Etc...

Oh, just oout for a ride, Dad

Damage was in the thousands of dollars when two Hall County, Neb., people in a pickup truck went on a vandalizing spree one night last week. They zigzagged across seven lawns, leaving ruts, and clipped a tree and a street sign before racing away. Yet police had them in custody in hardly any time at all. How? Because the culprits, both teenage boys, used a vehicle that not only belonged to one of their parents but also had the name of the family business painted on its sides. Said Capt. Jim Castleberry of the sheriff's department, "It makes it easier to solve when they do that."

Controversial talk-show host and author Howard Stern has told listeners he's ready for a new challenge: producing feature-length movies "to bring more stupidity and childishness to a whole new generation."

* The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.

Joseph Addison, 17th-century English essayist

From 'Interesting Anecdotes, Memoirs, Allegories, Essays, and Poetical Fragments' (1794).

For the first time, Entertainment Weekly magazine has divided its annual Hollywood "power list" into two categories: entertainers and industry executives. The latter include studio chiefs, video-game developers, and even talent agencies. In one anomaly, producer-director Steven Spielberg made both categories. The top five in each category in Entertainment Weekly's 2002 lists:

Entertainers
1. Tom Hanks
2. Steven Spielberg, partner, Dreamworks SKG
3. Mel Gibson
4. Tom Cruise
5. Julia Roberts
Executives
1. Jeff Bewkes, entertainment and networks chairman, AOL Time Warner/Chris Albrecht, chairman, HBO
2. John Calley, chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment/ Amy Pascal, chaiman, Columbia Pictures
3. Leslie Moonves, president, CBS-TV
4. Kaz Hirai, president, Sony Computer Entertainment
5. Barry Meyer/Alan Horn, cochairmen, Warner Brothers