Lucky Numbers

The wacky comedy "Lucky Numbers," inspired by the 1980 Pennsylvania lotto scandal, seems designed to help John Travolta bounce back from the disaster of "Battlefield: Earth. " Alas, this new film is wacky without being particularly good. As fair warning to its prospective audience, it should probably be titled "Battlefield: Harrisburg. " Travolta stars as an unctuous weatherman, Russ Richards, toiling at a small station in our state capital, where his notoriety gives him his own table at the city's "trendiest restaurant.

The pleasant after-Chinese-dinner experience of cracking open a cookie and getting lucky is just about gone, friends. Now you're fortunate if you receive a fortune. The bulk of today's cookies contain bad advice, pithy sayings, disingenuous praise, or just plain nonsense. "You have tasted the bitterness as well as the sweetness of coffee" was one "fortune" I got recently. What does that mean? The fortune has diminished in quality from actual predictions of the future (my definition)

It was nearly five years, but must have seemed longer. Rutgers-Camden beat visiting Bloomfield College, 77-72, last night, snapping an NCAA-record 117-game losing streak that stretched almost five seasons. "We're on a one-game winning streak," freshman Dawan Boxley said. "It's just the beginning. We've been through some tough times," said coach Ray Pace, in his first full season coaching the Division III Pioneers. "I knew it was just a matter of time, and I don't want any credit for this.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You will be startled awake by what you see in the world. It will help you appreciate what you have at home. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). If you had miles and miles of time and no obligations, what would you do? In some small and possibly symbolic way, it is possible for you to add that activity to your day's events. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). There are things you would love to do to help others, though you haven't had the resources in the past. CANCER (June 22-July 22)

The dictionary definition of a schlimazel, that ultimate unlucky fellow, is a guy who sells candles where the sun never sets. In Lucky Numbers, a schlimazel comedy inspired by the 1980 rigging scandal that rocked the Pennsylvania Lottery, John Travolta is a TV weatherman who mortgages his future in a snowmobile franchise. This during a winter where the temperature never dips below 60 degrees. Facing financial ruin, he and his lowball Lotto-gal pal (Lisa Kudrow) devise a way to fix the Pick Six. The premise is promising.

Life ain't the only thing that's like a box of chocolates. Theater is another area where you never know what you're going to get. Take, for example, "Old Aunt Dinah's Sure Guide to Dreams and Lucky Numbers," the larger piece currently nestled at Plays & Players, and "The Bones of Love," the smaller production that precedes it on the bill. Much ado has been made about the high-tech nature of the former - including the use of intellabeams, MIDI (musical instrument digital interface)

O NE OF THE MOST historic weeks in the history of legal gambling in this region kicked off Tuesday night as Valley Forge Casino Resort hosted the first of its two casino tests. By this time next week, the casino, at the Valley Forge Convention Center, in King of Prussia, and the $2.4 billion Revel, in Atlantic City, which stages its casino test Wednesday night, should be open for business. Earlier Tuesday, Valley Forge's president and CEO, Saverio "Sal" Scheri III, led a media tour of the $165 million casino, the state's 11th gambling den and the first to hold a "resort" license, which keeps it to a maximum 600 slot machines and 50 gaming tables.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You realize that it won't be enough for you to listen to the words another person is saying. You read the signs, symbols and gestures to get the full picture. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). When you watch a movie, you can often guess the ending before anyone else. So you really enjoy a situation in which the ending is unpredictable. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). What you put down on paper, type into a computer or speak into a phone has your energy in it. Everything you touch or think about will be changed by your imprint.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Wanting something (or someone) too much isn't good for you. There's a difference between channeling your passion well and being needy. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Can you drown out a feeling with a thought? You can and do regularly. Today, though, it might be simpler and healthier to let the feeling happen. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You'll exercise your will over your moods, the environment and whatever oppressive forces are around. CANCER (June 22-July 22)