• Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts continue to hunt for a new home, apparently. Although they still own the full-floor condo at One Madison Park that they purchased in 2007 for $6.05 million (and which they haven't had an easy time selling), they were recently spotted touring an unfinished loft at 120 11th Avenue that's on the market for $9 million. [NYP]
• Daniel Straus, co-founder of the insurance company Aveta Health and a major NYU donor, has purchased a new apartment on Park. Straus and his wife Joyce paid $5.4 million for an apartment at 888 Park Avenue. [Cityfile]

Anne Hathaway turns 27 today. Fashion darling Julia Restoin Roitfeld is turning 29. Ryan Gosling turns 29 today, too. Actress Megan Mullally is turning 51. Billionaire mogul Ron Burkle is 57. Paper co-founder Kim Hastreiter is 58. Sammy Sosa is turning 41. Author Naomi Wolf is 47. Neil Young turns 64. Actor Wallace Shawn is turning 66. Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci is 48. R&B singer Omarion is 25. Simon & Schuster publisher David Rosenthal is 56. And disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding turns 39 today.

• Did you catch dethroned beauty queen Carrie Prejean's hissy fit on Larry King Live last night? It was awkward TV at its finest. [TMZ, YouTube]
• Mike Tyson had a meltdown of his own yesterday. When a paparazzo got a little too close for comfort at LAX, Tyson dropped the photog to the floor with one punch to the face. Both men were later arrested. [LAT, NYDN]
• The latest recorded phone call courtesy of Michael Lohan has Dina Lohan telling her ex that "time is running out" for Lindsay and she's started drinking again. As for how LiLo feels about having her dad air the family's dirty laundry: "My father knows nothing other than now to sell stories for money instead of getting a real job like normal people do, including myself." Lindsay is a normal person with a real job? Who'd have guessed? [Radar, MSNBC]
• Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone were supposed to get married over the summer. But it never happened and now Martone says the couple's decided to wait until after the holidays to tie the knot. "Who wants to get married during a busy season like this? I don't want my friends having to use their lunch break to get me gifts." How thoughtful! [P6]

• The week in reviews: Sam Sifton of the Times describes the new Aureole as "meh" and gives it one star; Time Out's Jay Cheshes gives the San Domenico sequel SD26 four out of five stars; GQ's Alan Richman hits SD26 as well and is less than impressed; Bloomberg's Ryan Sutton weighs in on SD26 and A Voce; and NYMag's Adam Platt hits A Voce, too, giving it three stars.
• The Post's Steve Cuozzo recounts his top burger picks in the meatpacking district and beyond including his current fave, Bistro Chat Noir. [NYP]
• Sam Mason has confirmed the obvious: He's parted ways with Tailor, which hasn't even been open since the early part of the summer. [Eater]
• A look around the Mermaid Oyster Bar, which opened last night. [GS]
• Time Out has a "winter drinking guide" if you're interested. [TONY]
• Pickles are all the rage right now, in case you haven't heard. [NYO]
• Guy Fieri is the Glenn Beck of the food world, apparently. [TDB]

• Lou Dobbs is leaving CNN! Tonight's his last show! Happy Wednesday! [NYT]
• Condé Nast magazines have lost a collective 8,359 pages of advertising in 2009, which represents a 31 percent decline from a year earlier. [NYT]
• One thing that Hearst has going for it: lots of cash in the bank. [NYP]
• Banker-turned-media investor Jimmy Finklestein is reportedly buying the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Adweek, and a few other Nielsen titles. [Wrap]
• Current TV is keeping current with the times and laying off 80 staffers. [LAT]
• TV: Joss Whedon's Dollhouse has been canceled by Fox; meanwhile, ABC has decided that Kelsey Grammer comedy series Hank will exist no longer.
• Détente? President Obama has agreed to give Fox News an interview. [HP]
• The New Yorker sure has lots of writers and editors! [NYO]
• Reality TV is slowly killing us. So says Vanity Fair's James Wolcott. [VF]

