DOES NOT READ PEREZ Gore

• Possible presidential candidate Al Gore, who fans gushed over at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in Manhattan on Friday, has little patience for global headlines featuring tabloid tarts—especially when it trumps stories on energy efficient living and investigations into false claims that Saddam Hussein attacked the nation on 9/11. In promoting his new book, The Assault on Reason, Gore has taken to groaning about how obsessive coverage of celebretards contributes to the "destruction of the boundary between news and entertainment." At a New York appearance, Gore said, "What is it about our collective decision-making process that has led us to this state of affairs where we spend much more time in the public forum talking about or receiving information about Britney Spears shaving her head, or Paris Hilton going to jail, or Anna Nicole Smith's estate lawyers ... and are Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher back together?" Amazingly informed for a man seemingly opposed to such salacious news. Mr. Gore must be out of his mind over the coverage of L-Lo's DUI.

• Rap mogul Diddy loves to see himself, especially when he's 172-feet tall and visible from his office window. In 2004, the then-P. Diddy had a shot of himself blown up for his Sean John clothing label, making headlines for being the largest Times Square billboard ever erected. An inside source at Combs's label, Bad Boy Entertainment, tells Radar that the size and location were picked specifically so Diddy could see himself from his office window five blocks away. "He just loves to see himself," the source says. "He'll stand there in the window and mirror his pose from the billboard and grin." Of course, that wasn't exactly Diddy's ditty at the time of the billboard's debut. He issued this statement: "I am realizing a dream in being on the largest billboard there and think it is a key moment for us as we continue to grow our fashion business."

• Last week just wasn't a great one for pint-size British rhyme sayer Lady Sovereign. First, YouTube clips from a Brooklyn, New York, show circulated (then were taken down) showing Sov literally crying poor at a Brooklyn show before bailing prior to finishing a scheduled performance. Then she missed the entire after-party following a Sunday night performance at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa opening for Gwen Stefani. Sov was a no-show at Murmur, where Stefani and her band chilled in the VIP areas. Did she know the drinks were comped?

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