Well done, Indian Vogue: You haven't even reached your first birthday and already you've provoked earnest hand-wringing in the international media. A 16-page editorial in the August issue, which displayed an array of designer accessories, like a $200 Burberry umbrella and a Hermes Birkin bag, on actual members of India's poverty-stricken society, was "downright distasteful," says a newspaper columnist quoted in the Times. The magazine's editor Priya Tanna, however, is unrepentant, and thinks everyone should just "lighten up." She also might want to remind people that Vogue has a long and distinguished history of exploiting poor natives of third world countries for background color in fashion shoots—there's just normally an anorexic Western model present too.

Unfortunate news for young social Byrdie Bell: She's been cut out of the movie Homecoming starring Mischa Barton, which she was hoping would be the role that would take her from the "society circuit to the Hollywood circus." Don't let the news get you down, Byrdie. A cameo on Gossip Girl can't be that far off. [Page Six Mag]

Some folks aren't all that happy that Michael Bloomberg has yet to decide whether he's going to try and revise the city's term limit laws and seek a third term as mayor, or find something else to do with his vast wealth and influence when his term runs out next year. So who's unhappy, exactly? All the people who were planning to run themselves, until the mayor mucked up their plans and suggested he might not be opposed to changing the law and serving out another term.

Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down, published by a company with one employee and the only book that explores the life of the Alaska governor, took off over the weekend: it hit the top ten on Friday evening before slipping to 20 yesterday. As of this morning? It's at No. 46. [Galleycat]

Did you indulge a bit too much over the long weekend? Looking for a way to shed some extra pounds with a gimmicky, new system? Naturally there's a new diet at your service: It's called Smart For Life, and it's just arrived in New York with a center in Midtown. But how does it differ from Slimfast, Nutrisystem, Weightwatchers, The Zone, South Beach, and Jenny Craig? Well, it consists of eating cookies.

You may have been distracted by that underwhelming hurricane that's dominated the news in recent days, or the Sarah/Bristol Palin baby drama, but there's tennis being played in Flushing, too. And it turns out that it's been a pretty good year so far, notwithstanding the current economic climate: The 84 luxury suites sold for $250,000 a piece on average—a $5,000 increase over last year—and although all the banks are announcing cutbacks, they're still spending a fortune to stamp their brands courtside. [Bloomberg]

• Lizzie Grubman is spawning once again: She and husband Chris Stern are expecting twins. [P6]

• The price of oil has dropped after Hurricane Gustav did less damage than initially feared. [CNNMoney]

Hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend. We'll see you on Tuesday!

If you're stuck at work this afternoon and in need of a little amusement because you're bored and annoyed that everyone is already relaxing and you're still sitting behind your desk, might we suggest the following video from the archives of one Geraldo Rivera from the 1980s? Watch as Geraldo poses as a thug, buys a kilo of coke, busts the dealers, and then tests it to make sure it's Colombia's finest. (He sort of inadvertently gives away his own personal experience, though, when he says, "It looks very pure!" as soon as he cuts into the key with a pen knife.) "Do you know you just sold a kilo to cocaine to Geraldo Rivera?," a cop shouts at the suspects. "You're the most famous coke dealers in America right now!" The video below.

• Michelle Obama wowed fashionistas with the print Thakoon dress she wore last night. [LAT, WWD]
  

"Wall-to-wall windows have become a signature of chic urban living," the Wall Street Journal points out today. But there's a much darker side to the sun: "Some residents say the reality can be less glamorous. Their windows often are streaked or spotty... The sun fades not just furniture but also kitchen cabinets, wood floors, artwork and even books... [it's] akin to being on display in a terrarium, especially at night... and temperatures near the glass can be chilly in the winter and roasting in the summer." [WSJ]

So Adam Hochfelder, the real estate whiz who blew through $17 million? His lawyer is arguing that Hochfelder has such a serious drug problem that he's in need of sinus surgery (and thus should be given bail): "He's completely blown out his nose," lawyer Paul Goldberger told a judge in Manhattan Supreme Court. [NYP]

When Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick are confronted with the fact that everyone wants them to be totally gay for each other (or indeed for anyone), they're forced to tap dance along a thin line between enthuasiastically avowing their absolute heterosexuality and not in any way alienating their fanbase. (Says Ed: "It's not true, but hilarious... People project their fantasies...") For women, though, the issue is just not so stressful: Queen B. Leighton Meester, for example, is delighted to be a Sapphic object of desire.

