October 23, 2005

AMERICANS TUNING OUT MUSIC DOWNLOADS

Americans are falling out of love with downloading music. Over the past five quarters, the average number of songs downloaded per MP3 player owned has dropped an astounding 41.4 percent,...

OVERSTOCK FIRES NEW LEGAL SALVO

Overstock.com has launched a new legal attack against a hedge fund and a research boutique that it claims has collaborated to drive down its stock price. In an amended complaint...

EVEN WITH BANKS, ASK AND YOU JUST MIGHT RECEIVE

Dear John: Please let me know which institutions offer a nine-month CD with a yield over 5 percent. You mentioned that it's "not difficult" to get a promotional rate with...

BOLLORE'S SPLASH; MADISON AVE. NEWCOMER AMASSES POWER

Madison Avenue is about to be stirred - if not shaken. Vincent Bollore - a French corporate raider more familiar with shipping goods than with shaping ad campaigns - has...

UNDER PRESSURE - TIME INC.'S NEW BOSS HUEY MUST RESTART MEDIA GIANT

"My barbarianism has been somewhat exaggerated," said John Huey from his office on the 34th floor of Time Inc.'s headquarters, located just down the hall from the hallowed corner office...

CAN MARK DO PARK? SHAPIRO TRIES TO MAKE HIS CASE FOR SIX FLAGS

Mark Shapiro, the mogul-in-the-making who left the glitz of ESPN to pursue an also-ran theme park chain, spent last week trying to convince investors he can do more than run...

SET YOUR SIGHTS ON GAME'S ART

A groundbreaking 1944-1945 art exhibition, organized by Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst and based on chess, is being both remembered and reprised this fall. "The Imagery of Chess" included works...

BLAKE EXECUTED (ON SCREEN)

'CAPOTE," Bennett Miller's take on the writer as he worked on "In Cold Blood," is getting a lot of hype. So it's a good time for Film Forum to bring...

SPOOKED PETS; LOTS OF CHANCES TO DRESS UP, SHOW OFF PETS

ACCORDING to the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association, 3.5 million Americans will buy Halloween products for their pets this year. Companies such as Annie's Costumes (anniescostumes.com) are churning out festive...

MAMA MEETS LLAMA IN RURAL 'SWAP'

A DOWNTOWN mama gets a taste of country life this week on ABC 's "Wife Swap." New Yorker Lily Nazario leaves behind the thrift shops and cafes of the East...

'OVER THERE' DRAMA RUINED BY ITS OWN AGENDA

HOW could a show this good be so bad? The show is "Over There," the drama series on FX about the Iraq war that premiered with great fanfare last July.It...

REEL GOOD - LINDA STASI PREVIEWS THIS WEEK 'S BEST MOVIES

BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001) Sunday, 7 p.m., FX This action-packed film concerns a doomed U.S.mission to capture a Somali warlord 's top aides.Starring an impossibly young Josh Hartnett and Ewan...

'BAND' WOES - DIDDY SHOW STRUGGLES TO FIND SINGERS

MOST of girls from "Making the Band 2 " last year didn''t know diddly,so Diddy sent them packing. On the MTV reality show "Making the Band 3 " ((Thursdays at...

IN VIDEO GAMES, M IS FOR MENACE

BACK to the future.In this space,13 months ago,we noted that PBS had just aired an interesting documentary, "The Video Game Revolution." In it,,we also noted,an interesting theory was spoken:Recent, government...

THE HOT SEAT

A rock supergroup isn't just made, it's born - from the ashes of other great bands. Such is the case for the hard-rocking, multi-platinum Audioslave. The quartet features three members...

HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK

1 Pet sounds Streamlining their trippy weirdness into what resembles a sophisticated pop record, Brooklyn's Animal Collective releases their most accomplished CD yet, "Feels." 2 Cynicism The state of Nick...

UMA, ETHAN, ULLA & OPRAH - AFTER A DEVASTATING DIVORCE, IS UMA THE STUFF OF SOCCER-MOM INSPIRATION?

The skinny, bespectacled guy tapping away on his Mac at the Essex House doesn't seem the type to incite a feud with Hollywood heavyweight Quentin Tarantino. But then, that's the...

COMPUTER 'WIZARD' - ATTENTION FOR SCAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

IN the new, high-resolution DVD of "The Wizard of Oz," a bolt is visible between the Tin Man's eyes. You can clearly see the trapdoor used by the Wicked Witch...

