Matthew Settle looked dapper at Capitol File magazine's Annual WHCAD After-Party, but the Gossip Girl hunk hit some hurdles preparing for the big bash. "I've never tied a bow tie in my life! I had half of floor 10 at the Hilton helping me tie my tie while waiting for the elevator," the actor, who plays Rufus Humphrey on the hit teen drama, told In Touch at the May 9 event at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Despite his own wardrobe dilemma, Matthew agreed that the ladies attending the special event were worth dressing up for. “Rachel Leigh Cook looked beautiful. Tyra Banks looked gorgeous. Can you say the first lady is hot? Is that allowed?” the star laughed. Though he has played a dad on the CW show for two seasons, Matthew finally became father in real life with the March birth of his daughter, Aven.

Meghan McCain may be pals with the The Hills' Heidi Montag, but don’t expect her to turn to reality TV like her fellow conservative blond beauty. "I've been offered, but no. I don't want people to see me when I'm in my pajamas!" the daughter of former presidential candidate John McCain told In Touch at Capitol File magazine's Annual WHCAD After-Party at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. on May 9. Meghan, a blogger on mccainblogette.com, later shut down suggestions that she should become an actress. "I'm a writer. I can't help the Republican party if I'm trying to be Scarlett Johansson," she joked to fellow guests in the Borgata VIP lounge of the swanky soiree.

Though she didn't wear one of his designs for the occasion, Eva Longoria Parker--in a pink fan gown from Ports 1961--showed her appreciation for fashion designer Jason Wu, who designed Michelle Obama's inaugural gown, at the Capitol File magazine after-party, held at the Corcoran Art Museum.

Washington, DC, May 10, 2009 – On the evening of one of Washington, DC's highest profile cultural events, the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCAD), Niche Media's Capitol File magazine extended the celebration with their Fourth Annual WHCAD After Party hosted by Niche Media CEO, Jason Binn. Steps away from The White House at the historic Corcoran Gallery of Art, media, politicos and Hollywood stars collided, creating excitement similar to that which ushered in the new administration during the Inauguration and related events. The After Party also marked the debut of the brand new Summer Issue of Capitol File featuring a cover story profiling two women at the forefront of the Administration's agenda, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers.

The invitation-only event drew several hundred of Washington's media, business, and political insiders, as well as a mix of boldfaced names in entertainment, including Wanda Sykes, who was the official emcee for the WHCAD, Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Connie Britton, Rachel Leigh Cook, Jim Cramer, David Cross, Tim Daly, Kara DioGuardi, Rahm Emanuel, Mariska Hargitay, Dulé Hill, Gwen Ifill, Valerie Jarrett, Padma Lakshmi, Debra Lee, Jennifer Loven, Suzanne Malveaux, Meghan McCain, Kai Milla, John McLaughlin, Eva Longoria Parker, Todd Palin, Desirée Rogers, Leslie Sanchez, Matthew Settle, Christian Slater, Amber Tamblyn, Chris Tucker, Greta Van Susteren, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Keisha & Forest Whitaker, Owen Wilson, and Jason Wu.

The After Party was conceived as "The Perfect Spring Party" by its organizers--minimal, but festive, set against a stark, classic, 60' ceiling-space with bright hints of coral and citrus. Guests enjoyed a buffet featuring assorted desserts and comfort-style food like bread pudding, cupcakes, and bananas foster flambéed with a Maker's Mark butter sauce.

Celebrities, elected officials and media heavy-hitters rubbed elbows until late night in the Borgata VIP lounge, while others soaked up the atmosphere in the Qatar Airways "Premium Lounge", where they were welcomed by Qatar flight attendants.

All guests received a swag bag, courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue, flowing with Spring beauty products and accessories (retail valued at approximately $350).

Niche Media's Capitol File magazine's annual WHCAD After Party was presented by Qatar Airlines and sponsored by Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, Maker's Mark, Cartier, Mizani, Shiseido Makeup, Sun Trust Bank, and Reston Limousines, with entertainment provided by BET.

Photos from event available on Wire Image.

About Niche Media Holdings: Niche Media, a subsidiary of the Greenspun Media Group, founded in 1992, is the country's pre-eminent regional magazine company with city-specific, ABC-audited lifestyle publications in the US. Titles include Art Basel Miami Beach, Aspen Peak, Bal Harbour, Boston Common, Capitol File, Gotham, Hamptons, Los Angeles Confidential, Michigan Avenue, Ocean Drive, Philadelphia Style, Vegas, Wynn, and Wynn Macau. Celebrating the worlds of fashion, accessories, beauty, health, fitness, business, art, culture, entertainment, media, dining, nightlife, home design, jewelry, watches, philanthropy, politics, real estate, sports, technology, and travel, our pages consistently deliver the finest editorial and advertising to a controlled group of influential readers.

With more than 300 full-time employees, Niche Media exceeds 30,000 pages annually, and its titles have a combined annual distribution of more than 6 million copies.

MEETING THE PREZ: The White House Correspondents Association's annual dinner has long been some combination of griping (at the evident coziness between the press and the administration) and gawking (at whichever celebrity the various media organizations have managed to corral). The first such dinner in an Obama presidency, on May 9, seems guaranteed to amp up the demand for the dinner, and though some organizations are still wrangling and declined to divulge their guest lists, others have already confirmed them.

Glamour is bringing along White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers, who is also a "special guest" at the Capitol File after party with Valerie Jarrett and dinner talent Wanda Sykes. (The first two are on the cover of Capitol File's summer issue, set for release on the day of the dinner.) Also at Glamour's table: Narciso Rodriguez, Alicia Keys, Kenneth Cole, Kerry Washington and the Vice President's daughter, Ashley Biden...

For Washington’s elite, this could be the one tell-tale sign that the struggling economy has hit home. Bloomberg News and Vanity Fair are ditching their separate parties following the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on May 9 and will join forces to hold one bash at the residence of French Ambassador Pierre Vimont...

The merger also presents Capitol File magazine with a rare opportunity to best the big boys in the weekend’s afterparty scene. Although the D.C. glossy’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner afterparties have consistently been impressive and star-studded, they have also struggled to emerge from out of the large, buzzed-about shadows cast by media industry bigwigs Vanity Fair and Bloomberg.

But this year, Capitol File’s party at the Corcoran will be twice the size of the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg merger, meaning that the crowd could be livelier and more boisterous, and the often frustrating battle for tickets will be ever-so-slightly less difficult. And Jason Binn, whose Niche Media owns Capitol File, has always had a knack for reeling in top celebrities.

For Washington's elite, this could be the one tell-tale sign that the struggling economy has hit home. Bloomberg News and Vanity Fair are ditching their separate parties following the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on May 9 and will join forces to hold one bash at the residence of French Ambassador Pierre Vimont.

Bloomberg sources say that the water cooler chat has each publication being granted 150 invites, for a total of 300. This, of course, not only makes it one of the more exclusive events but also makes it impossible for employees of Bloomberg's large D.C. bureau to all be granted tickets.

For Bloomberg, this merger means a smaller party than its traditional bashes, which for the past two years have filled the Costa Rican Embassy. For Vanity Fair, this means a larger party than the intimate gathering it has thrown in the Kalorama home of Christopher Hitchens….

The merger also presents Capitol File magazine with a rare opportunity to best the big boys in the weekend's afterparty scene. Although the D.C. glossy's White House Correspondents' Dinner afterparties have consistently been impressive and star-studded, they have also struggled to emerge from out of the large, buzzed-about shadows cast by media industry bigwigs Vanity Fair and Bloomberg.

But this year, Capitol File's party at the Corcoran will be twice the size of the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg merger, meaning that the crowd could be livelier and more boisterous, and the often frustrating battle for tickets will be ever-so-slightly less difficult. And Jason Binn, whose Niche Media owns Capitol File, has always had a knack for reeling in top celebrities.

Not political but...Capitol File had a screening last night for Kevin Bacon's new HBO military flick, "Taking Chance" at the MPAA. Bacon is the magazine's cover star this season.

Seen there: Debbie Dingell, Eleanor Clift, Margaret Carlson, Marissa Mitrovich, Susanna Quinn, Bacon's sister and lots of military men from the Pentagon and of course MPAA Chair Dan Glickman.

And just what you'd think the topic would be at a Kevin Bacon event was - "Footloose!" His sister was overheard talking about it with a guest - the two were laughing that he makes Sundance movies and yet, still, all anyone wants to talk about it Ren McCormack. He can never escape.

Don't plan on using 'Footloose 2' as your next play in 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.' In an interview with Capitol File magazine, the actor who danced his way into the mainstream 25 years ago hints that there's zero chance he'll be in the supposed remake starring Zac Efron. In the interview, Bacon also opines on how he's itching to play a transvestite, what he thinks of the infamous game based on him and also about President Barack Obama. Bacon's Full Capitol File Interview

In an article she wrote for Capitol File magazine, ET's Cheryl Woodcock dishes about all the stars she encountered at a recent benefit gala -- where she connected again with former President Bill Clinton!

Cheryl and Entertainment Tonight Executive Producer Linda Bell Blue chatted with Clinton at a gala thrown at the home of Jena and Michael King (co-founder of King World), who hosted along with Sting and wife Trudie Styler. The star-studded affair benefited Oceana, the International Ocean Conservation Group.

Cheryl also interviewed celebs like Spike Lee and Josh Lucas at Niche Media (chaired by CEO Jason Binn) and the Creative Coalition's Capitol File inaugural dinner at Donovan House, a hotel co-owned by pioneering hotelier Jason Pomeranc. Cheryl wore dresses and gowns by her favorite designer, David Meister, to her many inaugural events and balls. Click here to watch!

[EXCERPT]
One fun observation from the balls
Although The Creative Coalition Ball presented by Pepsi, which technically kicked off on inauguration eve with a dinner sponsored by Capitol File, was a success (despite many Washingtonians being put off by how difficult it was to score a ticket). Inauguration week regulars Anne Hathaway, Spike Lee, and Marisa Tomei were there. So was Star Jones, who appeared to have a new romantic interest (confirmation on this coming soon).

Celebs like Ashley Judd (who also attended Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday) were in the audience at the soiree, which was hosted by Bono's ONE anti-poverty campaign and the Recording Industry Associated of America.

A-listers have been all over Denver showing their support for Obama.

Ben Affleck participated in a celebrity versus politician race to fill boxes of food for an America's Second Harvest event Wednesday.

"I think maybe we cheated a little bit, which is not uncommon for celebrities," he joked to Usmagazine.com.

Nearby, ex Jennifer Lopez mingled at the Capitol File & Viacom party, held at the Denver Art Museum, and then later flashed a thumbs up sign to reporters who asked how triathlon training was going at the Voto Latino party.

Jennifer Lopez co-hosted an appreciation of Marian Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense Fund with Capitol File and Viacom at the Denver Art Museum Wednesday.

PRNEWSWIRE.COM
June 9, 2008

Part of a fundraising drive to provide scholarships for military spouses and dependents

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2008 – ThanksUSA, a charitable effort to mobilize Americans to "thank" the nation's active-duty troops, will present a benefit concert on Saturday, July 26, 2008, at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., at 7:00 PM EST.

Headlining the event will be Stephen Cochran, a former U.S. Marine and country newcomer, and international recording artist Mylin, whose father served in the U.S. Navy. The concert is part of a broad fundraising drive to provide college scholarships to the spouses and dependents of active-duty troops.

The show is produced by National Events Inc. Media, and partners include WMZQ radio, WRC4 television, Capitol File magazine, and Military Times Media Group. American Airlines is the official airline for the concert.

