Amanda Peet can't get enough room for herself and her stroller on the Philly-New York Acela train. [P6]

When resourceful socialite Lydia Hearst can't get a little champagne, she simply mixes white wine with club soda. [P6]  read more »

At Monday's Costume Institute gala, Christina Ricci reportedly left when she learned that she wasn't seated with her boyfriend and Speed Racer co-star, Kick Gurry; Jeff Zucker avoided Project Runway stealer, Harvey Weinstein, on the red carpet. [P6]

Rudy Giuliani shops for pants at TJ Maxx and his wife helps him! [P6]  read more »

AUDITION
by Barbara Walters
Alfred A. Knopf, 624 pages, $29.95

Journalists are, by necessity, chameleons, or, as Janet Malcolm famously put it, “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible. He is a kind of confidence man, preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them without remorse.”  read more »

Here is Michael Bloomberg holding court with a few people at the Four Seasons in midtown before a roundtable discussion to outline the mayor's priorities for the city.

The white-haired guy to the right is (former?) Eliot Spitzer nemesis Ken Langone.

The annual "Card Luncheon" is when Bloomberg tells city elite about what he thinks they should ask for when political folks knock on their door for contributions.

Barbara Walters is there.  read more »

I just caught part of Barack Obama's appearance on The View, where he was engaged in a rather wonky (for daytime TV, at least) discussion about the home mortgage crisis. 

Barbara Walters drew a contrast between Obama and John McCain, saying Obama wants more federal assistance for people losing their homes, while McCain wants less.  read more »

Would you be surprised to hear that a surging tide of books about politics is about to engulf us?

Later this month we’ll get a chance to peruse War and Decision, by Douglas Feith (HarperCollins, March 25). Mr. Feith, a neocon promoter of the Iraq War, was famously identified by Gen. Tommy Franks as “the dumbest fucking guy on the planet.” It’s unlikely that Mr.  read more »

MONDAY

For several panicked hours on Friday, fans of Gossip Girl—and presumably, The O.C.—swamped message boards following the news that producers of the new CW show had offered former O.C. cast member Mischa Barton a role on G.G. as Georgina Sparks, an old chum of Serena van der Woodsen. A wave of invective ensued: “This is the dumbest idea I have ever heard,” wrote one irate commenter, “[M]ischa [B]arton is the most useless actress ever!!!” wrote another. Too harsh? Maybe … maybe not. Consider the history: Josh Schwartz, who now produces G.G., and the other O. C. producers opted to kill off Barton’s character, well before the show ran its course. Now they want her back?  read more »

Last night, Barbara Walters’ much anticipated The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007 aired on ABC. Before viewers got a chance to assess the lineup, Ms. Walters said that she was going to avoid any “tabloid stuff.” And she did…sort of. As promised, Bill Clinton, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Don Imus were all in fact honored. But so, too, were Victoria and David Beckham, who were asked to dish on their much-publicized friendship with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. (Even Bill O’Reilly asked Ms. Walters “Why? Why? Why?” after learning that Posh ‘n’ Becks would be featured on her program.) Then came Justin Timberlake. The former ‘N Sync pop singer told the television journalist, among other things, about his romance with Hollywood starlet Jessica Biel—also a topic touched upon a time or two in, well, the tabloids. Katherine Heigl, who called her recent hit film, Knocked Up, “sexist,” was also on Ms. Walters’ short list. From Heigl, the former 20/20 anchor learned that the actress is not happy that her Grey’s Anatomy co-star was fired after he slung homophobic slurs at T.R. Knight.

Barbara Walters is sick and tired of tabloid journalism. Even though the venerable co-host of The View has been criticized, especially over the last few years, for conducting “soft” interviews with people like Michael Jackson and Monica Lewinsky, she wants to put an end to it here and now. Acknowledging that her stint on 20/20 may have actually spawned the current, frenzied climate of paparazzi-driven celebrity journalism, Ms. Walters said: “We began to do more and more celebrities and we were criticized,” she continued, “And now ... every program does it." But when her annual The 10 Most Fascinating People airs tonight on ABC, the matronly journalist will reportedly look beyond messy stars like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. “I am not going after the tabloid stuff, I don’t do it,” Ms. Walters, 78, said, before adding that she wants no part in the “week in, week out, competition for getting the next name, the next person out of rehab.” Instead of Lindsay Lohan, her viewers can expect to see Bill Clinton, Hugo Chavez, two founders of MySpace and Don Imus.  read more »

ABC's Barbara Walters has scored the first on-air interview with Don Imus since Mr. Imus' return to radio and television was announced weeks ago. The interview, already conducted, will air on Thursday night at 10 p.m, as part of an ABC special, The Ten Most Fascinating People of 2007.

"Are we going to have a kinder, gentler Don Imus?" Ms. Walters asks at one point in the interview.

"Well, I don't think so, no," replies Mr. Imus.

And given the host's comments this morning about the vice president and the Democratic presidential frontrunner, he was right.