The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 45

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1998 THE RECORD YT-3 Ibirthdays Queen Latifah, 28 Vanessa L. Williams, 35 Wilson Pickett, 57 Peter Graves, 72 thel Jriffi "The Gin Game" Presented by Abe Kinberg Dinner weekend getaway Theater. 2 p.m. today. Clinton Inn Hotel, 145 Dean Drive, Tenafly.

$17.50, $34.95 with noon lunch. (201) 886-0642. shop talk Brad's bottom line ft (X Russian National Orchestra Mikhail Pletnev conducts Anatoli 2 "Hi Brad, oh Brad. Who are you, Brad? I don't know Brad's last name. I don't know fc1 -f 1 Long before Watkins Glen became famous for auto racing, it was known for its natural scenic beauty; the view from the Statler Hotel in Ithaca; a caricature of feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Liadov's "Three Fairy Tales," Glazunov's Violin Concerto in A minor, and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in major, with violinist Gil Shaham. 8 tonight. $21 to $45. State Theater, 15 Livingston New Brunswick.

(732) what he does for a living (although I Lit -iiS Jllirrni ft. 1L. -s Hi ,1 4 The history of the women's movement rings loud and clear in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Balletto Di Toscana "Mediterranean 8 tonight. Joyce did hear him negotiate a few business deals over his cell phone).

But I do know where he got those four Italian wool designer suits. He bought them at the Ermenegildo Zegna warehouse sale in Englewood. The sale ran last week and continues today through Saturday. I was tipped off to a "preferred customers" preview of the sale by the Report, a newsletter that advertises warehouse sales. The Report postcard arrived in the mail Monday, the sale was Tuesday, and because Zegna is one of those lines that fashionable males complain are never seen on sale, I headed to Englewood to investigate.

It was there, at 10 a.m. at the distribution center Zegna operates at 100 W. Forest that I ran into Brad and a dozen other Ermenegildo Zegna fans all of them male, almost all of them carrying cell phones, and all of them affluent enough to call a $900 suit a bargain. "Our suits sell for $2,000, so $900 is a great price," explained one salesperson. Brad knows that people really do pay $2,000 for a Zegna suit.

He's one of them. He was wearing a grey Zegna suit at the sale, and admitted, "I even paid retail for this. But that's OK. I like it." For those not in the $900 suit bracket, there were hundreds of Zegna ties that usually retail for $110 on sale for The sale was advertised in the New York Times on Friday and on Saturday the line waiting to get into the showroom was a dozen shoppers long many of whom arrived wearing fur coats and driving Jaguars and Mercedes. The rich are different from you and me they can buy four $900 suits without batting an eye; they have conversations on their cells phones like, "Hold on, I have Col-son on the line" (how do you get call waiting on a cell and, "I don't know which villa it is.

It's probably like the one we had last year." But like everyone else, they love a bargain. Joan Verdon can be reached by phone at (201) 646-4419, by fax at (201) 646-4047, by e-mail at verdonshopwatch.com or by mail at The Record, 150 River Hackensack, N.J. 07601. Stanton as community activists and listed a Who's Who of progressives, abolitionists, and feminists who gathered there: William Seward, William Lloyd Garrison, and Susan B. Anthony, among others.

(Surprisingly, Anthony, the most famous feminist, had little to do with the Seneca Falls convention. She was heavily involved with the abolitionist movement in Rochester, N.Y.) Amelia Bloomer, immortalized by the loose fousers that today bear her name, wap known in her day for a feminist newsletter she published in town. A replica of her print shop is in the old, temporary visitor center. On weekdays, it is reserved for school groups, but others can visit Saturday for a tour and a try at running a late 19th century letterpress printer. Other notable women include Florence Sabin, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Dorothea Dix.

They are all featured in the National Women's Hall of Fame, down the street from the visitor center. The drive to Seneca Falls will take at least five hours, so make a long weekend of your trip to the Finger Lakes region. While you're in this spectacular part of New York State, stop in at the cute town and tremendous natural scenery of Watkins Glen, or kick back in the sophisticated, scholarly ambience of Ithaca, the little town that boasts two major institutions of learning and countless natural gorges. Michael Schuman is a freelance writer living in New Hampshire. gender superiority at specialized jobs, and sexual harassment.

