Etc...

YOU SHOULD HEAR MY HOG CALL

Is it illegal – or just foolish – for a grown man to bark like a dog in public? According to a court of law in Oslo, it's at least not illegal. The issue was put to the test when Trond Hansen tried to distract his squabbling children by imitating a canine while walking them home from a party one recent night. A neighbor, assuming the kids were being mauled, called police. Hansen was charged with disturbing the peace and hauled before a judge. But he won, and the city was ordered to pay $500 for inconveniencing him. He didn't say whether he'd repeat the stunt.

Vice President Cheney mailed Ben Crevier of Wilbraham, Mass., a personal invitation to a $2,500-a-plate Republican Party fund-raiser in Washington Wednesday, featuring President Bush. But Ben won't be attending. And not just because his family are Democrats. He's also only 5 and has just $11.97 in his piggy bank. It seems his name turned up on a magazine subscription list used by dinner organizers.

"You must remember this: A kiss is just a kiss ..." So begins the signature song from the 1942 movie "Casablanca." The American Film Institute (AFI) had no difficulty remembering. Its new list of the 100 best US screen romances ranks the Humphrey Bogart-Ingrid Bergman classic No. 1. The list was chosen from 400 nominees encompassing mysteries, comedies, tragedies, dramas, musicals, and war stories. AFI's top 10 and the year each was released:

1. "Casablanca," 1942
2. "Gone With the Wind," 1939
3. "West Side Story," 1961
4. "Roman Holiday," 1953
5. "An Affair to Remember," 1957
6. "The Way We Were," 1973
7. "Doctor Zhivago," 1965
8. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946
9. "Love Story," 1970
10. "City Lights," 1931
– Associated Press