GET READY FOR MICHAEL JACKSON

1. As the New York Post says, "Jacko Backo for Garden Party." That's Madison Square Garden, two nights-September 7 and 10. It sounds like the Academy Awards. Presenters, performers, attendees. There's so much other talent you wonder how much he's gonna be in it.
2. . . . And we're over the tributes. How great he is and the whole King of Pop thing. Let's hear him sing and do some performing. That's the bottom line.
3. I'll take Nicole Kidman. Since her and Tom's breakup she seems to be all over the place. And she's looking. She says her ideal man is someone who's taller than her ex. "I can wear high heels now," she said.
4. PUCKER UP: A friend of mine in Havre de Grace, Maryland makes dill pickle pops in the freezer for her kids. Just like the Kool-Aid things mom used to make, but this time it's the juice from a finished jar of pickles.
5. BAD TASTE. Two brothers in Jackson, Tennessee want to put up parts of the plane that crashed and killed country singer Patsy Cline in 1965 ... on eBay that. An auction. The plane's belly and part of the tail section are what's left. And they're asking a minimum of $50,000. What people won't do for money.
6. Vanessa Williams says, "I am We." Cindy Crawford says, "We is for me." New cable channel: We. Women's Entertainment. We be cool. Okay, that's enough of niche programming.
7. NBC/MSNBC's Dan Abrams looks like he got a new dye job. Fresh ink it looks like.
8. Actor Josh Hartnett has a very deep voice. You wouldn't think he'd sound like that. Seems like a kid.
9. In DC, when the Metro is coming, the new sign says Approaching. Then when it's within view it says Arriving. It approaches a long time and you wonder if it's ever gonna arrive.
10. Comedian/game show host Louie Anderson of Family Feud has his clothes provided by Rochester Big and Tall stores.
11. Madonna's face is gonna be on condom packs. CondoMania says the Madonna Condom will be marketed to help educate people about safe sex. No comment from the superstar. What a nice thing to be named after.
12. NOT MENTIONED. CBS's Early Show, by powerball winner David Edwards. He said on TV, "I was invited on NBC and ABC ..." That morning show ... still an also-ran and an alternative.
13. GOOD MOVIE. Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And they pronounce it Hedvig. Rock star trials and tribulations on the way up. Narrated a lot. Funny and well done. Music is okay, not great. Nothing memorable, except Origin of Love.
14. Survivor Richard Hatch. Always in the news. Now he's been charged with domestic abuse again. He's had his fame. Why doesn't he just go away? Too much of a wannabe.
15. How many interviews did Condit give after Connie Chung?
16. Was there a Boy From Ipanema?
17. They're really advertising Hannibal the cannibal. TV, Blockbuster. Didn't see it but I hear it wasn't nearly as good as the original. And Anthony Hopkins has signed on for another one.
18. Mr. Big Stuff noticed there was a fly on the wall behind Gary Condit during the TV interview. Would've liked to have been a fly on the way in his apartment when Chandra was there.
19. The View's Meredith Viera played Beauty to the Beast a little while ago on the show. She looked ridiculous with all those curls hanging down, more like Scarlet O'Hara in Gone With The Wind. And after the performance she seemed emotional.
20. Director Tim Burton said this about doing a Planet of the Apes sequel: "The idea of doing a sequel-I'd rather jump out of the window, I swear to God."
21. . . . Thank you for that. We don't need another one. We didn't need that one.
22. . . . And won't loping around in a monkey costume be a good thing for Helena Bonham Carter's resume.
23. TIRED THEORY. That CBS and ABC are interested in merging news operations with CNN. The Hitch: Editorial Control. Ain't no network gonna give that up to another network.
24. NEW ALBUM. live by request by k.d. lang. There goes that no caps thing she likes. Recorded for the A&E series. 14 cuts done in December of last year at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University in New York. The tracks are very true to the original studio recordings, but they're all a bit short for a live album. Nothing unpredictable or too exciting. On a live album, sometimes you want a little more, a little twist.
25. A fact sheet from the Baltimore Aquarium says "The eye of a giant squid is larger than a dinner plate."
26. Now they're gonna put black boxes in race cars at NASCAR.
27. UN-NEWSLIKE: One of the news anchors at CNN said, "Holy Cow!" coming out of a piece about people feeding sharks from a cage in Florida. Their news presentation used to be more formal. Now everyone's paired along with a co-anchor, it seems, and they're such a viewer- friendly team. Too much personality coming through now. Just give me the news, hard and straight.
28. How'd you like to be pulled down in the water by an alligator.? That's what they do with their prey. And they thrash it all around and take in down under to its den. Fun trip huh?
29. POLLING QUESTION: Do we like Elizabeth Vargas's hair pulled back on one side? That's how she wore it "sitting in" for Peter Jennings last week.
30. NBC can't say, "sitting in." They have to say, "subsituting" for Tom Brokaw because NBC Nightly News anchors stand up.
31. OVER CHOREOGRAPHED. Will 'N Sync be embarrassed twenty years from now, seeing themselves bouncing, bobbing and jumping around like rag dolls in a gym class? They look completely taught and the moves are too unnatural.
32. When the e-mail was out all day at work at a friend's place of business, somebody said this about it: "Well, I guess we'll have to talk to each other." What an unusual thing.
33. They're gonna make a prequel to The Exorcist. About Father Merrin's first exorcism, referred to in the first film.
34. MTV's Carson Daly signed a deal with NBC to do the to-be-revived Later TV show in 2002. He'll continue with MTV and he'll "host or appear" on other NBC network programs as well. Guess his plate's full. Have fun at burnout camp.
35. They're selling Ultra Low-Rise slacks and jeans at Old Navy. Just right for young girls to go back to school in. Won't the principals be happy.
36. Does Silent Night nose spray really keep you from snoring? One user says, "Since I started using Silent Night, I no longer have to sleep on the couch." 1-800-419-8552 x7020. Good luck.
37. Toni Tennille (Captain & Tennille) liked the movie Songcatcher. Said it was beautiful. The music and story ... great.
38. GONE NOW. Betty Everett. The Shoop Shoop lady. "Is it in his kiss ...?" She died two weeks ago at 61 in Wisconsin. That song, written by Everett, reached #6 on the pop charts. On the old Vee-Jay record label out of Chicago. Cher re-did it in '91. She also did Let It Be Me with Jerry Butler that same year. And she was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame about four years ago.
39. INTERESTING EXHIBIT. Arthur Tress: Fantastic Voyage, 1956--2000. At the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. through September 23. An extensive collection of the photographer's work. Dreamlike imagery, surrealism, humor and some sexual content. That man kept busy. Favorite: Man in Steam, New York City, 1968.
40. UH . . . Photograph- Ringo Starr on Apple, from 1973.

rocci@roccifisch.com

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