However short he is, Baryshnikov is a man of singular heights

Art lovers at the Weinstein Gallery were gossiping about how short Mikhail Baryshnikov is.

Need I remind you that he was tall enough to attract one of Minnesota's most famous natives, Jessica Lange? He clearly has something en pointe; they had a relationship, and a child who is now an adult.

Baryshnikov, who has been taking pictures for 30 years, attended a private opening of an exhibition of photos he took of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

"They say he looks bad," one art lover was overheard telling another. I interjected that the iconic ballet dancer and actor -- who was in a recurring role of "Sex and the City" -- looked fine in his crisp white dress shirt. What do people want?

Doug Anderson, the Nick & Eddie restaurant guy, was Baryshnikov's driver. Anderson was impressed with how Baryshnikov intercepted Doug's hand for a shake when he was reaching out to grab the luggage.

Anderson squired Baryshnikov about in lavish wheels supplied by Maserati of Minneapolis, which is owned by Morrie Wagner.

At one point, Anderson says, he was just driving along when he noticed the speedometer was at 109. "You can't tell how fast it's going. Felt like you're doing 50. It really is the smoothest. Unreal," he said. "I won't be doing it again, tell you that. It scared me."

That news scared Maserati of Minneapolis' GM Barb Bowman, too,

"Great. That's what we want to hear. Our poor loaner car," she said Monday.

Bowman was not at the gallery opening, where she would have heard Anderson talking about how that beautiful car flies, while others were carrying on like this: "He's short." "He's the size of a jockey."

I was wondering how anyone wouldn't know Baryshnikov was not tall? I was thinking this was unremarkable until I checked Wikipedia, which reads: "Shorter than most dancers, he could not tower over a ballerina en pointe and was therefore relegated to secondary parts."

He seems to have overcome that shortcoming quite nicely.

There is video of Baryshnikov at Weinstein Gallery.

Up close with Costner Had a quickie Monday morning with Kevin Costner at Minneapolis' Grand Hotel, when he was promoting his new movie, "Swing Vote."

I asked if I could watch him get his makeup done, but he apparently had gotten powdered before arriving at the interview room, where kiddie co-star Madeline Carroll was waiting. At first it looked as though Carroll was showing off a modified Princess Leia hairstyle. But they were hair clips, and she didn't want to be seen in them.

"Fox 9 Morning Show" anchor Alix Kendall agreed with me, a rarity, that Costner doesn't require makeup. For any man attempting to grow a goatee, please note that Costner's is perfection.

See the video of "My Quickie with Costner" at www.startribune.com/video.

Tequila sunrise, Ow! Silver Patron nearly claimed a groom the night before his wedding.

Ambassador Press salesman Harold Engle and Cities 97 saleswoman Julie Tuchfarber had a destination wedding with 130 guests in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last month.

"I had a reggae band at the prenuptial dinner," the groom's mom, Ilene Engle, told me Thursday. "We were doing Silver Patron. That's tequila. Haven't you ever done shots of Silver Patron?"

Never. Was the mother of the groom doing tequila the night before the wedding? "Of course," Ilene said. "Of course."

So did everybody have raging headaches for the wedding? "Let's put it this way. My son had to go get a massage," said Ilene, whose husband, Ed Engle, owns Ambassador Press.

The bride's mother, Marilynn Tuchfarber (whose husband is Chuck Tuchfarber, an investor for emerging tech companies), had to out-do the groom's mother by having a wedding reception band that has performed for such celebs as Sly Stallone, Sharon Stone and the Trumps.

The group was Soul Survivors, and Ilene tells me they will be performing at one of the GOP parties scheduled during St. Paul's Republican National Convention.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.