March 13, 2007
Simon and Ryan are at it again ...
On "American Idol," Ryan is talking to contestant Melinda about how she hates wearing heals, and he asks Simon if he has any advice ...Simon: You should know, Ryan.Ryan: Stay...
Really getting into gaming
The World Cyber Games announced that they're partnering with Philips for the next three years, using amBX accessories as the official "Ambient Gaming Environment Systems" at select WCG global events....
Viva La Xbox Live downloads!
While the movie world is gearing up for the release of the new CGI "TMNT" movie, the game world gets to indulge in nostalgia by playing the same game you...
The Final Four
By MARK HALEDavid Wright and Billy Wagner are both college hoops fans, and both gave me their Final Four predictions today. Let's see who ends up being sharper:Wagner's Final Four...
Saggy, Baggy Shorts
All the boys I know are glued to the TV, filling out pages of brackets and fully immersed in March Madness. Feeling slightly left out, I hit the internet looking...
Another One Bites The Dust
PETA wore him down.After almost a year of discussions between the animal rights group and the American sportswear designer, Tommy Hilfiger just announced he's joining Miuccia Prada, Calvin Klein, Ralph...
MEREDITH VIEREA ALMOST DIED
The Today Show host's daily blog has become strangely compelling reading for us. There's the time her goldfish died. The time she had to get out of the car and...
Dolan's media obsession
By MARC BERMANThe last 10 minutes of James Dolanâs meeting with beat writers yesterday focused on the Knicksâ stringent media policy and Dolanâs omni-present public-relations staff.Isiah Thomasâ sessions with the...
Betty Hutton (1921-2007)
Betty Hutton was best known in her 1940s heyday for her galvanic musical performances in movies like "Annie Get Your Gun'' (where she replaced an ailing Judy Garland). But contemporary...
It's a stitch
Would you pay $42,000 for this? One New York woman has, paying the price of a luxury car for Louis Vuitton's ultra-exclusive Tribute Patchwork Bag. Only 24 were made, stitched...
WHERE TO STAY: Prague
A southern view over Mala Strana and the Vltava/George ApostolidisAs befits a smaller city geared heavily towards welcoming the world (okay, fine, let's just have it out - this place...
Tribeca Twist
A "potentially controversial'' decision by the Tribeca Film Festival to eliminate its "New York, New York'' competition sections is revealed today by The Hollywood Reporter. "While there will still be...
Deal of the Day
As a gesture of solidarity with the recently relapsed and rehabbing Marc Jacobs, pick up this CrissCross Dress by Marc.This cinch waist bubble dress with an asymmetrical tie is marked...
IN TRANSIT: Prague
One of Prague's many world-class transport hubs (Holesovice Station)/Joel GladUPDATED 3/14PLANES: If you're willing to make a stop along the way, you can pretty much slice it however you want...
WHY LITTLE LEAGUE OPPOSES METAL BAT BAN
One place Whereâs Kernan loves to visit is Williamsport, Pa., where time stands still every August when the Little League World Series takes place. The games couldnât be cheaper (free),...
Day 32: Yankee Batting Order
There was a time when teams would rearrange their rotation to make sure their lefty starters faced the Yankees, especially at Yankee Stadium. In Tuesdayâs Post, my column takes a...
MPFREES
The Pierces, "Turn On Billie'' Breathy-voiced Allison and Catherine Pierce, the gorgeous sister act who gave up their ballet slippers for microphones, turn us on as well with this sexy...
HIP HOT
THIS spring in music, it's all about the faceoffs. There's Avril vs. Duff, Trent Reznor vs. the world, and two superstar trios spoiling for a fight. We speak, of course,...
DEBUT STRONG AS OAK
CONSIDERING it's where Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall and others got their first major exposure, the Oak Room seems a launching pad for future stardom. Its enviable track record is...
A FLIGHT AT THE OPERA
IT may well be a dog-eat-dog world - operatically speaking - when New York City Opera's freshly anointed and modish modernist new boss, Gerard Mortier, sits across Lincoln Center plaza...
ARRESTING BARD ROLE FOR DORKY 'OFFICE' GUY
BUT soft! What Dwight through yonder window breaks? 'Tis Rainn Wilson - better known as Dwight Schrute of "The Office" - who, with Debra Messing, Michael Cerveris, Richard Kind and...
