Boots

Madeleine Stowe drops the L-word frequently — L as in "love. " She is a woman who loves love. Not that you'd know it from her stark, unsentimental appearance: She is swathed in black, from her raven mane to her ankle boots. And her on-screen persona as the icy, detached Victoria Grayson on ABC's "Revenge" only adds to her image as a woman without an obvious soft spot. But the pensive tone in Stowe's voice turns ever so lively when romance enters the conversation — which is often.

Tim Sae Koo had an idea for a tech start-up, but the first-time entrepreneur had no idea what to do next. In January, at the advice of a friend he joined the inaugural class of tech accelerator StartEngine, hoping to turn his vision for Hypemarks - a website at which users create collections of their favorite links - into a bona fide business. Within three months Koo launched the website, and is now talking to a local investor about a substantial investment in the company.

Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail Cheryl Strayed Alfred A. Knopf: 336 pp., $25.95 -- Toward the end of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, "Wild," the author, who is in the middle of hiking 1,100 miles alone across the West Coast's formidable Pacific Crest Trail, loses one of her hiking boots. She stands at the edge of a precipice and gasps. But the moment has passed and the shoe is gone. "The universe, I'd learned, was never, ever kidding," she writes.

DreamWorks Animation, the Glendale studio behind the "Shrek" and"Kung Fu Panda" movies, saw its revenue jump 26% to $136.1 million in the first quarter. The company said it earned a profit of $9.1 million, or 11 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31, a 3% increase over the year-earlier period. The growth reflected home video and international ticket sales from the "Shrek" spinoff,"Puss in Boots,"which grossed $554 million worldwide since its release in October. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had estimated earnings of 9 cents a share and revenue of $134 million in the quarter.

'Puss in Boots' MPAA rating: PG for some adventure action and mild rude humor Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Playing: In general release

Dashing hat with debonair feather? Check. Footwear made for walking? Check. Alluring Spanish accent? Double check. The cat is back. After supporting roles in three "Shrek" movies, the feisty feline Puss in Boots finally has a film of his own, and those who have cried out for animated justice will be saying "It's about time. " A treat to experience visually (especially in lively 3-D) and verbally, "Puss in Boots" is a family film where the adventure and invention never flag and the tongue-in-cheek humor doesn't linger far behind.

BOOKS "From the Barrio to the 'Burbs: Crossing Borders and Finding Home in the New Los Angeles" Aloud at Central Library presents two minds that have shaped and documented our metropolis in conversation. Jesse Katz, a former Los Angeles Times reporter and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, will discuss his new memoir, "The Opposite Field." Father Gregory J. Boyle will talk about Homeboy Industries, his project to help gang members in Los Angeles. Central Library, 630 W. 5th St. 7 p.m. Free but make reservations at lfla.

Puss in Boots, that suavest of swashbuckling cats, surely had a life of adventure before hooking up with Shrek and Donkey and the gang. DreamWorks Animation and director Chris Miller certainly thought so. With that premise in mind, "Puss in Boots," a "Shrek" prequel with Antonio Banderas returning as the voice of the sexy but manipulative tabby, hits theaters Nov. 4. In this adventure, Puss reunites with his old friend Humpty Dumpty and...

You've seen them at the mall, on the red carpet and maybe even in your own closet: booties and boots that hug the foot, are snug against the ankle, maybe encase the leg to the knee or above ? but leave the toes peeking out from a small opening, exposed to the elements. What was once a demure peek-a-boo detail on pumps worn by boundary-pushing 1940s pinup girls has evolved into what often looks like the foot and ankle have been mummified, with the toes forgotten. What gives? It's partly sex, partly status and partly runway style pushing into the mass market.

The hooded gold-lamé riding cape seemed like a good sign Wednesday night at the El Rey Theatre, where the English pop singer Little Boots played a sold-out show in support of her debut album, "Hands." Known to her parents and to the accounting staff at Elektra Records as Victoria Hesketh, Little Boots makes shiny, buzzing dance music that foregrounds her fascination with technology, and her El Rey concert actualized those gear-head tendencies. In addition to playing keyboard, she at various points strapped on a keytar, plucked out notes on a laser harp and constructed loops on a Tenori-On, a futuristic Japanese gizmo that resembles a kind of musical Lite-Brite.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Turban bombs had become too obvious. So the two men who apparently set out Saturday to assassinate Kandahar's governor looked to their footwear instead. The assailants used the unusual tactic of concealing weapons and explosives in their boots to make their way past police checkpoints and into the governor's heavily guarded compound in the city of Kandahar, leading to a gun battle that left them and two Afghan police officers dead, a provincial spokesman said.

