Bruce Lee

By creepy coincidence, the Bruce Lee biopic "Dragon" arrives just weeks after the bizarre death of his son Brandon, an event that had eerie parallels to Lee's mysterious demise in 1973. The timing becomes even more chilling as "Dragon" unspools. A conventional biography in most respects, the movie does make a spooky digression into mysticism and seems to anticipate the tragic link between father and son. "Dragon" maintains that throughout his life, Lee was haunted by terrifying dreams, reflecting anxiety over a shadowy fear he could not name.

Nobody else could sell pistachios. Others tried. Just Pistachio Girl. She parted the seas, the standing-room-only crowds at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday night, and bounced down the aisles, a cult figure. Art Ehlo, 58, a season-ticket holder down the third-base line, gave her a fist bump. "I've got pictures of her in my phone with me," he said. Debbie Brown, an usher in Section 136, took a photo. "She's fascinating," Brown said. "She's part of this ballpark. There's a whole page for her on Facebook, 'Fans of The CBP Pistachio Girl.' " More than 500 people "like" it. Pistachio Girl has no idea who started it. In Section 116, a desperate voice rang out, "I love you, Pistachio Girl!"

Lou Gaul's eyes light up whenever he talks about his favorite action-movie actor - Kung Fu Master Bruce Lee. He chuckles when he recalls all the times his family and friends scolded him for getting carried away with his fascination with the martial-arts expert. Gaul, the film critic for the Burlington County Times, Calkins Newspapers and Philadelphia radio talk station WWDB-FM, has turned his passion into his first book, "The Fist That Shook The World: The Cinema of Bruce Lee," published in April.

It's easy to get the impression that martial arts - judo, karate, tae kwan do - come entirely from the Far East. There are, however, exceptions. A demonstration of one, Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defense system, was held recently at the Franklin Mills mall in Northeast Philadelphia. A geographer might point out that Israel technically is in Asia. That's true, but it's still a long way from Bruce Lee's one-time hangouts. Of course, so is Philadelphia.

ROYAL OAK, MICH. KEVORKIAN FORCED OUT OF HIS HOME Police ejected Dr. Jack Kevorkian and a guest from his apartment last night and barred him from it for more than 90 minutes as they searched it, the suicide doctor said. "Is this going to happen every time someone visits me who (the police) don't know?" Kevorkian asked as he sat with his lawyer at a restaurant near his apartment. Kevorkian said that nearly two hours after the search began, police were refusing to let him back into the apartment or give him any information about the search.

Peter Hobart, a Chester County assistant district attorney, has black belts in five martial arts, but flexing muscle in the courtroom is not his style. Combat is about conduct and is the measure of a man, he believes. Like Kenjutsu, or Japanese swordsmanship, which is Hobart's favorite of the martial arts, skill lies in knowing when to wield power and when to hold back. Which leads him to his just-published book, Kishido: The Way of the Western Warrior. Quoting a chapter, Hobart says it is "not about winning, but that justice shall be done.

Since the death of Bruce Lee, the martial arts genre has been without a king. The closest thing to a successor is Steven Seagal, a hulking brute whose trademark limb-breaking and massive body blows made him the leading chock- socky icon during the power-obsessed '80s. Seagal, however, has lately talked of doing more meaningful pictures (yawn) and has clearly lost his taste for action. That leaves a void, one that martial-arts lovers would like to see filled by someone with the exuberant charisma and frenetic martial arts style of Lee. That is clearly the genesis of "Rapid Fire," a movie starring Lee's son, Brandon.

Forget about young Republicans; this country is loaded with karate kids. We're talking about a wave of interest in martial-arts films the likes of which hasn't been seen since karate expert Bruce Lee died in 1973. After garnering $90 million at the box office in 1984, The Karate Kid (1985, RCA/Columbia, $79.95) sold an impressive 180,000 videocassettes last year. And this summer's sequel, The Karate Kid Part II, ranks as a genuine smash hit in theaters. Success certainly isn't limited to family-oriented films a la Karate Kid. More violent, "chop-socky" films are grabbing general audiences as well as their cult fans - especially the "ninja" films.

Martial arts demonstrations and exhibits on health care will be featured in an Aug. 17 program in Almonesson. The program, which will begin at 7 p.m. in Auletto's Ballroom, on Cooper Street, will be highlighted by an appearance by Gin Foon Mark, a teacher of the late martial arts expert and movie star Bruce Lee. Although health care and martial arts may seem unrelated, they are often intertwined, said Martin Eisen, a martial arts instructor who...

Like most kids, Adam Older and Kim Morgan were initially drawn to karate through movies such as The Karate Kid and those starring martial-arts idol Bruce Lee. But unlike most kids, they stuck with it. "When I was 6, (Channel) 57 played a Bruce Lee movie marathon," Older, 16, of Hatfield, recalled. "So for my birthday, I asked for karate lessons. And I've been doing this ever since. " Late last month, Older and Morgan, 17, of Harleysville, were named to the U.S. karate team that will compete at the Pan American Junior Championships in November.