The centerpiece of the visitor center is 20 life-size statues of people who attended the first women's rights convention. Eleven are anonymous figures representing the rank and file; among the identified are Elizabeth Cady Stanton, whose home is also on the park grounds, and Frederick Douglass. Why all this activity happened in little Seneca Falls is explained in the town's history. In 1848, the town was turning away from agriculture to milling and manufacturing. Women were leaving farms to work in factories for the first time.

But laws mandated that their wages were property of their husbands. The litany of "cannots" for women stretched as long as the Erie Canal, which passed through the town. Women could not vote, own property, or become guardians of their children after separation. They heard this over and over again from resident and transient reformers, many of whom stopped in Seneca Falls as they traveled west on the canal. Stanton, a Boston transplant weary of life in this remote milling town, was the woman who started the chain reaction of reform.

Her home is less important for its collection of antiques the furnishings are sparse, actually than for the story of the woman who lived here, a radical wh6se then-absurd ideas are routine today. As we stood in the formal parlor, our guide described Henry and Elizabeth By MICHAEL SCHUMAN Special to The Record It was called "the other Declaration of Independence." This one contained passages the majority of Americans found ludicrous. The most laughable stated that women be allowed to vote. The Declaration of Sentiments, as it was officially titled, was signed by 100 men and women jn the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Seneca Falls, N.Y., on July 20, 1848. Today, the small upstate town is regarded as the birthplace of the women's movement.

You can explore its history at Women's Rights National Historical Park and the National Women's Hall of Fame. The park was established in 1980, but it wasn't until July 1993 that a permanent visitor center opened next to remnants of thq Wesleyan Chapel. The space between the two buildings was landscaped and des- ignated Declaration Park, with a waterfall covering a 140-foot-long stone wall on which the Declaration of Sentiments is inscribed. This visitor center is a museum, filled with laser disc technology and interactive exhibits devoted to the history made here and the women's rights movement in general. An array of video screens offers two sides of various gender-related issues and gives visitors an opportunity to register their opinions.

Balanced points of view are expressed on issues like single-sex schools, Theater, 175 Eighth Manhattan. (212) 242-0800. Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company "Down My Spine," "Indigenous We," and "Goodbye." 9 tonight. Cunningham Studio, 55 Bethune 1 1th floor, Manhattan. 749-0045.

Goldhuber Latsky "Stretch marks," 8 tonight. Intimate Playhouse, 316 E. 91st Manhattan. All shows $15. (212)996-1100.

OPERA "L'Elisir d'Amore" 7:30 tonight. Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center. Call for prices. (212)362-6000. FOR KIDS "The Color of Justice" Presented by Theatreworks USA.

10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. today. Call for prices. Town Hall, 123 W.

43rd Manhattan. (212) 840-2824. Spanish Story Hour 7 tonight. Johnson Library, 274 Main Hackensack. (201) 343-4169.

ODDS AND ENDS Academy Awards Film Festival "Jerry Maguire." 7:30 tonight. Englewood Library, 31 Engle St. (201) 568-2215. Unexplained Phenomenon Discussion Group Beth O'Boyle discusses "Past Life Regression," 8 tonight. Barnes Noble, Edgewater Commons, 465 River Road.

(201) West Lake Road (Route 38 south), Auburn, (315) 252-7247. The Statler Hotel on the campus of Cornell University, (607) 257-2500. INFORMATION: Women's Rights National Historical Park. P.O. Box 70, Seneca Falls, N.Y.

13148, (315) 568-2991; National Women's Hall of Fame, 76 Fall Seneca Falls, N.Y. 13148, (315) 568-8060. through October, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

November through April, it is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. ACCOMMODATIONS: Holiday Inn Waterloo-Seneca Falls, Route 414, (315) 539-5011; Days Inn, 37 Williams Auburn, (315) 252-7567; Super 8, 9 McMaster Auburn, (315) 253-8886; Springside Inn (eight-room GETTING! THERE: Seneca Falls is midway between Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y., about an hour from each city.

