"Nobody Does It Better," Carly Simon, from The Spy Who Loved Me

A perfectly saccharine 1970s Marvin Hamlisch that has next to nothing to do with spying, but for a shoehorned-in reference to the movie's title in the first verse. It could have been awful--but why'd it have to be so good?

"Goldfinger," Shirley Bassey, from Goldfinger

The haughty pronounciation of "Gold-fing-ah" and the shrieking of "Gold" at the end make this the most manic, and best, of Ms. Bassey's singles.

"The World is Not Enough," Garbage, from The World is Not Enough

Both operatic and weirdly icy, as fit the high-baroque, technology-obsessed Pierce Brosnan era.

"A View to a Kill," Duran Duran, from A View to a Kill

The very opposite of Shirley Bassey's timeless diva-belting, this is about as 1980s as it gets. It also makes the most gleefully nonsensical use of the movie's title out of any of these songs: "All we see is a view to a kill" is a lyric wallowing in how little it's trying.

"Die Another Day," Madonna, from Die Another Day

Sorry, it's true (or at least arguable): this is the best or at least most crazily committed thing that Madonna has done this century, and it gets special dispensation for that alone (most artists' Bond tunes, Paul McCartney, are tossed-off).

DISHONORABLE MENTION:

"Another Way to Die," Jack White and Alicia Keys, from Quantum of Solace

Speaking of just tossing off a subpar single: you can practically hear Alicia Keys counting her money as she sings.

Alicia Keys eyes the Edun collection. (PMc)

It’s not every day that you discover a makeshift organic fruit and cider farmer’s market stand outside a fashion show. But that’s precisely what had been constructed outside Skylight at Moynihan Station at EDUN’s spring 2013 runway presentation this past Saturday afternoon. Breezy Hill Orchards of Staatsburg, New York was stocked with the dozens of varietals of pears and apples freshly picked. Before the show, sweaty fashion editors, stylists and buyers could take a refreshing sip of apple cider. It was a smart pairing considering that Edun, which was founded by Ali Hewson and U2’s Bono, works with African manufacturers to give them an economic boost. Naturally the majority of attendees beelined it to their seats, but The Observer gulped down a bottle before the show.

Seating was a bit frenzied and the arrival of songstress Alicia Keys didn’t help, but eventually we took in the Mali and safari-chic theme of Edun creative director Sharon Wauchob’s collection, with etched florals, mud-dyed cotton and silk and military accents.

"At Edun we believe that real style has substance. We founded the company to bring trade to Africa,” explained Ms. Hewson. “This season we are proud to say we are on track to reach our goal of producing 40 percent of the collection in Africa."

Commerce-for-developing-nations-mission accomplished.

"We [EDUN] loved the idea of working with an organic farmer's market stand. We wanted to do it last season, but the weather was so harsh the day of our show!” Ms. Hewson told The Observer afterward.

“September is the perfect time to enjoy the fruits of our surrounding farming community and of course, in EDUN, apples are close to our hearts.”

To The Observer’s chagrin, once it became apparent that everything at the farm stand was gratis, the crowd dove like hawks attacking prey. Grabbing bags of apples and even scarfing down homemade doughnuts. It’s a rare sighting to behold the fashion frenzy nibble even raw almonds or a Fiber One bar, but doughnuts? Impressive!

Fan messages for Whitney Houston outside New Jersey church (Getty Images)

Tomorrow, the memorial for Whitney Houston will take place in Newark, NJ at the New Hope Baptist Church. Speculation for the funeral's guest-live began almost immediately after the news of Ms. Houston's death: Would ex-husband Bobby Brown be invited? (Yes he would.)

What about Clive Davis, the music exec and mentor to Ms. Houston, who continued to throw his pre-Grammy gala downstairs in the Beverley Hilton the same night the star passed away several floors above? (Also a yes, and he'll be speaking.) Kevin Costner, Stevie Wonder, Godmother Aretha Franklin, Aunt Dionne Warwick, Alicia Keys, BeBe and CeCe Winans, and Donnie McClurkin are also expected to perform in the ceremony. Marvin Winan will deliver the eulogy. The star-studded guest list includes Chaka Khan, Brandy, Ray J, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

With a lineup like that, the funeral for Whitney Houston is shaping up to be bigger than the Grammy's themselves. Unlike the Grammy's however, fans without a television set will be able to watch the proceedings from their computer, as the funeral will be live streamed, starting at 9 a.m. on NBC's website.