Nobody else could sell pistachios. Others tried. Just Pistachio Girl. She parted the seas, the standing-room-only crowds at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday night, and bounced down the aisles, a cult figure. Art Ehlo, 58, a season-ticket holder down the third-base line, gave her a fist bump. "I've got pictures of her in my phone with me," he said. Debbie Brown, an usher in Section 136, took a photo. "She's fascinating," Brown said. "She's part of this ballpark. There's a whole page for her on Facebook, 'Fans of The CBP Pistachio Girl.' " More than 500 people "like" it. Pistachio Girl has no idea who started it. In Section 116, a desperate voice rang out, "I love you, Pistachio Girl!"

He may be small at 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, but middle linebacker Brucelee Sterile throws big hits. The Lincoln University junior, known to fans as the "Mighty Miniature One," routinely overpowers linemen 100 pounds heavier and is called "the pulse of our team" by his coach. "Since he's been here, he's probably been one of the most intense student-athletes I've ever been around, from class work to on the field," Lions coach O.J. Abanishe said. "What I mean by intense is, whenever he is doing something, it's 100 percent.

TATTLE HAS heard a lot of bizarre questions asked at movie press events, but someone asking 77-year-old Clint Eastwood if had any plans to return as "Dirty Harry" is right up there. Eastwood said at a Cannes press conference for his new missing-child movie, "The Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie, that Harry Callahan was probably retired by now and he was not interested in bringing him back to the big screen. Then Jolie chimed in: "I am. " "Dirty Harriet and the 'Tomb Raider' will play it," Eastwood joked.

Ask BET's Reginald Hudlin why mixed martial arts is the newest muse among BET's reality television offerings, and he will take you back to tales of rooting for the greatest fighters to ever step into a ring. "You know when we were kids, the question of whether Muhummad Ali or Bruce Lee would win in a fight? Well, mixed martial arts can answer that today," said Hudlin, 46, president of entertainment for BET. "I have followed the Ultimate Fighting Championship since my brother [Warrington]

"Jungle Girl" is one of the more pleasant surprises of 2007. When this book was announced, many felt it would be simply another T&A book that would distinguish itself with some Frank Cho covers. However, the results so far have been impressive. While Jana, the star of "Jungle Girl," does not quite match her fellow Dynamite hellion, Red Sonja, in the toughness or nastiness department, and while her stories have not been quite as epic as those starring the She-Devil With a Sword, she comes darn close.

IF PAMELA Anderson and Kid Rock can't make it work, what hope is there for the rest of us? The pneumatic pinup and the stringy-haired rocker each filed divorce papers yesterday seeking to end their marriage of less than four months. It seems that once the three-month honeymoon ended, all that was left were the "irreconcilable differences. " Pam's rep had no comment on the matter, but Pam wrote on her Web site, "Yes, it's true," adding the cryptic: "Unfortunately impossible.

The success of Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon gained new martial-arts fans, and restored some faith we Five Fingers of Death types had lost in new major motion pictures. Today's release of Hero should keep the genre alive and kicking here in the States. For those looking to build on their martial-arts library, or just get a taste of the style, a number of solid DVDs have been released recently. They range from the classic and familiar to the truly strange: "Enter the Dragon" (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Even by Spike Lee's controversy-seeking standards, the filmmaker's She Hate Me is overheated. The film, which opened in area theaters on Friday, is about Jack Armstrong, a Wharton-educated young African American, played by Anthony Mackie, who loses his job after turning corporate whistle-blower. Strapped for cash, he becomes a sperm donor for wealthy lesbians with an urge to breed. He beds as many as seven women a night, while trying to stay out of trouble with the feds and a Mafia don, played by John Turturro, who does a mean Marlon Brando impersonation.

Peter Hobart, a Chester County assistant district attorney, has black belts in five martial arts, but flexing muscle in the courtroom is not his style. Combat is about conduct and is the measure of a man, he believes. Like Kenjutsu, or Japanese swordsmanship, which is Hobart's favorite of the martial arts, skill lies in knowing when to wield power and when to hold back. Which leads him to his just-published book, Kishido: The Way of the Western Warrior. Quoting a chapter, Hobart says it is "not about winning, but that justice shall be done.

TO COLUMNIST Elmer Smith: I hope you're right about Michael Jordan. I, too, thought he should have canned it after 1998. But it's awfully difficult to give up that lifestyle. Jim Brown did it right. Out before he was 30. Was it nine strong years? Amazing. And he still has his health. I doubt he's had his knees replaced, something John Elway and Dan Marino are definitely facing within 10 years. Jordan had that rare quality of imposing few, if any, limits on himself. Bruce Lee, at 5-7 and 145 pounds, could hit harder than someone much larger.