Did someone really think it would be a good idea to have Katie Couric dress up in various ball gowns for the socialite rag Avenue? Apparently so!

We've been on the edge of our seats wondering who public access porn queen Robin Byrd would be supporting in the 2010 elections. But she seems to have finally come to a decision, so you can now "lie back and get comfortable," so to speak.

Rudy Giuliani will not be pulling his dusty Marilyn Monroe costume out of the closet this weekend, sadly. (It seems that while New Yorkers didn't have a problem with a mayor who occasionally cross-dressed, national voters picking their next president weren't quite as open-minded.) When we called Giuliani's office to find out what he was planning to wear for Halloween (if anything!), a spokesperson for the ex-mayor admitted that while she hadn't spoken to him about it, she didn't believe he had any plans to dress up: "He's likely to be in New Jersey campaigning for the gubernatorial candidate, Chris Christie," she said. [Previously]

Does riding a mechanical bull sound like a fun time? If you do decide to engage in the activity and you head over to Johnny Utahs, one of the few places in the area that has the gizmo set up for its customers, keep in mind that if you get wasted and then fall off the bucking beast and injure yourself, you probably won't get very far if you file a lawsuit against the restaurant for negligence.

Mischa Barton shopping downtown before heading to the gym ... Catherine Zeta-Jones crossing the street on the Upper East Side ... Christina Milian leaving her hotel ... Hugh Jackman walking daughter Ava to school ... Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves arriving at JFK ... Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg hanging out on the set of The Other Guys ... Michelle Williams walking daughter Matilda to school ... the singer Monica sitting in an SUV outside her hotel in Midtown ... Shakira standing in front of the Plaza Hotel ... and Sienna Miller walking her dog downtown.

Fashion's Night Out, last month's "largest single shopping event in the city's history," may not have actually involved all that much shopping. But it did get people to actually step into stores (which was a nice change of pace), and did provide the city's beleaguered retail industry with a psychic boost. So perhaps it's no surprise that the city and FNO czar Anna Wintour announced today that the event will return once again next year. If you're particularly excited by this news, head over to the official Fashion's Night Out website. The site now sports a clock so you can count down the days, minutes and seconds to September 9, 2010. [WWD, previously]

This isn't shaping up to be a very good day for local TV news personalities. Mike Sheehan, the former cop and Fox 5 reporter who was dismissed from his job this spring after crashing his car into an NYPD horse has pleaded guilty to drunk driving charges. Meanwhile NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter goes to court today on charges he beat up his wife. [NYDN, NYP]

• Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch has closed on the purchase of an apartment on the 46th-floor of One Beacon Court. It's located next door to the apartment he already owns. And the legendary exec—who just got out of the hospital a couple of weeks ago—scored a pretty good deal, too: Welch paid $8.3 million for the apartment, or nearly $1 million less than what it was first listed for back in February. [Cityfile, previously]
• Kimora Lee Simmons has dropped the price of her blingtastic mansion in Saddle River, NJ. The four-acre estate, which first went on the market for $23 million last year, is now listed for just $16.5 million. [NYP, Sotheby's]
• Restaurant mega-publicist and Iron Chef America judge Karine Bakhoum has put her co-op at 205 East 69th Street on the market. The three-bedroom pad with fireplace and chef's kitchen is listed for $2.35 million. [NYP, Halstead]

New Yorker editor David Remnick turns 51 today. Winona Ryder is 38. Richard Dreyfuss is turning 62. Gabrielle Union is turning 37. Actress Joely Fisher is 42. Gallerist Mary Boone is 58. Soap star Finola Hughes is turning 49. Social fixture and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir turns 43. Amanda Beard, the Olympic swimmer and occassional swimsuit model, is turning 28. And Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, turns 52 today.

• Producers of Tinsley Mortimer's upcoming reality show have been looking to add more drama by staging catfights between her friends and sister and having her chase men who are really just actors. At least the producers have solved their other problem and found a few "friends" willing to appear on camera. Regulars will include Hannah Bronfman (the party-loving daughter of Edgar Jr.) and Paul Johnson-Calderon (the guy who was caught stealing purses last spring). Interesting. [P6]
• Anderson Cooper has been vacationing in India with man-friend Benjamin Maisani. And it sounds like they're having quite the time: "Cooper's $3,200-a-night room features a four-poster mahogany bed and views of the gardens of the former Maharaja palace." Oh, and this: "Anderson's room has a large round bathtub. On the first night it was filled with bubbles and sprinkled with red rose petals." How romantic. [P6]
• Madonna visited the Malawi orphanage where she adopted her son David and one of the orphans approached her and told her, "You are our god." Not surprisingly, Madonna "seemed cool with it." [Us]

His normal work attire is hard to top, but as part of our ongoing series on Halloween costumes, we thought we'd ask the Naked Cowboy (aka Robert Burke) if he was planning to dress up as anything special this weekend.

