September 29 - Looking a bit grannyish in brown Prada, Madonna appeared at a midtown Manhattan bookstore to promote her new children’s book, The English Roses. Only 200 lottery winners got to hear the material mom read, and each had, literally, fourteen seconds to greet the Detroit-born Englishwoman. Instructed to be there two hours before the scheduled 3:30 P.M. reading, fans didn’t have to wait while Maddie signed their books – she’d done that earlier. And, it seems, some devotees didn’t wait around – we were handed a signed copy of the book as we left.

That evening we attended the premiere of Out of Time starring Denzel Washington, Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Cain and John Billingsley. (Denzel was wearing jeans and sneakers – do we need to sick the Queer Eye guys on him?) On her way out of the theater for a smoke, we asked Queen Latifah her opinion of New York State’s strict smoking ban. With a withering look she said, “I’m glad I live in Jersey where you can smoke inside. That’s what I think.” Note to Governor Pataki: here’s a movie/TV/music star that earns lots of money and refuses to live in New York state. Think of all that tax revenue going up in, um, smoke.

We couldn't stick around with Val Kilmer and Janeane Garofalo at the screening of their new film Wonderland. We had to get home and post our Madonna book on e-bay.

September 22 – At an intimate party at celeb hangout Elaine’s, we timidly asked the host about any protocols for approaching the guest of honor, newly crowned Welterweight boxing champ “Sugar” Shane Mosley. Our fears were unfounded, as Mosley was well mannered, soft-spoken and accommodating. He even played along with one reporter’s questions about shoes, saying that his favorite shoe store is Footlocker, and that his wife’s favorite shoes are “Manolo ‘Bronson’ or something”. About his victory over Oscar de la Hoya, Mosley told us, “I feel great. It was a legendary, historic type of fight.” How did he feel immediately after the fight? “Just happy. I felt very happy.” Happy at the party were recording artist Loon, and Sopranos wiseguys Vincent Pastore, Steve Schirripa, Tony Sirico and Vincent Curatola.

The same evening, we stopped by Chelsea Piers, where Glenn Close and Steve Buscemi were honored at the IFP Gotham Awards. Alec Baldwin, Sigourney Weaver, Naomi Watts and lots of other film types were there. These are dedicated professionals: we asked Rosie Perez the name of the film on whose set she injured her hand (bandaged in photo). “I don’t know, actually”, she replied. In theaters near you soon.

September 20 - 21 – Stars came out this weekend to events honoring some VIPs no longer with us. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation took over Industria Superstudio, Diane Von Furstenberg’s complex, and the surrounding West Village streets on Saturday afternoon for its tenth Kids for Kids Carnival. Ellen Barkin, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Franken, Natalie Portman, Diane Sawyer, Julianne Moore and many more manned carnival-style game booths, mugged with Nickelodeon character SpongeBob, chowed down on food from NYC restaurants and raised over $1 million for research.

On Sunday, Leslie Uggams, Diahann Carroll, Savion Glover, Maurice Hines, Mercedes Ellington and others performed Broadway-style numbers in loving tribute to recently deceased Gregory Hines. The crowd at Harlem’s Apollo Theater included Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Eartha Kitt, Geoffrey Holder, Michelle Lee, Isabella Rosselini and Hines’ family. Nicole Kidman sat in back between Lenny Kravitz and Denzel Washington, who both snuck in through a side door to avoid the press.

September 16 - 23 – Forget fashion shows, the U.N. conference, presidential debates and movie premieres. The star attraction this week has been the Dalai Lama’s New York visit. Movie star Bhuddist Richard Gere is practically stalking the guy, at his side from the opening press conference at the Guggenheim Museum through Sunday’s public talk in Central Park. In between, His Holiness (the Dalai Lama, not Gere) ran training sessions on Geshe Chekawa's Seven Point Mind Training and Jamyang Shepa's Root Verses on Indian Philosophies, where actress Goldie Hawn and model Christy Turlington listened raptly. This week, the Dalai Lama participated in a dialogue entitled “Ethical Revolution and the World Crisis”, with leading figures in media, environmentalism, economics and politics like hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon and presidential hopefuls Al Sharpton and Congressman Dennis Kucinich. We found actress Uma Thurman, newly separated from husband Ethan Hawke, seeking a bit of inner peace at the exiled Tibetan leader's Central Park appearance. The Dalai Lama is still in town, spreading his messages of peace and compassion, but we can’t keep up with him, so we’re telling you about it now.