Over the past two years, ThanksUSA has awarded nearly $4 million in need-based, post-secondary scholarships to more than 1,350 spouses and children of military members serving on active-duty status; scholarships have been presented to recipients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Tickets for the concert are on sale today for $25 each and can be purchased through Ticketmaster or by visiting www.ThanksUSA.org and clicking on ThanksUSA Benefit Concert.

"Mylin and Stephen Cochran have been active supporters of ThanksUSA. This benefit concert allows us to show appreciation for the sacrifices our troops make in serving our country while raising money to fund scholarships for their families," said Michele Stork, executive director of ThanksUSA.

Mylin, daughter of a U.S. Navy sailor, has released four albums on an international major label, topped international charts, and played recent shows on Nick Lachey's tour, with Five for Fighting, and Patti LaBelle. She has played 11 shows at U.S. military bases over the past 18 months in support of the troops, and has recently been invited on a USO Tour to Romania and an AFE Tour to Asia.

Stephen Cochran joined the Marines after the events of 9/11 and completed two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, returning home injured from his second tour. Cochran used his recovery time to reignite his passion for songwriting and released his debut country album in the fall of 2007.

Both artists are currently featured in a ThanksUSA "PSA" for the troops airing on radio and television across the country through availability by the National Association of Broadcasters.

"A lot of well-intentioned organizations are working to help the troops," said Mylin. "What ThanksUSA has done is so practical, impactful, and lasting in the lives of the troops and their families, and is the most effective I've seen. I'm honored to be a part of what they're doing."

"I love the Marine Corps – everything they did for me gave me the drive to know that I can do anything I want to do," added Cochran. "I'm proud to be able to give back with this benefit concert and with this organization that is doing so much for all the men and woman serving in the military."

ThanksUSA's need-based scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis to the spouses and children of active-duty military personnel who plan to pursue a post-secondary education, including vocational and technical training. Recipients are selected based on financial need, academic record, demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities.

ThanksUSA is in the midst of a fundraising drive to raise $1 million by July 4, 2008. Interested individuals, organizations and corporations are encouraged to make a direct donation to the ThanksUSA scholarship fund at www.ThanksUSA.org.

About ThanksUSA
Founded in the fall of 2005, ThanksUSA, a non-partisan 501(c) (3) organization, is an effort to thank the men and women of our armed forces and their families for their service to the country with the gift of education. The organization provides need-based, posts-secondary education opportunities to the children and spouses of active-duty status military personnel through competitive scholarships. For more information, visit www.ThanksUSA.org.

LAUREN CONRAD ran out of the VIP lounge at Capitol File's White House Correspondents' Association dinner afterparty at the Newseum after seeing HEIDI MONTAG on April 26

What happens in Hollywood never stays in Hollywood.

The biggest catfight at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was between Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag, both of whose 15 minutes of fame came courtesy of MTV’s reality show, “The Hills.” The former best friends have been feuding ever since Montag started dating America’s biggest loser: Spencer Pratt.

The New York Post reported last week that Montag would not make the dinner, but there she was, much to the surprise of Conrad.

“Oh, she’s here?” Conrad asked us. Indeed, Lauren, indeed. So any chance that the evening’s bipartisan vibe could help bring the two of you together? “Uh, no,” Conrad said. “Not a chance. Thank God it’s a big room.” Rowr. (Then again, Conrad could have just been grumpy. When asked about the whole WHCA weekend she said, “I won’t miss it.”)

What about you, Heidi? Might you reconcile with Conrad? “No, I don’t think so,” she told us at the Bloomberg afterparty.

Hollywood gossip blogger Perez Hilton, what say you? “I don’t know if a reunion is possible,” he told us. “But we should try.”

After hearing about Conrad’s earlier rants, Capitol File magazine thought it best to create a separate VIP area for Pratt and Montag when they arrived at the Newseum afterparty. But the bitterness apparently remained. After potty-mouthed celebrity DJ Pete Wentz (of Fall Out Boy) gave multiple shout-outs to the couple, Conrad called it quits and headed out.

Other priceless moments from W.H. correspondents weekend:

Fitness guru - Denise Austin accosting “Wedding Crashers” star Bradley Cooper during the dinner. “Why aren’t you drinking?” Austin asked the water-consuming Cooper. “Are you an alcoholic or something?” she joked. Said Cooper: “Actually, I am.” (Cooper’s drug of choice? Charlie Rose and Condoleezza Rice. One Yeas & Nays spy said that Cooper was starstruck when he met both of them.)

How do - you get a drink in this place? It was a question that no one — and we mean no one — could answer after the Washington Hilton staff cut off the bar at the Atlantic Media party before dinner. Former supermodel Cheryl Tiegs was lamenting her empty glass, so radio host Bill Press stepped in with what he thought was the perfect solution: He called over Atlantic Media President John Fox Sullivan, the man who effectively wrote the check for the event. “I’ll take care of it,” Sullivan said. But even Sullivan’s money was literally no good, as he returned a few seconds later with his palms up.

-Kal Penn was a surprise late addition to the guest list, as his movie, “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” opened nationwide over the weekend. He said he got all of the red-carpet duties out of the way the week before, so he was cleared for the dinner. “Now, I’m a policy wonk,” he joked. An Obama supporter, he said he was “trying to sway a couple superdelegates” while in town. Despite the potheaded roles he’s played, Penn confessed to a partygoer: “I don’t even smoke weed.”

-Martha Stewart got frustrated when she asked for wine but got a wine spritzer instead. She made the wait staff go to the back room and find her a drink fit for a queen.

-This year’s no-shows: Harvey Keitel, Clinton Portis, Hayden Panettiere and Lisa Ling were among those on the guest lists who never made it to the dinner.

Conservative family values guy - Ralph Reed double-fisting drinks at the Bloomberg after party. Let’s hope they were non-alcoholic, Ralph. Meanwhile, party organizers had to beg actor Colin Firth not to leave the party as he grew frustrated with the long lines and poor weather.

At Capitol File’s after-party at the - Newseum, the crowd was happily warm, dry and dancing, but it did have to deal with Wentz’s unexpected dive into the crowd (so unexpected, in fact, it almost dropped him).

Hey -Johnny Knoxville: Are you excited to see Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff? “The only person I’m excited to see is the bartender,” the “Jackass” star said. Maybe it’s because, as he told us, “I don’t really like crowds.”

Hey, -Donatella Versace: What do you make of Washington fashion? “It’s not bad,” she said. “I like how every one uses strong colors.” And President Bush’s fashion sense? “It’s so-so.” Cheney’s? “He’s OK.” Best fashion pol? Barack Obama. “And I think b just beautiful.” Versace told us that she would love to help design a potential Obama inauguration. Contrary to her diva reputation, Versace actually handled her own bags (considerable ones, too) and transportation as she commuted to the dinner from Paris.

Hey, -Eric “McSteamy” Dane: How many phone numbers were you given over the weekend from adoring fans? “Absolutely none,” he told us. “Want to be the first?” Swoon ...

Hey, -Christopher Hitchens, how’s life after smoking? “I miss it so much that I can’t even talk about it.”

- Hey Katie Couric: How's Kathie Lee Gifford doing on the "Today" show? "I think she's doing well," said Couric, later telling us that "you should probably get a job!" since we're bothering to watch Gifford as the workday starts at 9 a.m.

-Hey Colin Powell: Any chance you'll run for office? Using wildly expressive arms that made criss-crossing X's, Powell told one party-goer, "No, no, no! Absolutely not! No, no, no! Not a chance!" We get the point.

-Hey Lauren Conrad: Whom will you support in 2008? "I'm not ready to endorse anyone," she told us, adding this deep thought: "But I do endorse voting."

-In a virtual "meeting of the fatwas," Ayaan Hirsi Ali made a beeline to meet Salman Rushdie at the Vanity Fair party. The Somali-born former Dutch lawmaker made "Submission," a film that shows a Muslim women being abused by the men in her family, and subsequently received countless death threats. And you'll recall that Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Rushdie following his 1988 publication of "The Satanic Verses."

-What did all these celebrities think about the weekend? "It's overwhelming," Pam Anderson told us, adding that she hopes that Sen. Barack Obama will be the president on stage at next year's dinner. "I love it!" declared Rosario Dawson. "It's kind of crazy but I like it," declared Eric "McSteamy" Dane. "I've dealt with some Hollywood types before, but nothing like this!" said Tracy Ullman, amazed at some of Washington's egos.

-Radio host and pundit Bill Press checking in at the McLaughlin brunch's registration table. "Hi, what's your name, sir?" the intern asked. "George Bush," joked the famously anti-Bush Press.

NEW American citizen Craig Ferguson is worried about headlining the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 26 - "probably the single most dangerous gig in show business," the Scot calls it.

Ferguson tells Capitol File magazine he isn't going to proselytize. "It's a terrible arrogance to think I could influence them. When people say, 'Oh, you could really stick it to them,' I'm like, 'Do you think Dick Cheney's going to hear two gags from me and say, 'You know what? I've been wrong!' " Ferguson will co-host an after-party at the Newseum with Niche Media chief Jason Binn and actress Rosario Dawson, co-founder of Voto Latino.

Forest Whitaker attended Capitol File magazine’s second anniversary party on February 2 with his wife, Keisha.

Celebrated Forest Whitaker’s Cover and another Successful Year for Capitol File Magazine

Washington, DC (February 5, 2008) –Cover star Forest Whitaker and his wife Keisha joined Niche Media CEO Jason Binn to toast Capitol File Magazine at their 2nd Anniversary party on February 2, 2008 at Washington, DC’s renowned Decatur House.

The acclaimed actor who shines on the new issue of Capitol File magazine and stars in the upcoming political thriller Vantage Point toasted the success of Binn’s DC-based publication with his beautiful wife Keisha by his side. The Hollywood couple, who arrived in a gun metal gray Porsche Cayenne, were eager to kick-off the celebration and were the first to take to the dance floor minutes after being welcomed to the party by Capitol File magazine’s new Editor in Chief Sherry Moeller and Publisher Susan Nixon.

During the celebration Keisha proved she’s just as talented as her Oscar-winning husband by taking over the DJ booth and spinning hit after hit contributing to the upbeat atmosphere of the one-of-a-kind event. Guests got a sneak peak of the upcoming issue of Capitol File magazine and indulged in Decatur House’s sensational fare while sipping specialty cocktails courtesy of Level Vodka. Among the party-goers at this exclusive DC party sponsored by The Ritz-Carlton Residences Inner Harbor, Baltimore were Stevie Wonder’s wife Kai Milla, entrepreneur Mark Ein, John Mason, and Jacques Cousteau’s grandson Phillip Cousteau.

About Niche Media Holdings: Niche Media, a subsidiary of Greenspun Media Group, was founded in 1992, and is the country’s preeminent regional magazine company, with the largest network of city-specific luxury publications in the US. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, advertisers are assured that with our exclusive estate and home-delivery program, Niche Media reaches readers who maintain annual household incomes of at least $250,000, own homes valued at more than $1 million, and have liquid assets in excess of $1 million, making the pages of these glossies some of the most valuable real estate in publishing.

Niche Media consistently delivers the finest editorial content and advertising to a controlled group of influencers with the highest disposable incomes in each city. Additionally, the company brings its publications’ pages to life with more than 500 dynamic A-list events across the country each year. With its 320 full-time employees, Niche produces more than 29,000 pages annually, and its titles have a combined distribution of more than 900,000. At an average of 5.9 readers per copy and a total of more than 5.3 million readers total, Niche’s titles provide advertisers and marketers with a direct connection to the most desirable markets across the country.

Appearing at the Decatur House on Saturday night to host Capitol File magazine’s anniversary party, actor Forest Whitaker found a pair of Washingtonians with whom he has much in common

Local filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine received an Oscar nomination for “War/Dance,” their documentary about Uganda. Whitaker, of course, won the Oscar for Best Actor last year for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Their films even shared a supporting actor in Stephen Rwangyezi.

