Open Invitation

The public is invited to view the planet Jupiter through telescopes tonight at two free programs, at Valley Forge National Historical Park and at Villanova University. One of the region's largest "star parties" will be held tonight beginning at 8 p.m. at the model-airplane field on Route 202 at the park. "More than a dozen telescopes will be set up," said Bob Summerfield, director of Astronomy to Go and one of the event's organizers. Amateur astronomers will also be on hand to discuss Jupiter and show slides and videos of comets and other astronomical bodies.

Philadelphia is not just the home of the U.S. Constitution. It is now the home of the National Constitutional Center, which will officially open its doors next week. The Daily News will be marking the event, but we wouldn't want to do it without you. So, this is our open invitation to you to write us with your thoughts on the U.S. Constitution, the document that has held this nation together through the centuries. We'll publish your letters in a special letters page on July 3. Our address: Views Box 7788 Philadelphia, PA 19101 By e-mail: Views@phillynews.

SIMON SAYS . . . The most terrifying drivers I have ever ridden with have been real estate agents. There is absolutely nothing wrong with George Bush touring Kuwait City. After all, Lincoln toured Richmond. Few smells are as good as a freshly sharpened pencil. The best way to break up a marriage is to play Monopoly with your spouse. It's disconcerting to hear an oldie on the radio that you've never heard before. If you thought frosty white was the "in" kitchen color, think again.

The series of Women's Health Week seminars sponsored by Thomas Jefferson University continues this evening with a discussion on the topic "A Healthy Pregnancy: Planning Ahead. " It's being held 5-7 p.m. in McClellan Hall, Jefferson Medical College, 1025 Walnut St. Richard Depp, M.D., chairman of the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department, leads the discussion. All seminars are free. For schedule info, call 928-5671. BUSH COMING HERE The Polish American Congress extends an open invitation to hear Vice President George Bush report on his recent trip to Poland, 11:30 a.m., in St. Adalbert Auditorium, Thompson and Allegheny Ave., Port Richmond.

Norwegian Olympic hero and resident heartthrob Johann Olav Koss, who has thrilled spectators at these Games by winning three gold medals and setting three world records in the process, has a curious hobby. He's a moose rider. Upon hearing this, the Namskogen Family Park issued an open invitation to Norway's most celebrated athlete. "When we learned that Johann Olav Koss had ridden tame moose as a hobby, we immediately invited him to Namskogen," which is near Trondheim, said Turid Bredesen.

Interboro School District board members, administrators and residents have been invited to a question-and-answer session with Gov. Casey. Harry C. Murray, chairman of the Glenolden Democratic Committee, extended the invitation during the school board's business meeting Wednesday. He said the governor would be coming to the Ramada Inn in Essington today for a dinner hosted by the Democratic Party of Delaware County. "I extended an open invitation to come to the lobby of the Ramada at 5 p.m.," Murray said in an interview after the meeting.

One of the rewards of the slippery uphill climb that leads to movie stardom is the pleasure of schussing down the ski slopes at Aspen - Hollywood's winter headquarters of choice. Skiing, of course, entails a lot of time waiting for the next lift to the mountaintop, and it was surely that enforced interlude that led idle minds to dream up Aspen Extreme. It seems to have occurred to Patrick Hasburgh that there ought to be a movie in the notion of a drop-dead handsome hunk of a ski instructor who yearns to be a writer.

Paul Grasmanis' body told him it was time to find another line of work. He does not know what it is going to be yet, but his days working for the Eagles and in the NFL are over. "I just knew my time in football was up because of the injuries and the way my body was feeling," Grasmanis said from his home in Tallahassee, Fla., yesterday after the Eagles announced the veteran defensive tackle's retirement. A fourth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame by the Chicago Bears in 1996, Grasmanis joined the Eagles in 2000 and had three productive seasons as an integral part of the defensive tackle rotation.

A new display in the freshly painted Tredyffrin Township Building is a good reminder that township manager Norman Mawby has an interest in bridges - and one bridge in particular - in the township. Mawby's collection of pictures of the Knox covered bridge in Valley Forge National Historic Park has been consolidated from other locations and hung in the township's board room. "I collected them because the bridge is a big part of Tredyffrin and one of its most unique parts," Mawby said.

Gentlemen, start your nitpicking. You received an open invitation to complain about the Eagles' offense yesterday from coach Andy Reid. "We nitpick more than anybody as football coaches and the players do the same thing," Reid said yesterday after watching the film of Sunday's 30-8 win over the Carolina Panthers. "There's nobody that wants to get it right more than the players and the coaches. We also understand there are going to be some good days and bad days, and you bear with those.