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Anthony Weiner is finally admitting that he'd probably be New York City's mayor-elect right now if he hadn't made the decision last spring to remain on the sidelines. Not that he has any regrets, of course. Had he elected to run, he would have totally neglected his responsibilities in Washington and then he wouldn't have been able to play such a central role in passing health care legislation. Obviously! Weiner also says that if he'd jumped into the race, Mayor Bloomberg would have been forced to spend $150 million on his campaign (instead of the $90 million he spent going up against Bill Thompson), since Bloomberg's advisers "were afraid" of him. So Weiner saved the mayor $60 million? Sounds like someone deserves a gift, Mr. Mayor. [NYT]

According to a new survey, the average man only buys new underwear when he's about to start a new relationship. "Men only take responsibility for buying their own underwear for about 17 years of their lives. The rest of the time it falls to their mothers, and later to their wives or girlfriends," reported researchers. If you've ever wondered why men's underwear is marketed with beefcake photos of David Beckham, now you have your answer. And if come home one day and notice that your husband or boyfriend has just stocked up on a new supply of boxer briefs, yes, it means he's cheating on you. [Telegraph, NYDN]

Goldman Sachs is on track to turn in its most profitable year ever, and the bank's near collapse last fall—along with the financial system as a whole—is quickly becoming a distant memory for Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein. So why is he giving less money to charity than he did before the downturn?

Disgraced ex-Times reporter Jayson Blair isn't the only unlikely figure giving ethics seminars these days. Former governor Eliot Spitzer is scheduled to speak at Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics tomorrow. Not quite as surprising: Tickets are still available. [NYDN]

Angelina Jolie has picked the latest far-flung country from which she plans to pluck another child. And the winner is Syria! According to OK!, which first broke the news of Jolie's latest acquisition, Brad Pitt has decided to sit this one out, since he thinks six kids is plenty. But the people of Syria sure are thrilled!

Anne Heche taking a walk with her nine-month-old son Atlas ... Kate Winslet picking her kids up from school ... Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf walking on the set of Wall Street 2 in Battery Park ... Rihanna arriving at JFK before catching a flight to Europe ... David Duchovny walking down Third Avenue this morning in sunglasses and sweatpants ... Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes walking on the set of The Romantics on Long Island ... Hugh Jackman picking up daughter Ava from school ... Anna Paquin walking on the gym on Long Island ... Emily Blunt filming scenes for The Adjustment Bureau ... Sienna Miller walking her dog downtown ... and Gerard Butler standing next to his bike downtown.

All that unbridled sexual energy at the Standard has a downside, it seems. A guest staying at the hotel was arrested on Saturday after he forced himself on a maid and has since been charged with attempted rape, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment. Needless to say, when the hotel was informing guests that the Standard was "all about sex all the time" and "you're our star," this wasn't quite what they had in mind. [NYP]

CNNMoney has a follow up to yesterday's news that Donald Trump is looking to unload his vintage Boeing 727. According to a Trump exec, the Donald is merely upgrading to a larger jet and he "simply doesn't need two [planes]." But he'll continue to use the clunker until it's sold and his new plane is delivered, although Trump is hoping to strike a deal "sooner rather than later." [CNNMoney, previously]

• Washington power lobbyists and Democratic insiders Tony and Heather Podesta have been busy bees since Barack Obama was elected last fall. According to a report earlier this week, the couple's separate lobbying firms have racked up $25 million in fees thus far in 2009. Now they're spending some of their earnings, it seems: The couple has picked up New York pied-à-terre, paying $3.247 million for a sixth-floor apartment at the Sohmer Piano Building at 170 Fifth Avenue. [Cityfile]
• Four months after it was pulled off the market, the Sloane Mansion on 68th Street has a new listing and a new broker. The 104-year-old mansion, which was purchased by bankers Joseph Ingrassia and John Rice III for $20 million in 2007 and was offered for $64 million last year, is now in the hands of Corcoran's Leighton Candler. And it's almost half the price it was a year ago. The new listing has it priced at $39 million. [NYO, Corcoran]
• A one-bedroom co-op at the Sherry-Netherland has gone on the market for $9.5 million with Brown Harris Stevens broker Richard Wallgren. [NYO]

Demi Moore turns 47 today. Leonardo DiCaprio is turning 35. Calista Flockhart is 45. Senator Barbara Boxer of California is turning 69. Stanley Tucci is 49. Jane Pratt, the founder of Sassy and Jane, is 47. Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick is turning 44. Writer Mary Gaitskill is turning 55. Comedian and actor Jonathan Winters is 84. Interior designer Mariette Himes-Gomez is 67. Jessica Sierra, the American Idol contestant-turned-Celebrity Rehab patient, is 24. And Carson Kressley celebrates his 40th birthday today.