“He gave us Oscar advice,” Sean Fine said. “He said to take it all in, don’t get caught up in the moment.” Fine and his wife will attend a luncheon in Los Angeles for nominees this week.

Whitaker, who appeared with his wife, Keisha, told Yeas & Nays that he expects the writers strike to be resolved so the Oscars can happen as scheduled.

So who does he like to succeed him as best actor? “It’s hard because the performances are so different,” he said, but he added that Daniel Day-Lewis has been receiving most of the awards, so he’s likely the favorite.

He said he expected to present the Best Actress statue to Julie Christie for her work in “Away From Her.”

Also on hand: Stevie Wonder’s wife, Kai Milla Morris, who designed Keisha’s dress.

Later in the evening, Keisha took a guest turn at the DJ turntable. The first song she played? Jay-Z’s “99 Problems but a B**** Ain’t One.” (The same tune the Obama campaign raised some eyebrows with by playing before the candidate’s victory speech in Iowa. Whitaker has donated $2,300 to Obama’s campaign.)

Unlike most celebrity appearances, which are in-and-out affairs, Forest and Keisha even stuck around for the last dance of the night (fittingly to Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”).

http://www.examiner.com/blogs/Yeas_and_Nays/2008/2/4/Local-filmmakers-accept-Whitakers-Oscar-advice

Yeas & Nays headed to the Big Apple Wednesday to break down the Super Tuesday results on “Fox & Friends.” Afterward, we headed to Manhattan’s premiere lunch-time hot spot — Michael’s Restaurant — on its hottest day for power dining. Accordingly, we present you with a Big Apple version of our signature “Meet and eat” feature.

CBS senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield rubbed elbows and discussed election results with his standard lunch mates: Plastic surgeon Gerry Imber (Jeff: You looking to get some work done, buddy?!?), Daily News columnist Michael Kramer and Jerry Della Femina. The foursome (which included Joel Siegel until his death) have been meeting at Michael’s for lunch for decades.

Capitol File magazine showcases Reservation Road star Mira Sorvino. The 43-year-old actress and mother of two is also an activist, having testified before Congress on the crisis in Darfur.

Mira Sorvino for president? Ya never know!

The Academy Award-winning actress says we shouldn’t be surprised if she joins the list of Hollywood stars turned elected officials.

Sorvino says she’s been asked about a future in politics ever since making her first official visit to Washington, D.C. about three years ago to speak up for women’s rights and against human trafficking in Darfur.

She doesn’t rule out the possibility in the new issue of Capitol File magazine. "It’s a fascinating prospect, but I think it would be down the line," she tells writer John McCaslin. "I want to be the best mother I can be to my children, and I don’t think running for public office right now would allow me the time I need to give them."

Sorvino and her actor hubby, Christopher Backus, have two children, three-year-old daughter Mattea Angel and 18-month-old son Johnny Christopher King.

No doubt Sorvino won’t be hiring a babysitter like the one she had growing up in New Jersey. "I actually had a very strange experience when I read The Diary of Anne Frank as a child," she remembered. "We had a German housekeeper babysitting for us, and when I’d finished the book, I was crying. In an effort to comfort me, she told me, 'Oh no, this is all lies. Many more Germans died than Jews—only 600,000 not six million. It’s lies, all lies.'"

Fortunately, Sorvino said, she realized that what she had read was the truth and that the housekeeper was "completely indoctrinated in a denial of the Holocaust."

"It was," she said, "very, very scary."

http://www.eonline.com/gossip/planetgossip/detail/index.jsp?uuid=8bd01978-c9df-4e63-b697-4f3ccf972df2

The Planet Gossip satellites see everything, and I give you the best sightings from around the world—and occasionally even beyond it.

BAND OF BROTHERS: Ben and Casey Affleck, holding court at Washington D.C.'s City Tavern Club during a party for Gone Baby Gone, hosted by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Capitol File magazine.

Ben Affleck is a real Renaissance man. The Oscar-winning screenwriter and famous actor graced the halls of Georgetown Loews on Thursday night for the D.C. premiere of his new film, “Gone Baby Gone,” which marks his directorial debut.

One thing Affleck doesn’t have on his resume? Politician, though not for lack of gossip. Rehashing ancient rumors that he was planning to run for governor of Virginia made the actor laugh, and he brushed off a question about plans to run for congressional office with a wan smile. “There must be better people,” he said.

Also on hand for the premiere was Affleck’s younger brother, Casey, who stars in the thriller about the hunt for an abducted child, set on the streets of — where else — Boston.

The younger Affleck said he had a soft spot for D.C. — he bummed around the city for a year as a directionless 20-year-old about 12 years ago. Any favorite places? Lots, he said, but he was only in town for the day. He spent it strolling through Georgetown.

During the screening, the Brothers Affleck grabbed dinner at Agraria on the Georgetown waterfront, before heading up the hill to the Capitol File after-party at the City Tavern Club.

The three most prominent controlled-circulation publishers, Greenspun Media Group, Niche Media Holdings, and Ocean Drive Media Group, have announced an agreement to form a strategic partnership uniting the founders, Brian Greenspun, Jason Binn, and Jerry Powers.

This partnership brings together the three luxury publishing companies and unifies the operations of the publications in the most prestigious network of city-specific magazines. This gives marketers a direct connection into each of America's wealthiest communities. The new entity will have a combined distribution of more than 750,000 and will provide advertisers access to the most affluent people in desirable markets across the U.S. With an average of 5.9 readers per copy, the titles reach more than 4.4 million readers.

The Greenspun luxury magazine portfolio includes City Center, Vegas, Venetian Style and Wynn; Niche Media's luxury magazine collection includes Aspen Peak, Boston Common, Capitol File, Gotham, Hamptons and Los Angeles Confidential; and Ocean Drive Media Group includes Art Basel, Atlanta Peach, Bal Harbour, Ocean Drive, Ocean Drive Espanol and Florida InsideOut. All of the titles will now operate under one umbrella as Niche Media.

The successful luxury, controlled-circulation publishing model that Jason Binn and Jerry Powers created 15 years ago with Ocean Drive magazine will now include a total of 16 publications. The management team will combine the strengths of Greenspun Luxury Group, Niche Media, and the Ocean Drive Media Group, a team that has achieved consistent growth in revenues, page counts, and staffing of approximately 20 percent every year since 1992. The united company will employ more than 300 full-time employees and produce more than 24,000 pages each year.

With the merger, advertisers now have a unique opportunity to connect to each of these 16 wealth markets in a distinctly refined style. Additionally, the company brings the brand to life through the execution of more than 500 dynamic A-list events across the country every year.

This collection of luxury lifestyle magazines celebrates the worlds of culture, fashion, fine dining, real estate, and nightlife, with the most prominent leaders of each community celebrating their hobbies and interests as contributors. These publications maintain a readership that is second to none by delivering readers with the highest disposable income. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, advertisers are assured that the majority of Niche Media readers maintain at least $250,000 annual household incomes, own homes valued at more than $1 million, and have liquid assets in excess of $1 million.

"Jason and Jerry are both passionate about the category they invented," said Brian Greenspun. "This is a very exciting time for our publishing venture as we continue to build a world-class media company."

"These well-respected publishers and businessmen have established incredible properties that enable our media group to enter new markets more effectively in the United States and internationally, including Asia and Europe," added Greenspun Media Group President Michael T. Carr.

"We provide our advertising and marketing partners with a powerful and proven luxury magazine portfolio," said Jason Binn. "We have each developed nationally recognized publications that are locally relevant."

"This strategic partnership will make us the most powerful luxury publisher in the country," said Jerry Powers. "Ocean Drive Media Group's stable of readers and clients will now be able to simplify and amplify their access to a broader reach of the wealthiest segment of society."


About Greenspun Media Group
The Greenspun Media Group is managed by The Greenspun Corporation with headquarters in Henderson, Nev. Its primary businesses include the newspaper and magazine publications In Business Las Vegas, Las Vegas Home & Design, Las Vegas Magazine (LVM) and LVM2Go, Las Vegas Life magazine, Las Vegas Weekly, The News Community Newspapers, The Ralston Report, VEGAS Magazine, VegasGolfer magazine and the Interactive Media Department. GMG is owned by the Greenspun family, which also publishes the Las Vegas Sun daily newspaper, owns the Web site VEGAS.com; Vegas TV, KTUD TV 14, Las Vegas' number one independent TV station and Las Vegas ONE, a partnership with KLAS TV-8 and Cox Communications on an all-news cable channel.


About Niche Media Holdings, LLC
Niche Media Holdings, LLC is the country's pre-eminent regional magazine group catering to the high-end luxury market through its distinct publications Aspen Peak, Boston Common, Capitol File, Gotham, Hamptons, and Los Angeles Confidential magazines. Renowned for reaching the most affluent consumers, the pages of these upscale glossies are some of the most valuable real estate in the country. By celebrating the worlds of culture, fashion, fine dining, real estate, and nightlife, the magazines consistently deliver the finest editorial and advertising to a controlled group of influencers with the highest disposable incomes in each city.


About Ocean Drive Media Group
Ocean Drive Media Group publishes Ocean Drive magazine, Ocean Drive Espanol, home and design magazine, Florida Inside Out, Vegas, a monthly joint venture with the Greenspun Media Group, Atlanta Peach, and Ocean Drive Venezuela and boasts custom publishing projects, including Venetian Style and Wynn, the in-room magazines for those resorts in Las Vegas, Bal Harbour, the seasonal magazine for South Florida's most upscale shopping destination, the Bal Harbour Shops, Art Basel: Miami Beach, the industry magazine to the world's largest contemporary art fair and CRYSTAL, the new in-cabin magazine for Crystal Cruises.

Contacts:

It is easy to underestimate Jason Binn. He practically invites it.

When a Washington publication puts out a “Little Black Book” issue, plenty of power brokers may have reason to get more than a little nervous.

Not to worry, though. Capitol File magazine’s May 25 issue does not include Jeane Palfrey’s reportedly disappointing client list. Washingtonians would theoretically want to be included in this story, which ticks off 99 local singles who “dazzle and delight” in the capital city.

Congressional aides who picked up the magazine were quick to notice that they received light treatment in the list. Maybe they are working too much, or maybe they are talking policy too much in the bedroom, but only one member of Congress and one lucky bachelor employed by Congress were included.

Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.) and Phil Park, chief of staff to Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), will have to represent the rest of the legislative branch on their own. But magazine Editor in Chief Kate Gibbs said Congress’s collective feelings should not be hurt.

Although Gibbs would not reveal her publication’s methodology in building the list, she said it was never intended to be comprehensive.

“We could have done a ‘Little Black Book’ and put 1,000 people in it,” she said, but she set out instead just to provide a “snapshot” to remind this city that there are lots of good options out there. “My only requirement was: no ring.”

Gibbs said most of the men and women who made the list were initially shy about being photographed for the story, and Park was no different.

“I think he was appropriately cautious,” Gibbs said.

We can report that he remains cautious. Park did not respond to e-mail and telephone requests for an interview on his new
honor.

http://thehill.com/under-the-dome/controversy-ensnares-dash-gordon-team-2007-05-30.html

By Betsy Rothstein
May 22, 2007

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) may not know whether an alleged land-swap deal will hurt him on the Hill, but he knows good fashion humor when he sees it.

At a recent luncheon to honor a group that helps abused children, B-listers such as Kathie Lee Gifford and Cheryl Ladd mingled with the founder of St. John Knits, Marie Gray. Ads for the upscale line of women's wear feature a sultry Angelina Jolie — in the fancy Senate banquet hall, the clothing looked somewhat more sober.

