August 15, 2004

GROOM WITH A VIEW; LEAVE PET AT SALON & WATCH ON WEBCAM

Many people experience high anxiety while their pets get professionally groomed, standing around the waiting area and worrying. Yet groomers agree that the best results are achieved when owners leave...

MANN FOR ALL GENRES

ANTHONY Mann was one of Hollywood's most versatile directors. He started with low-budget noirs in the 1940s, moved to westerns (eight of them with James Stewart) in the 1950s and...

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

VESELIN Topalov of Bul garia didn't win the world chess federation championship in Tripoli last month, but he accomplished something nearly as important - he made his sponsor happy. The...

THIS WEEK'S CDS

TRAVIS TRITT "My Honky Tonk History" (four stars) Columbia Don't hate Travis Tritt because he still has all his rough edges - as the rest of country music gets more...

COOLNESS FACTOR - ADAPT YOUR SUMMER WARDROBE TO KEEP UP WITH FALL'S TRENDS

Keeping your cool during these dog days of summer is an art that requires more than a shot of underarm Botox and a tube of Frizz-ease. But dressing to beat...

JULIA CHILD'S FRENCH REVOLUTION COOKBOOK

"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" made American kitchens safe for French cuisine. Julia Child started a culinary revolution with her 1961 classic, co-authored with French colleagues Simone Beck and...

TRICKY DICK IS REAL SICK

Andy Dick kicked off his debauched week in New York by throwing up on a hapless partier at Butter on Monday night. Dick, there for a party rapper Lil Jon...

HEAVY MEDAL - COURTNEY MCCOOL LEADS GOLDEN U.S. GYMNASTICS TEAM

IT'S comeback time for the U.S. gymnasts. The high-flying men and women of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team take center stage this week on NBC as they try to bounce...

FAMILY MATTERS - CANCELLED SHOW RESURRECTED

IT'S alive! Like a million little Dr. Frankensteins, fans of the beloved, animated series "The Family Guy" are shrieking as their precious corpse rises from the operating table. It's returning...

BEST SHOWS THAT NEVER WERE: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

SOMETIMES, TV shows are so lousy that you cannot understand how on earth they made it past the pilot stage to become a series. Now, finally, I understand, thanks to...

LAZYTOWN REVS UP - LIVE-ACTION CHARACTERS MEET PUPPETS IN NEW KIDS' TV SHOW

THE kids of Lazytown will never be lazy again, now that two high-energy newcomers have arrived in town. That's the premise behind "Lazytown," a new Nick Jr. series premiering Monday...

EBERSOL: THE OLYMPIC AFTER SHAVE

TO fully understand how the Olympics will be (and have been) presented to the nation by NBC - more precisely by NBC Sports boss Dick Ebersol -is to understand how...

HOT LIST- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK

ROLLER BOOGIE: Lace up your roller skates and head to Friday night's Rock n' Rollerskate party at Office Ops in Brooklyn. A mere $5 will get you admitted to this...

KILLERS INSTINCTS - VEGAS DANCE-ROCKERS ENJOYING A HOT STREAK

Brandon Flowers, lead singer and keyboard player of the Killers, has a name straight out of a cheesy romance novel. With dark hair and faraway eyes, he's got the boyish...

HEAR THIS

IN CONCERT Pop-rock John Mayer and Maroon 5 at PNC Bank Arts on Tuesday. At Radio City: Prog-rockers Rush on Wednesday and Thursday, soul diva Patti LaBelle on Saturday. Southern...

KANYE DIG IT - WEST ON JANET: 'SWEET' AND LIL' KIM: 'RAUNCHY'

Kanye West may be the luckiest guy in music. Not only did the man manage to cheat death two years ago in a near-fatal car crash, but he's managed to...

FROM BAD TO CURSED - SPOOKY THINGS HAPPENED TO THE LATEST 'EXORCIST' - IT WAS EVEN FILMED TWICE

Renny Harlin believes wholeheartedly in "the curse of 'The Exorcist.' " "Lots of weird things have happened around our shoot," says the director of "Exorcist: The Beginning," the beleaguered prequel...

WAGS TO RICHES 'TAIL' - STAR OF NEW 'BENJI' FILM WAS PLUCKED OFF STREET

Hollywood buffs love to repeat the legend about the young movie star Lana Turner: how she was discovered sitting at a drug-store counter on Sunset Boulevard. Now there's another discovery...

