NY Times parted the Swarovski-crystal-studded veil of secrecy surrounding this Sunday's Oscars: The stage will be a rhapsody in blue, with a thrust as impressive as any we'll see from Hugh Jackman's powerful dancer's loins.

Journalism pundits have been begging Google to put its billions behind the project of saving journalism. At last, a Google executive has come through. Here's Tim Armstrong's secret plan to save the local news business.

The spot now makes little to no sense in glorious HD — polished sound, picture and Shia. The product placement is sharper, and when Megan Fox shrieks, it's just like the night before she slapped us with our restraining order. It's uncanny. And anyway, if Bay doesn't deserve at least three minutes of your consideration on President's Day, we really don't know who does. Enjoy! Again!

Michelle Obama hasn't turned up at Fashion Week, but two of her nearest and dearest surfaced at shows today. White House social secretary Desiree Rogers appeared at Carolina Herrera's presentation (where she sat next to Anna Wintour), and later made her way to Donna Karan and Thakoon's shows. Michelle Obama's secretive stylist, Ikram Goldman, also put in appearances today, turning up at the Maria Cornejo show before heading off to Thakoon. So you can rest assured that even though Michelle isn't here to pick out her favorites in person, her shopping is getting done nonetheless. [WWD, NYP, WSJ]

If Obama is a president for the people, why the hell is White House social secretary Desiree Rogers at Fashion Week today, nestled between Vogue editor Anna Wintour and her fashion editor Virginia Smith?

After months of enduring Barbara Walters's insidious campaign of passive-aggression, the hosts of The View (led by Sherri Shepherd) finally had their revenge today by implying she was a veritable painted harlot.

People like Nadya Suleman, the IVF junkie mother of 14, and Alfie Patten, the 13-year-old father from England, are getting famous just for reproducing. It's a pretty gross trend.

"Steve Jobs has started writing a book," a plugged-in tipster tells me. It's the barest of rumors, but the book industry is already eagerly anticipating the Apple CEO's autobiography.

Oh boy, this has instantly become our new favorite trend in advertising: Catvertising. It's advertising, on "trained" cats. The catch: fools, you cannot train a cat!

Superstar statistician Nate Silver has used data upon data to accurately forecast some of baseball's and politics' most complex developments. So how to follow up the election? How else: by being wrong at the Oscars.

In your should-be-a-vacation-day Monday media column: Sam Donaldson's retiring, the Obama administration's hiring (reporters!), Bloomberg is tiring (financially!), and Conde Nast is still Wired-ing!

Typically, Project Runway rolls into Fashion Week with a huge swath of catchphrase-aspiring designers already cut. However, ongoing legal battles are forcing the new, still-delayed season to employ some subterfuge for Friday's big show.

The greatest auction in the history of the universe will be held this April at The Beverly Hills Hotel, featuring over 2000 of Michael Jackson's completely insane personal effects. Here's a preview:

Hugo Lindgren was Adam Moss' first hire at New York magazine, following Moss over from the NYT magazine. Now Lindgren is one of New York's bloggers. They sure take this "blogging" thing seriously!

Ideally it would have been great to see Jimmy Kimmel come out and cut Nightline's throat in his just-released interview with Broadcasting & Cable. But! There remain some jagged edges in his late-night diplomacy.

[Stylist Rachel Zoe at Fashion Week; image via Splash]

Knopf, whose parents ran the eponymous publishing house, left that company in 1959 to start Atheneum Publishers. He died yesterday at the age of 90, due to complications from a fall.

At the moment when most social networks flatline, Facebook is taking off. But for Mark Zuckerberg, 175 million users are just the beginning of his headaches. Money, spam, and crime are spoiling his online utopia.

Hollywood ambassador Mike White made his Amazing Race debut last night—did he go down in reality TV flames, or did he register a win for screenwriters everywhere?

As disturbing as it is to think that any movie starring Jim Carrey was a glimpse into the future, a simple blood-pressure drug appears to have the power to erase bad memories, according to a new study. By targeting the neurons in the brain involved with recollection, the beta-blocker propranolol has been found to actually weaken memories, and the psychologists conducting the research hope that it will be beneficial for sufferers of PTSD and phobias. But it's also comforting to believe that one day we'll all have the opportunity to pop a pill and consign the present era of financial ruin, romantic disillusionment, and cultural degradation to a historical black hole.