Anderson Cooper

The last time Victoria Dinatale had an acting gig was in 1978, when she played a tree in a North Carroll High School production of a play whose name she can't even recall. But she still remembers the thrill of the spotlight, which is what drew her and hundreds of others to a casting call for extras in "Game Change," an HBO movie about the 2008 presidential race that started filming in Baltimore late last month. Aspiring extras filed into a theater at Stevenson University for hours Saturday, bringing with them headshots that in some cases had to have been taken decades before, on the best hair days of their lives.

The battle between network and cable news shows this year moved to a new front -- the blogosphere. From CBS' promise of a two-way continuing dialogue between Katie Couric and her fans to NBC's vow that through blogging Brian Williams would offer a window into the editorial process, these fledgling entities mark cable and network efforts to transform themselves into members of the new media. As with an evening newscast, news Web logs are team efforts, featuring postings by anchors, producers and correspondents.

The tartiest dish at a Baltimore Thanksgiving this year was not the sauerkraut, but the Vegas cocktail waitress Michael Phelps took to dinner at mom's. Caroline "Caz" Pal is a buxom brunette who shows up on Web sites like Beverly Hills Pimps and Hos covered in tattoos and not much else. She's also the girlfriend and holiday dining companion of Phelps, according to a People magazine report that quotes "a source close to Pal." Credit People for breaking the story, but give the New York Post props for playing up the angle of Phelps' "school-marm mother" meeting "a tattooed strip-club waitress who has bared her chest for photographers almost as many times as the Olympic swimming star."

This week, as the Supreme Court took up two historic cases pertaining to same-sex marriage, it's been an exciting time to be a college student. Huge numbers of young people on Facebook and Twitter continue to post pictures and status updates in support of marriage equality. Kids proudly walk around campus sporting red clothing in support of the Human Rights Campaign, a national organization that seeks to promote equal rights for gays, lesbians, transgender people and bisexuals. The enthusiasm, from the quad to the blogosphere, is infectious and inspiring.

When Oprah Winfrey ends her syndicated talk show Wednesday, millions of fans will not be the only ones facing a void. TV station executives who have lived with what's come to be known as the "Oprah Factor" are buying, selling, hoping and praying to get a piece of the audience of one of the most lucrative franchises in television. Tens of millions of dollars are at stake. "With Oprah leaving, it's the Wild West in lots of cities like Baltimore," says Bob Papper, Hofstra University professor of media studies.

With the exception of war and its deadly unpredictability, hurricanes probably pose more danger to the journalists covering them than any other kind of story. As the behemoth Katrina headed toward the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama yesterday, reporters and their editors were confronted again with a fundamental problem: how to cover a lethal storm without getting killed. "The first thing we tell them is `Don't be a hero,'" said Nancy Lane, CNN's news director, as she concluded her fifth conference call of the day yesterday in preparation for the storm.

There are certain types of people who are drawn to Times Square on New Year's Eve - tourists, college students, frostbite enthusiasts and those who enjoy standing pressed against strangers for hour after excruciating hour. This year you can add one more group to the list - the men who would be Dick Clark. With the world's oldest living teenager sidelined by a stroke, the wannabes are scrambling to show America they can carry Clark's torch, while the networks see a chance to establish new New Year's traditions.

MARYLAND Cause of Fair Hill fire sought State fire officials said yesterday that they had not determined a cause for a three-alarm blaze Tuesday night that claimed the lives of 24 thoroughbred horses at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton. Losses were put at nearly $2 million. pg 1a Plenty of flu vaccine expected Vaccine for the flu season is expected to be plentiful this year but will arrive in installments because of manufacturing delays and a federal plan to ensure shots are distributed equitably, said officials.

While the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain was still undecided last night about a scheduled debate with Sen. Barack Obama, network and cable TV news executives across the board were preparing their coverage as if the event would definitely be held tonight. "We are proceeding as if it's on until someone tells us it's officially not," Natalie Raabe, a spokeswoman for ABC News, said late yesterday. Most of the correspondents and crews that will provide on-scene coverage at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, starting at 9 p.m. if the debate is held, were already in place or on the way last night.

[Poem is in the shape of a Christmas Tree] A Man, A plan, A canal -- Time to put The isthmus back Into Christhmus? Able was I ere I saw -- Josie and Napoleon! Exclaimin', Holy-Moleyin', Ah, me; ah, well. Joyeux Noel. Palindromes are here corrupted: Madam, I'm -- interrupted! Samx yrrem, less-the-none, Front to back's only half the fun. So launch we now our fragile vessel Of holiday rhymes (well, more or lessel). But who's that on the beach? Is it King Canute Ordering back the Yuletide in his reddish suit?