DON’T TELL ME SUMMER’S ALMOST OVER

1. . . . That's what people are saying. Heck, we just got started. Buncha deadbeats.
2. NBC's Soledad O'Brien seemed to be almost flirting with XXX star Vin Diesel on Saturday Today. She seemed to be shyly looking down and then looking up at him like she was blushing or something.
3. . . . Is that movie hardcore porn? That's what XXX usually means.
4. Is Anna Nicole Smith a little bit unstable? No matter what the critics are saying though, people are watching that show. It got sky-high ratings. That's the people talking.
5. PLAYED OUT. The Donahue/MSNBC TV promo using Aretha Franklin's 1968 hit Think? I guess it's part of their Be Thinkful campaign. Gimme a Break!
6. . . . There's a poster of Donahue in Washington's Metro that somebody wrote "a_ _" on with an arrow pointed to the talk show host and another one I saw had one of his teeth blackened out.
7. Austin Powers' Mini Me was on Wolf Blitzer Reports last week. What was he doing there? I thought that was a hard news show. The lines between news and entertainment are really blurring and now it's not just the cable news channels that do it, it's all of television news.
8. Ray Charles' real last name is Robinson and he has 11 kids.
9. . . . Tell me What'd I Say.
10. NEW PRODUCT. Jonny Glow. It's a glow-in-the-dark strip for the inside of a toilet. It "helps you see where you're going." Ha Ha Ha. They've sold thousands of them for $5.95 and their Web address is jonnyglow.com. (I could use one.)
11. Road to Perdition is good. Stylish gangster movie. Beautiful shots. Well-done but it's sort of done in a vacuum. When they have all the shootups, no cops ever come. It's all from the Irish Mafia's point of view. The little kid is great. Hanks is sort of one-note. Music real good.
12. . . . Perdition means damnation.
13. Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart reported that Madonna will be "doing press" for her new movie, Swept Away, that her hubby directed.
14. The AARP's magazine, My Generation, is getting big name baby boomer stars to front their covers. Bonnie Raitt's done it and the current one has Dustin Hoffman. It's not a bad mag.
15. LISTENING TO . . . Bonnie Raitt's new album Silver Lining. It's good, bluesy, rockin' and sensitive. Outstanding songs are the title cut, Valley of Pain and Wounded Heart. It's great that she's still making good new music.
16. Do those Oreck vacuum cleaners really work that good?
17. Does that movie Full Frontal show Blair Underwood head-on naked? The ads for the movie suggest it. He's got his shirt wide open showing his chest right down to his belt. Seems to be in the process of stripping.
18. ABC's Elizabeth Vargas married singer/songrwriter Marc Cohn July 20 in New York. I wonder if he's the same Marc Cohn who did the 1991 song Walking in Memphis and was voted that year as Best New Artist in the Grammys.
19. FICKLE. Jennifer Lopez really goes through men. Now it's Ben Affleck. They're always smooching.
20. David Copperfield looks better with his hair less high.
21. The special TV Guide edition on Elvis is pretty good. Loaded with pictures of The King. His body guard/road manager Joe Esposito said that when he discovered Elvis on the floor in the bathroom that rigor mortis had already set in. Twenty-five years ago. Doesn't seem possible.
22. The Wonder Years' Fred Savage plays the Mole in Austin Powers. He's grown up now.
23. Good Morning America has a new correspondent, Alex somebody. Isn't he the same guy who does those Sharpie pen commercials? Looks like Jerry Seinfeld.
24. GRIZZLY ADAMS. Would somebody tell Brad Pitt to shave off that ugly beard. He seems to revel in being dirty looking and scraggly. Good looking stars always do that.
25. Charlton Heston has been seen in better rugs.
26. Matt Lauer subbed for Tom Brokaw a couple times last week on NBC Nightly News. Going into a break he said, "I'll be right back." Whatever happened to anchor people saying "we'll be right back?" It's a whole show with many other people involved. It personalizes the anchor talent too much. He represents NBC News. It's a carryover of that stupid Matt and Katie and Ann and Al shtick.
27. . . . And that overly short hair don't really get it, but I guess he's doing his thang.
28. John Madden's a good addition to Monday Night Football.
29. I guess Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob are throwing out those blood vials they wear around their necks now that they're splitting up. And what about the tattoos?
30. Mr. Big Stuff calls CNN's American Morning, American Mourning. That's how I feel when I watch it.
31. Our best goes out to Cokie Roberts who is being treated for breast cancer. She's got a healthy perspective on life and our wishes go out to her.
32. They say they don't let prisoners wear hairpieces at Allenwood Correctional in White Deer, Pennsylvania. That's where Daniel Trafficant is now. Didn't he ever think that toupee was stacked a little too high on his head? What was he thinking?
33. UH . . . Hair by The Cowsills, from 1969.

rocci@roccifisch.com

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