People talk

Bush urges preserving Louisa May Alcott home

CONCORD, Mass. -- First lady Laura Bush recalled a time when she was just like every other girl in America: a devoted reader of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women."

On Thursday, the first lady, a former librarian, came to Alcott's family home to support its preservation.

The home, known as Orchard House, has received $400,000 in federal grants from Save America's Treasures, a partnership co-chaired by Mrs. Bush. But the home has structural problems, and supporters are trying to raise another $800,000.

"Few books have remained in print for more than 130 years, but 'Little Women' continues to be passed from parent to child, hand to hand, because the story is timeless," she said.

Kermit the Frog jumps onto Walk of Fame

LOS ANGELES -- Martin Scorsese, Etta James, Kevin Bacon, Susan Sarandon and Kermit the Frog are among entertainers who will be enshrined in the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year.

The 2003 Walk of Fame recipients in the film category included Bacon, Robert Duvall, Sarandon and Scorsese. Television honorees included Beau Bridges, Drew Carey, Kermit, Larry McCormick, the Osmond Family, Isabel Sanford and Suzanne Somers.

Michael Bolton, James, Carole King, Israel Lopez "Cachao" and Earl Scruggs will be honored in the recording category.

Posthumous stars will be dedicated in honor of Gilda Radner, for television, and Richard Rodgers, for live theater.

Country singer writes of life on the road

NEW YORK -- Atria Books will publish two books by country singer Tim McGraw.

The first book is an illustrated behind-the-scenes look at life on and off the road. It will be published in November, to coincide with the release of McGraw's latest album, the publisher said Thursday.

The second book will be a fatherhood memoir, including McGraw's thoughts on being the son of baseball star Tug McGraw and what it means to be a famous husband and father.

McGraw, 35, and his wife, singer Faith Hill, have three young daughters.

"My family keeps me focused," McGraw said. "They are the most important thing to me."

Scooby and friends will return in sequel

BURBANK, Calif. -- "Scooby-Doo" will do it again.

A sequel to the live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon is going into production, following a $54.2 million opening last weekend.

Warner Bros. announced this week that Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini will come back as Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Velma, who solve mysteries with the help of their Great Dane, Scooby-Doo.

Director Raja Gosnell and screenwriter James Gunn also will work on the sequel. Production is expected to begin early next year, with release in 2004.

Schwarzenegger to receive honorary degree

ORANGE, Calif. -- Dr. Arnold Schwarzenegger?

That's the latest title the film star and political activist will pick up when he receives an honorary doctorate from Chapman University.

University officials said Schwarzenegger will receive an honorary degree in humane letters during the Sunday ceremony.

Chapman President James L. Doti will present the degree to the former Mr. Universe for his work on behalf of young people in athletics and education.

The 54-year-old star of the "Terminator" films and 1994's "True Lies" has heavily promoted a ballot initiative that would help finance extracurricular activities and tutoring assistance for kindergarten through ninth-grade students in California.

New stamp to honor magician Harry Houdini

APPLETON, Wis. -- A new stamp honoring Harry Houdini will be unveiled July 5 at the Houdini Historical Center in the magician's native Appleton, the U.S. Postal Service says.

The 37-cent stamp will use Houdini's likeness from a 1911 lithographed poster from the collection of Gary H. Mandelblatt. The issuance of the stamp coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Society of American Magicians. Houdini was president of the society from 1917 until his death in 1926.-- From wire reports

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HONOLULU (AP) -- Jason Scott Lee, who provides one of the voices in Disney's his new animated feature, "Lilo & Stitch," shuns the big city in favor of a farm on 25 acres of forest on the Big Island.

When the movie's promotional junkets are over, the 35-year-old actor says, "I'm just going to go home and do some weeding and check in on my trees and everything."

Not exactly fodder for the gossip columns.

That low-key approach is similar to that of the character he plays in "Lilo & Stitch," the story of a lonely girl who adopts a mischievous space alien as a pet after he crash-lands on Kauai.

Lee is the voice of David Kawena, the good-natured former boyfriend of Lilo's 19-year-old sister, Nani (voiced by Hawaii-born Tia Carrere), who helps hold things together for the sisters when things go awry.

"David is a very accepting guy," Lee said. "He's a real image of the Hawaiian community. He acknowledges the aliens and says, 'Yeah, there's room for everybody."'

Although Lee was born in Los Angeles, he moved to Hawaii with his family when he was 2 and grew up on Oahu.

His previous films include "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" and "The Jungle Book."

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On the Net:

"Lilo & Stitch" official Web site: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/liloandstitch/index.html

SEATTLE (AP) -- When parents approach former figure skating star Tai Babilonia about whether they should introduce their children to the sport, Babilonia hesitates.

She used to automatically say "yes." Now she thinks twice about it, because she's no longer proud of the sport.

Babilonia and longtime skating partner Randy Gardner say they are fed up with the state of skating, especially after the judging controversy at the Salt Lake City Olympics in which a French official said she was pressured "to vote a certain way." She later recanted her accusation.

"It was lie after lie after lie," Babilonia said during a panel discussion at the annual convention of The Associated Press Sports Editors. "Randy and I were lucky to be judged fairly."

Babilonia and Gardner were convinced Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier had won gold over the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. The Russians finished first but the Canadians later were also given gold.

"Two gold medals was a quick fix," Gardner said. "It shuts everybody up and says, 'we'll deal with it later.' Hopefully they'll change the judging system."

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- A Dominican audience cheered, yelled, whistled and laughed as Cuban music veteran Ibrahim Ferrer gave a two-hour performance of wit, spontaneous verses and traditional Cuban music.

The 75-year-old Ferrer, accompanied by the Buena Vista Social Club, entertained the packed crowd Thursday night, dancing nonstop and spontaneously reinventing verses to old favorites.

"I feel like I'm in Cuba," Ferrer said during the performance at the elegant National Theater.

His songs, many of which are included in the Buena Vista Social Club album produced by Ry Cooder, included genres like Cuban son, boleros, son montuno, and guaguanco.

The 15-member Buena Vista Social Club band included legendary base player Cachaito Lopez, Guajiro Mirabal on trumpet, Demetrio Muniz on trombone and Roberto Fonseca on piano.

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CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. (AP) -- Bill Clinton's new dog, a successor to the late, lamented Buddy, has joined the former president in Chappaqua.

The arrival of Seamus, a chocolate Labrador retriever like Buddy, was a Father's Day surprise courtesy of Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said the senator's spokesman, Jim Kennedy.

"He was surprised with the dog when he woke up on Father's Day," Kennedy said. "The dog helped wake him up."

Buddy, Clinton's White House dog, was killed by a car in January. The ex-president said the accident was "by far the worst thing" to happen to him after leaving office.

Clinton contacted a Maryland breeder and ended up with one of Buddy's grandnephews. During a trip to Ireland this month, Clinton revealed that he had named the puppy Seamus, the Gaelic form of James.

Julia Payne, a spokeswoman for the former president, said Seamus is "adjusting happily to his new home in Chappaqua. ... The president and Seamus are having a wonderful time."