THE 'DO YOU KNOW' ADS: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE KIDS?
We've been wondering where our children are at 10 p.m. for nearly 40 years, thanks to Channel 5. The catch-phrase, "It's 10 p.m., do you know where you're children are?"...
LOCAL GIRL
"It's always something." Nothing sums up the news business better than those words spoken by the great Gilda Radner as Rose Ann Roseannadanna on Saturday Night Live. It was the...
FULL CIRCLE
"Yiasou . . . Yiasou, Ernie! Come in my restaurant. Good Greek food for you." That enthusiastic Greek greeting, meaning "Hello," came ringing through the air on one of the...
'BUFFY' PLAYS ANNA NICOLE
IT looks like the death of Anna Nicole Smith is going to get the "Law & Order" treatment. In keeping with the "Law & Order" "ripped from the headlines" credo,...
THE GIRL HE LEFT BEHIND
IT'S hard to believe that we don't have a glut of apart ments in this city, what with every single human on every single show leaving the big city to...
STRAIGHT SHOOTER
WELCOME to "Fort Pit," a police pre cinct so dysfunctional it could only be on TV. Filming began last week in Brooklyn for a new NBC show about the NYPD's...
OPRAH SCHOOL REVOLT
NO good deed goes unpunished. Some of the parents who have kids attending Oprah Winfrey's new African school claim their children are being treated like inmates at a jail and...
ROSIE AND STAR MAY MEET AT EMMYS
STAR Jones and Rosie O'Donnell could end up sharing the stage at this year's daytime Emmy Awards - with the world watching and waiting for the sparks to fly. The...
O2 MY! CAFFEINE'S AIR APPARENT
TIME to make the O face! The latest in ridiculous-ways-to-spend-hard-earned-money is the O+Stick (oxygenplus.com), a nifty little inhaler that delivers hits of 90 percent enriched oxygen. By contrast, oxygen makes...
FREAKIN' LASER BEAMS
THE good news: Laser vision correction works. The other good news: For just a couple hundred dollars more, new techniques can make it work even better. To correct nearsightedness, LASIK...
WTC SEARCH SPREADS TO HIGHWAY
The city is planning to dig under a state highway for remains of Sept. 11 victims, and still has to search more than half the debris recovered from a Ground...
COMPTROLLER RUINS KLEIN'S APPETITE
City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. devoured Schools Chancellor Joel Klein at breakfast yesterday. With the chancellor sitting just a few feet away, the fiscal watchdog ripped the Department of Education...
FEDS PAINT CITY INTO A CORNER
Federal prosecutors have filed a civil-rights lawsuit against the city for allegedly discriminating against women by maintaining a macho, all-male bridge-painting staff. The city's Department of Transportation "has never hired,...
HOSPS & GOV AGREE TO COOL FEVER PITCH
ALBANY - Gov. Spitzer and the state's powerful hospital-workers union declared a truce yesterday in their bitter battle over the governor's efforts to slash health-care spending, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver...
WARMER WEEK WILL BE 'HOG' HEAVEN
Maybe the groundhog was right. We'll enjoy an early spring fling this week - with temperatures in the city expected to glide into the wonderfully warm mid-60s today and low...
NYPD BELL RINGING
The NYPD placed 4,000 plainclothes cops on alert yesterday, fearing protests could erupt when a Queens grand jury returns its decision in the slaying of Sean Bell, who was killed...
TAX ALERT PUTS POLS IN A PANIC
ALBANY - State lawmakers could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars each in back taxes for wrongly claiming deductions related to their job, sources said. In...
A HITCH IN 'WITCH' TALE: WITNESSES
Two witnesses testified yesterday that a Long Island teacher was fired not because she was a Jew, but because she was a shrew. Lauren Berrios, 37, is suing the Hampton...
CITY'S COPS GET PUPPET $OCKED
The city is about to shell out more money for a puppeteer than for a rookie cop. In the twisted world of New York civil service, pulling the strings on...
TRUMP CRAVES TAVERN
Donald Trump would love to take over Tavern on the Green when its lease ends less than two years from now, saying the famed Central Park eatery is not nearly...
