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Show MONDAY. FEBRUARY 11. 2008 EDITOR Sheryl Crow: Doug Fox dfoxheraldextra.com 344-254- ft - Lost and Imp found Ann Powers LOS ANGELES There's a concept ogy of the TIMES in psychol- mother" the exemplary caregiver who satisfies a child's needs without smothering budding independence. Today's stressed-ou- t parents have turned to this 1950s ideal of relaxed but sensitive nurturing again, almost as an alibi. " mom deserves A praise even if she doesn't puree her own baby food. In fact, as rampant consumerism, shrinking resources and reality-Tpsychosis cast us all as competitors, the phrase "good enough" has become a general salve. Sheryl Crow is one star who a embodies this ideal mother for us all. For 15 years, her singles have provided radio with basic nutrition, and her albums consistently have settled around No. 3 on the charts. Her new "Detours" disc (due in stores Tuesday) is a carefully designed midlife highlight, musically varied and lyrically audacious. Yet it remains true to Crow's consummately casual artistry. Dogged at first by accusations that she was just an Eliza trained to jump by talented men, Crow has proved her mettle so many times that her unique position is taken for granted. She might be the most successful female rocker ever, with the most consistently auspicious career. But she's still often dismissed as merely competent. It's a trick. Crow is indeed eminently capable; her Beatles-basesongwriting is tight as a drum, voice her former session-singercracks only on cue, and her deg arrangeceptively ments make ear candy of the traditional structures she loves. Putting craft first, she has been modest about articulating a larger vision. She has one, though, and on "Detours," she gives it more "good-enoug- h "good-enough- WAU.Y "good-enoug- Doo-littl- 's loose-soundin- room. Crow's hits aren't heroic. Leave to the divas, the g to the and the arena boys: Crow has carved out her niche within the overlooked commonplace world, creating an oeuvre that's all about imperfection, failure and striving despite t. (often within) Her masterpieces are ballads such as "Strong Enough" and "If It Makes You Happy," inward-lookin- g expressions of pain that hold out just enough hope to keep love possible.Her vocal delivery, the way she paces the leap to falsetto on a chorus or pushes toward a yell midphrase, is what brings their ambivalence to life. Her breezier songs express the same complex view of life as a se- chest-poundi- world-conquerin- self-doub- LOS ANGELES etween meetings and coming texts on his Black-Berr- y one rainy afternoon in Los Angeles, Matthew McConaughey tucked a discreet plug of tobacco behind his lower lip and said of himself: "When I was a late teenager, early 20s, just getting into this, I was like, 'OK, to be something other than oneself is real acting or better acting.' Then I went, 'Wait a minute.' As I started to study it and learn and to get to know it more, I was like, 'Real acting for me is more of a quest to be more of myself in a character, to give up more of who I am, how I feel inside.' "I've always said, 'Keep the same heart, McConaughey. You can change your mind for a character, but always keep your same heart.' Meaning, change your mind if you're a lieutenant in the Navy. ... Change your mind if you're a lawyer. Change your mind if you're a surfer, change your mind if you're a treasure hunter. The last two are Saturday characters, a lieutenant and a character." lawyer is a Monday-mornin- g For the record, this was during a recent week of steady rain. McConaughey was sitting in a van whose interior was tricked out with love beads and which said, on the door of the cab, "LP Ranch, Angus 12: as Melissa : .. VINCE Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey star in the romantic comedy Cattle, Mertzon, Texas." On this miserable day, McConaughey was beefcake all bundled up, although his chiseled face the perfectly formed jawline frosted stood with the outcroppings of a beard out beneath the watch cap pulled down to VALITUTTIWarner Bros. "Fool's Cold. " his blue eyes. McConaughey calls the van Cosmo; he bought it a more than a decade ago. Cosmo had just come to pick him up at a post pro-See MATTHEW, D2 Winter wear for the big and tall Angela OAKLAND Hill TRIBUNE Cute giraffe OAKLAND, Calif. outfits have typically been reserved for stuffed animals or those flashy showbiz types like Geoffrey of Toys R Us fame. But no more. Attractive giraffe-wea- r is soon to be the latest thing for the common camelopardalis reticulata at the Oakland Zoo, although there's notha fashion-forwar- d ing common about Tiki giraffe who was measured Friday it on Jan. 25 in Oakland, Calif . Gillian 1. which causes her great discomfort and makes her walk funny. The unusual gait then causes problems for her back and shoulders, which then makes her sensitive to the cold, and she sometimes shivers with a chill. Because of all this, she gets regular visits from an acupuncturist, a chiropractor and a masseuse. And now she has a tailor. Gillian Swarbrick, owner of Chaskit custom horse blankets in West Point, Calif., southeast of Sacramento, is donating her services to custom-fi- t and a special coat for Tiki. "Look at these beautiful animais," Swarbrick said as she approached the giraffe enclosure. "The closest Vye come to working with an exotic fcnimal g is making a coat for a pig who had for a custom-mad- e coat, a frock which will have her name embroi- pneumonia. So this should be a treat." , Until now, giraffe keepers Amy dered on it and everything. Soon she'll be the envy of the whole Phelps and Melissa McCartney had been horse blanket to keep herd. using an Tiki warm during the winter months, Tiki, not unlike Geoffrey and some stuffed animals, is accustomed to special but could only use the blanket when Tiki was being observed. Otherwise, treatment. She's an they feared buckles or loose portions giraffe (18 is pretty elderly in giraffe years), and has a disease of the blanket might get hooked on a called ringbone in her front hooves, branch or fence and injure the gentle hand-se- form-fittin- A. ODA The Oakland Tribune X"' . ' Oakland giraffe gets new coat McCartney top right feeds the giraffe carrots to distract LAURA f D2 CROW, center measures the hind area of Tiki, an Oakland Zoo giraffe, Blankets, TIMES in- Amy Phelps writes the measurements taken by Phelps. A Paul Brownfield in Swarbrick bottom right, owner of Chaskit Horse SKAUJLos Angeles Times stars in a new romantic comedy with Kate Hudson called "Fool's Gold. " e, d See Actor Matthew McConaughey . 'y iMMMMUMMMAMUMMMMMaiMMMMiMMMM ttMmO 1' nil llilU'l giraffe. - "We needed something that fit her snugly, didn't rub in the wrong places and was safe for her to wear when we weren't watching her," Phelps said. And since one can't just go out and buy a giraffe coat off the rack, they contacted Swarbrick, who came up with a design with waterproof fabric, a removable liner and Velcro fasteners. She then drove through snow and rain with friend Tina Matthews on Friday to take Tiki's measurements a delicate operation, because Tiki gets a little grumpy in bad weather, Phelps said. Don't we all. But no worries. The appointment went smoothly. Tiki remained slightly aloof during her fitting, head held high, keeping a watch on newcomers with her big brown eyes. She was happy to keep her long neck straight for measurements as long as McCartney, standing on a ladder, kept a steady supply of chopped carrots in reach of Tiki's tongue. With the diversionary tactic a success, Phelps was able to stand on a See GIRAFFE, D2 |