"This is not a St. John's suit," Renzi said, contrasting himself with the women in the room who had donned the company's signature pastel ensembles for the event.

Men's fashion long has provided politicians with easy material for self-deprecating jokes. What, male lobbyists and lawmakers have fashion sense?

Men in many lines of work — but particularly those who toil in the scotch-soaked, cigar-smokeshrouded power structure that is Capitol Hill — tend to radiate idiocy when it comes to dress, as if caring about cuffs and collars would put into question their masculinity. Such men discuss attire with one another only in jest. They often say their spouses dress them:
They have neither the time nor the interest to shop.

Last year, the president of Fox News, Roger Ailes, spoke of his lack of fashion sense during a gathering at Charlie Palmer Steak, admitting that his wife, Elizabeth Tilson, buys all his clothes.

There are a few stylish exceptions on Capitol Hill.

House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Reps. John Linder (R-Ga.) and David Dreier (RCalif.) are dapper dressers. And times are changing, however slightly. There are former runway models in congressional offices. There are designers in our midst. In recent years, Washington has welcomed the launches of glossy magazines like D.C. Modern Luxury, D.C. Style and Capitol File. More than ever, men in politics are stepping out and straying from the tired uniform of blue blazer, khaki pants, blue oxford and red tie.

Presidential hopeful Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) was spotted last week striding through the basement of Longworth in an Al-Gore-esque beige suit, white shirt and power-red tie. The ensemble suited him and his mood followed suit — he was happy and relaxed in beige.

The press secretary for Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and a newcomer to the Hill, Fred Piccolo, however, recently showed up to lunch at Banana Cafe in the uniform. He said he was embarrassed to be wearing it, but that he had no choice. He hadn't done his laundry.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) sympathized with the young aide, although he isn't one to live in navy and khaki. "The only [criterion] should be whether it's clean," he said. His own outfit seemed to defy spring — a brown tweed jacket with a bubblegum-pink bow tie.

Michael Fulton, an intern to Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), only has been on Capitol Hill for three weeks but already he's acquainted with the uniform. His take on men's fashion in the Capitol: "It's not GQ; it's very uniform — gray and blue suits and red and blue ties."

GQ it may not be. But there are glimmers of high-end haberdashery and elevated taste in our midst. Mustafa Santiago Ali, an aide to Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), a lawmaker known for his snappy dressing, is a former runway model.

In the Rayburn Cafeteria he stuck out not only because of his dreadlocks but also for his smooth style. "It's a very conservative climate," he said, explaining that he was born in São Paolo, Brazil, and raised in Jamaica, Brooklyn and West Virginia.

Though he is beautifully dressed, he isn't snobby about it. "I think everyone has their own style — an expression of who you are," he said. "I'm very eclectic. Definitely color is very important.

"Sometimes I'll wear a blazer and some jeans. In session, you're meeting with constituents so you want them to know you're a professional."

He was wearing a three-piece black pinstripe suit by Bob Mackey, a white shirt, a red-patterned tie and black Perry Ellis shoes. It was a version of the politician's uniform, and yet it shone.

"You can't go wrong with an Italian cut," he said.

Ali said he modeled to pay for school. "I always thought it was funny someone would actually pay me to walk down a runway," he said.

His sense of style is strongly influenced by his mother and grandmother, who taught him self-awareness and self-confidence. "They also blessed us with positive energy," he said. "There's no need to judge others."

His relatively new acquaintance, Curtis Johnson, an aide to Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) joined us in the Rayburn Cafeteria.

Unlike many male aides, Johnson walked in wearing a stylish chocolate-brown Ruffini corduroy blazer over a brown mock turtleneck and dark jeans. Johnson's shoes are often Kenneth Cole. "There's a presentation aspect to what we do," he said.

Ali understood instantly: "As young men of color it's important to present ourselves well. Let's keep it real. There are so many stereotypes we have to dispel before we even open our mouths."

Clearly the I-don't-care philosophy does not apply to these young men. While studying at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Johnson was required to take a course in which students were physically inspected. If your hair wasn't trimmed and your suit wasn't pressed, you were kicked out. No excuses.

Ali wondered aloud what it would be like if the late Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-N.Y.) or Martin Luther King Jr. returned to Washington and could see them. "We owe it to ourselves [to dress] in a professional manner," he said. "Respect where you are and respect the institution."

Not everyone thinks so deeply about it. Asked whether men on the Hill have decent fashion sense, McCotter stuck with his original point, saying, "I think you have to get past the first hurdle of making sure your clothes don't smell."

There's also still the matter of rumpled lawmakers with soup-stained ties that barely hit their belly buttons.

Therein lies the problem with political men and fashion: They're too busy running the world to pay much attention to their attire.

To joke about clothing comes easier. Last year, a group of GOP lawmakers played a practical joke on Boehner, a self-appointed fashion critic. They wore their worst ties to work just to annoy him. Though it hasn't happened yet, the plan was to have the wife of Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), one of the pranksters, sew a pillow for Boehner made of all the bad ties.

There are men in the Capitol who are sick of bad taste. Last week a senior aide to a Democratic senator said with all the money some higher-level aides earn, their fashion sense ought to match their bank accounts. He spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"We sadly lack it," he said of fashion sense. "Too many suits are being purchased at big-box stores [rather] than Hugo Boss or Barney's."

He added hopefully, "We're getting better. There are some good tailors and some good clothiers and people should [take advantage]."

What's at the heart of all this thoughtless dressing?

"There is some geekiness going on here," he said. "You don't have to look like a geek to be one. I love policy but I love a good suit, too."

The aide himself likes to mix things up, wearing an off-the-rack suit from Nordstrom's that cost $600– $700 with a preppy tie from J. Crew.

Brian Kaveney, spokesman for Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), said men in the Capitol ought to wear more colors, but then he thought twice. "I'm thinking of the guy who is in the office with no windows studying healthcare," he said. "He doesn't care what he looks like."

Some males are even harsher about what they consider to be the bleak reality of Capitol Hill fashion for men.

"What passes for acceptable sartorial taste is an affront to anyone who has it," said a longtime political reporter who has his suits custom-made. "The influence of cookie-cutter men's clothing chains is pretty self evident. The blue blazer-chinos [ensemble] is pretty sad. It's the prep school look."

One GOP lawmaker who wished to remain nameless said he detests the more casual look worn by lawmakers such as Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.). Nothing against Taylor personally, he said, but "Dockers and a blazer is too casual for what was intended here."

Ironically, this lawmaker confesses that he once showed up to vote on the House floor in khaki shorts and a blazer. It's against the rules of the House, but it was necessary — he had been traveling and was rushing to a vote.

John Tebeau has been named publisher of Inc. He replaces Jayson Goldberg who recently moved to Conde Nast’s Architectural Digest as associate publisher. Tebeau, with Inc. since 2005, will head up its brand management and advertising sales, promotion, and marketing, and will be responsible for creating strategic integrated advertising partnerships.

Julia Allison has joined Time Out New York as the writer a dating column for the weekly’s Seek section. Most recently, Allison penned a weekly column titled "The Dating Life" for AM New York. She has written for a variety of magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Maxim, New York, Teen Vogue, Men's Health, Seventeen, and Capitol File.

Kendall Smith has been named account director for Rodale’s Men’s Health. He joins the publication from Wired, where he also served as account director.

Marc Rebucci has been named advertising director of Country Home. Dante Gaudio and Bill Shaner will jointly replace Rebucci as eastern sales managers at Better Homes and Gardens.

Joseph Petrosino, former advertising director at Country Home has been named eastern advertising director for Rodale's Prevention.

Advanstar Communications title License! Global has added a number of new members to its staff. Tony Lisanti joins the publication as editor-in-chief. He most recently held the position of editorial director at Lebhar-Friedman Inc. Karen Gaynin joins as publisher of the magazine. She most recently worked in public relations working with brands like Revlon and Samsung. Michael Browne was most recently executive editor of Convenience Store News and will assume the role of managing editor, while Steven Ekstract has been named group publisher for the License! Global group and Regina Molaro has been named senior editor.

Scott Daniels has been promoted to managing editor of Scouting Magazine. Daniels was most recently the magazine's executive editor.

What would the correspondents' dinner be without the after-party? It would be not worth it.

This year, there are three big bashes: In addition to the perennially decadent Bloomberg party, Capitol File is hosting a lavish affair at the home of the Colombian ambassador, and Vanity Fair has revived its storied shindig at the home of writer Christopher Hitchens, where a person can be sure to get a proper drink.

We are duly swagged. Capitol File is giving away party bags containing camera memory cards and $50 gift certificates to Lord & Taylor. Bloomberg has staffers passing out slippers, and hot model types in bathrobes giving out single-serve bottles of champagne from a bathtub. No glass, just a straw, which causes the bubbly to foam up and drip all over your hands. Additional swag: light bulbs. Don't know why.

We mosey over to the Capitol File party at the Colombian ambassador's residence, by now quite fuzzyheaded from teeny-weeny drinkie-winkies, and on our way in we catch sight of booted "American Idol" contestant Chris Sligh.

Hey, Chris! What's it like to be temporarily famous?

"Hopefully, it's not temporary," he says politely.

Oopsie-daisy. Awk-ward.

Out on the patio, we find "Grey's Anatomy" star Isaiah Washington smoking a cigar. He says he was really psyched to meet Greta Van Susteren and she was really psyched to meet him, and when they met, they were all: I'm a fan; No, I'm a fan; No, I'm a fan; No, I'm a fan.

"We both didn't know how to, like, act," he says.

Whoa. Two strange worlds collide, and love blossoms, and we are all one. We feel so much better about the state of things. Then a friend interrupts to say they have closed the bar. We are deeply saddened.

This weekend is the big one in Washington journalism and political circles: The annual White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner takes places this Saturday.

You know the one, where the president is feted by reporters who every other day of the year toss barbs at his White House.

And it’s the party that’s given birth to huge before and after events, like the brunch blowout hosted by famed MSNBC producer Tammy Haddad and the after parties of Capitol File, Bloomberg, and Vanity Fair. Naturally, lots of Hollywood types who like politics are showing up. But it’s not just the only time actors come to Washington, which is fast becoming a hub of moviemaking and tourist destination for the glamorous.

Two examples: Just yesterday we passed Bill Paxton of Titanic, Apollo 13, and Twister fame as he strolled the streets of Georgetown. Man, he’s tall. And on Capitol Hill, at Charlie Palmer’s steakhouse, we found British actors Derek Jacobi of Gladiator and I, Claudius dining with Lynn Redgrave.

SANJAYA MALAKAR went from the nation's biggest TV show to the nation's capital. The 17-year-old singer, who was voted off "American Idol" last week, attended the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner over the weekend as a guest of People magazine.

According to the magazine's Web site, Sanjaya attended Saturday's event at the Washington Hilton, along with People's other guests -- actress VALERIE BERTINELLI, TIM GUNN from "Project Runway," ZAC EFRON of "High School Musical," comedian EDDIE IZZARD and ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

Capitol File magazine, whose West Coast editor is our own CHERYL WOODCOCK, sponsored an after party, where Sanjaya met supermodel PETRA NEMCOVA. The mag counts such heavyweights as LARRY KING and SAM DONALDSON as guest contributors.

During his tenure on "American Idol," Sanjaya, whose performances were often criticized by the judges, nonetheless made a name for himself by way of a myriad of funky hairstyles, most notably, the now-famous "pony-hawk" that he sported a few weeks back.

And we definitely haven't heard the last from Sanjaya -- he will be joining his fellow top 10 finalists for the upcoming "American Idol" tour and he'll be voicing the Top Ten List on tonight's "Late Show with DAVID LETTERMAN."

Also that weekend, the Creative Coalition is bringing in a handful of celebs for a charity poker night they’re co-hosting on Friday with Capitol File at the Park Hyatt.

