VANNA WHITE . . .

1. Said at the end of Saturday's Wheel of Fortune that it was the first time in eighteen years she hasn't worn pantyhose on the show. What information! What an announcement!
2. Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer had twelve guests on Sunday. Think that hour's somewhat overbooked?
3. Will eating Subway sandwiches really make me lose weight? (Talk about blanded down food.)
4. Someone called Paula Zahn's CNN American Morning program The Paula Zahn Coffee Talk Show. It's the one with the Mole Guy (Anderson Cooper) and the other older tough, no nonsense news guy (Jack Cafferty) who used to not wear a tie but now does. (Management must've gotten into that decision.)
5. A friend of mine's five year-old was headbanging to Smashmouth's I'm A Believer.
6. Thera-Flu now comes in apple cinnamon flavor. Gross
7. The other morning on Today, Ann Curry seemed to be in swoon mode over that Count of Monte Cristo guy (Jim Caviezel) She seemed dreamy when she thanked him at the end of the interview.
8. KATE & LEOPOLD: Cute fluff. Not much more.
9. A lot of people are/have been saying, "What's up with that?"
10. John Walker Lindh looked better with all the hair and beard. Unrecognizable now. Pretty soon he'll be wearing suits for the trial. They all clean up for that.
11. PEGGY LEE. It's true what longtime New Yorker jazz critic Whitney Balliett said about her: "She does not carry a tune; she follows it. I was just listening to her classic Christmas album, Christmas Carousel with I Like A Sleighride. Play it every year.
12. Isn't Liz Taylor a little bit long in the tooth to be Liza Minnelli's matron of honor? (Many husbands between them.)
13. Mike Tyson speaks a lot with his hands. Used to be the Italians did that but I see it's crossed over.
14. NOT ONE, NOT TWO BUT. . . Regis Philbin casually asked Bruce Jenner if he had any children on a celebrity Millionaire last week and Bruce said, "Actually I have ten children."
15. JELLY SEARCH: www.welches.com. Who would ever want to go on the Web for that?
16. Okay, I give up. Did I miss something? What's the significance of the black and white cow in the Gateway logo?
17. CNN's Bill Hemmer was wearing one of those black and white checked Middle Eastern scarves (kaffiyehs?) during his standupper from Kandahar. Is that okay?
18. Sports writer, interviewer, commentator, anchorman and theater critic Dick Schaap died at age 67 on December 21. His son Jeremy, an ESPN reporter, wrote an appreciation for his father in TV Guide and said that Dick liked to say he "collected people" and told their stories - the famous and not so famous."
19. KIRK DOUGLAS'S HAIR'S DOWN TO HIS SHOULDERS. Mr. Big Stuff says he looks like that Lord of the Rings wizard. "All he needs is a pointy hat."
20. McDonald's has 710 restaurants in Australia.
21. Yolanda Adams was voted Female Vocalist of the Year by the Stellar Gospel Music Awards. She's something else. Can sing, speaks well and is an overall terrific performer. Need more of her - less Destiny's Child.
22. . . . Who's gonna miss them when they go their separate ways?
23. OLD NEWS BUT . . . Did anybody think Cher looked like Goldilocks on the American Music Awards, curly blonde/platinum locks and all?
24. PINERO. Benjamin Bratt stars as the Latino poet-playwright-actor Miguel Pinero. He does a good job. His performance is believable, but the story is sort of been there/done that. And the director went too all out with the jumpcut editing and the shifting from color to black and white. Just keep it one thing. It gets in the way. Movie's a little too cool for its own good.
25. They say the yellow brick road is yellower on the DVD.
26. SUMMER OF '42. It's a Broadway musical. Who would've ever thought that would happen? The film's main theme was a beautiful, evocative Michel Legrande composition he did back in 1971. Movie starred Jennifer O'Neill, a then-Cover Girl.
27. SHUCKS. Whoopi Goldberg's hosting the Academy Awards again this year. Hope she's better than last time. All she did then was get dressed up in dumb costumes. Cheap sight gags. She needs to just come out and be herself.
28. DID I HEAR THIS RIGHT? Bob Dylan's 65?
29. Where's Jack Ford? (Formerly of ABC and beforemerly of NBC) He'll show up on CNN or Fox. They all do.
30. GOING AWAY. ABC Newsman and Good Morning America anchorman Antonio Mora is. To Chicago and WBBM. He's a good guy. Who to replace? Claire Shipman? Robin Roberts?
31. Roots' 25th anniversary came and went. Should've been a bigger deal. The whole nation was glued to the set when that came out. Twenty-five years later - relegated to a measly one-hour TV special on NBC. How soon they forget.
32. FIRST NAME BASIS. "Katie, Matt, Ann and Al." Now it's Barbara, Joe and Tom on those News4 Weekdays promos in Washington. News people have lost their last names. Is everybody that familiar? Things used to be more formal.
33. Is the Clintons' cat Socks happy with Betty Currie? Hope his fate's better than Buddy's.
34. Someone called Lord of the Rings buttnumbing.
35. That Six Pack Ab guy (John Baredow) looks sad and hungry on those dumb TV ads. Nobody's that thin. It's laughable.
36. I need some Moving Men. Those orange cannisters that slide across the floor you put furniture on. They make it look easy. (1-800-454-8484/$19.99)
37. PAW COVERS. Pecos, the neighborhood golden retriever, had on dog booties the other night (damp out). His owner was trying them out and he was walking pretty well. Just looked funny on a big dog like that.
38. How about laying off Mariah Carey! She's walking away with money and will probably get signed by another record company.
39. Jon Voight always wears that white silk scarf around his neck that dangles down with the tassels when he goes formal. Been his trademark. Had it on on two awards shows recently. You can't even tell that's him playing Howard Cosell in Ali. Great actor.
40. I don't like Chelsea Clinton's straight hair. Seems forced.
41. UH . . . Fever - Peggy Lee on Capitol, 1958. First done by Little Willie John on King Records in 1956. Both excellent.

rocci@roccifisch.com

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