civil wedding, the Government. I think perhaps people should question that because what if the authority concerned is corrupt and its intentions are not as pure as the ones you had in the first place?"

It's safe to say that he is far from enamoured of the Vatican, in particular. "I only went there recently. It is an outstanding and powerful place but at the same time it's absolutely revolting," he says fierily. "If those people wanted to do something in the world, to stop Third World debt, for example, then they could do that with the stroke of a pen. Everyone knows about the corruption issues that surround the Catholic church but you're not supposed to talk about it because it may be insulting to some people. Give me a break."

Yes, lingerie ads are such a great vehicles to deliver these kinds of messages to the public. If only we'd realized it sooner we'd totally be vlogging in our undies instead of blogging. Man, are we passé.

Related: Kate Moss Stars in A Weird New Internet Lingerie Movie

Lindsay Lohan

The Hold Steady Test Their Hometown Fans at Show

Photo: Tracy Morford

The, Um, Interactive Producer in a Workplace Affair

Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek at what your friends and neighbors are doing behind doors left slightly ajar. Today, the, um, Interactive Producer in a Workplace Affair: 27, female, Lower East Side, straight, married.

DAY ONE
1:07 a.m.: Lie in bed with pseudo boyfriend. Afterglow. What started off as a very close work friendship with an almost sweet sexual tension has turned into a full-blown affair.
1:15 a.m.: We kiss a lot like they're our last kisses, because "spring break," as we've been referring to the month that my husband has been away, is nearly over. We keep talking about a winding-down period — though it's not likely. We'll have to start fucking at work. For what it's worth, I've been "faithful" to Pseudo.

8:31 a.m.: I wake up wrapped in him. He pulls down the duvet to reveal his perfectly stiff cock. I pet his ridiculously soft head. Jump out of bed to shower — I'm not a big fan of weekday morning sex, as it overlaps with necessary sleep time.
8:34 a.m.: Texts from my husband, who's in Europe. Pangs of guilt? Not really. We've been married for just over a year, but coupled for seven. I have been unfaithful with several men since shortly after we wed. I think it's a reaction to being married so early on: I feel caged and want to make good with the looks I have going for me while they're still attractive.
12:34 p.m.: Inhale a burger, chased with a coke at Walkers in Tribeca. Sickness but deliciousness. Text Pseudo to see if his meeting is over. He mentioned an escape plan to his apartment this afternoon, and I want to make up for my lack of love of morning sex.
12:34 p.m.: My short, white linen shorts yield head turns.
12:44 p.m.: Pseudo texts to let me know he's drinking avec work people post meeting. No kisses on his bed/couch/against the fridge for me.
2:08 p.m.: Phone call with my husband about my small vacation to Paris next month. He asks if I'm really going alone. Oh, bless his intuition.
9:22 p.m.: At a Mexican restaurant patio with Pseudo and his friend, who looks like Vincent Gallo). Two Scotches later (who drinks Scotch at a Mexican restaurant?), and Pseudo and I are touching a lot under the table.

DAY TWO
12:58 a.m.: We both bike back to his apartment in Chelsea where we fuck, a touch sloppily. He always lets me come first. I do, then him, then sleep.
8:14 a.m.: Pseudo leaves to go on a small adventure outside the city — leaves me his keys. I think it turns him on to leave them with me. We'll see each other later to watch some playoff basketball.
11:51 a.m.: I shower, dress (in some clothes I had left here during the week — no ride of shame necessary), and leave to meet a friend at Freemans for brunch.
2:41 p.m.: Finish what ends up being a late lunch (longest wait for meal and bill, as per usual) and hop on my bike to head home.
8:14 p.m.: Out for the evening on my bicycle. A handsomely scruffy man biking behind me comments on my amazingly high-heeled shoes and how they looked to him while I was riding in front of him. Flattered, I graciously accept his love.
10:01 p.m.: At a work-people event to watch some basketball. Pseudo is there. I haven't seen him since early a.m. and I'm immediately riled up!
11:27 p.m.: He texts me from the seat next to me that the washrooms are large and private.
11:41 p.m.: We fuck against the bathroom wall. He comes. I just make sure I look hot in the shitty light. We both agree that my ass looks hot. No one was the wiser.
1:32 a.m.: Back at his place, we fuck from behind, my legs nearly completely in the splits position. We both come — I gush all over his legs.

DAY THREE
11:04 a.m.: I get dressed to leave and bike home. What started off with me wanting to watch him beat off before I leave turns into me undressing to a repeat of last night. We both come. (He really needs to change his sheets.)

