Bachelors

Once upon a time--in 1905, to be exact--a group of single gentlemen formed The Bachelors to host an annual gala to repay social obligations. Tradition continued Friday in what must be the ultimate fancy dress ball in the nation. Chairman Sean Conway McCarthy (escorting Mary Louise Frawley) went Hollywood with film reels on tables, Cocoanut Grove-like Mylar palms shining in the Beverly Hilton ballroom, blowups of Lana Turner and Jean Harlow. Lester Lannin's Orchestra rocked until 4 a.m.

"The Happy Bachelors" (at the Grande 4-Plex in the Sheraton Hotel, 345 S. Figueroa St.) refers to the name of a song sung by a group of young Shanghai shipyard workers and reflects their high spirits. Carefree and rowdy, they have no responsibilities and secure jobs. Such good feelings begin to change when they're assigned to a math class, which they must attend if they want to keep on getting bonuses and raises.

With sheer ego having been accepted as a large part of the romantic scene, it is easy to see why many of both sexes are staying single. It's at a point where it seems normal. Sadly, we as a group may never learn what we (or the opposite sex) really need because we are only concerned with the superficial things that we do not need. Marriage, if it happens, seems almost by compulsion instead of conviction. Many of us won't marry that way. DIANE STILES Redondo Beach

Nearly everything is for sale in changeable Russia these days including the right man for a woman. But Moscow's first "Bachelors' Auction" fell flat--fewer than 100 women turned up to view the charms of the 10 eligible men on offer. Two of the bachelors suffered the indignity of having to appear a second time in the early July sale before any woman would bid for the chance of a night on the town with them.

"The Hungry Bachelors Club" is an undernourished romantic comedy-drama that's especially short on that most essential ingredient: credibility. It takes its title from the name a young divorced woman named Delmar Youngblood (Jorja Fox) would like to give to the restaurant she dreams of opening.

Now you've heard everything. Jaguar pusher Lee West has installed a diner inside his posh Newport Imports dealership. Why? "Why not?" West asked at the recent kickoff bash for the March of Dimes' Bid for Bachelors, set for Tuesday at Le Meridien in Newport Beach. "The standard excuse for people not buying a car is that old line, 'We have to go down the street and get something to eat.' Now they won't have that excuse."

The Kirkeby Estate has been sold, not the one in Bel-Air that was used as a set for TV's "Beverly Hillbillies" and set a national record last year when it was purchased by TV producer Jerry Perenchio for $13.6 million. This time, it's the Kirkeby Estate in Malibu. It's in the Malibu Colony area, not behind the security gates but just outside of them, near the homes of actor Lee Majors and comedian Bob Newhart, who just bought his house from actor/director Robert Redford.

A San Diego proofreader picked all six winning numbers in Wednesday's Lotto 6-49 game to win $6 million, California Lottery officials said today. Tom Yoki, 44, a bachelor who has a proofreading job with a typesetting firm, discovered during his dinner break that one of 11 tickets he had bought for the drawing was the jackpot winner. Yoki said he will use his winnings to set up his own business.

Black and Asian women with bachelor's degrees earn slightly more than similarly educated white women, and white men with comparable degrees make more than anyone else. A white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned about $37,800 in 2003, compared with about $43,700 for a college-educated Asian woman and $41,100 for a college-educated black woman, according to data being released today by the Census Bureau. Hispanic women took home $37,600 a year.

Fox, hoping to trump the ABC reality-based hit "The Bachelor," announced that seven episodes of a show called "Joe Millionaire" will begin airing Jan. 6 and run Mondays at 9 p.m. The hook of the show involves a bachelor and 20 hopeful single women. Only this time, the women fly to France to meet the man who, unbeknownst to them, is not a millionaire but an average Joe given a make-over.