Zebra

But for the search for that last clincher detail, Zippy the zebra might never have happened. While competing in the carriage division at the Devon Horse Show two years ago, Roberta Odell thought her paddy-wagon entry ought to be a winner. But there was one nagging problem that kept her out of the ribbons, she said as she sprayed weed killer in her rose garden this week. Though she had dressed as a jailer, complete with whistle, and the audience roared at spotting the prisoners inside the coach attired in jailhouse stripes, she knew while circling the ring that the mules drawing the wagon should have stripes, too. One idea had been to hire someone to paint them.

Seventeen years ago, on April 16, 1974, my wife and I suffered the greatest loss parents can experience. Our son, Nick, was murdered - shot three times in the back on a San Francisco street. On this tragic anniversary, the California Board of Prison Terms will hear a request for parole from J.C.X. Simon, the man who with his co-conspirators is responsible for Nick's death. Nick's murder was the last of a series of wanton, random murders of innocent San Francisco citizens during a six-month period during late 1973 and early 1974 by Simon and three others known as the "Zebra killers.

This, from Tuesday's comic strip Pearls Before Swine: "Welcome to the opening of the zebra/lion/croc Olympics," says Bob, a funny-looking announcer. "We now go down to the field for the zebras' opening address. " A zebra with spiked hair takes the microphone. "We are honored to be here today with these other species to promote the cause of peace and build the bonds of brotherhood," it says. Back to the announcers: "What a beautiful and moving tribute, Bob," says one. "Yes, Peter," says the other, "and now for the crocodiles' opening address.

THREE-DAY ORDEAL LEADS TO LIFETIME OF FREE PARKING A retired woman who was trapped for three days in a parking garage elevator in New Zealand has been awarded $3,200 in damages and free parking for the rest of her life. Moira Poor, 69, found herself stuck in a stalled elevator in the midtown Auckland parking lot without food or water on the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 9. She didn't manage to get out until the following Monday morning, when the elevator spontaneously began working again.

Take the flat tire that was Madagascar . Retread it with The Lion King storyline. Pump it up with air. Now you have Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa , an overinflated sequel to the one about the lion, the zebra, the giraffe and the hippo liberated from the Central Park Zoo and deposited (by penguin commandos) on the island nation off the east coast of Africa. As in the first installment of the DreamWorks animation, M2 suggests that to flourish in the jungle it helps to have street smarts.

Jack DeJohnette, one of the jazz world's most highly praised drummers, is known for his many different musical pursuits, but he is still capable of surprising even those who have followed his career closely. Consider, for instance, DeJohnette's latest album, Zebra. For this one, the musician focused his talent entirely on synthesizers. DeJohnette, who will appear in a free concert tonight at Penn's Landing with his Special Edition band, wrote and produced the music as a soundtrack for Tadyuki Naito's 40-minute Zebra video, a "visual tone-poem" of zebra life in the African wild.

We all know a leopard can't change his spots, nor a zebra his stripes, but if you head over to the Academy of Natural Sciences this weekend, you'll find out why they wouldn't trade for plaid - as well as lots of other neat things about nature's shapes, textures and sounds. The Academy's new special exhibit, "Stripes, Spots and Disorderly Dots," opens today. It's stuffed to the gills, skins, petals and shells with pictures, plants and all sorts of hands-on stuff that is, according to director of exhibits Raylene Decatur, "geared to children from 5 to 100. " The purpose of the "Stripes, Spots and Disorderly Dots" is to show how patterns in nature are not random - and what we can learn about animals and plants from the patterns they use. For instance, leopards are spotted so that, when they are sitting in trees waiting for dinner to come by, they blend in with dappled sunlight coming through the leaves.

John Schleyer doesn't mind being called a zebra. He wears thick skin beneath his black-and-white shirt. He has to. He would have a difficult time doing his job if he listened to every critic who yelled sour somethings in his ear. Besides, he's been called a lot worse than a zebra. He works in sports arenas that frequently are filled with souls who doodled on the pages when the chapter on etiquette was taught. "Being called a zebra doesn't bother me in the least," said Schleyer, a Northeast Philadelphia native who is in his fourth year as a National Football League official.

The party's over. No more Nativity scenes. No more Christmas gatherings. Clyde, the dromedary, and Donner and Blitzen, the reindeer, are for sale. Disposition is not a problem. Their owner, Harry O'Neill, guarantees his animals are very polite. Clyde doesn't spit. Donner and Blitzen don't try to make shish kebab out of people with their antlers. But they also don't reproduce. All three are geldings and O'Neill really prefers breeding stock. His relationship with Clyde has been brief but pleasant.

FRI FIFTEENTH The Blushing Zebra, the cozy folk music club run by the Swords Into Plowshares peace organization, is presenting its final concerts at its quarters at 7167 Germantown Ave. Forced out of the building it has occupied for a year and renovated extensively, the Zebra's management is negotiating for a new space and hopes to reopen in September. Meanwhile, Zebra will present singer/songwriter Betsy Rose at 8 p.m. Friday, and Nanika, an all- female a cappella group, at 8 p.m. Saturday.

