Beyoncé's World Humanitarian Day performance (Cliff Watts)

"Who doesn't love World Humanitarian Day?" actress Julia Stiles asked rhetorically as we rubbed shoulders with VIPs in a roped-off, sequestered area of the United Nations. (Though it's not as if there is some area of the UN that is not sequestered or roped-off.) We were mingling in the small atrium before being filed in to the General Assembly, where we were to watch none other than Beyoncé perform and shoot a video for her song, "I Was Here," the official song for WHDay, August 19th.

Ms. Stiles told us that she and her friend had plans to celebrate the important day in their own way.

"We want to start a worldwide hootenanny!" Ms. Stiles exclaimed, giggling.

Her friend laughed, nodding her head to indicate that this was a for-real thing that the two of them had actually discussed.

"A worldwide hootenanny," we mused. "Now, would that involve jug bands?"

"I guess that depends on what part of the world you're living in," Ms. Stiles replied.

For those who don't know, World Humanitarian Day, celebrated on every August 19th, was created to recognize and honor those working in humanitarian efforts, and those who have lost their lives doing so—specifically the 22 people who died in the bombing of the Baghdad UN headquarters in 2003.

"Are you excited to see Beyoncé?" a young woman asked us. "She's so nice. One time she showed up—completely random!—with a bunch of carolers at my dad's Christmas party."

We hoped we weren't imposing, we said, but would this lady mind telling us who her father was? He who was able to get Beyoncé to perform at a holiday gala?

"Oh, his name is Edgar Bronfman," Hannah Bronfman replied. "He was kind of a big deal in the music business for a while, but now he's kind of a recluse. That Beyoncé thing was definitely not the norm in our house."

Neither was this a normal Friday night at the United Nations, as Anderson Cooper noted when he took the stage to bring on the evening's guests. "Unfortunately, you won't be seeing me dance to 'All the Single Ladies,'" Mr. Cooper quipped. "You''ll have to come back next Friday for that."

That night, the crowd was introduced to several humanitarian workers for brief Q&A, from the UN's Valerie Amos to Erin Dinan, founder of "One Sandwich at a Time."

But the real shining star of the evening was, of course, Beyoncé, who appeared on stage wearing a twinkling white dress, the walls surrounding her turning into an IMAX explosion as she sang "I Was Here." Suddenly we were transported to Africa, then Asia, then many other locations in the world as giant pins popped up on screen, reminding us that someone, indeed, had been here.

David Droga, whose ad agency Droga5 worked with the United Nations to put on the evening's show, as well as the upcoming Humanitarian Day's "I Was Here" campaign, which will feature the infamous Thunderclap technology to sync supporters' tweets come August 19th, said that he was impressed by the Beyoncé booking.

"They told us to shoot for the moon," the director told us after the event.

They may have missed that celestial body, but they landed an even bigger star instead.

Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld and Ingrid Sischy and the Gordon Parks Centennial Gala. (Leandro Justen/PatrickMcMullan.com)

We strolled into the Museum of Modern Art last Tuesday, for a gala honoring the centennial of the birth of the renowned photojournalist Gordon Parks, who passed away at 93 in 2006.

A quick nod to the door guy, and then promptly to the bar. Still off the sauce, we grabbed a seltzer and turned around to survey the scene, only to be immediately interrupted by a bronzed figure that had surveyed our less than macho bar order. “Did you just order a sparkling water, m’boy?” photographer Peter Beard asked us.

“Regrettably so,” we admitted to the man whose legendary life-long bender makes Bowie’s Thin White Duke phase look like rehab.

“Very sorry to hear that,” he said, extending a hand, the very one that he touched Cheryl Tiegs with so many years prior.

Mr. Beard spoke to us about the Gordon Parks Foundation. “I’ve been involved with it since before you were born, but it’s my wife Nejma who’s on the advisory board,” he replied proudly.

We noticed a wrinkle in the space-time continuum out of the corner of our eye. It was the monochromatic septuagenarian sun god of fashion: Karl Lagerfeld. He cut a swath through the crowd in his calculated yet effortless way that we’ve come to know and love, signaling that it was, in fact, time to sit down.

As we climbed the stairs to the second-floor atrium, it became clear that the seat-to-guest ratio was a bit off.  What should have been a subdued sit-down process quickly becomes a game of sudden-death musical chairs, but this wasn’t a pack of snotnose asthmatics in an elementary classroom. We were playing with Sarah Jessica Parker, Russell Simmons, and Anna Wintour.

Waiters and busboys frantically searched for extra chairs as more than a few tables, who’d paid big bucks for plates of filet, found themselves short a seat or two.

