Karl Lagerfeld with his bodyguard, Sebastian Jondeau.Photo: Getty Images, Courtesy of Securite-Routiere

"Ooooh! Faked ya out!"Photo: Getty Images

From left: Chanel, Armani Privé, and Anne Valérie Hash.Photo, imaxtree

Photo, Getty Images

• The Hydrotint Duo by Pixi is an all-in-one quick fix: It's a tinted moisturizer, lip tint, cheek tint, sunscreen and anti-aging product. It's also waterproof. Sounds weird. [British Vogue]

MAKEUP
• Almay signed Leslie Bibb as its new spokesperson for the beauty brand. Now you'll pay attention to Almay because you care so much about her, right? [Cosmetic News]

• L'Oréal created an eye-shadow palette of four bronze shades called "Kerry's Bronzes," named after actress Kerry Washington. Well, that came out of nowhere. [Bella Sugar]

• The makeup at the Dior couture show paired baby blues and soft peaches with sharp black liquid eyeliner. It's not as over-the-top as past seasons, so if you, say, don't draw new eyebrows on your forehead you can actually rock it. [SugarShock Beauty]

FRAGRANCE
• L'Oréal is buying YSL Beauté from the PPR group. That means your Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney, Oscar de la Renta, Boucheron, and Ermenegildo Zegna fragrances are all owned by L'Oréal now. No harm in knowing where your money's going. [Cosmetic News]

Madonna Probably Sleeping With Lil Wayne Too

Photo: Getty Images

Wall-E Can Too Be Nominated for Best Picture: In a post yesterday, Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil argued that Wall-E is unlikely to snag a Best Picture nomination because animated films almost never do. But this blog notes a few of the jarring similarities between Pixar's latest and Beauty and the Beast, the only non-live-action movie to receive that honor. For example, both feature stuff. [A Blog Next Door]

Another Emmy Short List: Gold Derby has a list of the semi-finalists for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. Surprisingly, Katherine Heigl is not on it. [Gold Derby/LAT]

More Films Doing Well at Box Office: Variety today celebrates the unexpected blockbuster success of movies like Sex and the City (and the shocking non-failure of The Happening) and notes that 2008's box-office revenues are up 4 percent over last summer's, the best year on record. [Variety]

Photoshop Contest Gone Wrong: Contrary to the speculation of the jokesters at Gizmodo, we think a Knocked Up sequel starring Dustin Diamond would be a terrific idea. [Gizmodo]

America’s Wool Hopes Rest on Designer Tom Scott

In Tom Scott’s showroom with pieces from his fall 2008 collection Photo: Melissa Hom

Win or lose come Thursday, Scott will definitely be showing a spring collection in September. And he let us in on some hints. “I’m thinking about the idea of a uniform more and more for spring. Lots of jumpers. Also I’m working with five or six new colors, not just my more traditional muted ones. I also just got back from a week in China — that may have an influence.” Is the next great American designer right in front of us? We're guessing so. —Kendall Herbst

You Didn’t See It Theaters. Just Rent ‘Drillbit Taylor’

We won’t go so far as to chastise you for missing the Seth Rogen co-penned Drillbit Taylor in theaters. But we’ll gently prod you toward its DVD release, not as much for Owen Wilson’s endearingly pathetic turn as an ex–Army Ranger turned bully-bodyguard as for the kids: the portly Troy Gentile and the beanpole Nate Hartely, rehashing Superbad’s screwup-good-kid best-friend dichotomy with every ounce of that film’s genuineness. Oh, and one deeply satisfying, totally insane final fight scene.

In Pop, She Flopped: Can Jess Go Country?

