December 28, 2003
BUBBLE BOYS: WAKSAL, BLODGET PAL: WHAT I SAW AS THINGS BURST
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amReading the early chapters of David Denby's book "American Sucker" is like watching Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet romp about on the Titanic. It's tolerable only because you know pretty...
BULL'S EYE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amNot as perk-y Perks are making a comeback, but not like during the good old days of lavish options and free spa trips. Companies are under new pressure to resume...
PARMALAT'S LOT OF WOE LANDS FORMER CEO IN JAIL
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMilk-and-cookies tycoon Calisto Tanzi - the disgraced founder and former head of Italian food giant Parmalat - was behind bars yesterday in connection with a multibillion-dollar corporate scandal. The silver-haired,...
PIT'S PERFECT; THIS ACTRESS' DOG LOOKS DECEPTIVELY FIERCE - AND THAT'S A GOOD THING
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amEvery hot young Hollywood actress needs a good bodyguard. Lake Bell, who plays Alicia Silverstone's bartending best friend on the NBC drama "Miss Match," has the best protection of all:...
FUN FORECAST FOR 2004 ; 'SEX,' 'CURB,' 'MONK' ALL BACK WITH GREAT NEW EPISODES
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amWITH most shows in reruns or preempted this month for holiday specials and football games, the TV pickings have been pretty slim. But the tube revs up again after New...
SIZE MATTERS; IPOD USERS GO MANIC WITH MEMORY ENVY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amI have an original. It never bothered me, until I started seeing other people's newer and better equipment. Paging Dr. Freud - I've got a raging case of iPod envy....
HITS, HYPE AND HORMONES: FROM BEAT DOWNS TO BRITNEY, THE POST'S DAN AQUILANTE AND MARY HUHN SOUND OFF ON THE YEAR IN MUSIC
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amArtist of the Year Dan: Few artists have ever displayed the monumental bravery that Warren Zevon did over the last year and a half. After being diagnosed with terminal cancer...
COAT CHECK! CHASE THE WINTER BLAHS WITH THESE WILD PRINTS
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amLet's face it: It's really hard to look sexy during the winter months. It's just too cold and windy to wear strappy sandals, leg-revealing miniskirts, or bare your shoulders. So...
SHOPAHOLIC: I DARE YOU: CAN ALLY HILFIGER AND JAIME GLEICHER PUT TOGETHER A GREAT LOOK FOR ONLY $100?
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amALLY SAYS: "It's really all about the fit. Make sure the jewelry is not over the top." JAIME SAYS: "Wear what you like, shop at different places and have fun."...
AOL'S GONE WILD WITH SNOOP DOGG
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amLet's see if we've got this straight: AOL represents itself as a family- friendly company, a proponent of civilized society. After all, it's out front in the battle to combat...
'JUDGE BUSTER' MOVIE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA Brooklyn mother who wore a wire to catch a judge suspected of cutting a deal with her ex-husband in a bitter custody battle has struck a movie deal. Frieda...
FEWER USING NEW PATH STOP AT WTC
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amThe new World Trade Center PATH train station is moving just over one-third of the riders it did before 9/11 - a dramatic indication of the job and economic losses...
SEINFELD LIVE TONIGHT: 'RETIRED' SITCOM KING STILL HARDEST-WORKING COMIC IN THE BIZ
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amLAS VEGAS - After an hour and six minutes of jokes, Jerry Seinfeld walked off the stage at Caesars Palace Friday night to a standing ovation. It's a sound he's...
MEGA FEVER OVER $150M PRIZE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amHope remains alive for double-dipping lottery players looking to ring in the New Year in style. While Friday night's Mega Millions drawing again failed to produce a grand-prize winner -...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amIt's bridge over troubled waters up in Massachusetts, where members of the Andover Senior Center plan to boycott after town officials banned a $4 weekly prize at the afternoon bridge...
PEERING INTO TIMES SQUARE CRYSTAL BALL
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amFor the most lavish New Year's Eve celebration on the planet, plain old light bulbs just won't do for the Times Square ball. And so, as in past years, specially...
$1M BOUNTY ON A DIRTY DOZEN
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amThe 12 remaining fugitives from the U.S. coalition's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis now have a million more reasons to worry. The U.S.-led administration is putting a $1 million...
WISEGUY SEND-OFF FOR SLAIN 'CRITIC'
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA Luchese gangster gunned down in Rao's restaurant after he disrespected a woman's singing was laid to rest in The Bronx yesterday. About 65 family members and friends gathered at...
