Afternoon Briefing:
Metaphorically speaking: At a New York confab the other day Moby shared his estimation of the two presidential candidates in terms of their preppy credentials, saying, "I think they each represent two different components of the WASP-y tradition ... George Bush is the sort of drunken frat boy who you'd be profoundly nervous to let your sister date. And John Kerry is like the serious student who you'd love to see your sister marry." (New York Observer)
Where is Love? Courtney Love has been released from Bellevue Hospital in New York, where she was taken for a "gynecological condition" on Friday -- her 40th birthday -- and kept under observation for 72 hours. But she's not yet back on the street -- and has instead checked into another private hospital. Precisely why no one's saying. (E! Online)
Clueless Clooney: George Clooney, Brad Pitt and other assorted stars were in Sicily shooting "Ocean's Twelve" when police noticed local mafia men hanging around the set. They put the filming under surveillance in case there were threats of extortion. The film cast and crew were unaware of all the watchful eyes. (Ananova)
Russell returns to bad-boy act? According to onlookers who called their reports in to the Toronto Star newspaper, actor Russell Crowe was being a bad boy in a bar the other night, groping women and ripping off his shirt. He is in Canada filming a boxing movie called "The Cinderella Man." (Sky News)
-- Karen Croft
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Turn On:
In what must have been (for some) akin to an episode of "Fear Factor," the men of "The Next Action Star" (8 p.m. ET; NBC) each undergo a full body shave. Narrated by Natalie Portman, "Hitler's Pawn" (10 p.m. ET; HBO) tells the story of Gretel Bergmann, an Olympic-caliber Jewish high-jumper in 1930s Germany who qualified to compete in the 1936 games but was removed from the team only weeks before competition began.
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Flight from fight: Elton John is perfectly happy to walk away from a tangle. Tuesday night, when he arrived at the Rainbow Room at a party in his honor, he was immediately approached by a woman who said, "I play better boogie-woogie piano than you." "No, you can't," he replied. "Yes, I can," said the woman. Then John said, "You know what, you're one rude b----," and left the party in a huff. The hosts had to reach him on his cellphone and sweet-talk him back inside. (N.Y. Daily News)
Hillary head scratcher: Why isn't Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month? According to Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, "She never asked." (N.Y. Times)
Twin time: Bits and pieces of Jenna and Barbara Bush's interview in Vogue are starting to pop into the press. And? Here's Jenna (the blond one, who after the election wants to work as a teacher, possibly in Harlem) on the twins' 20th birthday party, which was held at Camp David less than three months after 9/11: "We had 20 of our friends, and there was a really nice dinner and a karaoke machine afterward, and of course my dad had a sports tournament for the guys. He's so competitive, so active. He was stressed out, I know, but we still had the party." And Jenna on her mother's fondness for cleanliness: "I call her OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) to her face, but I'm glad now because some of it's rubbed off on me." (Vogue via Reuters)
Oh and also? Colin Powell travels less than any other secretary of state in the last 30 years (Washington Post) ... Martha Stewart's co-defendant, Peter Bacanovic, will be sentenced separately from Stewart (N.Y. Post) ... And Mary-Kate Olsen has extended her stint in rehab (Rush and Molloy)
--Amy Reiter
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