May 28, 2006

WINDS OF CHANGE AT CATALOG

As the music industry's big fish begin circling BMG's publishing operation, a smaller school of potential buyers are looking to reel in Windswept Pacific. CEO Evan Medow says his independent...

REALLY, TRULY, HONESTLY

Edward R. Murrow's directive on getting audiences to retain information - you tell them once, you tell them again, and then you tell them what you told them - is...

SAVE WHAT YOU CAN - BUT LIVE TODAY, TOO

Dear John: What percentage of your salary should you spend and what percentage should be put into savings for short-term, long-term and/or retirement? A.R.Dear A.R.: You should spend what you...

MODEL MOGUL; VIK DOLES OUT FOR LADIES - ONLY FOR CHARITY

ALEX Vik, the jet-setting ex-billionaire who has high hopes of taking control of the French media and telecom giant Vivendi, has a thing for models - but only if it's...

MEDIA MIRACLE - INDUSTRY CRAWLING BACK TO THE FOREFRONT

The year 2006 is shaping up to be the year of Big - if not old - Media. Left for dead at the turn of the century, investors have reawakened...

NOT SO FAST; ENRON SCANDAL WILL HARDLY BE THE LAST

Let's not start slapping regulators on the back just yet. Enron's Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling - along with their 1990s white-collar criminal compatriots - are getting their comeuppance, but...

KUBRICK'S SHINING HOUR

STANLEY Kubrick was never known for the rapidity with which he turned out movies. He took his iconoclastic time, but the wait between releases (as long as 12 years) was...

DO IT FUR LOVE; DON'T LET ALLERGIES STOP YOU FROM ADOPTING A PET

With the warmer weather arrives a sad phenomenon: The country's animal shelters are packed beyond capacity with baby felines. From North Shore Animal League in Port Washington on Long Island...

HOT-&-COLD GM ON FIRE IN SOFIA

WHEN you're hot, you're Veselin Topalov. The Bulgarian grandmaster is a streak player. He won the world chess federation championship with a quick-off-the-blocks spurt at a tournament in San Luis,...

OFFICE POOL - MTV'S GAMBLE ON THE 'LAGUNA BEACH' GIRLS - QUEEN OF THE 'HILLS' - MTV FOLLOWS 'LAGUNA BEACH' WITH ITS OWN 'MELROSE PLACE'

OH. My. Gawd. I've never felt so badly for anyone on TV - Lauren and her friends are so dumb. "The Hills," a 10 episode spinoff of MTV's extremely glossy...

REAL WOMEN MEET REAL SWIMWEAR

TIFFANY, 26, is so flat she used to stuff her bras with Jello pudding-filled water balloons. Thanks to Rachel Zalis, the expert stylist on "Swimsuits Secrets Revealed," Tiffany now knows...

OPRAH MOMENT TOPS MY LIST

USUALLY, it's difficult to choose the best single show of a TV season. But for this season, which ended officially last Wednesday night, the choice was easy. It had to...

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

"FROM HERE TO ETERNITY" (1953) Sunday, 6pm (TCM) Before there was "Pearl Harbor" aka "The Invasion for Idiots" there was this, the greatest Honolulu pre-invasion movie. This one's got subplots...

HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK

2. Missing Mischa Despite bailing from "The O.C." and spoiling her death before the finale - N.Y.C. cabbies got revenge by not stopping for her - we're going to miss...

'IDOL' THREAT - THE SHOW'S SUPER, BUT THE SONGS SUCK

NOW that millions of "American Idol" worshippers have anointed Taylor Hicks as the show's big winner, we can finally tell you who the real loser is. Us. We're the ones...

SOLDIERS' TALE - IN A RAW, EMOTIONAL FILM, U.S. WARRIORS TELL THEIR IRAQI STORIES

HAILED by critics as one of the most important films to come out of Operation Iraqi Freedom, "The War Tapes" is also making history. The first war documentary to ever...

DEAD SET - REAL-LIFE 'SYRIANA' CIA AGENT DOCUMENTS SUICIDE BOMBERS

FOR over 20 years, Robert Baer worked as a CIA field officer in the Middle East, using his fluency in Farsi and Arabic to, as his government citation states, "repeatedly...

'DARKO' DIRECTOR DUD

IF at first you succeed . . . maybe you should quit while you're ahead. That seemed to be the underlying message behind early critical response to "Southland Tales," the...

WORST BREAKUPS EVER - REAL-LIFE TALES OF BETRAYALS & BROKEN HEARTS

OUR SALUTE TO SPLITSVILLE - Our New York breakup tales are every bit as crazy as Hollywood's BY now, most of us know the tale as well as we know...

