Jam Master Jay Dies in NYC Shooting

NEW YORK (AP) - Jam Master Jay, part of the pioneering rap trio Run DMC, was shot and killed at a New York City recording studio Wednesday, the group's publicist said.

Publicist Tracy Miller confirmed the death of the 37-year-old rapper, whose real name was Jason Mizell.

He was shot once in the head and was dead at the scene, said Detective Robert Price, a police spokesman. He said the shooter remained at large and police had no information on a motive.

A second man, identified by police as 25-year-old Urieco Rincon, was shot in the leg and was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital. The hospital did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Run DMC is widely credited with helping bring hip-hop into music's mainstream, including the group's smash collaboration with Aerosmith on the 1980s standard "Walk This Way."

"We always knew rap was for everyone," Mizell said in a 2001 interview with MTV. "Anyone could rap over all kinds of music."

"It wasn't the soulful R&B of the '70s and '80s," he said of the group's early work. "So we didn't want to be like the soft R&B. We wanted to go hardcore, so we put the rock-and-roll on our rap."

Mizell served as the group's disc jockey, providing background for singers Joseph Simmons, better known as DJ Run, and Darryl McDaniels, better known as DMC.

Mizell was married and had three children, Miller said.

"He was a great producer, a hard worker," Miller said told The Associated Press. "He's a family man."

Dozens of fans gathered on the outskirts of the crime scene in Queens, where the members of Run DMC grew up.

"They're the best. They're the pioneers in hip-hop," said fan Arlene Clark, 39.

Another fan who lives nearby, Leslie Bell, 33, said the members of Run DMC often let local musicians record for free at their studio.

"That was their decision, to stay here and give back to the community," Bell said. "He is one great man. The good always die young. He's the good guy."

Miller said Mizell and McDaniels had planned to perform in Washington, D.C., on Thursday at a Washington Wizards basketball game. Mizell had performed on Tuesday in Alabama, Miller said.

The trio released a greatest-hits album earlier this year. In 2001, the rappers produced "Crown Royal," breaking an eight-year silence.

In 1986, the trio said they were outraged by the rise of fatal gang violence in the Los Angeles area. They called for a day of peace between warring street gangs.

"This is the first town where you feel the gangs from the minute you step into town to the time you leave," Mizell said at the time.

Thirteen Eleventh Hour Halloween Getups

It happens every year. You get these wildly ambitious ideas about making a costume, forget to buy anything, wait until the last minute, then wind up scrambling. We know the syndrome. And we can help.

1. In this age of self-help, it’s OK to go public with your Freudian SliP. Wear a dress slip and a dr. freud name tag, and carry a big unlit cigar. Then corner people on the couch. Materials: slip, cigar, hello my name is … sticker.

2. Ever wonder what Ronald McDonald does during off-hours? How does he live when he’s not filming ads or scaring small children? Does he hit the links, brandy in hand, wearing a pink Polo shirt and plaid trousers? Maybe he sports a pack of Luckies, pulls on a trench coat, and trolls the seedier side of town. Live your Mac Daddy fantasy. Materials: red wig, face paint, McDonald’s logo cut from a french fries box and pinned to your lapel or hung on a beefy gold chain.

3. Hell’s Bells DJ: Grab a pair of headphones and some death metal records from a local thrift store. [Your local thrift store has death metal? Address?! –Ed.] Dress badly: Dig out that old AC/DC tour shirt and make two little construction paper cones to pin in your hair as horns. Materials: construction paper, tour shirt, death metal records, headphones painted red.

4. Surrealist PainteR: Wear painter’s pants or overalls, and a painter’s cap turned backward. Carry a brush glued full of artificial flowers or other plastic doodads. If you do impressions, be an IMPRESSIONIST PainteR. Groan. Materials: overalls, cap, paint can, paintbrush, glue, plastic doodads.

5. Beat Poet: Man, those poetry slams are rough. Give Ginsberg, Kerouac, and the rest of the boys a run for their money by donning a beret, painting your eye black and blue, and wrapping yourself in bandages. Plan ahead and grow a goatee. Materials: black turtleneck, beret, bandages, black eyeliner, book of poetry (Howl suits Halloween nicely).

6. Famous worldwide, the American Tourist is easy to imitate. White socks and sandals are de rigueur. Add Bermuda shorts and a short-sleeve button-down shirt (preferably Hawaiian) and salaam, you’re Al Qaeda’s moving target. Materials: Hawaiian shirt, map, camera, wraparound sunglasses, suitcase with buy american! stickers.

7. Cereal KilleR: Work out childhood repression the inexpensive way. Stab a Trix box with a dull knife (or a sharp one—give that crazy rabbit what he deserves). Tape the knife in position and spatter the wound with fake blood. Strap the box to your chest or wear it on your head. Materials: dull knife, tissue paper, fake blood, cereal box.

