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GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Denis O'Brien, right, chairman of Digicel, has been buying stock in Independent News & Media, run by Anthony O'Reilly. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY ARIANA CUBILLOS/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The New York Times
March 31, 2008 Monday

Late Edition - Final

East Side vs. West Side: Who's No. 1? Who Cares?
BYLINE: By PATRICK McGEEHAN
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 641 words
Believing that Manhattan was an island divided, Steve Bernstein organized a series of competitions that would pit East Siders against West Siders.

He called it the ''Battle for Manhattan,'' and he envisioned swarms of Bohemian West Siders squaring off against assemblies of aristocratic East Siders on the soccer field, perhaps even the karaoke stage.

But what if Mr. Bernstein held his battle and no one showed up?

Well, not no one, exactly. Fewer than 100 runners participated in the inaugural five-kilometer run along the Hudson River on Sunday, and that's counting children, babies in jogging strollers and Kevin Young, an Olympic hurdles champion who was the honorary captain of the East team.

Among those who showed their colors, the numbers of red shirts (West Side) and green shirts (East Side) were about even. And some participants were not certain if their hearts matched the color of their shirts.

Dan Schwartzman, one of the early finishers of the race, tripped over the question of his allegiance. He admitted to having taken a red T-shirt of the West team -- a faux pas somewhat less egregious than if a Mets player donned the wrong pinstripes -- but explained that he was preparing to move from Chinatown to the west side of Midtown.

It will be a big shift, he said, not in longitude but in latitude.

''I think of myself as a downtowner,'' said Mr. Schwartzman, 23. ''I've never lived above 14th Street. Going to 23rd Street is a trip uptown for me.''

Ada Sim ran for the West team because she moved to 53rd Street and Ninth Avenue last year. She proclaimed that her side of town offered superior spaces for running but expressed no animus for the crosstown contingent, for she herself may have lived there not too long ago.

''I was on Wall Street before,'' said Ms. Sim, 21. ''So isn't that on the east?''

Yes, according to the event's organizers, who define Wall Street and everything else east of Broadway below 14th Street as the East Side. Above 14th Street, Manhattan's Mason-Dixon Line is Fifth Avenue.

But does a deep-seated geographic rivalry really require a map?

Mr. Bernstein, who runs a company that stages music concerts and other events, admitted that he was trying to play off the competitiveness of Manhattanites to bring them together socially. He said he got the idea of East-West athletic competitions after New York lost its bid for the Olympic Games in 2012. So he teamed with some sports-oriented entrepreneurs to set up the ''Battle for Manhattan.''

After the footrace and a few weeks of basketball, soccer and volleyball, Mr. Bernstein hopes to expand the competition to include dodgeball and kickball tournaments, and perhaps some games that might appeal to less active people. Maybe a karaoke contest or even a mass tug-of-war in Central Park. (He did not mention any tests of what it truly takes to survive in Manhattan, like knowing how to hail a cab in the rain or find a toilet that is not for customers only.)

First, he might need to drum up some more team spirit among Manhattan's 1.6 million residents. So far, he said, fewer than 1,000 have paid the $30 registration fee. The events are publicized on Craigslist and on Web sites directed at weekend athletes.

When Michael Anderson, 36, chugged through the tape first after 17 minutes and 44 seconds of Sunday's race, he wore the red of the West Side. And what neighborhood did the first champion in the Battle for Manhattan call home? Chelsea? Hell's Kitchen? Washington Heights?

Uh, no. Mr. Anderson, who works for Lehman Brothers, lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. He once lived on the Upper East Side, but his office is actually a bit north of Times Square.

As for his sense of the rivalry, he said that if it exists, it does only in the minds of West Siders. ''On the East Side, no one really thought much about it,'' he said.

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SUBJECT: SPORTS & RECREATION EVENTS (89%); BABY PRODUCTS (75%); SOCCER (72%); OLYMPICS (78%); SPORTS (69%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (60%); SUMMER OLYMPICS (77%); BASKETBALL (69%)
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The New York Times
March 30, 2008 Sunday

Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section NJ; Column 0; New Jersey Weekly Desk; CALENDAR; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 2627 words
COMEDY

NEW BRUNSWICK The Stress Factory Comedy Club ''Something to Laugh About!'' A comedy show and benefit presented by Comedy Central with Pete Dominick, host. April 8 at 7:15 p.m. $45; buffet dinner included. The Stress Factory Comedy Club, 90 Church Street. [phone]; www.stressfactory.com.