A CITY WEEPS FOR FIRE KIDS
It took just two pallbearers to lift the tiniest casket, a simple pine box holding the bodies of 6-month-old twins Sisi and Hourama Soumare. Hundreds of mourners dropped to their...
MISTRIAL IN ARMS CASE
A judge declared a mistrial in the feds' case against a band of New York arms merchants accused of trying to sell Russian military weapons to terrorists - after the...
WEST SIDE CAPO
A reputed killer Genovese capo who had been hunted by the feds for more than a decade was finally nabbed - casually strolling on the Upper West Side - by...
DEP-SLAY JURORS: GUILTY
It took jurors less than a day to convict a Queens man in the 2002 shooting death of an on-duty Department of Environmental Protection worker during a robbery. Taiquan Williams,...
GOODNIGHT NURSE!
Regis Philbin is heading for heart surgery, but the talk-show legend's pulse will be racing when his cutie-pie co-host Kelly Ripa delivers on promises of a sexy sponge bath. "Let...
MONTESSORI 'VICTIM' GRILLED OVER DA DEAL
Defense lawyers yesterday renewed their cries of foul against the younger of two boys who say their headmistress at an Upper East Side Montessori school seduced them at the ages...
HORRIFYING WIFE-SLAY TESTIMONY
"He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!" a doomed wife shrieked as her jealous husband - a butcher by trade - slashed at her with his boning...
BX. 'CRASH' COP BUSTED
An off-duty Manhattan detective was busted yesterday for leaving the scene of an accident in The Bronx, police sources said. John Rankin, 44, of the Manhattan North Warrants Squad, allegedly...
COP ROLL CALLS OPEN WITH MUGGING VIDEO
Cops in every precinct in the city started their day yesterday with a screening of the shocking video of a thug pummeling a 101-year-old Queens woman as police ramped up...
SENIORS PREPARE FOR THUG OF WAR
Queens senior centers yesterday said they will start offering self-defense courses for their clients - who are terrified they'll suffer the same kind of vicious attacks that recently befell two...
E. SIDE SLAY 'SELF-DEFENSE'
A Bronx college student was held without bail yesterday on charges of stabbing to death an East Side doorman whom he saw as a rival for his beautiful girlfriend, prosecutors...
INDICTMENT IN QUEENS KILLING
A young Queens man yesterday was indicted for the murder of an Asian immigrant who was stabbed after celebrating the Chinese New Year. Kendall Walker, 21, of Flushing is accused...
RENT CURBS PLANNED TO SAVE STARRETT CITY DEAL
The developer whose controversial $1.3 billion bid to buy Brooklyn's Starrett City was rejected by federal housing officials is scrambling to salvage the deal with a new proposal aimed at...
GOV TAKES JAVITS CASE TO CITY HALL
Gov. Spitzer took his growing concerns about a $1.8 billion proposed expansion of the Javits Convention Center directly to Mayor Bloomberg yesterday in hopes of coming up with a plan...
'MOB LINKS' SUIT
The operators of a Brooklyn golf course are going to the mat in their battle with the city because they say they were wrongly accused of having links to the...
23 YEARS IN CAGE FOR '97 RAPE CREEP
A thug who viciously raped a young Queens lawyer in her home nearly a decade ago was sentenced to 23 years in prison yesterday. Gregory Stovall, 38, was busted in...
SLAY WITNESSES UNDER WRAPS
Bronx prosecutors are taking extraordinary steps to ensure that witnesses in the beating death of a mentally ill Rikers Island inmate take the stand against a reputed gang member charged...
EX-MET MAKES PITCH TO BAN METAL BATS
Former Mets pitcher John Franco yesterday threw his name behind the City Council bid to ban aluminum bats from high-school baseball games. "I'm sure you have your people here who...
STAR'S COURT DRAMA
A stock-fraud trial involving two brothers and their belly-up bottled-water firm yesterday turned into a nightmare for esteemed "Dreamgirls" actor Danny Glover. Glover, 59, popped up in the Brooklyn federal...
INSPECTOR STING BIDS
Undercover investigators regularly pose as restaurant owners and try to bribe health inspectors, city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden revealed yesterday. "The program itself has multiple, multiple levels of corruption prevention,"...
