Rhino

HANOI, Vietnam - Nguyen Huong Giang loves to party but loathes hangovers, so she ends her whiskey benders by tossing back shots of rhino horn ground with water on a special ceramic plate. Her father gave her the 4-inch brown horn as a gift, claiming it cures everything from headaches to cancer. Vietnam has become so obsessed with the fingernail-like substance that it now sells for more than cocaine. "I don't know how much it costs," said Giang, 24, after showing off the horn in her high-rise apartment overlooking the capital, Hanoi.

Life goes on at the Philadelphia Zoo as staff members continue to ease their grief over the deaths of Kutenga the elephant and Bung the orangutan, by following the antics of the newest member of their extended family - a 150- pound bundle of joy now living the Pachyderm House. "Little Dhaulagiri gets bolder day by day, exploring his pen and playing games with his mother, Xavira. He likes best to run up and across her back when she tries to take a nap," said keeper Brian McCampbell.

Billy and Xaviera, the Philadelphia Zoo's resident Indian rhinos, are once again remodeling their Pachyderm House pen into a playpen. Their new daughter Penny, a 100-pound little bundle of joy who stands 2 1/ 2-feet tall on wobbly legs, was born Wednesday. She goes on public display today, according to zoo spokeswoman Ingrid Fowler. She's the fifth calf born to the couple in the past decade. Their first calf, the first rhinoceros ever born in Philadelphia, died 18 hours after her troubled birth in February 1984.

Penny, a newborn Indian rhino, debuted yesterday with her mother, Xaviera, at the Philadelphia Zoo. The little one, a member of an endangered species, weighed in at 100 pounds, stands about 2 1/2 feet tall, and consumes a gallon of her mother's milk a day. She was born about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Freeman's next big sale will take place March 17, but it is timed to coincide with Asia Week New York, not St. Paddy's Day, Philadelphia. The nearly 800 lots that will be offered beginning at 10 a.m. at the gallery at 1808 Chestnut St. are examples of fine and decorative Asian arts. The nearest thing to green to be seen on sale day will be items made of spinach jade, such as an 18th-century perfumier, and malachite, including a vase with a Fu lion mounted on its cover - and big bucks.

You've won at Jeopardy, at least in your mind. You could be a millionaire, if only Regis would call. But if you're a popular music aficionado, the biggest challenge still lies ahead - the Fourth Annual Rhino Musical Aptitude Test (RMAT), happening tomorrow night. This time, for a change, you're guaranteed a seat at the table. Philadelphia is one of five cities where this challenging "Search for the Ultimate Music Geek" will be conducted live - at Tower Records' Broad and Chestnut Streets location - starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

ISLAND'S FLYING HIGH AS AN ANGEL, THANKS TO GULL GUANO A tiny Pacific island is backing a new musical in London with profits that it made from selling seagull droppings. Leonardo, The Musical, opens today, thanks to a $3.1 million injection from the government of the wealthy Republic of Nauru. Nauru government ministers are flying to London for the opening of the musical, which tells the tale of Leonardo da Vinci's imagined love for Mona Lisa. No doubt inspired by Nat King Cole warbling "Mona Lisa" outside the artist's atelier.

Rivals in Libya clash, killing 22 TRIPOLI, Libya - Militias from rival towns in western Libya battled each other with tanks and artillery Tuesday in fierce fighting that killed at least 22, local officials said. The clashes erupted over the weekend between the Arab-majority town of Ragdalein and the Berber-dominated town of Zwara, about 70 miles west of the capital Tripoli. The violence is fueled by deep-rooted animosity between the neighbors, who took different sides in Libya's civil war that toppled Moammar Gadhafi last year.

A wiggy, waggy-dog story, Bolt is the first Disney animated feature released under the leadership of Pixar's John Lasseter. While this charmer about a canine James Bond does not pack the emotional punch of WALL-E , it's frisky fun to see the white shepherd get a new leash on life. The twist: Bolt (voice of John Travolta) thinks he's a super-pooch. But he only plays one on TV. His sonic-boom bark and supersonic speed are the products of Hollywood special-effects wizards.

"Rhino. " It came as a whispered word in the dark of night, but it was enough to set off a silent surge of activity in the deserted hallways of Treetops Hotel. Moments before, everything had been quiet at the famous wild-game viewing lodge, which looks like a giant Swiss Family Robinson treehouse set on stilts amid a cluster of cape chestnuts. A handful of amateur photographers had been keeping a late-night vigil on the outer observation deck overlooking a small lake and salt lick.

