People

By Ellin Martens

MISTY WATERCOLORED MEMORIES...

So it's the laughter we will remember. JOSH BROLIN, crinkle-eyed son of actor James Brolin, and MINNIE DRIVER, Good Will Hunting's boisterous Brit, have split. After six months' betrothal, plans for nuptials at the Malibu home of Josh's father and stepmother Barbra--that would be Barbra Streisand--were shelved. The prospective mother-in-law, reports say, had written a song for the couple and was pushing favorite designer Donna Karan for Driver's dress (friends reportedly said that Driver preferred Vera Wang), along with a pricey celeb-studded bash, while Driver wanted something small. Smiles were left behind. Driver's spokeswoman says that any rift between Babs and Minnie is untrue; she adds that the breakup was "a mutual decision." Ah, but in the spirit of that old song, if they had a chance to do it all again, tell me, would they? Could they?

Twist and Pout

CHUBBY CHECKER wants respect. You'd think then that the first place he might go is city hall and revert to birth name Ernest Evans. But no. The Chubster is marching on a different hall: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. As footloose popularizer of the Twist, Checker wants a statue of his likeness erected in the Hall of Fame's courtyard for services to dancing. (He also popularized the Fly, the Pony and the now legendary Hucklebuck.) "This is Nobel Prize territory," he insists. The quest came to him after an appearance on a sitcom. "A line in the script was 'I thought Chubby Checker was dead!'" he says. "It got me thinking." Problem is, the singer, aerobic-tape shaker and Chubby Checker's Beef Jerky maker hasn't even been inducted yet, let alone invited to be immortally smelted. The Hall, not afraid of big personalities, calls his demand "unreasonable."

BARRY BONDS CONNECTS WITH HISTORY

He's been called aloof, keeping himself apart from his friends and would-be fans. But if BARRY BONDS was excited about the personal race he was in, he kept it as low key as possible, putting the individual quest for history in second place to his team's struggle to get into the play-offs. And on Friday night, the San Francisco Giant slugger did his part, hitting not one but two home runs during the longest nine-inning game in major league baseball history (4 hr. 27 min.). The first of those blasts (photograph above) broke the record of 70 set to much fanfare just three years ago by the Cardinals' Mark McGwire. Bonds had already set a new record for walks (overtaking the one set by Babe Ruth in 1923) earlier in the week. Bonds didn't much care for that record. But he did care that the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Giants by a score of 11-10, taking San Francisco out of post-season play. For all his records, Bonds, 37, has never been to a World Series--and he had declared it to be his goal when the season began. "We knew what we were up against tonight," he said after the game. "We knew we had to battle. We worked hard tonight. It's just unfortunate they played better than us." But he still made history, which even he admits is important. "People are excited about history," he told the Associated Press. "Everyone wants to be a part of history, and you can't fault them for it." Bonds celebrated his home-run record with his family, including daughter Aisha, above left. But he would rather be playing for a championship ring.