Blue Skies

How has your summer been? At the Jersey Shore, that question is answered in numbers. And this year, the numbers are up. And sometimes down. From Sea Bright to Cape May, those who count things such as the number of beach badges bought, sodas sipped, ice creams dipped, souvenirs sold, and dollars raked in at the casinos say that, in most cases, business is booming. And that boom is being driven by the seemingly infinite number of days when blue skies and sunshine baked beaches this summer.

The Mississippi River sits out there, fatter and browner than ever, but it is no longer the foe it was just two days ago, when this region hunkered behind sandbags and awaited the fiercest flush of water to ever bend around these grassy banks. People woke up to blue skies and sun yesterday, many feeling that the worst had slinked past in the night. The river crested at a record 46.9 feet, which means that 26 billion gallons of water - or enough to fill Veterans Stadium 54 times - swept past here every hour.

Bus Stop Buddy, get out your construction paper and Crayolas. Tomorrow is the boss' B-day. That's right, ever-smiling Fox 29 weatherwoman Sue Serio is in for a very "Good Day" tomorrow. She turns 53. We're predicting blue skies for her: The stars reveal great riches and relationships - maybe a big bouquet of rainbows from sports anchor-turned-actor husband Bill Vargas? Also this week: Sunday host Wally Kennedy is 63 today; weather person David Murphy is 52 Thursday; and fellow early showman Ukee Washington is 53 on Saturday.

With the blue skies and crisp sunshine beckoning, some big guys and little guys made tracks to the playground at Cooper River Park in Camden yesterday for a little action on the equipment. Their exertion levels varied.

Only the insensate could have failed to get a buzz from the superb weather of the past few days, and the forecast for the next couple of days should sustain that good feeling for the spring-at-heart. Yesterday's mild temperatures, blue skies and bright sun lured office workers outside in droves, filling Center City streets and sidewalks with an army of shadows.

With nothing but blue skies planned for this weekend's forecast, Penn's Landing will be the spot tomorrow to enjoy the unseasonably warm temperatures in addition to Game 3 of the Phillies-Dodgers series. Beginning at 8 p.m., the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing will be the site of the "Phillies Rally by the River" where in addition to special appearances by the Phillie Phanatic and the Phillies ballgirls, the game will be broadcast on a 17-foot LED video screen. The event is free, but there will be food and beverages - both non-alcoholic and beer - available for purchase.

Records fell almost as fast as the thermometer overnight, but the sun's still high enough in the fading summer sky to give us a great Labor Day weekend. That's the word from Accu-Weather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, who said we broke two low-temperature records last night and have a good shot at breaking another tonight. When the mercury hit 44 at 5:50 a.m. today at International Airport, it broke the 1982 low of 46 for the date. It also broke the Aug. 31, 1965, all- time low of 45 for a Philadelphia August.

PRODUCER, director and Hollywood heavyweight, West Philly native Lee Daniels celebrates his 52nd on Saturday. The self-proclaimed "early Christmas present" to his parents sealed his status as a movie mogul a pair of years ago by producing/directing "Precious," based on the novel Push by Sapphire. (He also produced widely acclaimed "Monster's Ball" and "The Woodsman. ") Though Daniels' life hasn't always been an easy road, next year, the pal of Mariah Carey and idol of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry can look forward to blue skies.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Curious townspeople lingered outside the Brockerhoff House early Tuesday morning, sipping coffee, eating breakfast pizza, and trying to digest the incongruity of it all. "This will soon be gone," said one woman in a red school crossing guard's vest as she aimed her cellphone camera at the Centre County Courthouse, "and I want to make sure I get a picture. Otherwise no one will believe me. " Her lens was focused across Allegheny Street, where the shop windows were elaborately decorated for the holidays, at the media army occupying the courthouse square.

It may be nothing but blue skies ahead for the city's financial future. But it may also be that the sky is about to fall. Everything depends on who's delivering the weather report. Tomorrow, Mayor Street is expected to deliver his annual budget report, a kind of "state of the city" address, and we anticipate his forecast will call for sparkling blue skies and sunny economic horizons. After all, with a budget surplus of $295 million, continued increases in employment and revenues, things do look rosy.

