From time to time we like to check back in on certain characters who have come across the Gawker radar. This morning we want to catch you up on Addie Hall and Zack Bowen, a couple of New Orleans holdouts the Times caught up with in the aftermath of Katrina. Back in 2005, the pair were ensuring a regular police presence in their neighborhood by Ms. Hall's appropriation of the time-honored Big Easy tradition of tit-flashing. And where are they now?

The Coop was scheduled to speak at the 92nd Street Y tonight. But his talk has now been cancelled, because bad weather has prevented him from flying back from his most recent reporting assignment, in New Orleans. We're tempted compliment the FAA on the impressive work its officials are no doubt doing to keep planes and passengers safe, and to get them to their destinations as soon as possible, but we won't. Becauase we realize that to listen to people thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, we got to tell you, there are a lot of people there who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated. And we get the anger that's there.

Google is throwing a big party in the Big Easy as part of the American Library Association conference. (Sergey can't lobby Washington, but he knows how to lobby librarians.) A reader says, "I'm going to the conference, but nobody seems to know exactly when/where/how to get in to the party." Well, we wouldn't want that! Here's the deets. No fair attending if you're not invited, ya hear?

We held off on mentioning this, because we thought maybe we had it recorded on a TiVo somewhere, and we were waiting for the oompa loompas to dig it up. But it turns out we don't and so instead we'll just tell you. On 360° last night, as quite a few of you rushed to inform us, the big AC went back to New Orleans, where, judging by the pictures we were sent, he auditioned for the Village People. Then he went for a ride in a "mancage." Blogger and old pal Reference Tone, who saw the segement, noted that Coopie "seemed very excited about it" and "really likes to say 'mancage.'" Some examples:

Major, breaking, top news from CNN:

This just in from a bookworld tipster who, experience suggests, knows of what he speaks:

Figments of Alessandra Stanley's imagination, mostly.

• First the Democratic Party, now NBC: All our old friends are going after those dastardly God-fearing Red Staters. [NYT]
• Did you know CMJ is actually a magazine? Yeah, we were afraid of that. [Folio:]
• If we've got the chronology right: Jennifer Bleyer tripped through Dead show in Ohio, came to New York and found a shul on the Upper West Side, created Heeb, showed Howard Stern her ass, and quit the magazine. Then she wrote about it. [Nextbook]
• ASME wants to pick the best 40 magazine covers from the last 40 years, and we're betting none will feature Britney. [MW]
• NBC, CNN to open New Orleans news bureaus. Wow — U.S. TV neworks expanding their coverage. We never thought we'd see the day. [AP via USAT]
• Turns out that, yes, "I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport," can, in fact, get you fired from your school paper, even in North Carolina. [N&O]

With the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina fresh in everyone's minds, the producers of this Sunday's much-hyped Emmys are trying to balance fun with a sense of caring and compassion. After all, they've hired post-9/11 Emmy host and New Orleans native Ellen DeGe—-Hey! Chocolate walls! Chocolate! Fucking! Cocktail! Tables! YAAAAAAAY!

• Martha Stewart to launch fashion mag. Oh, the endless opportunities for orange-jumpsuit jokes. [NYP]
• New Orleanian Doug Brinkley, who made his pundit name on his pal JFK Jr.'s death, unsurprisingly signs first Katrina book deal. [MSNBC]
• Hearst and Hachette — gasp! — work together on an ad deal. [NYT]
• What's new about the new Paris Review? Um, what isn't? [NYO]
• Michael Kinsley leaves LAT editorial page after a little more than a year; no one was considerate enough to leave news of his firing in a Xerox machine so he could learn about it in advance. [NYT]
• Wenner Media redecorates, and Jann isn't happy with the paint colors. [NYO, second item]
• NYT, WP give each other sneak peaks of their front pages. Sputters E&P's scoopy Joe Strupp: "Are you aware of what a serious breach of security that would be? They'll see everything, they'll — they'll see the Big Board!" [E&P]
• ASME barely slaps The New Yorker on the wrist for Target single-advertiser issue, and crazy columnist in Chicago bursts a blood vessel. [CS-T]
• The lowest blow: In wake of Katrina, public dislikes Bush more than it dislikes press. [E&P]

