Happy Days

I'M SUPER-elated that QVC dropped "Hanoi Jane" Fonda last weekend. Fonda snuggled up with the VC during the Vietnam War. She was going to be boycotted if she was going to promote her book. I say hoorah! for QVC in kicking her off. George J. Walton, Upper Darby In two weeks, the National Association of Black Journalists will hold its annual convention in the City of Brotherly Love. And, by the grace of St. Katharine Drexel in Camden, N.J., love is in the air. Wayne E. Williams Camden

"If life and death did not both present themselves to us," Samuel Beckett told an interviewer in 1961, "there would be no inscrutability. . . . It is because there is not only darkness but also light that our situation becomes inexplicable. " Darkness and light battle to a virtual standoff in Happy Days, the spare, existential 1961 tragicomedy that was to become the last full-length play that Beckett would write. Their eternal struggle is brought to rich and satisfying life in the Philadelphia Area Repertory Theatre (PART)

The big question yesterday was not whether backup quarterback Randall Cunningham would return from Las Vegas in time for today's final practice session for Sunday's playoff game against the Cowboys. It was, "What did they name the baby?" Gizmo? Richie? Buddy? Rodney McMahon Cunningham? Norman? Arsenio? Or Randall, Jr? It's a boy. The waiting and simmering frustration among many in the Eagles' organization is over. Cunningham phoned head coach Ray Rhodes yesterday to announce that his wife, Felicity, gave birth to their first child early in the morning.

We are up to our necks in it - whatever it is. That's what came to me after seeing the Lantern Theater production of Happy Days, the 1961 play by the absurdist Samuel Beckett. Until then, I'd only read Happy Days - which Beckett wrote with almost as much stage direction as dialogue, the former at times more absorbing. I was curious to see it unfold, if that is the word, on stage. And on balance, Lantern tackles the piece well. Happy Days asks: What does it mean when there's nothing to say, but we say it at length and repetitively?

EIGHTY years ago this Sunday, the federal government enacted a law that targets beer drinkers with a mean-spirited tax on every bottle, every glass, every sip they take. In the decades that have followed this ignominious date, the law has taken billions of dollars out of our pockets, killed jobs, thwarted brewery expansion and threatened the middle class. Beer lobbyists today describe the law as "devastating" and "regressive. " They say it jeopardizes the entire industry. Just another example of greedy tax-and-spend politicians, right?

If you called the phone number listed for the Broadway Series at the Academy of Music on Tuesday night, when it opened the stunningly lame new musical called Happy Days , you got a taped message that the box office would be back in business sometime after New Year's. Is anybody minding the store over there? Apparently not, or someone would have changed the message by now - and also would have nixed the possibility of booking Happy Days , which runs through the weekend and appears to be a stage collaboration by Lackluster and Uninspired.

Garry Marshall was walking across the Paramount lot and was hailed by a young woman. When Marshall told her he was doing a movie, she said, "Great! Do you have a good part?" Marshall is amused by the story, and why not? The movie is "Dear God," and he's the director. At 62, Marshall is a television legend as the creative force behind such classics as "The Odd Couple," "Happy Days," "Mork and Mindy" and "Laverne and Shirley. " As a film director, he's done "Pretty Woman," "Beaches" and "Frankie and Johnny," among others.

The editorial department of the News-Gazette, located then at 48 Main St. in Champaign, Ill., was on the second floor, and that floor was scarred and stained by a lifetime of snuffed butts. There was no air conditioning, so in the summer, all the windows would be thrown wide, and as darkness descended, squadrons of flying insects would answer the siren call of the lights, their bodies carpeting the desks. We hammered out our deathless prose on quaint machines called typewriters, and when there was a room full of them firing up, it sounded like machine-gun fire.

This year, "Forward" and "Believe in America" are among the competing political campaign slogans. Match up themes or slogans from previous years with the presidential candidate. 1. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. " 2. "54-40 or fight. " 3. "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men . . . " 4. "Happy days are here again. " 5. "He kept us out of war. " 6. "In your heart, you know he's right. " 7. "It's the economy, stupid.

With the theme of Magnum, P.I. as its entrance music and an illuminated World Wrestling Federation "W" as part of its goofy stage show, Weezer gave new meaning to the phrase "sitcom rock" Wednesday night at the Tower Theater. Like a TV sitcom, the L.A. quartet packs pop culture references, laughs, and family entertainment into every three-minute song. Mixing Beach Boy harmonies and Cheap Trick hooks with the requisite wall-of-guitars, guitarist- vocalists Brian Bell and Rivers Cuomo, bassist Matt Sharp, and drummer Patrick Wilson pleased the largely junior-high-age crowd that body-surfed, screamed and sang along, as well as their parental chaperones.