THIS WEEK'S CDS

George Thorogood & the Destroyers "The Hard Stuff" (three stars) Eagle JOHN Lee Hooker's musical legacy - the blues boogie - remains in good hands with veteran rocker George Thorogood....

PEARLY GREATS - AT 15, GRUNGE PIONEERS GIVE FANS MORE JAM

FULL disclosure: A long, long time ago, I once scribbled "Mrs. Eddie Vedder" on my spiral notebook. Oh, Pearl Jam. Glorious, glorious railing-againstsociety, growing-a-slightpaunchin-the-middle-section Pearl Jam. For devoted fans like...

NYPD MOUNTIES SEEK STABLE-ITY

The NYPD's mounted unit is set to trot uptown. Plans are in the works to move the unit and its 21 horses to a new headquarters on Pier 76 on...

WINE WIN MAKES U.S. BLUSH

Take that, snooty French grape growers and highbrow oenophiles who swear by you: California wines rule. In a test designed to determine which of the California reds had aged as...

QNS. BROTHERS AWED BY BUSH SALUTE

A pair of Queens brothers - one a West Point grad, the other a New York City fireman, and both sons of a lost 9/11 hero - were praised by...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN *** Two teenagers were arrested on murder charges yesterday in the stabbing of a Bronx man on the Upper West Side, police said. Daniel Garcia, 19, and Manuel Vasquez,...

GUN DEALER'S RETURN FIRE

A Bensonhurst gun store owner busted in the mayor's crusade against illegal firearms blasted back at the city's tactics. Joseph Benfante, a lawyer for DF Brothers Sport Center - which...

RAPPER VICTIM'S VIOLENT VERSES

The aspiring rapper who was slain in front of a Chelsea nightclub on Tuesday was an artist who waxed poetic about drugs, guns and violence. In a demo CD by...

'X-MEN' 2ND-BE$T DEBUT EVER

Murderous albino monks have nothing on heroic mutant X-Men - whose third movie enjoyed the second-highest opening-day gross of any movie in history. One week after "The Da Vinci Code"...

BOUNCER EYED BLOOD MONEY; KILLED 'RIVALS'TO SEIZE SEX RING: PROBERS

It was all about money and greed. Cops believe ballistic bouncer Stephen Sakai - who last week was charged with gunning down four people outside a Chelsea nightspot - murdered...

LAZY, HAZY DAZE; NYERS WELCOME HOME THEIR SUN

It's the official start of summer, it's sunny and it's a long weekend. So sun worshipers from Long Island to Coney Island to Staten Island kicked off the Memorial Day...

'IT'S DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND WHY GOD TOOK HIM'

Friends and family gathered to pay respects yesterday at the funeral of an aspiring rapper gunned down outside a Chelsea nightclub and to console his devastated mother - whose other...

BILL TAKES STARRING ROLE TO HAIL HIS HILL

Bill Clinton is a megawatt political presence in a remarkable new 2006 campaign video for his wife. Hillary Rodham Clinton gets passionate praise from her ex-president husband - and the...

FROM A HERO TO ZERO; PILOT CAUSED CRASH

He was the hero. Now he's the goat. Yossi Ben-Bassat, the helicopter pilot who rescued his passengers after their tourist chopper splashed into the East River last year, is now...

KATIE TALK AN EYE-(O)PENER

AMID the soft wood décor and bubbling fountains of The Four Seasons last week, CBS News legend Walter Cronkite held court with the network's newest anchor, Katie Couric. "I had...

WTC WARSHIP'S METAL OF VALOR

A Navy warship - its bow fashioned from steel recovered from the toppled Twin Towers, its motto "Never Forget" - is being built in New Orleans with great reverence and...

SPIKE-IMPALE DRAMA; FENCE RESCUE IN E. VILLAGE

A man trying to vault over an iron fence yesterday became impaled on a spike and was left dangling upside down, blood gushing from his gored leg, as a friend...

CITY'S SUNSETTLING SIGHT TONIGHT

The city will be washed in an unearthly glow tonight - thanks to an astronomical fluke that causes the sun to descend in perfect alignment with the city's streets twice...

BRONX ICE CREAM TRUCK IN FIERY SMASH-UP

An ice cream truck driver is clinging to life after he smacked into a concrete column in The Bronx, police said. Segundo Tagan, 51, of The Bronx, was driving a...

BRAD'S A JOLIE DADDY; ANGELINA HAS A GIRL

Angelina Jolie gave birth yesterday to a baby girl with Brad Pitt - and the Hollywood power couple's much anticipated bundle of joy has already been dubbed "messiah." "The night...

BURNED BODY FOUND IN B'KLYN

A grisly discovery was made yesterday in a Brooklyn marsh: the badly burned body of a woman. The unidentified woman was found in the Fresh Nature preserve near Starrett City...