PRODUCER, director and Hollywood heavyweight, West Philly native Lee Daniels celebrates his 52nd on Saturday. The self-proclaimed "early Christmas present" to his parents sealed his status as a movie mogul a pair of years ago by producing/directing "Precious," based on the novel Push by Sapphire. (He also produced widely acclaimed "Monster's Ball" and "The Woodsman. ") Though Daniels' life hasn't always been an easy road, next year, the pal of Mariah Carey and idol of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry can look forward to blue skies.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Curious townspeople lingered outside the Brockerhoff House early Tuesday morning, sipping coffee, eating breakfast pizza, and trying to digest the incongruity of it all. "This will soon be gone," said one woman in a red school crossing guard's vest as she aimed her cellphone camera at the Centre County Courthouse, "and I want to make sure I get a picture. Otherwise no one will believe me. " Her lens was focused across Allegheny Street, where the shop windows were elaborately decorated for the holidays, at the media army occupying the courthouse square.

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Curious townspeople lingered outside the Brockerhoff House early Tuesday morning, sipping coffee, eating breakfast pizza, and trying to digest the incongruity of it all. "This will soon be gone," said one woman in a red school crossing guard's vest as she aimed her cellphone camera at the Centre County Courthouse, "and I want to make sure I get a picture. Otherwise no one will believe me. " Her lens was focused across Allegheny Street, where the shop windows were elaborately decorated for the holidays, at the media army occupying the courthouse square.

Bus Stop Buddy, get out your construction paper and Crayolas. Tomorrow is the boss' B-day. That's right, ever-smiling Fox 29 weatherwoman Sue Serio is in for a very "Good Day" tomorrow. She turns 53. We're predicting blue skies for her: The stars reveal great riches and relationships - maybe a big bouquet of rainbows from sports anchor-turned-actor husband Bill Vargas? Also this week: Sunday host Wally Kennedy is 63 today; weather person David Murphy is 52 Thursday; and fellow early showman Ukee Washington is 53 on Saturday.

ABC and Fox premiere new sitcoms this week, each traveling familiar roads. The path is solid blacktop for ABC, which has demonstrated with Modern Family and The Middle, two of the best new comedies of the last few years, that it knows where it's going. Mr. Sunshine, bowing Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. after Modern Family, looks promising, with former Friend Matthew Perry playing straight man in a swirl of kooks, including an especially amusing Allison Janney, who deliver consistent laughs.

FAIRLY LEGAL. 10 tonight, USA. IN THIS WEEK'S battle of the Offbeat Legal Dramas, NBC is once again about to be outshone by its sunnier corporate sibling, the USA Network. NBC's "Harry's Law," which premiered Monday and stars Oscar winner Kathy Bates as a grumpy patent attorney-turned-storefront lawyer, is set in a low-rent neighborhood inside what used to be a high-end shoe store. USA's "Fairly Legal," which debuts at 10 tonight after the return of "Royal Pains," is set in a high-end law firm - not to mention all the prettiest parts of San Francisco - and stars Sarah Shahi ("Life")

I Can Do Bad All By Myself , Tyler Perry's endearing adaptation of the melo-comedic stage play that introduced his alter ego Madea, is a double shot of Saturday-night lowdown chased by a cheery chug of Sunday-morning uplift. Starring that spitfire Taraji P. Henson ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ) as a lounge singer who resists assuming guardianship of her late sister's children, the film is a variety show that successfully prompts laughs, tears, and song, culminating in heaps o' hope.

Heavy rains that began in the early morning and lasted into the afternoon drenched Pocono Raceway yesterday, forcing the postponement of the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500. The Sprint Cup race has been rescheduled for 12:15 p.m. today, with television coverage beginning at noon on ESPN. The local forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s. Track workers put in a yeoman effort to dry the 2.5-mile speedway. Along with the conventional methods - airplane-engine-size blowers whisking away the moisture, and a squadron of vehicles turning countless laps around the track - crews battled water "weeping" up through the racing surface in Turn 1 by using power saws to cut lines into the asphalt.

It happens to even the most ardent skier. On the first day of the season, you question why you like this sport. You schlep your equipment, don an outfit that would make a supermodel look chunky, schlep some more, and strap on your skis. Exhausted, you sit on the lift, thinking, "I could be in the islands. . . . " The answer comes quickly. Skiing is simply exhilarating. This year, my ski season began in the Italian Alps. A friend and I joined a group trip to a Club Med in Sestriere, near Turin.