September 15 - 18 - There was no lack of star power in support of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure women’s cancer initiative this week. Although official chair Nicole Kidman was busy on a movie set, Lucy Liu kicked off the Fashion Week event on Monday at the Bryant Park tents, Demi Moore was the honoree at a dinner at the Four Seasons, and Liz Hurley signed compacts while introducing Estee Lauder’s “Elizabeth Pink” lipstick at Saks. Saks kicked in with a “shopping weekend”, donating a percentage of sales at all of its stores nationwide to women’s cancer research centers. A great cause, but where was Ashton?

September 18 – Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller act out the experience of countless typical New Yorkers in their new comedy, Duplex. They play a couple that considers murdering their infuriating upstairs neighbor. The movie’s premiere was far less dramatic, with costar Justin Theroux and director Danny DeVito on hand. One typical New York family - Stiller’s comedian parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara and wife Christine Taylor - came en masse, but kept mum on their annoying neighbors.

There are no immediate neighbors to the riverfront USS Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, so there were no complaints when Democratic Presidential hopeful John Kerry picked up a guitar and joined Moby onstage. Kerry kept his eyes mostly on the guitar as the two played Ring of Fire in tribute to the late Johnny Cash. If the presidential bid doesn’t work out, maybe Kerry will give music a spin.

We’re sure neighbors of the club Canal Room weren’t thrilled when Mariah Carey partied until dawn after her Radio City concert. Spotted in the crowd: R&B heartthrob Usher.

September 12 - 19 – Once the runway had been cleared of air-kissing editors and paparazzi before the Kenneth Cole show, the first of New York’s Spring/Summer 2004 Fashion Week, we found ourselves sitting directly across from Robert Redford, his Horse Whisperer costar Scarlett Johansson, Stanley Tucci and Edie Falco (both obliviously chomping on gum) and Andrew Cuomo.

The downtown crowd was awake and in midtown(!) early on Saturday morning for As Four. Chloe Sevigny tried to remain aloof and keep a straight face for the slew of photographers surrounding her, until our eyes met, and we both burst out laughing.
Beyonce Knowles was this season’s A-list star, in the front row at five shows. Naomi Campbell modeling bathing suits drew Beyonce and boyfriend Jay-Z, Anthony Kiedis, Toni Braxton, Venus Williams, Wyclef Jean, Pharrell Williams, Salman Rushdie and live-in love, model Padma Lakshmi to Brazilian swimwear company Rosa Cha’s sexy show. The same crowd, plus a thousand or so, attended the madhouse that is Baby Phat later that evening. (Sad note: Late that night, tennis star Venus Williams' sister, Yetunde Price, was murdered in California. Venus had been scheduled to model for Diane Von Furstenberg the next day.)

Backstage at Luca Luca, we ignored the pop stars and quizzed Rushdie about his recent interest in fashion. “I’m getting interested. I’ve been living for four years now with somebody who knows everything about it. So I’m getting an education.” Why have we seen him repeatedly at Luca Luca? “Luca [Orlandi] is a good friend of ours. And we love his clothes. That was a particularly good collection, I thought.” Expecting exquisite bitchiness from Queer Eye’s fashion maven Carson Kressley, we got sweetness instead: “This was the first show I’ve seen. It was beautiful, right? Love to love you, Luca Luca.”

Indie film actress Natasha Lyonne won our hearts, showing up late to Imitation of Christ, cigarette in hand, wearing a short black dress, scarf around her hair, never removing her Jackie O-style sunglasses. IOC, famous for their fashion show-as-performance-art extravaganzas, put on a comparatively low-key production this season, beginning with a long (and not very good) tap dance routine. Perhaps we’ve always been too distracted by all the theatrics, but we noticed something new at the IOC show – great clothes.