Alyson Hannigan

POLICE ARE investigating whether a recent gunpoint robbery at Ted's Montana Grill (Broad & Spruce) is connected to another at the Continental (138 Market). The People Paper's Simone Weichselbaumreports that Ted's was robbed about 1 a.m Jan. 21 by a man in a ski mask who pointed a gun at a female manager and made off with $5,000 in cash. We reported last week that the Continental had been robbed Jan. 18 by two men in ski masks who left with $10,000 of Stephen Starr's money. Police tell Weichselbaum they believe the crimes may be linked because high-end restaurants aren't robbed often. Nobody from Ted's, owned by Ted Turner and known for its bison offerings, cared to comment last night on the robbery. Jones smarting over loss of pal "Whoa is me. Barbaro ran a good race, and I'm going to miss him. Here's hoping we can share a patch of ivy some day in the big winner's circle in the sky," said former Daily News columnist Smarty Jones yesterday, after we asked the stud to share his thoughts on the euthanization of his injured compadre Barbaro. Rum Barrel on the Boardwalk? We hear 610 WIP's Wing Bowl Commissioner Pat Croce is trying to bring his Rum Barrel bar, which he opened last year in Key West, to Atlantic City's Harrah's casino. The former Sixers president and motivational guru recently met with the hotel, but declined to discuss it yesterday. Blavat's backing Brady Congressman Bob Brady got an enthusiastic hand from the audience when Jerry Blavat introduced him as "the next mayor," during the Geator's show Sunday night at the Kimmel Center. Brady later joined the Geator and some other pals for an after-party at the nearby Miraku (1326 Spruce), which stayed open late for the private party. The mayoral candidate stuck to fresh fruit at the Japanese restaurant where Kenny Vance of the Planetones, and developer Joe Grasso, currently fixing up the Curtis Center, also hung. Vance and the Planetones were part of Blavat's show, headlined by Ronnie Spector. The Naked and the Dead Air Speaking of the Kimmel Center, on Saturday the venue hosted "A Prairie Home Companion," Garrison Keillor's long-running radio variety show. Early in the show, listeners to the WHYY 91 FM broadcast of the concert heard two minutes of dead air. When the signal returned listeners report hearing part of an interview with author Norman Mailer. About a minute later, "Prairie" returned. Smokers: Stay somewhere else The Chestnut Hill Hotel (8229 Germantown) is completely smoke-free. The 140-year-old boutique hotel says its demand for smoking rooms has gone down, so all 36 rooms are now smoke-free. The hotel recently played host to Alyson Hannigan, of "How I Met Your Mother," and actor-husband Alexis Denisof, who were in town visiting his family.

The Slice: This one time, at the national championships

The Slice would not be the first to note that, in certain pictures, figure skater Emily Hughes and actress
Alyson Hannigan look a bit alike.
But if you run into the fresh-faced Ms. Hughes this week, you might be better off not reciting lines to
her from the "American Pie" movies. You know, "This one time, at band camp…"
After the first thousand times, that probably gets old.

•Slice answer: "Our fireplace story took place many years ago when we had a two-story house with a fireplace," wrote Judy Orr.

"Our cat had six kittens."

Don't worry. This has a happy ending.
One summer night, at about 2 a.m., the momma cat started wailing.
"When we found her, she was pacing around the fireplace ash trap. It seems the kittens had been playing
in the fireplace and one of them stepped on the trap door and two of them fell into the hole."
The humans studied the situation and came up with a plan.
"We found an old sheet, knotted it and dropped it down," wrote Orr. "We quickly got them out."
Except for temporarily being two of the sootiest felines in the history of Spokane County, they were OK.
So let that be a lesson to you.

•If Gladys Tolliver of Kettle Falls were named czarina: Spitting in public – especially at this time of year

– would be a hanging offense.
Out of consideration for Slice readers having breakfast, I'll spare you her graphic description.

Periodicals harvest: A South Hill woman came across a notice that the public library in Yakima was
getting rid of back issues of magazines. So she sent an e-mail asking if she could dibs copies of The
New Yorker. She had a decorating idea involving the covers.
A librarian wrote back, saying they were hers for the taking. "She said they were in Apple boxes."
The Spokane woman immediately pictured computer components. As that involves boxes of different
sizes, she wrote back for additional details.
It turned out the librarian was talking about fruit crates.
Said the wised-up Spokane woman, "I guess when one is in Yakima, the word 'apple' has only one
meaning."

That's one way to put it: "The real estate euphemism that made me howl was when an agent cheerfully
said a pet-damaged, run down house had 'delayed maintenance,' " wrote Sue Swanson.

Warm-up questions: Ever deal with people in other parts of the country who have Spokane confused

with Tacoma? What little town around here has the best/worst assortment of street names?
Today's Slice question: What talent are you an expert at spotting?

Top 10 TV picks: Jan 23-29

Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say ON THE RUN: Season two of popular cliffhanger drama show Prison Break begins screening in New Zealand this week. Related Links

Subscribe to Archivestuff
Have your say

Television critic Philip Wakefield chooses the 10 best shows on the box this week, for Tuesday, January 23 to Monday, January 29.

Alyson Hannigan | Alyson Hannigan 2

Celebrity News Archive