Cabbage Patch

MAYBE ALL the saccharine sentimentality being sprinkled over the toddlers of America by Barney the dinosaur will reverse a trend that's as old as Cain and Abel, but we doubt it: Boys will always love fightin' toys.GI Joe, of course, is going on its second generation, and has been one of the most durable characters in the doll world (along with Barbie). But Fightin' Joe is not alone; some of the hottest products on toy shelves this holiday season reflect the feeling that nothing warms a child's heart like a good karate chop or a flying wedge kick.

The girl in the picture her boyfriend took looks hardened, her youthful innocence drained with each drag of the Camel cigarette dangling defiantly from her lips.She is 16-year-old Brandy Chappell, but she is not the daughter Leslie and Louis Chappell say they knew. This Brandy is the teen-ager police say allegedly stole $6,000 from her parents July 17, hopped a plane to Boston with her boyfriend and hasn'tbeen heard from since.The Chappells had been worried about their daughter for over a year.

For many parents, it's a troll down memory lane.Not since the wild-haired troll dolls produced by Norfin and Russ Berrie Inc. first hit the United States in 1968 have so many of them covered the walls of toy stores across the country.One of the hottest selling toys in the country this season, the figures go to school, to the bathtub, and even to bed with a generation of kids whose parents are shocked to see their old toys back in the sandbox."We don't even know why this is happening today," said Sid Arronson, director of communications for Russ Berrie and Company Inc. Mr. Arronson noted the company has reintroduced trolls to the market about every six years since their first success with the dolls, but that "this [success]

Nobody has ever awakened in a hotel bathtub, packed in ice, after his kidneys were removed by organ thieves. There is no $250 Neiman Marcus cookie recipe. Libraries do not sink from the weight of all those books.Yet we believe anyway, employing the philosophy of Never Check a Good Story. And even if they're wrong, these tall tales have a properly academic name to make them sound more respectable: urban legends.In a new book, "Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends," author Jan Harold Brunvard amasses many of the best and dissects how they have become accepted in popular culture.

WASHINGTON -- Americans are fatter, more stressed out and no likelier to get regular exercise than 10 years ago, warns a new poll that says the nation is descending into cholesterol hell.The national survey by Louis Harris and Associates comes as Hillary Rodham Clinton's White House task force seriously is considering making personal responsibility and preventive care building blocks of national health reform.Well, guess what, Mrs. Clinton? Most of us have health habits like your husband's.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes from police reports in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Baltimore City Southwestern District Drug arrests: Police raided a house Wednesday in the 3100 block of Brighton St., where undercover Officer Ken Jeffries bought drugs two weeks ago. They arrested five men and seized three handguns and more than $2,000 worth of marijuana and cocaine. Charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute were Cornelius Feredee, 41, of the raided house; Lionel Reed, 23, of the 1600 block of N. Hilton St.; Charles Bullock, 18, and Jamal Brown, 19, both of the 1500 block of N. Ellamont St.; and Dawaun Jenkins, 20, of the 1600 block of Thomas Ave. Drug arrest: A man was arrested for allegedly selling drugs Tuesday in the 2200 block of Denison St. Police seized $213 and 28 plastic bags of crack cocaine.

PHILADELPHIA -- If you're looking for a basic, no-frills air freshener for your car, they're easy enough to find.But if you truly must have the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles car air freshener, then you have to come to Mark Simon.Mr. Simon is president of Marlenn Corp., a Baltimore manufacturer with the exclusive license to manufacture Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles car air fresheners, one of 600 licensed products cashing in on the Turtles craze to sell everything from pudding pies to boxer shorts.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan told America to say no to drugs. Houston police Officer Michael W. Jones has a follow up: say yes to education."Just say no to drugs -- that ain't enough," said Officer Jones, 35, a pilot in Houston's helicopter division. "Just say yes to education. Knowledge is power. You got the power. You get paid."Officer Jones took this message to about 1,700 students at Meade Senior High School yesterday. Tomorrow he'll speak at MacArthur Middle School and at Van Bokkelen Elementary on Friday.

LONDON -- Ah, London at Christmas.Up to three-hour delays at Harrods department store to meet Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus. Shopper gridlock between the temporary barricades along the main shopping thoroughfare, Oxford Street. And rain.This is the time of year when the normally civil British lose their civility. Jammed stores, crammed sidewalks and standing-room-only subways fray the nerves of London's shoppers, who are without hermetically sealed malls."People get a bit frantic this time of year," says Gavin Brewer, who manages Hamleys, the self-proclaimed "finest toy shop in the world."

Linda Greenberg has a fairly long wish list this year.Boxes of cookies, doughnuts, cupcakes and brownies. Hundreds of bottles of soda. Warm, woolly blankets and sleeping bags. Baby dolls, toy cars and stuffed animals. Warm hot meals. A couple of doctors, nurses and beauticians would be great, too.A strange list, perhaps, but Greenberg is quick to point out that those are the things she needs this season to spread a little holiday cheer to about 5,000 homeless people in the Baltimore-Annapolis area.