June 11, 2006

DON'T FEEL TRAPPED BY LOW-RATE I-BONDS

Dear John: I've been buying I-bonds for my grandchildren and my daughter. I have quite a few. Until now, they have been paying 6.30-percent something. When I called for May...

90S REDUX: 'BAYWATCH' TOGS RETURN

Five years after it faded to black, "Baywatch" is getting ready to hit the beaches again. Not as a TV show, but as licensed swimsuits, beach umbrellas, towels, t-shirts and...

NEW GREY MATTER ; STUDIO NEEDS A WINNER

All eyes will be on "Nacho Libre" this Friday - and not just because of the car-crash-you-can't-look-away-from sight of Jack Black in aqua stretch pants and red cape. With Tom...

EEOC: PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINTS UP SHARPLY

Maria Kellar was working for a Queens watchmaker last year when she discovered she was pregnant. The 39-year-old sales executive, who had always received satisfactory or good reviews from her...

WAIT FOR SAIGON - MUSIC BIZ BUZZ ON RAPPER'S DEBUT ALBUM

WHERE'S Saigon? No, not the city, the rapper. As HBO's "Entourage," which last season featured Saigon in a key story arc, premieres its third season tonight, the music industry is...

HOT DEALS FOR BUDDING INTERNET STARS

Look who's going small time. Hungry to discover the next big talent, some of the nation's largest media outlets are now trolling Web sites favored by Internet video auteurs in...

BRAT PACK - 'ENTOURAGE' CRUISES IN HOLLYWOOD'S FAST LANE

HBO's rollicking showbiz satire "Entourage" kicks off its highly anticipated third season tonight having achieved a mark of distinction: it's now the cable network's most promising series. With the costly...

'DEADWOOD' - GERALD MCRANEY REVELS IN PROFANE WESTERN DRAMA

AFTER appearing in only one episode of "Deadwood" last season, Gerald McRaney had no idea he'd be back for the entirety of season three, which begins Sunday on HBO. "I...

THE DON'T MISS LIST

DRAMA WIGGED OUT THE adventures of the notorious pirate Blackbeard are dramatized again in a new TV-movie starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward, who long ago played forbidden lovers in...

MEET THE QUEEN OF LOWBROW LAUGHS

KATHY GRIFFIN, the comedy queen of the Bravo network - her second season on Bravo premiered last Tuesday in prime time - has some funny material. But for the most...

SUMMER TV STRONGER THAN EVER

WHO has time to watch all this TV in the summer? Evidently, plenty of people, judging by the number of series premiering this week and in the next few weeks....

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

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988) Sunday,2 p.m.,TCM Is 'toon star Roger Rabbit's wife, hottie Jessica Rabbit, fooling around on him? The studio hires cartoon-hating detective, Eddy (Bob Hoskins), to find...

SHE HAS BRAGA RIGHTS

ALICE Braga, star of the sexy Brazilian film "Lower City," was late for our appointment in Chelsea. I had to forgive her, however, when I heard she was helping a...

OLYMPICS BECOME A KNOCKOUT EVENT

THE United States turned in one of its best performances ever in a Chess Olympics, taking bronze medals and beating Russia in their match - but what grabbed the headline...

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

AT the midpoint of a rehearsal for Rufus Wainwright's song-bysong recreation of Judy Garland's spectacular 1961 performance at Carnegie Hall, the 32-year-old singer stumbles over the words of "San Francisco"...

TUNNEL TUNES - SUBWAY STRUMMER RISES UP FOR BIG-LABEL DEBUT

SUBWAY performers are usually the bane of a commuter's existence - they're loud, clog up platforms and frequently, well, suck. Occasionally, one performer stands out from the pack and makes...

BRIAN'S SONGS - BACKSTREET BOY GOES WITH GOD ON NEW SOLO DEBUT

WHEN boy banders go solo, they go bad - playing up their "edgy" rock side in an effort to counteract the sugary-sweet image thrust upon them by preteen fans and...

JACK'S NOT A DULL BOY - JUST ASK HIS FRIENDS. WE DID - AND THEY UNMASKED THE ACTOR BEHIND DOZENS OF MANIACAL COMIC PERSONAS

WARNING: the surgeon general of rock says reading this Jack Black story is equal to 29 orgasms. Or so Tenacious D, the two-man band that first made Black famous, might...

SCREEN TEST - WHAT CAN BIG HOLLYWOOD MOVIES TEACH US ABOUT OURSELVES? PLENTY!

