Quick Hits

- Happy Birthday to Tony Bennett--the ageless crooner turns 83 today. No less an authority than Frank Sinatra once said of Bennett, "For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more."

- Kevin Costner and his country band, Modern West, avoided major injury at the Big Valley Jamboree, a Canadian music festival, when a major storm hit the venue. Billy Currington was finishing up his set with Costner set to appear next when a huge gust of wind caused the stage to collapse. One person was killed and 75 were injured. Costner and his band were caught underneath the stage but were just "banged up."

- Tiger Woods, major win-less this year, appears to be honing his game for the upcoming PGA Championship next weekend at Hazeltine in Chaska, MN. Woods shot a 69 yesterday to win the Buick Open. Said Woods, "I feel better. I know what I'm doing wrong. It's a matter of getting in the reps." That's bad news for the rest of the PGA Tour players.

- Pat Conroy's new novel, South of Broad, comes out next Tuesday, August 11. It will be Conroy's first work of fiction since Beach Music (1995.) Conroy's last book was the memoir, My Losing Season, published in 2002.