2004 Year

One of the great sights in the Museum of Modern Art's new building, which opened in New York last month, is the cheeky installation of Henri Matisse's 1909 mural "The Dance (I)." MoMA can claim the richest and most varied Matisse collection of any art museum in the world, and the French painter is one of two artists with an entire gallery in the new building devoted solely to his work. (Jackson Pollock is the other.) But you won't find "The Dance (I)" in that room.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced another large recall of autos in the U.S. on Thursday, this time for a steering problem in 373,000 Avalon sedans built for the 2000-2004 model years. The automaker said that because of an improper casting, a component of the steering lock system can crack. When the Avalon is steered hard to the right, there is a chance that the piece will break, locking up the steering wheel and increasing the risk of a crash. There have been six reports of the problem in the U.S., with three accidents but no injuries, said Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons.

So where was it written that the seams of the universe would come undone, with great dynasties toppling and life as we know it changing irretrievably, if and when the Red Sox ever won the World Series? Nostradamus? Not quite. Scholars have looked into it. Turns out Ol' Gloom N' Doom was more of a Cubs man. Notre Dame? Sorry. The golden domers had one prophecy to get right all year -- And in the twelfth month, as it is his destiny, Urban Meyer shall inherit the football program -- and punted it.

U.S. infant mortality declined slightly in 2004 to the lowest level on record, but the death rate for babies born to black mothers was more than double that of white mothers' babies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. The infant mortality rate, tracking deaths up to age 1, was 6.78 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared with 6.84 in 2003, the agency said.

If I were Bridget Jones, my 2004 travel diary might read something like this: Number of airport security pat-downs: Three, all discreet and all random. All were in the somewhat humiliating arms-out-to-sides position and were conducted by women wielding metal detectors; one used the back of her hands. (In response to complaints, the Transportation Security Administration this month said it would allow passengers to put their arms down once their upper bodies had been searched.

For those who might have forgotten, one of the most important tasks before us as a nation is to create a more friendly business environment. Less government regulation means more entrepreneurial freedom, and everybody wins. That's why President Bush is determined not to let the fate of a few animal species get in the way of unfettered development, drilling and mining. And that's why Gov.

Wall Street rang up its second straight year of gains Friday, despite a weak showing by many of the stock market's best known names. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average posted a modest gain of 3.2% for the year after closing out 2004 with a losing session in which it fell 17.29 points, or 0.2%, to 10,783.01. The Dow's 12-month performance was the poorest of any major U.S. market index. By contrast, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which slipped 1.63 points, or 0.1%, to 1,211.

U.S. infant mortality declined slightly in 2004 to the lowest level on record, but the death rate for babies born to black mothers was more than double that of white mothers' babies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. The infant mortality rate, tracking deaths up to age 1, was 6.78 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared with 6.84 in 2003, the agency said.

The best investment lesson of 2004 may be this: A bull market is wherever you find it. In the stock market, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average eked out a 3.2% gain for the year. But investors didn't have to look far to find much better returns. The Dow transportation stock index zoomed 26.3% as investors snapped up trucking and railroad issues -- beneficiaries of the growing economy. Energy stocks had a terrific year as oil and gas prices did a levitation act.

Even in the iPod era, a car radio remains the best testing ground for pop music. Whether you're on the open road or stuck in traffic, there's a joy in hearing a song so exhilarating that you want to reach over to turn up the volume. Several selections in our annual New Year's Day salute to the most compelling singles of the last 12 months fall into this category -- including tunes by Kanye West, U2 and the teams of Loretta Lynn/Jack White and Ray Charles/Norah Jones.

Driven by an unusually mild flu season, annual deaths in the U.S. fell by 50,000 in 2004, the largest drop in more than 60 years, federal officials said Wednesday. The decrease was a fraction of the 2.4 million total deaths in 2004, but it helped push the nation's death rate to a record low of 801 per 100,000 people.

Since 1980, the annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have honored literary achievement. The Times presents the awards and sponsors the annual Festival of Books (launched in 1996) as part of a continuing commitment to celebrate the written word. Kenneth Turan, Times film critic and a former books editor for the paper, has directed the Book Prize program since 1995.

The across-the-board gains enjoyed in recent years by homeowners from Palmdale to San Pedro and Covina to Calabasas may no longer be a given. When economists with the UCLA Anderson Forecast last week offered their latest outlook for the California economy, they emphasized that the record home appreciation of the last few years could soon be a thing of the past.

For the third straight year, Southern California home prices broke records in 2004, soaring 23% from 2003, thanks to low interest rates and plenty of buyers. Prices rose even as the pace of sales held virtually unchanged from the year before. The outlook for 2005 is still good for homeowners, but the rate of appreciation is unlikely to match the red-hot pace of recent years.

L.A. was filled with lights, camera and action last year. More movies, television shows, music videos and commercials were shot in public spaces across Los Angeles County in 2004 than ever before. The Entertainment Industry Development Corp. issued permits for 52,707 location production days -- one day representing a single day of work on a single project -- for a 19% increase over 2003. Production days for TV shows alone jumped 27% -- nearly half of that for reality programming.

ALBUM sales in the U.S. increased by 1.6% last year over 2003, which doesn't sound like much until you consider that it's the first time since 2000 that they haven't decreased. So how are consumers dividing the pie? According to Nielsen SoundScan, it's still a world ruled by R&B, which accounted for nearly a quarter of the 657 million total sales. If you add in the related rap field, the share is more than 35% of the market.

ALBUM sales in the U.S. increased by 1.6% last year over 2003, which doesn't sound like much until you consider that it's the first time since 2000 that they haven't decreased. So how are consumers dividing the pie? According to Nielsen SoundScan, it's still a world ruled by R&B, which accounted for nearly a quarter of the 657 million total sales. If you add in the related rap field, the share is more than 35% of the market.

The Legislature finished an unusually trying year before dawn Saturday. Over eight months, its very existence was questioned and its political virility was mocked while it braced for the retirement of some of its most experienced and effective members. Lawmakers' arranged marriage with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- courtesy of an angry electorate -- prevented majority Democrats from dominating the Capitol's political direction this year as they had often done under Gray Davis.

Last week The Times surveyed the year in showbiz with two stories, cheek by jowl, one about the movie business' box-office revenues, the other about the record industry's top concert grosses and album sales. As good as the stories were, the real revelation came from their illustrations. The photos of the music industry's top hitmakers showed flesh 'n' blood pop stars. The photos of the year's five top-grossing movies didn't have a movie star in the bunch.

U.S. employers added a net 157,000 jobs in December, bringing the positions gained by the economy in 2004 to 2.2 million -- its best showing since 1999, the government said Friday. The nation's unemployment rate remained at 5.4%, where it has hovered since midyear, the Labor Department said. In addition to the December numbers, department officials made upward revisions totaling 31,000 to the job totals of October and November. President Bush called these "a very positive set of numbers."