TEANECK Mexicali Blues Cafe ''Comedy Night,'' featuring JP Justice, Todd Lynn and Terry Hodges. March 30 at 8 p.m. $10 and a two-drink minimum. Mexicali Blues Cafe, 1409 Queen Anne Road. [phone]; www.mexicalibluescafe.com.

FOR CHILDREN

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS First Avenue Playhouse ''Puss in Boots,'' musical presented by the Paper Moon Puppet Theater. $9. Through June 2. First Avenue Playhouse, 123 First Avenue. [phone]; www.firstavenueplayhouse.com.

CAPE MAY Emlen Physick Estate ''Cape May Family Treasure Hunt,'' self-guided tours; continuing. $5. Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington Street. [phone]; www.capemaymac.org.

LINCROFT Monmouth Museum ''Teddy Bear Tea,'' a tea party for stuffed animals and their owners featuring entertainment by Flavian the Magician, followed by a teddy bear parade. Ages 3 to 8. April 6, 2 to 4 p.m. $20 to $35. Monmouth Museum, Brookdale Community College, Newman Springs Road. [phone]; www.monmouthmuseum.org.

MADISON Museum of Early Trades and Crafts Family Fun Day. Celebrate National Poetry Month by creating sidewalk poetry on the museum's walkways. April 12, 1 to 3 p.m. $3 and $5. Museum of Early Trades and Crafts, 9 Main Street. [phone]; www.rosenet.org/metc.

MOUNTAINSIDE Echo Lake Park ''Kids Fishing Derby,'' sponsored by the Newark Bait and Fly Casting Club, featuring activities and workshops. Ages 16 and under. April 12 through May 3. Free for children; $7 for adults; registration required. Echo Lake Park, Springfield Avenue. [phone].

SANDY HOOK Sandy Hook Visitor's Center Junior Naturalist, a three-hour exploration of Sandy Hook's oceanside habitats, led by a park ranger. April 5 at 2 p.m. Free; registration required. Sandy Hook Visitor's Center, Hartshorne Drive. [phone].

TRENTON The New Jersey State Museum ''Family Arts Festival,'' a one-day, art-making extravaganza for the family. March 30, 1 to 5 p.m. Free. The New Jersey State Museum, 225 West State Street. [phone]; www.state.nj.us/state/museum.

WEST ORANGE Fellowship Hall of St. Cloud Presbyterian Church ''Big Beat, Little Beat: Explorations of Rhythm,'' an interactive children's music program with the David Braham Quartet, featuring Bob DeVos, guitarist, followed by guided dance and movement with Elisa Heinsohn. March 30 at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free with two cans of food. Fellowship Hall of St. Cloud Presbyterian Church, 20 Old Indian Road. [phone].

MUSIC AND DANCE

ALLENDALE Allendale Community for Mature Living Alexis Lerner, violinist, will perform works by Bach, Beriot and Kreisler, with piano accompaniment. April 6 at 2 p.m. Free. Allendale Community for Mature Living, 85 Harreton Road. [phone].

CLOSTER Closter Public Library Howard Tavin Trio, jazz concert dedicated to the late musician Bill Evans. March 30, 3 to 4 p.m. Free. Closter Public Library, 280 High Street. [phone]; closter.bccls.org/.

GLEN RIDGE Glen Ridge Congregational Church ''Psalms in Music,'' the Glen Ridge Choral Society and Orchestra perform three psalm settings by Bach, Mozart and Mendelssohn. April 6 at 3 p.m. $8 to $18. Glen Ridge Congregational Church, 195 Ridgewood Avenue. [phone].

MAPLEWOOD Burgdorff Cultural Center Matthew Bengtson, pianist, will join members of the Goodnight Consort for a program of chamber music by Brahms, Haydn and Messiaen. April 6 at 3 p.m. $5 and $10. Burgdorff Cultural Center, 10 Durand Road. [phone].

MONTCLAIR Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University ''Italian Music Under the Star of David,'' featuring the Ensemble Salomone Rossi and other guest musicians in celebration of Italian Jewish music. Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Free. Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University, College Avenue and Red Hawk Road. [phone]; www.montclair.edu/kasser.

