Hollywood Stars

Miles away from the bustle of the Sunset Strip and the glitz of Beverly Hills, there's another place where Hollywood lives: the leafy Brentwood neighborhood of Mandeville Canyon. A ranch once owned by actors Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck is on the market, and the canyon's also been home to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Widmark, Eva Marie Saint and Robert Mitchum. Around here, however, the focus is more on the stars in the sky and the natural beauty.

I don't know? He's on third Casey Blake wants to return to the Cleveland Indians, Andy LaRoche was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Blake DeWitt now plays second base. If the Dodgers keep DeWitt at second, who plays third base next season? Adrian Beltre still keeps a home in Pasadena. He's 29, with one year left on his contract with the Seattle Mariners, at $12 million. He had a career year with the Dodgers, in 2004, when he hit .334 with 48 home runs. He was hitting .270 with 25 homers through Friday, despite playing all season with a torn ligament in his left thumb.

More than 37 million people tuned in to watch Sarah Palin's speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, almost as many as watched Barack Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination last week, Nielsen Media Research reported Thursday. Palin's highly anticipated appearance drew nearly 16 million more viewers than the previous night's coverage of the GOP gathering, which was watched by about 21.5 million people. (The actual numbers of those tuning in to both Obama and Palin are higher than the Nielsen figures, which do not include PBS' estimated 4 million viewers on those nights.

Metallurgically speaking, it sounds paradoxical to talk about a "Golden Age" of silversmithing. But the phrase comes naturally to Antonio Pineda as he recollects the era when his lustrous creations adorned heiresses' throats, commanded praise from heads of state and draped the creamy skin of Hollywood stars. Back in the day, circa 1940-80, Pineda was a charismatic, compact bundle of energy with a matinee idol's pencil mustache and a studio mogul's vaulting ambition. A master of silver design and sculpting, he oversaw a taller (workshop)

YOU DON'T know where to look first. The place is packed with vibrant handmade shoes and bags, skirts, tunics and dresses, rings, earrings and bangles. The colors are bright and endless, an unexpected mix of oranges, fuchsias, greens and fluorescent pinks.

RE "Hollywood's War Effort," by John Horn, April 30: Hollywood stars such as Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Clark Gable, Sterling Hayden and many others could easily have avoided service or chosen safe duties on bases in the U.S. in WWII but instead chose to serve on the front lines. Hollywood is often criticized for its indulgent lifestyle but many in the community, then and now, choose to be of service to their country and for humanity. Let's give recognition to those who do good as well as those who stain the image of Hollywood.

One in a series of stories marking the Dodgers' 50th anniversary in L.A. -- It was a far different world the night Paul Pettit drove in 10 runs for a team called the Hollywood Stars. This was a minor league town then, with the Stars on one side of it, the original L.A. Angels on the other and oceans of bad blood between them. The Dodgers would bring the major leagues the next year, as if the magic in baseball couldn't come from anywhere else.

The rivalry between the UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton baseball teams was intense enough -- both made the College World Series in Omaha last season -- but some red-carpet escalation could be in the wind. Fullerton already has its mega-star in actor-fan Kevin Costner, who attended the university and has been a supporter of the baseball team for years. Irvine may now have a counterbalance to match that star power through second baseman Tyler Hoechlin.