DAY FOUR
9:02 a.m.: At the morning coffee place we visit in the a.. I hug Pseudo and tell him good morning, and the couple that owns the store likens their relationship to ours. Ha. He squeezes my right ass cheek. I love a morning ass grab.
5 p.m.: Smoke a joint with my painfully single co-worker. He would make a great, loyal husband, but he's too hard up.
5:50 p.m.: Husband's back. Attempted to feel some love, but not really into it owing to the last month of quasi-singledom/other relationship. Now stoned at work, booking "solo" vacation.
8:42 p.m.: TV watching on my couch at home with my husband, I give into a good ol' fashioned ass lick. He rims me. It's pretty hot, but I don't come.
11:23 p.m.: Sneak off to text (nothing special) to Pseudo. Anything excites me, because I miss our constant flurry of fucking.
11:25 p.m.: Very random text from Gallo. Not sure it means anything.
2:32 a.m.: I wonder if I can have sex with Gallo? Is that allowed? Probably not.
3:30 a.m.: Can't sleep.
4:30 a.m.: Why
5:30 a.m.: Am
6:30 a.m.: I
7:30 a.m.: …Waking up every effing hour on the hour, lying next to my husband? Nervous about my current state of affairs, no doubt. I try to masturbate, but my wrists are weak.

DAY FIVE
11 a.m.: Cement lunch plans with Gallo. Harmful enough.
2:35 p.m.: Funny e-mails back and forth with Pseudo addressed to our IT department, as we're certain they're reading all of our out-in-the-open correspondence:

"Hi, IT!
Oh, and for the Spanish contingent …
Ola, IT!
And of course, the Jewish members …
Shalom, IT!"

DAY SIX
2:50 p.m.: I call him at his desk from the work rec room. No one's around. He's down, so we fuck quietly (against the wall) in one of the bathrooms. Nice and hard. My thighs are in the chair position the entire time. Good workout for me, come-in-hand for him. All in all, perfectly and discreetly executed.

DAY SEVEN
7:31 p.m.: In the neighborhood, I bike over to Pseudo's place and let myself into his building (even though he's not home yet). Wait for him to come home.
8:32 p.m.: Over some playoff basketball and some great takeout sushi, we fuck really hard on his bed. I come and he unleashes on my back. He's sweating. So young and eager.
11:58 p.m.: After drinking a lot of beer at a bar with him and his friends, he bikes me halfway home.

Totals: Five acts of intercourse with orgasm with adulterer; two bathroom shags without orgasm; one successful attempt at masturbation through phone sex; one failed attempt at masturbation to cure insomnia owing to limp wrists; one rim from husband; one awkward hug with adulterer's friend.

George Lucas: Hero is 'just like us'

Agenda Sweepstakes: Indie Rock Trivia with Les Savy Fav

Photo: Pat Graham

Chloë Sevigny Really Wants Us to Think She's Crazy

We know you care.Photo: nytimes.com

Profile In Style: Chloe Sevigny [NYT]

Is the Problem With Men in Movies Today That They're Boys, or That They're Women?

Photoillustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images, Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images (woman)

Dargis's piece is mostly about Hollywood's increasingly egregious summer seasonal allergy to leading roles for women, but she notes that Apatow deftly skirts the issue by "turning his slackers and dudes into, well, leading ladies … These guys talk plenty dirty, but they're also kinder, gentler, softer and way weepier than most of their screen brethren. They ache just like women and break like little girls, but they always, always score."

We can't help but feel her larger point is undercut somewhat by her outright dismissals of this summer's movies that do star women (on Sex and the City: "as that HBO show’s fans know, its four bosomy buddies are really gay men in drag") and her two uncalled-for attacks on poor Brittany Murphy ("Cameron Diaz stars opposite Ashton Kutcher in the comedy What Happens in Vegas, in a role that shrieks Brittany Murphy five years ago," "[Anna] Faris, who could be the next Judy Holliday but without the right material will, alas, probably end up the next Brittany Murphy" — come on, Manohla, her career isn't THAT in the toilet!), but with regard to the emasculated male stars of Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, she's pretty much spot-on. Would it kill Apatow to make a comedy starring females for once? It's not like he doesn't have a ready stable of talented actresses all ready to go. We hope this happens, not only because it would be awesome, but also because Jason Segel is a horrifically ugly woman.

Is There a Real Woman in This Multiplex? [NYT]
Here Comes Everyboy, Again [NYT]

Earlier: Where Are the Roles for Superwomen?

