Chair

"Prolonged sitting is not what nature intended for us," says Dr. Camelia Davtyan, clinical professor of medicine and director of women's health at the UCLA Comprehensive Health Program. "The chair is out to kill us," says James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. Most of us have years of sitting experience, consider ourselves quite good at it and would swear that nature intended us to do it as much as possible. PHOTOS: 17 ways to fight the inertia, step by step But unfortunately, a good deal of data suggest that we're off our rockers to spend so much time on our rockers - as well as the vast variety of other seats where we're fond of parking our duffs.

"Prolonged sitting is not what nature intended for us," says Dr. Camelia Davtyan, clinical professor of medicine and director of women's health at the UCLA Comprehensive Health Program. "The chair is out to kill us," says James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. Most of us have years of sitting experience, consider ourselves quite good at it and would swear that nature intended us to do it as much as possible. PHOTOS: 17 ways to fight the inertia, step by step But unfortunately, a good deal of data suggest that we're off our rockers to spend so much time on our rockers - as well as the vast variety of other seats where we're fond of parking our duffs.

Have you ever thought of using a folding chair when performing abdominal crunches? Try it. You'll find that it's a comfortable way to focus on contracting your abs without feeling pressure on your back. -- Karen Voight 1Place an open-back chair or bench on a flat, padded surface and lie down in front of it. Place your lower legs on the seat of the chair with your feet hanging off the back end of the seat. Scoot in so your hips are close to the chair. Place your hands behind your head with your elbows pointed out to the sides.

The Music Center announced on Wednesday that its board has elected Lisa Specht to become the new chair, succeeding Kent Kresa who took on the post in 2011. Specht is expected to assume the role immediately. Specht is a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, and has served as chair of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum Commission. She joined the Music Center board in 2007 and most recently served as vice chair. PHOTOS: Arts and culture in pictures by The Times A spokeswoman for the Music Center said that Kresa is stepping down because he is moving with his family to Oregon.

In "Bent on Comfort" (by Aaron Betsky, March 1) about an architect's chair design, the author is, of course, entitled to his opinion when he described weaving plywood strips as "simple," the contrived design as "elegant," sitting on it as "comfortable" and its "as little as $300" price "affordable." However, when he compares such a difference-for-difference's-sake attempt to the serious classical designs of the Shakers, Thonet, Alto and the Eameses, I beg to register my protest against such pretension and ignorance.

William Haines Designs, the company that carries on the design legacy of the legendary Hollywood decorator-to-the-stars, fittingly chose Oscar season to bring back a classic: the Avalon.  The 1950 Billy Haines chair and bench designs are being reissued this month with some 2013 tweaks. Whereas the original Avalon chairs were painted with oil enamel, production manager Greg Bianchini said, the reissues will be zinc-plated and powder-coated for weather resistance. Modern, fast-drying foam has replaced 1950s foam rubber that eventually hardened or disintegrated.

Ever since the publication of Stephen M. Salny's 2005 book about the work of interior designer Frances Elkins (1888-1953), reissues of her "loop" chair have rolled out in abundance. Now there's a charming outdoor version created by Robert Willson and David Serrano, owners of the Los Angeles store Downtown. Made in L.A., the steel chair costs $2,200 and can be ordered in 200 powder-coat colors, including the mint-green shown here. The idea of creating the outdoor piece came when a set decorator saw the wood loop chairs that Downtown had been producing and said he recalled seeing metal versions on the set of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

The UCLA Business/Economics Program has received a $500,000 gift from Arthur Anderson & Co. to endow a chair for economics students in business, accounting and finance.

Good news and bad news for Texas Ranger pitcher Frank Francisco. Bad news: He has been charged with felony assault for throwing a folding chair at a fan. Good news: The Jerry Springer Show just signed him to a long-term deal. Richard Turnage Burbank

  Tennis player Bernard Tomic made a strange request of the chair umpire during a changeover in his match against David Ferrer at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday: Can you please ask my dad to leave the stands. A television camera picked up the exchange after Tomic held serve to go up, 3-2, in the second set. "He's annoying me. I know he's my father, but he's annoying me," Tomic says. "I want him to leave as soon as possible. " An obviously surprised chair umpire responds "If you tell him to leave what will happen?"

