People in the News for May 5, 1998

Among the seven-card studs in the World Series of Poker finale at le Horseshoe casino next week will be two new but recognizable poker faces: actors Matt Damon and Ed Norton. That doesn't necessarily mean the room will ring with cries of "Go fish!" and "Anyone here know Crazy Eights?" -- these guys apparently aren't bluffing. "They are both serious poker players," says a tournament spokeswoman. Damon and Norton learned the game in New York's underground poker parlors while researching their roles for the upcoming gambling film, "Rounders." No doubt buoyed by repeated listenings to that Kenny Rogers song about knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, the two will compete in the no-limit Texas Hold'em finale that determines the world champion of poker. Says the spokeswoman, "They want to be treated just like everyone else."

Shorter stuff

When you hear that Charlton Heston has blasted Barbra Streisand, you're not immediately certain if it's meant literally or figuratively. Heston, after all, is a vice zealot of the National Rifle Association, leaping to the barricades whenever someone utters "Second Amendment" with less than proper reverence. Regarding Streisand, however, he only shot off his mouth. Criticizing the gun-control subtext of the Streisand-produced TV movie "The Long Island Incident," about a subway shooting, he called her "Hanoi Jane of the Second Amendment." Well, that's certainly the sort of reasoned, intelligent debate the subject deserves. But he can't help himself, the issue is so darned important. "We are talking about a sacred document in America and to distort it and misstate its reality is a very serious error," Heston said. Streisand responded that she doesn't oppose gun ownership for hunting or self-defense. "But you don't need an AK-47 to kill game and you don't need an Uzi to defend yourself. ... I would hope that everyone would be against an uncontrolled flood of weapons ..." This is just the kind of thing people love to get angry about.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets

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