Crafts

BEFORE my recent trip to India, I asked two rug importers in the U.S. about reputable carpet merchants in the places I planned to visit. One dodged my request altogether. The other tried to dissuade me from buying anything. "You would be wiser to buy in the U.S. from a merchant you trust," said an e-mail from John B. Gregorian, author of "Oriental Rugs of the Silk Route" and president of Arthur T. Gregorian Oriental Rugs, a store in Newton Lower Falls, Mass.

Cranberry is not vodka's best friend. Real vodka drinkers know this, but for years their taste has been marginalized by a craft cocktail scene obsessed with whiskey. Change is on the horizon, however. As Los Angeles bartenders vie to keep up with the next trending drink wave, venues all over town are favoring clear spirits. Well-regarded mixologists including Aidan Demarest and Marcos Tello of the cocktail consulting firm Tello/Demarest Liquid Assets are leading the way, serving as brand ambassadors to Stoli Elit vodka and Bols Genever (a grain-based, gin-like spirit)

Among the baker's dozen of women who sold handmade ornaments and stuffed Santas at Anita Kedrowski's cozy home holiday boutique in Reseda, most began crafting purely for the love of it, or because they wanted to be creative in their spare time. So selling more than $4,000 worth of goods in four days was like getting a little something extra in their Christmas stockings.

For the last half-century, space flight has been the domain of the world's superpowers. All that is set to change as soon as Saturday when SpaceX, the private rocket company in Hawthorne, will attempt to launch a spaceship with cargo into orbit and three days later dock it with the International Space Station. If successful, the mission could mean a major shift in the way the U.S. government handles space exploration. Instead of keeping space travel a closely guarded government function, NASA has already begun hiring privately funded start-up companies for spacecraft development and is moving toward eventually outsourcing NASA space missions.

He is of an era when men rode the range, packed steel revolvers and toughed it out with nature, protected only by their wits and good fortune. The problem is that Larry Rosenbaum lives in a time of cell phones, digital recordings and television. Still, Rosenbaum has managed to carve out a niche for himself, creating a way of life that resembles the 1890s more than the 1990s. He doesn't own a television, uses a bedroll instead of a tent when camping and shuns matches in favor of steel and flint.

Boasting an array of more than 24,000 unique handmade items at affordable prices, the Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show — the West Coast's largest indoor craft show — features more than 200 exhibitors, live entertainment, strolling performers, a kids zone, tantalizing specialty foods and more. Pomona Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona. Fri.-Sun. $9. http://www.harvestfestival.com.

Most of the storefronts on Jean Jaures Avenue in this small mining town are boarded up and appear abandoned. But in the brightly lighted window of Franck Fresson's pastry shop, tropical flowers intertwine with wild beasts made of sugar. Inside, chocolate figurines and an array of cakes sit like colorful, edible jewels. Behind the counter, Fresson's mother serves the customers who travel across the countryside to this shop, which belonged to Fresson's grandfather before him. Today, Fresson oversees every detail, arranging the glistening cakes in "harmonious," color-sensitive order.

Cornershop mixed up an East-meets-West sonic cocktail on Monday during its El Rey Theatre performance, shaking soul, Indian pop, glam rock, R&B, dub reggae, electronica and funk into exuberant, envelope-pushing music that was as multihued as the audience of international bright young things.

Got a yen to collect fine art? You'll need more than just one. With Old Master paintings--even the second-rate ones--being snapped up by foreign investors for millions of yen, chances are you've been priced out of the market. Not so, however, if you love beautiful crafts and have a nest egg tucked under the mattress.

A three-part program on the art of craft -- the furniture makers, potters, quilters and others who have charted American culture with their hands -- is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. Wednesday on PBS. "Craft in America" consists of three hour-long shows looking at pioneers in various fields, artists' connection to the environment and the spiritual and community links that result from their work.

Marie Kolasinski, a devoutly anti-government Orange County grandmother who was sent to jail at 85 after clashing with health inspectors at her popular quilting and crafts emporium, has died. She was 90. Once dubbed "Che Kolasinski" by a local newspaper for her militant stands, she died of natural causes April 23 at her Costa Mesa home, said her daughter, Marjorie Serr. Kolasinski was the driving force behind a tiny Christian sect whose members live communally and operate Costa Mesa's Piecemakers Country Store, which occupies a warren of rooms jam-packed with homemade knick-knacks, quilts and craft supplies.

