Bliss

While Hollywood gets its long overdue makeover, you can join in by getting pampered at Bliss spa, which is scheduled to open along with the new W Hollywood on Thursday. Launched by Canadian Marcia Kilgore in New York's SoHo in 1996, Bliss is considered a pioneer in making day spas chic and fun instead of clinical. Now with nearly 22 locations worldwide, Bliss gives treatments silly names -- Quadruple Thighpass for an anti-cellulite treatment -- and conducts tongue-in-cheek promotional campaigns.

Come this way, up the garden steps and into a backyard where the patio is canopied by an old avocado tree. Take a seat in the mild yellow light of the resurgent sun, and fill a plate from a buffet of brunch dishes as spring-like as they are appetizing and fresh. Nibble a leek pancake wrapped around a crisp spear of asparagus, sip an herbal tisane, indulge in a chocolate-orange scone.

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QUITO, Ecuador - "Not long ago, we wouldn't think of coming to this area," Dominic Hamilton tells me as we stand on a street corner in Quito's historic area at 1 a.m. "It was horribly seedy. And dangerous. " Hamilton is a Brit who, after having spent many years writing guidebooks on South America, fell for an Ecuadorean woman and her country and made a life here. That was nine years ago. "Old Quito is one of the most beautiful cities in the world," he continues. "But it had become a shabby shadow of its former self - with drug dealers, thieves and other illicit industries.

The CBS "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" show aired its final episode of the season on May 20, with the wedding of Dr. Mike (Jane Seymour) and Sully (Joe Lando) which was delightful until the ending which was more tacky as they proceeded to consummate their vows. I thought this was a family show. Jane Deis, Canyon Country

Hollywood movie-makers should withhold their accolades for the Disney marriage of Mike Ovitz to Michael Eisner until after something of substance has been done. Hollywood has always been a witches' brew of feudalism and nepotism, but at least some quality films were once produced in the past. Until the two Mikes make something like "Citizen Kane" or "Paths of Glory"--instead of the endless stream of cartoons and caricatures--they'll simply be a couple of guys who have done very little with a lot. ROWDY GALAHAD San Marino

The ascent of Mt. Bliss constitutes what hikers call a "conditioning hike," that is, a real aerobic workout. The incline is steep, the cardiovascular system gets revved up, and the clear-day views from the summit of this San Gabriel Mountains peak are truly rewarding. The route to Bliss utilizes both Van Tassel Fire Road and Van Tassel Trail.

A 17-year-old newlywed may consider her marriage a match made in heaven, but officials of her Roman Catholic high school who found out about it from a newspaper photo call it grounds for dismissal. Elizabeth and Xavier Valeri celebrated their vows earlier this week. It was the 1990s' first Cook County wedding and a photo of them was featured prominently in the Chicago Sun-Times. When officials of Maria High School saw the newspaper, they told Elizabeth that the marriage violated school policy.

As general manager of Los Angeles' Beverly Center, I was disheartened that Anne Beatts referred to it as a "war zone" ("Take It Down to Funky Town," Nov. 26). I assume that she has not been to Beverly Center in the past two weeks, or did not see our two full-page ads in The Times that celebrated the fact that construction around Beverly Center is now complete. This bodes well not only for Beverly Center, but for all the businesses along La Cienega and San Vicente boulevards. Additionally, to ensure that holiday shoppers get in and out of the center as quickly as possible, we go to great lengths to expedite traffic in and out of the center by hiring additional staff and providing parking attendants to direct cars within our parking structure.

KENNY CHESNEY, the country singer who was forced to sing a chorus of A-N-N-U-L-M-E-N-T when his brief marriage to actress Renee Zellweger was dissolved in September, got some good news Wednesday to help offset the pain of that experience as well as his shutout at this year's annual Country Music Assn. Awards.