Guardians

They sit for long hours on sturdy, unforgiving chairs, wearing stoic expressions and sensible shoes. Beside them, on vividly colored walls, hang the art treasures of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Pushkin in Moscow. These babushkas are museum employees who, in dress and physical bearing, echo the art they protect in photographer Andy Freeberg's lush portrait series, "Guardians." The show, a solo exhibition at the Kopeikin Gallery in West Hollywood, runs through Saturday.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is interested in stepping into the breach as curator and conservator of the Watts Towers starting this summer as a severe budget crisis saps the city of Los Angeles' ability to continue those functions. Olga Garay, executive director of L.A.'s Department of Cultural Affairs, said she had "a very encouraging meeting" Monday with two top museum officials, LACMA President Melody Kanschat and general counsel Fredric Goldstein, over enlisting the museum's know-how and fundraising connections on behalf of a national historic landmark that's owned by the state and operated and maintained by the city.

Move over, Julie and Julia. Meet Andrew Martin and Damon Kirsche. By profession, a screenwriter and an actor-graphic designer. By avocation, cooks and collectors of vintage kitchenware. They recently shared morsels about a must-have of any collection: Guardian Service, manufactured in the San Fernando Valley when "Father Knows Best" was on the radio Thursday nights. Guardian Service's stove-top pots branded with a helmeted-knight logo were the products of Century Metalcraft, a Chicago-based cookware company that came to Los Angeles in 1938.

Governors across the country have received letters from a quasi-religious, anti-government group ordering them to step down from office in three days, in what the group's website said was the first step to disband parts of the U.S. government. Homeland Security Department and FBI officials said Friday that there didn't appear to be an immediate threat, and they were investigating whether the message could be considered dangerous. The Guardians of the Free Republics describes its plan as a nonviolent and legal attempt to "restore the true Republic."

This is the story that won't go away a week after the Winter Games ended. It is horrific. It is inspiring. It involves the anguished wails of children and one of the most drastic U-turns a life ever saw. If you think Joannie Rochette's heart broke in Vancouver, wait till you hear the tale of Karla Green, 34, who in an instant lost a sister but gained five grieving kids. Here's the hellish part, the part that makes you shake your head over a needlessly awful event. Days before the Olympics began, Green's sister and brother-in-law were killed by an alleged drunk driver 10 blocks from their Alberta home, leaving behind four daughters and a son, ages 4 to 14. It was 5 a.m. when Aunt Karla got the news.

We were a comfortable pair of 70-year-olds enjoying a relatively pleasant existence of travel, fine dining and occasional domestic indulgences. We rarely shouted, threatened, condemned or accused one another of unpleasant social behavior. Then the perfect storm of teenage and artistic temperament merged in our home to shred our domestic tranquillity. With the abrupt entry of our granddaughter Nicole into our household in 2004, my wife, Cinelli, and I became part of the 4.5 million grandparents in America who are, according to Census Bureau statistics, raising their grandchildren.

George Na'ope, a guardian of native Hawaiian culture who taught traditional hula dance and chanting to generations of students and introduced the ancient art forms to new audiences, has died. He was 81. Na'ope, who in 2006 was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship award by the National Endowment for the Arts, died Oct. 26 at his home in Hilo, Hawaii, after battling cancer. His death was announced by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Na'ope (pronounced nah-OH-peh) co-founded the Merrie Monarch Festival, a celebration of hula held annually since the early 1960s in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

A high-ranking conservative cleric called for the arrest of the nation's opposition leaders today while a counterpart demanded the release of political prisoners as the nation's political and religious establishment showed no signs of reconciliation following the disputed June 12 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In addition, many lawmakers and clergy from Ahmadinejad's own conservative political camp fumed over his proposed Cabinet, including his decision to nominate three female ministers.

An Orange County judge rejected an effort Friday by octuplet mother Nadya Suleman to prevent an independent guardian from reviewing the finances of her 14 children. The judge ruled that county social workers should review a request by a former child star that a guardian be appointed to monitor the money the children get from media projects. Last week, the state 4th District Court of Appeal stayed a lower-court ruling siding with Paul Petersen, who took Suleman to court over the issue.

The judge overseeing the settling of Michael Jackson's affairs ordered the appointment Monday of a special guardian to represent the legal and financial interests of the pop singer's three children, who are heirs to his lucrative music empire. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff came to the decision during a day-long hearing in which he also announced that he had approved a $60-million deal that will transform 80 hours of rehearsal footage from the final months of Jackson's life into a feature film.