8. Drowned Rat: Make cardboard concrete boots to clomp around in. Paint your face a morbid pale blue. Tangle yourself in fishing line and stick a plastic fish in your pocket. Materials: cardboard, face paint, fishing line, plastic fish.

9. If you’re planning to do serious damage this Halloween, consider being bubble-wraP MAN. Shroud yourself in packing material and hotties will be popping you all night. Getting fall-down drunk is just part of the look. Materials: bubble wrap, packing tape.

10. Anyone can dress as an angel, but how fun are they? Work, work, work. Piety, piety, piety. It’s Fallen Angels that have all the fun. Make yourself a tarnished halo from a wire hanger. Wear a toga with burn marks and slits in the back where your wings were clipped. Materials: sheet, matches (for burn marks), scissors, wire hanger.

11. Grab an old Polaroid and you’re Paparazzi GuY. The beautiful people are stepping out tonight. Carry a fake press pass and as many cameras as you can carry. Shoot anything that moves. Materials: cameras, press pass (use an old ID picture), flashlight (for spotting celebs).

12. You’re the hero of the watercooler, Stapler MaN! Staple a tie and cape to your suit. Fashion a hanger into a giant staple, then wear it as a belt. Better yet, shape a bunch of hangers into staples, glue them together, and wear them as a bulletproof vest. The impression is stronger when Bubble-Wrap Man and Stapler Man work together to save the day job. Materials: wire hangers, cape or bedsheet dyed red or black, tie, oxford shirt, blazer, staple gun.

13. Halloween costumes are best when scary, but vampires and werewolves don’t have the punch they once did. For a more modern fright, be as nondescript as possible. Remember, Psycho Killers look like everyone else. Materials: sick sense of humor.I say, ‘I’m David, and I’m an American.’”

Campbell Gives Us The Scoop

The "Evil Dead" actor Bruce Campbell squashed a whole bunch of rumours during an interview today. A fourth "Evil Dead"? No because he doesn't think Sam Raimi would go back to zero-budget filmmaking - "Hmm...a low budget EVIL DEAD sequel, or another SPIDER MAN...let me think". His involvement in the new "Phantasm" flick? A rumour on the IMDb only, no truth to it. The talk he's been cast as Lizard in "Spider-Man 2"? Again entirely false - no one has approached him, including Raimi.

SOUTH PARK creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk a bit about bringing Kenny back to life this season.

If South Park fans have heard this catchphrase once, they've heard it 1,000 times: "Oh my God, they killed Kenny! You bastards!" But the hapless red-hooded boy always lived to die again — that is, until the end of season five, when a muscular disease seemingly snuffed him for good. (Kenny was totally M.I.A. in season six.) But take heart, for TV Guide Online has learned Kenny McCormick will return!

"We're not exactly bringing Kenny back," teases South Park co-creator Trey Parker. "We're doing something more clever than that." Adds his partner, Matt Stone: "We're kinda sorta bringing him kinda back..." Finishing Stone's irksomely vague thought, Parker says: "In the very way you'd expect South Park to bring him back, we're bringing him back."

Is it true that Parker and Stone deep-sixed Kenny simply because they got tired of writing all of his unholy deaths and resurrections? "It actually came just from an idea that it would be really funny to do an episode where Kenny died and everyone cared," Parker laughs. "It was a whole sort of movie-of-the-week episode where this child was dying and everyone was concerned — whereas obviously it had been going on for years and no one gave a s--t.

"It turned out to be a really funny episode," Parker proudly adds, "and we were like, 'Let's keep him gone. Let's see how long we can ride this out.' We started focusing on other characters, like Butters, to take his place and really had fun. It's been cool."

Well, Kenny's impending exhumation is sure to have South Park fans in speculation overdrive. Might he turn up as a ghost again? Could he have a long-lost twin? Or will he rise out of Kyle's toilet bowl like Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo?

Like the gleeful geeks they are, Parker and Stone reply in unison: "It's better than that! Better than that!"

WINONA TRIAL UPDATE

A former Saks Fifth Avenue security guard testifying Wednesday that she peered through the slats and saw Winona Ryder cutting antitheft tags off merchandise in a dressing room. Ryder, who turned 31 Tuesday, is on trial in Beverly Hills on shoplifting charges.

'CSI: Miami' Sniper Episode to Air

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A "CSI: Miami" episode about a sniper that CBS had considered postponing will air as planned Nov. 18, the network said Wednesday.

The decision to air the episode came after arrests were made Oct. 24 in the Washington area shooting attacks that left 10 people dead and three others wounded.

John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, face federal and state charges in connection with the attacks that began Oct. 2.

The "CSI: Miami" story was conceived in August and the script was delivered weeks before the real-life shooting attacks began, CBS said last week.

The episode features a forensics team studying crime scenes from an attacker who kills people from atop a building. The Monday night drama is a spin-off of CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Earlier this month, 20th Century Fox said it was delaying the release of the movie "Phone Booth," a thriller about a man who answers a pay telephone and finds he's the target of a faraway gunman he can't see.