KITCHEN WAS CHILD'S PLAY - FOND FAREWELL TO JULIA, OUR BELOVED 'FRENCH CHEF'

She never did drop a chicken - or a turkey - on the air. But so powerfully did we associate Julia Child with unfussy confidence and occasional klutziness that many...

QUICK BITES: THE TASTIEST EVENTS THIS WEEK

ON YOUR MARG: The most unexpected margaritas of the summer can be found at Lucy (35 E. 18th St., between Broadway and Park Avenue South; [212] 575-5829), where patrons are...

MEET MARKET: THE PLACE WHERE THE POST HOOKS YOU UP AND SENDS YOU OUT

TRUMPETER SEEKS A GAL TO JAZZ UP HIS LIFE Meet Andy, 27, an IT expert who works in the banking industry. Andy's been living in New York City since 1999,...

BUTTERED SUBSTITUTE

"He liked the photographer more than me" Last week, student and nightlife promoter Courtney - who says she's looking for her "tall, dark and handsome Prince Charming" - asked us...

1ST MRS.: MY GAY-DAR FAILED ME

Gov. Jim McGreevey's first wife revealed yesterday she had no idea her ex-husband was gay until shortly before he announced his sexual preference on national television, the woman told The...

'TERRORIST' TAPE ; BUSTED QNS. MAN VIDEOED TOURIST SITES

A videotape made by a Queens man the feds suspect was casing potential terror targets featured city landmarks such as the Museum of Natural History and Coney Island's Wonder Wheel,...

ACCUSER A SOLID WORKER: INSIDER

Golan Cipel was never expected to perform the duties of a homeland-security expert while working in New Jersey government and was a solid employee during his public-sector stint, a top-ranking...

AQUA-MAN MICHAEL THE SUPERHERO AMERICA NEEDS

ATHENS - He is precisely what we needed on this first day of the Olympics, a refreshing burst of youth, a splendid bundle of talent with a long, uninterrupted string...

CIG PATROL SMOKES OUT 'STOGIE' COP

A police captain in Chinatown has been reprimanded for smoking a cigar in his station house office, The Post has learned. The Health Department sent Captain William Matusiak of the...

WIFE 'CALM' BEFORE THE MALE-STROM

The wife of Gov. Jim McGreevey was calm and cool the day before her husband came out on national television - getting a full primping treatment at her hair salon...

PHELPS IS A GOLDY LOCK ; SWIMMER WINS FIRST U.S. MEDAL

U.S. Olympic swim sensation Michael Phelps was as good as gold yesterday when he clinched America's first medal victory at the Athens games - his first step toward breaking the...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN *** Cops are asking for the public's help in finding a man (above) who raped a 14-year-old girl at knifepoint on the roof an Upper West Side building. The...

HUSH-HUSH PRICE DROPPED TO $2M

In 11th-hour negotiations, an ex-aide to New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey dropped his demand from $5 million to $2 million to make a sex-harassment suit go away, sources close to...

L.I. COP SHOT IN BUST BID

A Suffolk police officer was shot in a scuffle with a homeless man yesterday afternoon. Witnesses said the cop and his partner stopped a local itinerant on New York Avenue...

COP KNIFED IN ARREST OF VILLAGE MAN

A knife-wielding homeless man slashed a cop in the East Village last night, after terrorizing patrons at an outdoor café with his blade, police said. The unidentified man, believed to...

BEHIND THE JAVIT$ WAR

ALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg's push for a $1.4 billion expansion to the Jacob Javits Convention Center may hinge on what's in it for Long Island and upstate. Senate Majority Leader...

CON ED 'TATTOO'; SKATER GAL BRANDED IN MANHOLE-LID SCORCHER

A 26-year-old skateboarder is scarred for life after she fell onto a red-hot Con Edison manhole cover - mere blocks from the scene of a tragic death earlier this year...

TRAGIC 'FLIRT' DEATH ; REUNION SLAYING

A Guyanese immigrant who was fatally speared through the chest with a bayonet in Queens on Friday died only a week after meeting his teenage daughter for the first time,...

'WRONG MAN' SHOT DEAD AT BX. CLUB

In a tragic case of mistaken identity, a Bronx man was shot to death early yesterday outside a nightclub where he was celebrating his 23rd birthday, cops and his girlfriend...

KERRY 'TAXING' PRESIDENT'S PATIENCE

President Bush yesterday said John Kerry's promises will force huge tax increases that only the middle class will pay - because the rich have accountants to figure out how Kerry...

BON JOVI IN AN EAST END STATE OF MIND

Jersey-born rock star Jon Bon Jovi has shot his home state through the heart: He's moving to a summer place in the Hamptons - at the same time fellow rocker...

