Wait — Dane Cook is in this movie?Courtesy of Paramount

Courtesy of Paramount

Samuel Israel.Photo:

"God, just look at that face!"Photo: Getty Images

Man skirts on the spring 2009 runways of, from left, John Galliano, Comme des Garçons, and Etro.Photo: imaxtree

Photo illustration: Getty Images and NASA

Photo: Nypost.com

Photo: WireImage

Jurassic Fight Club

History Channel
Tuesdays
9 p.m.

On the Web

Reuters - Even a dynamic duo needs its heroes. That point was made clear Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl when Gnarls Barkley turned to Radiohead, covering the British group's "Reckoner" during its encore. That surprise move turned out to be the highlight of the act's pleasant but (Reuters)

Reuters - Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of machines are uncannily similar to Chinese originals and were undoubtedly derived from them, a British amateur historian says in a If you're anything like us, you're eagerly awaiting your screening party for the Olympics gymnastics competition. The velvet leotards, the flips, the landings — it's divine! To whet your Olympics appetite up even more, Guest of a Guest has scored a peek at Ralph Lauren's Olympics uniforms. The opening-ceremony look consists of classy navy blazers with white driving hats and canvas walking shoes; for the closing ceremonies, it's classic polos and sleeveless sweaters. It's all very snazzy! Now excuse us while we return to stocking up on red, white, and blue M&M's.

A First Look At The American Olympic Team Uniform By Ralph Lauren [Guest of a Guest]

Grammer Hospitalized After Heart Attack

Nike Pulls Ads That Make Them Look Like Homophobes

Photo: Nike

Nike Pulls Hyperdunk Ads Amid Criticism [CNN]
Nike's In-Your-Face Hyperdunk Ads Rejected [AdFreak/Adweek]

Music Review: New Motown set covers no new ground (AP)

Fox Business Network to Outpace CNBC, Decade by Decade

That's right. It could get older.Photo: Getty Images

By then, Murdoch will be 146 years old, and on his seventh wife, if current trends hold (and assuming no growth in CNBC's numbers). Good thing he's in excellent health.

Zing! Better watch out, Jeff. You'll have those Fox flacks after you if you keep this up.

Fox Business Just Seven Decades From Victory [Mixed Media/Portfolio]

Brooke Hogan's Birthday Surprise for Nick

Kings of Leon Get Down on All Fours

Photo: Getty Images

2. Bost & Bim, Brisa Roche, and Lone Ranger, "Jamaican Boy" (Estelle cover)
In an attempt to make a potential song of the summer even more summery, this trio remakes Estelle's single and sets it in a place a slightly warmer than Brooklyn. [Airboy]

3. Santogold and Diplo, "Right Brigade" (Bad Brains cover)
When (ahem) acquiring a new album online, it's easy to miss out on that CD-era curio, the hidden track. That's a shame because this one from the new Santogold-Diplo mix tape is absolutely scorching. [Pretty Much Amazing]

4. Mos Def, "Twilight Speedball"
When Mos says "it ain't all good" on this track off his forthcoming Ecstatic, he might be talking about the current state of his musical career. Fortunately, it sounds like his rapping is catching back up with his acting. [Attorney Street]

5. Cold War Kids, "Something Is Not Right With Me"
There's definitely something not quite right with Cold War Kids, but that's a big part of their messy, desperate appeal. This recently released track from their upcoming album is all wrong, but in a good way. [Tashed] —Ehren Gresehover

Miley Cyrus: The Final Days of Hannah Montana?

Ween Redefine Higher Education at McCarren Show

Duuuuude!Photo: Ryan Rivadeneyra

Transformers 2 Costar Along for Shia's Rough Ride (E! Online)

E! Online - Isabel Lucas may have earned herself a slave for life on the Transformers 2 set.

Trey Not Impotent After All!

Photo: Getty Images

"I've got a little set of golf clubs all ready," MacLachlan, 48, told the New York Post earlier this year. "Just not sure if the club head covers will be pink or blue."

Desperate Housewives' Kyle MacLachlan, Wife Welcome Baby Boy [Us/The Daily]

Earlier: Ethan Hawke's Ex-Nanny Gives Birth To Half-Famous Child

Author Phenom Brunonia Barry Takes Salem to the Beach

Brunonia Barry’s novel—the first of three books this year about her spooky hometown of Salem—concerns a family of fortune-tellers, not witches. But she couldn't have seen this one coming: Barry self-published her suspenseful and literary catnip-for-book-clubs novel only to have it picked up at auction for a $2 million advance and put out as a potential summer blockbuster. And while it’s surprisingly gritty for having “lace” in the title, we’re calling this now as the beach read of ’08.