DEMS BLAST DEAN OVER OSAMA FLAP
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amPresidential candidate Howard Dean's comments that he would never "prejudge" terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden yesterday drew some of the harshest criticism of the Democratic campaign to date. Both Rep....
BLOODY WEST VILLAGE BAR BRAWL
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA night on the town landed three men in area hospitals after they clashed over a lady in the bar of a West Village restaurant early yesterday morning. A 20-year-old...
BUST IN B'KLYN HIT-RUN DEATH
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA 19-year-old man was arraigned on assault and manslaughter charges yesterday in connection with the Christmas death of a man who was hit by a car, beaten up and then...
SLAY RAP IN DWI DEATH
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA man has been charged with manslaughter in the Brooklyn car crash that caused the death of a young lawyer, authorities said yesterday. Amanda Kandial, 26, who recently passed the...
O NO, CANADA! IT'S SOURCE OF MAD COW
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amBlame Canada. The Holstein infected with mad-cow disease was probably one of 74 dairy cattle shipped into the United States from Alberta in August 2001, U.S. Department of Agriculture experts...
POWERBALL JACKPOT AT $210M
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amHope remains alive for double-dipping lottery players looking to ring in the New Year in style. Last night's Powerball drawing again failed to produce a grand-prize winner - sending the...
LOST DOG SEEKS GRAVY TRAIN
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amIt's a case of lost and hound. Animal-control agents are trying to track down the owner of a plucky mutt who hopped a Metro-North train in Connecticut and wound up...
NEWSSTAND HORROR CAB JUMPS CURB, KILLS CUSTOMER ON EAST 57TH
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA cab roaring down Second Avenue yesterday smashed into two cars, lost a wheel, jumped the curb and plowed into a newsstand, killing an elderly man buying a newspaper. A...
HIGH-RISE FIRE KILLS WHEELCHAIR LADY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA 75-year-old wheelchair-bound woman was killed yesterday afternoon by a smoky fire in her East Side apartment. Ruth Hennard died of smoke inhalation in the one-alarm blaze, which broke out...
BOSS' FAINT FRIGHT; 'DOING FINE' AFTER COLLAPSE IN FLA.
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amNew York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner survived a health scare yesterday after he collapsed at a Florida memorial service. The 73-year-old Steinbrenner - known to New Yorkers simply as "The...
BAR WARS IN VILLAGE; RESIDENTS PLEAD: NO MORE CLUBS
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amSick of late-night noise and packs of drunks prowling the streets, residents in the East Village and Lower East Side are launching a campaign in the New Year to put...
RAGING AT 16 WATERING HOLES ON ONE BOOZY BLOCK
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amSt. Marks Place between Avenue A and First Avenue has become a noisy, drunken party strip as more bars have opened up - and residents are up in arms. In...
RAO'S IS MOBBED - BUT NOT THAT MOB
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amUnless you've been held against your will at Guantanamo Bay, you know that there was a murder at Rao's Monday night, a place that's as hard to get into as...
'THIS GUY IS GONE'; SURVIVOR TELLS RAO'S SLAY TALE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amAl Petraglia was looking forward to his Christmas-week visit to Rao's. He'd get to see his childhood buddy, Ron Straci, and share some memories and some chicken scarparielli. But he...
LONELY LIFE OF HOMELESS STARVE TEEN
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amBRUCE JACKSON has nowhere to go. The 19-year-old who weighed 45 pounds when cops found him scavenging through the trash for food has gained 30 pounds and is ready to...
U.S. AND WORLD RUSH TO HELP QUAKE-STRICKEN IRAN
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amU.S. rescue teams are joining the massive recovery and rescue operation in the earthquake-ravaged Iranian city of Bam, as officials fear the death toll may climb as high as 40,000....
CAB JUMPS CURB, KILLS CUSTOMER ON EAST 57TH
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA cab roaring down Second Avenue yesterday smashed into two cars, jumped the curb and plowed into a newsstand, killing an elderly man buying a newspaper. A doorman at a...
'KIDDIE PORN' ROCKER EYED SUICIDE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amRocker Pete Townshend was nearly driven to suicide after he confessed to viewing Internet kiddie porn earlier this year, the Who guitarist told a London newspaper. "If I had a...
GUNMEN KILL HOOP TEEN AS HE FLEES
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA teenage basketball player who dreamed of winning a college scholarship was killed and his cousin seriously wounded when two men opened fire on them outside a Queens deli, police...
