[Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton and half of the U.S. Senate dutifully attend Sen. Robert Byrd's memorial service today at the Charleston, West Virginia state capitol. This is totally screwing up their four-day weekend plans. Image via AP]

Sen. Robert Byrd's body will lie in repose in the Senate chamber, not the usual Capitol Rotunda, which is for cretins. It will be the first such memorial in 51 years. Can he vote for financial reform now? [Image: AP]

As the New York Times *tried* to write earlier this morning, Sen. Robert's Byrd's death could affect pending financial reform legislation. No one is happier about this than Twitter whore Steve Forbes, who has his grave-dancin' boots out.

Hundreds of people gathered at Lincoln Center last night to attend a memorial service for Bruce Wasserstein, the legendary banker, CEO of Lazard, and owner of New York magazine who died in October at the age of 61. The guest list was a motley one. Billionaire raider Carl Icahn and actress Natalie Portman were among the attendees. [WSJ]

at a memorial service held today at Lincoln Center for 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt who died at age 86 in August, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

A public memorial for longtime CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite was held earlier today at Lincoln Center. Here, a selection of the tributes, from two presidents and the remaining giants of TV news.

Roundups of Cronkite-death reactions are bound to include the President's personal memories, and Dan Abrams trashing personal memories. Also, Shaq's sword, Clooney's sad, Jeff Jarvis is so over this, Sarah Palin's rainbows, and Kelly Bundy has something to say.

The folks at Curbed bring word that a makeshift memorial has appeared outside the LES studio of Dash Snow, the downtown artist who died of an overdose earlier this week. But be warned! "Given the materials he was known to work with, we wouldn't get too close to this tribute." [Curbed]

Dash Snow is already being branded an "icon." The downtown sperm-and-whatever-else artist died Monday night of a heroin overdose at the age of 27. And you can already spot the outlines of a Basquiat-esque art world canonization starting to form.

Michael Jackson's memorial service happens in LA today. Is it a media circus out there? Check out the elephants! Eh? Seriously, it sounds like the media equivalent of the Superdome after Katrina. A brief rundown of the clusterfuckery:

Details for Michael Jackson's public memorial service on Tuesday are shaping up right now at a press conference. What's important: it's going to be broadcast live on TV and streamed, and tickets can be applied for online right now.

Everyone knows (many people don't know) that the Nazis also exterminated homosexuals, gypsies, and Jehovah's Witnesses, so there is no reason to include that information on a Brooklyn Holocaust Memorial. Assemblyman Dov Hikind is fighting to keep the memorial pure!

Outrage: people are making porn films at WWI monuments! At the Canadian National Vimy Memorial (pictured), a couple "stripped naked and performed sex acts beside the soaring stone structure," taped it, and put it on an online pay site. A police spokesman said, "It is a problem which appears to be getting worse -people appear to get a perverse pleasure out of this behaviour." Strange! Only a freak could believe that this noble structure's design connotes sexual organs somehow. But you have to think: if the spirits of all those deceased young guys really do rest in that monument, they wouldn't mind a little action once in a while. [Telegraph UK]

• Tim Russert's son, Luke, asked Barack Obama and John McCain to sit next to one another at his father's funeral Wednesday. They complied, and listened as he urged them and the rest of the mourners to "engage in spirited debate but disavow the low tactics that distract Americans from the most important issues facing our country." [Times]

Octogenarian gossip queen Liz Smith succinctly titled her recent blog post "I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Who Still Cares? Millions Around the World Did. Some Still Do." What is she talking about? It has something to do with Princess Di. The memorial pictured is located in Harrods department store in London, commemorating the death of Princess Di and Dodi Fayed. Liz shares Dominick Dunne's opinion that their whole romance was just a big fraud! So why go all the way to London to see it, with the exchange rate being so bad? But then at the end she says that Harrods' Egyptian-themed escalator is worth an overseas visit. Liz Smith, I don't know what your point is, but you are a beautiful and mysterious gem, and someone really needs to buy you this t-shirt. [WowoWow]. Click through for bigger pics of both of Harrods' tacky memorials.

This Friday night at Plumm, a final party will be held in honor of Baird Jones, the recently deceased nightclub promoter and odd fixture of the New York nightlife scene. The party promises a two hour white wine open bar, so get there early [NYP]. Many people were familiar with Jones only as a mysterious man in a Yankees cap, but he was so much more than that! Did you know that he got a perfect score on his SAT's (according to Page Six, at least)? Or that his father was one of the founders of People magazine and Conde Nast Traveler? Or that he helped to popularize midget skateboard bowling? Jones was also particularly proud of his celebrity art collection, which he said he spent over $1 million on. After the jump, some highlights from his collection—paintings by Courteney Cox (okay), David Bowie (talented!), Charles Bronson (good), Muhammad Ali (he gave it a shot), and a poor effort from Jason Bateman.