The New York Times' recent Helen Gurley Brown hagiography, "Helen Gurley Brown, As Others Saw Her," is a mostly uninspiring rundown of anecdotes about the recently deceased Cosmopolitan editor. But about halfway down, in a passage from Brown's former book editor, Michael Korda, things get good:

Helen Gurley Brown, the legendary editor who presided over Cosmopolitan for three decades, has died at age 90, according to the Hearst Corporation.

David Brown, film producer, magazine editor, short story author, and husband of Helen Gurley Brown, died in New York yesterday. He was 93.

David Brown, the producer of such films as The Sting, Jaws, The Verdict, and Driving Miss Daisy—and the husband of legendary editor Helen Gurley Brown—is dead at 93. [NYT]

Designer Doo-Ri Chung turns 36 today. Matt Dillon is 45. Yoko Ono is celebrating her 76th. John Travolta is turning 55. Magazine icon Helen Gurley Brown is 87. Writer Toni Morrison is 78. Molly Ringwald turns 41. Breakfast Club director John Hughes is 59. Singer Regina Spektor turns 29. Dr. Dre is 44. Cybill Shepherd is 59. Hedge fund manager Mark Kingdon is 60. Film director Milos Forman is turning 77. And Wheel of Fortune's very own Vanna White is 52 today.

The former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Helen Gurley Brown is a magazine industry icon.

Cosmo web assistant Leo (Smith '07) has been instructed by her "26 year old Cosmo pro" of a boss to blog for thirty days about the struggle of "one socially awkward girl attempt[ing] to transform into a sexy, social butterfly." Young Leo is like Angela Chase of Cosmo: earnest and endearing and totally non-evil, which is obviously holding her back in the fashion world. (Her roommate puts on her eyeliner for her in the morning 'cause she doesn't know how! Aw!) Increasingly, watching her thirty-day evolution at the hands of people who professionally suggest "how to be a total man-magnet" is like watching a gazelle getting torn apart by hyenas.

This is a bit longer a clip than we might usually take your time with, but the creep factor makes it worth a look. It's videographist "Boss Tweed's" mashup of legendary sexolutionary Helen Gurley Brown giving advice on how to have an affair, run over news clips and other ephemera relating to the love triangle between philanderin' Peter Cook, forsaken ex-model Christie Brinkley, and homewrecking youth Diana Bianchi. Dates from the time where you could say "affair" without necessarily meaning "extramarital," but you can nevertheless thrill to observations like "Even pretty little slips of girls love to be called fascinating and funny!" and "Admire her character — even if she doesn't have any!". Strangely, no mention of "twat."

• The original Cosmo girl, 83-year-old Helen Gurley Brown, wanted so badly to be on Ellen DeGeneres's talk show that she sent in an "audition tape" featuring her performing a choreographed dance to the best of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The adorable dinosaur even sported a leotard, but apparently that didn't arouse Ellen's libido. [Gatecrasher]
• Porn star Jessica Jaymes is attempting to sell a story of her sexual encounter with Jessica Simpson's pseudo-hubby Nick Lachey for $1 million. No one's interested, perhaps because no one's really surprised. [Page Six]
• Yoko Ono is pissed that Dateline NBC commemorated the 25th anniversary of husband John Lennon's death by devoting airtime to his killer, as opposed to promoting her new book. [R&M]
• In the latest GQ, Woman of the Year Jennifer Aniston lashes out at Page Six's Richard Johnson, saying his coverage of of her breakup with Brad Pitt "was just a game to him, this sick [expletive]." Aw, Jen — Johnson's not playing games. He takes his sick shit very seriously. [Page Six]
• Jake Gyllenhaal denies rumors that he used a body double for his meat-tastic role in Jarhead. We certainly hope he didn't, or else that'll destroy the imagery for our top 5 masturbatory fantasies. [Scoop (2nd item)]
• Jenna Jameson uses MySpace.com? Strange days, people. [Lowdown (2nd item)]