GAY-GOV GAL'S STORY IS 'OUT'; WIFE HEALS AS MCG AIRS AGONY

First Dina Matos McGreevey had to discover her husband's gay affairs. Now she has to endure her ex telling the world about them. But the separated wife of former New...

HONORS TO COME; MEMORIAL DAY IS ABOUT THE FUTURE, TOO

AS Americans this weekend mark the fifth Memorial Day since the official start of the War on Terror, three grim facts stare us in the face: * Since the war...

ALARMING CRIME SURGE IN CHELSEA

Chelsea's nightclub capacity has increased ten-fold in the last five years, bringing a wave of drunken revelers and a surge in crime. A rash of high-profile incidents in the neighborhood...

DAUGHTER'S 19-YR. HUNT FOR HOFFA A 'LABOR' OF LOVE

For much of the last 19 years, St. Louis Circuit Judge Barbara Ann Crancer has been on an exhaustive quest for a truth that has both consumed and eluded her:...

PARTIES ARE DEFYING ALL 'CONVENTIONS'

The state political parties are playing "Trading Places" at this week's nominating conventions, with the Democrats uncharacteristically acting like a well-oiled machine, while the usually lockstep Republicans face a major...

SCHOOLS SLIM AS MILK BIZ HAS A COW

THE milk industry has hired a high-powered Washington lobbying firm to try to overturn a new policy limiting the types of milk the school system is offering its increasingly chubby...

MIKE: 'ABSOLUTELY' NOT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT; BUT HERE'S MY NATIONAL AGENDA ANYWAY

He keeps protesting that he's not running for the White House, but by speaking out forcefully on national issues from immigration to global warming, Mayor Bloomberg has convinced some analysts...

NEWBORN JOY AFTER HORROR - 1 YR. LATER FOR SLAIN GIRL'S MA

The mother of an 11-year-old girl stabbed to death by her playmate a year ago in Brooklyn said she lives a day at a time- finding some solace in another...

NYPD'S HORSE COPS SADDLE UPTOWN

The NYPD's mounted unit is set to trot uptown. Plans are in the works to move the unit and its 21 horses to a new headquarters on Pier 76 on...

RACE TO SAVE IMPALED MAN

A man trying to vault over an iron fence yesterday became impaled on a spike and was left dangling upside down, blood gushing from his gored leg, as a friend...

PITT, JOLIE'S 'MESSIAH' FINALLY HERE

Angelina Jolie gave birth yesterday to her baby with Brad Pitt - and the Hollywood power couple's much anticipated bundle of joy has been dubbed "messiah." "The night of May...

PLAYMATE: COPS BUNGLED MY BUST

A group of cops didn't play nice with a Playboy Playmate, leering at her body and shoving her to the ground in Chelsea after a cab driver falsely claimed she...

FATHER SHOT DEAD - AMBUSH IN B'KLYN

The dad of a two-month old baby was gunned down on a Brooklyn street yesterday in a jealousy-fueled crime of passion, police and witnesses said. The 24-year-old victim - who...

PARTIES DEFYING 'CONVENTIONS'

The state political parties are playing "Trading Places" at this week's nominating conventions, with the Democrats uncharacteristically acting like a well-oiled machine, while the usually lockstep Republicans face a major...

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING; RICHARDS' DEAL PUTS DEVILS IN BAD SPOT

THE echoes of Brad Richards' five-year, $39 mil lion max-out deal with the Lightning will not only reverberate throughout the NHL this summer - Lou Lamoriello already is suffering migraines...

RIDE THE E TRAIN TO GREAT FISHIN'

IT IS not often that you get to a premier fishing event by taking the E train, but that's what I did last week to take part in the Manhattan...

INDY-SPUTABLE REVIVAL; AT 90, RACING'S CROWN JEWEL RIDING POPULARITY BOOST

Way back in 2005, something extraordinary happened to the Indianapolis 500. It mattered again. Everyone knows what happened. Or more precisely, who happened: Danica Patrick. Patrick breathed life into an...

LOOKIN' FOR A GOOD BOUNCE

EASILY the most aggravating part of rotisserie baseball is drafting a letdown. There's nothing more debilitating than handicapping a player and figuring he'll be the next big thing, only to...

YANKS GETTING LITTLE RELIEF; BULLPEN BRIDGE TO RIVERA WOBBLES

Mariano Rivera needed one save going into yesterday's game against Kansas City to tie Dennis Eckersley for fourth place on the all-time list. But at the rate the Yankees' bullpen...

SUNS-SET NEAR ; PHOENIX CAN'T MATCH DALLAS' DEPTH

WHY WON'T I be surprised if the Suns don't win another game in their 1-1 Spring Offensive with the Mavericks despite the showdown switching from Dallas to Phoenix for Games...

