Jim

So you think your family is nuts? The fraternal train wreck of Gary Lennon's "A Family Thing," now having its world premiere in an Echo Theater Company production at Stage 52, will have you feeling Norman Rockwell-y about even those relatives whose loose-cannon remarks make you want to dive under the dining room table during the holidays. Compared with Lennon's crew - one's an addict, one's a felon, one's a suicidal writer - most of us can claim fairly normal pedigrees. Or at least we can be grateful that we're not reliving a version of the Cain and Abel story, relocated to the mean streets of Martin Scorsese's New York.

Everybody joked that Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday should be known as the Bros Bowl, the Harbowl, the Super Bros Bowl and the Super Baugh (yes, you have to think about the pronunciation a bit on the last one) in recognition of the San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens' John Harbaugh as the first brothers to meet as coaches in the NFL's championship game. They're not twins. John is older by 15 months. Aside from Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis playing in the final game of his storied 17-year career and the debate over which quarterbacking style -- the dual-threat play of the 49ers' Colin Kaepernick or the pro-type pocket passing of the Ravens' Joe Flacco -- will win the day, it's been mostly about the Harbaugh family in the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVII.

Jim was all heart and no ego. I was forever amazed when I first started meeting him. You know how players all run away from us now. If Jim was standing by the batting cage or the golf tee, players would always come over and say hello to him. At first, I thought it was a West Cost thing--these athletes who grew up reading him every day. But then I saw it happen on the East Coast. It was a no-coast thing. He was a treasure, and the athletes knew it.

Many coaches like to think of their team as a family. But when Notre Dame High's John Barrett makes the comparison, it's difficult to argue. Barrett, 26, is in his second season as the Knights' baseball coach. His brother Jim, 28, is his assistant, and their father, Jim Sr., serves as unofficial assistant. "I took the job on the condition that my brother was a paid assistant," said John, who coached the school's junior varsity for two years.

When Jim rang the bell of Uncle Ynar's old house, the front door slid aside. He was greeted by a tall silver robot who stared at him with glowing eyes. "Welcome, young Jim," the robot said in its strange electronic voice. "The master will see you. " The robot led him to Uncle Ynar, who was working in his laboratory. He was a large round man whose spiky black hair stuck up every which way. "What can I do for you, Jim?" he asked. "It's almost Halloween," Jim said.

The second-seeded doubles team of Jim and Brian Nelson advanced to the semifinals of the National Senior Father and Son Hardcourt Doubles championships Saturday at the Newport Beach Tennis Club with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Stan and Geoff Griffin. Jim, from Irvine, and Brian, from Huntington Beach, were tested for the first time in the tournament after receiving a bye in the first round and getting through the second round, losing only one game.

Stock Exchange gives readers a chance to listen in as staff writers James Peltz and Michael Hiltzik debate the merits of individual stocks. McDonald's (MCD) Jim: We review one of the most recognized brands on the planet, and even though we all poke fun at Dow stock McDonald's claims of selling "billions" of hamburgers, the company's numbers do boggle the mind. It has nearly 25,000 restaurants in 114 countries, including China, and it serves roughly 35 million people every day.

ADVO (AD) (Jim: Buy) (Mike: Buy) Jim: I find our stock today a very interesting story, Mike, because this a company that everyone constantly encounters and yet it's not a familiar name. Mike: Exactly. To put it another way, you'd be hard-pressed to find 10 people on the street who know what ADVO is and yet . . . Jim: You'd be hard-pressed to find one person on the street who hasn't had to look at ADVO's products several days a week, in their mailbox. Mike: Right.

Before he lets it unravel, Ido Dooseman seems to be on to something in his new play, "Promises to Keep," at the American Renegade Theatre. Not a mystery, not a whodunit, Dooseman's drama truly keeps you guessing where it's going next. His puzzle piece is based on the simple premise that once you alight on the slippery slope of lies, there's no telling where you'll end up.

Stock Exchange lets readers listen in as Times staff writers James Peltz and Michael Hiltzik debate the merits of individual stocks. Procter & Gamble (PG) Jim: Up first today is, well, a corporate institution, right, Mike? Sometimes you wonder how we would all live without Procter & Gamble, given all the consumer goods it makes. Which, by the way, generate $38 billion in annual sales. Mike: Yeah, sometimes I think I have an all-Procter & Gamble medicine chest in my house.