People

AFFLECK ROMANCING A NEW LANGUAGE

Actor Ben Affleck is going all out to please his fiancée Jennifer Lopez by learning Spanish. The Daily Mail of London says the photogenic Affleck has been attending classes in Spanish to be in better synch with his Latin love. There is another reason for Affleck's sudden desire to be bilingual. It seems Lopez's family speaks only Spanish when the gang gets together, leaving Ben in the dark. The publication says it's not known whether Affleck has become fluent enough in Spanish to surprise Lopez with any statements, but a friend revealed he's doing well in class and becoming more proficient all the time. Meanwhile, he and Lopez continue to make plans for their upcoming nuptials, which should be a "soirée caliente," to mix two romance languages.

IRISH ORCHESTRA TO MAKE AMERICAN DEBUT

The National Symphony of Ireland surprisingly has never played in this country; that's about to change. The orchestra, the largest performing group to regularly appear on Ireland's public radio channels, has announced a series of concerts in the States, beginning next week. The group will tour this country for 10 weeks. The Irish Cultural Relations Committee tells United Press International the group will be joined by internationally acclaimed Irish pianist John O'Conor. He will perform two Beethoven concerto works for piano. A new work by composer Jane O'Leary, "From Sea-Gray Shores," will be a highlight of each concert. Two "workhorse" selections are on the program, "The Firebird Suite" by Stravinsky and Wagner's prelude from "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg." In future months classical music lovers will be hearing more of the Irish group. It recently has signed two major recording contracts with international labels.

'FRASER' CAST MEMBERS TO JOIN SYMPHONY

They will be speaking and not playing but look for David Hyde Pierce and Harriet Harris in a New York Philharmonic concert series. The pair, famous for their roles as Dr. Niles Crane and Bebe, respectively, have been tapped to provide speaking parts in upcoming performances of the Berlioz opera "Beatrice et Benedict." The work, according to the New York Post, is based on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." The pair will join actor Phillip Bosco in three performances. The trio will voice English-language narrative parts that will serve as transitions between various elements of the opera. The performances, set for the Big Apple's Avery Fisher Hall, will be on April 9, 10 and 12.

EDITOR BLANCHARD TOPS 'LOATHSOME' LIST

The driving force behind Maxim magazine, Keith Blanchard, tops a list of "Most Loathsome People" in New York City. The list, compiled from input provided by the readers of the New York Daily Press, is full of people who, according to the newspaper, are "loathsome in a New York sort of way." The No. 2 most-loathed is cartoonist and "freedom fighter" Ted Rall. No. 3 is documentarian Michael Moore, the one-man anti-war protest on Oscar night. Fourth is pundit Ann Coulter. Columnist William Safire was No. 10, just ahead of Henry Kissinger. Baseball owner George Steinbrenner copped the No. 15 slot; Woody Allen rated No. 16. TV anchorman Brian Williams was 32nd. Another television face, Carson Daly, placed 40th. Yoko Ono was "honored" at No. 46. Model Naomi Campbell -- described by the paper as being a "don't-you-know-who-I-am?" kind of person -- slipped in at the No. 50 position.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 555

We complete another week of cross-country bus trip match-up questions today. So here is today's adjacent seat assignment choice: "If you had to spend a week sitting on a cross-country bus with a single seat-mate, which of these two would you chose -- Dick Van Dyke or Andy Griffith?" Put BUS10 in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 550 (BOYCOTT)

Last week we asked: "Have you ever boycotted any goods or services for whatever reason?" From a very random dip into the e-mail inbox we found the following:

-65 percent said they had never purposely avoided a product or service on moral grounds.

-35 percent said they boycotted at least one product.

Some of the boycotting was done because of the perceived actions of a company in regard to its "green" policy. AlexanderA says he took his money from a California bank that he was told supported logging interests in the Northwest. BryanBiz says that he stopped eating at a popular restaurant chain because it was homophobic. NEXT: More of your thoughts from the inbox. GBA