National Anthem

Like a boom box, Ashley Lauren Costello is a small package with a BIG SOUND. That is, when she sings. When she talked with a visitor before a basketball game on a recent Sunday afternoon, Ashley, who is 9 years old, was shy and barely audible. She twiddled her fingers and deferred to her mother when asked about her passion - carrying notes up and down the scale. But give her a song, say the national anthem, and she changes her tune. "I don't know. I just do it," she said with a shrug as she waited to belt out the anthem before Temple took on Virginia Tech.

You should first know that his name used to be Chris Jackson. You should also know that he has been sitting down for the national anthem all season, but the NBA did not threaten discipline until the last month. You should know that Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a converted Muslim, has tried not to draw attention to himself. Sometimes he would stay in the locker room as the lights dimmed and the anthem played, sometimes he sat or stretched in his chair or simply faced away from the flag.

Denver Nuggets point guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, suspended by the NBA for violating a league rule, said yesterday that he wants to keep playing basketball but stands by his position that his Muslim faith prevents him from standing during the playing of the national anthem. Likewise, despite furious public debate over the issue of religious freedom, the NBA dug in. "Our rules apply equally to all players," said NBA spokesman Chris Brienza of the decision to suspend Abdul-Rauf on Tuesday night.

Overshadowed by the mightiness of the Revolution, the romanticism of the Civil War, and lesser conflicts with better names, such as the Whiskey Rebellion, the War of 1812 seems to be the war that never quite got its just due of public esteem. But the war that saw the British storm the capital and burn the White House has one claim to fame that might have made the Boston Tea Partiers wonder why they didn't come up with a catchy tune to inspire patriotism. It starts like this: "Oh, say, can you see . . . " For the national anthem, thank the War of 1812, along with the boys defending Baltimore's Fort McHenry, the apparent bad aim of the British, and a Maryland lawyer named Francis Scott Key. Saturday, Key's great-great-grandson, Francis Scott Key 2d, was honored by the New Jersey chapter of the Society of the War of 1812, whose 1,600 members nationwide are said to be direct descendants of the war's soldiers.

John M. Taxin, 90, the Center City restaurateur whose hard work, shrewdness and genius for public relations made Bookbinder's a national mecca and the go-to spot in Philadelphia for that special night out, died Sunday of organ failure at his home in Wynnefield. That's Old Original Bookbinder's, the one at 125 Walnut St., the one where you or the 999 other diners who could be guests at any one time just might have run into Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra, or any of a hundred other celebrities.

A letter yesterday incorrectly named the team Maurice Cheeks was coaching when he assisted a little girl singing the National Anthem. It was the Portland Trailblazers.

When they heard the national anthem, MopNup White Delite and Ernest Hubbard snapped to attention yesterday and the 29th All-Breed Dog Show in Atlantic City began. The show, sponsored by the Boardwalk Kennel Club, drew 1,524 entries from 200 breeds.

Thirty-seven professional and amateur acts auditioned yesterday for the chance to perform the national anthem at the Virginia Slims of Philadelphia tennis tournament finals, Nov. 14 at the Civic Center. The winner: the Intermezzo Choir of Philadelphia.

One hundred and fifty people helped the Daily News promote its YO! section before the start of yesterday's Phillies game at Veterans Stadium. Just for good measure, local faves Danny and the Juniors sang the national anthem before the Houston Astros beat the Phillies, 9-2.