MOORESTOWN Perkins Center for the Arts The Burning Bush, Jewish folk music. April 6 at 4 p.m. $8 to $12. Perkins Center for the Arts, 395 Kings Highway. [phone]; www.perkinscenter.org.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP Bickford Theater ''Dancing Through the Ages,'' a celebration of dance performed by a large cast of professional and student dancers. April 12 at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. $7, $8 and $9. Bickford Theater, 6 Normandy Heights Road. [phone]; www.morrismuseum.org.

MORRISTOWN The Community Theater at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts Preservation Hall Jazz Band, performing New Orleans-style jazz. April 10 at 8 p.m. $37 to $47. Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby with Kentucky Thunder, bluegrass mountain music. April 12 at 8 p.m. $47 to $67. The Community Theater at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts, 100 South Street. [phone]; www.mayoarts.org.

NEWARKNew Jersey Performing Arts Center Newark Boys Chorus, featuring classical, pop, folk, gospel and jazz music. April 13 at 2 p.m. $12 and $22. New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street. [phone]; www.njpac.org.

PENNINGTON Pennington Presbyterian Church ''Music for Bagpipes and Organ Concert,'' featuring traditional Irish and Scottish music. March 30 at 3 p.m. Free. Pennington Presbyterian Church, 13 South Main Street. [phone].

PRINCETON Johnson Education Center The Princeton Singers, chamber music. April 12 at 8 p.m. $10 and $15. Johnson Education Center, One Preservation Place.

TEANECK Mexicali Blues Cafe Bill Evans Soulgrass, with Sam Bush, jazz. Tuesday at 9 p.m. $25 and $30. Mexicali Blues Cafe, 1409 Queen Anne Road. [phone]; www.mexicalibluescafe.com.

OUTDOORS

SANDY HOOK Sandy Hook Visitor's Center Bike Tour of Sandy Hook, moderate five-mile bike tour of historic Fort Hancock and the surrounding area. March 30 at 9 a.m. Registration required. Spring Bird Walk, a bird walk in search of arriving spring migrants; bring binoculars. April 12 at 9 a.m. Free; Registration required. Sandy Hook Visitor's Center, Hartshorne Drive. [phone].

SPOKEN WORD

FORT LEE Fort Lee Library ''Dissecting a Mystery Novel: Character, Plot, Murder and Reality,'' discussion and presentation by E. J. Rand, author of ''Say Goodbye.'' April 5 at 3 p.m. Free. Fort Lee Library, 320 Main Street. [phone]; http://fortlee.bccls.org.

LINCROFT Monmouth Museum Lecture and discussion with Gregory Olsen, scientist, space traveler and entrepreneur. April 11 at 6 p.m. $12 to $20. Monmouth Museum, Brookdale Community College, Newman Springs Road. [phone]; www.monmouthmuseum.org.

NEWARK New Jersey Performing Arts Center ''Hip Hop: Out, Loud and Proud II,'' spoken word performance. April 12 at 8 p.m. $16. New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street. [phone]; www.njpac.org.

PATERSON Passaic County Community College Distinguished Poets Series, readings by Aeronwy Thomas and Peter Thabit Jones, followed by an open reading and reception. April 5 at 1 p.m. $10. Passaic County Community College, 1 College Boulevard. [phone].

TENAFLY JCC on the Palisades ''Great Zionist Thinkers,'' a lecture by Rabbi Reuven Kimelman. Through April 9. Free. J.C.C. on the Palisades, 411 East Clinton Avenue. [phone].

THEATER

CRANFORD Union County College ''Fully Committed,'' comedy by Becky Mode. Through April 13. $10 to $22. Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue. [phone].

LONG BRANCH New Jersey Repertory Company ''Engaging Shaw,'' a romantic comedy by John Morogiello with excerpts from George Bernard Shaw. Through April 13. $30 to $40. New Jersey Repertory Company, 179 Broadway. [phone]; www.njrep.org.

MARGATE Margate Community Church ''The Dining Room,'' comedy by A. R. Gurney. Friday through April 13. $12 and $15. Margate Community Church, 8900 Ventnor Boulevard. [phone].

MILLBURNPaper Mill Playhouse ''Steel Magnolias,'' drama by Robert Harling. Through April 6. $29.25 to $88.25. Paper Mill Playhouse, 3 Brookside Drive. [phone]; www.papermill.org.