YULE PLANE CRASH DECIMATES FAMILY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amA Christmas Day small plane crash in Las Vegas wiped out nearly an entire family, killing a husband and wife, their two kids and the wife's parents, a relative said....
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amManhattan The death of a man hit by a subway train in Greenwich Village yesterday was an accident, police sources said. The victim, Daniel Mendez, 20, of Jersey City, fell...
LINDROS POINTS TO RANGER PROBLEMS
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amOf the many things that bothered Eric Lindros about Friday's overtime loss to Toronto, the fact that the Rangers blew a chance to win their second straight game for the...
DEMS MAY DARE TO HELP GOPERS RUNNING AGAINST BLOOMBERG
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amDEMOCRATIC rivals of Mayor Bloomberg are discussing a daring scheme to hurt the mayor's re-election chances by helping his potential Republican primary challenger. The unusual Democratic plan would exploit the...
'DIRTY DOZEN' BOUNTY: U.S. PUTS $1M PRICE ON SADDAM'S THUG-OCRACY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amThe 12 remaining fugitives from the U.S. coalition's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis now have a million more reasons to worry. The U.S.-led administration is putting a $1 million...
4 JAILED IN QUEENS SLAY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amFour men were held without bail yesterday on murder and other criminal charges in connection with the slaying of a dishwasher, authorities said. Luis Gomez, 24; Oliverio Delgado, 21; Diego...
SNYDERS AT HEAD OF CLASS ; FAMILY STOOD TALL IN TRAGEDY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amFROM tragedy, inspiration. From the disparate communities of Elmira, Ontario, and Atlanta, Georgia, our Sports Persons of the Year. Graham and Luann Snyder buried their 25-year- old son, Dan, in...
IT'S OLEG TO STAND ON ; KVASHA FILLING HOLE LEFT BY YASHIN INJURY
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amThe Islanders have apparently found their replacement for Alexei Yashin, who will be out the next three months with a pair of partially severed tendons in his right wrist, courtesy...
XMAS SPIRIT ALIVE & WELL
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amWE CAN always use a heartwarming story at this time of the year - and this one was initiated with a modest four-line e-mail. "One of our followers, Bruce Pendergrass,...
CLARK HOPING TO PUT NAME ON STORM BALLOT
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amThe head basketball coach's office in Alumni Hall is bereft of any personal touches. Boxes, some marked "Jarvis" others marked "Duece," and wrapped pictures are stacked in one corner waiting...
DOUBTING THOMAS NEW KNICKS PREZ FRETS ABOUT ROSTER
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMIAMI - In five days, beginning last Monday and ending Friday, new Knicks president Isiah Thomas has, by actions and words, indicated his distaste for virtually every move former GM...
LI'L ANDRE STANDS TALL OVER DEPAUL
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amSeton Hall 72DePaul 62 More than the no-look passes and bodacious ball- handling, it was Andre Barrett's million-candlewatt smile that brightened up gyms in the city's Catholic League. That smile...
WILLIAMS CONTINUES TO MAKE HIS POINT
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMIAMI - Consistency has always been Frank Williams' problem, dating to high school, continuing at Illinois, then with the Knicks. Enigmatic Williams, selected 25th overall in 2002, had shown enough...
GRIFFIN'S DECISION DUE SOON
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amNET NOTES INDIANAPOLIS - Now comes the hardest part: the waiting. So the Nets hope Eddie Griffin makes up his mind quickly. And the 6-10 forward, who was released by...
GALLANT EFFORT BY LOVING
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amLoving, a 7-year-old gelding who found no takers when he was offered for a $65,000 claiming tag last October, called upon his back class and long-distance ability yesterday to win...
NO HIT OUT ON THIS DON ; CHANEY'S JOB SAFE FOR NOW
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amIN view of Scott Layden's still-smoldering dismissal, why would any clear thinker vaguely concerned with credibility hypothesize that Don Chaney is in immediate danger of being fired? Or nominate Isiah...
NETS PICK UP THE PACE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amINDIANAPOLIS - Another day, another Armageddon gut check. Having dispatched of the Pistons, Step 1 in a brutal back-to-back road scenario, the Nets sought to eradicate the Pacers in Step...
'03-ING IS BELIEVING: UNLIKELY ENDINGS PUT YEAR IN PERSEPCTIVE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amJust when we had it all figured out, 2003 happened. We waited for one last Yankees rally that never came, a Giants Super Bowl run that never began. Not only...
MARTIN MARCHES TOWARD MILESTONES
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amJET NOTES MIAMI - Despite the downer that today's game between the Jets and Dolphins presents because there are no playoff consequences, there are some positive things for the Jets...
