News In Brief

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY

Hey, guys! Are you sensitive? Vulnerable, yet charismatic? Then you could be a movie star - even if you didn't even so much as understudy for a role in the senior play in high school. No, really. The director Roman Polanski ("Chinatown," "Rosemary's Baby") is running a classified ad in a British newspaper seeking 25- to 35-year-olds to audition for his next film, "The Pianist." It's based on the life of Polish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, who survived a Nazi concentration camp. Polanski is, said a casting agent familiar with the project, "looking at this in a very broad way."

THERE'S ALWAYS SHOE LEATHER

As Thailand joins 23 other countries in observing leave-your-car-at-home day today, at least one commuter is distressed. Savit Bhothiwihok feels obligated to participate. Yet he lives six miles from his office, and no mode of public transit - Bangkok's canal taxis, bus service, or elevated-rail system - will take him more than partway. Savit is the government's energy minister.

'Stairway to Heaven' is voted greatest song in rock history

There seems to be no end to ranking the best rock 'n' roll songs. But two features make the top 10 list below - which was announced Monday - special. First, it will be on permanent display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, which conducted the survey. And it was determined by the public, which cast 44,000 ballots online and at commercial establishments. The songs, which were selected from 30 nominees, reach back five decades. The greatest hits:

1. "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin

2. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," Rolling Stones

3. "Layla," Eric Clapton

4. "Light My Fire," Doors

5. "Purple Haze," Jimi Hendrix

6. "Yesterday," Beatles

7. "Imagine," John Lennon

8. "Johnny B. Goode," huck Berry

9. "My Generation," The Who

10. "Like a Rolling Stone," Bob Dylan

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society