Notebook: Jul. 13, 1998

WINNERS & LOSERS

[WINNERS]

BABS AND BROLIN To the happy couple! But a question: In their house, when the mirror has two faces, will one be his?

JIANG ZEMIN The happy host waves bye: he made Bill look good, and Bill never made him look bad

JANA NOVOTNA Third time's the charm as she aces Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam singles title

[& LOSERS]

KEN STARR Judge finds his take on the Fifth Amendment flawed. Not helpful to cutting a deal with Monica

RYUTARO HASHIMOTO Beleaguered Japanese chief would have loved Clinton to drop in, but Bill rides the China clipper home

POSH SPICE Fiance's dumb foul costs England World Cup game vs. Argies. Will she dump him?

WHY NOT JUST NAME THE KID "NOVELTY ITEM"?

Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin, not previously widely known as champions of Italian High Renaissance art, have named their second daughter Sistine. Christie Brinkley called her new daughter Sailor. See if you can match these stars with their unusually named offspring.

PARENTS

1. Bruce Willis & Demi Moore 2. Woody Harrelson & Laura Louie 3. Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick 4. Don Johnson & Melanie Griffith 5. Sean Penn & Robin Wright 6. Alec Baldwin & Kim Basinger 7. John Mellencamp & Elaine Irwin 8. Bob Geldof & Paula Yates 9. Chevy Chase & Jayne Chase 10. Larry King & Alene Akins 11. Robert Downey Jr. & Deborah Falconer 12. John Travolta & Kelly Preston

CHILD

a) Speck b) Sosie Ruth c) Dakota Mayi d) Ireland Eliesse e) Indio f) Scout LaRue g) Peaches h) Cydney i) Hopper Jack j) Chaia k) Jett l) Deni Montana

Answers: 1f; 2l; 3b; 4c; 5i; 6d; 7a; 8g; 9h; 10j; 11e; 12k.

FREE ADVICE

DEEP THOUGHTS With the President in China, Al Gore announced that a U.S. missile was fired at an Iraqi antiaircraft site. We asked Fox analyst Dick Morris how this might affect Campaign 2000.

How'd he do?

"I think his performance was good...but his problem, like any Vice President's, is that he is too much in the shadow of the President, and in that shadow he feels inadequate."

Was he presidential?

"He was very presidential, but Gore's salvation does not lie in being presidential... He has to work on staking out his own issue turf."

Wooden?

"He was fairly wooden, but the occasion called for being wooden... My impression was that the occasion had finally come to the man."

"XX" GAMES

FEMININE MYSTIQUE As part of the 26th Annual Moose Dropping Festival July 11-12 in Talkeetna, Alaska, 15 women will compete in the Mountain Mother Contest, in which they must cross the Susitna River on stepping-stones while carrying two bags of groceries and a baby doll, then chop wood, change diapers and make a whipped-cream pie. Unofficial record time: under 5 min. Losers can always try their luck at the Moose Nugget Toss.

BLAME GAME

SEE YA! Magic Johnson, whose talk show has been ripped by critics and avoided by viewers, fired his sidekick, Craig Shoemaker. Does firing the No. 2 guy ever work?

YEAR: RATING 1972 [thumbs down]

FIRING: EPILOGUE Democratic nominee George McGovern drops Thomas Eagleton, picks up Sargent Shriver; crushed by Nixon

[YEAR: RATING] 1985 [thumbs down]