Expected to attend from the Left Coast: George Washington University grad Kerry Washington, who starred in “Ray” and “The Last King of Scotland”; Tim Daly, who returns again in this week’s episode of “The Sopranos”; “Sopranos” alum Joe Pantoliano; and Tim Blake Nelson of “Syriana” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” among other actors.

Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, told us that as of now, she and Washington are attending the dinner.

Among People magazine’s guests: rapper Wyclef Jean, “Project Runway” design guru Tim Gunn, comedian Eddie Izzard and Zac Ephron of “High School Musical.”

In the spirit of an "Irish wake," the late historian, social critic and presidential aide Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr . was toasted by his many friends at a private home in Georgetown on Saturday evening.

"He went with a steak in front of him and a Maker's Mark in his hand. It's how he would have wanted to go," his journalist son, Robert Schlesinger, told Inside the Beltway. A former special assistant to President Kennedy , who later wrote a detailed Kennedy White House tome titled "A Thousand Days," Mr. Schlesinger died Feb. 28 while dining with family members in New York. He was 89.

It so happens that the moment his father died, the younger Mr. Schlesinger, a freelance writer and former Pentagon correspondent for the Boston Globe, was writing the chapter on the Kennedy White House for his upcoming book on the history of presidential speechwriters. "I was literally writing about my father when I got the sad news, so I've been sort of stalled a bit," he said. "I guess 'therapeutic' is the right word, but I'm back doing this chapter at this time." The Georgetown wake was held at the home of Bob Vanasse , and included hosts Brian Fortune, Susan Milligan , Brian Schaefer and Jen Crow .

Sends his regrets " Bill Clinton 's office called Friday to say that he cannot make the party," American Spectator founder and editor in chief R . Emmett Tyrrell Jr ., tells Inside the Beltway. "We have yet to hear from Hillary." Mr. Tyrrell is referring to the book party to be held in his honor this evening at Morton's on Connecticut
Avenue, hosted by former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore " Ted " Olson and celebrating the publication of "The Clinton Crackup." Strong demand for Mr. Tyrrell's expose of the post−White House activities and escapades of the former president and New York Sen . Hillary Rodham Clinton reportedly has caught the country's major booksellers off guard.

The publisher, Nelson Current, reports that just one week after the book's release, it is already reordering and
shipping "around the clock."

D.C. to Evansville?

"The main topic of the evening was everyone trying to figure out how to get to Evansville, Ind., for the
September wedding," laughs Anne Schroeder , the gossip columnist for the Politico (and formerly of The
Washington Post's "Reliable Source" and Capitol File magazine), referring to Saturday evening's engagement
party thrown for her and fiance (and fellow writer) Luke Mullins at the Bethesda home of Christine (her
stepsister) and Jeff Federman .

Everybody get that straight?

"And everyone was raving over the food," adds Miss Schroeder, proud to have had her stepbrother, celebrated
chef Scott Schymik , fly into town to accomplish the cooking.

Among the many well−wishers: Capitol File founding publisher Paige Bishop , who recently started the
Washington marketing/business development firm Bishop Emory LLC; Brian Walsh , press secretary to
Texas Sen . John Cornyn ; Danielle Jones of the Hotline; New York Times reporters Julie Bosman and
Campbell Robertson ; Wall Street Journal reporter Brody Mullins (brother of the fiance); Patrick Gavin of
FishbowlDC and the Washington Examiner; Matthew Murray of Roll Call; and The Washington Post's Paul
Kane , Peter Kaufman and Ellen McCarthy .

Premiere it here
Step aside, Sundance. Move over, Toronto. Clear the aisles for the Washington International Film Festival,
which is winning rave reviews.

The April 19 opening−night gala of this year's festival will feature "La Vie en Rose," a new film on the life of
celebrated French enchantress Edith Piaf , played by Marion Cotillard , who recently co−starred with Russell
Crowe in "A Good Year."

We're told that director Olivier Dahan will attend the opening screening at Washington's historic Lincoln
Theatre, once the premier black theater on U Street.

This year's myriad−venue festival also features U.S. premieres of "What a Wonderful World" and "Bunny
Chow," as well as the world premiere of "The First Basket," a documentary by Washington producer David
Vyorst . Other films include "The Ax" and "Private Fears in Public Places."

Finally, to close the festival, French movie star Fanny Ardant will introduce "Paris, je t'aime," the work of 20
noted filmmakers who use their signature styles to show the various atmospheres prevailing in Paris'
neighborhoods.

Capitol File's Spring cover story features actress Kerry Washington dishing on everything from Monica Lewinsky to playing opposite Oscar-nominated actors (most recently in The Last King of Scotland) to turning 30!

In the latest issue of Capitol File, Katie Couric confesses that her favorite perk of fame is not having to wait for a table at a restaurant. “When I give them my name, a table appears out of thin air.”

HEATHER Graham, who played a porn star in "Boogie Nights" and a prostitute in "Gangs of New York," has kissed her share of guys. In her latest movie, "Gray Matters," she gets to kiss a girl, Bridget Moynahan, and she liked it

"She was a pretty good kisser. The lips are very soft and sweet," Graham said of Moynahan at the premiere in D.C. at the new Swedish Embassy, hosted by Capitol File magazine. Writer/director Sue Kramer had another nice touch by making Graham's other co-star, Molly Shannon, obsessed with reading Page Six.

Does the Creative Coalition seem just a ittle more glittery now that the Democrats are back?

The group of stalwart Hollywood activists co-hosted a party with Capitol File at B. Smith's restaurant Wednesday and produced some new names who, if not full-on A-list, at least gave off some Us Weekly-type heat.

Sure. Heather Graham and Alan Cumming were also promoting a movie here, but both took turns (along with Wendie Malick, Ernie Hudson and Fran Drescher) reading the Constitution out loud, Gumming's Scottish accent somehow stretching the word "construed" to about six syllables.

Tim Daly said he had been meaning to join the group since running into prez Joe Pantollano at Sundance some time back. He was impressed by the day's meetings on Capitol Hill: "It feels like there's a coming wave of issues that are going to break through." Then he kindly fielded our geek-fan queries about his new.but-sadlydoomed series The Nine and his spooky performance as David Koresh in a '93 TV movie. (Yes, we remembered.) Meanwhile, Graham (lithe in a silk flower-print dress) was buttonholing industry reps to complain about trouble get a PG-13 rating for her film "Gray Matters." Seems the ratings folks got riled about a scene with her lesbian character fantasizing about a semi-topless woman. Why do they balk at sexuality, she wondered, while okaying all kinds of blood-and-guts?

"I can't see things like 'Saw' or other horror films," she said. Td rather watch sex than violence. How about you?" Oh, we like both! When it's, um, crucial to a project's artistic integrity.

Speaking of seeking higher office, don't be surprised if Hollywood actress Fran Drescher, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., throws her hat into the congressional ring in 2008 or 2010 to represent New York.

And yes, as a Democrat (figuring she made financial contributions to this year's re−election campaigns of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rhode Island Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy.

Best known for her TV role as "The Nanny," Miss Drescher, a cancer survivor, already spends a good deal of time on Capitol Hill lobbying on behalf of cancer research.

She's in Washington as we write, having attended yesterday's 29th annual Kennedy Center Honors, Capitol File's magazine's first birthday bash on Thursday at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and private gatherings at Kincaid's and Teatro Goldoni, where the actress and chef Fabrizio Aielli created a special pasta dish for her table.

(NEW YORK) Who said fashionistas don’t finish first? This Thursday, November 30, Iman will be honored at Capitol File Magazine's first anniversary celebration for her humanitarian work as world ambassador for Keep a Child Alive, which combats AIDS in Africa.

"As I came to understand the level of personal commitment Iman has made to the 'I Am African' campaign, it seemed important to allow this woman to address Capitol File’s community of decision-makers in her own words," remarked editor-in-chief Kate Gibbs.

The supermodel, who recently co-hosted the Condé Nast-sponsored Black Ball with Valentino to benefit the foundation, tops the list of those honored, including Congresswomen Marsha Blackburn and Mary Bono, as well as ambassadors from South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, and Congo.

man chats with Capitol File about charitable endeavours, including her role as ambassador to the Keep a Child Alive campaign in Africa. What does hubby, rock legend David Bowie, think about it all? “He feels it’s life’s purpose.”

At the Washington D.C., Capitol File Magazine premiere party for “Fast Food Nation,” the lady-lovin’ star Wilmer Valderrama was seen downing two Red Bull vodkas – specially retrieved across the street. Two hours later, he left with all six of the magazine’s interns and hit up a local club.

That was Margaret Carlson, the Washington editor of the Week magazine and a longtime Washington figure (she wrote for Time before that, and was managing editor of the New Republic... as well as Washington bureau chief for Esquire magazine, and editor of both Washington Weekly and the Legal Times of Washington) welcoming guests into her Northwest home last evening to toast Slate chief political correspondent John Dickerson and his new book, 'On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News' First Woman Star.'

Meanwhile, Washington's younger crowd convened late into the night at the new Hotel Palomar on P Street NW, helping Grey Goose Vodka and Capitol File magazine crown the 'Best Bartender in Washington.'

And the winner, as voted by D.C. bargoers: Alex Rivera of Gua-Rapo, the popular Latin American fusion restaurant in Arlington. Fun facts: By day, Mr. Rivera is a program officer at the Academy for Educational Development. He also was lead singer in the rock band Stars Hide Fire, once featured on MTV. His winning cocktail is called 'duck, duck, GOOSE!'

No morality here
Question: What ex-lawmaker, a Newt Gingrich disciple who swept into Congress during the 1994 Republican revolution, was once a roadie for the Allman Brothers band?
Answer: former Rep. Mark Foley, Florida Republican and centerpiece of the congressional page scandal. Just one intriguing tidbit about Mr. Foley that Inside the Beltway learned yesterday, passed on by veteran investigative reporter Alicia Mundy, the Washington correspondent for the Seattle Times.

Miss Mundy recalled her wide-ranging interview several years ago with Mr. Foley when she worked for E! Online. He had just become Hollywood's point man on Capitol Hill as chairman of the congressional Entertainment Industry Task Force.

'Looking back, I recall wondering at the time why a conservative Republican member of Congress followed Heather Locklear and 'Dynasty.' It was different from other political interviews,' she told us. In fact, Mr. Foley told her about his personal relationships with actors Don Johnson (they used to play golf together) and Julia Roberts, and how he was star-struck with Miss Locklear.

He also spoke about his friendships with Gregg Allman, drummer Butch Trucks and guitarist Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers (a former Palm Beach, Fla., real estate agent, Mr. Foley even sold Mr. Betts a house), and recalled the time he toured with the band. 'Yeah. It was crazy. I was on the bus. It was wild,' said Mr. Foley, adding that when the tour closed, 'I ended up at one of the Allman Brothers' houses in Vegas.'

Mr. Foley also was asked about his vote to block fellow Republican Rep. Henry J. Hyde's so-called 'culture amendment,' introduced in the wake of Colorado's Columbine school shootings to curtail the extreme violence seen in some Hollywood films.

'We should not be the ones to tell the public what they should let their children see. We can't be the divining rod for what's moral or what's decent,' he replied.

Asked why he didn't march more in step with other Republican leaders on such issues, Mr. Foley said: 'I admire William Bennett... and definitely John McCain. But they're trying to blame society's ills on one aspect only — entertainment. As for their impact — hey, I don't think anyone sees a politician as being a moral leader.'

Plame game
Even if Republicans can't bring themselves to read David Corn and Michael Isikoff's new book, 'Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War,' they might find amusing the lengthy written exchange between the latter co-author and columnist Bob Novak in the latest issue of one conservative Washington magazine.

