Entrances

An estimated 300 members of the Screen Extras Guild picketed the entrances to Universal Studios Tour in Universal City on Sunday, protesting what they claim is a proposal by motion picture and television producers to cut wages and benefits for extras by 40%. Los Angeles police reported the picketers caused no problems other than slight traffic delays near the entrances to the tour.

What better way to celebrate National Park Week than to visit a national park? Makes plans for that trip next week, when entrance to all national parks will be free, from Monday through  Friday. Many parks plan special programs, such as Death Valley National Park, which will mark National Junior Ranger Day with activities for children. As they like to say at the U.S. Interior Department: "With 401 national park units nationwide, every American is less than 100 miles from a national park experience.

The Barnes, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, http://www.barnesfoundation.org . Admission $18; free to members and on the first Sunday of every month. Reservations for timed entrances can be made online or by phone at (866) 849-7056.

The hypnotic pull of Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho's remarkable, award-winning "Neighboring Sounds" - one of the strongest feature debuts of the last decade - is in its mysterious density of techniques. Set in seaside Recife on street of high-rises occupied by wealthy owners, well-off renters and the underclass that cleans for them, the film dips in and out of their lives and gender, race and socio-economic issues. There's the dissatisfied housewife who smokes pot, the sugar magnate's grandson who amiably oversees the patriarch's properties, the maid who likes to tryst in a day-vacated condo.

An accelerant was poured around the exterior of Gov. Sarah Palin's church before fire heavily damaged the building, federal investigators said Monday. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the accelerant was poured at several locations, including entrances. Lab tests will determine the type of substance involved. Possibilities include gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel and lamp oil. The blaze was set Friday night at the main entrance of the Wasilla Bible Church while a small group, including two children, was inside.

Re Shawn Hubler's "New Yorkers: How to Get a Life Out Here" [May 1]: I moved out here from New York three months ago. I grew up on Long Island and lived in Manhattan for 10 years so I know the city and the suburbs. Let's face it, L.A. is a civic engineering failure. The freeways? Yes, they are free, but you pay a price. No numbered exits?! Are you kidding me? There is no simpler, more effective system. Wherever you are, you know how to get where you're going. Take the numbers up or down!

Somewhere along the line, it became an item of folk criticism to say: "I went out whistling the sets." It usually meant there wasn't much else worth whistling about. But once in a while the sets are so spectacular that they are likely to linger in mind long after you've forgotten the plot, the tunes or who it was who was excellent as the drunken uncle. It was true of the late Sean Kenny's sets for Lionel Bart's "Blitz," for example.

MEXICO CITY -- As rescue efforts were winding down Friday at Mexico's state oil company, where a blast the day before killed at least 33 people, workers gathered nearby, saying they were unafraid of going back to work and eager to do so as soon as they were told it's OK. There would be no business at the tower complex until further notice. Yet on Friday, employees of Petroleos de Mexico, or Pemex, kept showing up. Some were eager to get inside to help with the rescue effort, while others said they  were awaiting news of co-workers and friends who remained unaccounted for. Armed soldiers were guarding all the entrances and exits of the complex.

Reporting from Blythe, Calif. -- One of California's showcase solar energy projects, under construction in the desert east of Los Angeles, is being threatened by a deadly outbreak of distemper among kit foxes and the discovery of a prehistoric human settlement on the work site. The $1-billion Genesis Solar Energy Project has been expedited by state and federal regulatory agencies that are eager to demonstrate that the nation can build solar plants quickly to ease dependence on fossil fuels and curb global warming.

Here's an interesting fact: Only 100 feet divides Adventureland from Frontierland. While one land drips with banyans and bromeliads, the other sizzles with cactus and sage. It's within this great divide that perceptive visitors can find their own garden inspiration -- one of many masterfully conceived mini-landscapes at Disneyland whose design just might work at home. That's right. Now that the summertime crowds are starting to ebb, put on the mouse ears and head to Anaheim.

Rémy Martin Cognac has just announced that its Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.6 cognac (the number refers to the alcohol level), the second release in the Rare Cask Collection , will be sold not only at specialist retailers but also at duty-free shops at airports in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Singapore -- and Los Angeles. It's made with old casks, or tierçons , up to a century old. The Cognac is housed inside a black Baccarat crystal decanter, limited edition, bien sûr , and numbered from 1 to 738. Where was the launch of Rare Cask 42.6 held?

