The Fix

First Word

O.J. just happy to get a check: Providing a depressing if totally unsurprising coda to the O.J. Simpson "If I Did It" fiasco, Simpson spoke to Florida's Palm Beach Post recently, saying he told publisher Judith Regan, who was behind the project, that he hoped the book would never come out. "It made it look too much like an admission of guilt," he told the paper. "There were a lot of inaccuracies about the case and about how I would have done things. But I figure I'd let it go since I didn't kill anyone." As for the public furor? "I don't care," Simpson said. "I got paid just the same." (Palm Beach Post via the Scoop)

Truthilicious? There have been rumors floating around Stephen Colbert fan sites for some time that Ben & Jerry's is working on some sort of Colbert-themed ice cream. After a tip yesterday (thanks, Ms. Interpreted), we put a call in to the ice cream company, and got this coy reply from spokesman Rob Michalak: "I can neither confirm nor deny it. But I can say there's been a lot of experimentation with red, white and blue." There are some theories as to what the likely flavor will be (including this shot of something called "Americone Dream"), but we've come up with our very own scoop: Introducing Stephen Colberry! (Yum, tastes like truthiness!) Think you can come up with a better flavor? Send your ideas to thefix@salon.com. We'll spotlight the best ideas this week. (No Fact Zone)

Time Warner agrees to pay up: Time Warner and Interference Inc., the company it hired to do the promotional stunt that went so badly awry in Boston, have agreed to pony up $2 million in fines. The money will go to state and local agencies that responded to the placement of little blinking electronic boards promoting the show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" as though it were a terrorist plot, shutting down parts of Boston last week. (Yahoo)

White noise ... Spies tell Page Six it's on between Justin Timberlake and Scarlett Johansson. They were spotted getting "cozy" at a Super Bowl after-party in Miami, says the source: "Justin was leaning against the wall and Scarlett came up, leaned into him and did a sexy, little dance, grinding into his body." (Page Six) ... Katie Holmes reports nothing but good news about married life in her first interview since her November wedding to Tom Cruise: "I am very grateful," she says. "I love calling him husband." (Harper's Bazaar via People) ... Jessica Simpson (right) on seeing her ex, Nick Lachey, hook up with reality TV celeb Kristin Cavallari not long after their split: "Two or three weeks later? Yeah, I'd say it kind of hurt me." (Elle via People) ... With 93 million viewers, Sunday's Super Bowl was the third most-watched U.S. broadcast ever, trailing only the 1996 Super Bowl (94.8 million) and the final episode of "M*A*S*H" (106 million) in 1983. (Reuters) ... Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly," has dropped out of directing an upcoming version of "Wonder Woman" for the big screen, saying his vision didn't suit the producers: "They just didn't like my take. It's pretty simple." (ComicBookResources.com)

Talkers

Maf54 Wants You! The new political Web site Politico has a surprising -- and strangely boosterish -- article suggesting that the Mark Foley scandal has actually made the congressional page program more popular. All the comments in the story are fairly vague, on the order of this congressional spokesman's quote: "We don't usually get that many applications, but as far as the number of calls, it is up, it's more than usual." The director of the Senate page program teeters out on the longest limb, saying she has "seen a slight increase in requests for information about the program since last fall," and speculating that "it's very possible that the publicity has turned out to be good for the program." But then, what else is she going to say? Pages aren't allowed to talk to the media, so the only testimony in the story we get is from an alleged page's MySpace entry, which gushes: "I love having only 2 hours of school. I love doing homework on the House floor and getting paid for it. I love going to the most beautiful school in the world (Library of Congress, Jefferson Building). I love making new friends. I love meeting famous people (Kelly Clarkson, Adam Putnam). I love my life." ("Despite Scandal, Page Program More Popular," Politico)

He just keeps on going and going and going: Today's write-up about Rudy and Judi Giuliani in the New York Post crosses that line into creepy territory -- here's the opening sentence: "Sexy Judi Giuliani is keeping a tight lip-lock on her hubby as he moved even closer yesterday to officially announcing his presidential bid." Borrowing quotes from an upcoming Harper's Bazaar piece on Judi, the Post keeps alluding to the couple's, um, private life: "Describing Rudy, a former federal prosecutor, as 'the Energizer Bunny with no rechargeable batteries,' Judi said, 'One of the most remarkable things about my husband, who sleeps three or four hours a night, is his energy level and stamina.'" ("'Runnin' Mates' Judi 'N' Rudy Aim for '08," N.Y. Post)

Buzz Index

• Most popular on Google News: "Court Hears Grand Jury Testimony," Los Angeles Times
• Top entertainment blog post on Tailrank: Snickers Superbowl Web Site Promotes Violence Against Gays and Lesbians (America Blog)
• Most e-mailed story from the Washington Post: "Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort"
• Top news story on Technorati: "Super Bowl Ads of Cartoonish Violence, Perhaps Reflecting Toll of War," New York Times

; )

"Touring Raffi Refuses to Play 'Shake My Sillies Out'" (The Onion)

Judgment

Treating women like trash: Alarmed Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan believes fashion crowds need "a lesson in how to boo." During New York Fashion Week, she writes, "Alexandre Herchcovitch sent a group of dresses and tops down his runway at Bryant Park that looked like they had been constructed from black plastic garbage bags. No one laughed. No one's mouth curled into a sneer of dismissal ... If a designer would like to publicly ponder the notion of 'woman as compost,' the industry will give him his space." At BCBG Max Azria, "a model walked out wearing a quilted jacket that folded open in front like the pages of a book ... It was knee-slappingly ridiculous, but the audience watched it pass with the dispassion of the comatose." Azria followed "with jumpsuits that opened across the tush like a pair of chaps. The average person would have reared back in hysteria. The fashion crowd didn't blink." New York, Givhan concludes, has become "filled with designers trying to find the sweet spot between clothes that are so boring one can hardly work up the energy to disparage them and clothes that are so ridiculous that one is left trying to figure out where to begin the criticism." ("The Emperor's New Clothes. Seriously," Washington Post)

Numbers

No. 1 new fiction on next week's New York Times list: "Plum Lovin'," by Janet Evanovich
No. 1 new nonfiction on next week's New York Times list: "The Audacity of Hope," by Barack Obama
No. 1 seller on Powells.com: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," by J.K. Rowling
No. 1 seller on Amazon.com: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," by J.K. Rowling

Trademarks

More (possibly) upcoming cultural products, revealed through the magic of searching the U.S. trademark database:

Trademark: Targ-B-Que Rib Sauce: A Klingon Tradition
Owner: Paramount Pictures
For: Sauce

Trademark: Gay Robot
Owner: Sony
For: A television comedy series

Turn On

On Tuesday night, "American Idol" (Fox, 8 p.m. EST) stretches out the auditions for this season by heading to San Antonio to hear hopefuls; "Independent Lens" (PBS, 10 p.m. EST) profiles composer, pianist and arranger Billy "Lush Life" Strayhorn, perhaps best known for his work with Duke Ellington; and -- don't you miss those creepy sodomizing hillbillies? -- AMC airs the movie "Deliverance" (8 p.m. EST).

Talk

Almost Famous

"Uncle Glen looks like a Chinese Paul Giamatti," from Milanocookiez Flickr photostream.

Got a friend who looks like a tall Woody Allen? People always saying you look like a chubby Cillian Murphy? We want to see it! Just make sure you have permission -- then send your Almost Famous moment to the Fix.

Fix contributors: Heather Havrilesky, Scott Lamb, Kerry Lauerman, David Marchese, Laura Miller, Andrew O'Hehir, Amy Reiter, Stephanie Zacharek

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