FAR FROM HEAVEN - 'PARADISE NOW' DELVES INTO THE MIND OF A TERRORIST

The phrase "shooting schedule" took on a dire new meaning for Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad when he decided to film his controversial new movie, "Paradise Now," in the West Bank....

WAR STORY - MATTHEW MODINE FLASHES BACK TO 'FULL METAL JACKET'

The world's most reclusive movie director is on the radio to an assistant, directing him like it's a game of blind man's bluff. "Go here, turn left, straight ahead, turn...

REQUIRED READING

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we saw lots of Greatest Natural Disaster lists, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is on all of them. In Simon Winchester's timely new...

HELL 'HOLE' - A GRAPHIC LOOK AT TEEN ANGST

BLACK HOLE Charles Burns 4 STARS Pantheon, $24.95 IN 1970s Seattle, a new kind of STD is cropping up among high school kids. Known only as "The Bug," the affliction...

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

SHE MUST LOVE DOGS, NOT HER EXES MEET Neil,a handsome marketing manager who says he 's as an "upbeat, cultured,career-driven guy who doesn 't take things too seriously." When he...

PUNCHIN' JUDY: A CATFIGHT BREAKS OUT AT PAPER OF WRECKAGE

MEOW, Maureen. The catfight on 43rd Street is now in full claw-baring, teeth-gnashing, blood-spattering swing. Maureen Dowd, The New York Times' 50-something, Pulitzer-winning babe of record, took the first swipe...

TWINS' DEATH MYSTERY DEEPENS

Exactly what killed infant twins may not be determined until next week, officials said yesterday, adding to the grieving family's ordeal. Ises and Moorfiyah Mathurin were just 3 months old...

CONROY: 'I'VE GOT TO MOVE ON'

BRYAN CONROY was so determined to be a cop, he took the police test when he was 16. "I was going to St. Peter's HS, and my dad [Arthur Conroy]...

WIFE TO GIRL-RAPE SUSPECT:TELL TRUTH

The wife of an alleged sex fiend accused of raping and beating a 13-year-old schoolgirl says she will stand by her man on one condition: that he look into her...

B'KLYN MAN DEAD IN SOCIAL-CLUB SHOOTOUT

A dispute outside a Brooklyn social club early yesterday morning turned into a three-way shootout with cops in which more than 50 bullets were fired. The volley of gunfire left...

SLAY DAD'S 'STRESS' DEFENSE

A Long Island man who stabbed his wife in front of her 10-year-old daughter was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Desert Storm, his lawyer said. Elden MacFarlane,...

EX NABBED IN ; 'GATSBY' SLAY ; FUGITIVE BUSTED IN OHIO ON EVE OF FUNERAL

Federal agents tracked down the fugitive boyfriend of murdered mom Lisa Parisi - nabbing him at a Ohio gas station just hours before mourners gathered on Long Island for an...

POLICE HUNT CLERK IN LONG ISLAND BOSS SLAY

An angry employee at a Long Island restaurant-supply company stabbed and killed his boss, police said yesterday. A clerk at Tassone Equipment Corp. in Syosset allegedly attacked his boss, Robert...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN *** A man was shot while walking home from his girlfriend's Bedford-Stuyvesant home by a gang who threatened him for being "in the wrong place." Police said the man,...

WOMAN KILLED BY SUBWAY TRAIN

A 44-year-old woman was sideswiped and killed by a downtown train yesterday while she was waiting in a West Village subway station, police said. Jean Novak, 44, was on the...

IT'S A JURASSIC LARK; 'FOUND' FLIERS IGNITE DINO-WRITE CONTEST

A dino-sized craze has hit the streets of New York City, thanks to a Manhattan art teacher and his trusty T-Rex. Jason Ruff, 28, created the uproar when he papered...

TAX REFORM: DO'S AND DON'TS

THE FAIR TAX BOOK BY NEIL BOORTZ AND REP. JOHN LINDER REGAN BOOKS, 208 PAGES, $24.95 TOWARD FUNDAMENTAL TAX REFORM EDITED BY ALAN J. AUERBACH AND KEVIN A. HASSETT AMERICAN...

COPS BARGE IN ON BAD LANDLORD

Cops raided the Midtown offices of an upscale landlord family Thursday, hauling out boxes of records after residents complained the clan has waged a campaign of abuse and harassment to...

MAYOR PLAYS 'OFFICE' POLITICS WITH SILVERSTEIN OVER WTC

World Trade Center re-developer Larry Silverstein's goals are at odds with the city's larger needs, Mayor Bloomberg's spokesman said last night. "We can't let market forces alone determine the fate...