While extra chairs maintained a holding pattern above the heads of the rich and famous, we’d been cleared for landing. We sat next to James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem, who was serving as the evening’s DJ. He admitted that he’s been a bit overworked lately, despite his retirement from the band.

“Originally we had no intention of filming the four-hour ‘last’ concert at Madison Square Garden, but at the eleventh hour we did. I’m still editing the thing together.”

We noted that the last concert was pseudo-religious evening for us, and Mr. Murphy hinted that was the idea behind the film, titled Shut Up and Play the Hits, which will be playing in theaters across the globe July 18, one night only.

“It’s for the people who didn’t get to experience it the way it was meant to be,” he said, seemingly still apologetic for the online ticket-sales debacle that caused the band to add three additional shows before the final performance last spring.

Anderson Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt who was a long-time friend of Mr. Parks, took the stage and cued up the rest of the evening with a few anecdotes the man of the evening: “The guy made Shaft, people!” he exclaimed, leading into a heartwarming recounting of his interactions with the photographer as a young man.

Clive Davis, Annie Leibovitz, and John Legend followed, giving speeches laden with anecdotes, professional and personal, about Mr. Parks, whose body of work was expansive and will continue to touch many.

Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa at the screening of Bully (Patrick McMullan)

It’s our big launch party for SCENE and Desmond’s, the chic spot on the Upper East Side that feels part Brit private club, part downtown lounge, is packed with PYTs like Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, Dani Stahl, June Ambrose, David Lipke, Charlotte Ronson, Ali Wise, Euan and Lucy Sykes Rellie, Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, Anh Duong, Page Six’s Emily Smith and Erika Bearman(aka the prolific and much-followed Tweeter, “OscarPRGirl”) to name just a few.

Hot on the heels of the Oscars, the bon mots are all about the best-dressed, and really, this crew is a little better equipped to judge the sartorial prowess of Hollywood stars than say, Giuliana Rancic. Stacy Keibler's gold Marchesa? “A little too Oscar,” observes Bearman, and she wasn't referring to her own boss, Mr. Oscar de la Renta.

Rellie, who may possibly tweet just as much as Bearman, focuses on Angelina Jolie's now notorious appendage: “She overdid the split pose. Whoever told her to show some leg made a mistake.” Saffir, the founder of the Cinema Society, may just know more about movies than anyone on the planet and admits he didn't get the Jolie memo on Twitter. “I don't do that,” he claims, referring to social media. “No Facebook, no Twitter,” which, while understandable given all the insider gossip he's privy to, is a big #shame for the insatiable social media masses.

Speaking of hashtags, there were quite a few at the GANT Rugger Fall 2012 presentation at the Fat Radish (one of the most popular restaurants, as farm-to-table, organic food doesn't have calories, right?). Most of the hashtags and instagram uploads refer to the quality of male models that create the mise en scène all around the LES hotspot. After glancing at a couple of #smokeshows—and the craftsmanship of GANT Rugger designer Christopher Bastin's newest collection—it is time for some celery root potpie and a catch-up with shutterbug Douglas Friedman. He was also a fan of the man-candy on display: “All of the models’ backsides look fantastic. And the front sides were even better.” And the clothes? “We’ll chalk it up to 12 years at an all boys Catholic school...preppy is in my blood.” On Friedman's iPhone is his latest shoot, an ad campaign for the high-end Canadian department store Simons. The twist? Friedman himself plays photographer and model. So does he consider himself a veritable Zoolander now? “It was a rather traumatic experience; to answer your question, no, I don't.”

Prabal Gurung at the screening of Bully (Patrick McMullan)

There are zero models (with the exception of Tori Praver) at the opening of Josephine Meckseper's Manhattan Oil Project at the Last Lot Project space, but the Art Production Fund-presented public installation is definitely photo shoot-worthy. The two massive kinetic sculptures, inspired by, yes, oil pumps, attract a who's who of the young art elite—think Yvonne Force Villareal, Casey Fremont Crowe, Rachel Feinstein, John Currin and Bill Powers with his lovely lady Cynthia Rowley. Because nothing gets the cerebral juices flowing like a sugar high, publicist Bettina Prentice hires a truck from The Sweetery NYC and has it parked outside the exhibition. Clever girl. “We are all mobbing the truck for their Belgian hot chocolate and hot apple cider, then mobbing the bar at the nearby pub for whiskey, vodka, hot toddies—anything STRONG to shake off the cold,” she explains. It's surprising how quickly those toddies sneak up on you, but with Prentice on the project: “Everyone was saying this was the most successful piece of public art they've ever seen.” Pour me a double with that sculpture.

