Blue Eyes

She kicks, she shoots, she kills. And she looks darn good doing it.She's Nikita, a blond-haired, blue-eyed assassin whose weekly adventures on the USA network have made "La Femme Nikita" cable's highest-rated drama series. Sentenced to death for a crime she didn't commit, Nikita is rescued at the last minute by a mysterious government agency, cryptically referred to as Section One, that specializes in killing for the common good. Given the choice of either dying (this time for sure) or killing, she chooses the latter.

"Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend," by Geoffrey Giuliano. Dutton. 352 pages. $24.95. One thing people love about celebrity journalism is the chance to hear an artist "speak" through interviews that stress long, unedited quotes. Unlike conventional profiles, where the writer acts as a sort of filter between the subject and the reader, these quote-driven pieces simply take down what the star has to say and offer it up without comment.That may make for magazine copy, but it's hell on biographies.

He will not dance again,or sing.He cannot talk or walk,Or even stand.He cannot read or write,the blue eyes a vacant stare,As from the flickeringTelevision screen.He looks uncomprehendingat ''The Price Is Right.''His world has shrunkTo a half-filled water glass,A box of Kleenex by his bed,Bewilderment.And yet he understandsA kiss, and knowsThat in the kingdomof my heart,He wears the crown.Pub Date: 6/06/96

"Pssst!"Looking around the parking lot, I saw nothing yet detected the unmistakable scent of AquaNet Superhold."Over here!" It was my friend, crouched down beside her car. Except her hair. Towering above her, it was a melange of Farrah Fawcett and early Priscilla Presley with just a hint of Little Miss Toni Perm."I had a coupon for Sparkin' Sassy Beauty Photos. $19.95." She was not happy. "I thought I'd get the make-over, have my photo taken and surprise my husband for Valentine's Day. Now look at me!"

"Frankie! Frankie!"Frank Sinatra, who released his first new recording in 10 years this holiday season, is more than a timeless crooner whose music is still played nonstop in hundreds of restaurants. In some corners, Ol' Blue Eyes is considered an investment.While not igniting the collector frenzy of vintage Elvis Presley or Beatles memorabilia, many of his items are rising in value:* "Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music (Part II)," a promotional album distributed free by Budweiser in 1966, features Sinatra sporting a mustache on its cover.

GIVEN its location on the lower end of the "Bos-Wash corridor" and within 40 miles of Washington, Baltimore is a stopping-off point for the famous and near-famous, the politician, even the queen. It's parochial to mention that So-and-So visited Baltimore five times. He or she darn well should have!Having said that, Glimpses makes an exception for "ol' blue eyes," Frank Sinatra, who creates excitement wherever he goes. And Baltimore has been no exception.There've been at least three visits, maybe a fourth.

BERLIN -- In an unfinished mosque on the fourth floor of a building being renovated in the polyglot neighborhood called Kreuzberg, Bosnian Muslims recite a litany of terror, sorrow and death."

A week's worth of watching the "Oprah Winfrey" show has brought two surprising revelations to our attention.First of all, we noticed that the studio audience is remarkably well-versed in self-help psychobabble, never hesitating to urge troubled guests to face reality, get counseling or simply mind their own business.Second, there was all that bright blue eye shadow on the women in the audience. These were not subtle, well-blended rims of smoky, gray-blue shadow. These were wide, arcing rings of bright baby blue, covering the eyelids from one corner to the other and from the lashes right up to the brows.

There are basically two ways to review a concert like the one given by Frank Sinatra last night at the Merriweather Post Pavilion.One is to take the fan's viewpoint, and that works very well with Sinatra.After all, if you listen with your memory more than your ears, it's easy to let nostalgia filter out the few bum notes and off-key phrases.Or you could take the critical approach, and discount all that celebrity baloney.Instead, what you look at are the notes -- did he hit them cleanly? Did he stay on pitch?

WHEN HE WAS 13, it was a very good year for Mickey Light. He discovered "Frankie" Sinatra, the cocky young crooner with girls swooning at his feet and a trip-wire temper. For a poor Baltimore kid like Light, watching Sinatra's meteoric ascent as an American icon in the 1940s made him feel as if guys like him could be somebody."When I was a kid, I lived in a poor neighborhood by the Maryland Penitentiary," Light says. "We went to see a movie with Sinatra [it was the "The Kissing Bandit"]. He was a young skinny guy just like we were.