Before Jail, Squab and Seaweed, the Show Must Go On

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- June 4, 2007— -- If you're looking to get your picture taken on a run-of-the-mill Saturday night, there's probably no better place anywhere in the country, maybe even the world, than Mr. Chow's, the Beverly Hills outpost.

If you're really looking for attention, get a table in the front, come with your mom and make sure everyone knows.

That's pretty much what Paris Hilton did this past weekend.

It was about 9 p.m. and the outside of the swanky restaurant chain looked like the Oscars red carpet show. A couple dozen photographers and cameramen lurked on the pavement ready to pounce.

The out-of-towner or Orange County refugee rolling up for the the valet gets a quick turn.

"Anyone in there?" asks a guy in sneakers with an enormous camera around his neck.

With a "Nope!" they're moving on to the next hotrod.

The regular folks pretend to ignore the massive professional football player at the next table, while reveling in the chance to pay too much for the Chernobyl-esque chicken.

Oh yeah, and there they are. Ms. Hilton and her mom dining quietly.

The place is full of mirrors so you can look without really looking, even if you're just gazing at yourself, which is exactly what Kathy Hilton was doing, as she flipped a stray highlight here and there for 30 seconds, and for all the restaurant patrons to see.

Everyone likes to make sure the coiffure is in place, especially if you're about to have your picture taken.

Her daughter may be going to jail but Paris Hilton Inc. goes on. The beast must be fed.

Prison, even for a couple of weeks, really stinks. And Paris didn't exactly look happy on Saturday night. She says she's taking responsibility for her actions.

"I am trying to be strong right now," she told reporters on the red carpet, prior to the MTV Movie Awards, which she attended Sunday night before reporting to jail. "I'm ready to face my sentence. Even though this is a really hard time, I have my family, my friends and my fans to support me, and that's really helpful."

That and her "last supper" at Mr. Chow.

But does anyone really care?

The Paris phenomenon has always been more interesting than the girl at the center of it, and this interest has reached its height with her court dates and jail sentence.

Gossip columnists will claim to know what she's thinking from sun up to sun down behind bars.

What will she be eating? Will she make friends? Enemies? What Web site will publish the first picture --sure to be worth millions -- of Paris in her prison stripes?

The 26-year-old heiress checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif. just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday and she's expected to serve three weeks for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

But enough of this girl and all the attention she's generated. The murder rate is up, American troops are giving up their lives in combat, terrorists are living among us, and we still can't decide what side of the fence we're on in the immigration debate.

And yet we patter on.

Finish your fried rice, Paris. The boys are waiting.

With one step outside, the sidewalk lit up like a firing range and Camden Drive became a brief fourth of July fireworks celebration.

As they wheeled away, the flashing stopped, and a mother and her daughter slipped into the night.

It was a dinner fit for a queen and her princess, neither of whom wanted to appear as though they had been beaten.

But the true test remains, and so does three weeks behind bars.

We'll see if Paris can have her duck and eat it too.