Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 43

BISTRO" fjftfltttt I Inside Names 2 Movie guide 7 Television 8 Comics 8-10 This weekend: New Jeff Daniels play, movies 2f On TV: 'Jamie Foxx: Unpredictable' EF We sample microvvavable panini. V- Uf! 1 1 vv tin VZAU www.freep.com Detroit Free Press Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 Features 313-222-6610, SYLVIA RECTOR FREE PRESS RESTAURANT CRITIC i 1 ft WHAT'S GOING ON Rock chopper On a normal Saturday night, you get from Detroit to Mt. Clemens with a straight shot up 1-94. On an unorthodox Saturday night Like, when you're Kid Rock and the Super Bowl is the next day and your town is jammed you just might need a helicopter.

Perhaps nothing better illustrates the frenzy expected to consume Detroit next week than the measures being Super dining downtown 1 9f fr I Illustrated mag 5 4 1 azine 10 gei iua Rock to its Feb. 4 party. If all Rock will step A i 1 4 ii Restaurant bookings were sluggish until last weekend when the Super Bowl teams won their playoff games. Then the phones began ringing. If you hope to dine downtown next week, grab a reservation now.

Seats are going fast. Some tantalizing opportunities just popped up at Coach Insignia, on the 71st and 72nd floors of the Renaissance Center. Owner Matt Prentice will open at 1 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday with his regular menu and brunch items for pregame dining. There's also an afterglow from 9 p.m.

to 2 a.m. with a $25 cover. The regular menu will be served until closing, and Hidden Agenda, a top Detroit and Top 40 band, begins playing at 10 p.m. for dancing high above the building tops. 313-567-2622.

Tickets are still available for the two fabulous brunch seatings and the afterglow party at the RenCen's Seldom Blues, where WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) will be broadcasting live for much of the day. 313-567-7301. Also at the RenCen, Andiamo Riverfront has both a Super Bowl brunch (reservations required) and an hors d'oeuvre afterglow. With ESPN broadcasting in the WinterGarden that night, right outside the restaurant door, there may even be celebrity sightings. Afterglow tickets are $25 in advance, $40 at the door.

DJ Captain 20 will entertain. 313-567-6700. Fabulous food, worthy cause Amid the wretched excess is an event called "the party with a purpose" the Taste of the NFL, held annually to benefit food banks in all 31 NFL cities, LJC 1 1 off the Joe Louis Kid Rock Arena stage, having just played to a sold-out crowd, dash out to a waiting chopper, and get rushed to the celebrity gala at Mt. Clemens' Emerald Theatre. There, with the sweat wiped off and fresh clothes thrown on, he'll serve as host and midnight musical guest at Sports Illustrated's Super Bowl soiree.

Rock will be the ringleader for a crowd that's expected to include actress Jaime Pressly, comedian Cedric the Entertainer, star athletes, pro cheerleaders, and a whole bunch of the mag's swimsuit models. Sports Illustrated still has to clear logistical details for the helicopter transportation. "We're exploring the possibilities with law enforcement," a spokesman said Tuesday. For Kid Rock who said this week he's quite pleased at the prospect of a night with swimsuit models there might be something else in the air that night: a blimp over Joe Louis Arena advertising the Feb. 21 release of his new live record.

By Brian McCollum 7 Download audiobooks for free at local libraries' Web sites By MARTA SALIJ FREE PRESS BOOKS WRITER See RECTOR, 6F late fine. (Though you won't be able to listen to the file after three weeks the playing capabilities self-destruct after that time you will need to delete the audiobook file from your hard drive and portable device manually.) "They've gone over very, very well," says Mary Killian, head of adult services at the West Bloom-field Public Library. "Obviously it's a great alternative to running to the library or renting them." Among the Michigan libraries that offer the downloads are those in Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Bloomfield Township, Canton, Farmington, Grosse Pointe, Independence Township, Northville, Novi, Plymouth, Southfield, Troy and West Bloomfield. But here's one big caveat, warns Denise Kon-chel, adult services librarian at Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham. The libraries' audio-books are not compatible with the iPods from Apple.

