Babylon

You've been waiting to talk about: "The Michael Vick Case." Animal Planet kicks off the series "Animal Witness" by going inside the case of NFL superstar turned criminal Michael Vick, who had a $130-million contract with the Atlanta Falcons until it was discovered that he had financed an illegal dog-fighting circuit. Not even numerous hits to the head can excuse it. (Today) Is anyone talking about: "Babylon A.D."? Yahoo's summer movie guide billed it in this unfortunately worded way: "Vin Diesel is the only thing standing between a synthetic virus and worldwide doom."

BABYLON VILLAGE, N.Y. -- The Sea Baby's stuck. The storm surge from Hurricane Sandy tossed the 25-foot fishing boat into a pile of 40 boats at the Suffolk Marine Center on Sumpwams Creek, a slender finger of water that reaches into Long Island from the Atlantic Ocean. Jimmy Luttieri, the manager of the marina, and a crew of eight volunteers and stragglers are trying to hoist the Sea Baby out of the pile. This is what the cleanup looks like on the southern shore of Long Island.

When the Rolling Stones mobilize for a tour, it's a model of organization and enterprise. Stage a splashy press conference, unfurl the tongue icon, design the merchandise, book the stadiums, hook a sponsor. Anything else? Oh, right, an album. Disney doesn't need a "Fantasia" in theaters to keep Disneyland the happiest place on Earth, and the Stones don't need a new "Exile on Main Street" to anchor a tour. But, really, they could act a little more interested than this.

One OF the most notorious crimes of Jazz Age Los Angeles began quietly enough with a lost boy. But the Walter Collins case would end up becoming the O.J. Simpson drama of its day, a horrifying crime that inspired a media frenzy and captivated the Southland. What started as the real-life tale of a missing child would eventually take on a much larger significance in the then-burgeoning city.

Eager to reclaim the glories of its ancient past, Iraq is translating its most fabled archeological site into one of its biggest tourist attractions. Babylon--"that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple"--has been brought back to life after a 2,000 year nap through an ambitious $25 million development program. The work has produced feelings of pride in Iraq and criticism from some archeologists, who fear that commercialism may diminish its value to scholars.

Steve Silver, who created the zany and popular "Beach Blanket Babylon" musical revue, has died of the complications of AIDS. He was 51. Silver died Monday at his home, said Charles Zukow, the show's publicist. "Beach Blanket Babylon," written, produced and directed by Silver and based very loosely on a plot involving Snow White and her search for true love, has attracted an audience of more than 4 million since it opened in 1974.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote . . . upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. . . . And this is the writing that was written. . . . God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. . . . Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. From the Book of Daniel, Chapter 5 There is still handwriting on the wall of Nebuchadnezzar's palace.

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani want to make clear that their first English language film, "Good Morning, Babylon," is not about D. W. Griffith, although he is a major character. "It's about two young men who come to America, and it's about art old and new," said Paolo through the brothers' interpreter, Oscar-winning costume designer Melina Canonero, the film's co-producer. "It could be subtitled 'Pray for the Cinema,' " added Vittorio.

The good news about the opening performance of "Berlin to Babylon" at the Cinegrill last Saturday night is that it revived some very lovely songs by Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender. The bad news is that Cameron Silver--the show's only performer--didn't appear to have grasped either the subtleties or the symbolism present in many of the works. Silver opened the evening on a dark stage, shining a flashlight on his face in a feeble emulation of Joel Grey's classic Weimar imagery.

It is doubtful that the words "the Pharoa'hz a Fink" were ever scrawled on the walls of the hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the ancient world's seven wonders. But the gardens became the theme of John Baylin's most recent project, which will be on display Tuesday through Thursday during San Diego Museum of Art's annual floral and plant exhibit, "ArtAlive." Baylin, a San Diego artist who also owns his own catering service, began creating his concept of the architectural phenomenon last month.