Angelina's Doctor Is In

Behold, the Mighty, Giant Bouncy Balls

Let’s Play Guess Tomorrow’s ‘Post’ Headline About Madonna and A-Rod

Photo: Getty Images

• DRESS YOU UP IN MY GLOVE
• STRAY-ROD STRIKE TWO
• YANKEE CANOODLE
• UPPER BREAST SIDE
• HUMAN NATURE
• MADGE'S MARRIAGE ON BORDERLINE
• WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR THE GUY

What do you guys think? You're always so good at this. You know, we'd really just be happy with a plain and simple: " MADONNA – IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU BACK."

Madonna Sleeping With Alex Rodriguez??? Get Your Pun Headlines Ready… [Best Week Ever]

A Bidding Frenzy for Vintage YSL Pieces?

A Yves Saint Laurent for Dior evening dress from 1958 and a YSL necklace from 1990 are both up for grabs.Images courtesy of Christies.com

"The death of Yves Saint Laurent and the fact that he is not creating any more collections will definitely change some things," Didier Ludot, owner of the highly esteemed eponymous vintage boutique in Paris, told us. "It's very rare a lady would sell her vintage haute couture YSL — it's a good time to buy such pieces." According to him, the Christie's folks have done some major lowballing on their estimates. They estimate a YSL for Dior evening dress from 1958 will bring in $1,000 to $1,500, but Ludot thinks 8,000 euros (or $12,600) is more like it. Christie's also expects a piece of costume jewelry from Mr. Saint Laurent's last year at the house's helm to bring in $1,000 to $1,500, but Ludot says 3,000 to 4,000 euros (or $4,700 to $6,300) "is more realistic." We can't wait to watch these numbers soar — let the bidding begin.

Lot Finder - Yves Saint Laurent [Christie's]

Is the Met a Death Trap of Plummeting Sculpture? An Exhibit Designer Explains

Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Retrofile/Getty Images, Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum

So seriously: Does this kind of thing happen all the time?
In major museums, rarely — the insurance values are so high that there's money to do the engineering studies in advance. But this is the second time in a couple of years that this has happened at the Met — a much larger sculpture came down a couple of years ago.

So what are they gonna do about it?
Given the scale and scope of how much stuff they put up and take down every year, I assume they'll be going back through their collection and doing a new engineering study. There are thousands and thousands of pieces, and it takes so little for this to happen — a few screws broken, or a bolt missing a stud in a wall.

The piece went up in 1996. Did you work there then?
I'm not sure. I think it was shortly before I joined the Met.

Is this your fault?
I'm sure it was not my fault. That phrase is being uttered in many quarters around the museum right now. There are so many people involved — conservators, designers, engineers…

How could they not know when it happened? Don't they have cameras everywhere?
No, definitely not. The galleries are as far from The Thomas Crown Affair as you can possibly imagine. There are some cameras at important access locations, but there aren't even motion detectors in every space, necessarily. Especially in a single ordinary gallery in a suite of galleries, probably surrounded by eight other rooms. I am surprised nobody heard it, though — it would echo incredibly through the institution. But everyone always forgets how big the Met is! Like ten years ago a worker fell through a shaft and died and nobody knew where he went for several days.

Earlier: Literally Breaking! Fifteenth-Century Terra-cotta Sculpture Falls Off Wall at Met

Scuttled by Officials, Suburban Chicago 'Ragtime' Might Sing Yet (Playbill)

Rogan Gregory’s Favorite Ecofriendly Fashion and Beauty Items

If you live on this planet, you've by now been swamped with so many organic products your head must be swimming. From bags to lipsticks to clothes — where can a novice green shopper turn? Well, we hit up an ecofriendly expert, designer Rogan Gregory, to help guest-edit our latest Shop-A-Matic. Together we found 93 products that are certified environmentally friendly, not to mention totally chic. We've rounded them up, from clothes to accessories to furniture and beauty products. So go ahead, be green. Here are a few of our favorite picks.

Clockwise from top, Converse shoe, Teich clutch, Mollie Dash bracelet, Korres guest kit, balloon dress, high-waisted skirt.