· Chilling factoid of the day, from a story about Rupert Murdoch's recent binge of internet-related acquisitions: "If MySpace and IGN were integrated today, News Corp. would be the fifth most trafficked network on the Web." Welcome to the RupeNet. [Variety]
· The NFL does its best water polo player impression by stomping on Seth Cohen and propelling ABC to a Thursday night ratings win. [THR]
· ABC will dub or subtitle its entire primetime lineup in Spanish, firm in the belief that no language barrier should prevent potential audiences from overrating Desperate Housewives or missing a single hilarious word uttered by Freddie Prinze Jr. [Variety]
· Comedy Central does what it can to cope with the uncertain, post-Chappelle's Show era, ordering another three seasons (42 episodes) of South Park, and hoping that Trey Parker and Matt Stone aren't going to disappear to Bolivia to chill out with a big bag of their cash. [THR]
· Tonight's multinetwork Katrina telethon won't edit out political remarks, just profanity. Acceptable: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." Unacceptable: "George Bush doesn't fucking care about black people." [THR]

The latest phase of the Katrina-aftermath story has been New Orleans officials' attempts to evacuate the entire city and some residents' resistance to the plan. Officials are concerned that people who remain in the city are at risk for infections, lack food and water, and could be targets in the somewhat lawless city. But one person who won't leave has found a good way to deal with that last problem, reports the Times:

Any time a hurricane strikes the Southeast (or fatigue strikes a crew member on a Tom Cruise set), the Church of Scientology dispatches an army of volunteers to help out. Perhaps realizing that the magnitude of the Katrina disaster required a high-profile relief effort, a team of underemployed celebrity ambassadors (we assume Cruise was too busy shooting Mission: Impossible 3 to personally—personally!—visit the site) was immediately dispatched to the scene:

We've already conclusively determined that erstwhile New York Presser Matt Taibbi went boating with Sean Penn in New Orleans last week. But sometimes — believe it or not — plebiscite isn't the best methodology for determining an individual's whereabouts. Thanks to the reader, then, who located this comment on a Blogcritics.org item:

With Sean Penn very ably handling the situation in New Orleans, Bruce Willis is freed up to launch his own search...for Italy's greatest beauty!

Yesterday we asked if you thought that was quit/fired New York Press columnist Matt Taibbi going for a New Orleans boat ride with Sean Penn. Oh, do you think so. Indeed, this is about as close to unanimous as these things get:

Well, yes. 'Remarkable' is one world for it. We could think of others.

· In probably the strangest hurricane relief idea we've seen, journalist Mark Ebner has pledged to legally change his name to "Ron Bon Jovi" if he receives a valid $100K bid in his eBay auction. (Admittedly, going with "Rico Torres" probably wouldn't bring as many bids.) The proceeds from the potential name change will go to the Red Cross. By comparison, Kathy Griffin's charity auction of a night out in Vegas seems a lot less interesting—and you have to hang out with her.
· Goldenfiddle recounts Jared Leto's less than moving tribute to Katrina victims on last night's Conan O'Brien. Also, the blog's not a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars's brand of "LA neo-garbage" rock.
· In an effort to meet their quota for casting ex-Happy Days stars, the folks at Arrested Development have filled the spot left by Fonzie's departure with Chachi.
· With Bob Denver's passing, finally the truth can come out: He preferred Mary Ann to Ginger. Also, he didn't love it when fans swatted him with their hats, no matter how hilarious it was when the Skipper did it.

• On-the-ground conditions after Hurricane Katrina made reporters there mad. Very mad. [NYO]
• The Newhouses love their Times-Picayune more than ever. [NYO]
• A new publisher for OK! America, and other staff moves there. [NYP]
• Adam Bly, now in his wizened mid-20s, will relaunch his science-and-life mag, Seed, with new money. [WWD]
• Is Al Franken caught up in Air America/Boys & Girls Club scandal? [NY Sun]
• While traditional newsweekly circ falls, The Economist and The Week saw big gains. [Mediapost]

Yesterday, much of the world snickered at a report that actor/rescue vigilante Sean Penn's hastily deployed dinghy immediately sprung a leak after its launch. Today, Rush & Molloy allow a member of Operation: Penn Saves to refute the claim that their boat wasn't up to their well-intentioned mission of mercy, it was simply overcrewed: