CELEBRITIES? - AT 9:42 A.M. ET:  Must be a culture thing.  The Washington Post reports on last night's dinner of the White House Correspondents Association.  Ah, to the Post and those of like mind, happy days are here again:

The correspondents' dinner always seems to convene a galaxy of stars, but last night's festivities were particularly incandescent, bringing back many of the celebrities who lit up Washington during Obama's inaugural events and parties.

The evening's guest list featured (in no particular order): Glenn Close; Robert De Niro; Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck; Natalie Portman; Stevie Wonder; Sting; Taye Diggs; John Cusack; Demi Moore; Alicia Keys; Brad Paisley; Eva Longoria Parker; Forest Whitaker; Jon Hamm; Chris "Ludacris" Bridges; young actors Miranda Cosgrove and Chace Crawford; and, for good measure, directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

COMMENT:  Okay, okay.  There are some solid names there.  But, ah, in the days when Hollywood was Hollywood we would have had Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Ava Gardner.

Take that, you neophytes!

May 10, 2009