Paul Newman, the famous actor whose blue eyes have lit up both the silver screen and the grocery aisle, died in his Westport, Connecticut home yesterday of cancer at 83. He starred in nearly 60 films and was at the forefront of a class of actors that made the transition from the studio system to becoming independent superstars on their own. The legendary actor was almost equally known for his pursuits off screen from political activism to race car driving to his longstanding dedication to philanthropy. more ›

There is growing speculation that 83-year-old actor Paul Newman is battling lung cancer. According to LA Times blog The Dish Rag, Newman is receiving outpatient treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. Rumors about Newman’s ill health have escalated since last week, when Martha Stewart published the above photo on her website, depicting a frail Newman attending a benefit for his Hole in the Wall Gang summer camp for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. more ›

We've said before that Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend (or companion, which is what the NY Times refers to her as) Diana Taylor seems like a classy lady, unlike some other mayor's girlfriends. But we don't know much about her, except that she went to Dartmouth (Mayor Bloomberg accompanied her on an alumni weekend there), she worked in senior management at Keyspan, she was the state's superintendent of banking under Pataki, she was shortlisted by President Bush to run the FDIC but then her nomination got nixed, and she was recently named to the Hudson River Park Trust. more ›

Staten Island needs some cheerleaders every once in a while, especially after their ice cream flavor was named after their landfill. The NY Times has a piece on the borough's historian, "Brooklyn has Walt Whitman to sing praises of its 'ample hills.' Manhattan has Woody Allen to capture its outsize style and neuroses. And Staten Island? Well, Staten Island has Thomas W. Matteo for a borough historian to chronicle its glories, its goofs and, yes, its landfill." more ›

- Acela trains more ›

- Nicolette Sheridan does not look over-Botoxed with fish lips! more ›

Chris Genoa, author, Foop! more ›

Maud Newton more ›

- And, yes, it's true, we're looking for advertisers AND having another happy hour. more ›

Oh, that Paul Newman is funny (now in that crusty, 70-something way, but still funny) - he's going to sue the Department of Housing and Urban Development for ruining the name "Hud" (and his residual opportunities). Ah, nothing like the rich and famous laughingly trying to get richer. Read his op-ed in today's Times. more ›