Everything is pulled from Twitter, specifically from the accounts of Brian Stelter, of the Times and its TV Decoder blog, and from MediaBistro's FishbowlNY.

Requisite "Celebrity X shorter than I thought" observation, let's get it out of the way (it is, after all, our mission!):

Smack talking!

More smack talking!

Your fearless future White House press corps:

McCain toasts Clinton and Obama? Civility is the new black??

I don't know what this even means, but it sounds interesting:

Schadenfreude...

...followed by defeated sigh:

Alright, so most of the smack talking was joshy intra-insider stuff, but it sounds like a reasonably interesting night. If Time is going to go to the trouble of staging this event, the magazine should Webcast at least some of it. The speeches, at least.

{Twitter/brianstelter, Twitter/FishbowlNY]

Once upstairs, and past a third red carpet—one which featured Joel Stein, grasping a Time 100 microphone, interviewing luminaries (including his boss, Time managing editor Rick Stengel, who had Cate Blanchett on his arm) for the Time website (for the young people!)—one entered the main room. Someone told a story about Matt Lauer—who was there with his once-rumored-to-be-estranged wife—making a beeline for Craigslist's Craig Newmark, who seemed confused that he was worthy of Matt Lauer's attention. Queen Rania of Jordan posed gamely for the cameras, and was saved by Mayor Bloomberg. Arianna Huffington told us that the Huffington Post's new comedy website, 23/6, was "going into beta" in the next couple of weeks.

We cornered Mr. Stengel and asked him about the quote he gave New York Magazine about Joel Stein, in which he referred to Mr. Stein as a "god to people in their 20s and 30s."

"People love him," Mr. Stengel assured us. "They search for him. He's his own brand!" Mr. Stein wrote a piece called the "Alt-Time 100" for the issue, in which he brought together Xzibit; Hugh Hefner girlfriend Bridget Marquardt; Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Eddie Sanchez; krumper Tommy the Clown; Shear Genius contestant Dr. Boogie; "spray tanner" Jimmy Jimmy Coco; and party planner Glenda Borden for a lunch, and asked them who the people that mattered over the past year were. Later, Mr. Stein told us that he had asked 60 to 70 people to lunch, and these seven were the only ones who could make it.

Bill Belichick, the coach of the New England Patriots, told us he was not granting interviews. We heard that Julia Allison approached Martha Stewart and told her, "You've always been one of my role models." Mr. Newmark's girlfriend, who works in design for Banana Republic, told us that her dress was a sample.

At dinner, we were seated way up in the third tier, at Table 35 (out of 36), along with a producer from CNN, a Canadian gossip columnist, an American gossip columnist (ah, "media reporter"), a TimeWarner lawyer, and, in perhaps the most surprising turn of events of the evening, the director Whit Stillman. We pressed him for information about what had become of the actors from his 1990 film Metropolitan. The last he had heard of one, he told us sorrowfully, was that he had ended up giving guided tours of Toronto. As we ate the lobster tail appetizer, Mr. Stillman told us about his upcoming projects: a film set in early 1960s Jamaica, and an adaptation of the Christopher Buckley novel Little Green Men.

Mr. Stengel stood up to welcome the crowd, and said, "Is there a better place to be tonight? I don't think so!" As Youssou N'Dour sang, a video of images of Africa played on the large screens set up around the room. (Africa: Still hot.) Mr. Stengel said that the magazine had many discussions about "who is going to write about who." "Whom," hissed Mr. Stillman. "Who is going to write about whom."—Doree

Time 100 Gallery

Donald Trump wants you to know Autrey was given $10,000 by Donald Trump personally. (Donald Trump also reminds you that he has "a great respect for construction workers." Nice guy, that Donald Trump.)

Still, the Barbara Walters profile of "View" co-host Rosie O'Donnell taught us so much about that relationship: the "passion and compassion," the "feuds and the fearlessness." It was "a plunge on the roller coaster" for Walters, but the two remain "respectful and affectionate friends." Wow. Glad that all got sorted out. Really it's just so nice to hear the inside story. —balk

The Time 100 [Time]

The TIME 100 — Are They Worthy? [Time]