Fighting Fair- or Not

Will Turner: "You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you."

Jack Sparrow: "That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?"

-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Alien Nation

We're seeing Star Trek soon. I have not seen any Trek series or movie, except one from my childhood. All I remember is that there is some time travel involved, and a whale figures in the story. I saw it on local TV light years ago.

The reviews say you do not have to have been a fan to get it. Hindi ka naman daw ma-e-alienate.

The Greatest Thing

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn... is just to love, and be loved in return."

- Christian to Satine in Moulin Rouge (2001)

Not Returning Your Call

The talent agent Sam Cohn died at 79 Wednesday in New York  after having had sickness.

His clients at International Creative Management (which he co-founded io included Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Lily Tomlin, Sigourney Weaver, Kathleen Turner, Jackie Gleason, and Woody Allen . Other clients included Robert Altman, Mike Nichols, Bob Fosse, Nora Ephron, E.L. Doctorow, and Arthur Miller.

Cohn retired this year and was known not to return phone calls. He graduated from Princeton and Yale.

Cannonball Blazes

Dom DeLuise passed away in his sleep on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 75.

He co-starred with Burt Reynolds in such movies as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and the Cannonball Run movies. He also worked with Mel Brooks in many projects, including Blazing Saddles.

He hosted "Candid Camera," appeared on "The Carol Burnett Show," and authored cookbooks.

Going Upstairs

The writer Marilyn French died at 79 of heart failure. She died Saturday in Manhattan.

Her first novel, The Women's Room (1977), turned her into a controversial leader of the feminist movement.  

She was an academic and she wrote essays and literary criticism. She studied philosophy and English literature.

The Right Idea

"Personally, I think alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."

- Ida Corwin in Mildred Pierce (1948)

Duffy, the poet/slayer

Carol Ann Duffy, 53, was selected Friday as the British poet laureate, the first woman to hold the job.

She is also the first openly gay poet laureate, and evidently she is taught in schools.

The laureate is expected to write about major royal and state occasions, such as weddings and funerals.  Previous poets who filled the post included Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Wordsworth, Ted Hughes and John Dryden. Her annual salary would be 5,700 pounds. She says she intends to donate it to the Poetry Society.