Hungry for a change of pace? Eat, drink and indulge your need to escape during a foodie weekend, a tasty trend sweeping the hotel industry. You can compare flights of wine, learn how to make sushi or whip up a classic French dessert. Then retreat to the hotel pool, spa or tennis court for alternative forms of recreation. It's all part of your weekend itinerary. The events, most of which are at high-end hotels, focus on food lovers who aren't content with simply dining at expensive restaurants.

Travelers may think of Hawaii as the land of surfboards, sunsets and mai tais, but there's a lava flow of reasons to go beyond the beaches and discover why residents say they are lucky to live in Hawaii. And, yes, some of the state's best beaches are found on the Big Island. But don't get stuck there. Do what the locals do: Swim with the honu. There are five snorkeling areas along the Big Island's Kohala Coast: Puako Bay, Waialea Beach (Beach 69), Hapuna Beach, Mauna Kea and Mauume.

"Chimpanzee,"the latest Disney nature film, might as well be called "Simply Irresistible," because thanks to the mischievous monkeyshines of a baby chimp named Oscar, it comes pretty close. This is the most storified yet of Disney's True Life Adventure family films, which began with the release of "Earth" in 2009, and was followed by "Oceans" in 2010 and last year's"African Cats. "Classified as documentary, "Chimpanzee" feels more feature filmy as it follows a band of about 30 chimps, with tiny Oscar the breakout star.

SACRAMENTO — The two biggest players in California's workers' compensation system — labor unions and large employers — are quietly crafting the biggest overhaul of the mandatory insurance program in a decade. The goal: provide more care to injured workers without raising premiums for businesses. The negotiations are focused on squeezing waste from California's $15-billion system, which, while huge, often delays or denies compensation and medical care that could get injured workers back on the job. Average compensation paid to California workers in cases of permanent partial disability was $12,000 last year.

A craft beer frenzy has taken over Los Angeles in recent years with gastropubs and eateries specializing in artisanal brews popping up across the city. Beer tasting is the new wine tasting, and Saturday's fourth annual Los Angeles Beer Festival invites beer enthusiasts and novices alike to kick off the holiday weekend with food, music and of course, a few brewskis. Local event company DrinkEatPlay has moved this year's fest from its previous home at Sony Studios in Culver City to Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, where the studio's famed New York City street backlot will be transformed into a springtime block party for an expected 8,000 revelers.

At an age when most little girls are content to simply play with dolls, Kathy Crammer was sewing doll clothes, making outfits at 4. "I started sewing on my mother's sewing machine," recalls Crammer, now 52 and an accomplished couturiere. The Whitehall, Pa., woman said she inherited her knack for sewing from her grandmother, who had been a New York City seamstress. The old machine that belonged to her mother is one of seven in Crammer's sewing room.

Is L.A. finally turning into a beer-making town? The Los Angeles area already hosts some of America's best beer bars, with carefully curated lists of ever-changing taps and bottles, but almost all of those brews have been made somewhere else. We may be big on beer drinking, but when it comes to beer making, the city's production has long been outpaced -- and outshined -- by smaller cities like San Diego. Only recently did L.A.'s long-dormant brewery scene start to explode. In 2009, Eagle Rock Brewery became the first to open within city limits in more than 60 years, with Strand Brewing, Nibble Bit Tabby Brewery and Ladyface Alehouse opening in the two years since then.

Arts-and-crafts chain Michaels Stores Inc. is seeking to raise $500 million in an initial public offering. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Michaels said it intended to use the money to help pay down $3.49 billion in debt and for working capital and other general corporate expenses. The Irving, Texas-based chain, which operates more than 1,000 Michaels stores and 130 Aaron Brothers shops throughout the country, said it hasn't yet determined how many shares to issue and at what price.

It was fashion versus fashion as luxury retailer Gucci America Inc. faced off in court against Los Angeles clothier Guess Inc. over a multimillion-dollar trademark lawsuit. In the opening day of trial in Manhattan, Gucci accused Guess of copying its designs in a "complicated scheme" to knock off the Italian fashion company's most iconic trademarks, according to Bloomberg. The saga began three years ago when Gucci, a unit of the French luxury conglomerate PPR, filed suit against Guess alleging the California company tried to "Gucci-ize" its products by crafting logos that closely imitated Gucci trademarks.