MEXICO CITY -- As rescue efforts were winding down Friday at Mexico's state oil company, where a blast the day before killed at least 33 people, workers gathered nearby, saying they were unafraid of going back to work and eager to do so as soon as they were told it's OK. There would be no business at the tower complex until further notice. Yet on Friday, employees of Petroleos de Mexico, or Pemex, kept showing up. Some were eager to get inside to help with the rescue effort, while others said they  were awaiting news of co-workers and friends who remained unaccounted for. Armed soldiers were guarding all the entrances and exits of the complex.

Subject: Fantasy football season wrap-up. To: Fantasy 2012 email list Dear Knuckleheads, Congratulations on yet another great season of fantasy football. As your commissioner, I enjoyed many fine moments, not the least of which was Saturday's banquet at the Rusty Zipper, which almost none of you bothered to attend. Those who did got a lot out of the experience. It reminded me of a really bad old episode of "Family Feud," where both teams are from moonshiny Mid-South states and Richard Dawson can't understand a single word anyone says.

In the wake of last week's shooting on campus, USC on Tuesday announced heightened security measures that will restrict late-night entrance to the university and require identification checks for all visitors between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. In addition, outside promoters will be banned from working on USC social events at campus facilities or on nearby Fraternity Row, according to USC President C. L. Max Nikias. The shooting, in which four people were wounded — none of them USC students — occurred outside a Halloween party promoted by a non-USC firm that invited people from across the city.

The young girls in Tooele, Utah, are rolling their eyes as if to say “what-EVER” after they were turned away from their homecoming dance because chaperones thought their dresses were too short. And while the fuddy-duddy adults have struck again -- the kids eventually ended up on the winning side. Stansbury High principal Kendall Topham has apologized to dozens of teenage girls, including the homecoming queen, for ruining their special night.    The school's handbook states that dresses for formal events should be "at or near knee length," leaving room for interpretation.

KOTA, India - The fourth of seven children of illiterate parents, Mohammad Ahmad grew up on his family's two-acre farm with barely enough to eat. Now that farm, which supports two dozen people in his extended family, is being used as collateral for a chance to score big here in India's cram school capital. For up to 19 hours a day, seven days a week, the 17-year-old studies, attends classes and takes mock tests, preparing for India's ultra-competitive engineering entrance exam. In this second-tier city of dusty storefronts and belching rickshaws, Ahmad and the tens of thousands of other students embody a nation's hunger for upward mobility, social respect and a role in the new India.

Mitchell can't stop washing his hands. Philip has trouble keeping his clothes on--even in cold weather. And Luke goes everywhere with a pair of men's bikini underpants around his neck. Bizarre behavior? Maybe by adult standards, but not for little kids. For 4-year-old Philip, 2-year-old Luke and 3-year-old Mitchell, it's just a part of growing up. Parents may be worried when children's habits mimic frightening adult disorders, but the experts say: Relax.

"Controversial Opening" (May 30) missed a very important point. How many passengers will require elevator service at the Vermont/Sunset subway station? That would be people with strollers and buggies; people on crutches, people in wheelchairs, etc. This point was not mentioned in the discussion of the cost of the second subway entrance for Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. The problem is that every station on the line is identical. The argument is made that it is cheaper to build cookie-cutter stations, but the fact is that it costs more money to go back and correct the problems created by the differences in need at some of the stations.

Actress Kiele Sanchez and her ex-husband, writer-director Zach Helm, have sold their house in the Hollywood Hills for $1.75 million. The restored Mediterranean, built in 1928, features a two-story entry, stenciled beam ceilings and original tile work. The 4,000 square feet of living space includes a living room with a fireplace, a formal dining room, an updated kitchen, a breakfast area, a service entrance, four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Sanchez, 34, has starred since 2010 on "The Glades," which has been renewed for a third season.

The Barnes, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, http://www.barnesfoundation.org . Admission $18; free to members and on the first Sunday of every month. Reservations for timed entrances can be made online or by phone at (866) 849-7056.