'I was amused, to say the least, to see that my old friends at The Weekly Standard asked Bob Novak to review... the new book I co-authored with David Corn,' writes Mr. Isikoff, who wonders: 'Was Scooter Libby unavailable?'

The Newsweek reporter cited 'a few inaccuracies and misrepresentations' in the columnist's critique — from events leading up to former CIA officer Valerie Plame's being 'outed' to Mr. Novak's assertion that the book 'comes close' to being 'an unmitigated apologia' for former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, Mrs. Plame's husband and critic of the Bush administration.

Finally, Mr. Isikoff takes issue with Mr. Novak's portrayal of Mr. Corn, the Washington editor of the Nation magazine, as a left-wing polemicist more interested in furthering an ideological agenda than seeking the truth. 'If only some conservative journalists showed the same willingness to report stories that conflict with their initial assumptions,' he wrote in defense of Mr. Corn.

Mr. Novak?
'I regret that my friend Mike Isikoff, in his letter, is still peddling the story of Scooter Libby and Karl Rove attempting to discredit Wilson by revealing his wife's intelligence background,' the columnist writes. 'Apparently, he joins David Corn in not being able to accept that the conspiracy theory was demolished by his own book.'

That was Margaret Carlson, the Washington editor of the Week magazine and a longtime Washington figure (she wrote for Time before that, and was managing editor of the New Republic, as well as Washington bureau chief for Esquire magazine, and editor of both Washington Weekly and the Legal Times of Washington) welcoming guests into her Northwest home last evening to toast Slate chief political correspondent John Dickerson and his new book, 'On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News' First Woman Star.'

Meanwhile, Washington's younger crowd convened late into the night at the new Hotel Palomar on P Street NW, helping Grey Goose Vodka and Capitol File magazine crown the 'Best Bartender in Washington.'

And the winner, as voted by D.C. bargoers: Alex Rivera of Gua-Rapo, the popular Latin American fusion restaurant in Arlington.

Fun facts: By day, Mr. Rivera is a program officer at the Academy for Educational Development. He also was lead singer in the rock band Stars Hide Fire, once featured on MTV. His winning cocktail is called 'duck, duck, GOOSE!'

No morality here

Question: What ex-lawmaker, a Newt Gingrich disciple who swept into Congress during the 1994 Republican revolution, was once a roadie for the Allman Brothers band?

Answer: former Rep. Mark Foley, Florida Republican and centerpiece of the congressional page scandal.

Just one intriguing tidbit about Mr. Foley that Inside the Beltway learned yesterday, passed on by veteran investigative reporter Alicia Mundy, the Washington cor respondent for the Seattle Times.

Miss Mundy recalled her wide-ranging interview several years ago with Mr. Foley when she worked for E! Online. He had just become Hollywood's point man on Capitol Hill as chairman of the congressional Entertainment Industry Task Force.

'Looking back, I recall wondering at the time why a conservative Republican member of Congress followed Heather Locklear and 'Dynasty.' It was different from other political interviews,' she told us.

In fact, Mr. Foley told her about his personal relationships with actors Don Johnson (they used to play golf together) and Julia Roberts, and how he was star-struck with Miss Locklear.

Yeah. It was crazy. I was on the bus. It was wild,' said Mr. Foley, adding that when the tour closed, 'I ended up at one of the Allman Brothers' houses in Vegas.'

Mr. Foley also was asked about his vote to block fellow Republican Rep. Henry J. Hyde's so-called 'culture amendment,' introduced in the wake of Colorado's Columbine school shootings to curtail the extreme violence seen in some Hollywood films.

'We should not be the ones to tell the public what they should let their children see. We can't be the divining rod for what's moral or what's decent,' he replied.

Asked why he didn't march more in step with other Republican leaders on such issues, Mr. Foley said: 'I admire William Bennett ... and definitely John McCain. But they're trying to blame society's ills on one aspect only -- entertainment. As for their impact -- hey, I don't think anyone sees a politician as being a moral leader.'

Plame game

Even if Republicans can't bring themselves to read David Corn and Michael Isikoff's new book, 'Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War,' they might find amusing the lengthy written exchange between the latter co-author and columnist Bob Novak in the latest issue of one conservative Washington magazine.

'I was amused, to say the least, to see that my old friends at The Weekly Standard asked Bob Novak to review ... the new book I co-authored with David Corn,' writes Mr. Isikoff, who wonders: 'Was Scooter Libby unavailable?'

The Newsweek reporter cited 'a few inaccuracies and misrepresentations' in the columnist's critique -- from events leading up to former CIA officer Valerie Plame's being 'outed' to Mr. Novak's assertion that the book 'comes close' to being 'an unmitigated apologia' for former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, Mrs. Plame's husband and critic of the Bush administration.

Finally, Mr. Isikoff takes issue with Mr. Novak's portrayal of Mr. Corn, the Washington editor of the Nation magazine, as a left-wing polemicist more interested in furthering an ideological agenda than seeking the truth.

'If only some conservative journalists showed the same willingness to report stories that conflict with their initial assumptions,' he wrote in defense of Mr. Corn.

'I regret that my friend Mike Isikoff, in his letter, is still peddling the story of Scooter Libby and Karl Rove attempting to discredit Wilson by revealing his wife's intelligence background,' the columnist writes. 'Apparently, he joins David Corn in not being able to accept that the conspiracy theory was demolished by his own book.'

John McCaslin, whose column is nationally syndicated, can be reached at 202/636-3284 or jmccaslin@washingtontimes.com.

The breathlessly excited women (and plenty of men) going into the Corcoran Gallery of Art on Thursday night could have been forgiven for making sure their colors perfectly coordinated, for adding that one extra accessory to elevate their outfits from merely flashy to utterly fabulous. After all, they were there to see Tim Gunn of "Project Runway" fame, who just happens to be the Corcoran School of Art and Design's most famous alumnus and a native Washingtonian (his great-grandfather was Harry Wardman, one of the city's most famous builders).

Crazed fans of the show packed two standing-room-only lectures at the school, a "conversation" with alumni and a VIP reception hosted by Capitol File magazine. Many more were on the outside looking in, as they begged, pleaded and groveled in vain for a chance to buy one of the $15 tickets.

"We've been getting calls up until the day of, and we have a wait list," said Sarah Durkee, manager of public programs at the school.

Gunn recalled working admissions at the Corcoran, when one applicant "couldn't produce his portfolio because Lady Bird Johnson had it. I thought, 'Really?' " He said the beginnings of the show brought him back to those days. In screening the candidates for season one, "We were like a three-headed chicken. We were freaky; we had a lot of freaky people." Back then, "We didn't know it would become this cultural phenomenon."

WASHINGTON - Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin cover people, power and politics in the beltway each weekday.
Email them at yan@dcexaminer.com

Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin, The Examiner
Read more by Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin

CAPITOL FILE Publisher Paige Bishop, Arnaud and Alexandra de Borchgrave, Arianna Huffington, and CAPITOL FILE Editor in Chief Kate Gibbs.

Who Katherine Heigel, 27
Hometown New Canaan, Connecticut
On her fiancé, Josh Kelley "His charisma and charm are irresistible to me... Singers are ultimately the perfect guys. They are romantic because they write romantic songs. They are poetic for the same reason. That’s what attracted me to Josh."

DC's Upper Crust made it out to Cafe Milano last night for Capitol File's celebration of MyNetwork TV (from the folks who brought you Fox, the Fox News Channel and FX).

Bo Derek was the main draw (she's in the MyNetworkTV show "Fashion House" Media types in the house: CNN's Edie Emery and David Bohrman. Fox's Megyn Kendall, Laurie Dhue, Bret Baier, Mort Kondracke, Hadley Gamble and Chris Wallace. WUSA's Mike Walter. WMAL's Chris Berry. Washington Times' John McCaslin, Stephanie Mansfield and Kevin Chaffee. Washington Post's Roxanne Roberts. WUSA 9's Derek McBinty. Alexandria Times' John Arundel. Fox 5's Laura Evans and Will Thomas. MyTV's Taylor Kinney, Natalie Martinez and Donna Feldman. National Geographic Channel's Laureen Ong. Washingtonian's Garrett Graff and National Journal's Katherine Birrow. Wonkette's Alex Pareene and Wonkette Photog Liz Gorman.

Qorvis' Seth Pietras and Capitol File's Anne Schroeder.

Natalie Martinez of MyTv

Jason Binn wasn't going to let Bloomberg News have the White House Correspondents Dinner to themselves anymore

Binn — whose Niche Media now publishes the monthly Capitol File in our nation's capital —threw a soiree of his own Saturday night with Franco Nuschese at his hot spot Café Milano.

The event — sponsored by Charlie Merinoff, CEO/Vice Chairman of the Charmer Sunbelt Group — pulled a coterie of stars, I'm told, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, ousted CIA Agent Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson, Christopher Buckley, Ron Silver, FOX News' Bill Hemmer, Georgette Mosbacher, Ann Coulter, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R Villaraigosa and Patricia Duff, BET founder Bob Johnson and president Debra Lee and the one and only Morgan Fairchild.

Jason now has glossy mags in New York, the Hamptons, Aspen, Miami, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago. I hear that Hartford, Akron and Cincinatti are next. Hey, just kidding!

CAPITOL FILE sponsored the annual Polo match and US Chief of Protocol, Donald Burnham Ensenat, was the host for the day. Pictured here, professional polo player and Ralph Lauren model Ignacio "Nacho" Figueras, CAPITOL FILE Magazine's Publisher Paige Bishop, and Salvatore Ferragamo of Il Borro Winery.

That was Swedish Ambassador Gunnar Lund and his wife, former Swedish Deputy Minister Kari Lotsberg, inviting guests to a sneak peek of the first House of Sweden ever erected outside of Sweden — along the banks of the Potomac River in Georgetown, at 29th and K streets Northwest.

When the modern, airy building officially opens later this year, it will showcase the Swedish Embassy (two floors), the secretariat, an event center, representatives of Swedish commerce, a large rooftop deck with breathtaking views of the Washington Harbor and 16 apartments — what's being called a "Swedish arena" to promote the country's interests.

Just a few of those on hand for the Wednesday night architectural preview, co-hosted by Capitol File magazine, were Afghan Ambassador Said Jawad and his wife, Shamim; former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Charles Manatt; Rep. Mark Foley, Florida Republican; D.C. Council member and Georgetown neighbor Jack Evans; Kay Kendall of the Washington Ballet; Jim Glassman of the American Enterprise Institute; National Building Museum President Chase Rynd; and WMAL nighttime radio host Chris Plante.

Besides the embassy, we were intrigued to learn, Sweden has 30 consulates throughout the United States.

Worth quoting "Politics, you know, really does end up being a family business. Everyone gets involved, whether they want to or not."
— First lady Laura Bush, speaking frankly at a recent political fundraiser.

Prime real estate
That was Swedish Ambassador Gunnar Lund and his wife, former Swedish Deputy Minister Kari Lotsberg, inviting guests to a sneak peek of the first House of Sweden ever erected outside of Sweden — along the banks of the Potomac River in Georgetown, at 29th and K streets Northwest. When the modern, airy building officially opens later this year, it will showcase the Swedish Embassy (two floors), the secretariat, an event center, representatives of Swedish commerce, a large rooftop deck with breathtaking views of the Washington Harbor and 16 apartments — what's being called a "Swedish arena" to promote the country's interests.

Just a few of those on hand for the Wednesday night architectural preview, co-hosted by Capitol File magazine, were Afghan Ambassador Said Jawad and his wife, Shamim; former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Charles Manatt; Rep. Mark Foley, Florida Republican; D.C. Council member and Georgetown neighbor Jack Evans; Kay Kendall of the Washington Ballet; Jim Glassman of the American Enterprise Institute; National Building Museum President Chase Rynd; and WMAL nighttime radio host Chris Plante.