Scallop Clutch by Teich
Price: $200
Why we like it: Made using organic cotton, this neutral clutch is charming and laid-back.

Five-Strand Bracelet by Mollie Dash
Price: $115
Why we like it: Brooklyn-based artist Mollie Dash works with recycled materials, most of which she finds on the street. She also uses cotton and linen cord, rather than leather.

Guest Kit by Korres
Price: $34
Why we like it: Korres products are all made from almost 100 percent natural ingredients. This kit's small size is ideal for traveling.

Balloon Dress by Kaori Yamazaki
Price: $280
Why we like it: Made from organic cotton, this dress is comfortable and stylish. You'll find it at Ekovaruhuset on the Lower East Side, a store that sells only ecofriendly items.

Recycled-Wool High-Waisted Skirt by H&M
Price: $60
Why we like it: A high-waisted skirt is so now. And this one uses recycled wool, so it's not wasteful. It's too hip for its own good. —Sharon Clott

Artist Carol John’s Paintings Are Explosive

Carol John’s Untitled (2008).Courtesy of Ivy Brown Gallery

Workers put the final touches to the red carpet in front of the festival opera house in Baureuth

Edgar Allen Poe’s House to Get More Ravenlike

East New York: Due to an infusion of rookie cops, crime is down here and in other traditionally rough Brooklyn hoods like Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, with murder down as much as 20 percent. [NYDN]
Fordham: Edgar Allen Poe's old country house (which gets 4,000 visitors a year compared to 25,000 in 1923!) will get a quarter-mil fix-up, complete with a new, wing-roofed $2.3 mil visitor's center inspired by "The Raven." Dudes, make sure to dig up that creepy tell-tale heart when you do the reno! [Talk Bronx]
Garment District: At the top of the super-tall, Deco-era Nelson Building, there is a "hatch" that you have to climb up if you want to see the amazing view over its edge. Wouldn't it be cool to fill it with water and make a rooftop pool out of it? [Cleverest]

Lower Manhattan: Santiago Calatrava was designing the jawlike roof of his World Trade Center transit hub to open every September 11 to let in a symbolic ray of light, but it's cheaper to design it to stay shut, so that's the new plan. [Crain's]
Park Slope: Before Evangelists give Slope children free candy and coloring books in a playground here, they ask if the kids have accepted Jesus as their personal savior. Kids who exclaim "F*ck yeah!" get extra candy. [Curbed]
Upper West Side: A construction worker became obsessed with a woman who lived in a building he was working on and rappelled down from the roof and through her bathroom window when she wasn't home. He was busted and is out on $5,000 bail, but not before buying the woman a series of unappreciated cuddly stuffed bears. [NYP]
Willets Point: This auto-biz district of Queens, which the local community board voted last night to support putting under the city's massive redevelopment plan, isn't blighted, as the city argues, but "vital and alive." And also a great place to get rice, beans, and an empanada washed down with orange soda (see tasty-looking pic). [Vanishing NY]

Outrage! Appeals Exhausted; Boy George Will Not Entertain New York's Strongest

Photo: Getty Images

We're not usually that political at Vulture, but in this case we must speak out. This clearly goes all the way to the top, as we can only assume that Condoleezza Rice personally made this decision. What possible rationale could be behind this outrage to deny a visa to a popular entertainer, just because he's recently been arrested for chaining a man to his wall? We imagine that the DSNY is already mobilizing its 2,230 collection trucks for the smelliest march on Washington in recorded history, and we're happy to throw Vulture's nearly unlimited resources behind this protest. The State Department's discriminatory policy is garbage! (We're thinking of trademarking that protest slogan.) Free Boy George! Entertain New York's Strongest!

Visa Appeals Exhausted, Boy George Buries U.S. Tour [E!]