There wasn't anything that Roger Ebert tried that he wasn't stunningly successful at. After years of valiant resistance, he succumbed to cancer Thursday. He leaves behind a staggering body of multidimensional work. And here is where it all began, when we were young reporters . . . The editorial department of the News-Gazette, located then at 48 Main St. in Champaign, Ill., was on the second floor, and that floor was scarred and stained by a lifetime of snuffed butts. There was no air conditioning, so in the summer, all the windows would be thrown wide, and as darkness descended, squadrons of flying insects would answer the siren call of the lights, their bodies carpeting the desks.

The editorial department of the News-Gazette, located then at 48 Main St. in Champaign, Ill., was on the second floor, and that floor was scarred and stained by a lifetime of snuffed butts. There was no air conditioning, so in the summer, all the windows would be thrown wide, and as darkness descended, squadrons of flying insects would answer the siren call of the lights, their bodies carpeting the desks. We hammered out our deathless prose on quaint machines called typewriters, and when there was a room full of them firing up, it sounded like machine-gun fire.

EIGHTY years ago this Sunday, the federal government enacted a law that targets beer drinkers with a mean-spirited tax on every bottle, every glass, every sip they take. In the decades that have followed this ignominious date, the law has taken billions of dollars out of our pockets, killed jobs, thwarted brewery expansion and threatened the middle class. Beer lobbyists today describe the law as "devastating" and "regressive. " They say it jeopardizes the entire industry. Just another example of greedy tax-and-spend politicians, right?

I DON'T KNOW which is more out of touch: a) the wife of a man who, when investigated for posting a picture of his son holding what appears to be an assault rifle on Facebook, states that her husband posted the picture because he was angry that the president was elected in 2008; or b) a newspaper article that references the man's fear that his gun would be taken away. In this post-Newtown environment, people want to make sure that laws of gun ownership are enforced. If you post a picture of what looks to be an assault weapon in a state where sale and ownership of assault weapons are banned, you should expect the government to react.

Sometimes the best-laid plans are last-minute plans. Before all the comings and goings of this holiday week are done, extend one last invitation to friends and family. An impromptu gathering at your home is by definition informal, and relieves you of the obligation to have every detail covered. With even a semi-stocked larder, you can invite folks on New Year's Eve to join you for brunch on New Year's Day. The loose time frame of an open-house invitation lets people drop in, or settle in. Spanning either lunch or dinner, the food to offer will shift accordingly.

This year, "Forward" and "Believe in America" are among the competing political campaign slogans. Match up themes or slogans from previous years with the presidential candidate. 1. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. " 2. "54-40 or fight. " 3. "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men . . . " 4. "Happy days are here again. " 5. "He kept us out of war. " 6. "In your heart, you know he's right. " 7. "It's the economy, stupid.

"Oh, there's all these rumors that I'm a lesbian," says Kelly Clarkson, who graces the cover of Lucky mag's first music issue. The Voice mentor is jocular, her lucky Lucky interlocutor says.  Well? Is she? "I have a boyfriend now," Kelly, 30, says. "Brandon Blackstock, my manager Narvel's son, Reba McEntire's stepson. " The blushing American Idol hopeful turned megastar is as all-American traditional as her music: She likes to shoot guns. "I just had my 30th birthday and we went turkey shooting," she says.

OSI UMENYIORA is 30 years old, but acts like he's 2. On Sunday, the Giants defensive end rekindled a feud with LeSean McCoy by sending the Eagles running back a tweet that said, "Happy Mothers Day Lesean Mccoy! Enjoy your special day!!" Hmmmm. Wonder how long Osi has been saving that little gem? McCoy responded by tweeting, "Lol let the beef begin. " Actually, the "beef" began in June. Umenyiora was in a contract dispute with the Giants and McCoy tweeted that the two-time Pro Bowler was "overrated" and "soft.

THE WHIRLWIND of playing games on two continents and three states to begin the 2012 season had Brendan Ryan so confused he legitimately didn't know the Seattle Mariners had an off day at home coming on Monday. Ryan will get the needed break after accomplishing a first in his time with Seattle: actually hitting a home run at home. "I didn't know that. Are you serious?" Ryan asked. "I don't have to show up tomorrow? That's a really happy off day then. " Ryan hit a two-run homer in the second inning, Justin Smoak added a solo shot in the third and the Mariners beat the visiting Oakland Athletics, 5-3, on Sunday.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Jim Thome wore a wide grin in the Phillies dugout at Bright House Field before he even took batting practice Sunday morning. "Man, it's exciting," he said. The occasion was Thome's first appearance at first base in a major-league game since 2007. He played five innings in Sunday's 3-3 tie with Baltimore and mastered what little action was required. No balls were hit to Thome, who recorded three putouts. That didn't make it any less awesome for Thome.