SHUT EATERY SMELLS A RAT
A popular Union Square eatery has been shut down amid the city's rampage against rats in restaurants. The Coffee Shop, a neighborhood staple and magnet for the hip and attractive...
MAX IN L.I. ROAD RAGE
A Long Island man convicted of fatal road rage landed the maximum prison sentence of five to 15 years yesterday, as the disgusted judge labeled him "the most despicable kind...
IRAN DEFECTOR WAS MOLE-ING IN DOUGH
The Iranian general who recently defected was recruited as a mole four years ago by a western spy who paid him a fortune before the tipster had to flee Tehran,...
HIGH-FASHION FRANKENBAG
It's made out of recycled patterns, but don't call this Louis Vuitton creation an old bag - or a cheap one. The French brand has created the most expensive handbag...
FLAGRANTE DE-DIPLO
Israel's ambassador was ordered home from El Salvador after he was found naked, bound and drunk in the garden of his official residence - with sado-masochistic sex toys nearby, officials...
A MUSTANG FOR HOT-RODDETTES
Maybe they should rename it the Mustang Sally. A splash of pink will be added to the iconic Mustang muscle car this year in an effort to attract women drivers...
RUDY'S BAYOU BOOSTER REASSURES RIGHT
WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani angled to shore up his conservative standing yesterday by rolling out his newest presidential campaign supporter: Southern social conservative Sen. David Vitter. Vitter, a Louisiana Republican...
HILL'S PLAN IS 'SUPER'
WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has already begun methodically lining up support from members of Congress around the country - powerful "superdelegates" who can sway the outcome of the...
ROCK BOTTOM
THE Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has always had trouble harnessing star power at its induction ceremonies. At the Waldorf last night, the class of 2007 - which included...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
Brooklyn* Cops say this man (pictured) held up a Ditmas Park bank. The thief walked into the North Fork branch at 927 Flatbush Avenue at 10:30 a.m. February 22nd, passed...
SACRIFICING A VIRGIN
COULD this be my true love? Meet Herb. Herb is a 23-year-old cheesecake distributor who lives in the attic of his parents' house in Yonkers. Herb is a champion at...
IN SORROW, NO ROOM FOR HATE
QUIETLY, ever so quietly, as the hearses arrived bearing those whom God had chosen to join him, a group of Christian women sat, sang gospel songs and wept. Inside the...
LOTTERY
NEW YORK Midday Nos. Mon.: 872; Lucky Sum: 17 / Midday Win-4 Mon.: 5591; Lucky Sum: 20 / Evening Nos. Mon.: 886; Lucky Sum: 22 / Evening Win-4 Mon.: 7124;...
MONEY FOR NOTHING
Meanwhile, not content with filling the special pleaders' pockets, here come the Albany politicians to fill their own, as well - literally. The latest scheme - pay-hike auto-pilot. The Assembly...
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Gov. Spitzer's signature campaign promise - nothing less than top-to-bottom reform in Albany - is being put to the test beginning this week. Can the governor get the job done?...
MARCH AT THE WALL
MENTION Jane Fonda to any 10 Vietnam veterans, and at least seven of them will have some sort of conniption right on the spot. Spread the rumor that Hanoi Jane...
'08: FUN WITH FRED
SO now we have a Republican boomlet in the race for president, in the person of lawyer-actor and ex-Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee and "Law and Order." He's considering a...
THE LEFT'S LATEST HERO DELIVERS LIBBY 'JUSTICE'
THE ISSUE: A jury's finding that Lewis "Scooter" Libby lied and obstructed justice. In "Libby & Liberals' Unwise Glee" (Post- Opinion, March 10), David Greenberg assumes too much. First he...
SEN. KLEIN RE-BUTTS>
As an advocate of stricter tax enforcement and author of the state law banning cigarette shipments to consumers, I disagree that my proposal to share cigarette tax revenues with tribal...
BEAR MINIMUM
Bear Stearns is being blasted by a leading independent research shop that says the Wall Street titan's robust purchase of subprime mortgages has helped fuel the sector's meltdown. Describing the...