FREDDY $$ BACKER MISSED DEM VOTE

ONE of Fernando Ferrer's biggest backers didn't even vote in the mayoral primary. Board of Elections records show William Wachtel, a lawyer who raised $81,350 for Ferrer, was a no-show...

APPLE 'JUICED' ON WATERY WINDMILLS

Six underwater turbines will be installed in the East River next month in a major step toward delivering clean hydroelectric energy that could one day power thousands of city homes....

POL TARGETS SICKOS

ALBANY - Sex monsters who target kids - like the one busted for allegedly raping a 13-year- old last week in Queens - would face harsher penalties under a bill...

'GRAB'RACADABRA; FAMOUS COSTUME STORE UP FOR SALE ON EBAY

In a deal Dracula could sink his teeth into, Abracadabra - the city's legendary costume and magic shop - is for sale. After 24 years, owner Paul Blum is ready...

STEALTH POLITICS; THE SECRET LIFE OF 'GOP MIKE'

He may be shunning President Bush publicly during his re-election drive, but that didn't stop Mayor Bloomberg from having a private sit-down with the White House's political director, according to...

'FAIR' REMAKE FOR BOATHOUSE

The city wants to transform the historic but dilapidated 1939 World's Fair boathouse in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park into a restaurant and banquet hall. The Parks Department is searching for a...

BRAVEST OT WARNING

Firefighters are threatening a job action that could drive up the city's overtime costs. If the city does not reach a contract agreement with the Uniformed Firefighters Association by Nov....

LUXE PRINCIPAL IN 'VALUES' WAR

The Catholic-school principal at the center of a polarizing debate over the values of pampered teens took vows to live a simple, no-frills life - and wound up running one...

DAUGHTER OF L.I. BORN TO LOVE, FELL VICTIM TO HATE

SHE grew up in heaven and died in hell. Lisa Parisi, the petite 24-year-old whose body was found on Sands Point, L.I., last week, was raised in a big, tight-knit...

FUGITIVE BUSTED IN OHIO ON EVE OF FUNERAL

Federal agents tracked down the fugitive boyfriend of murdered mom Lisa Parisi - nabbing him at a Ohio gas station just hours before mourners gathered on Long Island for an...

FERRY CUTS HIM SOME SLACKER

A merrymaking mate on the Staten Island Ferry got his job back after his bosses denied he was slacking off - despite videotapes showing him chatting up female passengers, speaking...

VISOR ISSUE NOT CLEAR-CUT

MONTREAL - A rash of eye injuries around the NHL has made the mandatory use of visors one of the hottest topics in the league right now. The Islanders, nine...

CONGRESS BILL HELPS NRA

THE gun liability bill that was passed by Congress this week was a political football that was passed around for years, but the outcome was inevitable. Gun control advocates have...

BOTTOM LINE: PENS ARE CHEAPSKATES

BUFFALO - Question: What do you get when team ownership is more interested in staying below the cap midpoint of $30.5M in order to qualify for a second round of...

CARTER-RJ TANDEM CLICKING INTO GEAR

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - This Vince Carter-Richard Jefferson thing might work after all. There have been doubters as to the ability of Carter and Jefferson to work together on the floor...

WHITE CHRISTMAS; WORLD SERIES SPOT GIFT FOR SOX FANS

CHICAGO - The Second Team in the Second City looked like anything but Second Fiddle last night at U.S. Cellular Field, where the World Series opened. Pitted against the Astros...

WANDY CANNOT CONJURE MAGIC

CHICAGO - Although he took the loss, Wandy Rodriguez basically managed an Ervin Santana. In Game 5 of the Yankees-Angels ALDS a couple weeks ago, Bartolo Colon had to leave...

CLEMENS AN ALL-TIME MERCENARY

CHICAGO - The people fall over themselves now to say nice things about Roger Clemens, to anoint him as some kind of baseball messiah, the clever old man who lent...

MOTIVATOR, HIGH FLY DROP OUT

On a cold, wet morning at Belmont Park, things were heating up for Saturday's Breeders' Cup as a number of contenders turned in their final major workouts for the big...

MARTIN'S BECOME IMPORTANT DEVIL

ATLANTA - Although he skates under the radar, it's not just coincidence. When Paul Martin is in the lineup, the Devils have soared. When he's not, they've crashed. Lou Lamoriello...

