Media-Whore's D'Oevres

"While waiting for the ladies room at Suki Zuki last night, I overheard a beautiful woman saying the strangest thing, 'I’m a hairdresser slut! I just can NOT stay faithful to anyone I see!' She lingered around the bathroom area chatting to friends for a while, and I went back to the bar (because I like to sip a Saketini while I wait for my take-out). Then I realised that the slutty-hair-talker was Carey Lowell, and sitting at arm’s distance from me was Richard Gere, patiently awaiting her. The cutest part was that Richard appeared to be scarfing the rest of their food down while she was away from the table." (DansHamptons)

"Ron Mwangaguhunga reports: It's July, so that means that the chattering class big guns are out and about in Sun Valley, Idaho, at investment banker Herb Allen's mogul retreat for a little "deep think" interspersed with rounds of golf. There is always, lurking in the green, the possible dramatic tension of the merger-subplot-scenario. Heather Godchild, chief media analyst at Standard and Poor's credit rating service, told the Seattle Times: 'Bucolic it may be, but this is a chessboard. You've got major, major players there thinking through some big questions.'" (FishbowlNY)

"VH1 is trying to capitalize on one of the most popular Hollywood sites on the Web. Net has picked up a show that will star celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. A series of six one-hour specials have been ordered for what is tentatively titled 'What Perez Sez.' Shows will be based on Hilton's on-site interviews and reporting from the red carpet of large-scale Hollywood events such as the Oscars. Blogger will riff on current celeb foibles as well as offer gossip. World of Wonder is producing." (Variety)

"Senator Obama is joining John Edwards in calling for hedge funds and private equity firms that go public to pay higher taxes, increasing the pressure on Senator Clinton to take a stand on an industry facing mounting scrutiny in Congress. A spokesman for Mr. Obama told The New York Sun late yesterday that the Illinois senator had asked to co-sponsor legislation that would treat all publicly traded partnerships — such as hedge funds and private equity firms — as corporations, forcing them to pay a 35% tax rate on income." (Russell Berman via NYSUN)

"Austin is the paparazzo with the best gimmick -- he's only 14 -- but not everyone is a fan. TMZ cameras were outside of Il Sole last night, where the fair-skinned Rose McGowan got her first glimpse of Hollywood's youngest photog. With a shocked look on her face, the once one-legged zombie killer exclaimed, 'What's wrong with this town?!' calling his snapping 'just so wrong.' She then, of course, posed for him .." (TMZ)

"After a few more days of deliberation than was required by her leading rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Clinton has decided to join those calling for an end to a tax policy that allows some hedge and private equity fund operators to pay just 15% on most of their income." (NYSun)