After appointing a pinup to his cabinet last week, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi finds himself once again treading dicey ethical (and marital) territory. GQ UK reports that Berlusconi was caught on camera passing a flirty note to Nunzia De Girolamo (pictured, left) and Gabriella Giammanco (right), two attractive female members of his parliament. (Its contents included the following lines of deathless prose: "Gabri, Nunzia, you look very good sitting there together," "Thank you for sticking around [to listen to the speech] but it is not necessary," and "Many kisses both of you!!!") Said Giammanco, "He was not trying it on at all." We wouldn't blame his wife, of course, for thinking differently.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the first Woody Allen movie we've looked forward to in awhile. Not only does it reunite Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz (who were great in Jamón, jamón), the film also, er, unites Cruz and Scarlett Johansson. Prurient interest created by lesbian kiss? Check. Fast-forward to 1:12 below, and consider September circled on the calendar.

On view now: designer Hussein Chalayan's Level Tunnel, a 50-foot-long, 16-foot-tall, 20-ton interactive art piece commissioned by spirits-maker Level. (Hence the name.) How it works: Blindfolded participants walk through and get a "sensory experience" of the brand's vodka, including scents of lemon and cedar, and listen to music played on a Level-bottle flute (sadly not for sale), all while a monitor broadcasts the user's heartbeat to viewers outside. (Your reward for enduring all this? A sample of actual vodka at the end.) The installation opens in Mexico City this May, before traveling to Athens and Paris later in 2008.
For more information, visit levelvodka.com

[Designboom]

Between fruit infusions and charcoal filtering, we'd almost forgotten the pure smell of unadulterated vodka. Uncapping a bottle of St. Petersburg, however, proved a potent reminder (and provoked a sudden craving for caviar). They've been drinking this stuff in Mother Russia since Catherine the Great mounted her first horse, but it's only arriving on these shores come summer. And, as you'd glean from the label, it hails from St. Petersburg, the old Imperial capital where they firmly believe everything went to hell in 1918. That's why they still make it the old-fashioned way, with early-sprouting winter wheat and a touch of lemon blossom, almond, mint and honey. Works for us.
$20, available nationwide in June

Meet Mara Carfagna, the Italian government's newly appointed Minister for Equal Opportunities. Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has been a fan of the 33-year-old for some time; last year he told the former Miss Italy contestant and Maxim cover girl that he would happily marry her if he wasn't already attached, leading his wife Veronica to demand—in an open letter to an Italian national newspaper—that he apologize. (He did.) No word on how Veronica feels about the appointment, but we're guessing she's somewhat less pleased than we are.

[GQ UK]

Guide des Jolies Femmes de Paris is a new book from Pierre-Louis Colin, a speechwriter for France's minister of foreign and European affairs. In it, the author offers a how-to guide to spotting the City of Lights' most famous attractions: the women. The gist? "Just as every region has its gastronomy, every quartier has its feminine speciality." Obviously, this is an effort to help British men rebuild their libidos.

[via GQ UK]

English blokes are turning down sex in record numbers, reports the Guardian. Relationship counseling firm Relate has seen a 40 percent increase in "sex-shy male clients," with stress believed to be the leading cause. (Like everyone, it seems, Britons have been working longer hours in recent years.) But don't feel too bad—as one hapless gent puts it, "I'm baffled by my lack of interest, but not particularly unhappy." His wife apparently had no comment.

[via GQ UK]

It amazes us when people go to the trouble of preparing perfect cocktails using top-shelf booze only to drop in one of those petrified neon-red poison sacs at the end. You could do away with them altogether, but some drinks—like the Manhattan—require the cherry as a crowning touch. The solution? Seek out real, all-natural marasca cherries from northern Italy. The best are bottled by Luxardo (pictured), the company that first started furnishing them to royalty nearly two centuries ago. The small supply imported into this country dried up a couple years back, but a new pipeline recently opened and Luxardo is now being stocked at Dean & DeLuca. They're preserved in pure marasca cherry syrup, not the sulfur dioxide and high-fructose corn slurry you find in supermarket substitutes. Both your cocktails and your small intestine will emerge unscathed.
$16, available at Dean & DeLuca, 560 Broadway, NY, NY, (212) 226-6800

Perhaps the worst wine pairing this side of arsenic: Ducati and Desmorosso, the motorcycle brand's first official vino. Either a testament to Italians' notedly cavalier stance on roadside beverages or a call for the creation of designated riders—either way, we're staying off the road.

As London's bobbies can attest, Agent Provocateur takes its name seriously—witness the lingerie brand's notorious window displays, known for lifelike (and flexible) mannequins, not to mention the occasional live striptease from Naomi Campbell or Kate Moss. Now, the company is putting out Agent Provocateur: Exhibitionist, an anniversary collection with ten years of highlights—including the time its visually arresting displays came closest to producing an actual arrest. In 2003, a typically gory Damien Hirst installation featured a severed cow's head. Indecency charges wouldn't stick, but AP was informed staffers could be jailed for not having a license to sell or display meat. (Pun presumably not intended.) Hirst had fooled them, however—for once, he'd used fiberglass and fake blood. More importantly, lingerie sales continued apace.