Toward the end of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, "Wild," the author, who is in the middle of hiking 1,100 miles alone across the West Coast's formidable Pacific Crest Trail, loses one of her hiking boots. She stands at the edge of a precipice and gasps. But the moment has passed and the shoe is gone. "The universe, I'd learned, was never, ever kidding," she writes. "It would take whatever it wanted and never give it back. I really did have only one boot. " This line about the universe could be the catchphrase for the book itself, which pivots with unflinching honesty around the author's loss of her mother to lung cancer when Strayed was 22. This crushing blow leaves Strayed unmoored as her family splinters apart without its matriarch.

Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail Cheryl Strayed Alfred A. Knopf: 336 pp., $25.95 -- Toward the end of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, "Wild," the author, who is in the middle of hiking 1,100 miles alone across the West Coast's formidable Pacific Crest Trail, loses one of her hiking boots. She stands at the edge of a precipice and gasps. But the moment has passed and the shoe is gone. "The universe, I'd learned, was never, ever kidding," she writes.

The Lakers have told Kobe Bryant to stop wearing a walking boot to see how his sore left shin reacts to being unrestrained. Bryant will not play Wednesday night against San Antonio. The Lakers' next game is Friday against Denver at Staples Center. He did not talk to reporters at Wednesday's shoot-around. He was wearing socks and flip-flops as he left AT&T Center. Bryant will have missed three games because of tenosynovitis in the shin, a condition in which a tendon sheath becomes inflamed and causes pain whenever the tendon slides in or out of it. With eight games to play, the Lakers (36-22)

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. - Rick Santorum is back on familiar ground, seeking redemption and a lifeline for his presidential candidacy in the state that rejected him almost six years ago. The former senator from Pennsylvania has resurrected his career after a shattering 2006 reelection defeat. Dismissed as a hopeless long shot when his presidential run began, he'll finish no worse than second for the Republican nomination. At 53, he's one of the nation's leading social conservatives, and his long-range future has never looked brighter.

Making his way out of the entrance tunnel, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant limped. He had been nursing pain in his left shin for the last two games and it appeared to flare up,  so much so that he's worn a shin guard and now wears a boot afterward games to protect the injured body part. Bryant brushed it off as just a "fashion statement" because, frankly, his performance in the Lakers' 113-108 victory Wednesday over the Clippers showed it didn't affect his game. His 31-point performance on 13-of-19 shooting featured everything you'd expect out of Bryant.

Shares of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. dropped Monday after the company's latest film, "Puss in Boots," had a softer-than-expected opening. The Glendale company's shares fell 8% on Monday as investors responded coolly to the box-office launch of "Puss in Boots," a spinoff of the studio's hit "Shrek" films that features the voices of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. With a production budget of about $130 million, "Puss in Boots" generated $34.1 million in ticket sales over the weekend.

On Dec. 1, you ran a wonderful article on the gift certificate program offered by L.A. city shelters, and you included a photo of me with a beautiful homeless adult cat, Boots. I just wanted to thank you, and let you know that as a result, Boots has found a home! Meladi Garcia, district manager for Petco in the Valley area, was at the news conference but did not know that Boots had no permanent place to stay. When your picture appeared in The Times, she contacted me and said that Boots, who was taken from the Castaic shelter on her last day to live, could become the first "store kitty" and official greeter at the new Santa Clarita store opening in early January.

Training camps regularly prepare football players for their roles on the field, so why not one to help them prepare for their post-gridiron roles — in this case, a career in Hollywood? That's the idea behind the inaugural NFL Hollywood Boot Camp that kicks off (so to speak) Monday on the back lots of Universal Studios. Born out of a meeting between Film Life Chief Executive Jeff Friday and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs, the new program is funded by the Player Engagement division of the NFL, an educational arm that also offers programs in broadcasting, business and music for current and former NFL players.

Madeleine Stowe drops the L-word frequently — L as in "love. " She is a woman who loves love. Not that you'd know it from her stark, unsentimental appearance: She is swathed in black, from her raven mane to her ankle boots. And her on-screen persona as the icy, detached Victoria Grayson on ABC's "Revenge" only adds to her image as a woman without an obvious soft spot. But the pensive tone in Stowe's voice turns ever so lively when romance enters the conversation — which is often.