August 21-27 – Sure, late August is just about the year’s nadir in celebrityville. However, we managed to scrape up the few notables who aren’t in St. Tropez, the Hamptons, in rehab or having facelifts. (We’re already worried about next August, however, since we have the upcoming presidential election to thank for this week’s meager dose of fame.)

In New York on Tuesday, MoveOn kicked off ten weeks of activism with a party featuring performances by The Roots, Moby, Perry Farrell and Natalie Merchant. The centerpiece of MoveOn’s new effort is a celebrity-studded slew of TV ads with Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Romjin, Kevin Bacon and directors Rob Reiner and Richard Linklater. Sadly, only Bacon and Linklater showed up at the launch party.

Meanwhile, we found Milla Jovovich and Anjelica Huston at a Santa Monica Kerry/Edwards Victory Fund reception, dining and listening to Tony Bennett croon. John Kerry joked that the evening was his Hollywood interview for The West Wing. Kerry told some heartwarming campaign stories, and organizers said they raised over $3 million, even though they had only eleven days to put the event together.

At New York Police headquarters, Homeland Security honcho Tom Ridge held a press conference where he reassured the public that security measures for the imminent Republican National Convention are adequate. Our east coast team is relieved that Ridge has this Kreskin-like ability to know that all of those cars on city streets are free of suicide-bombers. After Ridge’s term ends, we predict he’ll make a fortune reading palms.

With Jen Lowery in Los Angeles