MONTCLAIR ''The Man in Room 306,'' one-man play about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. April 3 through May 4. $16 to $30. Luna Stage, 695 Bloomfield Avenue. [phone]. www.lunastage.org.

MONTCLAIR Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University ''Pay Up,'' an interactive performance based on the experiments of Keith Chen, a Yale economist. Through March 30. $15. ''SubUrbia,'' drama by Eric Bogosian. Thursday through April 13. $15. Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University, College Avenue and Red Hawk Road. [phone]; www.montclair.edu/kasser.

MONTCLAIR Trumpets Jazz Club and Restaurant ''Pimples and Crumbs,'' monologue by Silvia Giampaola. March 30 at 2 p.m. $15 and $20. Trumpets Jazz Club and Restaurant, 6 Depot Square. [phone]; www.trumpetsjazz.com.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP Bickford Theater ''Rounding Third,'' comedy by Richard Dresser. Through April 20. $15 to $30. Bickford Theater, 6 Normandy Heights Road. [phone]; www.morrismuseum.org.

NEW BRUNSWICK Mason Gross Performing Arts Center, Douglass Campus, Rutgers University ''Puree,'' comedy by Demetra Kareman, presented by the Rutgers Theater Company. Through April 5. $15 to $25. Mason Gross Performing Arts Center, Douglass Campus, Rutgers University, 85 George Street. [phone]; www.mgsa.rutgers.edu.

NEWARK New Jersey Performing Arts Center ''Julius Caesar,'' presented by the Aquila Theater Company. April 12 at 2 p.m. $12 and $22. New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center Street. [phone]; www.njpac.org.

ORADELL Bergen County Players ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,'' drama by Dale Wasserman. Through April 13. $5 to $21. ''Our Enchanted Evenings,'' Broadway-style cabaret and dance, directed by Jacqueline McElroy-Poquette. April 12 and 13. $10. Bergen County Players, 298 Kinderkamack Road. [phone]; bcplayers.org.

TRENTON Mill Hill Playhouse ''Tales From the Beatbox,'' hip-hop vocal percussion and monologue, performed by Yuri Lane. March 30 at 3 p.m. $10 to $20. Mill Hill Playhouse, Front and Montgomery Streets. [phone].

WEST WINDSOR Kelsey Theater, West Windsor Campus, Mercer County Community College ''Singin' in the Rain,'' musical adapted from the classic Gene Kelly film. Through April 6. $10 to $16. Kelsey Theater, West Windsor Campus, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road. [phone]; www.kelseyatmccc.org.

MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES

CAMDEN Camden County Historical Society ''Lullaby for Dreamland: The Dreamland Cafe in Lawnside,'' historic photographs of jazz clubs and other night life in Lawnside, the first incorporated African-American town north of the Mason-Dixon line. Through April 10. Free. Hours: Sundays noon to 5 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Camden County Historical Society, 1900 Park Boulevard. [phone]; www.cchsnj.com.

CAPE MAY Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts ''Proudly We Serve: Our African-American Military Experience, From the Civil War Forward,'' exhibition that highlights the contributions of African-Americans in photographs and artifacts. Through April 13. $1 and $2; free with a tour: $5 and $10. Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts, 1048 Washington Street. [phone]; www.capemaymac.org.

CLINTON Hunterdon Museum of Art ''Cuba! Artists Experience Their Country,'' exhibition showing the social, cultural and political aspects of Cuban life. Through March 30. Free. Hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hunterdon Museum of Art, 7 Lower Center Street. [phone]; www.hunterdonartmuseum.org.

CRANFORD Union County College ''Amelia's World: Animal Affinity,'' photographs by Robin Schwartz. Through April 17. Free. Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue. [phone].

JERSEY CITY Liberty Science Center ''Race: Are We So Different?'' Exhibition bringing together the experience of living with race, its history as an idea and the role of science in that history. Through April 27. $11.50 and $15.75. Liberty Science Center, Liberty State Park, 222 Jersey City Boulevard. [phone]; www.lsc.org.

JERSEY CITY New Jersey City University, Visual Arts Gallery ''Mother Cuts: Experiments in Film and Video,'' exhibition of audio-visual works by four artists. Through April 11. Free. ''Sustaining Vision: A Tribute to Arlene Raven,'' multimedia exhibition by eight women. Through April 16. Free. New Jersey City University, Visual Arts Gallery, 100 Culver Avenue. [phone].

