Sitting Pretty

At Canter’s restaurant on Fairfax, you’ll find sandwiches named after famous comedians (i.e. the Danny Thomas Special), but until recently no one had an eponymous booth.

That distinction now belongs to local rocker Chuck E. Weiss, who has a booth--complete with a commemorative plaque--dedicated in his name.

Seems Weiss hustles to Canter’s every Monday night after playing at the Central, and after eight years of this, it was decided he deserved some recognition.

Presenting the plaque was Marc Canter (a third-generation deli-teur and the restaurant’s supervisor) and the band Canter organizes, The Impostors, which often play Canter’s Kibbutz Room.

From a press release issued by Chuck E. himself, we learned: “When asked about this honor, Weiss’ response was, ‘Wow.’ ”

A Kick in the Pants

Get no kick from aerobics? Looking for something better to do with your feet than jog? The answer may lie in Venice, where Stephanie Steele is teaching women the sport that, she says, “combines aerobics with personal security”--kickboxing.

Yes, that most self-explanatory of sports--basically, it combines boxing with martial arts-style kicks--has become a ‘90s exercise option for women.

“Men usually gain weight in their stomachs,” notes Steele. “For women, the problem is the buttocks and thighs. Kicking works these areas really well. Plus it’s a nice way to work out aggression.”

Steele’s clients have included Michelle Pfeiffer, Jodie Foster and Lisa Bonet. And although kickboxing training entails lots of bag pounding and sparring, protective equipment is always worn.

“When I watch professional kickboxing with women,” says Steele, “I have a hard time seeing them get hit in the face without protective equipment.”

Gamesmanship

Trying to calculate a movie’s possible success is a Hollywood pastime that predates cellular phones, car faxes and maybe even the casting couch.

The latest attempt at cinema prophecy that Buzz overheard was from a woman having coffee at the Farmer’s Market. She theorized that the current Babe Ruth bio-pic, “The Babe,” would be a box-office hit because a night out at a baseball movie “is the kind of revenge men extract for having been dragged to see ‘Prince of Tides.’ ”