For Advertising Week 2014, join Mo Rocca and a bunch of ad executives for "Leveraging the Laugh"—because "Increasingly, brands are breaking through the fray to deliver serious messages, even matters of life and death, with humor." Mo Rocca is not funny and strikes me as evil.

Yesterday, we published leaked internal documents from Conde Nast describing the company's plans for a series of Monsanto-sponsored propaganda videos hosted by Mo Rocca. Last night we received the following note from Mo Rocca:

Grandmothers. Grammas, Nanas, Meemaws, and Grammys. She's a lot older than you and you love her for it. The next time you've got a little down time to spend with yours, assuming you're lucky enough to have one or know one or know where a bunch of them like to hang, maybe flip on My Grandmother's Ravioli on the Cooking Channel. In the show, Mo Rocca travels around the U.S. visiting kitchens and learning to cook family recipes like chicken kiev and paprikash from old people with "big personalities."

Last night on the Americans Against Bullying Present Bully for You: A Fashion Celebration to End Bullies Bullying everyone was a bully, except for Countess Crackerjack. She was a thug. A thug in a cocktail dress. A thug is just like a bully, except it wears bigger necklaces.

The man calling the shots at the new New York Times, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, is celebrating his birthday today: He's 70. (Let's hope Arthur Sulzberger Jr. didn't forget to send a gift.) French president Nicolas Sarkozy is turning 55. Elijah Wood turns 29 today. Sarah McLachlan is 42. Alan Alda is turning 74. Writer/comedian Mo Rocca is 41. Liberal radio host Randi Rhodes is 51. Rick Warren, the controversial pastor and self-help author, is turning 56. The rapper Rakim turns 42. Former 'N Sync member Joey Fatone is 33. And former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter turns 30 today.

• Another media company falls: Reader's Digest Association, the publisher of Reader's Digest (duh) and a handful of other titles (like Every Day with Rachael Ray), says it will file for bankruptcy protection shortly. [Reuters]
• As you may have heard, things haven't been too well for Harvey Weinstein and his brother, Bob. So what will happen if they don't turn the mini-studio around? "I'll be... making cheap hamburgers, or selling trailers, or refrigerators, or something," says (a refreshingly honest) Harvey. [NYT]
• Fashion mags are looking a bit thin this fall, in case you haven't heard. [WSJ]
• Don't expect the feud between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann to dissipate: Ratings for both have been up since the war of words began anew. [LAT]
• Comedian Steve Harvey is joining Good Morning America. In related news, comedian Mo Rocca is hosting a web-based show for CBS News. [ABC, NYT]
• District 9 was No. 1 at the box office this past weekend. [ABC News]

Bon anniversaire, monsieur le président! France's Nicolas Sarkozy turns 54 today. The most popular man at the New York Times, Mexican billionaire—and NYT investor—Carlos Slim Helú, is 69. Elijah Wood is 28. Actor Alan Alda is 73. Comedian Mo Rocca is turning 40. Nick Carter is turning 29. Sarah McLachlan is 41. Joey Fatone is 32. The rapper Rakim is 41. And power-hungry, homophobic pastor Rick Warren is celebrating 55 years on God's green earth today.

[Occasional Broadway performer and NPR personality Mo Rocca at the after party for the 24 Hour Musicals in New York last night; image via WENN]

How did Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show cover the White House flip-flop scandal? (Which, interestingly, is not a scandal about Bush's now-void promise to fire any staffer involved in the Plame leak, but rather is a kerfuffle over several members of Northwestern's NCAA-champion women's lacrosse team, who wore flip-flops on a White House visit.) "By inviting Mo Rocca on the show last night for an on-air fashion demonstration," answers Jossip, who kindly provides a screen shot.