Amy Winehouse Taken to E.R. After Rx Reaction

Justin to Ashton: Go Truck Yourself!

Jude Law’s Dior Homme Sport Commercial Debuts

Jude Law for Dior Homme SportPhoto: Courtesy of Dior Homme

MAKEUP
• M.A.C makeup signed Indian designer Manish Arora to do a limited-edition color collection called Eyes on Manish. It won't be available here, though. Why, M.A.C, why? [WWD]

• Armani's fall "Python" eye-shadow palette weaves three shades into a pattern that looks like python skin. Way to trick it out, Armani. [Makeup Divas]

• Here's a peek at the Marimekko for Avon eye palettes, complete with the graphic flowers and interesting colors. [Beauty in Real Life]

• John Lewis beauty counters in the U.K. report self-tanner sales are up 51 percent, nail-polish sales are up 34 percent, and designer lipstick sales are up 20 percent. It's because of the whole "indulging in little things during hard economic times" thing. [Guardian]

SKIN
• The market for high-end baby skin and hair care is, dare we say, booming. Parents are increasingly willing to spend more for products with zero chemicals. [Street via Jezebel]

Jessica Simpson Shops With a Dog—but You Can't

‘Generation Kill’: Now We See Why Everyone Thinks This Is So Great

Photo courtesy of HBO Films

Bad
The Marines keep making do: They still don’t have those damn batteries, and there’s a shortage (tee-hee) of lube for people’s guns. Even without enemy meddling, chaos lurks. Two bad guys in black pajamas are dispatched with, but Hit Man 1 still think he needs to rain hell on some huts. (He gets the coordinates wrong.) Godfather congratulates him for bringing the fight to the enemy. An informant is not evaluated; he is given chem lights to plant wherever he likes, so that we may later rain hell upon those places. Brad, Ray, Trombley, and the Scribe take friendly fire from reservists in the night and lose their water. Same blue-on-blue fire cuts through a tractor-trailer’s tire, and when the instruction comes to leave the truck behind, it is destroyed, and its load of C-4, M-16s, and Claymore mines looted. Dark, nervous Trombley assassinates “innocent camels.”

Worse
Whoops — those weren’t just innocent camels Trombley lit up. He strafed two boys. (And this is disturbing: He apparently used some kind of superhuman aim to successfully target them from so far away, and while bouncing along in the Hummer.) Their anguished families drag them to the encampment to beg for treatment — which Godfather refuses for the one who is dying, because he will not medevac him out when they’re so far behind enemy lines. (Being so far behind enemy lines is, of course, the point for Godfather, who obsesses over “getting back in the game,” as if they’d somehow been left out of the war up until this point.) He makes a remarkable speech, aided by a map, to explain all this, but at the end, after all the talk of their position, how everyone is here on a voluntary basis, you hardly know which way is up. —Nick Catucci

Related: Stark Sands on Fratty Behavior on the ‘Generation Kill’ Set

`Man on Wire' is a wild ride (AP)

Terry Gilliam to Make Sequel to ‘Lost in La Mancha’

Photo: Getty Images

Johnny Depp planning to take another chance on 'Don Quixote' [Hello!]

Book offers criticism of Lincoln (AP)

David Remnick Profiles the Chinese Pianist Who Will Liberace Up the Olympics

Lang Lang, the Chinese pianist profiled by editor-in-chief David Remnick in this week's New Yorker (sadly not online), is a rock star in his native country. When traveling around China, Lang is handed bouquets so often and must rid himself of them so quickly that during Remnick's nine days trailing the pianist, he says, "I felt like a maid of honor." Remnick's profile offers a fascinating view of a young man who proves that, when one is (as a caption puts it) "an avatar of the Chinese ascendance," it is still possible to get rich from classical music; Lang Lang earns as much as $250,000 for a single private recital.

