Taking a walk in Idol's five o'clock shadow

Todd Walker's new facial hair has an idol and an egotistical nickname.

To think, the Fox 9 "Man About Town" was getting razzed by anchors Karen Scullin and Tom Halden* about showing up on TV with this scruffy "new addition to my face," as Walker called it. A couple of days after being teased, Walker was in L.A. working his other other job as the media guy for St. Paul's McNally Smith College of Music. His duties include checking up on summer interns working at an agency with clients such as Leo DiCaprio, Ice Cube, Cameron Diaz and Snoop Dog.

"I'm checking into my hotel, the Le Parc, and a big black SUV pulls up," Walker told me last week. "Who's checking in right next to me but David Cook, the reigning 'American Idol' champ."

Assigned rooms on the same floor, they had a conversation at the ice machine. Assuming that Cook relishes what's left of his privacy, Walker reluctantly congratulated the new idol.

"Cook said, It's so new to me, I can't hear it enough," Walker said. "As I was walking away from the ice machine, he goes, By the way, keep up The Cook. You're doing The Cook."

Cook has been famous for three minutes, and he thinks he created the groomed unshaven look?! Very funny.

"This is obviously his signature look," said Walker, noting that People mag has named Cook to its list of hottest bachelors. "If it works for him, maybe it will work for me."

Halden talks the talk *Around Fox 9, Tom Halden's nickname is Tommy Talks Too Much.

Can't help himself, he's verbally prolific and he may be getting heard less around his house real soon.

Halden's and his wife, Sarah, are expecting their fourth child in July.

The family man, who always thoughtfully inquires about my favorite nephew, does a great impersonation of his 5-year-old daughter, Caroline, swinging her purse over her shoulder when greeting their parish priest. The boys, Matthew, 7, and Andrew, 2, make much less comical arrivals at church.

And the answer to the question I am asked most often by readers is, yes, Tommy's very handsome. I know, Karen. He's going to be insufferably chatty this weekend.

Marko Jaric gave the Victoria's Secret model he has been dating NINE WHOLE MONTHS an engagement ring on her birthday, according to People.com. Congrats. Sounds like everlasting love. It'll be good for Jaric to have someone on his bench who'll tell him when he's wearing his jersey backwards.

KG's compliments Elliot Olsen got a chuckle out of reading about Kevin Garnett sounding fresh while being interviewed by Michele Tafoya.

The wife of the Pritzker | Ruohonen & Associates attorney has also elicited courtside interview compliments from KG.

Olsen is married to Lea B. Olsen, a Timberwolves broadcaster.

"Maybe a year and a half ago," said Olsen -- that was before KG went to the Celtics -- "as he was finishing the interview, he said, Lookin' good, girl. It was something like that. I've always thought it was kind of funny."

Did any of you notice how long it took for Garnett to respond to Tafoya's first post-victory question?

Sportsbybrooks.com is among the websites hypothesizing that the long "painful" pause was a result of KG trying to recall his Adidas sneaker slogan.

"Anything's possible," K.G. eventually whooped.

That's not the slogan. It's "Impossible Is Nothing." The reason KG couldn't summon it up-- lean in, Adidas marketers -- is that IT'S STUPID and AWKWARD. Doesn't roll off the brain or tongue as easily as Nike's "Just Do It" or Garnett's "Anything's possible," which is probably already taken.

I have received enough e-mail regarding KG's innocent flirtations with Tafoya for another column. One e-mailer referred me to video of the locker-room celebration showing KG pouring champagne on media folks. The act looks as passive-aggressive as when Garnet claps talcum powder into the faces of reporters at games. Not cute.