Retail Stalking

My friend Shannon saw Mary Louise Parker while waiting in line at the Shake Shack over the weekend ("She didn't even try to cut the line."). And a trusty reader spotted (212) fave Chad White shopping at the Container Store in Chelsea yesterday and sent this stealth shot for everyone to enjoy. Gawker has its Gawker Stalker -- if you guys keep up the good reporting I may need to come up with my own celeb-sightings feature! (Keep 'em coming ...)

Page 1 Consider (07/29)

Extra! Extra! I see that the celebrity TV show "Extra" has finally dumped Mark McGrath for their favorite "guest" host Mario Lopez). It looks like co-host Dayna Devon (whose spelling of her name is grounds for dismissal) is being demoted to a correspondent too. I always had a crush on the Sugar Ray frontman, but the second he got on "Extra" he started to look like some freakish corpse, so I'm not really that surprised by this outcome. (LARagMag)

Putt-head: Why does Rudy Giuliani's litigious, over-entitled 22-year-old son, Andrew, look like he's 55? (For those keeping score at home, the Duke golf coach, O.D. Vincent, who fired Mini Combover is hot, hot, hot!) (NYDN)

Three G's of the GOP: (This is not a joke.) A new report says Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales’s aides broke civil service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions. A longtime prosecutor was passed over for a counterterrorism slot because his wife was active in Democratic politics, and a much less-experienced lawyer with Republican leanings got the job, the report said. Another prosecutor was rejected for a job in part because she was thought to be a lesbian. And a Republican lawyer got high marks because he was found to be sufficiently conservative on the core issues of "god, guns + gays." (NYT)

Designer Duds: My friend Scooter the artist is at it again! (Live Fast)

The Hurler: A "very large lady" at the New York Sports Club was "sling-shot" off equipment known as the "abductor" -- and had to be hauled from the gym in a rescue basket by firefighters, authorities said. (Come on, YouTube -- don't let me down now!) (NYP)

Score! Italian soccer stud Luca Toni heats up the current issue of Vanity Fair Italy. (OhLaLaMag)

Mucho Gusto: A new poll released last week shows overwhelming support from Latinos for Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain. (CNN)

The Half-Trillion Dollar Man: The Bush legacy will be a record $482 billion budget deficit. (AP)

Jackie? No: How do you say "Don't flatter yourself, Carla" in French? (Reuters)

Settlement: Blue Cross agrees to cover gay couples. (365Gay)

Hat Trick: Estelle Parsons may be an Academy Award-winning actress on her way to taking over the physically demanding role of Violet Weston, the drug-ravaged matriarch in the Tony-winning play "August: Osage County." But to me she'll always be Bev, Roseanne and Jackie's wonderfully annoying mother on "Roseanne." (Can you believe she looks this damn good at 80?!!) (NYT)

Diagnosis: Well, I already knew Robert Novak was a brain tumor. (AP)

VW Cabriolet Alert: A gay car blog? Leave it to Vanity Fair. (GayWheels)

Hot Wheels

Baby, you can drive my car ...

Larry Is Not Alone

I see Larry is in good company.

Morning Wood: David Muir

It's no secret that I have an anchorman fetish (Brian Williams, anyone?), but David Muir might just be the dreamiest one yet. (Hat tip to Whine & Cheese for finding the Men's Vogue pix on top!)

Page 1 Consider (07/28)

Oh La La! Those French boys catch up with (212) fave Christopher Leabu, 2(x)ist's latest dreamboat model. (Charmants)

HB-NO! First they cancel "The Comeback" and now "Tell Me You Love Me." What kind of fool is in charge of programming over at HBO these days? (EW)

Double Fault: Tennis player Ashley Harkelroad's decision to pose in Playboy wouldn't be so tragic if she weren't a washed up, 23-year-old divorcee with a history of laxative addiction and bulimia. You go, girl (or something). (TennisWeek)

Spanish Fly: Rafael Nadal cannot be stopped. (AP)

Annie Get Your Gun: This deadly shooting at a church in Knoxville, Tenn., is beyond tragic, yet somehow the story is unintentionally funny from beginning to end: Amira Parkey, 16, had just uttered her first lines as Miss Hannigan in "Annie, Jr." when the performance at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was interrupted by a loud pop, witnesses said. "We were just, 'Oh, my God, that’s not part of the play,'" Amira said, adding that she saw a man standing near the door of the sanctuary and firing into the room. It took a beat longer for fear to strike the audience. "The music director realized what was going on and she yelled, 'Get the hell out of here, everybody,'" said Sheila Bowen, 70, a church member. (NYT)

Scrambling: Think you could beat Andy Roddick? How about if he played with a frying pan? (SI)

Book Him: Don't bother reading Christopher Ciccone's book about Madonna when Matt has everything you need to know and more in his own review, which admittedly is longer than the book itself. (BoyCulture)

Retro Marriage: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom married actress Jennifer Siebel over the weekend in the bride's native Stevensville, Mont., where straight marriage is still legal. (People)

BlogHer: Is there a glass ceiling in blogging? Don't tell Arianna Huffington. (NYT)

Big Surprise: "Dr." James Dobson of Focus on the Family goes both ways. (PageOneQ)

Crime Report: Hate crimes in Los Angeles County soared last year to their highest mark in five years even as overall crime dropped across the region, according to a report released last week. (AP)

Strawberry Kim Fields Forever: Was Tootie down with Charlene? (FourFour)

Bunch of Crabs: People in Maryland are apparently really bored because they have nothing better to do than try to undo the rights of transgender people citizens of the state. (365Gay)

Wrongful Death? The family of Steven Paul Hirschfield, the dancer on a San Diego gay pride party boat who was shot and killed by police who claim he resisted rescue attempts and seized an officer's weapon, says they don't believe the officers' accounts and plan to sue. (Towleroad)

RIP: Cassette tapes. (NYT)