Lang's penchant for "moony gyrations and emotive expressions" while playing annoy classical-music critics, including the Times' Anthony Tommasini, who walked out of Lang's Carnegie Hall debut in 2003. (Tommasini has since reviewed another Lang performance more positively.) In addition to offering plenty of food for thought about the ways in which the upcoming Olympics might change the cultural world — Lang is rumored to be the star of the opening ceremonies — Remnick's piece made even a classical-music dunce like us want to see him in action, wearing his crazy outfits and playing Chopin with an orange. The above clip, of Lang playing The Yellow River Concerto, makes clear that Remnick is not exaggerating either about Lang's piano-bench histrionics or about the lameness of this much-reviled Cultural Revolution concerto-by-committee.

Imagine this dude, dressed Liberace style, atop a column in Beijing's Olympic stadium, almost definitely playing this song, and you'll have a good idea why we never watch Olympic opening ceremonies.

The Olympian [NYer, not online]

Astor Place to Get Slightly Less Life-Threatening

Photo: Getty Images

Fordham: We're all for programs like this that help hardworking immigrant street vendors like Berta here in the Bronx get permits to sell yummy, cheap food (especially tacos!). But, on an entirely unrelated note, local papers like these have to learn to write shorter articles. [Norwood News]
Fort Greene: Despite that faith-baiting meeting last Thursday to try to air things out, shoppers and vendors at the newish Brooklyn Flea clashed with nearby churchgoers this Sunday over parking, noise, and trash. But at least one parishioner hit the Flea after for a taco! [NYDN via Gothamist]
Greenpoint: You know why people feel justified in parking their cars in the new bike lanes here and elsewhere in the city? (And believe us, they do.) Because "Cars pay taxes and fees. And bikes don't." Oh, okay, we guess it's okay, then. Not! [Gowanus Lounge]
Jackson Heights: You've watched the scruffles of Williamsburg play in their temporarily car-free street, now watch the cute kids of JaxHeights do the same. Isn't JaxHeights so like the real-life Sesame Street of New York, like, so diverse and stuff? [Streetsblog]
Soho: Lindsay Lohan is shopping in Chanel on Spring Street, our spies tell us. Right now!

carla knapp mixes it up

Like many a dedicated thrifter, designer Carla Knapp has occasionally succumbed to dreams of the ultimate score: a trunkful of mint-condition vintage just waiting to be mixed and matched into the modern girl's casually classy wardrobe. A fantasy, sure, but Knapp has done her best to literalize it for the fall 2008 collection for her label, Mischen. "I was thinking, what if a girl inherited all her Parisian grandmother's fabulous clothes," explains Knapp of the collection's mix of hoary coats, origami-inspired blouses and skirts, and femme-y frocks in prints riffing on antique wallpaper. Though the odd pair of trousers makes an appearance in the line, the two-year-old Mischen is a far cry from the stuff Knapp was making at her last gig, as creative director of Paper Denim & Cloth. Currently pulling together the pieces she'll be showing for her first-ever fashion presentation in September, Knapp is clear on one thing: "No jeans. Not now, not ever." Grandma would approve.

Damon Dashes From 'Informant' to Daddy

Coming to Terms With Our Girl Crush on Carla Bruni

1. Being an independent woman was a huge priority in her life long before Destiny's Child wrote a song about it.

“I think it is a major duty for a woman to be independent.” She did not want to be like her grandmother, who was widowed at 34 and “never had another man.” She adds, “Independence was my obsession when I was 20. It was not making money; it was making my own money. Modeling meant I did not have to rely on my parents or a man.” … Modeling has a reputation for emptiness, but it’s not. It is certainly not German philosophy, but it was very instructive, because it was made up of real life. You travel, you are always alone, and you better be well grounded, because it’s easy to lose yourself.”

2. Karl Lagerfeld raves over her.

“She’s imaginative, clever, educated. She knows how to behave,” says designer Karl Lagerfeld, who often used Bruni as a model. “She speaks many languages. It must be an embarrassment for the wives of other heads of state to see this beautiful creature who can wear anything and speak like that.”

…“She was full of life and wit. She was beyond polite … So many, like Linda and Christy, had periods of being moody and difficult. She was always perfect.”

3. She helped Sarko shed his "le Président Bling-Bling" image and generally keeps him from embarrassing himself in public.

“The national conversation changed to the price of watches,” [Sarkozy's political adviser Jean-Luc] Mano said. More than one person told me approvingly that Bruni has helped bring Sarkozy to his senses, citing the fact that she made him get rid of his big gold Rolex and replace it with a sleek Patek Philippe, and that he no longer creates a ruckus by jogging in the Bois de Boulogne, the public park on the western edge of Paris — not since it became clear that the French were horrified to see pictures of their president sweating. These days, Bruni runs with him on the gravel paths in the Élysée garden.

