Rod Blagojevich's months-long media bombing campaign has reached its inevitable climax: The disgraced former Illinois governor plans to join an NBC reality show, alongside J. Lo's ex-husband.

Steven Brill launched American Lawyer magazine, Court TV, Brill's Content and those airport security fast-passes. Now he wants to help newspapers broker their online content. Clue: Smarter people already offer that.

• Barneys' owner pumped more cash into the struggling retailer today, which will allow it to pay for its shipments for the rest of the year. And thank goodness for that! [Reuters]
• Rumor has it Madonna will return as the face of Louis Vuitton this fall. [NYM]
• Rocawear's roving pop up shop—a 50-foot-long tractor-trailer filled with zebra-striped furniture—rolled into town today. [Racked]
• Getting married? Bridal dresses at Vera Wang are now 50 percent off. [NYM]

CNN has a new promo featuring an attractive young woman at a bar making eyes at a guy. The guy makes eyes right back, but it turns out she's not looking at the guy, but at the television behind his head—which is tuned to CNN's Anderson Cooper!

Glenn Beck updated viewers about David Buckner, the antitax pundit who passed out on his Fox News show yesterday. Turns out he's fine, but Beck has gone gay!

Feeling out of it? Then go read what media types like Amanda Congdon and Sarah Lacy are saying about themselves on Twitter. You'll feel better instantly!

[A shot of 42nd street in midtown Manhattan taken yesterday; via The Talented Mr. Nimo's Flickr]

A newspaper's most basic function, one could argue, is to keep tabs on crime. For decades, New York newspapers have done this out of the "police shack," but the NYPD is now kicking them out.

Ruth Madoff paid another visit to her imprisoned husband yesterday. When she exited the Metropolitan Correctional Center, however, a photographer spotted her carrying a plastic bag with several dollar bills inside. Is Bernie Madoff now fleecing his fellow prisoners and having Ruth smuggle out the booty? That was TMZ's punchline. A more plausible scenario is that Ruth tried to bring Bernie some cash, although if that's the case, Ruth should be extremely thankful she's safely ensconced in her East 64th Street penthouse this evening and not spending the night behind bars. Allow us to explain:

It is a sad day, in DC: Chris Hitchens' canceled his White House Correspondents' Dinner party. Sort of. Vanity Fair just merged it with the overcrowed Bloomberg gala.

Everybody, even Ashley Dupre, thinks yoga is so great that they even make their dogs do it and stuff, but what about when the yoga instructor hypnotizes and molests your girlfriend in class? Oh it happens.

The Obama family trotted Bo out to an obedient press corps. "It's a little pressure here," our President said. The dog nervously whimpered and made a run for it, dragging Malia off toward Virginia.

Updated After longtime Variety editor Peter Bart was eased out of power last week, the conventional wisdom was that major staff changes could be in store. And here they come, at the entire company. Layoffs!

• The Beatrice Inn will need to install fire sprinklers, add an additional exit, and create a wider entrance to the haunt if it wants to reopen its doors. [P6]
• Frederick Lesort's Frederick's Madison filed for bankruptcy today. [Crain's]
• Masa charges a 20% service charge to diners' tabs, although they prefer to call it an "administrative fee." Of course if you can still afford to spend $400 per person on sushi, you can probably afford to additional fee, too. [Eater]
• Speaking of overpriced spots, Daniel is now offering an early-bird special: The three-course prix-fixe menu with wine is (only) $98 per person, but you'll have to consume it between 5:30 to 6pm and on weeknights only. [TONY]
• Tavern on the Green bidders took a final tour of the place today. [NYT]
• Silvano Marchetto's Scuderia gets a blah review in the News today. [NYDN]
• Beverage conglomerate smackdown: Pepsi is now suing Coke for suggesting Powerade is better than Gatorade when, in fact, they're both lousy. [AP]

Dating columnist Julia Allison must be figuring that everything she has done is meaningless compared to someone paid to throw a ball around. Her Internet popularity has peaked after her dalliance with a football player.

George W. Bush's daughter Barbara is following in her grandmother's footsteps. The other Bush twin is said to be marrying on-again, off-again beau Jay Blount, a 2005 Yale graduate and fraternity member, this summer.

A former advertising director at Body + Soul is accusing parent company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia of firing her because she broke her spine and went on temporary disability. That's cold, even for Martha.

Good news, gays: David Paterson and Meghan McCain want you to have the right to marry! So any day now, you can look forward to equality.

[Johnny Depp drives a teeny tiny car while filming "The Rum Diary" in Puerto Rico; image via Splash]

The East Village has the highest vacancy rates in Manhattan, according to the brokerage firm Citi-Habitats. Soho and TriBeCa have the lowest. [Bloomberg]