LIDGE'S ITCHING TO MAKE AMENDS

CHICAGO - Maybe no two Astros had more passion to reach the World Series than longtime teammates Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. But in a sense, there was another Astro...

LOOKING FOR WORK ; SOX BULLPEN HOPES TO HEAT UP

CHICAGO - If you want to win an easy barroom bet, stump somebody with the name of the only White Sox reliever to work in the ALCS. The answer is...

'DREAM' FADES BADLY IN STRETCH

Track was sloppy, sealed on cold, wet, miserable "N.Y. Showcase" day; good thing they didn't run Breeders' Cup week earlier. No turf racing, including pair of $150,000 stakes switched to...

2 FOR THE SHOW - BUEHRLE'SCOMPLETE PACKAGE

CHICAGO - If A.J. Pierzynski hadn't pulled off his "steal of first" in Game 2 of the ALCS, an interesting thing would've happened. Mark Buehrle would've gone out for the...

2 FOR THE SHOW; PETTITTE MAKES RETURN TO SERIES

CHICAGO - The last time Andy Pettitte pitched in a World Series, the night ended with a championship. But not for Pettitte. Not that it was really Pettitte's fault. The...

SIGN . . . OR TRADE ; NENE TOPS LUMINOUS LIST OF THOSE WHO COULD BE DEALT BY HALLOWEEN

DUE to deadlines and (no) commitments, one or two major trades, possibly more, are almost guaranteed to ignite before a World Series winner is declared some time before stockings are...

SOJOURNER DEAD AT 58

THE world lost a beautiful person last week. Willie Sojourner, 58, died when his car hit a tree at 1 a.m. Thursday in Rieti, Italy, where he'd been coaching for...

IN GOOD HANDS ; SIMMS WORKS WITH RUTGERS' TEEL

When Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel finally got hold of his father a week ago after being named the Scarlet Knights' starter, smack dab in the middle of the season, their...

EANUZEL GIVES FRIARS BIG LIFT

St. Anthony' s 25Holy Cross 13 Chris Eanuzel's day was rough enough already. He was playing with a broken nose, an injury he suffered early in yesterday's game against Holy...

A LOT OF HART ; BENCHED QB RETURNS TO RALLY RUTGERS

Rutgers 26Connecticut 24 EAST HARTFORD - When he entered the huddle yesterday for the first time in two games, none of Ryan Hart's Rutgers teammates knew what to expect. The...

SOX IT TO 'EM ; JENKS SLAMS DOOR ON 'STROS AS CHI TAKES OPENER

GAME 1White Sox 5Astros 3 CHICAGO - It was billed as the matchup between former Yankee studs Roger Clemens and Jose Contreras. Yet Game 1 of the World Series developed...

JENKS GOT THE BEST OF BAGS

CHICAGO - The careers of Jeff Bagwell and Bobby Jenks intersected for the first time last night. Bagwell is probably headed to the Hall of Fame, but Jenks blew him...

MR. IN-CREDE-BLE - JOE REPRISES ROLE OF SOX HERO - AND DAD WATCHES

CHICAGO - The son acted as if this were nothing more stressful than an in trasquad game in February in Tucson, as if he'd spent the last half hour running...

ROCKET MISFIRES AGAIN

CHICAGO - The risk Roger Clemens runs by pushing his wondrous, yet aging body, through another year is that he may come out for one encore too many. He had...

RANGERS ON SKID ROW - WINLESS STREAKAT 3 GAMES AFTERLOSS TO SABRES

Sabres 3Rangers 1 BUFFALO - If the sample is now at a reasonably illuminating 10 games, last night's 60 minutes presented fair evidence of the Rangers' limitations. The third straight...

METROS TIE AWAY FROM ADVANCING

GAME 1MetroStars 1Revolution 0 For the first time in a long time - maybe for the first time ever - the MetroStars played a postseason game and were the tougher...

NETS GET NIGHT OFF . . . AND IT SHOWS

Celtics 90Nets 69 UNCASVILLE, Conn. - One night, the Vince Carter-Richard Jefferson combo looked like it had been designed on Olympus - a blend that, with Jason Kidd, could carry...

THESE DEVILS ARE IMPOSTERS

Thrashers 4Devils 3 ATLANTA - From their Decade, this is looking like the Decay of the Devils. They are proving they can lose to anybody, anywhere. Even with Martin Brodeur...

EX-YANK HAS JUST ENOUGH FOR WIN

CHICAGO - When Houston's Willy Taveras doubled leading off the eighth inning last night, Jose Contreras knew his team's complete-game streak was up. But because of another strong outing by...