4. She has the foresight and wherewithal to save Sarko from himself. And denim.

“He never thought that our going to Egypt would make such a fuss. We took three days, and it lasted weeks and weeks [in the press]. It looks like we spent five weeks lying on the beach, and we spent two hours. And for one hour he talked with Bernard Kouchner, because they were working hard. I said, ‘Nicolas, it’s not fair that people think you don’t work just because you’ve been wearing jeans with me.’” Thereupon Carla, no slouch in the image department herself, decreed No More Jeans.

5. She would not get photographed serving meals to her man.

“…I would project myself more like Jackie Kennedy than, for instance, Madame de Gaulle, who would be much more like the classical French woman behind her husband. There is a great photograph of Madame de Gaulle serving soup to her husband. I do serve soup to my husband sometimes, but I wouldn’t get photographed that way.”

6. She picks her lovers and has no regrets.

“It’s not that I had a lot of lovers,” Carla says. “It’s that I never hide them. It’s a different thing. I have not one day of regret.” According to [former agent] David Brown, “Carla’s taste in men has always been fascinating. I have never seen a man fawn over Carla. She chooses her equal.”

7. Like all normal people, she has been broken up with and admits it wasn't fun.

In May 2007, it was Carla’s turn to be surprised when, after they had been together nearly seven years, Raphaël [Enthoven, father of her son] told her he thought they should separate. They were living, she says, “with no engagement, no commitment,” very free. When he suggested they break up, “I hated it,” she admits. "'We’re becoming like friends,’ he said. 'What’s the point? We’re too young to be like that.'"

8. She didn't vote for Sarko, which made her feel uncomfortable when they first met.

Carla, who had asked [her host] if he knew anyone she could meet who was “free,” found herself seated to the president’s left. She had not voted for him, and at first she did not feel comfortable. “I wasn’t thinking of that,” she tells me. “I was thinking of someone more related to my life … I was really surprised by him, by his youth, his energy, his physical charm — which you could not actually see so much on television — his charisma. I was surprised by everything — his poise, and what he said, and the way he said it.”

9. Her son sassed Sarko when he came over for lunch for their first date after their initial meeting.

When her son came downstairs to be introduced to Sarkozy, the president said, “Your mother invited me to lunch. Is it all right if I come back sometime?” Aurélien answered, “Only if Mummy wants you to.”

10. She realizes, when it comes to media coverage of her and her relationship, she asked for it.

“I would never have gone to Petra — I would have said to Nicolas, ‘You know what? We wait six months and then we go to Petra or go to Disneyland.’” She says they both now realize their blunder. But she does not believe in whining: “When you have a relationship with the press, no matter what your job is, there is only one solution. Either do not court the press — and everyone is free to be unknown and have a perfectly fantastic life without being famous—or, if you expose yourself, it means there is something about you that wants to be there. It is not obligatory. I was not obliged to be a model. I was not obliged to be a singer. I could have been a doctor.”

11. She seems to genuinely want to help the world as First Lady.

“I get piles of information about what I could do for culture, for children, education, unhappy situations. But I need to study. I don’t want to make the wrong move, and I don’t want to go up against my husband.” It is not exactly an automatic switch, from the studiously cool world Carla used to inhabit to the fiercely scrutinized, 24-hour news cycle of political life. “Learning the code” is how she describes it. “When you are a songwriter and you say, ‘I like polyandry, ha, ha, ha,’ it is written down and it doesn’t matter. But if you’re a First Lady and you say, ‘I like Coca-Cola Light,’ it’s a drama. I have to pay attention to every detail, and that is very new for me.”

Paris Match [VF]

the exotic-skin (and exotically priced) diaper bag

I seem to be surrounded by pregnant friends at the moment. I'm don't know if they're thinking about diaper bags yet, and I'm sure it's the sort of thing you can be very particular about—you might want one that looks very "baby," or maybe you want a normal-looking type of bag. If you're the kind of mom who falls into the second category, Carlos Falchi is now designing the perfect diaper bag. The bad news? It costs $2,500. For more information, see www.carlosfalchionline.com.

New Pelecanos is fine crime story (AP)

'Indy' Star Injured In Crash, Busted for DUI

Jennifer Aniston Answers the Call to Fight Cancer

Bloomberg Beats Paterson to the Bad-Budget-News Punch

"Sure, read your speech from the card. Pussy."Photo: Getty Images

Turns out Mayor Bloomberg sneaked ahead of his buddy David Paterson to deliver dire financial news this week. The governor is scheduled to give a hard-hitting address to the state tomorrow regarding a budget crisis that is "worse than anyone realizes," and to urge state agencies to "slash spending" to avoid a $4 billion, two-year budget gap. And Bloomberg today had similar news: By 2010 the city could be facing a $2.3 billion budget gap. Now, the state hasn't been as careful with its pennies over the years as the city has (Bloomberg tried to build up surplus cushions against the possibility of an economic downturn), but it sounds like both are equally serious about facing the problem head-on. Bloomberg laid out in detail what he has done, and will continue to do — including freezing city-funded spending, seeking agency-specific budget cuts, and spreading the current four-year capital plan to five years. Tomorrow, Paterson, who has been consulting with economists like Nobel Prize–winner Joseph Stiglitz and the budget planning teams for former governors Mario Cuomo and Hugh Carey, will present his own analysis. We're hoping it makes up in humor what it may lack in optimism. That's how we prefer to take our bad news.

That '70s Woe in Rerun [NYP]
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Presents City Financial Plan to the New York State Annual Financial Control Board Meeting [NYC.gov]

What makes Ferrell-Reilly team unusual

Meet the New Girl: Katrin Thormann

Photo: Women Management

Model Profile: Katrin Thormann

For more lovely photos of runway walkers and cover girls, check out the Model Manual.

Introducing “My ‘New York’”

Ooh, a new drop-down menu.

And what's more, you haven't been keeping track of what other people have been saying or doing. But our new feature, "My New York," ensures that you will no longer walk through life so tragically unaware.

Now, when you log in to nymag.com, you'll find you can track, sort, and edit your comments, fashion albums, and reviews. Just select the "My New York" link in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage. You'll see all of the comments you’ve posted on articles and blog posts on nymag.com, with links back to the original articles. And if you see someone else whose comments (or fashion choices, or restaurant reviews) you're interested in, you can click on the name and see their entire body of work. It's a nice way to keep up with discussions of interest to you. And if you want, you can make certain biographical information about yourself public. So go ahead — be somebody on our Website! Maybe, like Scott Rose, you too can develop your own following.

My New York [NYM]

Nina Garcia at ‘Marie Claire’: Too Comfortable, Too Soon?

Nina Garcia, woman with a plan.Photo: Getty Images

Huh. Technically, Garcia shouldn't be doing heavy lifting for Marie Claire yet, like conducting run-throughs. A Marie Claire spokesperson says Garcia's Elle contract "prohibits her from working for Marie Claire before September 1. She has been in the office only to work out her travel schedule for the European fashion shows this fall.” Right. WWD also reports:

Sources said Garcia’s requests for high-end designer wares to be featured in fashion spreads can at times be at odds with Marie Claire’s more mass-market sensibilities.

We think the magazine could use a face-lift and would be wise to go along with Garcia's high-fashion sensibilities here and there. The result might be awesome — so maybe we're a little overeager for Garcia to "work out her travel schedule" too.

Wasting No Time Making Friends [WWD]

Related: Oh, Joy: Nina Garcia Stays on ‘Project Runway’!

The Blissfully Engaged Web Guy

Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek at what your friends and neighbors are doing behind doors left slightly ajar. Today, the Blissfully Engaged Web Guy: male, 27, corporate-Website producer, Park Slope, straight, recently engaged.

DAY ONE
7:20 a.m.: Roll out of bed with the usual morning stiffness. Stare at my fiancée’s perfectly toned body as the sun hits her exposed back. Tell myself how lucky I am that I have a fiancée who’s a dancer. The best decision I ever made was asking her to marry me. Hard to leave.
7:45 a.m.: Elevator with an attractive woman definitely wearing the same clothes she was in the night before. Ah, walk of shame.
12:08 p.m.: Daydreaming at work. Imagine what would have happened if I’d ravaged my fiancée this morning. Now have to stay at my desk unless I want my coworkers to see my excitement.

6:15 p.m.: Long workday. I am so bent up on tension that when I walk in the door of the apartment, I throw my fiancée on the couch and take her. I’d like to say I held out for a long time, but that would be a big lie. We have a promise to each other to try to make love every day we’re together, and we usually do.
10:30 p.m.: I nod off as my fiancée runs her finger up and down my stomach. I tend to have trouble sleeping and she knows exactly what to do.