As might be expected from a local auction house that made a name for itself selling fine works of design and architecture, Kamelot's sale Feb. 20 offers an overview of many of the trends, fads, and occasional eccentricities the field has spawned over the last 200 years, both here and abroad. The more than 700 lots in the sale, scheduled at 11 a.m. in the gallery of the business complex at 4700 Wissahickon Ave., go from A - for Victorian aesthetic in the form of a revolving book stand with inset marble top - to Z, the shape of a veneered side table or pedestal.

Take the flat tire that was Madagascar . Retread it with The Lion King storyline. Pump it up with air. Now you have Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa , an overinflated sequel to the one about the lion, the zebra, the giraffe and the hippo liberated from the Central Park Zoo and deposited (by penguin commandos) on the island nation off the east coast of Africa. As in the first installment of the DreamWorks animation, M2 suggests that to flourish in the jungle it helps to have street smarts.

The NFL defended the officiating in the Super Bowl, and Joe Montana defended himself. Two days after the Steelers beat the Seahawks, 21-10, in the NFL title game, the league said yesterday that the game was "properly officiated. " "Including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. Meanwhile, three-time Super Bowl MVP Montana denied reports he had asked for $100,000 to appear with other past MVPs at pre-game ceremonies.

Two years ago in Upstate New York, in a small lake on a tributary of the Susquehanna River, biologists came across a tiny mollusk that has been wreaking as much havoc on eastern U.S. waters as a B-movie monster. It was a zebra mussel. They knew what they had to do next. They began checking a small outflow stream and soon found mussel larvae there, too. An invasion was in progress. This summer, researchers have confirmed what water users and river ecologists have been half expecting, half dreading for years: The zebra mussel has reached the main stem of the Susquehanna River, which flows through 22 Pennsylvania counties and feeds the Chesapeake Bay. For now, the mussel is only in the uppermost portion of the river, near Cooperstown, N.Y. But ahead of it are 400 miles of water intakes for industrial users and drinking water providers, 400 miles of native fish and shellfish, 400 miles of recreational waters - all of which could be affected by the zebra.

This, from Tuesday's comic strip Pearls Before Swine: "Welcome to the opening of the zebra/lion/croc Olympics," says Bob, a funny-looking announcer. "We now go down to the field for the zebras' opening address. " A zebra with spiked hair takes the microphone. "We are honored to be here today with these other species to promote the cause of peace and build the bonds of brotherhood," it says. Back to the announcers: "What a beautiful and moving tribute, Bob," says one. "Yes, Peter," says the other, "and now for the crocodiles' opening address.

Giving the rest of the NFL postseason a dramatic act to follow, the Miami Dolphins survived a courageous challenge by the Buffalo Bills yesterday in a 24-17 thriller that kept Dan Marino and his mates in the hunt for Super Bowl XXXIII. The hard-fought rematch between AFC East rivals also provided Buffalo fans another occasion to view NFL officiating as a more malevolent curse than a three-day blizzard. Blown calls earlier in the season had cost the Bills a victory at New England, a shot at the division title in New York, and their owner, Ralph Wilson, a $50,000 fine for complaining about the calls.

But for the search for that last clincher detail, Zippy the zebra might never have happened. While competing in the carriage division at the Devon Horse Show two years ago, Roberta Odell thought her paddy-wagon entry ought to be a winner. But there was one nagging problem that kept her out of the ribbons, she said as she sprayed weed killer in her rose garden this week. Though she had dressed as a jailer, complete with whistle, and the audience roared at spotting the prisoners inside the coach attired in jailhouse stripes, she knew while circling the ring that the mules drawing the wagon should have stripes, too. One idea had been to hire someone to paint them.

It's a conspiracy, man. The NFL's officials, says Dallas Cowboys linebacker Broderick Thomas, have it in for America's Team this season. "I believe the refs are against us," he said late yesterday afternoon in a nearly empty visitors' locker room at Veterans Stadium. "Check it. "It's a bit too mean. We've got guys putting their lives on the line here, and we got these guys, jacking around, making bad calls . . . It's no sweat off their back. "Whoever's the head of officials - I mean, he's not doing his job. " Thomas's angst came on the heels of a 13-12 loss to the Eagles that dropped the Cowboys into the pack of the NFC East at 4-4, and left their division record at 1-4. It came after a game in which Kevin Smith's apparent interception in the second quarter was ruled a trap, a game when defensive and offensive pass interference was called on the same play, a first-quarter pass to the Cowboys' Michael Irvin.

The letter went out last November to members of the Northeast High School class of 1927. Their 70th class reunion would be June 20 - yesterday. "I always fear sending letters out," Frederick Day, 87, the class secretary, said yesterday, "because I get responses from the widow. That bothers me. " Ten men said they would attend yesterday's noon luncheon at the Melrose Country Club. Seven trickled in around noon, dressed sharply in seersucker suits and ties. Most had their brides at their side, with white handbags and pearls.

That burned-out character played by Dennis Hopper, the referee with a shoe fetish in those clever Nike ads, comes off like a guy who loved his work but no longer was needed, as if time had passed him by. It almost makes you wonder what fate would await real officials if technology were to take over. If Super Bowl XXIX manages to develop into a real contest, it would take only one major snafu by the officiating crew to spark perhaps the loudest outcry for instant replay in NFL history.