HANOI, Vietnam - Nguyen Huong Giang loves to party but loathes hangovers, so she ends her whiskey benders by tossing back shots of rhino horn ground with water on a special ceramic plate. Her father gave her the 4-inch brown horn as a gift, claiming it cures everything from headaches to cancer. Vietnam has become so obsessed with the fingernail-like substance that it now sells for more than cocaine. "I don't know how much it costs," said Giang, 24, after showing off the horn in her high-rise apartment overlooking the capital, Hanoi.

Rivals in Libya clash, killing 22 TRIPOLI, Libya - Militias from rival towns in western Libya battled each other with tanks and artillery Tuesday in fierce fighting that killed at least 22, local officials said. The clashes erupted over the weekend between the Arab-majority town of Ragdalein and the Berber-dominated town of Zwara, about 70 miles west of the capital Tripoli. The violence is fueled by deep-rooted animosity between the neighbors, who took different sides in Libya's civil war that toppled Moammar Gadhafi last year.

Freeman's next big sale will take place March 17, but it is timed to coincide with Asia Week New York, not St. Paddy's Day, Philadelphia. The nearly 800 lots that will be offered beginning at 10 a.m. at the gallery at 1808 Chestnut St. are examples of fine and decorative Asian arts. The nearest thing to green to be seen on sale day will be items made of spinach jade, such as an 18th-century perfumier, and malachite, including a vase with a Fu lion mounted on its cover - and big bucks.

THERE ARE TIMES when a love for football must yield to the need for money. Even when the job pays only minimum wage and it eats up 8 hours of what otherwise would be a fun summer day. Reindorf Dennis, better known as "Rhino" to his Northeast High teammates, was OK with the fact that he barely got near the field, except for special teams, during the first two games of this season. In effect, he was a lap behind, if not more, when training camp opened, and he knew coach Chris Riley, rightfully so, would favor those who'd shown dedication to offseason workouts.

With Spider-Man dominating comics news this week, Comics Guy thought it would be an ideal time to take a look at Marvel's newest series featuring its most popular creation. "Web of Spider-Man" at first seemed yet another attempt by Marvel to slap an old title on a new book to generate a few more Spidey-bucks. However, Marvel's thrice-a-month "Amazing Spider-Man" title now has such tight continuity, it has made "Web" a welcome addition to the Spidey line - almost a necessity. Marvel previously tried to highlight some of the subplots that couldn't fit into "Amazing" with a book called "Amazing Spider-Man Extra.

A wiggy, waggy-dog story, Bolt is the first Disney animated feature released under the leadership of Pixar's John Lasseter. While this charmer about a canine James Bond does not pack the emotional punch of WALL-E , it's frisky fun to see the white shepherd get a new leash on life. The twist: Bolt (voice of John Travolta) thinks he's a super-pooch. But he only plays one on TV. His sonic-boom bark and supersonic speed are the products of Hollywood special-effects wizards.

A.J. THOMSON'S recent op-ed about the Philadelphia Zoo contains one indisputable fact: The elephant exhibit is inadequate. Unfortunately, the elephants aren't the only ones among the zoo's 1,600 animals suffering in inadequate digs. Look no farther than right next door to the elephants, where a lone rhino is confined to a tiny barren yard. The zoo hasn't even bothered to provide the rhino with any shade - not even an easily available cheap awning. A few steps down, there's an okapi whose entire world is a grass-free space about the size of the average driveway.

DALLAS ROCK radio station KEGL-FM has fired disc jockeys Keith Kramer and Tony Longo, who falsely reported that Britney Spears died in a car crash. Known on the air as Kramer & Twitch, the pair began working at KEGL in summer 1998. Kramer said he and his partner were surprised that the station fired them because he'd gotten permission from the program director to air the rumor about the 19-year-old pop diva. The idea was to create "a little commotion," he said. Kramer said he and Longo initially were going to report that Metallica singer and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield had been killed, but because KEGL is a rock station, they decided that would strike too close to home for their listeners.

"Before I was an African American, I was a black kid living in Los Angeles who wanted to be a rock 'n' roll star," Shawn Amos writes. "Then I discovered Harlem, and, ever since, I've wanted to be a Negro. To be Negro in 1921 Harlem meant living in the epicenter of cool. " It's not often that an African American under 70 refers to himself as a Negro. But Amos, producer of the four-disc Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance (Rhino), does so out of reverence for the "New Negroes," whose brilliance defined the 20th century's most exhilarating period of achievement by African Americans in the arts.

Most serious theater buffs are aware of Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, primarily from photos of a bug-eyed Zero Mostel in the 1961 Broadway production. Yet while they can tell you what it's about, few have actually seen the play, which is reason enough to check out Theatre Exile's current revival at the Walnut Street Theatre's Independence Studio on 3. It's not the only reason, however. Like the play itself, which bogs down a bit in the second act, David Disbrow's production is not perfect.