'WORST FEARS TRUE' ; * AT LEAST 15 DEAD ; * MANY HOMELESS ; * $15B IN DAMAGE

Killer Hurricane Charley smashed into the Carolinas yesterday after its devastating tear across Florida killed at least 15, left thousands homeless and racked up damages that could top $15 billion....

GOV'S EX-AIDE: 'I'M NOT GAY' ; WAS HARASSED MORE THAN 12 TIMES: LAWYERS

Golan Cipel, the Israeli with whom New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey claims he had an affair, is straight and was sexually harassed by the politician on more than a dozen...

MAN STABBED IN QNS. HOME

A Queens man was seriously injured yesterday after being stabbed several times in the abdomen in his Corona apartment, police said. The unidentified victim was stabbed around 6:45 p.m. and...

'WORST FEARS TRUE' ; * AT LEAST 13 DEAD ; * MANY HOMELESS ; * $15B IN DAMAGE

Killer Hurricane Charley smashed into the Carolinas yesterday after its devastating tear across Florida killed at least 13, left thousands homeless and racked up damages that could top $15 billion....

NEW BLOODBATH LOOMS IN NAJAF

U.S. and Iraqi forces were poised to resume fighting rebel Shiite gunmen in the holy city of Najaf yesterday, after peace talks aimed at ending an uprising that has killed...

SCIENTOLOGY 'DETOX' FUROR; CLINIC DRAWS CLIENT RAVES AND RESEARCHER JEERS

The managers of a Scientology-based detox program that's been free for those officially involved in the 9/11 rescue effort now want to offer the service to thousands of other Ground...

PHONY CALL FUROR; 311 PROBE NIXED

THE City Council abruptly ended an undercover investigation of the 311 system when administration officials complained that council staffers were reporting false emergencies that could endanger lives. "They were phoning...

MORGY DRIVER HIT WITH $1M ROAD-RAGE SUIT

An NYPD detective who chauffeurs Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is embroiled in a $1 million lawsuit accusing him of a road-rage incident that left a Manhattan man hospitalized and...

PLAYGROUND POISON; ARSENIC PUTS KIDS IN CANCER PERIL

A third of the playgrounds in Central Park expose kids to potentially dangerous levels of arsenic, a Post investigation has found. Pressure-treated wood at 7 of 20 play areas tested...

DEATH STALKS FAMILY ; GRIEVING DAD KILLED

A heartbroken father who immersed himself in a remote wilderness program to deal with his son's tragic slaying on a Lower East Side street has been killed in an auto...

THE KURDS' WAY - HOSPITALITY AND HISTORY

A THOUSAND SIGHS, A THOUSAND REVOLTS: Journeys in Kurdistan By Christiane Bird Ballantine Books, 405 pages, $25.95 THIS book is the best available introduction to the Kurds, the world's largest...

SLAY POL'S SHOCKING 'SON HEIR' SECRETS

Twenty-one-year-old Kenyan G. Penceal has lived with a secret for the past six years. But last week Penceal stepped into the spotlight to say he is the love child of...

FAMILY FEUD OVER 'ILLEGIT' SON CLAIM

The shocking emergence of Kenyan Penceal as the alleged illegitimate son of slain Councilman James Davis has deeply divided the Davis family. Kenyan has won the support of the slain...

GOVERNOR'S EX: HE KEPT ME IN DARK

Gov. Jim McGreevey's first wife revealed yesterday she had no idea her ex-husband was gay until shortly before he announced his sexual preference on national television, the woman told The...

HYBRIDS: THE CURE FOR IRON DEFICIENCY

N.Y. GOLF As golfers get older, sometimes they become afflicted with a terrible malady known as iron deficiency, and it has nothing to do with blood. There's no need to...

RUINS AFTER ROBBIE - MISGUIDED METS LEARNED ZERO FROM ALOMAR TRADE

THE Mets acquired Roberto Alomar. The Indians obtained wisdom. Advantage, Cleveland. Today the Indians are contenders with an encouraging future not because of the return they received for Alomar nearly...

SHORT-HANDED METROS NEED TO KEEP ROLLING

The MetroStars have been playing some of the best soccer in their history lately, and arguably the best of any team in MLS this season. But they'll have their work...

LOOK IN THE MIDDLE FOR HIDDEN POINTS

ARECENT argument with a fellow owner involved who owns the Major League's best bullpen. The Yankees, Padres, Cardinals and Twins were all mentioned. The Dodgers would have been the runaway...