They don't make 'em like Hammer used to. Known for low-budget horror flicks, the British production company churned out B-grade schlock from the fifties to the seventies, always featuring starlets who were strangers to shame. (Vampire Lovers, for instance, didn't bank its success on method acting.) Trust Flickr users to spot the trend: The album titled "Hammer House of Hotness"—SFW, especially if your W is a crypt—is about as self-explanatory as it gets.

[BoingBoing]

Boozing up the maxim "If you want something done right...," Manhattan cocktail den Death & Co has crafted its own brand of rum. Dubbed Scarlet Ibis—after Trinidad's national bird—the versatile 98-proof tipple can be mixed into citrus drinks and Manhattan-style concoctions with equal aplomb. To produce it, Death's Dave Kaplan enlisted importer Haus Alpenz to help him scour the Caribbean for a round-bodied, dry-finish spirit with a full burnt-caramel note. He settled upon a three-rum, 150-proof Trinidadian blend (hence the name), which he then cut with a hydrometer and good old NYC tap. Better yet, the bar isn't keeping it for itself—watering holes and retailers on both coasts have picked it up.
About $26, available in NYC at Grayz, the JakeWalk, and Elettaria; in San Francisco at Alembic, Absinthe, Bourbon & Branch, Forbidden Island, Slanted Door, and Flora; in Berkeley at Wine Commune; and in Washington, D.C., at Central Liquors; deathandcompany.com

For the first time ever, a distiller outside of Scotland has won Whisky Magazine's award for best single malt. The prize went to Yoichi's 20-year-old, a smoky drink with a sweet finish from outside Sapporo City. (It was also Suntory time—the brand's Hibiki 30 was named the world's best blend.) Want to sample a glass? Good luck: Not only is it 300 bucks a bottle, the award-winning drink is already selling out online.

[via GQ UK]

Yeah, we know: Another fake holiday. Still, we don't need much excuse to celebrate, so we've put together a slideshow of our favorite working girls from television and film. You're welcome.

Click here for a slideshow >

Headed stateside this spring: The London Gin, a blue-tinted new tonic. Although it's produced by a Spanish spirits company, it's actually a rare example of a "London dry" gin that's made in London, where it's triple-distilled in small batches. And despite the coloring and clear glass (which give it an air of the apothecary), the taste is anything but medicinal. Instead, you'll pick up hints of coriander, lemon peel, licorice, cinnamon, and—unique among its competitors—gardenia and bergamot, which you might remember from your last cup of Earl Grey tea. It doesn't get much more English than that.

Just after this month's successful New York photo auction, Christie's is staging another impressive supermodel-soaked sale on May 15, this time in London. It's worth saving your pence: Highlights include Richard Avedon's famed 1981 pic of Nastassja Kinski entwined with a snake, Albert Watson's shot of Kate Moss naked and bronzed in Marrakech circa 1993, Sante D'Orazio's portrait of Pamela Anderson in 2000, and our favorite: this Michel Comte Gisele Bündchen shot from 1999, which is literally smoking (sorry). Want to preview before you buy? Check out our slideshow.

Who's that? Allegedly, the next trophy wife to hit the world stage. Vladimir Putin is rumored to be engaged to Kabaeva, 24, an Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast. (He has denied the charges, saying journalists should keep their "snotty noses" out of his personal life. Another mitigating factor: He's still married to his wife, Lyudmila, though the two are rarely seen together.) As the Telegraph helpfully points out, Kavaeva is "known for her flexibility and agility." (Way to go, Vlad!) In fact, with her and Carla Bruni around to spice up the next G-8 summit, it's a shame we didn't find a way to get Mrs. Kucinich into the White House.

Sadly, you're not bidding on the chance to decamp with a live specimen. But tonight's auction does include donated work from Will Cotton, Eric Fischl, Kenny Scharf, and photographs by Andy Warhol. (And besides, how many charity functions allow, and indeed encourage, ogling?) You can still get tickets online or bid online at liveauctioneers.com. Better yet, you can, er, preview the works here.

Sure, they'll always be known for scotch, but the Scots are doing interesting things to ale these days, too. Now, one of their best concoctions is coming stateside: BrewDog, a microbrew launched in the Aberdeenshire region last year. The core range consists of handcrafted ambers and IPAs, but their best is the Paradox imperial stout—aged in, yes, single-malt whisky casks. This gives the brew just a hint of smokiness; true connoisseurs can even choose between Islay or Speyside varieties. (The Islay casks previously housed vintage Ardbeg and Bowmore.) A few weeks ago, the first container load (1,300 cases) sold out before it hit the dock, but three more are now making their way across the Atlantic and onto select shelves next month. Barring thirsty pirates, of course.