Earlier: Boy George Answers Prayers of NYC’s Sanitation Workers
Boy George Denied U.S. Visa, Won’t Play for Garbage Workers

Report: Jolie in hospital to give birth

James Worthington DeMolet Would Cross-dress for Rodarte

James at his favorite store, Number (N)ine.Photo: Melissa Hom

What did you used to do at Teen Vogue?
I handled the closet, and it’s a large market from Prada to Quicksilver. I think what I’m best at is to keep everyone calm. Things are going to be lost; it’s not going to be perfect.

Along with editorials, you also do some celebrity styling, right?
I’ve been working with a lot of musical clients. The first and most noteworthy is Madonna. I was the assistant costume designer for Madonna’s latest promotional tour at Roseland Ballroom. It was nuts. Nineteen-hour days.

What outfits did you come up with?
The thing with her is that with each album the look is predetermined already. This time it was all about a high lace-up boot. With magazines, you don’t always get the samples you want. But with her, Dolce & Gabbana sent almost an entire line of shoes for her to choose from. This shade of fuchsia, that shade of fuchsia…

What celebrities do you think have great style?
I’m always drawn to Selma Blair. She’s sort of daring. I wish her career would go in that direction with her. And I’m fine being cliché, but Mary-Kate and Ashley. They are more visionary than any stylist working in Hollywood.

Where did you grow up shopping?
Target. And my grandmother, this crazy character, worked the Bargain Box. My sister firmly believes I wore velvet bell-bottoms to my first day of first grade. And where could you possibly get bell-bottoms to fit a first-grader? Bargain Box.

An image from DeMolet's favorite shoot in i-D,
featuring Cole Mohr.Photo by Martien Mulder

Describe your personal style.
Recently, gothic schoolboy. I’ve been wearing a lot of black polos. It’s almost a uniform.

What designers do you love?
Alex Wang. He’s innovative and knows his customer. Girls know they can wear an Alex Wang dress and it’s a whole look. I love Chris Benz. He has a great understanding of color.

Where do you shop?
Number (N)ine. And I buy a lot of Dior Homme on eBay. I think Hedi Slimane is incredible, and it fits me really well.

Let's go shopping!Photo: Melissa Hom

What trends do you love for fall?
I’m living for gothic. Rodarte is incredible. The shoes are amazing. I’ve never gone towards cross-dressing, but if they made them in my size … And I love fur. I was going to one of the shows with an editor, wearing this large fur Marc Jacobs hat. And she said, “I think this is a little early in your career to be looking like a crazy person.” And I was like, “I think this is the only time that I can do this!”

What are you lusting after right now?
I just moved to Brooklyn, and the apartment has a back deck. So I really want to have decking put down.

What should every woman have in her closet?
Alexander Wang. And black tights. —Kendall Herbst

Dick Grasso Gets to Keep His $187.5 Million

Photo: Getty Images

The suit against Grasso was one of Spitzer's signature ball-busting causes. We hope he doesn't hear about it while he is on that family vacation in Southeast Asia, because it's bound to put a real bee in his paddy hat.

Grasso Wins Dismissal of Suit Over $190 Million Pay [Bloomberg]

Related: Private Dick [NYM]

‘Weeds’: Blah Blah Booyah!

"So you say your husband's stick-shift is broken?"Photo courtesy of Showtime

“Silas, look,” says Uncle Andy. They’re squatting in Andy’s foil-insulated drug van. “Life is just blah blah blah. You hope for blah and sometimes you find it. But mostly it’s blah. And waiting for blah. And hoping you were right about the blahs you made. And then just when you think you’ve got the whole blah-damn thing figured out, and surrounded by the ones you blah, death shows up. And blah. Blah. Blah.”

In the words of the oracle Shane: “That was good.”

And so we face fate. Last episode, Bubby, looking close to death but not like she was actually dying, gurgled “kill me,” getting everyone in a fluster about the nature of life and death. “I think that Bubby has, that you have the right to choose your death,” now proclaims Shane, all (in the words of Granddad) “eyeballs and elbows and ready to play God.”

But the family chooses Nancy — the daughter-in-law Bubby hates, not to mention the person least likely to be thrown into a crisis over pulling the plug on an old lady — to play God. Nancy is doing pretty well ignoring her conscience. While Andy and his father are bonding over who should do the honors, she’s wearing a sun visor and peach cardigan while driving around in a massive SUV with a Mexican man stuffed in her trunk and bags of weed lining every surface.

It’s the sort of scene that triggers our angst: While Nancy indulges her criminal genius, her sons are grappling with questions that lead boys into self medication (medicine is something Nancy has plenty of). “Yeah, sure, death is no big deal because life is just blah blah blah,” rants Silas. “We don’t have much family; do we really want to kill one off?” But Kohan brings it home, giving purpose to the nihilism we’re reveling in (yes, we're aware of the contradiction). “Shane, get Mommy a pillow,” calls Nancy, plug pulled and Bubby still breathing. As Nancy settles in for a night by the deathbed, we are left with her sweet words to a dying lady: “I pray that you will rest easy, that you will not fear, that you will have peace and that you will thank God that it has come at last.” Nothing too deep, just simple words that say all there is to say about the blah blah blah of life. Oh, and taking care of number one: “Please don’t be angry with me.” —Emma Pearse

Video: Galliano’s Walk and More From the Dior Couture Show

Dior Haute Couture [Telegraph]

Related: What the Critics Said and What They Really Meant About Dior Couture
Fall '08 Paris Couture: Christian Dior Slideshow

Teen heartthrob shows adult side

Literally Breaking! Fifteenth-Century Terra-cotta Sculpture Falls Off Wall at Met

The sculpture, in better days.Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

According to a press release, sometime "late last night or early this morning," the fifteenth-century terra-cotta relief of Saint Michael the Archangel by Andrea della Robbia pictured above fell off the wall above a doorway and hit the floor in the Metropolitan Museum's European Paintings and Decorative Arts Galleries. The sculpture is, apparently, not irrevocably harmed, but seriously — this is the kind of thing that happens at our apartment, not at the freaking Met. What if that had happened during the day, and it landed not on the floor but on your head? We guess the fact that it's St. Michael would mean you'd be guaranteed to go to Heaven, but still. We hope whoever the incoming director is, he or she is ready to answer the city's demand: Is the Met a death trap???

The Five Stars to Watch This Summer

Is Stephen Baldwin the First Actor to Threaten to Leave the Country If Obama Wins?

In the above clip, Stephen Baldwin announces that if Barack Obama is elected president, he will leave the country. The boast came in response to Fox News' Laura Ingraham's comment that Baldwin's brother Alec had long ago promised to flee the country rather than deal with Republicans in power.

"I just want to say right now that it's official, if Barack gets nominated, I'll be moving out of the country," he joked, crossing his fingers. (We assume by "nominated," he means "gets elected.") "Now watch all the media have fun with that!" They are having fun already! The Huffington Post and the Observer are already reporting his jest in earnest. Hey — joke or not, it's good publicity for his friend Laura Ingraham's new FNC show!

Earlier: The Baldwin Brothers: Squabbling Over Gay Rights?

For Winehouse, it's one thing after another

Taz Arnold Isn't Just ‘Fascinating’ and ‘Cubist’ — He's a Designer!

Taz ArnoldPhoto: Getty Images

Arnold is a fashionisto in his own right. He told Joel Marasigan in April 2007:

When you see me dressed tripped out it’s because I grew up in a certain era. I’m mixing and matching different extremes. So when you see me its not some random craziness—there’s a history behind all that stuff. And for the record I’m not a fashionable person. Fashion is a pre-packaged style. I’m more a style person. It’s about being original and being an individual. My look is my personal style.

Arnold also just launched his solo music career, and you can scope out more of his style in the music video for "Vote Obama" here. On behalf of our commenters, you're welcome, Cathy!