DAY TWO
7:00 a.m.: Up well before needed due to an amazing dream with a famous adult actress. I grab the men’s magazine off the bathroom rack and take care of things before I hop in the shower. Head now clear.
3:40 p.m.: Work isn’t the most rewarding, but it is going to help me give my fiancée a great wedding.
10:50 p.m.: My fiancée is well taken care of. Her legs are pressed so tight on my head that I can’t hear her moans. Unexpectedly, she gets on top of me and we finish each other off at the same time, locked in 69.

DAY THREE
11:35 a.m.: My life is in a little bit of a panic, being a contract worker and not knowing if I’ll get hired on full time. Need to pick it up today.
1:13 p.m.: Walk around my office building and look up at the hotel-room windows, hoping to catch an adventurous couple. There’s just something about catching people at their most intimate state that makes my blood rush.
8:00 p.m.: It’s our weekly movie night with a couple we met when moving in. My fiancée's looking to make some friends since she moved to the city to be with me. Just one more reason to marry that girl.
8:30 p.m.: The movie so is boring that my mind wanders to the couple sitting near us. The woman is very attractive; the guy just looks like a guy. Every once in a while I wonder if I can somehow get him out of the picture so my fiancée and I can have a crazy night with the woman. We’ve never done that before, but it’s always been on my mind since we started dating in college. My fiancée had the hottest roommate that I swear would have been down for anything, but I’ve always been too jealous to share her with anyone.
9:00 p.m.: Halfway through the movie, I find myself staring more and more at the woman’s crossed and tanned legs stemming from her little khaki skirt. A little sweat beads on my head. Just a little nervous that her boyfriend might catch me.
11:30 p.m.: Our friends leave and as usual, my fiancée can read my mind. I swear the bed is going to break with our intense effort.

DAY FOUR
9:50 a.m.: Today’s a little depressing. My fiancée is gone to visit her sister. I hate when she has to take the subway alone and early in the morning. I can’t help but panic about what she might run into.
5:50 p.m.: I pick up a pizza on the way home.
7:05 p.m.: I know I’m alone, so I log on to one of my favorite streaming adult sites. I crank the volume up loud and really enjoy myself. It’s a little depressing that I get excited for a night like this.
10:45 p.m.: Video games. It was good to “nerd out” with my online buddies.

DAY FIVE
7:05 a.m.: Slept great solo. I am annoyed I have to work on a weekend, but time is money, and money is a house and a wedding. The things I do.
2:15 p.m.: I get a call on my cell phone and it’s a surprise! My fiancée is standing outside of my work building. I run down for a few minutes to say hi, steal a kiss.
4:10 p.m.: My day has been dragging because I can’t wait to get home.
7:50 p.m.: We’re sitting across from each other at a trendy little restaurant/bar in midtown. I thank the stars as I stare into her beautiful blue eyes. We find ourselves drinking an awful lot.
12:50 p.m.: After spending probably too much and drinking even more, we stumble and giggle back into our apartment building. It’s been a whole night since I had my fiancée, so we fall on top of each other and make fun, drunk, and loud love. Reminds me of the college days when we would do this in her dorm room as her roommate slept in the twin across the room.

DAY SIX
11:35 a.m.: I start the day late. It’s been my only day to sleep in with my fiancée. I take advantage of it and drag her into the shower for some morning action. She’s so hot that I can’t help myself.
6:30 p.m.: We take it easy at Central Park and order Chinese food. It’s been a while since we’ve had something really greasy so we indulge ourselves. My fiancée will probably complain to me that I need to go running tomorrow to make up for eating poorly. It drives me nuts when she nags me about working out.
1:05 a.m.: With my fiancée’s head on my chest, we finish watching some DVR shows. I try to get to sleep — if I’m supposed to go running tomorrow, I need the sleep.

DAY SEVEN
7:10 a.m.: I decide to go in late today and fall back asleep. Definitely a case of the Mondays.
8:15 a.m.: Never set the alarm to wake back up. Now I’m in a panic since I’m running really late. I throw on some clothes, give my fiancée a smack on her butt, then head out the door. I’m praying that work won’t be too upset. I’ve worked late and come in early often enough.
10:40 a.m.: I was two hours late today. Called work with an excuse that I had a doctor’s appointment. My fiancée said I shouldn’t lie, but I ignored her. This is the first time it’s happened for me, so they are fine with it.
10:00 p.m.: Feeling beat. I have the best fiancée. She gives me a massage all over my body until I pass out. I didn’t even have to ask. I used to worry about being tied down to one woman. But really, there is nothing better than having a woman you love rub you down as you fall asleep.