JOHNSON LOWE'S MAN ON RISE; CHASE TITLE ON JOHNSON'S MIND

Jimmie Johnson knows second place well. Buffalo Bills well. Three years ago, the last year before the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup, he finished second behind Matt Kenseth. Ninety...

BEATO'S AMAZIN' PITCH

Pedro Beato pitched at Shea Stadium yesterday. Whether he winds up there again someday in a Met uniform remains to be seen. The former Xaverian H.S. star, who appeared to...

JORGE HAS NEW GUARD

YANKEE NOTES Jorge Posada tried on a modified shin guard yesterday afternoon in an effort to get back behind the plate as soon as possible. A representative from Riddell worked...

STEPPENWOLFER RESTED

Steppenwolfer and Jazil, a pair of stretch-runners who figure to be among the top betting choices in the June 10 Belmont Stakes, worked out yesterday at Belmont Park. Steppenwolfer, third...

SWEET WIN FOR HONEY RYDER

Todd Pletcher's Honey Ryder, 7-5 favorite in field of seven fillies and mares going a mile-and-three-eighths over inner turf course, rallied inside around the far turn under Garrett Gomez, swung...

WRIGHT'S BACK IS ALL RIGHT

MET NOTES MIAMI - While David Wright was talking about his back to reporters in pregame yesterday, Paul Lo Duca chimed in, "He said he hurt his back carrying the...

TOM TO THRILL ; GLAVINE POPS CLUTCH IN HIS QUEST FOR 300

METS 7 MARLINS 4 MIAMI - Right now, 2007 might be the backup plan for Tom Glavine's milestone. It may actually be possible for the Mets lefty to earn his...

CAIRO A BIG HIT IN A RARE 2ND CHANCE

Miguel Cairo doesn't get many chances to start at second base, but yesterday, in his fourth start of the season there, he made the most of his rare opportunity. Cairo...

YANKS DELIVER ROYAL BEATING; BIG BATS BACK WANG'S STRONG START

Yankees 15Royals 4 Friday night, the Yankees became the first team Kansas City beat in two weeks. It must've embarrassed and/or ticked them off, because they administered a downright brutal...

CHIEN GIVES 'PEN BREATHER IN WIN

THERE'S the old adage about it being better to remain silent and allow others to think you're the fool rather than to open your mouth and confirm the suspicion, but...

STINNETT SWATS AWAY SLUMP

Jorge Posada's backup, veteran catcher Kelly Stinnett, was anything but second string yesterday when he wielded a lively bat against Kansas City in a lopsided 15-4 win at the Stadium....

LITTLE RELIEF - SHEFFIELD ALWAYS GIVES BEST SHOT

JUST wondering, but remember when Gary Sheffield said he had no interest whatsoever in taking a cortisone shot as part of the treatment for the sprained and bruised left hand...

KID MATTINGLY IS ALL RIGHT - AND HAS WHEELS

In some ways, Preston Mattingly has much in common with his famous dad and in some ways he doesn't. Both factors are making the 18-year-old an attractive commodity for the...

TIME TO GET OFF 'WALK-OFF' THING

AMAZING, how bad ideas stick. First, the save rule arrives to grind decades of self-evident reality into fairy dust. And now it's the "walk-off." And surprisingly, SNY's Gary Cohen has...

YEAR OF THE CATS - WHY AL EXECS BELIEVE TIGERS ARE FOR REAL

THE Yankees play Detroit tomorrow afternoon and that is not their biggest problem when it comes to the Tigers. The AL's two best records at the quarter pole belonged to...

BLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY - BONDS CAN EXPECT WRATH OF APPLE AT SHEA

When Barry Bonds takes the field Friday night at Shea Stadium, the slugger is sure to be berated with boos, chants and catcalls from the stands. Like fans in Philadelphia,...

AN OPEN PLEA TO COMMISSIONER STERN: FIX THE KNICKS!

ONCE upon a time, there was a New York sporting institution that had fallen into what everyone believed was a permanent state of disrepair. The ownership was lampooned as dysfunctional,...

BRAVES ROLLIN'

Braves 2 Cubs 1 MIAMI - While David Wright was talking about his back to reporters in pregame yesterday, Paul Lo Duca chimed in, "He said he hurt his back...

JERSEY BOY'S A SMASH - SCOUTS FLOCK TO SEE LEGEND OF BILLY THE KID

REMEMBER the name: Billy Rowell. You are going to hear it again June 6 when baseball holds its 2006 draft. If baseball had a Mel Kiper, he'd be all over...

TEARS FOR RUFFIAN - FILLY DESTROYED AFTER MARCH RACE

For many die-hard and casual horse racing fans of a certain age, the sight of Barbaro suffering a life-threatening injury during the Preakness summoned a sadness they had not experienced...