Freaks

They gathered in hot, stuffy rooms and watched with fascination as videotaped tornadoes, in fast-forward fury, leveled farmhouses in places like Wichita Falls, Texas, and Oshkosh, Wis. Most of the spectators were people who work outdoors, as farmers, firefighters, sailors or police officers. They were there during their spare time yesterday, fanning flushed faces in un-air-conditioned rooms in the William J. Green Jr. Federal Building, while they trained for unpaid duty with the U.S. government.

THE SUPREME Court rules that marijuana is still not legal, so the abuse of the cool drug of the hippie generation comes back to haunt the boomers. They were hopheads, joint freaks, but it was a fun drug in the '60s. So now that their kids are older and cooler, they have graduated to new drugs, Oxycontin, crack, heroin. You name it, they can get it. Forget about a beer and a cigarette, that's not cool. See what you've taught them? Now that we have a positive use for pot, we can't do it because of the abuse of the past.

The lion's share of this season's entertaining new series turn up on Fox, which has finally ditched the marauding lions, killer cows and assorted other deadly home-video trash that used to decorate its prime time. The top five new series: 24 (Fox, Tuesdays, 9 p.m.) Since its unveiling in May, this high-tech spy thriller has rightfully been the buzz of the industry. Each of its 24 episodes covers one hour in a busy day in the life of the country's head counterterrorist. He's supposed to stop the assassination of a presidential candidate.

It was a lot to ask of an audience. On the day its long-awaited third album, Secret Samadhi, hit stores, Live began a sold-out tour on Tuesday with a show largely devoted to Samadhi material. The mysterious chords of the opener, "Unsheathed," set the tone: This wouldn't be an evening of hits. The York, Pa., quartet seemed intent on showing the Tower Theater the breadth of its latest creation, even if most of the audience was hearing the songs for the first time. It followed "Unsheathed" with a new epic called "Rattlesnake," the dramatic "Freaks," and "Turn My Head," a doleful ballad that's sure to be a single.

(Xbox 360) Ruffian Games, Microsoft $59.99 Let's face it, when Crackdown debuted in early 2007, the main draw was getting that Halo 3 beta key contained in the game. What many didn't know when they first played this game of superhero cops vs. various criminal elements of Pacific City was that it offered hours and hours of fun from performing feats such as hopping from rooftop to rooftop and throwing cars around the city as if they were Frisbees. Well, Ruffian Games doesn't need the Halo brand for increased interest this time around; the game easily stands on its own. Crackdown 2 finds its fair city under the plague of a virus that is turning the population into freaks.

GOOD BOY! Nice little movie about a boy (Liam Aiken) and the outer-space terrier who clues him in to secret life of dogs. (PG) B INTOLERABLE CRUELTY. Gold digger (Catherine Zeta-Jones) meets match in divorce lawyer (George Clooney). Some bright moments, but doesn't match level of talent. (R) B- KILL BILL: VOL. I. Killer (Uma Thurman) survives assassination, gets revenge. Two hours of cartoon violence, either cool or dull, depending on your age. (R) CLOST IN TRANSLATION. Has-been star (Bill Murray)

This week, we're gonna party like it's 1994, the year I spent almost all of my spare time at the Khyber, when I used to have love and hope about this thing called indie rock. My more scholarly and old-school friends will tell me that 1994 wasn't so special, but it was my year to be young, foolish and unjaded. This week, Sub Pop is responsible for the lion's share of the worthy shows, since they returned to doing what they do best: releasing quality scuzz rock. Most of the offerings on their current roster are of Nirvana or Mudhoney quality, but unfortunately, we don't live in a Nirvana world anymore.

His jersey was teal instead of the familiar green and gold, but that did little to disguise Reggie White on his first day as a Carolina Panther. The largest crowd this training camp turned out yesterday in Spartanburg, S. C., to catch a glimpse of the NFL's career sacks leader. Fans crowded against the fence and children chanted, "Reggie! Reggie!" "To see No. 92 out there in our colors, I caught myself looking over there two or three times and saying, 'Wow, there's Reggie White in our uniform,' " quarterback Steve Beuerlein said.

All is darkness. As the black slowly lightens, we see that we're in a cave and that a tiny fire flickers in the distance. We can barely make out figures huddled about the flame. Slowly we move toward the brightness. As we get closer, we see that the figures are prehistoric women and men wearing animal furs. At the sound of a distant howl, they respond as one, leaning closer to the fire. We move in close to a grizzled face, its left eye sealed shut beneath thick scar tissue. At the sound of another animal cry, the good eye seems to blaze, then squint.

