NEWS LITE : RODMAN'S PRODUCTIVE ROLE MODEL DAD.

To those who've gaped at the mascara-lovin', nose-piercing, dress-wearing visage of Dennis Rodman and wondered: Any more like you at home? Here's the answer. Rodman's pop is living in the Philippines with his two wives and 15 of his 27 children. The elder Rodman, named, appropriately, Philander Rodman Jr., hasn't seen his boy play B-ball in 30 years. As for all those kids, he says, ``I'm shooting for 30.''

Brown singin' anti-media tune

Singer Bobby Brown, Mr. Whitney Houston, grumbles that he's getting a bum rap and it's all the big bad media's fault! Brown, who has had numerous run-ins with the law, declares in Newsweek that the press can't stand to see ``two young, talented and rich black people live together as one.'' He says the ``white media'' would ``much rather see Whitney married to a white man and me married to a white woman.'' Brown, who recently banged up his wife's Porsche in Fort Lauderdale, faced assault charges for kicking a hotel security guard in Los Angeles, allegedly beat up a guy in Orlando over a woman and piddled in the police car when he was arrested?

Offbeat Pair duped by Vegas `I do'

Just for fun, two French lovers wandered into a Las Vegas chapel and tied the knot. Nearly four years later, they got the shock of their young lives: The marriage was real.

Yann Thomas and Celine Jeanroy, two university students from the eastern France town of Longwy, told the newspaper Le Republican Lorrain on Tuesday that they went through the motions of getting married on vacation purely for laughs.

Giggles turned to gasps, though, a few months ago. French officials contacted them and told them they were breaking the law because their marriage wasn't registered in France.

What marriage, the pair asked. The one you consummated in that little chapel in Las Vegas, the officials said.

Thomas and Jeanroy, still in love and still living together, told the newspaper they thought the marriage wouldn't be binding if they didn't validate it back home.

Like many love stories, this one has a happy ending: The couple recently got their French papers in order and plans a real wedding next year - on their fifth anniversary.

Stern needs reassurance?

Howard Stern is looking for the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

The potty-mouth radio host is calling on listeners to join his write-in campaign for Good Housekeeping magazine's Most Admired Man award.

Good Housekeeping, known for its helpful hints to housewives, did not include Stern's name on the ballot in its September issue.

Stern has stiff competition. He's up against the Rev. Billy Graham, who has taken first place four years in a row.

Mellencamp gets hearty lesson

John Mellencamp is glad he had a heart attack.

``Having that heart attack really put things back into focus for me,'' the singer told the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times. ``It sounds funny, but I've really been much happier since I had my heart attack.''

The attack two years ago was mild, but at 42, Mellencamp was a little young for it.

He said he's eating a lot better now, but still can't quit cigarettes.

``You can't just eat cheeseburgers and Kentucky Fried Chicken day in and day out, smoke four packs of cigarettes a day and drink 10 gallons of pop,'' he said. ``I don't necessarily like what I eat now. But it's true: You are what you eat. I used to wake up in the morning and just feel like duh.''

Mellencamp's latest album, ``Mr. Happy Go Lucky,'' seems to reflect his newfound zest for life.

QUOTABLE 

``I'll tell you this. I've held an Emmy. The wings of the Emmy, they're very sharp and pointy. So, unlike an Oscar, an Emmy could blind you. An Emmy could poke an eye out. And that's something most awards cannot do.''

- Paul Reiser

emcee of this year's Emmy Awards and a nominee for ``Mad About You.''

Call girl kiss-and-tells more

Prostitute Sherry Rowlands, the $200-an-hour working woman whose tabloid tale about her alleged relationship with loose-lipped paying customer Dick Morris, President Clinton's now-former chief campaign strategist, kept the Democratic National Convention from being devoid of news, has decided the Star was just the beginning.

In a TV interview with ``Hard Copy,'' to air today and Thursday, Rowlands says of Morris' political downfall: ``Someone as intelligent as he is should have kept his lip buttoned when he unzipped his pants. I mean, how can you maneuver worlds, and he can't even control what he's doing in his own room with a paid lady?

``It has to be told, whether I'm a call girl who'll blabber or whatever they want to call it, fine. But wake up, America. I mean if he told me, who else did he tell?''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) Howard Stern: His biggest fan

(2) John Mellen camp: Is what he eats