• Madonna is taking a quick trip over to Malawi this weekend "to lay the foundation stone" at the new "multi-million dollar girls school she's building." That's funny. We could swear we heard about another celebrity doing almost exact same thing not too long ago. Oh, yes, her! Hopefully this time around there's a little less controversy. And let's also hope Malawian schoolchildren are ready to study Kabbalah from dawn till dusk. [Reuters]
• In related news, Madonna's ex, Alex Rodriguez, now appears to be taking an interest in Buddhism thanks to girlfriend Kate Hudson. Or at least he's pretending to be interested in it to make her happy. You decide! [NYDN]
• Ashlee Simpson-Wentz—sister of Jessica, wife of Pete, and the character Violet on The CW's Melrose Place—is now unemployed. Melrose's producers are taking a "It's not you, it's me" approach and saying the decision to cut her out of the show had nothing to do with the fact she can't act, but was because that had been their plan for the character from the beginning. [EW, People]

Josh Hartnett turns 31 today. Robin Williams is turning 58. Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau turns 61 today. Defense attorney Ben Brafman is turning 61, too. Yankees star CC Sabathia is turning 29. Cat Stevens is 61. Comedian Jon Lovitz turns 52. Architect David Rockwell is 53. Music mogul Martin Bandier turns 68. Former PaineWebber CEO and now investor Don Marron is turning 75. Democratic lobbyist Bill Lynch is 68. Attorney Ken Starr is 63. Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno is turning 71. Actor Justin Bartha is 31. And model/actress Ali Landry turns 36 today.

The downtown Armory played host to the 37th annual Fragrance Foundation FiFi Awards last night. A big bunch of celebs and designerswere on hand as Marc Jacobs was inducted into the foundation's Hall of Fame, including fellow award winners like Diddy and Paris, as well as Queen Latifah, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, Dustin Hoffman and Lisa Gottsegen, Hilary Rhoda, Kendu Isaacs and Mary J. Blige, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler, Harry and Laura Slatkin, John Demsey, Linda Wells, Doug Reinhardt, Tracy Reece, Nacho and Delfina Figueras, Kate Walsh, Samantha Harris, Tova and Ernest Borgnine, and Jacobs's fiancé, Lorenzo Martone. [PMc, WWD, Vogue UK, VF, NYO, Wireimage]

Josh Hartnett is all grown up! The star of Pearl Harbor and 40 Days, 40 Nights (and former boyfriend of ScarJo), turns 30 today. Doonesbury creator (and husband of Jane Pauley) Garry Trudeau turns 60 today, as does defense attorney Ben Brafman. Robin Williams is 57. Architect David Rockwell will be 52. Music mogul Martin Bandier turns 67. Private equity investor (and former PaineWebber CEO) Donald Marron is 74. Democratic lobbyist Bill Lynch turns 67. And actor Justin Bartha, the former flame of Lydia Hearst and current boyfriend of Ashley Olsen, is 30.

1) The New York City Ballet's 24th annual "Dance With the Dancers" party was sponsored by Elle and Ferragamo. Fabiola Beracasa, Zani Gugelman, Allison Sarofim, Robbie Myers, Joe Zee, and Olivia Chantecaille wore Roman-inspired outfits, while Tatum O'Neal had everyone wondering what was in her glass. [Elle]

Marron was a towering presence on Wall Street during his years as CEO of PaineWebber and chairman of UBS America. Today, as the founder Lightyear Capital, he carries more clout than any other private equity fund honcho with a measly $3 billion under his control.