• The critics: Sam Sifton of the Times heads to Flushing for Cantonese and bestows a star on Imperial Palace; Jay Cheshes of Time Out gives four stars to A Voce; New York's R&P rave about Steve Hanson's new Bill's Bar & Burger; GQ's Alan Richman very much disagrees; and the Post's cranky Steve Cuozzo finds that Agua Dulce only came through when they knew he was there.
• A look around Anthony and Tom Martignetti's Brinkley's in Nolita. [GS, Eater]
• Publicity hound Nello Balan is being sued for, like, the 78th time. [NYP]
• Meanwhile Table 8's co-owner is facing a messy criminal matter. [Eater, GS]
• Eric Ripert does not think it's okay that Roberto Cavalli has a habit of ordering food from one restaurant (Mañana) while he's sitting in another (Serafina). Not that anyone has ever tried to pull that at Le Bernardin. [GS]
• Jonathan Safran Foer turned poor Natalie Portman into a vegan. [HP]
• Pickles are having their moment in the sun. At last! [Zagat]

• Tom McGeveran took over as editor of the Observer after Peter Kaplan made his exit this spring, but now he's headed out the door as well. [NYO]
• Layoffs: The cuts at Condé Nast continue though they should end soon; the layoffs at Forbes this week were deep ones: 1 in 4 editorial staffers were let go.
• Newsday's website erected a pay wall today. Good luck with that. [E&P]
• The Michael Jackson movie This Is It sold $2.2 million in tickets on its opening night, which is pretty good considering it was a Tuesday. [LAT, NYT]

Ivanka Trump is denying Cindy Adams' report yesterday that her wedding invitations contained a "marketing flyer" for her dad's golf courses. (Not sure if it it's better or worse, but earlier this month the Times described it as an "insert" that "offered guests a free round of golf at one of Mr. Trump's courses.") In any event, Ivanka is probably happier to hear that the press has responded much more enthusiastically to her dress. Ivanka looked "sensational" and the gown "made a fresh statement," says Cathy Horyn of the Times. "Maybe she'll have an influence on brides." Or on the direct mail business. [NYT, NYM]

Gawker scored a copy of Jamie Dimon's high school yearbook from 1974, which means you can now see what the CEO of JPMorgan Chase (and America's most powerful banker) looked like during his Johnny Cash days. NB: If you graduated from Brooklyn's Thomas Jefferson High School in 1971, we'd love to hear from you. [Gawker]

What's Mario Batali dressing up this Halloween? "Mario will be a 'dictator,'" a spokeswoman says. "He ties a piece of butcher twine to his belt on one end and a Yukon gold potato on the other." Points for cleverness! [Previously]

If you're currently jobless, consider the bright side: workplace deaths in New York City are on the rise! [AP]

Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme ultimately defrauded investors out of $21.2 billion, according to Irving Picard, the court-appointed trustee overseeing the case. That's considerably more than the $13 billion put forward by prosecutors at Madoff's sentencing in June. But that's a lot less than the $65 billion that's been bandied about for many months now, which includes the fictitious profits Madoff had "made" for his clients. The revised figure won't diminish his status as the biggest fraudster in American history. Madoff can still hold his head high when he steps into the prison yard and rest assured no one's taking that trophy away from him anytime soon. [NYT]

With Halloween just a few days away, we thought we'd call up a handful of notable New Yorkers and find out what they're planning to dress up as this year. We'll be running these for the next couple of days. In this first installment, here's what a spokesperson for Vogue had to say when we called and asked what Anna Wintour was planning for October 31: "She has no plans to get in costume this year for Halloween." Oh, well. Fortunately, we'll have some more inspiring answers for you in just a bit. (MF)

According to new research, eating fast food and candy is almost as addictive as doing heroin. Almost. [Telegraph]