'STEARN' RESPONSE TO TIMES ARTICLE
Bear Stearns is claiming that one of its analysts was done wrong in a scathing New York Times analysis of the collapsing subprime mortgage industry. Bear analyst Scott Coren was...
JOBS REPORT PROVES ECONOMY'S WEAK
LET'S say you'd like your kid to get all A's in school but you realize he's not very smart. So you start expecting C's. But then he gets D's. Eventually...
MCD'S PONDERS PEPSI
For generations, it's been a no-no to ask for Pepsi in a McDonald's - but that tradition may vanish. Although McDonald's loyalty as an exclusive, hard-core Coca-Cola purveyor spans decades...
EISNER TOPPS WEB OF DIGITAL CONTENT
Suddenly, Michael Eisner is everywhere. The former Walt Disney Co. leader followed up last week's $385 million takeover offer of baseball card company Topps by announcing yesterday the launch of...
NY MAG ON THE MOVE
New York magazine is leaving its buttoned-down Madison Avenue location for more spacious digs in trendier SoHo. Sources at the weekly say a deal is expected to be inked by...
TRIMSPA CUTS CELEBS
After the death of celebrity endorser Anna Nicole Smith, diet pill peddler TrimSpa is turning to average Joes for its forthcoming campaign. The Whippany, N.J.-based company will feature hundreds of...
MORT'S REPORT FAILED
U.S. News & World Report appears ready to blink now that a battle with prestigious Sarah Lawrence College over the magazine's closely watched university rankings has gone public. Michele Tolela...
BIG SCREEN STARS ARE MADE
After getting plenty of television exposure, "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee is turning to the silver screen to launch her self-titled debut. McPhee's record, which hit stores earlier this year,...
BLACK PLANNING TO FACE HIS ACCUSER
CHICAGO - Gordon Paris, the executive who ran investigations that led to Conrad Black's ouster from the throne of his newspaper empire, will be the first to testify against the...
COOPER U. IS GOING FOR $$
SEEKING to exploit the growing taste for office buildings in untraditional locations, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is putting a big Astor Place development site...
LTB HAS NO PEERS
Chaos continued to reign at Louise T. Blouin MacBain's LTB Media yesterday, as the new editorial director walked out before she officially started the job. Alexandra Peers, a longtime Wall...
SQUEEZE PLAY
Rival fans of Chicago's two baseball teams could be fighting a new turf battle if billionaire developer Sam Zell gets his hands on the Tribune Co. he's trying to buy...
EMMITT TAKES IRVIN'S JOB
In a move that had been rumored for weeks, ESPN announced yesterday it had come to terms with Emmitt Smith as a prime-time football studio analyst. The former Cowboys running...
SPORTS SHORTS
BASEBALL: Dodger lefty tested positive Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo tested positive for stimulants before joining Taiwan's team at the Asian Games three months ago, but either cold or pain medications...
OLE! FRANCELLA SHOCKS ANNIKA
HUIXQUILUCAN, Mexico - Even Meaghan Francella found it hard to believe: She actually beat Annika Sorenstam in a playoff for her first LPGA victory. "Words can't describe how I feel...
STATEMENT FROM MATTHEWS' AGENT SHEDS LITTLE LIGHT
The Angels have been waiting to hear an apology from Gary Matthews Jr. since a report surfaced linking the outfielder with human growth hormone nearly two weeks ago. Yesterday, they...
NIAGARA, FOE: PLAY-IN PAIN
DAYTON, Ohio - It's a game no NCAA tournament team believes it should be in - the play-in game that fills out the field of 64. This year, Florida A&M...
SWEET REPEAT
After winning the NCAA Championship last season and celebrating with Florida fans and his family, Gators star Joakim Noah screamed to the media that he had gotten his swagger at...
HOLLERING FOR HOYAS
Pete Gillen, the colorful former coach who enjoyed smashing March Madness success at Xavier (Sweet 16, 1990) and Providence (Elite 8, 1997), offers his unique NCAA Tournament perspective from his...
ORANGE CRUSHED
In less than 24 hours, the shock had boiled up from his gut and now left a bile-filled aftertaste in the mouth of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. Boeheim - who...
BIG BLUE WELCOME DROUGHNS
Newly-acquired running back Reuben Droughns has been assured that the Giants backfield will be a two-headed monster. "They said it's definitely going to be a 1-2 punch," he said. The...