The ‘Daily News’ Heils Hillary

Obama Won't Ask Wright for Advice [NYDN]

Scarlett Johansson, Ryan Reynolds engaged

‘Battlestar Galactica’: Look Out for Private Pyle

"Seriously, does anyone else smell earth?"Photo: Courtesy of Sci Fi

His steely calm was put to the test in “The Road Less Traveled,” trapped as he was between the increasingly kooky Starbuck and his concerned Demetrius crewmates who wanted to remove her from command. This season has been pitched a little too high emotionally, so it was a relief to watch Tahmoh Penikett (who plays Helo) deliver another terrifically modulated performance, balancing Starbuck’s nuttiness, the crew’s paranoia, and his own doubts about the wisdom of their wild-goose chase to find Earth. The episode was all about how people manage to maintain their basic decency in impossible situations, so who better to shine than the quietly heroic Helo?

They Have a Plan
After a few episodes of sitting around, Baltar got back to doing what he does best: making us wonder just what the frak he’s up to. The sincerity of his “one God” message still seems doubtful — isn’t he just doing it for the attention and for another chance to make Roslin’s life miserable? But just when we were ready to write off his snake-oil-salesman routine, he reached out to Chief, who was seriously threatening to go Private Pyle on us with his shaved head and suicidal manner. Their scene in Chief’s quarters was so affecting that it gave us pause: Was Baltar’s genuine display of humility and compassion toward a man who hates him just an act? And by this point, does Baltar even know when he’s acting?

Love Boat Galactica
Friday’s episode brought the return of Starbuck’s probable true love: Leoben, a.k.a. Number Two. Struggle as Anders and Lee might to win her heart, what they don’t get is that the least effective strategy for trying to make her happy is … trying to make her happy. Number Two’s style of wooing is a clever combination of cocky certainty in their compatibility and a sly ability to declaw her by preying on insecurities. Previously, he’s pounced on Starbuck’s complicated relationship with her abusive mother and manipulated her buried maternal instinct by tricking her into thinking they’d had a child while she was imprisoned on New Caprica. And yet, as she lurches closer to the abyss, he seems to be the one person who can pull her back with his vague promises about helping her discover her destiny. Even more troubling, he seems like he really cares for her. No wonder we relate to Helo: He’s one of the few characters we know we can still trust. —Tim Grierson

Where Are All Our Lady Gurus?

Photo: Getty Images

The Wall Street Journal has published a list of the most influential business thinkers based on Google hits, media mentions, and academic citations. The roster includes psychologists, journalists, and chief executives, but there's one thing it doesn’t have: women. There are no people of the lady persuasion in the top twenty. When the list was originally compiled in 2003, it included one woman, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, among its top twenty, but she has fallen in the new ranking. We figured Suze Orman would be a shoo-in considering the financial expert has basically been knighted by Oprah. So who are the gurus secretly controlling the economy? The top five are as follows:

1. Strategy guru Gary Hamel
2. Times columnist Thomas Friedman
3. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates
4. New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell
5. Harvard professor Howard Gardner

Journal say what? Thomas Friedman is more powerful than Bill Gates? We have highly underestimated the Mustache of Understanding. As for Gladwell, God help you if you take his advice. That hair alone is untrustworthy. —Noelle Hancock

New Brand of Business Gurus Rises [WSJ]

Santogold: Not the Ideal Dog Sitter

Photo: WireImage

"John Williams and I have a word we use when we have something we think the audience will love. Maybe it'll be a little over the top, and we ask each other, 'Are we being too shameless?' In a way I think we've both grown kind of proud of being shameless." —Steven Spielberg [NYT]

"We had statutory rape up until three weeks ago." —Peter Berg on the struggles to keep Hancock at a PG-13 rating [NYT]

"There are fans on the Internet who have done artist's versions of what they think it will look like, and I can tell you this: They're thinking small; Chris is going way farther than people think." —Aaron Eckhart on The Dark Knight [LAT]

"It's not a James Bond film. We're not chasing a guy on a snowboard. Not that that wouldn't have been cool." —David Duchovny on The X-Files: I Want to Believe [LAT]

Riccardo Muti is to direct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Famed actress investigates 'Porno'

Neville Brothers reunite to close Jazz Fest

Walters: 'Book makes me feel very exposed'

Celebs Flaunt Some Fashion Blunders

Marvel turns `Iron Man' into gold with $100M-plus debut

'Speed Racer' Leads the Way to Anime