Merce Cunningham, the choreographer "routinely hailed as the world's greatest," died last night. He was 90. [NYT]

Ellen Barkin is turning 55 today, although she probably shouldn't expect flowers from any of her famous exes. Legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham is turning 90. Model Alek Wek is 32. Actor Lukas Haas is turning 33. Architect Ricardo Scofidio is 74. Jon Cryer is 44. So is comedian Martin Lawrence. Basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is turning 62. Patriots coach Bill Belichick turns 57. And Joseph Alois Ratzinger—the man better known as Pope Benedict XVI— is turning 82 years old today.

In yesterday's New York Times profile of playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, an executive producer for Gossip Girl, the teen soap that Shawn is guesting on for a spate of episodes, said that the diminutive chrome-dome brings to the series a level of smarts and sophistication that "that was way beyond [the writers].” He's referring, we guess, to Shawn's artsy intellectual pedigree—he's the celebrated writer and star of plays and films like My Dinner With Andre and the son of legendary New Yorker editor William Shawn. And we agree! Seeing Shawn on the occasionally sharp but mostly silly series is like a breath of fresh Bordeaux-scented air. It got us thinking about some other ways that Gossip Girl can fancy itself up, which we'll list after the jump.

The eminence gris of the dance world, Cunningham was one of the most acclaimed choreographers of his time. He passed away in 2009.

The power of the intertubes will soon be bringing us "Mondays with Merce," a video podcast of the weekly dance class taught by legendary choreographer and dancer Merce Cunningham. We know you're excited. We know you know that Cunningham is cultural royalty, and that until now his class was only open members of his dance company and hand-picked guests. We also know it's been too long a since an 89 year old man helped you improve your pirouette. Clear out some space on that nano, your Tuesday morning commute is about to get a whole lot dancier. Also, it's not exactly going to be a free download. Here are 2000 breathless words from the New York Times.

Last night was the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave gala in... Manhattan. Yeah, no. we know. But I guess there aren't any spaces in Brooklyn that are nice. So instead, it was at 7 World Trade Center on some really high floor. Below, Ground Zero looked like a little deserted Erector Set. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsgard were supposed to be there. But they had some other benefit to attend. John Turturro was supposed to be there too but wasn't. You know who was? Lou Reed. And you want to know something else? Turns out he's not a nice guy! Nikola Tamindzic was our witness.