MEET: TAZ ARNOLD [Fresco Daily]
Scoop from LA: Performer/Music Producer/Fashionista Taz "TI$A" Arnold Creating Clothing Line for Ven [blip.tv]

Related: Who Is Kanye West’s Mystery Fashion Friend?

Seth Rogen’s ‘Green Hornet’ Movie Sounds a Little Boring

Photo: FilmMagic

"Going back and listening to those songs is kind of titillating for me because listening to the person I was makes me feel a little sexier, a little cooler, a little more dangerous, a little Angelina Jolie, which I don't mind so much right now." —Liz Phair on listening to Exile in Guyville [Pitchfork]

"The thing people were going back and forth with was we'd been doing what we were doing for the longest [but] we couldn't get cartoons and things that the white guys were getting." —Ralph Tresvant on the rumored feud between New Edition and New Kids on the Block [People]

"Nas isn't interested in selling out. He's interested in being true, and that fits with our brand." —Fila president John Epstein on signing Nas to a brand partnership [Billboard]

"I have a sense of humor like a Brit, so I thought people would appreciate that." —Jay-Z on his Glastonbury set [MTV]

`Trumbo' shines light on writer's powerful words (AP)

Michael Strahan: ‘If You Need Any Actor, I’m Your Starring Man’

Photo: Getty Images

"Listen, if you need any actor, then hey, I'm your starring man. I would love to get into that. It seems like a fun business and something different, a new challenge for me. I am looking for a new challenge right now. I think Will Smith and Denzel Washington are incredible. I think Russell Crowe is an incredible actor. I liked watching Jamie Foxx transform into Ray Charles."

Heh, heh. Michael Strahan? We weren't sure we bought it. Until we read this quote from Josh Schwartz, the Gossip Girl mastermind who also created Chuck: "When the cameras rolled, Michael was really, really funny." Wait, really? "Everyone on the set was completely blown away," Schwartz said. "Broadcasting or acting, he's got a future." Well, well, well! If Terry Bradshaw could kick off his acting career with a cameo on Blossom, we don't see why Chuck wouldn't work for Strahan. —Shira Levine

Related: Strahan films cameo on NBC's "Chuck" [NJ.com]

Kanye West to Make Men’s Shoes for Louis Vuitton

Go ahead, dig his style.Photo: Getty Images

And lest you think West was making the rounds at the men's shows just to be seen — he was actually researching his own men's fashion line. And we ladies aren't out of luck! West revealed he'll release a women's line for fall. And here we thought Dior couture was the highlight of the morning. If only Louis Vuitton would announce a line of Kanye West sunglasses à la Pharrell's, our morning would truly be complete. There just isn't enough Kanye eyewear on Canal Street these days.

Fashion Scoops: THE SHOE FITS [WWD]

Report: Madonna Hosting Late-Night Visits From A-Rod

Bonnie Fuller Made $2.4 Million in 2008, As AMI Faces Bleak Future

MEDIA
• Today in Bonnie Fuller news: The former American Media Inc. executive had a total compensation of $2.4 million for 2008, compared to the $2.1 million she was making in 2007. That's a pretty penny more than what CEO David Pecker raked in. Meanwhile, AMI will have to refinance before 2009 or start selling off properties. [WWD]
• Media squabble! New York Times columnist Gail Collins calls out the broadsheet's public editor, Clark Holyt, for his "assault" on Maureen Dowd. [NYT]
• Remember Culture + Travel magazine? It was the brainchild of James Truman, the former editorial director of Condé Nast. Well, the magazine, which still exists (although Truman is no longer at the helm), is cutting back its circulation. [NYO]