TOTALS: Four acts of intercourse; one act of cunnilingus; one act of 69; one act of full-volume Internet porn while fiancée away.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 28 Jul 2008 | 7:15 pm

Keepin' It Real: Reality TV Boot Camp

Reality TV aspirants try to build a "unique" persona with "emotional immunity."
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 28 Jul 2008 | 7:15 pm

fringe benefits

In an effort to remain hip all summer long, the bangs-wearing set continues to fight the good fight against humidity, frizz, and forehead breakouts. According to Elaine Mitchell, senior creative director for Sassoon's uptown Manhattan salon (they've officially dropped the Vidal, BTW), keeping your fringe manageable through the heat is all a matter of sprays and serums. "The correct product is crucial to prevent the bangs from becoming oily or weighed down," she says, explaining that the best way to combat humidity is to spray on something super-light while your bangs are still wet, like Kerastase Volumactive, then blow it dry straight and follow up with a flat iron. "If hair tends to get curly at the temples," she adds, "use a relaxing fluid like Davines', before blow-drying."

—Celia Ellenberg

Photo: Courtesy of Sassoon

Source: The Style File | 28 Jul 2008 | 6:29 pm

'Knight's' Bale: Who is that masked man?

He armors himself, keeps other people guessing and likes to wear a mask. Batman? Try Christian Bale, who faces a challenge in maintaining his privacy as "The Dark Knight" becomes a phenomenon.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 28 Jul 2008 | 6:20 pm

Nelly’s New Underwear Ads for Sean John Revealed!

Whoa, Nelly.Photo: Randee St. Nicholas for Sean John

Sean "Diddy" Combs's label Sean John just announced Nelly as its new spokesmodel for the underwear division. How delightful: a new hot male underwear model to ogle! This is the first time the brand's appointed a spokesperson just for underpants, but isn't it about time someone spoke for underpants? And it's our expert opinion that Nelly's doing a pretty good job so far. He looks chiseled and shiny, but in a clean-new-skivvies sort of way. In a press release, Diddy explains, "[Nelly] has the attitude, the swagger, and most of all the physique that our customers can both aspire and relate to … And let's be honest, all of the ladies out there are going to be thanking us for this campaign." Yes, Diddy, thank you. A woman cannot subsist on David Beckham alone.

However, we do take slight issue with the styling in this image: Why, if this is an ad for boxer briefs, isn't Nelly pantless? We reckon we're only seeing about, say, 28 percent of the underwear you want us to buy for our boyfriends. In fact, how do we know if we're looking at boxer briefs or just briefs? We understand this is the only image that has been released from the new ads — let's hope when the rest come out, we'll see a little more, you know, leg. Money's going to be tight this holiday season so we'll all need all the convincing we can get. —Sharon Clott

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 28 Jul 2008 | 6:15 pm

Director wanted 'Porno' to have attractive sex

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 28 Jul 2008 | 6:09 pm

Zaha Hadid Makes Rubber Shoes With Melissa

Hadid wants your feet to have some design cred.Photo: Courtesy of melissa

Architect Zaha Hadid has gotten a lot of attention in fashion circles lately for the spacecraft-esque Mobile Art exhibit she designed for Chanel. That exhibit is all about handbags, but her latest project is all about shoes: Hadid is collaborating with Brazilian ecofriendly label melissa on the design of space-age-y rubber shoes (past melissa collaborators include Vivienne Westwood and Alexandre Herchcovitch). Hadid told British Vogue, "I have 30 years of research on different areas of architecture and design and this was a very challenging project, not only in design, but on the technical side." So designing footwear is no walk in the park, even for masters of structuring things.

If you want a pair of Hadid's new kicks, you'll have to work for them: Come September, London's Dover Street Market will be selling the shoes exclusively. And in eight different colors, to boot. Best to book your flight ASAP, before fares rise again — it'd be tragic if you flew all the way over there and could only shell out for one or two pairs.