Besides the embassy, we were intrigued to learn, Sweden has 30 consulates throughout the United States. 'A loss for words' Perhaps by today's conclusion of the 2006 annual meeting of NDN, formerly known as the New Democrat Network, the Democratic Party won't be so much "at a loss for words."

Or at least that's the headline in the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine, which writes: "If you voted for John Kerry — and you probably did if you're reading this — you're familiar with this decade's favorite liberal parlor game. It goes something like this:
"Liberal A: All the polls say people like our positions. So why won't they vote for us?
"Liberal B: It's because we're wimps. We need to get tough like Karl Rove.
"Liberal C: It's because we're prisoners of our interest groups. We need to whip them into line.
"Liberal D: It's because people don't know what we stand for. We need a vision, not a laundry list.
"Liberal E: No, no, no. You're all wrong. It's because we don't talk right. We need to frame our ideas better."

Ownership of language, the author, Kevin Drum, points out, is important if you're going to win political battles, and "conservatives have recently gotten a lot better at it."

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, one of several Democrats said to be weighing a presidential bid in 2008, added his name at the last moment to the already influential list of speakers addressing the NDN conference yesterday and today at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.

Other speakers include former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, three other potential candidates for the White House.

Tea? The 100th anniversary of the founding of Tea, S.D., was recognized on Capitol Hill this week by Sen. Tim Johnson, South Dakota Democrat. Indeed, Tea is the fastest growing city in the state. As for its unusual name?

Mr. Johnson said Tea came about when its residents were asked to submit 10 town names to the U.S. Postal Service. Only nine could be decided upon.

"A recess was called during a town meeting at which tea was served," the senator says. "Someone suggested the name 'Tea' be added to the list. Shortly afterward, this tight-knit community was informed that their new name would be Tea."

Tea was officially incorporated in 1906.

Saddam dump If anything rings funny about the never-ending trial of Saddam Hussein, it's been reading his personal trial Web log.

OK, it's not really the ousted Iraqi leader's blog. Instead, it's the creation of National Lampoon, and for some time now it has addressed everything from the bearded one's heckling as a workable defense strategy to his addiction (when he's not on a hunger strike) to Doritos.

In fact, Scott Rubin, editor in chief of National Lampoon, is coming to Washington next week to promote his new book, "The Saddam Dump," which carries the blog into hardcover.

Mr. Rubin jokes that he recently returned from Baghdad, where "Saddam has one weakness that I was able to observe in all of the time I spent with him: Doritos. We spent something like $200 billion trying to fight and defeat him when all we needed to do was drop 10 bags of Doritos in each palace."

In the upcoming issue of Capitol File, supermodel Petra Nemcova talks about how she’s helping those affected by the December 2004 tsunami through her Happy Hearts Fund: “We can’t change the past…but we can change the future".

THIS & THAT: JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE hanging out at Marquee in NYC after having dinner at his restaurant, Destino...

ROSANNA ARQUETTE, MENA SUVARI, SHANNON ELIZABETH and DANNY MASTERSON toasting superstar photographer JEFF VESPA at the opening of his art show, Eat Me, at the Lo Fi gallery in L.A. ... MISCHA BARTON ordering a lot of food -- including steak and paella -- at The Courtyard restaurant in West Hollywood. ... KATE BECKINSALE and hubby, LEN WISEMAN, showing lots of PDA at an AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS book reading and signing at Café-Club Fais Do Do in L.A. ... SARAH JESSICA PARKER convincing her son, JAMES, to go on the carousel during a children's birthday party in Central Park. ... JON BON JOVI having dinner at Da Silvano in NYC. ... WOLF BLITZER and CHRIS MATTHEWS shopping at Capitol File magazine's party for "The Collection" in Washington, DC. ... NICOLE RICHIE lounging poolside at The Parker hotel in Palm Springs before heading to the DKNY Jeans/Motorola house at Coachella. ... MICKEY ROURKE eating at Pink Elephant in NYC. ... JULIA ROBERTS' husband riding a bike in New York's West Village.

There was plenty of “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” attitude at the much-anticipated grand opening of the The Collection at Chevy Chase Thursday night.

You could tell by the chauffeur-driven Town Cars lining up out front; by the high tech honchos strutting past the check-in table, pencil-thin girlfriends firmly in tow; by the was Capitol File magazine founder and promoter extraordinaire Jason Binn commanded photo-ops of Matt Cooper of the Valerie Plamegate fame, Rick Rickertsen of leveraged buyout fame, Debra Lee of Black Entertainment Television fame, and supermodel Petra Nemcova of tsunami survival fame.

The point, of course, was to get a thousand or so chi-chi types way uptown – dare I say it, practically to the Beltway – to preview the brand new double-story shopping complex (please don’t call it a “mall”) offering the last word in luxury products from 15 high-end boutiques, including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany &Co., Cartier and Bulgari.

The concept was long overdue, reported Edward Hall Asher, president of Chevy Chase Land Co., the developers of the 112,000-square-foot complex. “All the stores had customer lists of people who came to shop in New York. That’s why they’re here.” Mr. Asher said, noting that once Christian Dior came through, “everyone else followed.”

“This is glitzier than Rodeo Drive” exulted celebrity guest Chris Matthews, of MSNBC fame, as the crowd attacked the bars and buffet stations in a giant tent behind the shops. His wife, Kathleen Matthews, of WJLA fame, had a more sober view of the scene when asked if her daughter would soon be among the young ladies seen exiting with multiple pairs of $450 strappy sandals from Jimmy Choo.

“We shop at T.J. Maxx,” she said with a laugh.
- Kevin Chaffee

For years — generations, even — fashion in Washington meant a navy suit and a charcoal suit.

The power corridor from Capitol Hill to K Street dictated a look that was buttoned−up, boring and beside the point whenx who you are is more important than who you wear.

Not so anymore as the nation's capital welcomes a slew of stores that are inching us into a fashion league with New York and Los Angeles. Yes, we have miles to go before we have a lineup as impressive as Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive, but now we have $500 Jimmy Choo shoes to help us make up the ground.

Jimmy Choo, a luxury shoe designer, is one of the tenants of the Collection at Chevy Chase, a strip of fancy stores that opened recently on Wisconsin Avenue. The store's neighbors include Barneys Co−op, Ralph Lauren, Dior, Bulgari, Tiffany's, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, breathing new life into the shopping options for the area's fashion−conscious.

Some of those stores moved from across the street into bigger spaces. Others, such as Barneys and Dior, are new to Washington.

"When we were developing the Collection, we knew we had the perfect spot between Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus," says Edward Asher, president and chief operating officer of the Chevy Chase Land Co., developer of the Collection at Chevy Chase. "We want to make it the Rodeo Drive of the East. Many of the top−tier retailers said they had a huge customer list −− people who flew up to New York often to shop." Customers like 28−year−old Alexis, who declined to give her last name as she picked out two pairs of $450 strappy sandals at Jimmy Choo on a recent weekday morning.

"There is definitely more money in New York," she says, "but there is enough money here so the stores will not go out of business. I'm glad people are finally catching on to high−end retail in the city. I used to have to go to Rockville to go shopping."

Is there enough money for shoppers to drop $388 on a little Diane von Furstenberg blazer at Barneys? Anyone for a $2,000 suitcase at Vuitton? How about a gorgeous leather jacket for $2,298 at Ralph Lauren? The Ralph Lauren store itself promotes sort of a moneyed fantasy. The Chevy Chase store is a smaller version of the Fifth Avenue store in New York, and that store re−creates an old−money mansion, complete with paintings of ancestors and dark−wood paneling.

Kate Gibbs, editor of Capitol File magazine, the glossy monthly that highlights and chronicles Washington's social elite, says the money absolutely is here now.

"Washington has always been a smart city," she says, "but to have fashion that is sexy and of−the−moment is very welcome now. The amount of choices we have now −− including the enormous spread of price points −−speaks to wealth that has always been here and the money that is now here from technology. ... Money in
Washington was traditionally tied to K Street and the Hill. Now it comes with a different liberty."

Nationwide, the number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more rose to an all−time high of 8.3 million in 2005, says the Spectrem Group, a consulting firm that analyzes the luxury market.

In the words of OMC, "How Bizarre"....

At the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner — at which journalists, political bigwigs and celebs perform their quaint rite of mutual back-scratching — there were President Bush and his dead ringer, Dubya impersonator Steve Bridges, getting laughs at the head table.

There were embattled Bush hatchet man Karl Rove (still coping with the Plamegate grand jury) and liberal Republican Mayor Bloomberg, enjoying some face time in the basement ballroom of the Washington Hilton. There were George Clooney and his dad, Nick, seducing every conceivable female and even male demographic in the eerily lit, flying-saucer-shaped chamber that, when crammed with 3,000 humans wearing prom dresses and monkey suits, suggests a mass alien abduction.

And, most peculiar of all — in the wee hours yesterday morning — there were R-rated rapper-actor Ludacris and conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia shaking hands at an after-party and apparently talking music.

When I asked the justice and the hip-hop star about their bizarre hookup in a private room at Café Milano here, during glossy-mag impresario Jason Binn's Capitol File soiree, they responded sheepishly.

"Um, we didn't really talk about much," the cornrowed rapper told me as he backed away. Justice Scalia told me warily: "I just said hello." Frowning and creasing his heavy brow, he added: "He has a deep voice, doesn't he?" The hyperactive Binn chimed in helpfully: "Scalia likes to sing!"

A few hours earlier, the George Clooney Charm Offensive was at full tilt at Newsweek's predinner cocktail party, with the movie star telling anyone who'd listen about his campaign to stop state-sponsored genocide in Sudan, even pausing to try fixing my woefully droopy bow tie. Flame-haired Republican fund-raiser Georgette Mosbacher later swooned: "I just got my picture taken with George! My sister will be so jealous. But he's so much shorter than I thought he'd be."

As for the after-dinner entertainment, the conventional wisdom was that Bush killed with his self-mocking routine — "The President was fantastic," gushed staunch Dem Patricia Duff — while the hired talent, Comedy Central star Stephen Colbert, bombed badly. "It was an insider crowd, as insider a crowd as you'll ever have, and he didn't do the insider jokes," said BET founder Bob Johnson.

It was mildly surprising to run into Hizzoner, who's consistently declined to attend the D.C. dinner since becoming mayor — out of concern that his official duties not be confused with his Bloomberg media company, which throws the most lavish after-party — and had vowed that there was no way he'd cave in to staff pressure and show up.

"Well, [Deputy Mayor] Patty Harris asked me to come," Bloomberg explained, "so I did." But he denied that his sudden about-face on the dinner-attendance issue means he might also reconsider his oft-stated lack of ambition for higher office and listen to supporters pushing him to run for President.

"I'm going to be mayor another 3 1/2 years, and then I'm going into philanthropy," the billionaire mayor insisted. "Lou Dobbs has more chance of becoming President than I do."

The outspoken CNN personality, seated at the next table, perked up on hearing his name. "I doubt that very much," he said with a chuckle.

How about a Bloomberg-Dobbs ticket?

"We'd have to discuss whose name goes where," Dobbs quipped as Hizzoner laughed.

Now that would be an odd coupling indeed.

Snark Attack!

Talk about celebrity crime-fighting! Cher told Webster Hall curator Baird Jones: "Meryl Streep and I once chased after a guy who was trying to rip a girl's purse off. Of course we were afraid. This guy was almost killing this girl. We started screaming and he ran away. The police never came, but there were two guys who were standing on the corner who just did nothing. I am not a hero." Oh yes you are!

