TREND-O-RAMA: BASH KATHIE LEE

For a while, it was trendy to hate Kathie Lee. After all, she was condemning little children to miserable existences in sweatshops while she sat on TV and made a fool of herself every morning. Check out any of the anti-Kathie Lee web sites for more ammunition. On one site, there's a call for "pictures of a naked Regis dancing on Kathie Lee's severed head. Digital recreations are welcome."

But after we bash and trash, rehabilitation is inevitable. This time it was Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee's lowly husband, who caused the backlash to the backlash after photos of him and his mistress were plastered all over the tabloids. For a while there, Kathie Lee managed to be a victim. Well, folks, it's time to start bashing again. You see, Little Miss Sweatshop decided to send a note to Howard Stern after Stern's painful separation from his wife of 21 years. Stern and Kathie Lee, of course, aren't particularly good friends. Actually, Howard has made it quite clear that he thinks Kathie Lee is the devil. The note read, "I was very sorry to hear the news that you and your wife have separated. God loves you and he cares about you and each member of your family. He's there when you need him." Here's hoping that Fart-Man makes an unwelcome appearance Regis and Kathie Lee in the near future.

SOMAN'S SHORTS

The titles and theme songs for James Bond movies are getting worse and worse. Goldeneye was an innocuous one and the Tina Turner ditty had some longevity. But what in God's name does Tomorrow Never Dies mean? And that cacophony by Sheryl Crow? And to prove that it wasn't a fluke, now we get The World is Not Enough (it sounds like a Danielle Steel novel) with a boring title track by Garbage. Bring back Octopussy...Michael Mann is one of the finest directors around. He's particularly intriguing because he makes testosterone flicks that somehow play better to females than males. Check out The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and his latest, The Insider...The Backstreet Boys are being criticized because they refused to visit a young girl dying of leukemia in Detroit because of scheduled commitments. It's actually a legitimate excuse--are we hearing the first signs of irreversible backlash?…Ben Stiller's getting married. What happens to Janeane Garafolo?...Oh, and finally, does anybody have a videotape of that original Pokemon pilot that caused all those violent seizures in Japan? If I'm ever going to figure out what's going on with Pikachu and his pals, I'm starting with the real thing.