I NEVER thought I'd read in a family newspaper what turned out to be a lesson on a gynecological procedure ("Designer Vaginas," March 16). Since I'm very astute about the human body, this article didn't creep me out as it did some of my friends. I think surgeons like Dr. Leis are performing a much-needed procedure for women who feel they would otherwise not be able to have satisfying sex. As there are pros and cons to everything, I say let it rip. Since we are too soon dead, do whatever works for you!

Kim Clijsters , who won the last two grand-slam tennis tournaments, might miss the French Open with an ankle injury she suffered at a wedding party last weekend. Clijsters, the reigning U.S. Open and Australian Open champion, faces a recovery of at least 4 to 6 weeks, according to her website. The French Open starts May 22. On Saturday, Clijsters was wearing high heels when she stepped on someone's foot at the wedding of her cousin Tim . The complex injury - ligaments were stretched on top of a torn ankle joint capsule and tendon sheath - will force her to keep her right ankle immobilized for several days and will leave her on crutches.

The Giants beat Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. That wasn't supposed to happen. Halladay has another crack at San Francisco and Tim Lincecum in Game 5 on Thursday. Who wins: Doc or the Cat Call Kid? Let's establish the stakes first. This is the most important start of Halladay's life, the first time he pitches a postseason game when his team absolutely needs a win. Yeah, Charlie was sort of kidding about Game 4 being the most important of the series - until Game 5. It's an obvious point, but it's also true and undeniable.

Maybe the answer has something to do with airplanes. For all their obvious differences, Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum share top billing for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series because they are arguably the two best pitchers in the NL, if not all of baseball. At 6-foot-6, with a delivery straight out of a coaching manual, Halladay is the prototype major-league pitcher. He is making his second career postseason start after throwing a no-hitter last week in his first.

A 7-week-old Reading boy was in critical condition this morning because of a head injury caused by a gunshot inside a home Sunday night, according to police. About 9:15 p.m., the baby was in a stroller on the first floor at 434 Rosenthal St. when a bullet fired on the second floor traveled through the floor and ceiling below, Capt. Francis Drexler said. "We believe the bullet struck the stroller and might have caused a fragment to hit his head," he said. Police doubt the baby could have survived a direct hit by a bullet.

"Anyone who thinks this wasn't a catastrophe must be far away from it. " "I was freaking out for the first couple of minutes, but he sat down with us after the press left and made us feel completely at ease. " "The oligopoly of British banks does not [impose] banking charges on customers. The quid pro quo is, they don't provide customer service, either. " "I think everyone in the region is trying to benefit from Chinese economic dynamism but at the same time is trying to make sure China does not become a regional hegemon.

As a rising senior at B. Reed Henderson High School, Andrew Leonard Hicks had charted his future. He planned to study medicine and had been accepted into a tough training course at Chester County Hospital. He was a member of the National Honor Society and played ice hockey and soccer at the school. "There wasn't a bad thing about him," one of his mentors said Tuesday. In a freak accident Monday afternoon, Hicks, 17, fell more than 400 feet to his death during a family vacation in northern California.

Howie Mandel is a major germaphobe. The folks at America's Got Talent - where he's the newest judge - had to know this. The title of Mandel's autobiography is Don't Touch Me . As a child, he wouldn't fix undone shoelaces because they'd touched the floor. How long have you been a germaphobe, he was once asked. "You're asking my age?" he replied. And yet, somebody at the NBC summer hit apparently thought it would be funny to test the bald big mouth's microbe-phobia.

(Xbox 360) Ruffian Games, Microsoft $59.99 Let's face it, when Crackdown debuted in early 2007, the main draw was getting that Halo 3 beta key contained in the game. What many didn't know when they first played this game of superhero cops vs. various criminal elements of Pacific City was that it offered hours and hours of fun from performing feats such as hopping from rooftop to rooftop and throwing cars around the city as if they were Frisbees. Well, Ruffian Games doesn't need the Halo brand for increased interest this time around; the game easily stands on its own. Crackdown 2 finds its fair city under the plague of a virus that is turning the population into freaks.

I NEVER thought I'd read in a family newspaper what turned out to be a lesson on a gynecological procedure ("Designer Vaginas," March 16). Since I'm very astute about the human body, this article didn't creep me out as it did some of my friends. I think surgeons like Dr. Leis are performing a much-needed procedure for women who feel they would otherwise not be able to have satisfying sex. As there are pros and cons to everything, I say let it rip. Since we are too soon dead, do whatever works for you!

LARRY Ceisler's recent op-ed branding a potential constitutional convention as a "political freak show" populated by "crazies" illustrates a stunning lack of research on the issue. As the author of SB340 and HB1929 in 2007 (and a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor), I suggest he review that legislation. It provides ample compensation for delegates and funds a convention from existing legislative surpluses. It designates transparent methods for lobbying, calls for three delegates elected from each senate district and doesn't demand public financing of delegate campaigns.