• by John Gaffney , October 24, 2002

Other People's Riffs:

Now The Trick Is, After You Go Home, Are You Still Coming Back?: "We are not going to do big holiday parties and big lunches," Time, Inc. president Ann Moore said recently. "We are going to try to do things a little differently. We are telling people to go home and be with their families."

The Grey Lady Herself: CNN says its going for hip-hop phrases. But check out this 50s gem from The New York Times, in a piece about Ann Moore: “After making like Hazel and dust-busting the enterprise she took over in July after her predecessor, Don Logan, was promoted to a corporate job AOL Time Warner, Ms. Moore went shopping.”

Guess It’s Better Than The Sex At St. Patrick’s Stunt: On Sunday at 11:00 a.m. at Linvilla Orchards (137 West Knowlton Road, Media, PA), couples will compete in a timed race where the husbands will carry their wives through an obstacle course to win tremendous prizes including "five times the wife's weight in cash." 102.9 WMGK morning man John DeBella (5:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. weekdays) came up with the contest idea when he read an article on the Internet that described a similar event that takes place every year in New England. To add a Halloween spin to the event, DeBella is asking the wives to dress-up as a princess or witch (whichever is deemed `more appropriate'). The origin of the competition is based in Finnish history. A 19th century notorious character, Rankainen the Robber, imposed strong physical standards on men he considered for his band. To qualify, the men had to complete a difficult course with a heavy sack on their backs. It was also not uncommon for men to steal women from neighboring villages. Stealing women will not be encouraged in DeBella's race.

I Guess Rush’s Hearing Is Improving: After Maureen Dowd took a few shots at GW in her NYT column this week, Rush Limbaugh went ballistic. "It's obvious Maureen Dowd hasn't gotten over her breakup with Michael Douglas who she thinks is a real American president but he didn't do anything but utter the words written for him by Aaron Sorkin and stand where someone director told him to stand and have his hair coifed by somebody who knew what to do, and then he blew it by running off with Catherine Zeta-Jones, leaving Maureen Dowd in the lurch. All she's got now is bourbon for mouthwash, and it's showing on her columns."