Sandler May Plant More 'Kisses' on Barrymore

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Adam Sandler, star of the critically acclaimed "Punch-Drunk Love," is attached to star in and produce "Fifty First Kisses," a romantic comedy that could reteam him with his "Wedding Singer" co-star Drew Barrymore.

The Columbia Pictures project revolves around a man who falls in love with a woman after a memorable encounter, only to find that she suffers from severe short-term memory loss and has no idea who he is. To win her, the man must get her to fall in love with him all over again every day.

It is based on a spec script by George Wing, and is being rewritten by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. No director is attached. Jay Roach ("Austin Powers") was initially attached, but he has since turned his attentions elsewhere. No offer has been made to Barrymore yet.

Fox Disbands 'Girls Club' After Two Episodes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After two airings, Fox has returned its verdict on its legal drama "Girls Club," and the news is not good for the defendant.

The network canceled the heavily promoted show on Tuesday, after it posted a significant decline from its already weak premiere episode.

That first showing finished fifth in its time slot, according to Nielsen Media Research, and was 82nd for the week out of 131 total rated programs.

The second episode was down 16 percent in total viewers from the first show and down 16 percent in the ratings among audiences aged 18 to 49, a key demographic for advertisers.

"Girls Club" was the latest drama from famed producer David E. Kelley. The show was dogged by negative reviews and largely failed to draw young women, its target audience.

Fox had counted on the show as the successor to another Kelley legal drama, "Ally McBeal," which was a hit for the network before ending its run last season.

Kelley, best-known for shows like "L.A. Law" and "Picket Fences," has two other shows on air this season: "Boston Public" Monday nights on Fox and "The Practice" Sunday nights on ABC.

Nicole Kidman Not Ready for New Relationship

BERLIN (Reuters) - Actress Nicole Kidman says she is not ready for a new relationship more than a year after the break up of her marriage to actor Tom Cruise.

"I'm not dating anybody; no dates," the German magazine Bunte quoted Kidman as saying in an interview published on Wednesday.

The magazine said Kidman would pull herself together soon and be on the look out for a boyfriend.

"But I'm not ready for that just yet," she said.

One of the best-known faces in Hollywood, Kidman won fame for her roles in films such as 'Batman Forever', 'Eyes Wide Shut', and 'The Others'. Her recent performance in the musical 'Moulin Rouge' earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress.

Santana Scores His First No. 1 Album Debut

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three years after the release of his Grammy-winning blockbuster "Supernatural," rock guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana has outdone himself, shooting to the top of the pop charts with the first No. 1 album debut of his career.

Santana's latest multi-artist collaboration, "Shaman," sold nearly 300,000 copies its first week in stores, four times the first-week tally of "Supernatural" in September 1999, according to Nielsen SoundScan sales data issued on Wednesday by his label, Arista Records.

Country pop diva Faith Hill's latest release, "Cry," slipped a notch to No. 2 with sales of 195,000 copies in its second week, boosting her tally to nearly 668,000 units, according to her label, Warner Bros. Records, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc.

Two other new releases, "One by One" from the rock group Foo Fighters, and Rod Stewart's collection of pop classics, "It Had to Be You ... The Great American Songbook," entered the charts in third and fourth place, respectively.

Stewart's album, featuring the veteran rocker singing standards from the likes of George Gershwin and Cole Porter, marked his highest debut in at least a decade.

Meanwhile, the new Elvis Presley greatest-hits package, "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits," fell to No. 5 in its fifth week.

Along with "Shaman" and the Elvis collection, the latest records from Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters and Stewart were distributed by BMG, the global music division of Bertelsmann AG.

Super-producer Clive Davis, the man behind Santana's last big hit, "Supernatural," also served as producer for "Shaman" and Stewart's "Great American Songbook."

A two-disc retrospective of Santana's work, "The Essential Santana," made a much smaller dent in the charts, selling just under 9,000 copies to debut at No. 125 in the top 200. That set, including such classics as "Evil Ways," "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va," was issued by Columbia/Legacy label the same day as "Shaman." The label is owned by Japan's Sony Corp.

Like "Supernatural," which sold a whopping 25 million copies, Santana's newest album pairs the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with a variety of contemporary stars, including Dido, Macy Gray, Seal, Michelle Branch and Musiq.

By comparison, "Supernatural" followed a more gradual path to its mega-hit status, debuting at No. 19 on the charts and working its way up to No. 1 after 18 weeks in release.

It remained in top echelons of the charts for weeks thereafter and went on to earn nine Grammy Awards, including the prize for album of the year, and three Latin Grammys.

The album's smash success marked a triumphant comeback for the 55-year-old guitarist who formed the band that bears his name in the 1960s, and it helped push Latin rock to the forefront of the American pop scene.