Side show

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 29, 2001

UP HIS NOSE WITH A RUBBER HOSE: John Travolta has always had that pompous-actor streak of self-importance, and it's gotten only worse the longer his comeback from post-Vinnie Barbarino obscurity has gone on.

Oprah Winfrey gives him a forum to talk about his favorite subject -- himself -- in a show scheduled to air today (4 p.m. on WFLA-Ch. 8), and her company presented the "highlights" in a news release. One of Travolta's pontifications is on a recent dinner he had with former President Bill Clinton.

"I watched him for the first 20 minutes, and all I could think of was, 'God, I was good in Primary Colors!' I couldn't get over myself!" Travolta says.

For those who haven't seen Primary Colors -- and there are millions of you -- Travolta played a Clintonesque presidential candidate in the movie version of the novel that was a thinly veiled account of the '92 Democratic primary race.

PASS THE PEPCID: Ubiquitous Carnie Wilson (defunct pop group Wilson Phillips, Brian's daughter) has achieved more notoriety by chronicling her steep weight loss (around 150 pounds after a high of 298) than she did in the group's brief career.

Wilson deserves credit for realizing her obesity was endangering her health and doing something about it. But the world could have done without the Internet broadcast of her controversial weight-loss surgery (her stomach was stapled to reduce its size, and her intestines were rearranged).

And did she really have to call her just-published book about the whole thing Gut Feelings?

WRITER'S KNOCK: Here's a great loss in the literary world:

The book being written by 'N Syncher Justin Timberlake has been canceled.

Ballatine Books, which signed Timberlake to a seven-figure deal to publish Inside Drive: A Novel of Basketball, Life and Love this fall, said it deep-sixed the project because Timberlake didn't have time to do a national publicity tour.

Timberlake publicist Lisa Kasteler told the Associated Press the problem was a little bigger than that. He hadn't even finished writing the book. He's been too busy.

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