Another week, another step closer to a Big East football implosion. Tuesday's headline: West Virginia to the Big Twelve is a done deal, replacing Missouri, whose move to the Southeastern Conference is considered a certainty, now in the hands of attorneys. What's next for the Big East depends mostly on Boise State, Navy and Air Force. (Read that last sentence again slowly . . . it's where we are right now.) If those institutions, part of the Big East's proposed football expansion model, decide a Big East without the Mountaineers isn't worth being in, then the Big East may not hold together as a football league, or it may be forced to go to a couple of lesser leagues, hat in hand, looking to join a mega-merger, which would result in mega-yawns and mega-scowls and mega-jokes nationwide.

Another week, another step closer to a Big East football implosion. Tuesday's headline: West Virginia to the Big 12 is a done deal, replacing Missouri, whose move to the Southeastern Conference is considered a certainty, now in the hands of attorneys. What's next for the Big East depends mostly on Boise State, Navy and Air Force. (Read that last sentence again slowly . . . it's where we are right now). If those institutions, part of the Big East's proposed football expansion model, decide a Big East without the Mountaineers isn't worth being in, then the Big East may not hold together as a football league, or it may be forced to go to a couple of lesser leagues, hat in hand, looking to join a mega-merger, which would result in mega-yawns and mega-scowls and mega-jokes nationwide.

JANET JACKSON blames Dr. Conrad Murray for her brother Michael's death. She told ABC News in an interview to air tomorrow that Murray should no longer be allowed to practice medicine. "He was the one that was administering," she said. "I think he is responsible. " Prosecutors in Los Angeles are weighing charges against Murray. A spokeswoman for Murray, Miranda Sevcik, said yesterday that Murray continues to maintain that he neither prescribed nor administered anything to Jackson that should have killed him. Jackson told ABC's Robin Roberts that she was at her home in New York on June 25 when her assistant called to say that Michael had been taken to the hospital.

Two years ago, James Dupree, a longtime Philadelphia painter who has five pieces in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's permanent collection, was completely frustrated with his participation in the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. "I had been there all day, all weekend really, and nothing," Dupree said. "All of a sudden, at the moment of total frustration, we did $5,000 worth of business. A new person had come in and really liked my work. They bought a serious piece and had an eye for what they wanted.

Paul Grasmanis' body told him it was time to find another line of work. He does not know what it is going to be yet, but his days working for the Eagles and in the NFL are over. "I just knew my time in football was up because of the injuries and the way my body was feeling," Grasmanis said from his home in Tallahassee, Fla., yesterday after the Eagles announced the veteran defensive tackle's retirement. A fourth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame by the Chicago Bears in 1996, Grasmanis joined the Eagles in 2000 and had three productive seasons as an integral part of the defensive tackle rotation.

Gentlemen, start your nitpicking. You received an open invitation to complain about the Eagles' offense yesterday from coach Andy Reid. "We nitpick more than anybody as football coaches and the players do the same thing," Reid said yesterday after watching the film of Sunday's 30-8 win over the Carolina Panthers. "There's nobody that wants to get it right more than the players and the coaches. We also understand there are going to be some good days and bad days, and you bear with those.

In a few months, Tug McGraw expects to be in Clearwater, Fla., possibly showing somebody how to throw a screwball. That's welcome news. McGraw, 59, the colorful lefthanded closer who helped the Phillies win the World Series in 1980, fell ill during spring training last year with brain cancer. It has been a long road back, but McGraw said yesterday that he was feeling much better. "I had no idea that I'd be back," he said yesterday with his familiar laugh. "No, I didn't.

Philadelphia is not just the home of the U.S. Constitution. It is now the home of the National Constitutional Center, which will officially open its doors next week. The Daily News will be marking the event, but we wouldn't want to do it without you. So, this is our open invitation to you to write us with your thoughts on the U.S. Constitution, the document that has held this nation together through the centuries. We'll publish your letters in a special letters page on July 3. Our address: Views Box 7788 Philadelphia, PA 19101 By e-mail: Views@phillynews.

Since the end of the Cold War, whose murky moral dilemmas he illuminated so brilliantly, John Le Carr? has widened the compass of his fiction to embrace the kind of figure who used to be an innocent bystander or a bit player. Harry Pendel, the protagonist in The Tailor of Panama, is one of his finer late inspirations, and Le Carr? did more than entrust the filming of his novel to John Boorman: He cowrote the script and served as executive producer. So we can take the results, which are considerably more lighthearted and piquant than the book, as having the master's endorsement.

Eagles middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter was named NFC defensive player of the month yesterday after recording 22 tackles and a sack during December. Trotter said he was excited to have won the award. He said that he couldn't recall winning something like this and that he was a bit surprised. During the month, Trotter had what he thinks was his best game this season. On Dec. 3, he had nine tackles against Tennessee, and the Eagles contained the Titans' Eddie George after the running back hurt them early.