The U.S. State Department has created a new video focused on food security and global hunger, and homeboy Matt Damon narrates. Here's a look.

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley apparently weren't kidding when they agreed to continue talking after their White House beer arranged by President Obama. Right now, we're told, the pair are in deep conversation in a booth at River Gods in Cambridge. Crowley, you'll recall, arrested Gates for disorderly conduct after responding to a possible break-in at Gates's home. The charges were later dropped.

Frank Luntz is a man of many talents: He's a Republican pollster, a political consultant, a linguist, and a Fox News talking head. But Luntz is also a big basketball fan with a special fondness for a certain former Celtic. During a book party this week at literary agent Helen Rees's high-rise apartment, Luntz took time out to tell us about his recent trip to China with Larry Bird. "I've done some work with the Pacers on fan experience, and so they invited me to go with them to China," said Luntz, whose new book, "What Americans Really Want...Really: The Truths About Our Hopes, Dreams and Fears," has nothing to do with basketball. So what was Larry like? "I was just grateful he talked to me," said Luntz. "To sit at the feet of a legend was as powerfiul as climbing the Great Wall of China." Rees, who also reps the likes of Jack Welch and Afghan president Hamid Karzai, drew a diverse crowd, including Terry Gomes, president of Roxbury Community College, Carole Berotte, president of Mass Bay Community College, furrier Mary Kakas, Conexion founder Phyllis Barajas, former state transportation secretary Richard Taylor, Zip Car founder Scott Griffin, city councilor Mike Ross, author Phyllis Karas, publicist Colette Phillips, and author Juan Enriquez, the founding director of the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project.

Caption: Frank Luntz speaking about his new book at Helen Rees's aparrtment in Harbor Towers. PHOTO: Bill Brett

While not a runaway bestseller, Ted Kennedy's posthumous memoir, "True Compass," is still doing decent business a few weeks after its release. The book, which hit stores Sept. 15, has so far sold about 170,000 copies, according to Nielsen BookScan. And it seems the Kennedy compendium has considerable appeal outside Massachusetts. Looking a little closer at the numbers, "True Compass" has actually sold better on the West Coast (32,000 copies) and the South Atlantic (30,600) than in New England (30,000). Kennedy's account is on pace to outperform some other high-profile political memoirs, including Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History," which has sold 209,000 copies, and perhaps "The Reagan Diaries," which has moved 273,000 volumes. But "True Compass" is about to lose its mojo with the release of Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," which this week shot to the top of Amazon's bestseller list even before it's been published. The book by the former Alaska governor is out Nov. 17.

Fashion has never been filmmaker Michael Moore's forte, but when the director of "Bowling for Columbine" walked into the Globe yesterday wearing a pair of black gym shorts, we were puzzled. Moore immediately apologized, explaining to a roomful of discerning journos that he'd planned to change at the hotel, but his plane sat forever on the tarmac. No matter. Moore, whose new film, "Capitalism: A Love Story," opens Friday, took a seat and parried with reporters, editors, and publisher Steve Ainsley for over an hour. Here are a few highlights:

Moore on Joe Wilson, the congressman who yelled "You lie!" during President Obama's speech: "I reject the simplistic comparison with him. I never uttered the words 'I hate George W. Bush,' and I never would.

Moore on conservative talk-show hosts Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly: "(Beck) said 'I think I'm capable of actually killing Michael Moore.' O'Reilly said he's generally against the death penalty unless it applies to Michael Moore...That's why I have to travel with security. I have to put up with craziness that they stir up with that kind of talk. You wouldn't want to have my life at this point."

Moore on old-school documentaries: "It felt Castor oil, like 'You should know this.'...I set out to make the anti-documentary."

Moore on the decline of newspapers: "Daily papers and their corporate owners have slit their own throats. I'm tired of the Internet being blamed for this. Europe still has daily papers, and I've heard they have the Internet there."

Caption: (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

So you're walking through the historic halls of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. And look, there's that iconic silkscreened image from 1980 by Andy Warhol of our late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, and across from it is Shepard Fairey's now famous portrait of President Obama. And hey, isn't that the foul-mouthed, pasta-loving, retired baseball coach of the Dodgers, Tommy Lasorda? It may seem a curious juxtaposition, but the newest of the 20,000 works at the Smithsonian museum, a 60 by 50 inch portrait of Lasorda painted by New York artist Everett Raymond Kinstler, now hangs next to Warhol's portrait of Kennedy (separated by an elevator) and across from Obama. "Just lucky," said Julia Zirinsky, when asked about how a pitcher who went 0-4 in his career (and later made the Hall of Fame as a manager) wound up next to the esteemed late senator and across from the president. "It creates interesting conversations because of the placements."

Celts captain Paul Pierce was among a slew of celebs at the Clinton Global Initiative this week. No. 34 was there to tout the "Truth on Health" campaign, an effort to help America's young people get fit. A big piece of the program is Pierce's FitClub34, a website sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim that provides kids with informastion needed to get healthy. (Pierce kicks off the campaign locally Saturday.) Other famous friends of Bill (Clinton) attending the New York conference included Brad Pitt, Barbra Streisand, Goldie Hawn, Usher, and Jessica Alba.

Aerosmith ax man Joe Perry was in D.C. today, where he joined the likes of will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, and Seal in calling for critical, life-saving medical research. The self-described Rock Stars of Science made the rounds on Capitol Hill and talked to the media. Perry told CNN's John Roberts he harbored ambitions of becoming a scientist. "I was totally fascinated by marine life and I really wanted to become one of Jacques Cousteau's helpers," said Perry. Asked about the future of Aerosmith, the guitarist sounded uncertain. "We decided to pull back and just kind of take a vacation or a hiatus, so to speak. And we're not really sure when we'll start, so I've been concentrating on my new solo record."

What to say about that dress worn by homegirl Victoria Rowell to the Emmys? The strapless frock with President Obama's face all over it made nearly everyone's "worst dress" after the awards ceremony. Rowell, who was born in Portland, Maine, and learned to dance at the Cambridge School of Ballet, did not wear a garment resembling a wall hanging when she married artist Radcliffe Bailey over the summer.

In an interview with "60 Minutes" airing Sunday, Ted Kennedy Jr. says his late father kept bullet-proof vests in his closet. The late senator's son tells Lesley Stahl: “Most people keep coats and umbrellas in their coat closet. My father kept bullet-proof vests...Believe me, we would walk past that coat closet every day, fearful about some crazy person out there wanting to make a name for themselves and that, I think, was in the back of our minds almost every time that my father would appear in public.”

Caption: Ted Kennedy Jr. talks to the media after addressing the Connecticut AFL-CIO Sept. 9 in New Haven during a tribute to to his father Senator Edward M. Kennedy. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)