LINCROFT Monmouth Museum ''Beyond Visions of Planetary Landscapes,'' solar system images by the artist Michael Benson. Through May 4. ''New Jersey Emerging Artists Series: Handmade Paper,'' works by Marie Sturken. Friday through April 20. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Monmouth Museum, Brookdale Community College, Newman Springs Road. [phone]; www.monmouthmuseum.org.

MANALAPAN Monmouth County Library ''An American in China,'' photographs by Arthur Krasinsky. Through Monday. Free. Monmouth County Library, 125 Symmes Drive. [phone].

MORRIS TOWNSHIPMorris Museum ''Stepping Out in Style: Outerwear of the Last 150 Years.'' Through May 4. $6 to $8; free on Thursdays, from 5 to 8 p.m. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays to 8 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road. [phone]; www.morrismuseum.org.

MORRISTOWN Simon Gallery Exhibition of acrylic paintings by Matthew Craig. Through April 19. Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Simon Gallery, 48 Bank Street. [phone].

NEW BRUNSWICK Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation ''Magyar Grafika: Hungarian Posters, Advertising and Ephemera,'' exhibition featuring 75 posters from the 1900s. Through Sept. 14. $5. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation, 300 Somerset Street. [phone].

NEW BRUNSWICK Rutgers University, Douglass Library ''Tiger by the Tail! Women Artists of India Transforming Culture -- Part 1,'' exhibition of contemporary Indian art. Through July 31. Free. Rutgers University, Douglass Library, 8 Chapel Drive. [phone]; www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/exhibits/dana--womens.shtml.

NEWARK City Without Walls ''1800Frames/Take 4: The Video State of the Global Union,'' one-minute video exhibition. April 12 through May 30. Free. Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. City Without Walls, 6 Crawford Street. [phone]; www.cwow.org.

NEWARKNewark Museum ''Glass Beads of Ghana,'' exhibition of glass beads made with varied techniques and materials. Through June 15. ''O, Write My Name: American Portraits -- Harlem Heroes,'' exhibition of 50 portraits by Carl Van Vechten between 1930 and 1960. Through June 15. ''Small but Sublime: Intimate Views by Durand, Bierstadt and Inness.'' Wednesday through February 2009. ''Women's Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers,'' exhibition of contemporary jewelry. Through June 25. $3 to $7; members, free. Hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, noon to 5 p.m.; October through June, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; July through September, Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. The Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street. [phone]; www.newarkmuseum.org.

PATERSON Passaic County Community College ''Mexican Revolutionary Prints,'' from the collection of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Through April 30. Free. Passaic County Community College, 1 College Boulevard. [phone].
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SUBJECT: MUSIC (74%); MUSIC GENRES (71%); ARTS FESTIVALS & EXHIBITIONS (71%); POETRY (69%); MUSIC INDUSTRY (69%); SPORT FISHING (67%); FESTIVALS (66%); THEATER (55%); SINGERS & MUSICIANS (69%)
ORGANIZATION: MONMOUTH UNIVERSITY (82%)
GEOGRAPHIC: TRENTON, NJ, USA (51%) NEW JERSEY, USA (91%) UNITED STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: March 30, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: JERSEY CITY: The film classic ''All About Eve,'' with, from left, Thelma Ritter as Birdie, Bette Davis as Margo Channing, Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington and Celeste Holm as Karen Richards, will be screened at the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theater on April 12 at 7:30 p.m. Ms. Holm will be the host. Tickets are $4 and $6. 54 Journal Square. [phone]

www.loewsjersey.org. (pg. NJ14)

NEWARK: The Philadanco dance company performs contemporary pieces at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on April 5 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and $22. 1 Center Street. [phone]

www.njpac.org. (PHOTOGRAPH BY LOIS GREENFIELD) (pg. NJ14)

MONTCLAIR: Excerpts from the new opera ''Elmer Gantry,'' with Jennifer Rivera and Keith Phares, are part of ''American Spring,'' a celebration of performing arts and the centennial of Montclair State University. April 2, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Alexander Kasser Theater. Free. Montclair State University, College Avenue and Red Hawk Road. [phone]

www.montclair.edu. (pg. NJ15)

MAPLEWOOD: Brian Corrigan and Bev Sheehan are in ''The Housekeeper,'' a comedy by James Prideaux presented by the What Exit? Theater Company through April 13. Tickets are $15 to $25. Burgdorff Cultural Center, 10 Durand Road. [phone]. (pg. NJ13)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Schedule
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

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922 of 1231 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times
March 30, 2008 Sunday

Late Edition - Final

Ode to an Onion Ring, and Other Fast Food in the Slower Lane
BYLINE: By DAVE ITZKOFF
SECTION: Section WK; Column 0; Week in Review Desk; IDEAS & TRENDS; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 763 words
I have told my fiancee that I love her many times in our relationship, but I never meant it as sincerely or intensely as I did on the morning I expressed this to her in the parking lot of a Carl's Jr. hamburger restaurant on a vacation in Santa Monica. The feelings might have been spurred by the sense of independence we felt as we drove across Southern California in a rented convertible, but they were more likely induced by the thrilling union of meat, bun and fried egg I had just eaten known as a Breakfast Burger.

Fast food has always been an especially effective stimulant of the synapses that link my unrefined palate to the pleasure center of my brain, and it seems to do so in direct proportion to the obscurity of the restaurant chain that served it. The less prominent the establishment is, compared to McDonald's and Burger King, the gluttonous Gargantua and Pantagruel of the industry, the happier its menu makes me. (As someone who stands 5-foot-6, weighs 135 pounds and visits the gym twice a week, no, I don't care what I put into my body.)

So it was with a heavy heart and an empty belly that I learned of the passing of Al Copeland, the flamboyant founder of Popeyes fried chicken, who died on Sunday at age 64 -- a sad event not only because his cheap, spicy food was one of my many weaknesses but because his success epitomized the picaresque charm of being an underdog in the field of underdog cuisine.

Before striking it rich with Popeyes, Mr. Copeland, a high school dropout and former soda jerk, struggled in his attempts to run fast-food enterprises, including a Tastee Donut store and a restaurant he called Chicken on the Run.

Mr. Copeland's hardscrabble resume parallels those of several other self-invented titans in the field, whose second-tier franchises tower over his third-tier restaurant, including Dave Thomas, the orphan and high school dropout who created Wendy's hamburgers; Thomas Monaghan, the foster child who went on to found Domino's Pizza; and Harlan Sanders, the tire salesman, gas station proprietor and ersatz colonel who gave the world Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Their stories are sufficiently inspirational that even Eric Schlosser, who eviscerated the industry in his book ''Fast Food Nation,'' can appreciate the men behind them. ''They were entrepreneurs in the best sense of the word,'' he said. ''It's a very American story, and it's the antithesis of what these companies are like today -- gigantic corporate entities, run in a very bureaucratic way, and in a very different spirit.''

And as long as the cost of entry remains relatively low, there will always be dreamers who believe that with nothing more than a tasty recipe and a single location, they too can spawn their own multimillion-dollar business.

''Everybody likes food, and everybody thinks they can do food; it's not a high-tech kind of thing,'' said Ron Paul, the president of Technomic, Inc., a restaurant industry consulting firm. ''There's just so many niches, so many menu categories that you can focus on, that the industry keeps inventing itself.''

Why then should I have an intrinsic preference for fast-food restaurants whose franchises number in the hundreds or thousands rather than the tens of thousands? It might be because their smaller sizes make them more amenable to culinary innovation -- a burger served with an onion ring on the patty; a menu that offers three different kinds of fries, or chicken and tacos at the same time.

Or maybe it's because these restaurants strike the right balance between familiarity and the possibility of unpredictability.

''It's a feeling that's authentic, as opposed to a feeling that's contrived and mass produced,'' said Mr. Schlosser (who himself prefers smaller West Coast chains like Burgerville and In-N-Out Burger). ''There are all kinds of idiosyncrasies that aren't necessarily logical or rational, but they can be charming.''

There used to be a Popeyes in my East Village neighborhood of Manhattan; the service there was deplorable and the odors it generated even worse. Still, I remained a faithful customer, and one night I waited so long for a Chicken Deluxe sandwich that a manager took pity on me, and gave me a card that entitled me to a lifetime 10 percent discount at that location.

It seemed precisely the sort of thoughtful gesture I never expected to receive at an impersonal and monolithic operation like McDonald's. But my satisfaction was short-lived: the Popeyes closed down a few weeks later, and by that time I had moved on to a Kennedy Fried Chicken two blocks away.