Well pilgrims, it's going to be short and sweet today. It's Thanksgiving and I've got a turkey to de-feather before popping it in the oven. Still, today is a day we should all take the time to look at our lives and give thanks. Thanks to all of our friends throughout the world for making our lives a little richer.

The Internet has played a big part of that in my life. Throughout the years I've met so many wonderful people because of Talkin' Broadway. One of the byproducts of our All That Chat message board is that we get to know the chatterati by their "handles" and occasionaly get to meet them in person. Last year, while strolling through Shubert Alley, I bumped into Rodney from San Francisco, or while seeing Mack and Mabel in Los Angeles recently, I ran into Sharon, our Regional columnist. Wherever I travel there is always a theater friend to say hello to.

Lately, the Internet has been getting some bad press in regards to Broadway and out-of-town tryouts. The buzz on these shows has been spreading via the Web and some people think this is a bad thing. To this, I disagree. If you've got a good show on your hands it can be a very positive thing. Word spreads like fire throughout the land, so local wags no longer have control over the rumor mill. And the rumor mill has been around forever as gossip and entertainment go hand in hand. Even in the old days the out-of-town buzz made the Street. In his biography Alan Jay Lerner referred to those who carried the buzz back to New York as Dear Shits. And that was over 50 years ago, as pointed out by an astute chatterati, so it's really nothing new. Today, it's just faster.

Broadway has extended itself across the U.S. and so has the buzz. Fans hop on planes and trains, buy show tickets on the Web, and converge on the Great White Way. We, the fans, understand the Internet. It's time Producers and Press Agents learn how to use the Internet to their advantage. It's a whole new world out there. As for the Web, they should give thanks!

Tidbits:

• Award-winning singers Tom Andersen and Teri Lynn Paul will perform in honor of World AIDS Day on Friday, Dec. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center, One Little West 12th St., New York City. Entitled ''Sounds of Life,'' the program also will include poetry readings by Bea Gates, Marilyn Hacker, Walter Holland and Dennis Rhodes. The event is being sponsored by CenterBridge, which offers bereavement services for the gay and lesbian community; In Our Write, which features writers of color and women, and the New York Times. Admission is free, but a $2 donation is welcome. (212) 620-7310.

• Richard Skipper will be performing his show, An Evening With Carol Channing, this Sunday, November 26, at Don't Tell Mama at 3 PM. If you haven't caught this show, run to see it. His impersonation of Channing is right on the money and his ad libs during the show display his lightning fast wit. Why he's not playing the Las Vegas strip is beyond me! The show is Sunday at 3, $20. cover, plus a two-drink minimum. Reservations (212) 757-0788.

See you Sunday!

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