FINANCE
• Lehman Brother's shares tumbled 11 percent yesterday on speculation that Barclays might make a bid for the firm. [Business Week]
• To combat the negative news swirling around about battered UBS, the firm is giving its bankers an extra day off over the weekend. Lucky them. Meanwhile, the Feds are asking the Swiss bank to dish the names of its clients who used the firm to avoid taxes. [NYP, WSJ]
• Poor John Thain. The Merrill Lynch CEO raised $10 billion in capital to make sure his bank weathers the current crisis, but that just might not be good enough. It looks like he might have to start shopping the firm's stakes in Bloomberg, BlackRock, and other assets. [NYP]

REAL ESTATE
• Gloomy news for ground zero: The National September 11 Memorial and Museum will not be completed until 2011, and other lower-Manhattan projects are more expensive and more time-consuming than originally planned. [City Room/NYT]
• Ciao, Cipriani! The classy caterer will move out of the former Toy Building on Madison Square Park in 2009. [NYP]
• Bikers lack the real estate they need to park their bikes around the city. About 131,000 people ride bikes daily, but only 5,000 bike racks exist. [NYT]

LAW
• New York Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman wrote to the Times on Sunday, saying, "I have wasted 25 years of my life by serving on the bench." Ouch. Someone unfreeze judicial salaries! [NYT]
• New York's Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Anglo-Scots boutique Dickson Minto have formed a strategic alliance to boost the firm's global network. [Law.com]
• Did a New York Court of Claims judge violate bar rules by appearing in a Florida case without registering? [Above the Law]

Kanye West Mounts Viral Campaign to Repopularize Drinking

You Guys, We Should Drink More Vodka: Part 2 [Videogum]

Next 'Top Model': Amputee or Blind?

‘The New Republic’ Tries to Read Caroline Kennedy’s Mind

Photo: Getty Images

It's obvious what Caroline Kennedy's endorsement has done for the Obama campaign, Michelle Cottle writes in the coming issue of The New Republic. But what is the Obama campaign doing for Caroline Kennedy? Cottle thinks she knows:

It's been 45 years since the fall of Camelot, and the family brand has begun to fade. A growing portion of the electorate was born after the deaths of John and Bobby and has a tough time relating to the Kennedy fixation of its elders. Under such conditions, what's a committed custodian of the family legacy to do? Hitch her clan's wagon to the hottest political star in decades. With a little luck, even as that old Camelot magic rubs off on Obama, the candidate's energy and relevance will help sustain the Kennedy brand for a little longer.

Oh, Michelle, so cynical. The TNR writer says that she doesn't mean "to suggest that Kennedy Schlossberg has no identity beyond that of Kennedy custodian," but that's essentially what she does in her story, "External Flame." "In a lifetime of looking out for the Kennedy name, attaching herself to Obama could turn out to be her most important endeavor yet — allowing her to bolster the family brand in the minds of young voters and thus secure it a role in the party's future," Cottle writes. "Because, if Barack Obama is crazy for the Kennedys, they must really be something special, right?"

Hm. The Camelot political legacy has faded out? Caroline is the only custodian of her family legacy? Guess we'll have to add Michelle Cottle's name to the list of journalists who think Ted Kennedy is already dead.

External Flame [New Republic]

'Mamma Mia!' Photos from the red carpet

Russian label Irfe rises from its ashes in Paris (AP)

AP - The history of Russian fashion label Irfe reads like a rollicking bestseller, but for designer Olga Sorokina, it's a fairytale come true.

'Roxbury' Star Chris Kattan Marries Model Sunshine Tutt

Dr. Drew: Celebs Need More Rehab

Rosie O'Donnell Laughs Off Report

Prosecutors: Paparazzo to Blame in Spears Foot Roll-Over

Ex-'American Idol' Finalist Paris Bennett Pregnant

Divorce Trial Between Brinkley and Husband Set to Begin

FOX411: Promote Yourself

Dr. Drew: Addicted Celebs 'Very, Very Difficult' to Treat

Pop Tarts: Tara Reid Upholds Reputation

Lindsay Lohan's Dad Takes DNA Test; Photos of Girl Emerge

Commentary: I admit it -- I love 'Family Guy'!