Acme

Conrad's "crucifixion" cartoon was the acme of poor taste and presumptuous comparison. We would hope that the religious connotation expressed there would be soundly rejected by all thinking people and all religions. BERNARD (BABE) LENSKE Rancho Mirage

Amir Zaki makes stately, often elegant photographs that subtly undermine perceptions of coherence and stability in architecture. The Southern California beach lifeguard towers he photographed for his 2010 series “Relics” have the look of recently landed alien spacecraft with impossibly frail legs. His 2005 series “Spring through Winter” presented an oddly melancholic array of bricked-over fireplace mantels, as well as several Modernist houses that appeared to be launching themselves like hang gliders over the rim of a crumbling hillside.

Amir Zaki makes stately, often elegant photographs that subtly undermine perceptions of coherence and stability in architecture. The Southern California beach lifeguard towers he photographed for his 2010 series “Relics” have the look of recently landed alien spacecraft with impossibly frail legs. His 2005 series “Spring through Winter” presented an oddly melancholic array of bricked-over fireplace mantels, as well as several Modernist houses that appeared to be launching themselves like hang gliders over the rim of a crumbling hillside.

Trisha Yearwood presented an award as well as her newly trimmed body at Sunday's Academy of Country Music Awards, y'all. The Grammy winner and wife of singer Garth Brooks has been making headlines with her Food Network show "Trisha's Southern Kitchen" and bestselling cook books, but her slimmed-down physique and moderation diet are putting her front and center once again. "Trisha has always been a successful, shapely bombshell. Recently she has taken her fitness routine to a new level," her spokesperson told E!

I wish to express my praise for the survivors, the victims' families, friends and sympathizers of the tragedy in San Ysidro for their courageous position and actions in thwarting the exploitation of that infamous event. In contrast, compare this to the ones who for nearly half a century have fed on daily menus of TV mini-series, statues, memorials, so-called "educational" presentations in our public schools and on and on ad infinitum perpetuating the Holocaust of World War II. Perhaps it poses the question: "Are they forever feeding on the exploitation of past human miseries?"

We know Staples Inc. paid $116 million for naming rights, and we know Staples sells staplers. But where did the stapler originate? Louis XV had a stapler custom-made in the 18th century to keep his royal papers together. Too bad he couldn't do the same thing for the monarchy, which was soon to lose its head. In fact, he probably didn't even call his new toy a "stapler." Like much of the English language, the origin of the words "staple" and "stapler" are obscure.

Howard Rosenberg fed up with "Seinfeld" hype (" 'Coping With All the Yada, Yada," April 15)? That's like a tobacco executive complaining that too many people smoke. And yes, he modestly admits, his column "adds to the buzz." That's putting it mildly. It's been a rare Rosenberg column in the last several years that did not contain the S-word (Seinfeld this, Seinfeld that, Seinfeld walks on water). Now he comments on Jerry Seinfeld "smirking" on the cover of the current Vanity Fair.

Re "Why Chief Willie Williams Deserves Five More Years," Opinion, Dec. 22: I cannot possibly express how amusing the piece by Joe Domanick is. I lived in center city Philadelphia when Willie Williams was police chief there. I watched my neighborhood slowly become a sewer. I saw crime go up, police morale hit rock-bottom levels and all sorts of aggravated crimes increase. It shocked me when Los Angeles decided to hire Williams. It saddens me to see us continue to pretend he is the acme of police management skills, when his mediocrity and sloppy ethical style are now also a matter of record to Angelenos.

Uta Barth has long trained her camera where most people forget to look: the corners of empty rooms, the borders of windowpanes, the ledges of bookshelves. At the Acme gallery, in a new series of photographs, her gaze ascends from domestic life to hover amid treetops and power lines. It is a bold and visually breathtaking body of work.

The Santa Ana-based owner of nine television stations affiliated with the WB teen-oriented broadcast network posted a pro forma loss of $37.3 million, or $5.41 a share, for the third quarter, compared with a loss of $4.2 million, or 80 cents a share, a year ago. The results for the most recent quarter include a one-time compensation charge of $28.9 million related to the founders' exchange of management units into Acme common stock.

