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An armed man in a "ninja-style" mask tied up a part-owner of a Van Nuys art agency and distribution house, then escaped in the company's van with artworks reportedly worth more than $1 million, police said Tuesday. The robber, who police said might have had accomplices, took more than 1,000 artworks, including three oil paintings and hundreds of lithographs and serigraphs from Eagle Limited's warehouse near the Van Nuys Airport.

Donald Albrecht, an architect by profession with an obvious affection for the movies, has combined his two loves to bring us a meticulous examination of the period between 1920 and 1939, in which the glamour industry brought modern architecture to the attention of the world. His scholarly exposition of modern architecture's influence on film design is a book for students of both architecture and film, and for anyone who wonders about the forces that shaped those magical celluloid fantasies.

Unfettered by conventional wisdom, horrified spouses or berserk landlords, many thousands of good and true Americans would keep their car in the house. They would pull it right into the living room and use it as a combination sofa/love seat/coffee table/mood lamp/stereo. A mere Euro-shrimpmobile or Asian econo-box would, of course, not do.

Don't look for her to wear white tie and tails when she makes her conducting debut with the Orange County Chamber Orchestra this weekend. "No pants," says Diana Halprin, who divides her time between Santa Fe and Orange County. "I feel a conductor must be very powerful. And I believe there is a feminine power that matches in every way a masculine power. Look for me in a simple black gown."

Nobody has to tell Fred Rustay, sales manager at Escondido Pawn and Gold Buyers, about the recession. "Can't talk," he said hurriedly one recent afternoon. "I am just packed right now." It may seem incongruous, but North County, one of the most prosperous places on the planet, is home to a growing number of pawnshops, most of which are doing a hectic business. Pawnshops have long been seen as refuges for scoundrels, gamblers, drug addicts and thieves. Not so any more.

Because clothes either enhance or obstruct movement, the history of dance costuming in Europe and America is notable less for the picturesque changes of style that can be found in all the performing arts than for radical redefinitions of the dancing body itself.

Imagine buying so many outfits at Neiman Marcus that you need a moving truck to get them all home. Or ringing up 20 pairs of Christian Louboutin stilettos at a clip. The only catch? None of it is for you. That's just another day at the office for "luxury lifestyle consultant" Raven Kauffman. The former wardrobe stylist and fashion publicist came by the job accidentally in 2001 when a hotel concierge asked if she could take a guest shopping. That turned into a permanent personal shopping gig, and other clients soon came calling.

Like ghosts from another time, the revelers arrive in the warm night air. Willowy men in top hats and tails disembark from Model A Fords, their pencil-thin mustaches twitching with every step. An evening breeze catches the fringe of one flapper's dress, while snippets of conversation ride the notes of a swing band out to the street. "You're looking swell, darling." "You're just too marvelous for words."

The opening of Hollywood Park on Wednesday brought out all the potential winners, including this year's really fun couple--the devastatingly slim and pretty Elizabeth Taylor and her buddy, pretty and slim Michael Jackson. The yellow and black dress La Liz was wearing gave clear evidence that she is once again a knockout--and the best advertisement for the beauty book she is currently writing.