Fame

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

There are things that Slash just doesn't want to talk about. And the timing was definitely not right a few weeks ago as the guitarist was preparing for a trip to Cleveland for his induction with Guns N' Roses into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "I don't even want to talk about that. I don't want to touch it," Slash said in April, his usual friendly demeanor turning cool at the mere mention of GNR. It was during a week of drama and uncertainty about the ceremony, which had peaked days earlier with the arrival of a confrontational open letter to the Hall of Fame from singer Axl Rose.

"Selling L.A. " reality show viewers may wonder if any of the featured homes actually sell. Although perhaps not in time for the closing credits, some houses under consideration for the show do find a buyer outside the roving eye of the camera. One home that agent Rebekah Schwartz was promoting to HGTV for its 15 minutes of fame was the Marina del Rey pad that former Laker Lamar Odom rented a few years back. Listed at $1.995 million in January, it closed early this month at $1.825 million.

Robin Gibb, a singer and songwriter who joined two of his brothers in forming the Bee Gees pop group that helped define the sound of the disco era with the best-selling 1977 soundtrack to"Saturday Night Fever," has died. He was 62. Gibb died Sunday after battling cancer and while recuperating from intestinal surgery, family spokesman Doug Wright announced. This spring Gibb had been hospitalized in London with advanced colorectal cancer. He had intestinal surgery in March and, after contracting pneumonia, was unable to attend the April 10 premiere in London of "The Titanic Requiem," a classical composition he wrote with his son, Robin-John, to coincide with the 100th anniversary observance of the luxury ocean liner's sinking.

Bob Baffert and Wayne Lukas were sitting next to each other at a recent racing function when Baffert said to Lukas, "Everyone used to hate you. Now they hate me." It's as clear as a giant flowered hat, and just as ugly. At rowdy Churchill Downs today, the only thing more quietly despised than Bob Baffert will be a Breathalyzer. The 128th Kentucky Derby will feature 19 horses, 150,000 fans, and one villain. Baffert will saddle longshot War Emblem.

Michaele and Tareq Salahi were a reality TV producer's dream. Until they became a nightmare. As aspiring cast members of the upcoming Bravo show "The Real Housewives of D.C.," the Virginia couple portrayed themselves as a high-flying duo that could offer a window into Washington's power set. But their brazen crashing of a White House state dinner last month reduced them to attention-craving caricatures, triggering a congressional investigation into...

He was a baseball player with a contradictory name. In a 17-year Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench almost never sat on one. Bench was a workhorse. Starting in 1967, and becoming arguably the best catcher ever, he played in 2,158 games, an average of 127 a season. That's a lot of squatting. He had his ways of communicating when enough was enough. "We were playing the Dodgers in Cincinnati one time, and the game the night before had gone on until something like 1 in the morning," Bench says.

Is Tom Lasorda fried mozzarella, escarole and beans, chopped liver or a baseball manager? It depends on whether you're seated in a Beverly Hills diner, an elegant Westwood eatery, a Century City deli or the home team dugout at Dodger Stadium. In Los Angeles, a city where celebrity ranks next to godliness, fame is often measured by the length of one's limousine.

50 Years ago Monday (Feb. 8, 1960), construction began 2 1/2 Miles of sidewalk adorned with stars 10 million Visitors last year 1st star Producer Stanley Kramer 2,400th star Singer Roy Orbison, installed Jan. 29 200 Empty stars to be awarded (with room, of course, for more) 12-15 Entertainment legends picked by committee each year to receive stars $25,000 Sponsorship fee for star installation and upkeep Source: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce

I read with great interest your piece devoted to the selection of performers for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ["The Genesis of a Progressive Rock Trend?," Jan. 1, by Mike Boehm]. As pointed out, there is clearly an inconsistency and bias in the decision-making process, which has left many deserving artists overlooked year after year. I agree that the Fifth Dimension are well worthy of consideration and clearly the Monkees' extreme commercial success combined with their teen idol reputation seems to work against them, though in a fair and balanced world they would have been admitted years ago. However, the Hall of Fame board is particularly guilty of a boy's club mentality that passes over female talent as if they are second-class citizens.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --  Rush Limbaugh is in the Hall of Famous Missourians. The question now may be whether he'll stay there. On Monday, Limbaugh was inducted into the hall in a secret ceremony that wasn't advertised, that was closed to the public and that was guarded by armed State Highway Patrol members. "He may say things that strike a nerve," Republican House Speaker Steven Tilley later told the Kansas City Star. "But that doesn't undo everything he's accomplished in his career, and it doesn't provide a reasonable excuse why he shouldn't be honored by his home state for his many accomplishments.

With an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner crossing over the new Trestles bridge on Monday morning, local transportation officials marked the completion of a multimillion-dollar project to replace the storied, but worn-down, wooden structure that has served as the gateway to a San Diego County beach regarded as a birthplace of Southern California's surf culture. The original Trestles, built in 1941, was an 858-foot stretch of wooden post-and-beam bridge. Although it remained strong, with more than 40 passenger and freight trains crossing per day, the trains were required to slow down to reduce vibration and wear and tear.

Mort Lindsey, a conductor, arranger and composer best known as the music director for Judy Garland in the 1960s and for his more than two decades as music director for "The Merv Griffin Show," has died. He was 89. Lindsey, who was in declining health since breaking his hip six months ago, died May 4 at his home in Malibu, said his son Trevor. A pianist and a former staff conductor for CBS and ABC in New York in the 1950s, Lindsey was music director for Garland at her historic Carnegie Hall concert on April 23, 1961.

It's time for families to start finalizing their summer vacation plans. And those with high school football players had better ask one specific question of their coach: “When does my son get time off?” In the Southern Section, every school must declare when it will take a mandatory summer dead period of 21 consecutive days, in which there's no practicing or coaching and the only allowable contact is opening the weight room for voluntary workouts. The dead period has somehow survived for decades despite some dinosaur coaches' thinking teenagers should never get a break.

Mariano Rivera tore a ligament in his right knee before the New York Yankees lost, 4-3, to the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night. The 42-year-old right-hander was carted off the field at Kansas City after twisting his right knee shagging fly balls during batting practice. Manager Joe Girardi revealed the severity of the injury after the game. Royals team doctor Vincent Key diagnosed a torn anterior cruciate ligament after looking at the MRI. Baseball's career saves leader was tracking down a ball hit by Jayson Nix in deep center field when his right knee appeared to buckle a step before the wall.

This Pacific Palisades compound features a contemporary three-story main house, unobstructed ocean and coastline views and a guesthouse with a claim to fame. The Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen-designed Case Study No. 9 house was one of a series of inexpensive and efficient experimental homes built in the middle of the last century. Location: 205 Chautauqua, Pacific Palisades 90272 Asking price: $15.95 million Previously sold: In 2010 for $10 million House size: Five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, 9,500 square feet Lot size: 43,500 square feet Features: Gated, art gallery, two offices, library, wine cellar, gym, swimming pool, ocean views About the area: In the first quarter, 50 single-family homes sold in the 90272 ZIP Code at a median price of $1,793,000, according to DataQuick.

If you go Pinball Hall of Fame, 1610 E. Tropicana Blvd., Las Vegas; http://www.pinballhall.org . Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays. Closed major holidays. Free admission.

The only way Lou Holtz knows how to coach is all out. That's why he couldn't speak much louder than a whisper Saturday evening after coaching a group of former Notre Dame players for three days as they practiced for an exhibition game in Japan. It's also a big reason why he was among 21 people enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The folks who know John Cusack love John Cusack -- and love to tease John Cusack -- as evidenced by the outpouring of superlatives that heralded the presentation Tuesday of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sister Joan Cusack perhaps said it best, almost all the way to the end. "I'd like to introduce the most thoughtful kind and majestic human being I've ever met, a perfect soul sent here by the angels to grace us with thought-provoking characters and unmatched comedic timing.

Nicholas King was an actor and an assistant to renowned Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby in the late 1950s when a close friend of Willoughby stopped by his home with intriguing news. The friend, film editor William Cartwright, had visited the famed Watts Towers for the first time and was surprised by what he saw. The unique work of folk art, created over 33 years by Italian immigrant Simon Rodia, had been abandoned since he moved away in 1954. His former house had burned down, the gates to the walled property were open and unguarded, and the grounds were littered with refuse left by unwanted visitors.