To print this page, select "Print" from the File menu of your browser salon.com > People June 16, 1999 URL: http://www.salon.com/people/col/reit/1999/06/16/brady No pierced nostril for Barbie Vavavoomski doll keeps her tattoos, blows off nose ring; Sen. Inhofe's staff's got a woody for porn; tools of the sex trade tax deductible in New Zealand. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Amy Reiter This will come as a big relief to most of you: Butterfly Art Barbie will not have to make like Cher and undergo painful laser surgery to remove her belly tattoo. Despite complaints from a few cranky parents objecting to the trendy toy, which comes with stick-on tattoos for the tykes to try at home, Mattel will continue to produce Butterfly Art Barbie, which spokeswoman Lisa McKendall (my Ken doll?) says has been selling well since its introduction last year. But needling parents have induced the toymaker to ditch its plans to produce a line of Generation Girl dolls flaunting not only tattoos, but pierced noses as well. Yet another reason to be thankful Barbie has no genitalia. - - - - - - - - - - - - No wet T-shirt contest jokes, please "Putting on a Water Bra makes a woman feel like she's being caressed -- it becomes part of her body and feels like a living thing." -- Water Bra president Ann Deal on why her liquid-centered brassiere is so much better than that tired old fiber-filled Wonderbra, whose maker is suing Deal's company because it thinks women might be confused by the name similarities. (May I gently suggest that a woman is far more likely to be confused by a bra becoming part of her body and feeling like a living thing than by a couple of not-so-similar company names?) - - - - - - - - - - - - Look out, Katie Couric. Ma Brady's breathing down your neck! It looks like the co-host of NBC News' upcoming "Later Today" show is going to have a certain Wessonality. Yup, the world will soon be treated to Carol Brady, hard-hitting talk-show host. In what could be an episode from "The Brady Bunch," the '70s show in which she played everyone's favorite mom/stepmom, Florence "Who knew my bizarre bi-level haircut would ever come back into style?" Henderson was tapped by the show's producers while she was promoting her cookbook on "Today" last September. And apparently this is more than just a Johnny Bravo-esque case of "she fit the suit." Henderson's "Today" creds go way back. Before she brought the world a story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls, fabulous Flo was something called a "'Today' Girl" in 1959 -- contributing interviews and features to the show when it was hosted by Dave Garroway. She's also got that universal mom appeal. What's next, Alice calling NFL games? - - - - - - - - - - - - A shagadelic singer speaks "I wrote it in 20 minutes and I can't believe Mike Myers is going to be stuck with this tune for the rest of his life. But I'm happy he is." -- Quincy Jones on his 1962 hit "Soul Bossa Nova," to which Austin Powers frolics through a hotel naked in "The Spy Who Shagged Me" - - - - - - - - - - - - Juicy bits He won an Oscar in 1990 for "My Left Foot," and now he's making someone's left shoe -- and right shoe, too. According to Italian newspaper reports, soleful actor Daniel Day-Lewis is living "quietly" in Florence with his wife, Rebecca, and their 1-year-old son -- and working as a shoemaker's apprentice. And you thought only elves did that. Jerry "Don't call me Tinky-Winky" Falwell isn't forking over a full-fledged presidential endorsement just yet (could he be waiting for a certain Teletubby to throw his purple hat -- or purse -- into the race?), but he has offered the waiting world these words of wisdom about the Republican hopefuls. "My opinion is that the next president of the United States will be George W. Bush," he told the press this week, adding that Elizabeth Dole is "a lovely lady." Hey, that's a stronger endorsement than Liddy got from her hubby, Floppy Bob. Doh! Super-conservative Sen. James Inhofe, R.-Okla., the guy who's been making all that noise about President Clinton's appointment of gay ambassador James Hormel, has come under serious fire after Capitol Hill's Roll Call revealed Monday that members of his staff got nabbed downloading pornography on their office computers. "The sanctimonious, holier-than-thou veil was ripped from the face of Sen. Inhofe," the Human Rights Campaign gaily noted. And behind that veil is who, Jerry Fallwell? Robin Leach's whipped-cream-lovin' young cohorts may want to consider a move to New Zealand (and, perhaps, an official occupation change). Wellington's Evening Post reports that lusty accouterments like dairy whip and bubble bath are tax deductible for sex workers in New Zealand, as are condoms, lubricants, gels, oils, tissues, lingerie, costumes and see-through garments. "Ordinary stockings are not tax deductible but patterned stockings used for work are," reports the paper. Don't even think of trying to deduct those argyle knee-socks. salon.com | June 16, 1999