WANT to know who you really are? Then forget about personality tests like Rorschach, Myers-Briggs and whatever it is Scientologists use as bait. Turns out you can use this weekend's...

PET PROJECT - NELLIE MCKAY'S MISSION: FINDING A HOME FOR ELSIE

FANS of hipster singersongwriter Nellie McKay know she adores animals. When she's not recording, touring or appearing in Broadway's "The Threepenny Opera," she rescues strays and finds homes for them....

HOT LIST - WHAT WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THIS WEEK

1) Vanity It might be a deadly sin, but these cellphone mirrors are cute. They let you slyly check your make-up - and the boy behind you. At mobilebeauty4u.com. 2)...

THIS WEEK'S CDS

BUSTA RHYMES "The Big Bang" [*** 1/2] (Three and one-half stars) Aftermath TO rap fans, the buzz surrounding "The Big Bang" is more than the usual hip-hop hype. The Brooklyn...

HEAR THIS

IN CONCERT * Punks rock at Irving Plaza: Tonight it's Stiff Little Fingers and the Tossers. Tomorrow it's the Buzzcocks. * Emo act the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus plays the Continental...

CHEESY 'NACHOS'

Corny promotional trinkets are stock in trade for big Hollywood movies, but the gewgaws handed out by "Nacho Libre" are some of the best ever. They not only look cool,...

FAMILY TIE - 'LOVERBOY' IS ONE DEGREE OF KEVIN BACON

'NEVER work with sheep." That's a lesson Kevin Bacon took away from "Loverboy," his bigscreen directorial debut, which stars - in addition to farm animals - an impressive array of...

N.Y. NATIVE GETS U.S. TEAM OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

The Brooklyn-born coach of the U.S. World Cup soccer team is famous for his tough-talking bluster on and off the field - delivered with a New Yawk accent and tell-it-like-it-is...

CHAMP RACER PUP & AT 'EM

Ay, caramba - these punchy pooches are fast! A Chihuahua was crowned New York's fastest teacup pup at Petco's Second Annual Chihuahua Race in Riverside Park yesterday. Four-year-old Voodoo, whose...

THUNDER IN THE LUMBER; STEEP THRILLS ON NEW WOODEN COASTER

Meet "El Toro," a 188-foot-tall scream machine with the steepest drop - 76 degrees - of any wooden coaster in the world, which rolls tomorrow at Six Flags Great Adventure...

ROWERS: ENGLAND 'OAR' BUST

Four young men from Seattle hope to win the first rowing race across the North Atlantic - a grueling, months-long voyage that embarked yesterday from New York Harbor. The 3,100-mile...

JOLIE'S TATTOO 2; KID TRIBUTE ERASES 'BILLY BOB'

Looks like Angelina Jolie's back to her wild child ways - sporting a fresh tattoo to declare her undying love. But it isn't boyfriend Brad Pitt's initials she has stained...

9/11 MEMORIAL ETCHED IN TIME; KIN HAIL FDNY'S 'PERFECT' TRIBUTE

Solemn relatives of firefighters who died on 9/11 knelt quietly in front of their beautiful new memorial yesterday and took rubbings of their loved ones' names - names that were...

BLOOMY'S CAP-AND-FROWN CEREMONY

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday lashed out at the "spirit of intolerance" that has fouled politics - and urged graduating University of Chicago students to become "freedom fighters" for independent political thought....

BOXING BOUNCER DODGES SLAY RAP

The bouncer accused of fatally knocking out an unruly patron will only face a misdemeanor assault charge, sources told The Post. Bouncer Francisco Sollizan, 24, punched 19-year-old Antonios Fasarakis as...

DRAG-QUEEN CELEB A GAY-BASH VICTIM; BEATEN IN EAST VILLAGE

A gay singer and performer who has penned several No. 1 dance hits was savagely beaten by a gang of teens in the East Village early yesterday. Kevin Aviance, 38,...

PARK 'THIEF' GETS THE POINT

A thief was nearly killed in Central Park yesterday when his victim handed out street justice by stabbing him in the chest, police said. Thomas Norflett, 44, of Central Park...

CARJACKER 'CAB'DUCTS QNS.TEEN

A crazed carjacker hopped into an idling Queens taxi with a 14-year-old girl in the back seat and sped off yesterday, but only made it five blocks before wrecking the...

