Chris Noth and Whoopi Goldberg.

When Chris Noth invites you out on Valentine’s Day weekend, you don’t say no. At least that was the Transom’s theory as we set out Sunday night, looking to get friendly with the actor best known for his role as Mr. Big on Sex and the City—and, oh yeah, with the rain forests—at a benefit auction for the Rainforest Action Network hosted by Mr. Noth at his Midtown East venue, The Cutting Room.

Casually dressed in blue jeans and an untucked white button-up, Mr. Noth made his way along the red carpet, sneaking sips of dark liquor. Love or something was in the air, and the Transom caught Mr. Noth’s eye from across the way. Drunk on good intentions, if not yet on booze, the strong-browed actor, like every other man in attendance, had only one thing on his mind: the environment.

Mr. Noth was sounding a bit like some Glengarry Glen Ross character—if that character were frothing at the mouth over green energy, that is. “We have to do radical transformation of energy and find ways to make people understand that green energy isn’t some archaic, eccentric idea,” he said, “but a place people can profit from, and so we make profit, but with principles.”

And then suddenly Mr. Noth morphed into some red-faced basketball coach giving a halftime speech. He was infused with passion and urgency. “Get up, get active,” he said, now singling out the Transom (be still our heart). “Make your president do what you elected him to do. Stop sitting on your ass and expecting it to come to you. We have to fight for it.”

For our part, we were ready to grab climate change and deforestation by their ozone-ruining necks and squeeze them into submission. Or at the very least hit our foul shots. Alas, as man of the night, Mr. Noth had to run off to pose for some photos.

Feeling a little stood up, we watched then as guests piled in, stopping at the bar for glasses of red before being escorted to their assigned seats. Flirtation and friendly bidding were in order. And over by the paparazzi section, in the exposed brick lobby across the room, the Transom was awarded a full glass of positivity—or maybe it was bourbon.

Underneath the shadow of a guitar-entwined chandelier, we managed to chat with the unmistakable Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of the evening, who for some reason was holding a Starbucks cup that read “Gary” on the side. Unlike Mr. Noth, Ms. Goldberg took a more self-reflective tack when discussing the theme of the evening.

“The younger generation doesn’t need to be told, they’re already on top of it. It’s us,” the 57-year-old actress said. “We’re not dinosaurs. It’s just reminding ourselves not to be too lazy, and it’s hard to do, because we work our asses off and we get lazy.”

As if to defend her record, Ms. Goldberg listed off all the projects she is currently part of, including her work with AIDS awareness and pro-choice organizations. “I do a lot of shit,” she said. And then she began to sound an awful lot like some sidewalk doomsayer.

“Crazy shit is happening,” she said. “Now some of it is because of global warming, but asteroids are falling out of the sky, the fucking pope left. We’re dealing with a lot, so I kind of think it’ll just take a minute.”

The gavel sounded as auctioned items—like Sting’s autographed guitar and a wild art piece painted live on stage by Jessica Gorlicky—found new homes. We soon found ourselves near R.A.N. founder Randy Hayes, who said he has already been arrested 19 times for civil disobedience.

“You have to deliver tough love sometimes to these governments and these transnational corporations that are cutting down the rain forest,” he said, with the hint of a delinquent smile. What else was in store for the Rainforest Action Network, we wondered?

“We have a series of house parties across the country,” said Mr. Hayes. “Well, some of them are really quite fun.”

Hmm. Transom does love a good house party, but whatever would we talk about?

Only Sherri and Barbara escaped unscathed!

Apparently drama works in daytime. E-Poll Market Research has released a study (unscientific, it would seem) of the most politically divisive celebrities--those preferred disproportionately by either Republicans or Democrats. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the conservative voice on The View, is the most disproportionately loved by GOP members--with a difference of 51 percent in her approval by right- and left-wingers. Other celebrities appealing more to Republicans, in order: Hank Williams Jr., Tim Tebow, Ted Nugent, and Amy Grant. Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, her couch counterparts in the kaffeeklatsch, are the third and fifth most disproportionately Democrat-beloved among celebrities, respectively. They are only less divisive than Spike Lee, Mo'Nique and, in fourth place, Forest Whitaker. (While Mr. Whitaker may seem anodyne, here's a fun fact: 7 of the 10 celebrities found to be most disproportionately appealing to Democrats are nonwhite, including who-knew-people-cared picks like Malcolm Jamal Warner!)

Barbara Walters (Getty Images)

Barbara Walters has had a tough week: her letter of support to Columbia on behalf of a young female aide to Syrian despot Bashar el-Assad after interviewing him for ABC has been all over the dailies. You wouldn’t know it, though, from watching her daily appearances on her daily chat show, The View. Last Wednesday, the day the Post ran the story of Ms. Walters’s intervention on behalf of Sheherazad Jaafari, Ms. Walters opened the show by discussing the Diamond Jubilee. She read aloud Cindy Adams’s Post column on the Queen’s fashion sense, noting that the Post “is always so kind to me--private joke.” Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck noted that her son had seen Ms. Walters in the paper that morning, to which Ms. Walters did not react favorably.