New York-based fashion designer, Rubin Singer , who has created clothes and stage costumes for Shakira, Alicia Keys and Beyonce, who memorably wore a Singer-created-costume during her Super Bowl halftime performance, crossed over into country music territory for the first time Sunday night when the Band Perry took to the stage last night in Las Vegas to perform at the 48th Academy of Country Music Awards . PHOTO: Academy of Country Music...

Kimberly Bornstein stands blindfolded at the front of a small stage at Hollywood's Magic Castle. Behind her a man from the audience stares intently at a dollar bill in his hands while Bornstein's husband, Jeff, looks on. Slowly, Kimberly recites a list of numbers that comprise the serial number of the dollar bill. The man gasps and says something unprintable under his breath. This is the pinnacle of the Bornsteins' show "Mind Meld," which the celebrated mind-reading duo are performing for the next few weeks at Hollywood's Acme Comedy Theater.

ART Michael Brennan Captured on a Pennsylvania afternoon in 1977, the iconic close-up portrait of Muhammad Ali made photographer Brennan's dreams come true. With his face festooned with sweat beads, bumps and scars, the fighter paused in the corner of the ring in front of the photographer, and the rest is history. An exhibition of Brennan's photographs of Ali, appropriately titled "Muhammad Ali: 1977," will be on display, first at Design Within Reach, then at Artworks Gallery in Pasadena.

COMEDY The LA Comedy Fest, in its ninth year, features film, live comedy acts and a screenplay competition — in other words, plenty of opportunity to make discoveries or be discovered. Recent bragging rights for the fest include alumnus Luke Matheny, who recently nabbed an Oscar for "God of Love," in the live action short film category. For hopefuls who want more hands-on instruction, there is also a Sunday workshop for turning your movie idea into a screenplay with William Morris Endeavor story editor Christopher Lockhart and professional screenwriter and UC Santa Barbara screenwriting instructor Cindy McCreery.

If the thrills of online dating have become dull to you ? stocking your profile with witty anecdotes, winking at a stranger after a late-night riffle through the 25-32 set, meeting dates for coffee in a neighborhood where you won't run into anyone you know ? there is now "The Fix-Up Show," a live-theater matchmaking spectacle that is at once gutsy and surprisingly tame. Hosted by J. Keith van Straaten of "What's My Line? ? Live on Stage," "The Fix-Up Show" sets up a single man or woman with one of three suitors who must answer questions ?

COMEDY Now in its eighth season, the Los Angeles Comedy Festival is a showcase of all things funny ? including stand-up performances, sketch, improv, short films and features ? and a medley of live performances and screenings of comedic films from across the country. Highlights include alternative stand-up from melon-smashing Gallagher, improv from the Younger Statesmen and much more. Acme Comedy Theatre, 135 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles. 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Nov. 21. Check website for additional times.

Stock in the Santa Ana-based owner of WB-affiliated TV stations sells for $23 in IPO. Shares of Santa Ana-based Acme Communications Inc., the owner of nine television stations affiliated with WB network, were priced higher than expected for the company's initial public offering, an indication that Acme stock could sizzle in its first day of trading today.

The Santa Ana parent company of Acme Television LLC reported a second-quarter net loss of $15.8 million, which included an $8.2-million charge for noncash compensation to the executive founders. A year ago, the company posted a net loss of $6.4 million. Revenue was up 34% to $15.5 million. The company owns and operates nine stations.

There is something wonderfully peculiar about the paintings of Gegam Kacherian , but it's difficult to pinpoint just what it is. Each of the 15 works in his second solo show at Rosamund Felsen Gallery begins in a reasonable, even orthodox manner with an aerial view of a city skyline, or else the billowing clouds of a turbulent sky-scape. He has a knack for spatial atmospherics and most of these scenes would make for very handsome compositions in their own right. Over these, however, he layers a whirling miscellany of fantastical imagery: animals, figures, flora, architecture, and various totemic objects, all wound in ectoplasmic strands of abstract pigment.

Honoring elders always has been a cornerstone of country music, a trait that makes for good TV in "George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All-Star Concert," airing tonight on CBS. The two-hour program, filmed last month in Las Vegas the night after the Academy of Country Music's latest award ceremony, is packed with current country stars who were in town for that event, among them Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift, Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert and Toby Keith.