UNWELCOME GUSTS IN TOWN

Goodbye, rain - hello, wind! Days of drizzle and downpours finally dried up yesterday, only to be replaced by wind gusts of up to 40 mph. The strongest winds were...

CANCER HITS 283 RESCUERS OF 9/11

Since 9/11, 283 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have been diagnosed with cancer, and 33 of them have died of cancer, says a lawyer for the ailing responders....

CRASH RAGE VS. COPS

A fray erupted in Brooklyn yesterday after a police car collided with another vehicle, and the cops who responded only tended to their fellow officers, witnesses charged. Witnesses said the...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN *** A man has been charged with murder in connection with the Harlem stabbing death of an off-duty city Correction officer, police said yesterday. Wayne Cannie, 36, of Charlotte,...

PARK SLOPE STAB; PORTER HURT IN DOUBLE-PARK DISPUTE

A double-parking dispute on a block of million-dollar brownstones in Park Slope escalated into a vicious knifing that left a kindhearted neighborhood caretaker wounded. The victim, identified only as "Shabaz"...

NO JOKE! AXED GAL SUES

A waitress at Caroline's Comedy Club didn't get the joke when another employee berated her with racial, ethnic and sexist slurs, but the punch line was even harder to take...

TWU 'STRIKES' GOLD IN $60M BLDG. SALE

First they strike. Then they strike it rich. The Transport Workers Union is flush with cash - now that it's sold its West Side headquarters for $60 million, union leaders...

CACIQUE TAKES MANHATTAN

One of the grand old grass stakes in America, the mile-and-a-quarter Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap, being run for the 105th year, turned into a stretch thriller and a heart-stopper for...

RACIST GUILT; CIVIL-RIGHTS-ERA LEGACY

WHITE GUILT: HOW BLACKS & WHITES TOGETHER DESTROYED THE PROMISE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERABY SHELBY STEELE HARPER COLLINS, 181 PAGES, $24.95 IF white racism once said that all blacks...

SWEET 16 RUN-DOWN HORROR ON STATEN ISLAND

A Sweet Sixteen party ended in tragedy early this morning when four revelers were struck by a car on Staten Island, cops and witnesses said. Two of the victims -...

FIEND'S LEGACY OF GRIEF & PAIN; ZARQAWI SLAY A COLD COMFORT TO TOP-COP DAD OF FALLEN HERO

It doesn't bring his son back. Nor does it provide a husband for his daughter-in-law, Pattie, or a father for his 18-month-old granddaughter, Harper. And it doesn't bring closure. But...

'YANK' RUDY SWINGS TO A 2ND CITY ; TEAMING UP IN BID TO BUY THE CUBS

Say it ain't so, Rudy. Say it ain't so. The New York Yankees' No. 1 fan is considering buying a baseball team - and it's not the Bombers. A shocking...

IMPLANT HORROR; MAN PARALYZED IN PENILE BUNGLE

A 74-year-old prostate-cancer survivor hoped surgery would help him please his sweetheart. Instead, it left him paralyzed. Manuel Chambers, a retired warehouse worker, claims in a lawsuit that he went...

MIKE'S CAP-&-FROWN TALK

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday lashed out at the "spirit of intolerance" that has fouled politics - and urged graduating University of Chicago students to become "freedom fighters" for independent political thought....

CAR MOWS DOWN 2 AT L.I. WAL-MART

A crash in the parking lot of a Long Island shopping mall sent two women to the hospital yesterday as a crowd of stunned shoppers looked on. According to several...

'PARK' BARREL POL; MIKE GIVES PLACARDS TO PALS & ZAPS SOME FOES

SOME close political allies of Mayor Bloomberg have scored coveted official government parking placards - including one assemblyman who left office two years ago. At the same time, a veteran...

UP AND ADAM

Adam Scott is on the verge of becoming one of the PGA Tour's elite golfers, but he doesn't think winning the Barclays Classic this weekend at Westchester Country Club would...

LOVE CHILD'S PA IN PLEA TO U.S.

The married Park Avenue cosmetics mogul barred from leaving Taiwan with his 2-year-old daughter - who had been kidnapped by his ex-mistress - is pleading for America to help him...

FIGHT VS. RAPE ROLLS ALONG

A nonprofit group that protects women from sexual assault by offering free late-night car rides is back on the road and expanding, targeting neighborhoods where rapes have increased in the...

