A COTTAGE INDUSTRY: FIXING D.C.'s METRO ESCALATORS

1. . . . It keeps their troops in work and it keeps the commuters hoppin' mad.
2. Bridget Jones's Diary was a good flick. She carried off the Brit accent well; it didn't distract. A fun movie, although probably a "girlie" movie. And the soundtrack's really good.
3. Mr. Big Stuff observes that Doug Hill up at Channel 7 (ABC7) now has a "Super Doppler 7" tower that's part of his News7 super duper weather center. "Next thing you know he'll be making his own weather."
4. . . . They put 7 at the end of everything.
5. PARTY GIRL. Denise Rich. Seems like she would be a fun person at a party. When Barbara Walters asked her on 20/20 to sing/recite some lyrics from one of her latest songs, she really got into it and seemed loose and "what the hell-ish."
6. Everybody's sneezing.
7. Connie Chung's back on the air a lot. Seems like she noticeably disappears for good periods of time and then comes back gangbusters with all kinds of pieces on all kinds of shows.
8. Tom Cruise doesn't look too good in that military crewcut.
9. NBC's Dr. Bob Arnot's been reporting about the Antarctica rescues Via Videophone from Chile. I guess CNN taught the broadcast networks a lesson or two when they got pix out of China and the others didn't.
10. . . . People shouldn't go down there if they're sick or gonna be. Costs too much to get 'em out.
11. Is Harvey Weinstein ever clean-shaven?
12. J. Lo's (Jennifer Lopez, that is) new clothing line is a joint venture with Tommy Hilfiger's brother Andy. How come she didn't do the collaboration with Puffy? (Or is it Diddy now?- Actually, P. Diddy.)
13. . . . Diddy dum diddy do . . .
14. The other night Andy Sipowicz said this about a suspect on NYPD Blue: "His piss tested clean for drugs."
15. Janet Jackson's interview with Diane Sawyer the other night on PrimeTime was a big nothing. She's beautiful but comes off as vacuous. Her new album, All For You, will reportedly enter the Billboard charts at #1.
16. . . . In the background of the single All For You, is a familiar melody that's sampled. What is it? Former disco clubbers will recall it's from the 1980 song, Glow of Love, by Change (a Euro- American studio group of which Luther Vandross was a member).
17. . . . Also, Janet is obsessed with sex and believes she inherited her sex drive from her parents. "In the end, they had nine children. They must have been at it like rabbits."
18. My grandparents had 11 kids but we didn't talk about them that way.
19. GOOD ACCOUNT ... Of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, in the May 10 issue of RollingStone. The beginning part that describes the early days of Motley Crue and the filthy places where they lived is really good.
20. A lot of businesses aren't hiring paid interns now due to the economy. Back when I was coming up there was no such thing of being paid for it and you considered it a privilege to work at a place you were interested in. Now everybody wants that lean green.
21. STOP SAYING IT: "Back to you guys." "Thank you guys." "Hey guys." All the local TV stations do that. Everyone's on the buddy system. It's unprofessional and smacks of local. The networks don't do it.
22. ODD PICTURE ... At D.C.'s Kathleen Ewing Gallery and part of the "In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb" photo exhibit: "A strange-posed shot of a lamb suckling at a woman's breast." Uh huh.
23. Somewhere I read that the Brits sugar their popcorn. Sounds awful.
24. Dan Rather got a 30-something-style haircut. Doesn't look right on him. Someone said it made him look too square-headed. Like Frankenstein.
25. There's a new dietary supplement called Break Wind ... er, 2nd Wind, I mean. Ha Ha Ha.
26. It's Memento-not Momento.
27. The Firestone CEO who does those TV commercials looks like Jesse Ventura.
28. Dick Cheney's richer than the Bushes.
29. Evian spelled backwards is naive.
30. Is NBCi closing down or what? They still advertise for it on MSNBC.
31. Remember Hullabaloo? It was a runner-up to Shindig and now even more episodes of the pop music showcase from 1965-1966 are coming out on DVD. Volumes 5-8. The groups on it cover the gamut: Freddie & The Dreamers, Frankie and Annette, Sam the Sham, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Marianne Faithfull, The Supremes. Great vintage stuff.
32. Jack Haley Jr. really did look like his father, who played the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. Haley Jr. died last weekend. He was a Hollywood producer (That's Entertainment) and was once married to Liza Minnelli.
33. When's Judy Woodruff gonna get a co-anchor on the nightly Inside Politics? She handles the job well, but who's gonna replace Bernard Shaw? Or are they saving money?
34. Tom Brokaw talks like he's in the military.
35. COULDN'T BELIEVE IT. They paused for a commercial during the CNN John King interview with President Bush. Apparently it was a Bush request. Before knowing that and watching it happen LIVE, it just seemed weird and at the time, disrespectful.
36. APPRECIATION. A recurring character in Random is now gone. Boots, the big, fat tuxedo cat who had many mentions, died March 11. There's a remembrance of him. He's got his own web page: www.washingtonpost.com/onwashington. Click Community and then Pets and Animals and then Farewell to a Loving Pet.
37. They say the bluebonnet wildflowers are having a great spring in Texas.
38. The Weakest Link set looks a lot like the Millionaire set. Space-agey.
39. Gladys Knight got married for the fourth time. She was just in Washington, D.C. for Smokey Joe's Cafe and still is terrific.
40. That American, Dennis Tito, paid the Russians $20 million to tag along on their Soyuz spacecraft. Money can get you just about anything I guess. But why that much?
41. When are The First 100 Days over?
42. Oprah Winfrey has a roadshow. Live Your Best Life will hit four cities (Raleigh, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Baltimore) between June 9 and June 30. Day-long inspirational seminars. Cost: $185. A little steep, but you better believe she'll sell out.
43. . . . How much more successful could Oprah Winfrey be? Does she have a pact with the devil?
44. UH . . . Devil With A Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly - Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, on New Voice, from 1966. He always did two-fer songs.

rocci@roccifisch.com

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