Speaking about the entrenched system of power in the U.K., Ms. Walters remarked, “I’m a royalist.” Later in that episode, Joy Behar made a joke about her appearance, to which the women did not titter as vociferously as usual. “Why is this day more weird than all the others?,” Ms. Behar asked.

Thursday’s episode left the news behind with an opening segment about Ms. Walters’s old modeling pictures. “You all know Barbara Walters as a distinguished journalist,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg said before showcasing the journalist’s softer side.

On yesterday’s show, the women discussed the hard work high school students must undertake to get into a good college. Ms. Walters was largely silent. But on the topic of Madonna’s recent breast-baring at a concert, she jumped in. “The press loves a feud. They say she’s too old! But she’s still a great performer.”

(image via Refinery29.com)

New York designers, editors and stylists could die if they held their breath, waiting for an invite to Vogue contributing editor Andre Leon Talley's home in Westchester County. He never has guests, according to his "Dispatch" turn in the Times' Sunday Review.

"It's a sanctuary and I want it to be my own personal Ali Baba cave of delight," he said.

The treasures therein include china and silver from Lena Horne's estate sale and cupboards "jammed" with porcelain from Paris, linens, and crystal, but he's never had a dinner or luncheon party.

If one does score the rare invitation (only in summer), he or she will be received on the front porch, with wicker trays found at Pottery Barn, and served iced beverages. There will be "a tray of canapes or Planters peanuts, jelliyied candy from Paris, and a good bottle of Sancerre."

Among the other pleasures of the suburban life, according to  Mr. Talley, is driving his S.U.V. to The Container Store at the Westchester mall.

"It's the best place for my new modern luggage, nylon-padded suitcases on three wheels. I also buy lots of storage bins for my at-home office, and at Christmas I splurge on special fancy paper, to wrap Whoopi Goldberg's presents," he said.

They do Christmas together, apparently.

“I am embarrassed to tell you it hurt me terribly. I--when you win an Academy Award, that's part of what you've done, your legacy. I will always be Academy Award-winner Whoopi Goldberg[...] This is not hidden information. And to these two critics--who are the head critics of the New York Times--maybe... it's hard not to take it personally."

Goldberg placed her trophy on the View table, for emphasis. Goldberg's protestations (egged on by Barbara Walters, who brought up the subject) were dismissed by Dargis. In an email to the Observer, the Times critic wrote:

"Like others, we were surprised and dismayed by the lack of racial diversity in the ten nominees for best picture; but, as we also wrote in our article, all of 2010 was notable for its lack of racial diversity. In order to provide some historical context, we took a look back at the representations of African Americans in American cinema, but our main focus was what has happened in the years since Mr. Washington's and Ms. Berry's historic wins. It's a shame that Ms. Goldberg and her co-hosts opted to concentrate on a perceived slight rather than address a far more urgent issue: the lack of racial diversity in contemporary American cinema."

In fact, the article praises Goldberg's most recent film, For Colored Girls, and Dargis was one of the few critics to champion the film upon its release. But this is the same Whoopi who picked a fight with the Oscars in 2008 after she wasn't included in a montage of historic hosts, and whose talk show monetizes every spat in its hosts' lives. What could Dargis have expected?

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_

The "unique loft situated in the heart of SoHo" was originally listed last summer at $3.9 million through Sotheby’s International Realty. In October, The Journal reported that the apartment had gone into contract, but since then there hasn't been much news of the apartment or its exposed brick and extremely high ceilings.

Mr. Lerer, whose lovely daily email newsletter is mostly geared toward luxury-loving urban metrosexuals, is not too worried about renovations. "We are going to do a few small things," he told The Observer, "but we’ll move in in a few weeks. We’re really excited! We knew right away when we saw the apartment.”

With "divine custom details throughout the loft" and a "dramatic entertaining space with both opulence and integrity," to quote Sotheby's, it would be hard not to be thrilled. That's a pun.

But where will The View’s banterer go now that her Soho digs are sold? According to Cindy Adams she has a few homes to choose from—in upstate New York, Vermont, and the Hamptons.

cmalle@observer.com

"If it doesn't work out, I'm going to go on The View. They need a little affirmative action on The View," Paterson said to laughs, according to one attendee. Sherri Shepherd, one of the morning talk-show's co-hosts was at the 24 Fifth Avenue event, and Whoopi Goldberg was scheduled to attend but was caught in the storm.

Somewhere between 200 and 300 people did show up, according to conversations with attendees and Tracy Sefl, Paterson's campaign spokeswoman. The venue was cozy and entertainment was provided by a jazz trio as waiters passed hors d'oeuvres of smoked salmon. The crowd included Councilwoman Inez Dickens, lobbyists Patricia Lynch and Brian Meara and gossip columnist Cindy Adams, as well as the first lady, Michelle Paige Paterson, and the governor's father. The minimum ticket price was $1,000.

Former New York mayor David Dinkins spoke in praise of the Paterson—Dinkins has known the governor since he was a boy—before Jay Jacobs, the chair of the Democratic State Committee, offered a metaphor about politics being like driving: You go forward when your car is in 'D,' not 'R.'

