Alan Peppard

Denizens of Maple Avenue have no idea how close they came to hearing a historic rendition of "Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated."

Not just Laverne, not just Shirley, but Laverne and Shirley were checked into The Stoneleigh Hotel this week.

Actor-director Penny Marshall and her '70s co-star, Cindy Williams, were together in Dallas to film a commercial.

While Ms. Williams was a bit more social, hanging out at The Stoneleigh's happening art-deco bar, Ms. Marshall just wanted to know what channel TNT was on so she could watch the basketball playoffs in her room.

Two paintings owned by the late Patsy and Raymond Nasher far exceeded their presale estimates, bringing nearly $8 million, when they sold at Wednesday's blockbuster contemporary art sale at Sotheby's in New York. The Hans Hoffman oil and Jean Dubuffet acrylic were part of a group of 143 Nasher-owned items that Sotheby's is selling in four auctions to benefit the Nasher Foundation's endowment, which supports the Nasher Sculpture Center.

When it was first announced that some of the Nasher collection's tangential pieces would be sold, the conservative view was that they would bring in $30 million.

The wildly optimistic view was that the items, many of which had been in storage, might bring $40 million.

In the last week, Nasher-owned items in three Sotheby's auctions have brought in nearly $45 million. The sale of four more Nasher works at next week's American paintings sale is estimated to add another $2 million.

Hans Hoffman's oil on canvas, Gloria in Excelsis, had a presale estimate of $2 million to $3 million but sold Wednesday for $4,297,000.

Jean Dubuffet's acrylic painting, Conjugaison, had a presale estimate of $1.5 million to $2 million but sold for $3,625,000.

The Nasher Foundation grandees could not have picked a better time to sell. Art buyers have apparently not heard rumors of a recession. Wednesday evening's Sotheby's auction was the most successful sale of contemporary art in history, bringing in a total of $362,037,000.

The most striking thing visually about Katie Lee Joel, the 20-something wife of 59-year-old musician Billy Joel, is her lush and long brown hair.

Thursday morning, while in Dallas to promote her new cookbook, The Comfort Table, Katie had her tresses styled at the Osgood-O'Neil Salon on Knox.

Not content to live in the reflected glow of her famous husband, Katie is a food celebrity. She hosted a season of Top Chef on Bravo, she is a TV correspondent for Extra, and she writes a food column for Hamptons magazine.

Katie had a Thursday evening book signing at Barnes & Noble on Northwest Highway.