Blake Lively signing autographs outside the David Letterman show ... Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda holding hands ... Katy Perry, the Pussycat Dolls, and Jesse McCartney performing in Rockefeller Center ... Kevin Jonas shopping with a bodyguard on Fifth Avenue ... Michael Phelps giving swimming lessons at an event at a YMCA ... Alec Baldwin shooting scenes for 30 Rock ... actress Kristen Johnston walking her dog through SoHo ... Jessica Szohr grabbing a bite to eat on the set of Gossip Girl ... and Katie Holmes saying goodbye to John Lithgow after the two had dinner downtown.

Dasha Zhukova is the much talked-about 27-year-old girlfriend of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, darling of the global jet-set, and rising star on the fashion (Kova & T) and art scenes. The New York Times took a look at the California-raised heiress and former homeopathy student a couple of weeks ago. This week the U.K.'s Guardian offered up an even more in-depth profile of the woman responsible for one of the splashiest art events in recent memory, the "soft opening" of her Garage Center of Contemporary Culture in Moscow in June, when Amy Winehouse performed (drunk) for a crowd including notable New Yorkers such as Jeff Koons, Ron Lauder, Steve Cohen, and Larry Gagosian.

Good news for anyone looking for a huge bargain in the Hamptons now that we've reached the end of the season. After languishing on the market for four months at $19.5 million, billionaire hedge funder John Paulson has slashed the price of his 6,800-square-foot Southampton home. It's now just $16.9 million. Even with the $2.6 million discount, Paulson will still collect a profit (assuming he sells at that price, of course). He bought the three-acre property from Jurgen Friedrich for $12.75 million in 2006. But after his hedge fund's stellar year in 2007—Paulson himself collected ten figures, making him the highest-paid man in finance for the year—it was clear he'd have to trade up, and he picked up an estate nearby for $41.3 million. After the jump, photos of Paulson's hand-me-down.

1) As well as something going on in Denver this week, there's also been some tennis! The 8th Annual USTA Serves' OPENing Gala was on Monday: Roger Federer's No. 1 fan Anna Wintour was there, although judging by the look on the face of the man standing behind her, some tennis fans weren't especially impressed by the sight of the Vogue editrix. Other attendees included Martha Stewart, Michael Bloomberg and Diana Taylor, Keisha and Forest Whitaker, Maria Sharapova, Boris Becker, Chris Evert, and Oscar de la Renta. [Wireimage, Getty/Jezebel]

Most mayors live in big homes. Quogue's may soon be heading to the Big House. George Motz, the village's mayor, was arraigned yesterday on securities fraud charges. Prosecutors allege that Motz bilked investors out of $1.4 million by "cherry-picking" stock trades that benefited his own Manhattan brokerage and investment house. It's bad news for Motz, sure, although it's good news for weekend residents who will have something else besides presidential politics to gossip about over the long weekend. [Newsday]

Prospects for ghost writers have suddenly improved as publishers scramble to sign up Olympic champions to write books about, presumably, focusing on your dreams and never giving up, no matter what. Michael Phelps' eight gold medals were topped off by a $1.6 million deal from Simon & Schuster for Built to Succeed, in which he'll "reveal the secrets of his success." Let's hope he can write as fast as he swims: according to the Post, the book is due on shelves in December. Meanwhile 18-year-old Russian gymnastics champion Anastasia "Nastia" Liukin (left) is in talks to write two books including, natch, an "inspirational memoir," for which she can draw on the journals she's sensibly been keeping in preparation for this very day.