• Was Lindsay Lohan dating Heath Ledger at the time of his death? That was what came out yesterday when the latest clip from Michael Lohan's vast archive of recorded phone conversations was posted online. (Dina Lohan can be heard expressing concern that Lindsay was headed down the same path.) On tap for today? A call between Dina and Michael in which she tells her ex-husband that Lindsay has been cutting herself. [NYDN, NYP, Radar]
• Alleged David Letterman extortionist Robert "Joe" Halderman appeared in court yesterday where his lawyer asked a judge to drop all the charges against the former news producer. The reason? Halderman's $2 million demand wasn't blackmail, silly. It was a legitimate business proposal in which Letterman could have first dibs on his screenplay, naturally. [NYP, NYDN, TMZ]
• Rihanna says she put on the tightest dress she could find to pick up Glamour's Woman of the Year award on Monday night at Carnegie Hall. She also spent $50,000 flying in her mom, aunts and brothers from Barbados to join her at the event. One person who was missing from the festivities: Her dad, who RiRi recently said abused her mom while growing up. [P6, NYDN]

• Danny Meyer's Maialino opens tomorrow and is taking reservations. [GS]
• A new wine bar is scheduled to open at Bouley Bakery next week. [NYT]
• More openings: Bar Henry opened last night in the West Houston space that was previously occupied by Zinc Bar; Caracas Brooklyn is planning to open its doors on Thursday; a burger chain bearing a suspicious resemblance to In-N-Out (this one's called Fresh-N-Fast) debuts in a couple of weeks; and another burger spot in the Village called P&B has already opened.
• Sala, the decade-old tapas spot on the Bowery, is up for lease. [GS]
• A peek at François Payard's newly-opened (and very tiny) chocolate bar. [SE]
• Cocktail queen Audrey Saunders is branching out with a spot in LA. [NYT]
• A profile of Bon Appétit editor Barbara Fairchild, now "one of the most watched women in food publishing" following the closure of Gourmet. [LAT]
• The most expensive bottle of beer may get auctioned off this month. [NYP]
• Portland is looking to usurp NYC as "food-cart capital of the country." [OL]
• Is French cuisine dead? Several famed French chefs weigh in. [GS, TONY]

Bernie Madoff's East 64th Street penthouse didn't attract any buyers at $9.9 million. How does a more modest $8.9 million sound? Did we mention the "elliptical staircase" and the "sun-flooded rooms"? Or the "tremendous wrap-around planted and irrigated terrace"? Or the fact that Mr. Matt Lauer will be your downstairs neighbor? Get moving, people. A "sophisticated" and impeccably renovated apartment" at this price won't last long. [Curbed]

• Comcast and GE have reportedly agreed that Jeff Zucker will remain the CEO of NBC Universal as part of their proposed $30 billion joint venture. Well done, gentlemen. Good to see things get started on the right foot. [Reuters]
• In related news, Zucker's totally brilliant plan to move Jay Leno to 10pm is paying off beautifully. Leno sank to a brand new ratings low last night. [NYT]
• Anita Dunn, the White House communications director who started the administration's war with Fox News last month, is stepping down. [WP]
• Hey, it's not all bad news for Condé Nast. Self is doing pretty well. [WWD]
• The creators of Will & Grace are working on a Twitter-inspired show. [THR]
• The nominations for the 2010 People's Choice Awards were announced today, just in case you happen to be care about that sort of thing. [LAT]
• Aerosmith is looking for new lead singer, in case you're job-hunting. [LAT]
• George Lopez and Wanda Sykes' debuts this week scored solid ratings. [NYT]
• Simon Cowell made $75 million last year, earning him the top spot on Forbes' list of primetime's top-earning men. Ryan Seacrest exploded in tears when he heard he came in No. 3 with $38 million. Or so we'd like to think. [Forbes]