Gifford Phillips, a gentlemanly patron of cultural institutions and passionate advocate of contemporary art who played a leading role at museums on both coasts of the United States, has died. He was 94. Phillips died Wednesday of natural causes at a hospice in Palm Desert, said his daughter Marjorie Elliott. A member of a wealthy family - including his uncle, art collector Duncan Phillips, who founded the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. - Gifford Phillips was a partner in Pardee Phillips, a real estate developer of residential and commercial property in California and Nevada.

Sometimes even the most devoted ravers outgrow their fairy wings and neon bikinis. The 160,000 people expected to attend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival over the next two weekends will find a new electronic music tent with the kind of accouterments rarely seen at these venues - including air conditioning, a hardwood floor and comfy chairs. The new Yuma tent is a world apart from the bare grass floors and body heat of other tents, reflecting maturing tastes and older fans.

In a multimillion-dollar twist on celebrity musical chairs, singer-actress Jessica Simpson has purchased Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's estate in Hidden Hills for $11.5 million, public records show. The Cape Cod-inspired mansion, built in 2001, sits on a 2.5-acre promontory off a cul-de-sac in the gated community. It features a paneled study with fireplace, a home theater and studio area, six en suite bedrooms and a guest apartment with kitchenette. The family room of the 11,000-square-foot home has sliding barn doors and a reclaimed brick fireplace.

The fifth night of "The Voice" blind auditions started with coaches old and new congratulating themselves on their chemistry and going in for a group hug with host and "fifth Beatle" Carson Daly. It ended with those same coaches engaging in a knockdown, drag-out fight for a coveted singer. In between we saw a fair number of talented vocalists take their turns behind the big red chair-backs in hopes of making them spin. By evening's end, Usher had added pop singer/dancer Jeff Lewis, who'd been signed to a record deal at Interscope only to have it abruptly shelved and was looking for another break.

Audiences who attended Sunday's performance of "Tribes," Nina Raine's play currently running at the Mark Taper Forum, were able to witness a rare bit of understudy musical chairs. Center Theatre Group said actress Gayle Rankin, who played the the role of Ruth, had to leave the production for a different project. As a result, Meghan Mae O'Neill, the original understudy for the roles of Ruth and Sylvia, took over the part of Ruth. To fill the role of understudy for Ruth, CTG said it brought in another actress, Sherill Turner.

Around the corner from the bustle and roar of Broadway's Jewelry District in downtown L.A., a quiet alley serves as a respite for locals and tourists. Shops and restaurants with colorful awnings and peeling brick facades present a kitschy, Old World scene, complete with a potbellied chef statue, and a Marilyn Monroe perched in a pink Cadillac. On most days, a group of Armenian men can be spotted hunched over a backgammon board, shrouded in cigarette smoke. But the fate of St. Vincent's Court - a California historical landmark - has been thrown into question after a complaint prompted a city crackdown on outdoor seating.

If there is a ground zero in the war to make New York more pedestrian-friendly, it is Times Square. And if there is a weapon of choice, it is a collection of chairs plunked in the middle of what used to be the city's most traffic-choked intersection. David Letterman has scorned them, taxi drivers have cursed them and some of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's critics have called them just plain silly. "It's so patently stupid," City Councilman Tony Avella, who is challenging Bloomberg in the November mayoral election, said of the idea of setting up a pedestrian mall on Broadway.

UCLA has established an endowed chair in Italian literature and culture to bring to the campus internationally known experts to teach classes and give public lectures. The chair is named for Charles Speroni, late founder and first chairman of UCLA's Italian department.

Jimmy Fallon has been crowned the next king of late-night television, but the empire he will inherit has seen better days. "Late Night" host Fallon, who will succeed Jay Leno in "The Tonight Show" chair in 2014, is charged with trying to reenergize a franchise that has lost much of its luster as viewers flock to cable television and the Internet for entertainment. Once an appearance on "The Tonight Show" could turn an unknown into a star overnight. Now a video on YouTube can do that.

Hey book lovers, please take a seat. And if you'd like, please take a seat with books inside of it. The annual Salone del Mobile furniture fair begins in Milan next week, and to launch its coverage of the event, the Atlantic Cities website has a list of “10 chair designs for people who really love their books” from the site Architizer. Among my favorites is the Sunflower Chair by the designers He Mu and Zhang Qian, which the Chair Blog says was presented last year as a part of a retrospective on Chinese chair design.