ROOKIES RUNNING RAGGED ; N.Y.-PENN LEAGUE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

THEY may be sore, full of bruises from foul balls off shins and scrapes from dives on the dirt. And these rookies, who've come from as far as California and...

CLUB PROS BELONG HERE, TOO

HAVEN, Wis. - The PGA is considering reducing the number of club pros who participate in the PGA Championship from 25 to 10 players, a move that club pros say...

PHELPS: 1ST DOWN, SEVEN GOLD TO GO - WORLD RECORD SWIM IN 400IM OPENS QUEST

ATHENS - The first thing Michael Phelps noticed when he hit the wall was the time: 4:08.26. That meant he just swam the 400-meter individual medley 15-hundreths of a second...

DIRRELL LANDS U.S. BOXERS' FIRST PUNCH

OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK ATHENS - After not winning any gold medals in the 2000 Olympics, U.S. Boxing might have gotten the boost it needed yesterday when Andre Dirrell defeated Ha Dabateer...

FINCH PITCHES IN ; U.S. SOFTBALL TEAM STARTS WITH VICTORY

SOFTBALLUnited States 7Italy 0 ATHENS - The most dominating U.S. team in international play faced two crucial questions yesterday: Could Jennie Finch be counted on to be the future of...

AMERICANS BLOW THE LID OFF NEW ZEALAND

WOMEN'S HOOPSUnited States 99New Zealand 47 ATHENS - All that talk about the Olympic spirit, about using sports to bring the world together, about promoting good will through competition? Sorry,...

REESE RARIN' TO GO ; COLUMBIA PRODUCT'S TURNING JETS' HEADS

Curtis Martin thinks he sees something potentially special in Johnathan Reese. If Martin's player evaluation comes to fruition, the Jets might have yet another emerging star in the making at...

MORE LEIT REIGN -GRITTY AL TURNS IN ANOTHER SOLID JOB

METS 4 D'BACKS 3 On a fourth-place club with injured teammates all around him, Al Leiter is gutting out one of the best seasons of his career. Had he not...

BOLLINGER NEEDS TO REBOUND

JET NOTES The severity of the knee injuries suffered Friday by quarterback Brooks Bollinger and receiver Josh Davis remained unknown yesterday, though Bollinger insisted he was fine after the game....

N.Y. FENCER OUSTED IN QUARTERS

ATHENS - Before their quarterfinal-round Olympic matches yesterday, Ivan Lee looked across the Helliniko Fencing Hall and locked eyes with fellow New Yorker Keeth Smart. Lee pointed his saber at...

TIGER NEEDS HELP - WOODS FIRES3-UNDER 69IN ROUND 3

HAVEN, Wis. - Tiger Woods has a chance, though it is a slim one. Woods shot a 3-under par 69 yesterday to improve to 3-under par after 54 holes of...

GIANTS GET THE DETAILS

The evaluation process for preseason games is often individual in nature, with some players rising, others falling as the roster begins to take shape. When the Giants opened their summer...

DOUGLAS STAKES CLAIM

GIANT NOTES Training camp has been an ongoing shuffle at running back for the Giants, with as many as two reserve spots up for grabs. Chris Douglas, a rookie from...

AFTER ONE EVENT, THIS KID'S FOR REAL

ATHENS - All around him, the people inside Olympics Aquatics Centre buzzed and buzzed, pointing to him, yelling at him, clapping for him. This was it, finally, after all the...

MR. GIBBS GOES (BACK) TO WASHINGTON - THREE-RING CIRCUS AS "SKINS FANS HAIL SAVIOR

ASHBURN, Va. - As the players made their way to the practice fields last week at Washington Redskins training camp, several thousand fans cheered as each player walked out. They...

'BETTER' RALLIES TO TAKE 'SWORD'

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Last on the far turn but first at the wire, Better Talk Now clawed past Request for Parole in the final yards to post an upset in...

ILL A-ROD DROPPING HIS APPEAL

YANKEE NOTES SEATTLE - From a sick-bed in his hotel, Alex Rodriguez withdrew his appeal of a four-game suspension yesterday. He also missed a second straight game due to a...

BACKUP BACK UP ; METS GIVE GARCIA ANOTHER CHANCE

Danny Garcia can relate to all the backup quarterbacks who aren't getting serious looks this time of year. Although only 24, Garcia has already been pegged, pigeonholed and stereotyped as...