THERE'LL BE NO HAPPY ENDING ; JETS-DOLPHINS IN EMPTY FINALE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMIAMI - There will be a strange aura surrounding today's Jets-Dolphins game at Pro Player Stadium. Since Bill Parcells returned to New York and restored some normalcy to the Jets...
HERE'S THE PLAN FOR GREEN, BLUE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amIT isn't just Jim Fassel we say goodbye to today. We say goodbye, good riddance, to the New York football season. Giants Stadium goes dark after Giants-Panthers today, and it...
BIG BLUE KEPT GETTING WORSE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES The one constant Jim Fassel preached from the start of training camp to the eve of his final game as Giants coach was the need for his team...
FINAL FAREWELL FOR FASSEL ; 'IT WILL BE EMOTIONAL ... NO QUESTION ABOUT IT'
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amThe long goodbye finally eases to its inevitable conclusion this afternoon when Jim Fassel coaches his last game for the Giants. With candidates already lined up to replace him, Fassel...
BOSOX STILL GOT BETTER ; EVEN WITHOUT A-ROD, MADE AL'S BEST MOVES
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amTHIS offseason is going to be forever remembered for what didn't happen. Alex Rodriguez was not traded to Boston - and it's entirely possible the outcome could have greater ramifications...
COACHES NEED AGENT FOR CHANGE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amAs of late Friday, Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi was trying to find out if Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel had hired an agent, and if so, whom. That might...
THOMAS: FRANK IS CLYDE-LIKE
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMIAMI - As Frank Williams prepared for his first start as Knick point guard, new boss Isiah Thomas last night compared Williams' style of play to Walt Frazier's. Knick fans...
CAP-BOOM! ISIAH SAYS BLOWING UP SALARY-STRAPPED KNICKS COULD BE THE ANSWER
December 28, 2003 | 5:00am"Everyone I've spoken to on this situation has given me the advice to start all over, blow it up."ISIAH THOMAS MIAMI - The advice Isiah Thomas has received from four...
AN ARRESTING IDEA: THOMAS MULLS GRIFFIN
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Could Isiah Thomas' first acquisition be another power forward - one with an assault charge against him that's left him under house arrest? Just to show how much...
CRUZ IN CONTROL AS 'ROOS TRIUMPH
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amDOUBLE OVERTIMEBoys & Girls 75Bonner (Pa.) 71 As a junior, Tyrell Cruz played second fiddle to Carlos Collazo. Recently, though, he hasn't taken a backseat to anyone. One day after...
THOMAS WON'T 'BLOW UP' ROSTER
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES MIAMI - The advice Isiah Thomas has received from four of his trusted basketball people is what some Knick fans have said for two years - blow it...
LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amIsles 3Leafs 1 The Islanders were praising the "little things" they did last night after collecting their fourth consecutive win, a 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs that kicked their...
SO WHO NEEDS BRODEUR?
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amDevils 2Penguins 0 PITTSBURGH - Rust was beginning to turn into age, and still Corey Schwab ended seven idle weeks perfectly. "I don't know how he does it," Jay Pandolfo...
COOKIN' WITH HEAT REVIVED KNICKS WIN 2ND STRAIGHT
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amKnicks 100Heat 80 MIAMI - If new Knick boss Isiah Thomas was angling to make a quick coaching change, Don Chaney and his suddenly revitalized band are making it difficult....
WINNING DOWN & DIRTY ; SCRAPPY NETS STOP PACERS
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amNets 82Pacers 75 INDIANAPOLIS - The Nets are winning dirty. No, not Bill Laimbeer or pro wrestling dirty. But get down and sweat and defend to the death dirty. "Down...
ISIAH SEES SOME CLYDE IN FRANK
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMIAMI - While it's too early to make comparisons between Frank Williams and Walt Frazier, Isiah Thomas did it last night anyway. What the heck? Times are good. Thomas compared...
BRODEUR TAKES A SEAT: AFTER 21 STRAIGHT, GOALIE RELAXES
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - With 21 straight starts, this was only Martin Brodeur's third-longest Iron Man run. The remarkably durable Devils goaltender was scheduled to watch last night as backup Corey Schwab...
THE INSIDERS: THE POST TAKES YOU BEHIND THE LOCKER-ROOM DOORS
December 28, 2003 | 5:00amMore tough times for Williams family : Ted's son, John Henry, losing battle to leukemia The news keeps getting worse for Ted Williams' kid, John Henry, whose life is beginning...