Los Angeles, October 23 – Despite the recent death of her husband Marvin, Barbara Davis went ahead with her Carousel of Hope gala on Saturday, at the Beverly Hilton. The biannual diabetes fundraiser is known for being mega-star-studded, and truly, there were more names than we could possibly list here. Let’s just say that Oprah Winfrey presented an award to Halle Berry, who is diabetic. Beyonce Knowles, Josh Groban and Faith Hill sang a few songs. We took careful notes on Muhammad Ali 's technigue. The Greatest had starlets Samaire Armstrong and Erika Christensen transfixed as he performed magic tricks like making a red handkerchief disappear, and having Brittany Murphy bow down to him.

Photos by Jen Lowery

October 18-22 – Hollywood was awash in awards this week. In addition to the star-studded Hollywood Awards, we found Carmen Electra, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ben Vereen at the Orpheum Theater for the American Choreography Awards. The awards recognize choreography in movies, music videos, television, and even fight choreography, with Quentin Tarantino accepting one for Kill Bill Volume 2’s fancy fight footwork.

Lindsay Lohan and Mark Ruffalo are totally diverse. The two were honored at the 12th annual Diversity Awards on Sunday. We extend our congratulations, and definitely think Ruffalo deserves an award for marrying someone named Sunrise. Korean actor John Cho (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) was also diversified.

Unfortunately, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Biel, Taryn Manning and Tori Spelling weren’t wearing racy under things at the 2nd Frederick’s of Hollywood lingerie art auction of celerity-designed corsets.

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman were quite unkempt when we caught them at the end of their world motorcycle trip back in July. But the pals were all cleaned up on Tuesday, in Santa Monica promoting their upcoming Bravo show, Long Way Round.

In New York on Thursday, we got nervous when we saw Six Feet Under funeral director Michael C. Hall at the opening night of the Tribeca Theater Festival, but attendees Robert De Niro, Martin Scorcese, Sam Rockwell, Chad Lowe and Fran Drescher survived the evening.

Shoppers who stopped into Macy’s Herald Square on Friday evening were shocked to see Beyonce Knowles, who was pushing her fragrance, True Star, and signing photos for lucky purchasers.

lWith Jen Lowery in Los Angeles

October 18-22 –What with global warming and all, we thought it was one of those Santa Ana winds, but all the hot air blowing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania this week was from politicians. And we were especially disappointed that with everybody talking non-stop, no one addressed the most critical issue of the campaign: Where is Ben Affleck? Is he coming back to join John Kerry on the campaign trail? And will he bring Jennifer Garner along? And will Kerry’s daughters Alexandra and Vanessa be jealous? Really, do these politicians think we’re too stupid to see that talking about things like jobs and Iraq is just a ploy to distract us from the truly important stuff?

President Bush has lots of plans. He addressed the flu vaccine crisis in the U.S., noting that if you are healthy like him, you don’t need to get a flu shot. Another of Bush’s healthcare initiatives is to improve accuracy by putting medical records on computers, to avoid errors due to doctors’ sloppy handwriting. “Doctors don’t write very well anyway. They write about as well as I speak Engish”. Unfortunately, time ran out before the President could detail his plans for those voters who cannot afford doctors. On a personal level, W. joked that the 2004 campaign took the place of the camping trip he’d always promised his kids.

Kerry also has plans, but no Ben. We even found First Lady Laura Bush, a former teacher, laughing off Teresa Heinz Kerry’s comment that she’d never held a job. But she didn’t answer the question of why anyone would want the job of president.

New York, October 20 – The United Nations is continuing its celebrity spiral, this time having pop star Ricky Martin for lunch. Martin addressed U.N. diplomats at a luncheon, asking them to help combat child sexual tourism. Calling the problem “organized crime”, Martin said, “I want to see abolition of this slavery”. Martin stressed that the issue is nonpartisan, no doubt aware that President Bush, not exactly a U.N. favorite, raised the issue in his recent appearances before the U.N. General Assembly. It was not clear how Martin became involved with this cause, or why, but he heads a foundation, www.peopleforchildren.org, that funds projects aimed at eliminating child exploitation.

New York, October 20 – We love Mischa Barton. Our L.A. team said goodnight to The OC star in West Hollywood on Tuesday and our New Yorkers said “Hey” on Wednesday at the Supper Club in the Big Apple. Barton joined Bill Gates in introducing the “Paparazzi” watch, a joint venture between Microsoft and Swatch. The watch has wireless capabilities, so you can check your wrist for news, weather, sports, and stock quotes. Swatch is offering a chance to join Barton on the set of The OC, train with Olympic champ Carl Lewis or tour the Consumer Electronics show with Bill Gates. So what was Rescue Me star Denis Leary doing there? Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek presented the comedian with a $25,000 check for his firefighters’ fund charity.