FLIRTIN' WITH .400
WHY wouldn't Isiah Thomas get an extension as Knicks president? Since he graced our fair city - Dec. 22, 2003 - they're 114-173, by my abacus. That's a shade under...
KNICKS RELIEVED ISIAH'S STAYING
Yesterday the Knicks found out they'd made enough "significant and evident progress" to save Isiah Thomas' job. And while they insist there will still be the same motivation to win...
TITLE TALK? THOMAS' GOAL LOFTY
Talk about getting greedy. On the day he received his "multi-year" contract extension, Isiah Thomas talked about winning the title, too. This season. Apparently, the new contract has emboldened Thomas'...
EXTENSION ATTENTION
Knicks owner James Dolan vowed the club will not lose its fire and momentum - even minus the urgency of playing for Isiah Thomas' job. Dolan apparently doesn't believe in...
TWO-FOLD THOMAS HAS ONLY ONE GOOD SIDE
THE problem for Jim Dolan, and for everyone else for whom the Knicks are a civic secular religion, is this: You can't split Isiah Thomas in half, like an amoeba....
NO DAY IN PARK
VIERA, Fla. - Chan Ho Park's performance yesterday was better than decent, closer to impressive than unimpressive. Bidding for a spot in the Mets' rotation, Park had his second outing...
JERSEY BOUNCE
MEMPHIS - The opponent did not matter. The fact the Grizzlies lead in the race to hold "Greg Oden Bobblehead Night" next season was inconsequential. After all, it's not like...
STRONG SIGNS FOR R.J.
MEMPHIS - This was how Richard Jefferson envisioned himself coming back. "That's how I normally like to play. Just be aggressive early and try and set the tone," said Jefferson,...
RENNEY STICKS TO PPG 'GUNS'
Five months into his second full season as head coach of the Rangers, Tom Renney remains loyal to his athletes. As it has been throughout the year, this is both...
CARL CAROUSEL
FORT MYERS - There is a game coming when a start by Carl Pavano might become just another outing by a pitcher. At least the Yankees are hoping that way....
JOE: SOX FANS STILL THE SAME
FORT MYERS - After the 2004 Red Sox pulled off the greatest comeback in baseball history by erasing the Yankees' 3-0 bulge in the ALCS and then swept the World...
JUST NOT RIGHT
TAMPA - Derek Jeter, wearing a warm-up top, threw across the diamond and the first baseman, a guy named Don Mattingly, scooped the ball out of the dirt. That triggered...
UPDATE: KNICKS' LEE OUT ANOTHER MONTH
After getting a second opinion on his sore right leg Monday, Knick forward David Lee is expected to miss another three or four weeks, after being listed as day-to-day by...
DREAM LAND
PRAGUE doesn't do entrances. It really doesn't. At least not if you're taking the train in from Vienna, which means arriving at the Holesovice train station. Had you ever thought...
INSIDE SCOOP
HOLD THE KETCHUP In the early days of the expat boom, Prague was well known for producing awful pizza. Mutant pies, topped with canned corn and other pantry staples, were...
SEE DEAD PEOPLE
THE first thing I notice is the chill. I'm just halfway down the stairs, and it's already colder. The second thing I notice are the bones. In each corner, thousands...
QUICK ESCAPES
CESKY KRUMLOV Why: The center of this miniature Prague is protected by UNESCO for a reason - strolling its winding alleys and cobblestone streets offers a true taste of Medieval...
MYSTIC PIZZA
SPEND a day navigating Naples' streets, and you may begin to feel like you're in Pamplona during the running of the bulls. But instead of horned angry beasts, you'll find...
GET IN THE WATER
YOU don't have to be smarter than a fifth-grader to understand why a cruise through the Old Country works. First off, it's Europe. Secondly, the prices for a sea-based tour...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
The Los Angeles suburb of Torrance is black, white and smells all over. A housing boom has forced skunks out of their natural habitat - and into the paths of...
THE PERFECT DAY: Prague
Sunrise on the Charles Bridge/George ApostolidisWelcome to the first of an occasional series here on the blog. The purpose is self-explanatory - we'll ask the writer to map out specifically...