People talk 9/13/02

'Sopranos' star says yes to marriage offer

NEW YORK -- Jamie-Lynn Sigler's boyfriend made her an offer she couldn't refuse: He asked "The Sopranos" star to marry him.

A.J. Discala, 31, proposed to Sigler, 21, during a Mexican cruise over Labor Day weekend, People magazine reported in its Sept. 23 issue.

He waited for her to come out of the shower, then recited a poem and asked her to be his wife, according to the magazine. Sigler has been dating Discala, who's also her manager, for the past year.

The actress, who plays Tony Soprano's daughter, Meadow, wore the square-cut diamond engagement ring to the Sept. 5 premiere party for the HBO mob drama's fourth season.

But she'd placed the ring on her right hand to avoid questions about it, People stated.

Home owners check validity of auction bids

MONTESANO, Wash. -- Bids exceeding $40 million for a house where the late grunge rocker Kurt Cobain lived as a boy were not serious, the sellers say.

Since the nondescript, rust-colored house with white trim was offered on eBay last Thursday, the high offer from a serious bidder is $210,000, which is $10,000 over the minimum set by Ed and Jennifer McKee of Oregon City, Ore.

More than 50 bids had come in, the highest for more than $40 million, by the time the McKees began checking on the validity of the bidders.

The couple bought the 2,313-square-foot home, 70 miles southwest of Seattle, for $42,500 last month without knowing Cobain lived there from 11-15 with his father and stepmother. The seller was a bank that had foreclosed on the property.

Much of the house -- including Cobain's bedroom -- hasn't changed since he lived there and the interior needs some work, McKee said.

Cobain, lead singer for Nirvana, committed suicide with a shotgun in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994. He was 27.

Musician offers help to new music studio

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Hootie & the Blowfish guitarist Mark Bryan will lend his engineering, producing and recording expertise to a new music studio designed to give young people a creative outlet.

"I've always thought Charleston had a load of creative talent. This is a great chance to get kids off the street," Bryan said Tuesday.

-- From wire reports