Only occasionally did the more familiar Mailer appear, the wild, fierce, and contentious celebrity who probably deserved more punches in the smacker than he delivered in his lifetime.
Al Gore's amorous clench with Tipper on the podium at the Democratic National Convention may have been a big hit with viewers, but my all-time favorite nationally televised public display of affection was the smacker that Marlon Brando planted on Larry King a few years ago.
It may seem perverse to look a gift horse in the smacker.
I have lost count of all the lip-smackers, the heart-warmers, and the spicy-noodle-slurpers, not to mention such molar-wrecking fables as "Chocolat" and "Like Water for Chocolate".
Sophie-Rose Harper makes a brief appearance to harmonise with guitarist William Rees on Take Me Where the Roses Grow, a slinky, ominous duet that echoes Nick Cave and Kylie's dalliance, though any lingering darkness is dispelled by the emphatic smacker the singers share at the end.
If we are ever in a lift alone, we indulge in the odd smacker, and, often when walking along the street, our lips will seek each other out for a quick peck.
Three Latin American states (Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela) joined the non-smackers last year.
Kathryn, who goes by the nickname Smacker because of her penchant for smacking her lips as a baby, won four state high school swimming titles, two individual and two in relays, as a seventh grader.
So would the barbecue rib smackers, or soft rib tips, in a tangy sauce, a worthy starter that's almost the size of a main course.
