Arnold Schwarzenegger

The bomber jackets, open-necked shirts and unpressed chinos are back in the closet; the new uniform is a suit and tie. What looked right for Arnold Schwarzenegger on the campaign trail would look a bit insolent in the corridors of government. The movie star knows how to dress the part. But does he know how to govern? One obvious precedent for the 38th governor of California, who will be sworn into office tomorrow on the steps of the Sacramento Capitol, is the sainted Ronald Reagan. But it could just as easily be Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the wrestler who in 1998 rode a populist wave to become a one-shot, ultimately ineffectual governor of Minnesota.

Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- she, of course, is Maria Shriver -- have agreed to be the honorary co-chairs for Pam Shriver's fifth annual charity tennis tournament (Maria and Pam are cousins). Thanks to Pam's efforts, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) received more than $650,000 from the past four tournaments. This year's proceeds will be divided between CF, Children's Hospital and Center for Reconstructive Surgery and the Greater Baltimore Tennis Patrons Association.The First National Bank Tennis Festival presented by The Baltimore Sun for a Child's Benefit -- that's a mouthful but it's the official title -- will begin the two-day festival with an expensive gala on Monday, Nov. 26. Tickets are $750 a couple for the gala and a pair of tickets for the tennis exhibition the next day at the Baltimore Arena.

Just days after taking office, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made it clear that he will turn the initiative process into a main arm of his administration. Even as the new governor keeps the state Legislature in special session and pledges to work closely with its members, he also is setting the stage to go over their heads and govern directly through an extensive series of ballot measures. Schwarzenegger could be supporting or sponsoring as many as four measures on the March ballot and as many as half a dozen next November.

ATLANTA -- They came to praise the Olympian who drinks, smokes, wants to make movies and wants to marry a Kennedy. They waved their Turkish flags and sang their Turkish songs and painted their faces with crescent moons and stars.And when Naim Suleymanoglu, Turkey's 4-foot-11 "pocket Hercules," hoisted a refrigerator-sized, world-record weight above his head on his way to claiming his record third Olympic gold medal yesterday, they cheered and danced in the aisles."Have you ever heard of 'Little Big Man,' the movie?"

Cannes, France -- "Look at that harbor," says an old-timer. "Five years ago it had 50 mega-yachts. Now . . . two yachts and a garbage barge."He's right. And the near-empty harbor just off the Palais du Festivals at the world's richest and most chaotic film festival is an apt metaphor for the ennui and sense of loss that seems to grip the two-week event in the south of France.Oh, the tourists still throng the grand old Boulevard de Croisette, where the movie wars are waged and in whose bars and cafes and discos, it is rumored, the deals are made and the stars may be seen.

MINNEAPOLIS -- People are mortified, thrilled, angry and a more than a little shocked that the man who will soon be sleeping in their stately governor's mansion is a gruff-talking, mustachioed, bald former wrestler who campaigned with curse words and camouflage.One by one, flat vowels unmistakable, Minnesotans called talk-radio shows yesterday to dissect the surreal election where their three candidate choices had been a guy named Norm, a longtime hometown hero and a monster of a man who proudly wears feather boas and calls himself "The Body."

Countries without heroes are said to be unhappy -- those that need them unhappier still.What are we then to make of a country that has installed a machine -- Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film "Terminator 2" -- as the greatest hero on movie screens today? The film has emerged as the biggest hit of the summer, pulling in $133 million in just four weeks and likely on its way to an all-time box-office record.Whether we do or do not have cause to be pitied, movie heroes tell us quite a bit about ourselves.

LOS ANGELES - The tag line for Revolution Studios' stunt-packed action flick, XXX refers to its tattooed, thrill-addicted hero, played by Vin Diesel, as "a new breed of secret agent." In ads for this summer's successful thriller The Bourne Identity, Universal Pictures alerts audiences that in Matt Damon, the film's star, "a new action hero is Bourne!" And there is a lot of Hollywood gossip these days about just who the director Wolfgang Petersen will choose to play his battling heroes in Batman vs. Superman, Warner Brothers' attempt to breathe life into two dormant film franchises by peopling them with action stars of a more contemporary hue. Here's the deal: Charles Bronson is out of the game.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's governor says he's an "Arnold Republican," not a "Bush Republican." But in many ways, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush are in the same boat, with one exception: Schwarzenegger is running for re-election this year. Largely as a result of his own mistakes, Schwarzenegger's political standing has fallen as low as the president's. His competence has been called into question, and while the governor isn't grappling with foreign policy failures, his agenda has stalled because of resistance from fellow Republicans, just as Bush's has. "I've thought a lot about the last year and the mistakes I made and the lessons I've learned," Schwarzenegger said in a mea culpa speech that callers to his campaign headquarters hear when they're put on hold.

LOS ANGELES - The turbulent California recall contest headed into its closing hours with yet another round of womanizing accusations against Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday and indications that the race had tightened. Gov. Gray Davis, desperately trying to salvage the final three years of his term, said a new published report, which brought the number of women who said the actor groped them to 15, raised "serious questions about whether [Schwarzenegger] can govern California." "Mr. Schwarzenegger needs to address these charges in detail," the governor said.