Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand, a well-educated student of antiques and vintage decorative arts, has finally declared a major: "Eighteenth century American furniture and the design of the architects Greene and Greene are my special love," she says. Think of it as a stylistic downsizing. Because her current three-house compound in Malibu is devoted to these particular genres, Streisand is auctioning nearly 500 items from other periods and styles -- Louis XV and XVI, Georgian, Art Nouveau, Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright and Art Deco -- that once furnished homes in Beverly Hills, Malibu and Manhattan but have long been in storage.

It was a challenge that Barbra Streisand wasn't sure she could handle. Though she made her directorial debut with 1983's "Yentl" -- the musical drama about a young Jewish woman who disguises herself as a man -- she was initially wary of taking on filmmaker duties for the cinematic adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story.

Alan Gordon, 64, a songwriter who with his writing partner Garry Bonner penned the Turtles' No. 1 hit "Happy Together" and other catchy pop songs in the 1960s, died of cancer Nov. 22 at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Besides "Happy Together," which topped the charts in March 1967, the songwriting duo also wrote "She'd Rather Be With Me," "You Know What I Mean" and "She's My Girl" for the Turtles, as well as "Celebrate" for Three Dog Night. On his own, Gordon wrote "My Heart Belongs to Me" for Barbra Streisand, who recorded it for her 1977 album "Streisand Superman."

It was clear why Barack Obama's campaign barred television crews from a Beverly Hills mansion at twilight Tuesday as the Democratic presidential nominee mingled with movie stars on a giant terrace overlooking Los Angeles. The cocktail reception was part of Obama's biggest night of Hollywood fundraising so far, an evening capped with a live performance by Barbra Streisand at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. But it came fraught with risk. As if on cue, John McCain used the Illinois senator's lucrative detour from battleground states to Beverly Hills to mock Obama's professed solidarity with working people "just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends."