Fair

In an odd yet understandable marketing strategy, the folks behind E!'s new reality show "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" have spent a lot of pre-premiere publicity time explaining what the show isn't. Which is to say, Clint Eastwood. The legendary actor and director will appear in but a few episodes and then only briefly. He will not, for instance, be slamming doors or engaging in filmed therapy sessions with his wife, Dina, around whom the show revolves (see title.) That doesn't mean the show is not about Clint Eastwood; it is. If the principal characters -- Dina, her 15-year-old daughter Morgan and 19-year old stepdaughter Francesca -- were not related to him, there would be Absolutely No Reason to watch this, which, by reality show standards, promises to be tame to the point of sedation.

EVENTS With the forthcoming release of "Brave," Scotland is en vogue right now, and the annual Scotsfest is a great chance to go learn more. The fest features bagpipes and drumming, whiskey tastings, Highland dancing and other entertainment. Orange County Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Sat. $15-$22. scotsfest.com.

Times are tough enough for Californians; they're even tougher for Californians' teeth. "One-quarter of all adults and 28% of children in California have untreated dental caries [cavities]," says Len Finocchio, a senior program officer at the California Healthcare Foundation, a health advocacy group. "Our research tells us that many people in California have been avoiding routine care that might have cost about $100 for a checkup and cleaning, and then find themselves in the emergency room, where they get only an antibiotic, a bill that can average over $600 and instructions to see a dentist."

President Obama said Monday that using Bain Capital to question Mitt Romney's economic credentials is not only fair game, but part of his core argument against his Republican foe in the coming general election campaign. In a news conference from Chicago at the end of the NATO summit, the president was pressed about concerns of fellow Democrats like Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who said Sunday that the campaign's Bain attack was “nauseating” and “a distraction from the real issues.” Prefacing in his answer that Booker was “an outstanding mayor,” Obama said the issue “is not a, quote, distraction.

First of three parts Tiffany Lee wanted a car. She was weary of the two-hour bus ride to her job at a UCLA Health System clinic. She hated having to ask friends to drive her 7-year-old son to his asthma treatments. But as a single mother with three children, bad credit and a $27,000-a-year salary, she couldn't find a bank or dealership willing to give her a loan. Then a friend steered her to Repossess Auto Sales in Hawthorne. Another buyer might have balked at the deal she was offered.

J. Paul Reddam might not be the type of businessman for whom people suffering through the recession can bring themselves to root. Reddam, 56, is president of Anaheim-based CashCall, the mortgage refinancing and high-interest personal loan company who critics say has unfairly capitalized upon people's financial woes during the country's economic and employment crisis. But the Sunset Beach resident is also owner of Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another, who could provide horse racing with a huge shot in the arm Saturday with a victory in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

Start the New Year with a preview of what's ahead at Psychic Reading Jamboree , a celebration of psychic skills, where you can get 20-minute readings on the topic of your choice, including past lives, career, love, money and more. Readers use a variety of techniques to answer your questions. Southern California Psychic Institute, 1737 21st St., Santa Monica. 1 to 4 p.m. Sat. $10 per reading or $25 for three readings. (310) 587-3536. www.socalpi.org.

Watching Alzheimer's disease steal away the memory, talents and very selves of its victims is hard enough for the people who love them. Now, a new pill formulated by a respected pharmaceutical company and approved by the Food and Drug Administration will do little to help most patients and will bring misery to some, say two medical investigators. The drug, Aricept 23 mg, is no more effective on the whole than the disappointing ones already on the market - but is more likely to cause gastrointestinal problems, wrote Drs. Steven Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz of Dartmouth Medical College in an article published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ. The new formulation was devised to serve commercial objectives, they say, and was approved despite a poor showing in company-sponsored tests.

Five Southern California counties are staging annual fairs this summer. SAN DIEGO COUNTY FAIR June 11 to July 5 (closed June 14, 21 and 28) Website: http://www.sdfair.com/fair/ Location: Del Mar Theme: Taste the Fun Information: (858) 755-1161 SANTA BARBARA COUNTY FAIR July 14 to 18 Website: http://www.santamariafairpark.com/santa-barbara-county-fair Location: Santa Maria Theme: Summertime Fun Information: (805)

The center of L.A.'s African American arts and culture scene is home to the fourth annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair, giving book lovers a chance to engage with favorite authors and to discover new ones. The fair features readings, signings, writing workshops, panel discussions, stage performances, live music and a children's village. Vision Theatre backlot, 4300 Degnan Blvd., L.A. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. Free. (323) 730-0628. http://www.leimertparkbookfair.com.

Deep inside my writerly brain, down where my earliest memories reside, there is a voice. It speaks to me in Spanish. I write in the language of Shakespeare and Steinbeck. That's the language I was educated in, here in L.A. The language of the British Empire, of American Manifest Destiny, of California and the West. But Spanish gave me my first words: mamá, agua . And it was the language on the covers of the first works of grown-up literature I held in my hands, the Guatemalan novels my immigrant father brought into our Hollywood home.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Is it over? It's just the first game in two weeks' worth of them, the earliest hours in a brawl that could last all day, but I know what everyone is thinking, so we might as well ask it. Is this first punch a knockout punch? How on earth can the Lakers peel themselves off the floor to win four of the next six games against an Oklahoma City team that just beat them by 29 points, two dozen sprints, a dozen floor burns, six dunks, five tongue-wagging celebrations, and one glaring Derek Fisher?

State authorities are investigating whether the head of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum illegally sought a job with USC even as he was responsible for protecting taxpayers in talks to surrender control of the stadium to the university. The probe is focused on whether Coliseum Interim General Manager John Sandbrook violated conflict of interest laws while negotiating a proposed lease to give USC stewardship of the public venue for at least 42 years, said Gary Winuk, enforcement chief at the Fair Political Practices Commission.

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal jury handed Oracle Corp. a major setback in its high-stakes copyright infringement case against Google Inc. by failing to agree on a key issue in the case. The 12-member panel concluded that Google lifted technology from Oracle's Java programming language to build its popular Android mobile software that powers more than 300 million devices, but could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Google had the legal right to do so under "fair use. " The impasse after five days of deliberation means that Oracle is unlikely to wring hundreds of millions of dollars from the search giant on copyright infringement claims.

A future president sits shirtless in his rent-controlled Manhattan apartment working the New York Times crossword while his girlfriend looks on, an emotional barrier separating him from those close to him. He is unsure of his future path in life but certain that it will be one he builds himself. That's the portrait David Maraniss paints of a young Barack Obama in an upcoming biography, "Barack Obama: The Story," which is excerpted in Vanity Fair. The biography ends as Obama heads to Harvard Law School, but the excerpt is mostly about Obama's early love life.

Hawaii loves to celebrate. There are festivals celebrating avocados, mangoes, coffee, craft brew, Chinese New Year, falsetto singing, taro, paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys), slack-key guitar playing and just about everything else you can hear, see or taste in the archipelago that Capt. James Cook called the Sandwich Islands. Come to think of it, the only one missing is a Sandwich Isles Sandwich Festival. Here is a look at some of the festivals you can attend in the islands throughout the year: Mele Mei Festival, Oahu.

If the several hundred people who attended the Los Angeles Anarchist Book Fair on Sunday had been asked to explain their political identity, they would have given several hundred different answers. They might have said they were earth liberation anarchists, or indigenous rights anarchists, or Christian anarchists. They might have called themselves feminist anarchists, insurrectionist anarchists or radical queer punks. On the grassy hilltop of Barnsdall Art Park, where the event was held, the array of anarchists flipped through thick tomes of political theory and picked through stacks of homemade propaganda pamphlets.

More than 55 notable galleries will showcase some of their best artists at Pacific Design Center's Art Los Angeles Contemporary fair, so it's the perfect way to tap into cutting-edge global art trends. Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. Today to Sun. Hours and ticket prices vary. (323) 851-7530. www.artlosangelesfair.com.

Frank O'Connell sat in the same Pasadena courtroom where more than a quarter of a century ago he was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he insists he did not commit. In front of him, a new judge on Friday delivered the words he had long awaited: He could go free on bail. Behind him, his relatives sobbed with relief. His lips trembling and with tears in his eyes, O'Connell turned to look at his son, who was just 4 when a judge convicted him of gunning down a maintenance man at a South Pasadena apartment complex.

SACRAMENTO - Alarmed that political groups are secretly funding bloggers to promote or attack candidates, the state's ethics czar proposed Thursday that Web-based pundits disclose such payments. Voters are increasingly relying on bloggers and websites for information on political issues and have a right to know if an interested party is paying to plant messages, said Ann Ravel, who heads California's political watchdog agency. "In order for people to really know whether they can have faith and trust in the independence of recommendations they are receiving, they have to be aware" of any payments, she said.