SLOPPY ISLES MISS THE POINT

Canadiens 4Islanders 3 MONTREAL - As fast as the Islanders appeared like they would escape this city with a point is how quickly those thoughts vaporized here last night in...

SOX IT TO 'EM ; CONTRERAS BESTS 'STROS AS CHI TAKES OPENER

GAME 1White Sox 5Astros 3 CHICAGO - Jose Contreras against Roger Clemens in Game 1 of the World Series last night was supposed to be a display of ex-Yankee hurlers...

MR. IN-CREDE-BLE ; JOE CONTINUES TO LAY DOWN LAW FOR CHISOX, AS HE'S DONE ALL ALONG

CHICAGO - As much as anyone, Joe Crede was responsible for the White Sox being here in the first place. As much as anyone, Crede had shown an affinity for...

POP KNOWS BEST - LARRY'S BEST MAN SEES PERFECT UNION IN N.Y.

Knicks 96Spurs 90 SAN ANTONIO - Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sees the Larry Brown/Knicks union as the perfect marriage. Popovich, who was best man at Brown's wedding, said last night...

BROADCAST RUSE ; JORDAN 'EXCLUSIVE' EXPOSES '60 MINUTES' AS VIACOM SHILL

HEADS UP. CBS has Chargers-Eagles today, followed by Broncos-Giants. Sounds like a strong two-fer, but beware! If ever a game sounded as if, after 3:16 of nothing-better-on devotion, it will...

JETS FACING CRITICAL ROAD

If there was one trait the Jets took on almost immediately when Herman Edwards became their coach, it was a resiliency and resolve on the road. They were 7-1 away...

CLOSING THE DEAL - PHILLIES' UNCERTAIN FUTURE MAY HELP METS LAND WAGNER

CHICAGO - Inadvertently, Brian Cashman may be helping the Mets land their top free-agent target. Billy Wagner has told the Phillies he intends to test free agency rather than re-sign...

2 FOR THE SHOW - PETTITTE MAKES RETURN TO SERIES

CHICAGO - The last time Andy Pettitte pitched in a World Series, the night ended with a championship. But not for Pettitte. Not that it was really Pettitte's fault. The...

POST POURRI - CASH TO MAKE CALL TOMORROW

WORLD SERIES NOTEBOOK CHICAGO - For the first time in this postseason, Jeff Bagwell was in the Astros' lineup last night, as the Houston slugger was the DH. Bagwell, who...

BRONCO BUSTERS -TOOMER & WILLIAMS RELIVE '98 WIN OVER 13-0 DENVER

They are two of only four Giants players who take the field today and were also on the scene more than seven years ago, the last time the Broncos came...

PRODUCTIVE GREISEN EARNS THIRD START IN ROW

GIANT NOTES For the past two games, Nick Greisen has started for the Giants at weak side linebacker and his play at that position has been more than solid. He'll...

APPLE'S THE BEST ... BUT CHICAGO & HOUSTON ON LIST OF TOP 10 SPORTS TOWNS

CHICAGO - Say what you want about the teams battling for the World Series. Talk about their long and proud dance with futility as much as you'd like - and...

DOORMAT TO WELCOME MATT - TROJAN FORCE LEINART COULD BE JETS' SALVATION

The 2005 season has turned into a Jets fan's worst nightmare. What looked to be a Super season in August has deteriorated into a 2-4 mess, with little reason for...

SIGN ... OR TRADE

DUE to deadlines and (no) commitments, one or two major trades, possibly more, are almost guaranteed to ignite before a World Series winner is declared some time before stockings are...

DAVIS: I WANT TO BE KNICK

SAN ANTONIO - If Antonio Davis keeps pounding the boards and being an exemplary leader, the Knicks will have no choice but to keep him all season. In fact, if...

CHEAPSKATE PEN$ - IN PITT, SAVING MONEY MEANS MORE THAN WINS

BUFFALO - Question: What do you get when team ownership is more interested in staying below the cap midpoint of $30.5M in order to qualify for a second round of...

GAME 1 START IN BAG FOR JEFF

WORLD SERIES NOTEBOOK For the first time in this postseason, Jeff Bagwell was in the Astros' lineup last night, as the Houston slugger was the DH. Bagwell, who had shoulder...

GARNER STRATEGY JUST AW-PHIL

CHICAGO - In the eighth inning of last night's 5-3 Astro loss, Houston squandered a critical chance to tie the game or take the lead. One of the main reasons...