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Last night, Cipriani 42nd street housed a megawatti AmfAR charity event that was beautiful and inspiring. Under the 80 foot ceilings of the early 20th century former bank, a crowd draped in diamonds and black shmoozed and did what they do at these things. The revelers included Natasha Richardson, Ed Burns and Christy Turlington, Kenneth Cole, Bobby Shriver, Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour, Rachel Zoe, Lou Reed, Julian Schnabel, Cheyanne Jackson, Dick Cavett, and Mathilda Krim. And there were more but that's just who I spied.

So what happens a lot in that situation is that it is socially acceptable to say "nice to see you again" over and over again to complete strangers that you've never seen before. And ultimately it's so fake and even worse than the truth, which ain't so bad. "Nice to meet you" or "hello" or even just "nice to see you" without the "again" might be better.

The highlight for me was when the legendary Harry Belafonte intro'd Mr. Barry Manilow to the crowd and Manilow broke the hits down. Sitting at a piano, he did the classic showbizzy thing of playing just enough of all of his hits to make you satisfied, but in 10 minutes. He threw us some "Mandy" mixed with "I Write the Songs" and on and on. I gots to say that "When Will I Touch You" made me crazy. Is that song great or was I loopy? His voice is so perfect still. Untouched. He was the balls.

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