CHELSEA HI-RISE DEFEATED

Chelsea residents have won the latest battle in a holy war over the General Theological Seminary's proposal to build a 17-story tower - the plan is off the table. The...

TEEN SEX TIPS; NEW BOOK SHOCK

The nation's largest doctors' group has a few sex tips for pubescent teens - it's healthy to masturbate, size doesn't matter, and yes, oral sex is really sex. The American...

DAUGHTER'S BITTERSWEET CRY: 'THEY GOT HIM!'

She whooped with joy when she learned that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was blasted into extinction. "I screamed to my mom, 'They got him!' " said Maria James, 16. "He was...

ODDBALL PUTS HIS LIFE ONLINE; WILL STAR IN INTERNET 'TRUMAN SHOW'

A neurotic 35-year-old New Jersey man - who hasn't had sex in two years and lived with his parents until last month - will let cameras broadcast his every move...

LEFT PARALYZED BY IMPLANT BLUNDER - 'LOVE STRUCK' MAN SUES

A 74-year-old prostatecancer survivor hoped surgery would help him please his sweetheart. Instead, it left him paralyzed. Manuel Chambers, a retired warehouse worker, claims in a lawsuit that he went...

CAR HITS 2 AT L.I. WAL-MART

A crash in the parking lot of a Long Island shopping mall sent two women to the hospital yesterday as a crowd of stunned shoppers looked on. According to several...

H'WOOD P.I.: I WON'T SING

Jailed private detective Anthony Pellicano says he's no stool pigeon. Speaking publicly for the first time in three years, the disgraced dick told the Los Angeles Times that he would...

WIND DRIES TRACK

The track at Belmont, sealed after Friday's races, was fast despite overnight rain, thanks in large part to gusty wind that was blowing against horses down backside, with them down...

BULLS FEEL BOOST WITH BUDDLE BACK

Entering last night's match against the Houston Dynamo, the Red Bulls had a lot to be disappointed about. They had managed just one victory in their first nine matches of...

COTTO TOPS MALIGNAGGI

Miguel Cotto and all his Puerto Rican fans can hold their heads high today. So can Brooklyn's Paulie Malignaggi. Faced with a game opponent in Malignaggi, who hung tough after...

TIPS & GADGETS TO START SUMMER

HERE are some tidbits from the outdoor world that maybe of some interest: * Recreational fishing in saltwater contributes more than three times the economic impact of commercial fishing in...

HOP SHOWS POP ; HOPKINS TOO MUCH FOR TARVER

ATLANTIC CITY - If this indeed were Bernard Hopkins' last fight, he could not have scripted a better ending. In a performance that puts an exclamation point on his stellar...

GREAT SCOTT! ADAM CHARGES

Adam Scott is on the verge of becoming one of the PGA Tour's elite golfers, but he doesn't think winning the Barclays Classic this weekend at Westchester Country Club would...

BERNIE'S BACKERS REMAINING LOYAL

BERNIE Williams was at the bat rack and there wasn't one rear end remaining in one Yankee Stadium seat. Surer even than the passage of time has become the standing...

BILLY-BALL; ANDRADE EYES FIRST WIN SINCE 2000

BARCLAYS CLASSIC Billy Andrade has had the same thought running through his head all week. "I know it's in here," he said on Thursday, pointing toward his heart. "I know...

WAGS RED HOT SINCE YANK LOSS

MET NOTES PHOENIX - Just over three weeks ago, Billy Wagner had an atrocious one-third of an inning against the Yankees. Since then, he has been sparkling. Wagner blew a...

NO HR TROT FOR ROOKIE

When rookie Kevin Thompson hit his first major-league home run, two things were learned about the 26-year-old rookie. One, he is very comfortable in any count. Two, he's got some...

YANKEES START THREE FALLING; PITCHING, HITTING, FIELDING FAIL VS. A'S

A's 5Yankees 2 The Yankees faltered in all three phases yesterday afternoon, leading to their first three-game losing streak since early April. Mike Mussina couldn't produce the stellar start the...

LEYRITZ: EASE UP ON BONDS

Since Jim Leyritz thinks performance-enhancing substances have been around for decades, he chose this week to open up about his use of HGH and amphetamines. Leyritz believes today's players are...

GIAMBI, DAMON DINGED

YANKEE NOTES Add injuries to Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon to the Yankees' medical list. Giambi was hit in the left hand by a Brad Halsey pitch in the eighth...

