· Radar publisher Maer Roshan, among others, appears at Spike Gallery tonight to discuss "The Art of Collaboration," a forum in which creative people discuss how they work with other creative people to have their goals realized. We're pretty sure that $25 million checks from Mort Zuckerman can't hurt, either. [NYFA]
· Calling all insecure, "independent women!" Recently dumped and in need of consolation? Mandana Hoveyda discusses her new book, "I'm Fine: A Really Helpful Guide to the First 100 Days After Your Breakup," at the Barnes and Noble in Park Slope tonight. Thanks but no thanks, honey—we'll cope with prescription drugs and guilt-free bathroom stall hookups for now. 267 Seventh Avenue, 7:30pm.
· Those sputtering, socially inept buggers in the National Spelling Bee, as it turns out, are all pretty damn smart. Not sure we can say the same about The Devil Wears Prada author Lauren Weisberger. In any case, Ms. Weisberger, along with Jonathan Ames, James Frey, Sunday Styles columnist Alex Kuczynski, and a host of others all take part in a charity spelling bee at NYU tonight. Proceeds go to the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. [CLMP]

· Blogger D-Nasty confesses why he loves Star magazine: "By the time I am halfway through the magazine there is very little left of my frontal lobe. McMurphy at the end of Cuckoo's Nest is Louis Rukeyser compared to me." [Mediabistro]
· Having trouble getting laid? Maybe you should be cruising the Apple store in Soho. [City]
· The Learning Annex explores how to marry rich. Not joking. It's pure evil and we've already signed up. [Learning Annex]
· Bridezilla, meet Wifezilla. Or maybe Beardzilla, as Star Jones has finally married Al Reynolds. [NYP]
· On chicks and their damn lit: "Helen Fielding, so much to answer for." [Lindsayism]

A reader passes along this conversation overheard at a Beverly Hills production company. Really, no further commentary is necessary:

· Rapper ODB, best known for being old, dirty, and bastardly, collapses and dies in the studio. Toxicology reports pending, natch. [NYDN]
· Another reality show? Starring super-wealthy Denise Rich? Please, God, no, make it stop. [Page Six]
· Bob Dylan gets into an incomprehensible tizzy over a movie script in which he is depicted as sleeping with late muse Edie Sedgwick. [R&M (3rd item)]
· Blessedly disproportionate actress Lindsay Lohan and her "actor" beau Wilmer Valderrama have called it quits. Now Lohan has moved on to fucking Chad Michael Murray. [ELK]
· In the wake of memogate, there's only one thing that can be done to heal Dan Rather's image: makeover! [Gatecrasher]
· Meet your new Britney Spears, the quite-possibly-pregnant poet...from hell. [Scoop]
· What happened to the punk rock karaoke at Arlene's Grocery? [Page Six]

Fans of absurd chocolates and frightening filmmakers should be alerted to the news that director Vincent Gallo's line of truffles (once available at Soho's trendy-beyond-comprehension Vosges) is no more. A reader writes:

Is NBC suddenly looking out for "Topic A" or does Tony Blair have a soft-spot for Lady Brown? Following his appearance on "Meet the Press," the British prime minister dashed over to talk to the Queen of Blue America Buzz at the British Embassy in Washington. And another well-dressed man, Tom Wolfe, popped in from his book tour between Manhattan and the Hamptons to share his take on campus sex. Henry the Intern can barely control himself.

Friday:
· All-girl roller derby takes the ironic kitch factor to a new level in the South Bronx tonight, which has clearly replaced DUMBO as the new Astoria as the new Williamsburg. [Gotham Girls]
· The event you've all been waiting for: the, um, Vera Wang trunk show at Bergdorf Goodman. RSVP required. Trigger-happy women without rings on their fingers guaranteed. [What's Up NYC]
Saturday:
· Disaffected starfuckers and the literati are sure to be out in full force as JT Leroy reads and performs at Deitch Projects tonight. [VV]
· Who says rap music is all about bitches, blunts, and 40s? Um, we do. All the good shit, anyway. J-Live and Vast Aire would probably disagree, though. At the Knitting Factory. [Knitting Factory]
Sunday:
·Football, needless drinking, or Bridget Jones. Or all three, in that exact order.

