STERN SOFTENING? As I've mentioned, I have terrible mixed emotions about Howard Stern. On the one hand, he's sometimes so breathtakingly funny that I find myself tuning in and hoping for one of those moments. On the other hand, he can be be so heartless and cruel that I feel dirty and wrong for listening.

Some of my favorite things about Howard are that he spotlights the hyocrisy and/or self-importance of celebrities, that he's willing to say something sucks if it sucks, and that he seems to speak his own mind no matter what the consequences. But some of his recent choices suggest this devil-may-care attitude, his me-against-the-system veneer may be on the fade. Today, he ass-kissed the reunited Wilson Phillips on the air. And a few weeks ago he gave the same treatment to Alanis Morrisette. What's next, a tribute to Phil Collins?