While the phrase "live stream funeral" makes us want to throw up just a little bit, at least this way the family of Ms. Houston don't have to worry that much about paparazzi or gawkers trying to elbow their way in: the send-off for the Grammy winner will be available for all to see, provided they have enough bandwidth.

Then, out of nowhere, the total amount raised breached the threshold, going over the needed sum by just $125.

But if you thought the charity had finally rallied its base of activist individuals, each doing their part to help out with the worldwide crisis, think again. Instead, the New York Post reports that the fundraiser relied on a loudmouthed, brash, braggart of a fun-loving pharmaceutical billionaire, the incomparable Stewart Rahr -- yesterday he donated $500,000. Who is this man, you ask? Well, he goes by Stewie Rah Rah, and he would love to tell you about all the celebs he knows. Now we're going to quote liberally from an Observer profile of Rahr that ran last September.

"Marky Wahlberg is flying in to hang at my party, and I want him to bring Matt Damon so I am forwarding him this invitation," [Stewart Rahr] said, putting the finishing touches on an email. "Lionel Richie is also flying in from L.A., which is big. And Sharice, she is the best of the best and will be as popular as Celine Dion, which is a monster statement. I've been following her career for three years with my dear friend, David Foster, who probably discovered her. So I am sending that out to Marky because I want him to forward that out. Got it?"

The email to Mr. Wahlberg read: "Bro, please forward this 2 Matt Damon. Tons of thanks. C U August 2 at ur premier." It was written in a giant purple font.

"Purple and yellow are my colors," Mr. Rahr said. "And yellow is Rah Rah. Stewie Rah Rah." He put on a pair of bright yellow Ray-Ban Wayfarers. "Stewie Rah Rah, King of Fun."

Congrats, anti-Twitter charity campaign: you were bailed out by this guy. And given that a source close to the program told the Post that this was "the worst mismanagement of star power I've ever seen in my life," maybe people simply don't care about losing celebrity Twitter accounts.

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

The global pop phenomenon was just one of the celebrities who pledged to stay off all social networking platforms until $1 million is raised for Alicia Keys' AIDS charity, Keep a Child Alive. The fundraiser - which has been dubbed "Digital Death" and has a creepy coffin-laden ad campaign as ill-advised as the name suggests it would be - began yesterday, on World AIDS Day, but so far has only raised $161,000, with momentum slipping. At that rate, Gaga, Keys, Ryan Seacrest, Elijah Wood and all the other participants will be off Twitter for over a week - probably enough time to realize we never needed their updates in the first place.

But just in case you're pining after these "dead" Twitter presences, we've got you covered! The Observer created a Twitter list of every celebrity that's sworn it off. Now, you can watch and see when they start to break their silence - there's no way they can wait until $1 million is actually raised, right?

You can visit the Keep A Child Alive site to donate to help fight AIDS in Africa and India (a good cause!) or to get these silly celebrities back microblogging (not that good of a cause!). Also, there are pictures of Ryan Seacrest in a coffin. Just saying.

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

Gaga is just one of many high-profile celebs who have sworn off Twitter and Facebook for the greater good. Alicia Keys, who co-founded the foundation, has recruited Elijah Wood, Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, among others. 

The fundraiser is slated to take place Wednesday, in order to coincide with World Aids Day.

While her Twitter followers - who she refers to endearingly as "Little Monsters" - may empty their bank accounts for the noble cause as they suffer from Gaga Tweet Withdrawal, what about the millions more who want her to stay off Twitter? Can there be a dueling charity we can donate to if we want that to happen?

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

Curbed reports that the novelist and screenwriter has sold his apartment for $9.95 million to John and Jasanna Briton. As if that weren't juicy enough, the apartment at 142 East 19th Street is in the city's toniest neighborhood, Gramercy Park -- not in the gritty hood whose warts the writer so brilliantly chronicles. 

The Price family has made its home on the LES for generations, though Mr. Price himself grew up in the Bronx. He bought the no-doubt gorgeous (but sadly unlisted) Gramercy apartment in 1994. But don't blame Mr. Price: As he once pointed out the LES is just too expensive for artists to live there these days. 

