["Gossip Girl" actor Chace Crawford in boring old jeans and a T-shirt while Joanna Garcia gets to wear a fun dress and everything. Not fair. Image via Splash]

John Barry, the man who turned squeak-preventer WD-40 into a household name, died July 3 at the age of 84. "He had a saying: 'Don't be like a blind dog in a meat house.'" One less independent thinker. [LAT]

Today we have a young... baron (?) of the hotel industry puttin' the blocks to some hunky reality star, a TV actress who is cheating on her hubby, and a power couple that's splitting up and moving on.

Oh, how the American media wishes that some sex perv had never secretly recorded a nude video of shapely ESPN reporter Erin Andrews! Then the media would not have been forced to discuss this disgusting spectacle. And make photo galleries!

Guess who's been released from prison? That would be Jeffrey Epstein, the secretive money manager who pleaded guilty in 2007 to soliciting underage teen girls for sex. Epstein has spent the last year or so in a Palm Beach prison, although he hasn't had to spend every minute of the day confined to a cell. As part of a work-release program, Epstein was allowed to leave his cell during the day and work from an "office" in West Palm Beach, work that reportedly involved helping the government build a case against the Bear Stearns hedge fund that imploded last year and cost Epstein the $67 million he'd invested in the fund. His cooperation helped shave six months off his sentence and early this morning Epstein skipped out of jail, using a side entrance to avoid the reporters that had gathered outside to greet him. But while his lawyer told a reporter that Epstein is thrilled that "this part of his life is over," and he's "ready to move on to other things," it doesn't look like he's totally put his past behind him.

Jimmy Fallon and wife Nancy Juvonen walking downtown and holding hands ... Marla Maples and Tiffany Trump waiting for their luggage at JFK ... Susan Sarandon walking by herself ... David Hasselhoff leaving ABC Studios ... Justin Long on the set of Going the Distance in the Bronx ...Whitney Houston arriving at LaGuardia ... Larry King's wife, Shawn Southwick, getting out of an SUV on the Upper East Side ... Jennifer Aniston shooting scenes for her new movie at Blue Ink Tattoo Parlor in Brooklyn ...and Katherine Heigl getting out of an SUV in front of her hotel.

• Disgraced lawyer Marc Dreier's condo at One Beacon Court—along with his half-eaten pie and Christian Liaigre furnishings—sold at auction yesterday for $8.2 million after 45 people placed bids on the 3,000-square-foot pad. The buyer is Ajit Jain, a protégé of Warren Buffet and the head of Berkshire Hathaway's reinsurance group. [NYDN]
• Art dealer W. Graham Arader III has taken his mansion at 1016 Madison Avenue off the market. The 12,000-square-foot home went on the market for $75 million last October and was reduced to $65 million last month. [NYO]
• Attorney Bruce Blakeman, who launched a long shot bid for mayor this year, but is probably better known as the ex-husband of Paul McCartney's girlfriend Nancy Shevell, has picked up a new home in Water Mill. Blakeman bought the six-bedroom house for $2 million. [Newsday]

Designer Oscar de la Renta turns 77 today. Rufus Wainwright is 36. Actor Willem Dafoe is turning 54. John Leguizamo and David Spade are both turning 45. Publishing industry heavyweight Ann Godoff is 60. Actor Danny Glover is turning 63. John Wren, the president and CEO of the ad agency Omnicom, is turning 57. Former senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole is turning 86. George Clinton is 68. The Eagles' Don Henley is 62. Film director Paul Schrader is 63. Former football player (and now ESPN personality) Keyshawn Johnson is 37. And Disney star Selena Gomez celebrates her 17th birthday today.

Michael Jackson may have a secret child, Billy Joel gets a rebound girl, Ruth Madoff travels in ripped jeans and a baseball cap, Britney Spears' father pronounces his daughter completely sane and Sienna Miller goes off on an interviewer.

• Is Andre Balazs the latest man to fall victim to Kelly Bensimon's feminine charms? Life & Style reports the hotelier and the "housewife" were seen getting cozy in Miami recently. [L&S]
• Kiefer Sutherland is in the clear. Prosecutors have dropped charges against him in connection with his assault on Jack McCollough back in May, since the designer has proved to be an "uncooperative witness." [NYDN]
• Mischa Barton is still in the hospital and may lose the role on the TV show that she was supposed to start filming this week. So what made her snap? In addition to all the drug stuff, she may be suffering from body image issues, too. [Sun, People]
• Ruth Madoff was supposedly spotted at LaGuardia en route to visit her husband in jail. And she was supposedly wearing ripped jeans, too. [P6]

Last week Glenn Beck went utterly berserk on his radio show when a caller challenged his opposition to the Obama healthcare reform plan. Last night Beck appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show to explain his ridiculous on-air behavior. Let's discuss it.

Dan Rather was awarded access to thousands of documents in his lawsuit against CBS. [Times]

This photo of the solar eclipse was taken from a ship sailing near Kita Tokyo, Japan. Millions gathered all over Asia to watch as the entire region fell under almost complete darkness. [AP/Kyodo News/Akiko Matsushita]

Until tonight, we'd no idea that David Letterman was so painfully ignorant about Twitter. He thinks it's something people have to pay for! So Kevin Spacey pulled out his Blackberry and attempted to explain it all to him.

Back in May David Simon, creator of The Wire, asked lawmakers to relax the nation's anti-trust laws so newspaper owners could get away with collusion. Now he's telling the New York Times and Washington Post to flout the laws completely.

Oh for the love of God when will the Republican's extra-chromosome wing let this go?! Sadly, not anytime soon, what with Lou Dobbs beating back Alan Keyes and Sean Hannity to take over as captain of the USS Dipshit.

Publicist and social fixture Ali Wise hasn't said anything publicly since she was arrested a couple of weeks ago for allegedly hacking into the voicemail account of interior designer Nina Freudenberger. It's probably Wise's lawyer who has been urging her to keep quiet. Because she just resurfaced on Twitter. And judging by the crypic tweets she's been sending out, she has a few things she'd like to get off her chest:

Despite the fact that The Bobs are coming to send many to the unemployment line, Conde Nasters still need to hook up, thus they post Missed Connections ads on Craigslist. Naturally, we'd love to help facilitate a coupling!

The 'computer man' introduced Peggy Noonan to the splendor of Twitter, guaranteeing some truly amazing columns will be forthcoming; Ann Curry discussed her heroin and Oscar Mayer-grade meat threw a food writer into a daylong funk.

An ethics investigator's report leaked to the press says that Sarah Palin has been "securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts" through the legal defense fund set up for her by John Coale, the Scientologist husband of Greta Van Susteren.