A Brush With Infamy

The Paul Mitchell 413 Sculpting Brush.

Along with the bleeps and shakedowns, the Rod Blagojevich scandal gave journalists the opportunity to recycle a favorite anecdote: the one about how Blago insists on having a special hairbrush with him -- nicknamed the "football," like the nuclear launch codes that accompany the president at all times -- and goes ballistic when he can't put his hands on it.

What is this magic hairbrush? It's a Paul Mitchell -- probably the black 413 Sculpting Brush, the company's bestseller, offered exclusively in salons for just under $8. "It has perfectly spaced ball-tipped nylon pins that detangle wet or dry hair," company spokeswoman Jenny Overdevest told us yesterday. "In essence, it's very multipurpose."