They are Windows-based only. And, there is a bit of tech-sav-viness required. You'll need to download some software to your home computer to be able to re- Where to download audiobooks If you have a valid card for one of these libraries, you can download audiobooks for free from their Web sites for use with a Windows-based player: I Ann Arbor District Library: (www.aadl.org) I Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham (www.baldwinlib.org) I Bloomfield Township Public Library (www.btpl.org) I Canton Public Library (www.cantonpl.org) I Farmington Community Library (www.farmlib.org) I Grosse Pointe Public Library (www.gp.lib.mi.us) I Independence Township Library (www.indelib.orgindex.html) I Northville District Library (northville.lib.mi.us) I Novi Public Library (novi.lib.mi.us) I Plymouth District Library (plymouthlibrary.org) I Southfield Public Library (www.sfldlib.org) I Troy Public Library (www.macomb.lib.mi.ustroy) I West Bloomfield Township Public Library (www.wblib.org) To buy downloadable audiobooks for Windows players and iPods: www.audible.com ow the readers of the world have a reason to get MP3 players. Digital downloadable audiobooks. Yes, you can fill up your player with books rather than tunes and listen on your commute or on the treadmill or while walking the dog.

And though the books are available for a fee from services such as Audible.com, the real news is that they're available at more than a dozen local libraries for free, if you have a valid library card. Or maybe we should say available from the local libraries' Web sites: No trip to the library necessary. Go to the library Web site, put in your library card number and download the book to your home computer for three weeks. Then transfer it to any portable device that supports Windows Media Player. When the three weeks are up, poof! The book is "returned" from your hard drive without you having to lift a finger.

You can't be late, therefore you can't incur a Coleman at Opera House Former NBA star and Detroiter Derrick Coleman is hosting a Super Bowl shindig at the Detroit Opera House. The Platinum Party begins at 9 p.m. Feb. 4. It will be co-hosted by rapper Nelly and Eva Pigford of "America's Next Top Model" fame.

Tickets ($195, $500 for VIP) through Ticketmaster or the Opera House box office. Penhallow for Penthouse "Baaaby!" Longtime WRIF-FM (101.1) personality Arthur Penhallow will host and the Party like a Rock-Star with Penthouse Party. The event will feature 2006 Penthouse Pet of the Year, and runs from 9 p.m.-4 a.m. Feb. 4 at the Vault downtown.

Motley Crue's Tommy Lee hosts the party from 2-4 a.m. Tickets: $1,250. Call 866-666-6222. By KelleyL. Carter Secondary TV networks to merge UPN and WB will combine this fall By JOHN SMYNTEK FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER See AUDIOBOOKS, 6F Bye-bye, UPN and WB.

Hello, CW. The broadcast television industry was hit with a major consolidation Tuesday when CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced their intent to form a new network, called the CW. It is expected to be launched in the fall.

Boost from ESPN ''Mb fc The new martin! lounge Centaur will be one of three ESPN locations during Super Bowl week. SUPER BOWL XL COUNTDOWN Detroit, Feb. 5. 2006 Parties speed up development By KELLEY CARTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER ESPN STORMS DETROIT The sports media giant has three downtown venues for activities: Centaur This new martini bar at 2233 Park Ave. opened this summer.

Private events throughout the week include TV and radio broadcasts and celebrity pampering. There's a Wednesday welcome reception for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and on Saturday, sports agent Leigh Steinberg hosts his 20th Super Bowl party. The Colony Club: Rehab is wrapping up at the space at 2310 Park which has been mostly dormant for 20 years. The venue hosts the Madden Bowl video game event Thursday and the swanky ESPN the Magazine's Next Party Friday. The Town Pump: The longtime hipster watering hole at the corner of Montcalm and Park will be open to the public for games, athlete appearances and more.

CW will be made up in part of current programming on UPN (which is controlled by CBS) and Warner's WB network. UPN and WB have relatively low ratings but do well with niche audiences. The W's most likely strategy? Becoming a single point for reaching younger eyes with hip-per programming and providing stronger, more unified competition for old guard CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox. The CW will offer its best programming from 8-10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7-10 p.m.

Sundays. Also part of the deal is a 5-hour Saturday morning animation block aimed at kids. DAYS TO KICKOFF ENTERTAINMENT, PARTIES EVENTS All it took was a little Imagination, says Kim Willis, senior marketing director for ESPN the Magazine, and the rest came easy. Willis is talking about how ESPN the Magazine and the ESPN networks secured prime downtown real estate for the broadcasts, parties and events they'll be hosting in connection with Super Bowl XL. They locked up three adjacent buildings, all within walking distance of Ford Field: the newly opened Centaur, hipster favorite Town Pump and the long-dormant Colony Club.

All of them are be- Guide to A Downtown Detroit, www.freep WILLIAM ARCHIEDetroit Free Press See ESPN, 6F.