Two days later, it’s champagne time, though people are flocking not to see art but the latest H&M collaboration, this time with Marni. Which, in retrospect, should be some sort of museum installation documenting the lengths to which shopaholics will go to score a $99 sweater. Interior decorator Natalie Obradovich arrives at the private shopping event just 10 minutes past the start time to racks and racks of…nothing. The scene is straight out of a Black Friday sale at Best Buy: Vogue’s Meredith Melling Burke departs empty-handed, standing dazed by the empty shoe shelves, while Leandra Medine (“the Man Repeller” blogger) battles the frenzied crowd clutching coveted beaded necklaces. “Clearly, they're doing something right,” Obradovich shouts over the blasting Rihanna and shrieks of bloggers looking for a size seven sandal. The Marni madness causes no casualties.

Next up: the screening of Bully hosted by the Cinema Society at the Crosby Street Hotel, while no less emotional than the Marni pre-sale, is definitely a bit more weighty. From director Lee Hirsch and producer Harvey Weinstein, the film is a moving, character-driven documentary that explores the epidemic of bullying through the harrowing perspectives of five kids and families. Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa host the  premiere and speak on the importance of showing this movie at schools. “Everyone should see Bully,” Cooper urges. The audience includes Russell Simmons, Rachel Roy, Prabal Gurung and André Leon Talley—there is nary a dry eye in the house.

Kelly Ripa and Anderson Cooper co-hosted last night's screening of "Bully" with the Weinstein Company, the Cinema Society and Bing.

Celebs from Russell Simmons (in trademark Yankees cap, clutching a plastic bottle filled with healthful-looking green juice), Michelle Trachtenberg, and Carson Kressley to David LaChapelle, Andre Leon Talley and Rachel Roy turned out in droves for a Crosby Street Hotel screening of the hotly anticipated Lee Hirsch-directed documentary "Bully."

Hosted by The Weinstein Company and Bing with Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa, the screening left a powerful impression on many in the all-star audience. Sitting in the safe space of a boutique hotel's screening room, dressed to the nines while watching kids in the heartland suffer for the very uniqueness that might make them popular in a place like New York, was a bit jarring.

The film follows five families in Georgia, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Iowa -- three with children who have been victimized by persistent bullying, and two who have lost children to suicide. (The 110-minute film opens with heartbreaking footage of one of the teen suicides as a baby, establishing an emotional intensity that never eases.)

In remarks to the audience, which also included Caroline Murphy, Heather Matarazzo, Gossip Girl's Kaylee DeFer, Teen Vogue's Andrew Bevan, Harvey Weinstein, and Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir, Cooper warned, "Bullying today is not like when I was a kid. It used to be that it only happened in schools. The home was a respite."

"Now, because of social media, kids are bullied around the clock."

Cooper underscored one of the film's main themes, the infuriatingly inadequate response of overwhelmed school officials like Kim Lockwood, assistant principal of East Middle School in Sioux City, Iowa, where much of the film takes place. (In one grim scene, Lockwood -- who comes to personify being part of the problem if you're not part of the solution -- relentlessly badgers a bullying victim for his reluctance to accept his tormentor’s obviously forced apology: "You're just like him!" The distraught youth has the clarity to retort, through clenched teeth: "I don't hurt people.")

Kelly Ripa's involvement with the film began when Cooper invited her to a town hall meeting at Rutgers after the suicide of Tyler Clementi. Like Cooper, she blames social media for intensifying the bullying plague: "It's TV, it's iChat, it's Twitter," Ripa told Velvet Roper. "Kids don't need to be tweeting... they don't need phones, computers. Computers should be for homework and that's it!" Ripa's own children, age 9, 10 and 14, are well protected -- in theory: "We only have one computer in the house, and it's great -- it's in the kitchen! They resent us for it, but I don't care," Ripa laughed.

The marketing of "Bully" resembles an advocacy campaign more than a Hollywood rollout. The documentary's naturalistic profanity earned an R rating from the MPAA -- "which we totally think sucks," lamented director Hirsch -- preventing it from being screened in the schools where the filmmakers think it is most urgently needed. (A petition to change the rating to PG-13, launched by a Michigan teen, has drawn nearly 300,000 signatures at Change.org.)

Hirsch, who was bullied as a youth, draws no line between his artistry and his activism. (The Oklahoma father of an 11-year-old suicide victim is shown campaigning against bulling on Facebook, and organizing a series of "Stand For The Silent" rallies that bring together several of the families.) "We have a real opportunity with this movie to change hearts and minds," Hirsch told the crowd. "Schools may have programs, but if there's a culture that says we're not going to deal with it, that athletics and buildings are more important..."

Peter Feld is editor of Scooter, The Observer's parenting magazine.