People talk 9/5/02

Damon, Affleck on campaign trail

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have landed bit parts in Massachusetts politics.

The two actors are helping high school friend Marjorie Decker, a Democratic city councilor from Cambridge, as she campaigns for state representative.

Damon has taped a phone message that urges voters to support Decker. The messages will be sent beginning Wednesday.

Affleck is featured in Decker's campaign literature, in which he talks about the Little League team they'd played on together.

"Until now, I never admitted she was a better hitter than I was," Affleck says in the mailing.

Decker and Affleck, both 30, were classmates at Cambridge's Rindge and Latin School. Damon, 31, also attended the school, but was a year ahead.

Decker, a two-term councilor, is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Paul Demakis in a district that includes parts of Boston and Cambridge.

Harrison Ford credits luck for stellar career

DEAUVILLE, France -- When Harrison Ford was a young man in Wisconsin, he flipped a coin to decide whether to try his luck in New York or Los Angeles.

"It came up New York, so I made it two out of three," the actor said when asked about his choice. "My luck has held since then."

Ford was at the Deauville film festival Tuesday to accept an award for his work. A screen flashed with highlights from his Hollywood career, including his roles as Han Solo ("Star Wars"), Indiana Jones and the Fugitive.

"When I look at the reel, I realize how lucky I have been to work with such talented people and spend my life doing something I love," the 60-year-old actor told the crowd before the screening of his new film, "K-19: The Widowmaker."

A few moments earlier, Ford had emerged from his limousine with actress Calista Flockhart, and the two signed autographs for fans who lined up outside the theater.

Statue honors O'Connor at Phoenix courthouse

MESA, Ariz. -- Sandra Day O'Connor was honored at the Phoenix federal courthouse Wednesday when a larger-than-life bronze statue of her went on display.

The courthouse also is named after O'Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This is the next step to giving the building a true heart," said U.S. District Judge Robert Broomfield. "Her likeness gives soul to the courthouse. It literally invites people inside."

Broomfield served with the 72-year-old O'Connor when she was a Maricopa County Superior Court judge.

"She has a real sense of justice," Broomfield said. "She brings a perspective to the court only a woman can give."

A group called Friends of Sandra Day O'Connor raised the money for the statue. No public money was used.

McCartney sisters plan visit to cancer center

LONDON -- Fashion designer Stella McCartney and her sister Mary, daughters of former Beatle Paul McCartney, are planning their first visit to a breast cancer unit in Liverpool dedicated to their mother.

The two-hour visit to the Linda McCartney Centre at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital is scheduled for Friday. The 4 million pound ($6.2 million) center was built after a five-year fund-raising campaign.

Linda McCartney died of breast cancer in 1998 at 56.

Julie Bond, the unit's fund-raising manager, welcomed the sisters' plans to visit.

"Everyone admired and respected the way Linda handled her illness with such courage and it will be wonderful for them to come along and see their mother's legacy," Bond said.

The sisters will also help launch a new fund-raising drive for an International Supporters' Garden.-- From wire reports

Kelly Ripa and husband expecting third child

NEW YORK -- Kelly Ripa won't be leaving the world of diapers anytime soon.

The talk show co-host announced Wednesday on "Live with Regis and Kelly" that she and her actor husband, Mark Consuelos, are expecting their third child.

Their son, Michael, is 5 and their daughter, Lola, is 1.

The baby is due in February. Ripa and Consuelos don't know yet whether they're expecting a boy or a girl.

"We'll take whatever we get," Ripa said.

Regis Philbin is already anticipating -- not too fondly -- plenty of chat about pregnancy, diapers and baby food.

"We're going to have to go through this again?" he asked, his hand to his brow.

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NEW YORK -- It took three Dixie Chicks to knock one bad-boy rapper off the top of the album chart.

The country trio debuted at No. 1 with their latest album, "Home," selling nearly 780,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures released Wednesday. Eminem's "The Eminem Show" fell to No. 2, but has sold about 5.4 million copies since its release in late May.

"I just heard what we sold and I'm still a little stunned," Dixie Chick Natalie Maines said Wednesday. "I feel extra lucky on this record that people are liking it and loving it."

Maines says she planned to celebrate with the other Chicks, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, when they met up later Wednesday in Los Angeles.

"I'm sure we'll open a bottle of champagne, and Emily will have a bottle of sparkling cider," she said. (Robison is pregnant with her first child.)

In other chart news, "Rush of Blood to the Head," the second album from the British alternative group Coldplay, entered the chart at No. 5, with nearly 141,000 copies sold.

Rapper Eve came in sixth place for the week, selling about 123,000 copies of her new disc, "Eve-Olution."

And Jimmy Fallon's comedy disc "The Bathroom Wall," which includes songs and bits of his standup routine, debuted at No. 47 with about 26,000 copies sold.

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BRISTOL, R.I. -- The wife of the late actor Anthony Quinn is putting up a portion of his estate for sale for $5 million.

The couple's 19-acre estate overlooking Narragansett Bay was carved up, and Katherine Quinn is selling an 11.3-acre section.

The property includes the 7,300-square-foot main house she shared with Quinn and their two young children, two smaller guesthouses, a barn, a shed, a greenhouse and a pool, according to The Providence Journal.

Quinn, who appeared in more than 100 films and won Oscars for his supporting roles in 1952's "Viva Zapata!" and 1956's "Lust for Life," died last year at 86. He was buried under a beloved maple tree on the Bristol estate, but the new owners of the parcel would not have access to that site.

An advertisement that included a picture and a description that it was part of Quinn's estate recently appeared in The Wall Street Journal.

Richard Dower, an agent with the Barrington Properties real estate agency, declined to say whether anyone has expressed interest in buying the property.

Dower said Quinn was drawn to the area after reading about it in a brochure. The Quinns originally bought the property in 1995 for $1.45 million.

"The seclusion appealed to him, the view, the location, the privacy," Dower said.

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OVIEDO, Spain -- Israeli conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim and U.S.-based Palestinian writer and critic Edward Said were joint winners of Spain's Prince of Asturias Concord Prize on Wednesday for their "generous and laudable task in favor of peace."

The jury also praised Barenboim and Said for "their collaboration with young musicians overcoming historical antagonisms and promoting dialogue," according to a statement that highlighted their careers.

Barenboim, 59, and Said, 67, became friends in the early '90s after meeting in a London hotel foyer. Since then they've run a musical project called "West Eastern Divan," a summer workshop that brings young musicians from Israel and Arab countries together in Germany, the United States and this last year in Spain.

Barenboim, an Argentine-born Israeli, is the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and artistic director of the Staatsoper Berlin. He's also been involved in musical projects aimed at encouraging understanding between peoples in the Mideast.

Said, a professor at Columbia University in New York, is best known for his books and essays on issues ranging from "Orientalism" in literature to the status of Middle East refugees.

The award is one of eight annual Prince of Asturias prizes, considered the Spanish-speaking world's equivalent of the Nobel prize.

Prince Felipe of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne, gives the prizes, which include 50,000 euros ($49,800) and a sculpture by Spanish artist Joan Miro.

Former winners of the Concord Prize, given for contributions to international understanding and cooperation, include King Hussein of Jordan, Spanish former Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez and musicians Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich.