Baby Shower

As dozens of North Philadelphia neighbors were about to play "Winner Takes All" at a weekend baby shower, a violent confrontation with police ensued. Before the raffle winner could be announced, three men were arrested. At least six others alleged they were beaten with a baton or subdued with pepper spray while dozens of officers converged on the party Saturday night in the 2400 block of West Master Street. Police came to assist a distressed officer who said he was facing the angry crowd at the baby shower and a nearby church gathering that had attracted more than 150 people of all ages, including babies and the elderly.

DID THEY or didn't they? The Star said Saturday that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had been married in New Orleans. People, however, said they're in Texas where Brad is filming Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life. " The pair's publicist agreed with People, saying that the wedding story was wrong. Yesterday, the Star took a step back from the tale. But in the fascinating whisper-down-the-lane way that even false stories gain momentum, "Extra" spoke with Rev. Tony Talavera, of the French Quarter Wedding Chapel, so that he could insist that he had not married the couple.

WHEN YOU think of "entertainer," who comes to mind? A lot of late people - the late Frank Sinatra, the late Sammy Davis Jr., the late James Brown, the late Liza Minelli . . . oh, wait, it's only her career that's dead. Maybe Celine Dion, in some alternate universe. Don't say Wayne Newton. Please. Is there such a lack of entertainers these days that Entertainment Weekly felt compelled to name J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter mega-popular series, as its Entertainer of the Year?

THE WIFE OF Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is notoriously media-shy. Maybe it's because her husband gets slaughtered in the press and on sports-talk radio. Whatever her motivation, Raquel McNabb has managed to hang on to her privacy in this sports-crazy city, even as her significant other's every move is dissected and analyzed to the point of absurdity. Although fans have been known to knock on her front door, she's remained relatively anonymous, shunning the spotlight.

DMX WAS supposed to appear in a White Plains, N.Y., court Wednesday to face a slew of bad-driving charges, but when he failed to show, the judge who had already granted him two postponements had had enough. Judge Barbara Leak issued an arrest warrant for the rapper (aka Earl Simmons). "We have granted him a number of courtesies," the judge said. "It ends now. " DMX's lawyer, Stacey Murray, promised that he would come to court yesterday. He did. And he went to jail - held on $25,000 bail.

Before, when Meredith Lindemon told her friends about a great new store, a fun new bar, or a terrific art gallery, she was just talking. Now she's working. A weekend South Street regular in high school and a habitual art gallery troller in her college years, the 24-year-old Northern Liberties free-lance writer is, these days, a can't-help-herself devotee of postage-stamp-sized coffee shops, below-the-radar cultural spots, and beyond-the-mall dress shops. Which means her new job as the Philadelphia editor of the popular gal-about-town Web site called Daily Candy will be an extension of her regular trendy, social, chatty life.

When Pam Bryer talks about the plight of impoverished women and children, she often brings a Frisbee. It's a reminder of the day when Bryer, executive director of the Maternal and Child Health Consortium of Chester County, saw a child living in an unheated trailer near Honey Brook, eating mashed potatoes off a Frisbee. "When I talk to community groups, I take that Frisbee with me. It is a physical reminder of how much need is out there," Bryer said. As Bryer's group celebrates a milestone - the 10th anniversary of its Healthy Start program to reduce infant mortality and low-birth-weight babies - the growing number of immigrant women in the county has put a greater strain on resources, Bryer said.

Ever since the Magi delivered those epochal baby gifts, the tradition of celebrating birth with a shower of presents has been evolving. Along the way from myrrh to Tommy Hilfiger layettes, the tradition has lost some of its soul. Today, a baby shower is as much commercial venture as social ritual. And with 21 percent of all babies in this country delivered by caesarean section last year, childbirth itself has become a medical procedure, detached from what some mothers say can be a transcendent spiritual experience.

LIVING IN A "battleground" state may not be much fun if you don't like political commercials, but it should be a lot of fun if you like to see concerts. Some of music's biggest acts are going to be playing for change. Billboard.com reports that the Vote for Change tour, presented by MoveOn PAC and America Coming Together, is set to begin Oct. 1 right here in Pennsylvania and will include approximately 40 shows spread out over Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri and the land of the hanging chad.

Poll: Bush and Hillary are Americans' most admired George W. Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton are the most admired man and woman in America, according to a poll released yesterday. The Republican president and the Democratic senator from New York and former first lady won't be found on the same sides of many political issues. But they're both seen in a favorable light by the American public. When people were asked to name the man they admire the most, Bush was picked by 29 percent.