Structural Steps [British Vogue]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 28 Jul 2008 | 5:25 pm

mystery man

Vivi Nevo invests in high-profile media companies, is engaged to Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang, and frequently shows up in the front row and at fashionable parties, and yet very little is known about the 43-year-old Israeli. Over the last couple of years, a number of socially minded magazines have had the cigar-waving Nevo in their sights, but never felt they had enough material for a profile (he makes a habit of not speaking to the press). Now the New York Times has published a 2,500-word piece on the man and concluded that he's—well, a bit of a mystery.

Photo: Sherly Rabbani and Josephine Solimene

Source: The Style File | 28 Jul 2008 | 4:16 pm

grandmother clause: art in the hamptons

Muggy weather notwithstanding, art lovers flocked to the Hamptons by the Jitney-loads this weekend to attend the SCOPE Art Fair. For four art-filled days, East Hampton Studios was transformed into a spacious arrangement of stalls featuring more than 40 galleries from 15 countries. Highlights included the Keszler Gallery (Southampton) booth, which exhibited a fabulous Marilyn Monroe installment from its current exhibition, "Fame + Shame" (the title refers to images of real celebrity mug shots), a series of Andy Warhol-inspired silk-screens by the British-American artist Russell Young. But one of the most eye-catching pieces on the East End this weekend came from Chinese artist Zhong Biao. Artgoers practically gawked at his neo-realist diptych, "Grandma's Sky," at the ChinaSquare booth, which juxtaposes a contemporary figure with references to a forgotten China.

—Karen Bookatz

Photo: Zhong Biao, "Grandma's Sky," 2007, courtesy of ChinaSquare Gallery

Source: The Style File | 28 Jul 2008 | 4:08 pm

gisele slept here and now you can, too

Even star football players and supermodels are dealing with the real estate cooldown. Quarterback Tom Brady's Time Warner condo is back on the market for $18.29 million after a brief hiatus but for a real deal, snag girlfriend Gisele Bündchen's West Village triplex. The Brazilian bombshell is asking $5.9 million for her penthouse, down from the original asking price of $10.9 million. Makes us common folk feel a tad bit better about the subprime loan crisis.

Madonna reveals that fans can expect to hear "Vogue" during her upcoming Sticky & Sweet Tour. Is it asking too much for the cone bra, as well?

—Leslie Steinberg

Photo: Steve Connolly

Source: The Style File | 28 Jul 2008 | 3:27 pm

laird loves ebay: ludwig bemelmans

New Yorkers know Austrian-American Ludwig Bemelmans from the Carlyle Hotel, where his whimsical drawings cover the walls of the bar that bears his name. Having read all of his "Madeline" books, I discovered that he had written lots of stories for grown-ups too, and I am slowly savoring them. "Hotel Bemelmans," which is about his experience working at the Ritz-Carlton in the twenties and thirties, is my favorite, but I also enjoyed "On Board Noah's Ark," which was an especially good find because it features a babysitting dog, the Riviera, and color plates of Bemelmans' whimsical drawings.

—Laird Borrelli-Persson

Source: The Style File | 28 Jul 2008 | 1:51 pm

charmed, we're sure

From birthdays to baby showers, I seem to be buying a lot of presents lately. Which means the pressure is on to find the perfect gift for a variety of different people. Enter the Charmingwall gallery on West Fourth Street, which specializes in prints of original artwork, priced at a recession-friendly $20 ($40 will get you a matted print, while a mere $80 will see the whole package framed). The gallery's owners, Patrick and Julie Lockley, got interested in illustration-based art after running their own small printing company. One thing led to another, and Charmingwall opened last year. Though I'm partial to the work of the delightfully named Treasure Frey (whose original drawings are on display until Wednesday), Charmingwall's ever-growing roster of artists cover many tastes.

—Nancy MacDonell

Photo: Treasure Frey, "Tug of War," courtesy of Charmingwall

Source: The Style File | 28 Jul 2008 | 1:42 pm

'Lost' fans to start finding answers

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 28 Jul 2008 | 1:35 pm

Refreshing Green Tees (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily - What one imagines when thinking of an eco-political "green" t-shirt is generally neither visually appealing nor stylistically stimulating- the perennial clip-art squeezed globe with a recycle symbol around it comes to mind. Yet the means by which an eco-friendly message impacts the world is usually largely due to innovative design. Spreading the "green" message should not mean giving up on style.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 28 Jul 2008 | 1:11 pm

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