Chace Crawford is no East Coast elitist! The Gossip Girl star told reporters that Sarah Palin is "quite attractive" before refusing to "talk politics." [US Weekly]

Lydia Hearst is expected to continue with Fashion Week, despite being sent to the hospital for kidney stones on Tuesday. [P6] 

Reality show queen Lauren Conrad will be writing a series of three young adult novels for HarperCollins about "a girl who moves to LA and stars in a reality show." Hopefully the kids don't take it too seriously. [People]   read more »

On Octobser 17th Rolling Stone will be 8-by-11 inches instead of 10-by-11 3/4 inches, The Times' Richard Pérez-Peña reports today.

Last month, when we reported that the magazine was considering a redesign, we asked a few people on the street what they thought. "I’d feel less cool reading the new one," said one young guy on his uptown ride on the 4 train. "It just seems like it would be a Fortune or a Newsweek."

What does Jann Wenner have to say about that to The Times? "All you’re getting from that large size is nostalgia," he said.

You hear that, subway guy? Jann Wenner says you're living in the past.

Yesterday, we told you that Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner was considering a major redesign of his magazine. He sent out a test copy to subscribers and asked them to participate in a survey to tell him what they thought.

Media Mob hit the streets of Manhattan to do a survey of its own. Judging by the responses of eight people, Mr. Wenner’s proposed change might be akin to passing a kidney stone in the minds of Rolling Stone's old-school fan base.

"You cannot go—you can’t—you cannot move away from this format," said David Peebler, a 46-year-old options strategist and trader at Park Ave and 22nd Street.  read more »

"We are considering a major change in the format of Rolling Stone from its current look to one more like the enclosed test issue," wrote Jann Wenner, founder of Rolling Stone in a note to select subscribers.

Enclosed in a manila envelope from Rolling Stone, which Media Mob has acquired, is Mr. Wenner's letter with a tighter, smaller, glossier version of the current issue of Rolling Stone featuring Barack Obama on the cover. (A larger version is currently on newsstands). The test issue is the same size as your Vanity Fair, your Gourmet, your Lucky. It's glossy and perfect-bound (goodbye, staples!), and the spine has all sorts of type on it making it perfect for your bookshelf: the dates, the issue number (RS 1056/1057), and a peek of what's inside: BARACK OBAMA/BONNAROO/ AMY WINEHOUSE / RUSH / GREENLAND.  read more »

In today's New York Post, Keith Kelly reports that Jann Wenner may be trying to sell US Weekly to Condé Nast for $750 million.

That's a lot of scratch for pictures of Katherine Heigl getting Starbucks, but according to Kelly, the magazine is not only "lucrative" (he uses the term twice), but profitable as well:

With weekly paid circulation of more than 1.8 million—and the lucrative newsstand accounting for 1 million of that total—Us Weekly is highly profitable, with an operating profit last year estimated to be around $75 million.

"Us Weekly is one of the more remarkable success stories in recent publishing history," Mr. Kelly writes.  read more »

According to a Wenner Media source, the magazine was scheduled to put the American Idol piece on the cover, but boss Jann Wenner decided to switch to Ledger just before Friday's close. "He pulled it for Heath," the source said.

A Wenner source said Jann has also tried to pressure Us Weekly to cover Brokeback stars Ledger and wife Michelle Williams in the magazine.

A Wenner spokesperson declined to comment on the party.