SLURRED SPEECH - WFAN'S PROFANITY POLICE ARRIVE AFTER 'IMUS' IS OVER

IT TAKES new employees and summer interns no more than two, three days on the job to understand that there are two sets of rules at WFAN. The first set,...

COD'S GIFT TO BASEBALL - CAPE LEAGUE A HEAVENLY MIX OF FUTURE STARS AND ALL-AMERICAN VALUES

HYANNIS, Mass. - For 23 young men, the future never again will be quite as bright as it is on this sparkling August afternoon. The sky is blue and limitless....

LABOR OF LOVE

In the delightful new DVD Touching the Game, the Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League, major leaguers recall great times at the Cape and day jobs they held when...

SIXTH-MAN DOUBT: INNINGS WON'T BE ENOUGH TO KEEP LOAIZA IN ROTATION

SEATTLE - Since Joe Torre announced Friday night that he was going with an unorthodox six-man pitching rotation, Esteban Loaiza wasn't pitching for his spot yesterday against the putrid Mariners...

DAMN YANKEES - LIKE BRONX BOMBERS, IT'S ALL OR NOTHING FOR U.S. OLYMPIANS

ATHENS - It should be more fun than this. The athletes shouldn't feel like they have to recoil when asked about silver medals, or bronze medals. They shouldn't have to...

TOP SPOT STILL RANK FOR TIGER

HAVEN, Wis. -Tiger Woods may not win the 86th PGA Championship, but he could hold on to his No.1 ranking with a good performance in today's final round at Whistling...

LEONARD HUNGERS FOR VICTORY

PGA NOTES HAVEN, Wis. - Justin Leonard. You remember him: 1997 British Open champion, Ryder Cup hero. He hasn't dropped off the golf map though it may have seemed so...

OLE RELIABLE ; SLAPS WINNING HIT IN SEATTLE RETURN

YANKEES 6 MARINERS 4 SEATTLE - The largest crowd in Safeco Field history welcomed John Olerud home with a standing ovation in the second inning yesterday. It was a way...

THE USUAL SUSPECTS - SINGH, PHIL, ELS IN HUNT FOR TITLE

HAVEN, Wis. - The final 18 holes of the 86th PGA Championship shape up to be a microcosm of the 2004 golf season. Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els...

WHERE THE BOSS 'FOUND' BUCK

HYANNIS, Mass. - Before they were stars, they were struggling college students playing summer baseball, trying to make a buck. Consider Nat "Buck" Showalter, who set the Hyannis Mets' single-season...

LOAIZA DEAL LOOKS WORSE WITH EACH START

SEATTLE - He's not Jeff Juden yet, but Esteban Loaiza isn't what the Yankees believed they were getting when they shipped Jose Contreras to the White Sox for the veteran...

CHISOX GM HAS TAMPER TANTRUM

White Sox GM Ken Williams is angry, and concerned the Mets are tampering in regard to Magglio Ordonez. And Met General Manager Jim Duquette intends to call Williams to clear...

AILING KAZ MAY TAKE TRIP TO DL

MET NOTES If Met shortstop Kaz Matsui can't come back by Tuesday night, he's possibly going on the disabled list. Matsui (back spasms) didn't play in last night's 4-3 victory...

MET MVP? NO WINNERS IN THAT RACE

WHO is the MVP of the 2004 New York Mets? Wait, before you answer that, ponder this, as well: How can a team with a $90 million payroll not have...

MORE LEIT REIGN ; AL PROVIDES METS A GREAT UMBRELLA

Mets 4D'backs 3 In an otherwise forgettable season, Al Leiter is having a year to remember. Leiter has been a consistent ace for a disappointing fourth-place team, and baseball's ERA...

LEADERS OF THE TRACK - RAFER, MASBACK AND CAMPBELL SIZE UP AMERICA'S FASTEST AND FINEST

For the past year, seemingly every sentence uttered or written about track & field began with BALCO or dealt with drugs. But after being convicted in the press, the Olympics'...

HEAD TO HEAD

Post columnist Kevin Kernan and reporter Michael Morrissey slug it out over who should manage the Mets in 2005 Kevin Kernan: Art Howe needs to get the heck out of...

FISHING FUNDRAISERS HOOKING UP THE NEEDY

THE coming weeks will see a couple of fundraising fish ing tournaments that are truly a labor of love for those involved. Henry Uihlein puts a lot of his energy...

SLOPPY SOX CAN'T BLAME NOMAR NOW

The Red Sox have outscored the Yankees by seven runs and have given up five fewer runs. At the least, that should suggest a robust AL East race. But the...