Who are you taking to the prom? Condoleezza Rice is going to be there with Drew Lachey, you know, Nick's brother? Mary Cheney is going to be there with Ludacris!

Yes, it's time again for another White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. Saturday's press prom at the Hilton Washington — with President Bush and Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert — will be packed with 2,600 of the usual Washington suspects and eye candy from the world of television, music and sports.

"This is a great time of year, when the WHCA president manages to infuriate everyone he's ever known because they all want tickets," says the prez, AP reporter Mark Smith , who's fending off requests for the sold-out event.

ABC is bringing Rice, Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson, Gen. Peter Pace and "Dancing With the Stars" winner Lachey; People magazine nabbed Mary Cheney, "Grey's Anatomy's" Isaiah Washington, John Legend and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges; Bloomberg gets Michael Chertoff,Gov. Mitt Romney, New York Giant Tiki Barber, tennis babe Anna Kournikova and Melina Kanakaredes.

Newsweek's table includes Josh Bolten , Gov. George Pataki and maybe George Clooney. Fox News has Laurence Fishburne; USA Today has Alberto Gonzales and "Desperate Housewives" hunk James Denton; CNN boasts Alex Trebek and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger; L.A. Times has Mayor Ray Nagin and Tommy Lasorda; and Business Week scooped up Steve Case.

The New York Times (Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. Jane Harman ), CBS (Karl Rove and Dan Bartlett) and The Washington Post (Steve Hadley and Mary Matalin) are sticking to actual political types. Executive Editor Len Downie says The Post prefers "to invite people who are working inside the administration of the moment."

Bloomberg's exclusive after-party at the Macedonian Embassy is an even hotter ticket this year — the guest list has been pared to a mere 750. Reuters is providing a alternative at K Street lounge downtown, and Capitol File will attempt to lure the overflow to Cafe Milano. But the action is always at Bloomberg's bash: Last year, Bloomberg booker Julianna Goldman , 25, and MSNBC's David Shuster, 38, met at the party's fab ice chandelier; in January, he proposed at the same site. And yes, they made the list this year.

Now, the next installment in Extreme Mortman’s regular feature: a peek inside the blog-reading habits of our nation’s top reporters and media celebrities.

A new satellite-radio sports show hosted by former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville and his collegian sidekick Luke Russert, son of NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert, is cause for a cocktail reception Thursday evening in the studios of XM Satellite Radio overlooking New York Avenue Northeast.

Promotion of the reception, co-hosted by Capitol File magazine, and the show is best left to XM’s executive vice president, Eric Logan, who draws attention to the unlikely radio pairing’s “amazing chemistry and energy.”

We don’t smoke anymore...
The Glickmans were among the guests Saturday evening at the national premiere of “Thank You for Smoking,” based on Christopher Buckley’s Washington novel, The event and after-party at Blue Gin, hosted by Capitol File magazine, attracted Judy Woodruff and Al Hunt, Frank and Mary Fahrenkopf, Harold Brazil, Jason Binn, Buckley and the star of the film, Aaron Eckhart, who plays a tobacco lobbyist.

...Or less
Glickman called the film “very timely” and added: “There’s a strong movement to get any film with cigarette smoking rated R.” The comedy, with its strong message, didn’t deter some hardy (or foolhardy) guests from lighting up outside the theater. We’re sure it won’t deter lobbyists either.

It doesn't open for two more weeks, and it has yet to be screened even in New York or Los Angeles, but a D.C. audience got a first look at "Thank You for Smoking" at a Georgetown screening Saturday night.

Based on the Christopher Buckley novel of the same name, the indie film stars Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor, the chief Washington spokesman for Big Tobacco.

"I talk for a living," he proclaims. "You know that guy who always gets the girl? That's me. On crack." Each night, Naylor drinks with the other self-styled "Merchants of Death," lobbyists for the gun and liquor industries, as they compare notes on how best to dupe the public.

The laugh-out-loud satire includes cameos by Dennis Miller, the Capital Grille and this newspaper.

"I thought the movie was a terrific parody," said Dan Berger, senior vice president for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. "It was really funny."

"Nothing like sitting there for two hours watching my profession take another kick to the groin," he jokingly continued. Former Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.), who now heads the Motion Picture Association of America, was also impressed. "It does ring true," he said, chuckling. "If you're going to make a point, you've got to make a big point."

Undeterred by the film's send-up of his industry, Frank Coleman of the Distilled Spirits Council stayed on message. "Let's go have a cocktail!" he said, beaming.

And so everyone went just up the street to Blue Gin for the VIP after-party hosted by Capitol File, which sports Eckhart on its current cover. There, we caught up with director Jason Reitman, who told us he's not out to vilify any of the industries in the film. "It's about spin," he said.

So does it take a political junkie to make a movie like this? Not exactly.

"Probably like most college kids, I get most of my news from ‘The Daily Show,'" he said.

Likewise for the film's star. When asked how much background research he did on lobbying, Eckhart sarcastically replied, "Years and years," before confessing that he doesn't "know anything about politics."

"I just want my water and my electricity to stay on," he said.

Conspiracy theorists suspected Tom Cruise when a hotly awaited sex scene featuring his fiancée, Katie Holmes, was missing from last month's film fest screening of "Thank You for Smoking." But director Jason Reitman says the real culprit was a young production assistant.

Apparently there are rules to abide by when speaking to Wonkette, aka Ana Marie Cox, who recently came out with her work of political fiction, Dog Days.

In an e-mail, publicist Burke wrote, "I told Ana to skip them [the Jessica Cutler questions] because much of the publicity for Dog Days has focused on the whole Washingtonienne affair, which I think diverts too much attention from the book itself. Riverhead is invested in Ana’s career as a writer, so we clearly think there are more important things to talk about."

Q: How long has the basic story of Dog Days been on your mind? A: The core plot started to percolate in April of 2004 during Jessica Cutler’s tour of duty as a “Newinsky,” when a small group of tinfoil-hat enthusiasts were convinced that I had orchestrated the entire fiasco. I was flattered and humbled by their faith in my PR skills — and inspired to think about why one might engineer a fake sex blog. Once I got more of a taste of Washington campaign culture, other aspects of the story fell into place.

Q: What did you want to be when you were little?
A: Bigger.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: I think I have finished my growth spurt, but another couple of inches would probably make me look thinner.

Q: It has been rumored that you are going to work for The New York Times in some capacity. Is there any truth to that, either in the paper or the website?
A:I’ll get right back to you on that.

Q: [Several minutes and no reply later …] How about telling me about the NYT?
A: I just don’t think I can comment on that, sorry.

Q: Have you always been so snarky?
A:Only since I stopped beating my wife.
( Now that’s a comeback!)

Q: Some reviewers of your book have some awfully harsh things to say about your book — how do you feel about that, and does it hurt your feelings?
A:What feelings?

Q: I would like a serious answer to the question.
A: I don’t think I would describe my reaction to bad reviews as "hurt feelings." That seems like the reaction one has to being called names or having to sit at the "bad" tables at the Palm.
To the extent that a negative review has substantive criticisms, the reaction is much deeper than having "feelings" hurt. I take thoughtful arguments and sincere objections seriously and search in myself and my work for what truth there is to them. That said, many of the negative reviews are so blatantly agenda-driven — they’re attacks on me, the blogosphere, "chick lit" or Washington, not book reviews — it’s hard to take them to heart.

I am the novel’s own worst critic, trust me, and there hasn’t been a review yet that is as hard on my own writing as I can be.

One more thing: If you think I take negative reviews badly, ask my husband: I’m even worse about the positive ones.

Q: What percentage (an estimated guess, of course) of your book is based on reality? Which character do you identify with most?
A: 12.765 percent. I identify the most with the character that is based on me, but she doesn’t appear in the book very much.

Q: If your book gets turned into a movie, which actress would you like to play the lead? Who do you think should play Heather (aka Capitolette?)
A: I’ve been avoiding answering this genre of question for fear I may jinx the project. You can feel free to speculate wildly, however.
(How about Courtney Love, that anorexic chick, Lindsay Lohan, or Drew Barrymore pre-rehab …)

Q: Do you really think the bulk of Washington men are a bunch of losers?
A: Only the bulkier ones.

Q: Were you popular in high school?
A: No.

Q: Did you go to prom?
A:Yes. Sophomore year was most memorable for the sea-green poufy monstrosity that I managed to find growing on the ugly dress tree at J.C. Penney. Junior year, I went with my then-boyfriend, Brendan, driving my father’s 1969 Oldsmobile convertible. Senior year, I went on a double date with friends and wore the only dress that would not hurt my eyes to look at today: a black velvet strapless cocktail dress that my grandmother made copying a picture of Audrey Hepburn (1990, the year I discovered taste).

I would provide more detail beyond costuming, but I honestly don’t remember much else. Somewhere there are pictures from the senior-year event — the four of us sitting on swing sets at the elementary school, drinking wine coolers and mugging for the camera. It looks like we were having fun, and I believe we did.

Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: As with most of these stories, there’s a considerable amount of adorable detail, but I’ll spare you that. Short version: I wrote a piece for him when he was an op-ed editor at Long Island Newsday. We discovered a shared passion for bad movies, and I desperately needed healthcare — it was a perfect match.

Q: Being a former farm girl, do you really find Washington that interesting?
A: I do enjoy the raking of manure.

Q: Would you ever, like your main character Melanie, have an epiphany and sudden disgust with everything Washington and move back to Lincoln?
A: Melanie has a few more motivations beyond "disgust" — she has no job or boyfriend, she’s suffered total humiliation and is broke. I have been fortunate enough to dodge those fates (at least all at once).

Q: Which politician is the easiest target and why?
A: Mocking Bush is pretty much the humor equivalent of the broad side of the barn. He provides the largest target, many mistakes and a perfect grasp of the obvious.

Q: What’s the nastiest piece of hate mail or e-mail that you’ve ever received in relation to your blog?
A: I’m sorry to say that I block the memory of most of those. After a while, it’s just a blur of [expletives] anyway.

Q: Do people recognize you when you go to the grocery store?
A: If they do, they’re keeping it to themselves.

Q: Do you still consider yourself a liberal?
A: Yes, despite their numerous efforts to dislodge me.

http://thehill.com/old-capital-living/wonkette-goiing-to-the-dogs-or-maybe-to-the-nyt-2006-01-31.html

Clooney's Tales of Two Cities: Exact Mirror Opposites!

So, if you happen to be at the Golden Globes tomorrow and run into triple-nominee George Clooney, whatever you do, don't get him started on the topic of D.C. vs. L.A. again!

"Washington is the exact mirror opposite of Hollywood, but they're identical: they're the only two one-industry towns that I've been [to]. You get in a cab in LA and they'll talk to you about box office; you get into a cab in Washington and some guy who barely speaks English will talk about the energy bill; you go to a bar in Washington, and instead of some B-actor that walks in, it's a congressman. All the lobbyists are like actors. The props are big and made of marble. But there are real similarities between those two towns. It's intoxicating and infuriating."
-- Fade In magazine, Fall 2005

"Washington is so similar to Hollywood; they're mirror images of each other. They are the only one-industry towns I've ever seen in my life. If you catch a cab in LA, you'll have a driver who barely speaks English, talking about last night's box-office numbers. And if you take a cab in Washington, you'll have a driver who barely speaks English, talking about the appropriations bill. Senators are like movie stars and congressmen are television stars. And lobbyists are like struggling actors in that as soon as a senator or congressman walks in a room, the lobbyists are all over him."
-- Capitol File, winter 2006

By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts

. . . "I watch ESPN's "SportsCenter," but I wish many of the hosts would stop attempting to be funny.

Truth be told, they are not. Don't try to do what you're not equipped to do. (This is a pretty good life rule)" — Larry King in Capitol File magazine . . .