We hope Jessica Seinfeld has some free time set aside in 2009. Missy Chase Lapine, the writer who sued the wife of the famous comedian earlier this year for copying her cookbook, Sneaky Chef, has a new title in the works. (Lapine also filed suit against Jerry for calling her a "wacko" on TV, as you may recall.) Lapine's agent, Joëlle Delbourgo, says her client sold a new book to Running Press, the same publisher responsible for her bestselling Sneaky Chef. It looks like Lapine has picked up a lesson or two, too: "Ms. Delbourgo declined to discuss the details of Ms. Lapine's new book." [NYT]

A day of new beginnings: Gwyneth Paltrow SOMEHOW restored her breasts to teenage perkiness, Paula Abdul is maybe leaving American Idol and Tommy Hilfiger uncanceled his wedding.

Ed Koch is turning 84 today. Happy birthday, Mr. Mayor! Jennifer Connelly is 38. Actor Tom Wilkinson is turning 60. Hollywood powerhouse Paula Wagner is turning 62. Fox Business anchor Liz Claman is 45. Rory Kennedy, the youngest daughter of Bobby Kennedy, is 40. Model Bridget Hall is turning 31. Dionne Warwick is 68. Mayim Bialik (yes, Blossom) is 33. And your favorite game show host ever, Bob Barker, is celebrating his 85th. Weekend birthdays below!

The Rod Blagojevich scandal has dominated several news cycles, so the Obama team seems to have decided the time is right to distance, distance, distance itself from the corrupt Illinois governor.

• Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo may have cancelled their first wedding at the last minute back in August, but it looks like the second time is the charm: The couple is reportedly getting hitched later today in a "top-secret, ultra-private" ceremony at his house in Greenwich. [NYP]
• Kanye West is supposedly thinking of moving to London next year to pursue his fashion career. [Mirror]
• Graydon Carter says he personally handles seating arrangements at the Waverly Inn. Oh, and his "three buzz words" for 2009 are "sophisticated, innovative and entitlement." [P6]
• Tragic news: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony just spent their first weekend apart since the birth of their twins. [Us]

• The last-minute rejection of the auto bailout yesterday has pretty much guaranteed that this will be a miserable day on Wall Street. [NYT, WSJ]
• Marc Dreier, the lawyer accused of stealing hundreds of millions from investors, was denied bail yesterday. The Post suggests "suicide hotlines in Greenwich could be lit up today as investors begin to realize how much they've lost in the rip-off scheme." [NYT, NYP]
• U.S. retail sales dropped 1.8 percent last month. [WSJ]
• Goldman Sachs has set aside $12 billion for bonuses, down from $20 billion last year. [Reuters]
• Bonuses on Wall Street are expected to be down 50 percent this year. [DB]
• Good news for ex-Merrill CEO Stan O'Neal: He may have a new job. [FIN]

Man, Tom Cruise really did not want to answer Jay Leno's questions about musical theater and Broadway. But Leno kept asking! Defensive about something, Tom?

On the Colbert Report tonight, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps confirmed the NIGHTMARE scenario Anderson Cooper only hinted at: He's letting his body go, and soon will be the trashiest Greatest Athlete Ever... ever.

Bettie Page, whose saucy photo spreads helped get men through, and then end, the sexual repression of the 1950s, died of a heart attack in Los Angeles. She was 85.

As usual, Colin Powell is the first to say what other prominent Republicans are only thinking: The eloquent endorser of Barack Obama now warns that conservative media linchpin Rush Limbaugh is destroying the movement.

John McCain will tell David Letterman tonight about how corrupt Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was a huge admirer of the former Republican presidential nominee, and planned to model his tenure on McCain's. Mission accomplished!

· Videogum put together a must-see retrospective of the best viral videos of 2008. Next year, Dong. Next year.

For anyone still wondering who cleverly mocked and impersonated Gawker Media overlord Nick Denton earlier this year, commenter Cajun Boy has confessed he was "Nick Guido Denton" of Tumblr.

The director of the long-delayed Adrien Brody/Mark Ruffalo caper flick The Brothers Bloom confirmed today that his film was pushed back once again — this time to May — for better "counter-programming" chances. Really?

When we noticed today that CBS 2 had made a completely inappropriate photo choice for its story on the death of Macaulay Culkin's sister, we figured they'd eventually change it. But is this an improvement?

The search for the next Oscars presenter may be nearing its end, as we are hearing whispers the Academy has settled upon an emcee for Hollywood's Most Glamorous Evening No One Bothers Tuning In To:

The accursed, Troyer-felling labors of Dr. Parnassus behind him, Terry Gilliam has wheedled his way into Dubai, where he hopes all those oil riches make for better door-to-door panhandling in advance of his next film.

With Leno in primetime and Conan at 11:35, we'll need something to tide us over when The Daily Show is in reruns. HBO has thrown their hat in the ring, and luckily it involves nudity.

Valkyrie star/BlackBerry misplacer Tom Cruise has obtained a restraining order against a military vet who's been showing up at his home:

Ever since NeNe Leakes became the breakout star of Real Housewives of Atlanta, it's as though her reputation's been dragged through the...well, if not mud, how about a patio littered with fecal matter?