· We love it when Times foodie Amanda Hesser talks about "tight orange flesh and sweet flavor." We don't even care what it's about, it just sounds hot. [NYT]
· The crazy old lady club is in full swing, as Post columnist Cindy Adams comes to Liza Minelli's defense. Yes, Cindy, there should be laws to protect violent, drunk celebrities. [Cindy Adams]
· If you thought sappy bestseller Tuesdays With Morrie was hilarious (we certainly did), you'll adore Tuesdays With Yasser. [YPR]
· Get your Tara Reid coffee mugs while they're hot, emblazoned with her quote to end all quotes, "I don't want to be the drunk girl." [A Socialite's Life]
· In the strangest marketing gimmick ever, Darth Vader and Heidi Klum can deliver your wake-up call. Weird-ass video included. [Target]

Let the casting for the inevitable next wave of made-for-TV movies begin. Casting directors: Back to the drawing board. You can't use Dean Cain again (the double-jeopardy career suicide rule), even though Clubhouse was cancelled.

US Weekly didn't exactly attract A-list firepower at its "shopping party" at Smashbox Studios last night, ultimately settling for the smaller-caliber, B- through-D-list set. A reader recounts the low-watt carnage:

Lest this weekend's limited release of the new Bridget Jones movie give anyone dangerously radical ideas about the ideal female figure, a Craigslist poster reminds everyone about our town's stringent weight requirements for trophy wives (all spelling and grammar errors [sic]):

We don't normally pay attention to Playboy (seeing as pretty much everyone on slaveship Gawker prefers to ogle naked men), but the December cover has us wondering if the art and photo directors are smoking some nasty meth. The Post's preppy perv Jared Paul Stern says it all:

· Michael Jackson sent his army of supportive little boys to Times Square yesterday to protest Eminem's new video portraying Jacko as a child molester. Amongst (inexplicably) the faithful: Geraldo Rivera. [R&M]
· Giorgio Armani Corp. is claiming that frightening boxing promoter Don King owes them $75k after a shopping spree in their Manhattan store. Who's the salesgirl that actually thought it'd be good to let that man start a tab? [Page Six]
· Record producer Scott Storch scares off potentially felonious rapper Lil' Kim with a marriage proposal. [Lowdown]
· British actress Saffron Burrows might be pulling a Cynthia Nixon. Burrows is rumored to be shacking up Harry Potter's Fiona Shaw. [Page Six]
· Supermodel Claudia Schiffer poops out her second baby, a little girl. [IOL]

Every morning, our favorite moment comes when we sit down at the computer, take that first sip of a Starbucks™ caramel macchiato, and hunt through our inbox for the retail-damaged musings of the DailyCandy crew. Today's DC was an especially edifying treat, where a "lexicon" feature introduced us to some cutting-edge vocab:

Publicists Ken Sunshine and Brad Cafarelli have released this explanation for Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake's weekend paparazzi skirmish in front of Chateau Marmont, in which Diaz appropriated a camera for "evidence":

Isn't it strange how celebrities always get sued in threes? Following suits involving Burt Reynolds and Liza Minelli, Bill Maher completes the legal trifecta by being named in a palimony suit by ex-girlfriend Nancy "Coco Johnsen" Johnson.[Link NSFW!] Observe the sobering way that lawsuits narrate the melancholy fade of romance:

A reader grubs free stuff at the "Amazon.com Goes Hollywood for the Holidays" party last night and overhears an intriguing conversation about Har Mar Superstar's recently-shaved nether regions:

In the LAT, NY Observer columnist/screenwriter Bruce Feirstein catalogues the "circular firing squad of recriminations" that followed the Democrats' Election Day apocalypse. Inevitably, the blame spirals down to Hollywood, swirling around the feet of a too-familiar face:

In fairness, we really have no idea what Kate Beckinsale was doing at the clinic, or even how that big, red, suggestive circle got on the picture. But there does appear to be a little more bounce in her step...

A reader reports from last night's Shrek 2 DVD release bash, where the ogre and his big, green equipment begin cutting a swath to the top of the bestseller list: