His idea of beauty is more than skin-deep; But for now, Edina personal trainer is serious about his body, not his love life.(NEWS)

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) June 29, 2000 | Johnson, Cheryl Bolo told Oxygen magazine what he’s looking for in a woman, but found it hard to hear those qualities repeated aloud. Asked if he had found this “honest, caring, understanding – beautiful from the outside in” woman yet, the Edina model/personal trainer laughed for a few seconds. Then the man who’s part of Oxygen’s “Babe Watch” let out a sighing, wheezing noise and said, “No, I’m just kind of working right now.” The man’s got priorities. Psychic Ruth Lordan says Bolo is going to be the next big thing. And she’s not just saying that because he’s her personal trainer: “For Bolo, I feel he has IT. He does have that kind of vibe. He is serious about his body building. He doesn’t really want the singing and the acting; he really wants to do the fitness stuff, and I can see him doing it. He’s got his 2001 calendar; he’s gotten calls for it. I think he’s going to pull it off; he’s real sincere, dedicated. He has turned down women; he does not use people. Women throw themselves at him all the time.” Informed of this high praise, Bolo said, “I believe in … setting an example for males.” He’s hoping to be an inspiration for those interested in his all-natural body-building philosophy. “I’m a drug-free body builder. Hopefully, seeing what I look like can inspire them to whatever it is they want to do with their bodies, get into shape, lose weight, gain weight.” Natural body building “means food,” said Lordan. “He’s got me eating six times a day: tofu waffles, veggie burgers. He has got me off sugar.” Man of the world Nyantu Bolo, just plain Bolo around the Edina Fitness Center and soon hopefully the world, has lived in Minnesota for four years but claims he’s from “everywhere.” His dad’s from Liberia, “but I was born in Chicago. Lived in Liberia, Maryland, Texas, South Carolina – everywhere.” Potter fans, beware Oh yeah, Ruth Lordan would appreciate it if youngsters don’t drop one of her crystal balls on their feet at the next “Harry Potter” book event at Barnes & Noble at the Galleria in Edina. Lordan’s going to teach crystal ball reading at the late-night July 7 event designed to capitalize on the book “Goblet of Fire,” going on sale at 12:01 a.m. July 8. The weight of crystal balls makes them “lethal weapons,” she warned. escapethecarnow.net escape the car

Mayor kicks up her heels City Hall dwellers still are buzzing about Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton’s Pride Parade costume. With wand in hand and crown on head, SSB wore a dress that made her look like Glinda, the Good Witch from “The Wizard of Oz” from the ankles up. From her ankles down, SSB was Dorothy, in the ruby-red slippers. To make sure parade-goers saw her “slippers,” the mayor kept lifting her leg to show off her shoewear. Some saw the lift as unladylike; what good exercise for the inner thighs, I was thinking. Said mayoral senior policy aide Vernor Wetternach: “One thing about City Hall is people need to have a little more humor and fun in their work. Part of the whole thing with the Pride Parade is having fun. She agreed to do this to be a little more campy, not be so stiff.” It was Wetternach’s idea for the mayor to go “Oz,” and “she really got a wonderful reception from people.” For the fashion record, the red slippers were “just an old pair of tennis shoes on which we glued material with sequins,” said Wetternach. As for the decorum, or lack thereof, in her leg lift, I didn’t see Paris and I didn’t see France … Where were the behavior police when the guys who dress up like Jacqueline Kennedy came by in their convertible Lincoln? One of them hopped off, raised up his suit skirt – similar to the one worn in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963 – and bent over. What was seen I cannot say because I was on the end of this display. go to site escape the car

You call that tasteless?

Kevin McLaughlin, an assistant manager and theater PR guy for the Bryant Lake Bowl, didn’t see the aforementioned display but is unapologetic about the antics of the Jackie O’s. They are “characters created by the comedy group Hot Dish, formed in Minneapolis in 1992. We first started performing the Jackie O’s routine several months before she passed away in [1994] and we’ve been performing them ever since. They’ve become so popular, they have become our signature character. They were originally conceived of as a singing girl group who were doing this as a tribute to Jackie. The concept developed into the idea we were similar to the holy trinity. We are simultaneously Jackie Bouvier, Jackie Kennedy and Jackie Onassis.” I questioned the taste of having the Jackie O’s frantically climb out of the Lincoln – I mean, the woman was trying to escape the car because her husband’s head had been blown off. I don’t see the humor, especially so near the first anniversary of John Kennedy Jr.’s death. “People call us tasteless but never bland,” said McLaughlin. “We do it in the spirit of absurdity and fun. We are comically re-enacting a crisis situation.” Well, I’m not laughing.

Set the record straight This 332-TIPS complaint was not my fault: “Hello, C.J., Phil Johnston. Read the article [about his fall wedding to Jill Cordes]. I think perhaps in our conversation my cell phone may have crapped out at one point because referring to the wedding as inauspicious would indicate [he laughed] that it’s going to be troublesome or not a good beginning. I believe I probably said inconspicuous. Perhaps a small detail, but me being a little grammar freak, saw that. I hope it’s extremely auspicious and wonderful and lovely. I don’t know if there is anything you would care to do with that.” Johnson, Cheryl