--Jason Todd, the respected Morgan Stanley chief strategist who recently departed the brokerage amongst much speculation, has nabbed a condo at 130 West 30th Street for $1.54 million. Mr. Todd recently joined Indian firm Religare, and will apparently also enjoy a fresh start in the Cass Gilbert building converted pretty recently by architect Shamir Shah.

At the end of a long day watching equity markets bounce around like a ping-pong ball, Mr. Todd can unwind in the apartment featuring one of the loveliest loos we've seen in a while. Apparently, the "lavish windowed master bath is done in a combination of limestone, mosaic and marble finish and includes double sinks, a separate stall shower and a very deep soaking tub," as the Corcoran listing describes it. 

--Falcon Properties prez Carlos Silberman has snatched up a Turtle Bay condo for $1.13 million. The Argentinian with a flare for managing midtown office space, will enjoy "quintessential Chrysler Building views" from his two-bedroom at 240 East 47th Street, according to the listing by Douglas Elliman. The former owner was heavyweight cosmetics publicist Michele Matozzo Bracci. 

--For those on the market for star-dusted real estate someone else hasn't already snatched up, Alicia Keys held an open house at her Long Island mansion last weekend. The six-bedroom estate is listed for $3.85 million by the CORE Group. 

lkusisto@observer.com

I grew up thinking that the natural order of things dictated that the Yankees belonged in the World Series. But Derek Jeter and I have both learned the hard way that other teams get to play and win in the Series too. Still, watching the Yankees in this year’s World Series feels to me like the planet has been restored to its proper orbit. What is there about baseball and New York that puts them in sync? I suppose some of it is that baseball is a 19th century sport, with plenty of time for contemplation and beer between plays. In the rest of the country, if people want to see smashing, crashing and fast-moving action, they check out football games or NASCAR. In New York, we just walk down Broadway.

For many, but especially for New Yorkers, the search for calm and a sense of connection to the past leads to baseball. That’s why some of us were so moved when Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s Yankee base hit record this summer. It was wonderful to see that someone whom we admire so much can somehow be connected to the guy who made the famous “luckiest man in the world” speech, way back when the world was filmed in black and white. The importance of baseball has never been better expressed than by the “Terrance Mann” character in the great baseball movie Field of Dreams:

“The one constant through all the years… has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past… It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again….”

Baseball appears again and again in our culture as a unifying symbol and set of images. Baseball is Jackie Robinson and the fight against Jim Crow. Baseball is the growth of the global economy and players from Latin America and Asia sharing a field of dreams with guys from Kansas. And baseball is the Yankees and New York City—from the “Bronx is burning” Reggie Jackson images of 1977 to the post-9-11 World Series against Arizona that was emblematic of the tenacity and toughness of New York.

This year, the cultural touchstone for the World Series may very well end up being the rap star Jay-Z. I admit that most rap songs don’t move me, but ever since I heard Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing “Empire State of Mind” a few weeks ago.  I have not been able to get those lyrics or melodies out of my head.  As with all great art, the song has captured the sound and feel of this place perfectly. Jay-Z has created an indelible image of New York City in 2009.  Watching his performance at Yankee Stadium before the second game of the World Series the other night, with the Yankees looking on, was simply amazing.

New York City has a reputation for being a cold and unforgiving place, but those of us who have been here a long time know that is simply not true. This place gives and receives great loyalty and heart, and one sign of that spirit is the number of Yankee caps and A-Rod t-shirts you see all over town these days. Jay-Z may be able to “make the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can,” but all he’s really pointing out is that the cap and the team are just a part of this place. The “streets that can make you feel brand new” are bigger than the Yankees and bigger than rap music. They are what David Dinkins once called a “gorgeous mosaic.” Each community in the city is distinct and identifiable, but when you step back and look at the whole, it provides an image of great beauty. This is a unique place where the entire world gathers to meet, learn, have fun, make a living and, of course, watch the game.

Like everyone, Lindsay Lohan has an opinion on Sarah Palin; Ms. Lohan is not too fond of the vice-presidential candidate's sponsorship of a conference to "convert" gay people. [Celebrity Myspace] 

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $2 million to the Global Health Committee to provide care for children with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Ethiopia. [People] 

Artist Richard Prince may or may not have purchased a jet. [P6] 

Alicia Keys is likely the other woman in the breakup of producer Swizz Beatz and his wife, R&B singer Mashonda. [NYDN]  

Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson is getting back to her reality TV roots with an engagement to I Love New York 2 contestant David Otunga. [US Weekly]