ALL THAT JAZIL; HOLDS OFF 'CAT' TO CAPTURE BELMONT

Jazil, a stretch-runner who finished in a dead-heat for fourth in the Kentucky Derby, came from off the pace again in yesterday's 138th Belmont Stakes, took the lead at the...

LOSING JOCKS TELL HOW IT WENT DOWN

Here what some of the losing jockeys had to say about Jazil's victory in the Belmont Stakes yesterday: John Velazquez (2nd, Bluegrass Cat): "This race just goes to show you...

IT'S A HAPPY ENDING IN THIS JARA MOVIE

A MODESTLY performed colt named Jazil, whose only win in his career was a lowly maiden race in slow time at Aqueduct last December, came steaming through the watery sun-drenched...

MARRERO SHOCKED BY TRADE

MET NOTES PHOENIX - Eli Marrero didn't really see the trade from Colorado coming. "I was a little surprised," the newest Met said yesterday, "but in this game, you never...

UMP'S PASSING DESERVED BIGGER

I DON'T know why - perhaps because they died on busy news days or because a few years removed from the public eye renders them less significant - but people...

EDWARDS SHOWS POCO-KNOW-HOW

LONG POND, Pa. - This is New York's NASCAR race. Today's Pocono 500, held about three hours from the City, marks the first of two races at Pocono Raceway. And...

RED BULLS CAN'T BREAK THEIR TIES

Red Bulls 1Dynamo 1 The scene has repeated itself to the point of being monotonous. The Red Bulls take a lead. They blow a lead. They settle for yet another...

ZBIK RINGS BELL

If Notre Dame's football season goes as well as safety Tom Zbikowski's professional boxing debut, the Irish have a great chance at winning a 12th consensus national championship. Zbikowski knocked...

SOLER SURVIVOR - MET ROOKIE TOSSES 2-HIT GEM VS. SNAKES

Mets 5D'backs 0 PHOENIX - Near the mound following the win, Orlando Hernandez hugged Alay Soler. "Cuban connection, man," El Duque said. But also complete-game winner and complete-game winner. Perhaps...

ISLE HANDLE IT; WANG: 'THIS IS ... MY TEAM'

THEY are no longer the New York Islanders, but rather the I, Me, My Islanders of Charles Wang, who made that crystal clear at the Coliseum on Thursday upon introducing...

JUST FIX THE FUTURE - OWNERS, PLAYERS MUST TEAM UP FOR CLEAN-UP

THE government has a dogged IRS agent named Jeff Novitzky. The majors have provided unfettered powers to George Mitchell. The media has space and airtime to fill, which tends to...

HOMERS COULD BE SIGN OF RE-EMERGENCE

PHOENIX - On Friday, Carlos Beltran crushed two homers and collected four hits, but Beltran has been stellar for nearly the entire season. The other Met who slammed two homers...

CHANGE THE SURFACE, NOT CROWN SCHEDULE

THE shockwaves of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's numbing break down in the Preakness Stakes before an audience of millions are still rumbling through the American racing industry, forcing it as...

CONFESSIONS OF A WORLD CUP CONVERT - IT'S TOO MUCH TROUBLE TO CONTINUE HATING SOCCER

YOU'LL notice that one of the neat additions to your New York Post over the past few months is the inclusion of e-mail addresses at the end of every column,...

TRADE SHOW - MUCH MOVING ON HORIZON IN NBA

ORLANDO - The greatly discussed, critically dissected Rafael AraujoKris Humphries deal featuring the Raptors and Jazz was but the first of countless trades expected before the June 28 draft and...

BOXING LACKS STAR POWER

ATLANTIC CITY - Bernard Hopkins fought his last professional fight last night at Boardwalk Hall. Or so he says. Oscar De La Hoya is planning a potential retirement fight in...

BETTER & WORSE - IMPROVED U.S. SQUAD FACES TOUGH START VS. CZECHS

The U.S. team that opens its World Cup run tomorrow against the Czech Republic is younger, deeper, more athletic and more confident than the one that shocked the sport by...

OPEN SEASON - LOUD NEW YORK FANS LET THE GOLFERS HAVE IT

When Winged Foot plays host to the U.S. Open this week on its venerable West Course, it will mark the third time in five years this country's national open will...

MALIGNAGGI BRINGING CLASS TO THE RING

Paulie Malignaggi doesn't recall how many chances the teachers and administrators gave him at New Utrecht High. If he wasn't cutting class, he was getting into fights, usually with guys...