The event came on the same day as a speech by Paterson on Wall Street, where he praised the financial institutions as "the engine of our economy." Paterson's remarks touched on the need to cut spending while allowing Wall Street to flourish. Two attendees told me they got the sense Paterson was catering, "definitely trying to raise from downtown interests"; he has made a point in recent months to reach out to them as his relationships with some labor unions have grown tense.

"The governor and his entire team are proud of the event, the enthusiasm for the governor and the money raised," said Sefl. "It was a quickly paced, fun holiday season event in a beautiful space—just the way our supporters like it.  And it was exactly the type of simple event the governor thinks is appropriate in this climate."

She did not provide a firm figure. One attendee told me they heard someone spinning $2 million as the take. This struck others as incredibly high. After the main reception, V.I.P. supporters followed Paterson to a Champagne toast at a nearby club. Raising money is crucial if Paterson stays in the governor's race, which is generally expected and which Jacobs has said privately.

The sense is this might be too little too late. A filing in July showed he was outraised by Andrew Cuomo, his presumptive rival for the governorship. (Cuomo has repeatedly said publicly that his only plan "at this time" is to run for reelection as attorney general.)

"The general sense was that people liked the speech, but is there enough time?" said one attendee. "If you run a three-mile race, and you run the first mile in 12 minutes, you've got a lot of catching up to do."

Paterson acknowledges he's got a lot of ground to make up and tamps down expectations. He was asked Wednesday by NY1's Josh Robin if his tough stance on the budget—which have angered unions and other special interest groups—will hurt his fund-raising efforts.

"Really because we've had so many special sessions, I haven't really had much of an opportunity to solicit campaign donations," Paterson said. "I think most of my campaign fund-raising will occur next year, because of the worst—I've had to cancel over 20 events, because we've had so many special sessions and time in Albany. So I wouldn't know."

Jurors had apparently been curious to see the names he might marshal in his defense, and some seem to have taken the lack of witnesses as an indication of Mr. Marshall's poor character. 

“Either they really believed the prosecution had not proved their case or they couldn’t find anyone to testify," one juror told Meryl Gordon in a piece about the deliberations for Vanity Fair. "If they could have found anyone to say, ‘Tony and Charlene are great people,’ to talk on their behalf, they would have been invited," said another.

But there are people--and some of them are even famous, which never hurts, right? Whoopi Goldberg may not have the sparkle of Annette de la Renta, and Al Roker may not have the gravitas of Henry Kissinger, but at least they would have said something nice about Mr. Marshall, and presumably, livened up a rather listless summer.

Mr. Marshall still owes upwards of $5 million dollars for that defense-that-wasn't.

Emma delivered a pretty funny opening speech. “God, it’s great to be here. And I say that not only as a founding member of ‘Women for Bloomberg’ but as a charter member of a slightly smaller group, ‘Bloombergs for Bloomberg.’”

She also spoke about how her dad announced his first mayoral bid eight years ago, during a speech at her college graduation.

“While my friends were taking their diplomas and their parents and their grandparents to the street for a celebratory lunch, my family was having a small press conference. You know, there weren’t that many reporters there. I think that was sort of the plan: start your campaign small, don’t come on too strong too fast. You know, sort of like this year.”

The event was billed by the Bloomberg campaign as a forum where people could ask Bloomberg questions. Two chairs for Bloomberg and Goldberg were set up on stage, surrounded by dozens of women, making it look like a talk show with a live audience. In the lobby, there were boxes for attendees to submit written questions.

But the event was criticized by a spokesperson for Bill Thompson. The spokesperson, Anne Fenton, said that the event, “like the TV ads and mass mailings, is another example of Mike Bloomberg’s refusal to have a conversation with voters.”

The AP reported that a Bloomberg spokeswoman defended the event by saying it wasn’t invitation-only, since the people invited could bring guests.

In an appearance this morning on The View, Bloomberg was asked whether he would be supporting Caroline Kennedy in her now-public courtship of David Paterson, following the path of his aide Kevin Sheekey. He said he wasn't going to get invovled, more or less what he said earlier this week.

"If it were my call to pick somebody, I'd know exactly. I can't tell you, because I'd be getting involved," he said to Barbara Walters. "I should stay out of this race, it's up to Governor Paterson, he's lucky to have a number of different candidates. I was asked about Caroline Kennedy, she's very competent, she's done a lot for New York City."

Whoopi Goldberg then asked whether it should be the governor's decision alone.

"I don't happen to think that it's the best idea to have the governor just pick somebody," Bloomberg said. "That person has a distinct advantage the next time there's a special election or the next regular election. Having said that, that's the system. So, you know, Paterson could pick any one of a number of people who would do a good job. What you want to have in a senator is not, ‘What's their position on immigration?,' not, ‘What's their position on health care.' You develop that and your staff does that. You want someone who is smart, who can get access, who will hire good advisers, who has character."

The panel pressed: Is that Caroline Kennedy?

"Yes, but there are other people as well."