Conventions

Gun-control advocates have been largely stymied in their efforts to get significant new firearms restrictions, but they still believe they can achieve one goal: closing a loophole that allows sales at gun shows without background checks on purchasers. This week, two Senate Democrats introduced legislation to close that loophole in federal law, despite a recent failure in Virginia -- where a gunman killed 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech in April -- to change a similar state law.

The scramble for delegates between presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton played out at Nevada Democrats' county conventions Saturday, where turnout overwhelmed southern Nevada party leaders and forced them to shut down their convention before completing the vote.

Ahhhh. I'm slouched on a large cotton-covered couch, head back, feet nestled in a Brookstone foot massager. A young woman so fresh-faced she could pass for a woodland nymph motions to a new line of botanic waters angled in a clear display case like Rolexes in a jewelry store. "Would you care for a bottle?" she asks softly. Don't mind if I do.

Norman Thaddeus Vane was just four minutes into his speed-dating matchup when he fell in love . . . with Palmdale. "I'm going to use an old gas station and cafe there that I just found out about," the veteran filmmaker said. "Eighty percent of the movie can be shot at that location." Vane and 75 other studio and TV production executives, independent producers and location scouts were learning Thursday about movie-making opportunities in cities and counties across California.

The hotel where the 30 Democratic rule makers met Saturday -- to decide whether rules are rules or whether rules are made to be broken -- was within howling distance of the National Zoo. Outside the stately Marriott Wardman Park Hotel were clusters of women with "Hear Me Roar" placards in their fists who came from all over the country -- $4 a gallon be damned -- to make what could be a last stand for their Hillary.

Last year it was about the candidates. This year it's the climate. Former Vice President Al Gore made a surprise appearance Saturday at the Netroots Nation conference, a gathering of nearly 2,000 left-leaning bloggers and political organizers. He urged the activists to mobilize for global climate protection, amplifying his call to generate all the nation's electricity from renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal energy in 10 years.

The old sales pitch to lure conventions to downtown Los Angeles had an air of desperation to it: Please, please come to sunny L.A. Slim pickings for restaurants? Lackluster night life? No worries! Hollywood and Santa Monica are just a few miles away. The begging appears to be over. The promise of 1,001 new hotel rooms, the Nokia Theatre and about a dozen restaurants and entertainment venues opening by year's end at the new L.A.

Get thousands of real estate professionals in one place during the worst market since who-knows-when, and this is what you find: yard signs for use in selling foreclosed properties, and a bunch of guys in yellow vests handing out life preservers. "We're trying to keep Realtors afloat," joked David Bronson of Pismo Beach-based People's Choice Brokers, who, along with his colleague Ben Payne and others, sportingly donned bright yellow nautical gear at this week's California Assn. of Realtors Expo.

There is music everywhere inside the cavernous Anaheim Convention Center. Dozens of guitarists shred the air with heavy-metal runs, chunky chord progressions and intricate blues solos. An army of drummers hammers out conflicting beats, pianists tease melodies from keyboards and every now and then an unseen horn player seasons the stew with a sudden blast of brass. It is pure cacophony, and here at the annual four-day national musical instrument convention, it is the sound of money. While the U.

Republicans Mitt Romney and Sen. Sam Brownback promoted their presidential campaigns before nearly 3,000 party activists at the Michigan GOP convention Saturday. Romney reminded the crowd that he grew up sharing the Automotive News each morning with his father, George, who headed American Motors Corp. before serving as Michigan's governor from 1963 to 1969.