Take the New York State Thruway, exit 41. The Women's Rights National Historical Park is at 136 Fall St. The National Women's Hall of Fame is at 76 Fall St. Well-marked signs direct you to both sites. HISTORIC PARK: Admission to the Women's Rights National Historical Park is free; tour of print shop costs S2 ($1 children).

Admission to Women's Hall of Fame is S3, $1.50 ages 55 and over and students, family rate $7. The national park visitor center is open year-round, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with extended summer hours. The Stanton home is open June through August from 1 to 4 p.m.; tours are offered 2 p.m.

daily the re9t of year. The Hall of Fame is open May Money to burn and more where that came from It's the topic of choice for urban stars commentary man interaction love or the lack of it, good times or the lack of same. They allowed themselves to be vulnerable. You can't tell me any of them wanted to be rich and famous any less than Puff Daddy. I simply won't believe that.

The irony is that all this mon-ey-is-everything posturing comes at a time when so much attention is being paid to Motown's 40th anniversary. And along with looking back on the legacy of the Supremes and Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, more than a few people have compared Berry Gordy dynasty with Puff Daddy's emergence. On paper these comparisons might hold a little water; Puff has shrewdly built a stable of acts and a track record second to none in Hundreds of thousands of people buy any CD with the Bad Boy label, just as some once snapped up any LP or single with that distinctive Motown logo. But that's where the comparisons must end. Gordy and his crew sang timeless, gorgeous, heartwarming music.

And they made money they just didn't spend all their time bragging about it. By DAVE HERMAN Knight RickJer Newspapers In one of the biggest hit singles of the past year, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs told us that it's all about the Benjamins Benjamins, of course, being $100 bills. It's easy to appreciate where he's coming from money being one of the main reasons most of us have to get up in the morning, put our game face on, and head out the door. But does it ALL have to be about dead presidents? Should it be? If you listen to a lot of modern the answer to the first question is at least a qualified yes: Song after song (by Combs, the LOX, Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Young Bleed, Silkk the Shocker) are about nothing more than the acquisition of fame and all that goes with it: money, champagne, nice cars, and fawning women. "Get this moneyGet this moneyCome on and get this money Get this money goes the mantralike chorus of the LOX "Get This and the message is the same on Bleed's "Mo Money," as well as Moreover, it's easy enough to see the need for these guys to grab the gold while the grabbing is good.

The career of an urban star is notoriously short; for every Keith Sweat who has scored with three or four CDs, there are a couple of dozen Bobby Browns, who have one big CD and then are hardly heard from again. Demanding that the the world pay attention to you immediately makes good business sense; these days, a lot of guys are getting precisely one shot at the brass ring. But that doesn't mean this obsession with money is helping anyone, or sending any sort of realistic message. Urban entertainers have always had it tough. Diana Ross was raised in a Detroit housing project.

Muddy Waters grew up on a Mississippi cotton plantation and plowed the fields for years before becoming a full-time musician. James Brown shined shoes, danced for pennies on the streets, and sometimes had to search through garbage cans for food. These people made their mark by singing songs about basic hu l- -if 7 i tL all over B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" CD and Puff Daddy's 4 million-selling "No Way Out." The overall feeling behind all these songs times are hard, and I want mine now has obviously found a home with listeners: The above are superstars, or soon will be. Puff Daddy is, at the moment, the second-most popular musician in the country, right behind Garth. And I understand how we got to this point.

Being a "playa" is just a slightly toned-down version of being a "gangsta" and, because it usually doesn't specifically endorse either shooting people or selling drugs, it's easier for the masses to identify with. A playa is tough. A playa is smart. A playa takes no guff from nobody. A playa has made it.

There are plenty of 15-year-olds who would like to say they're all that, and have the cars and women that come with the deal. The Notorious B.l.G. sang about fame and all that went wrM it..