Kip

If he were a basketball star instead of a statehouse staffer, he'd be Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson -- a veteran playmaker, feared by foes, his best moves unleashed just before the buzzer. But like so many Sacramento insiders, Kip Lipper plays out of the limelight, in the back corridors of the Capitol, unknown to the public whose air and water and ecological ethos he has made his specialty over the last three decades. As the environmental expert for the state Senate's ruling Democrats, Lipper has helped craft many of California's groundbreaking laws in that realm -- and become a foil for Republicans irked by what they view as regulatory excess, and by the economic fallout.

The Angels came out of spring training with what they thought was a pretty stable roster. But as with so many things involving the Angels this season, reality has fallen far short of expectations. So Saturday the Angels made five transactions, finishing a five-day blitz that included them making nine personnel moves - two of which involved outfielder J.B. Shuck , who was optioned to the minors Friday afternoon then recalled the following morning. And that doesn't even include Saturday's signing of former major leaguer Kip Wells to a minor league contract.

Former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks unloaded a barrage of punches to stop Kevin (Kip) Kane at 1:37 of the eighth round Friday night to win the World Boxing Council's Continental Americas heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum. It was the fifth straight victory for the 32-year-old Spinks, who returned to the ring earlier this year after a 21-month layoff. He was always the aggressor against the 28-year-old Bowling Green graduate from Columbus, Ohio.

Gather round, 21st century dramatists. Here's a little addendum to your playwriting handbook: Protagonists in bathrobes are not your friend. This insight, hereby given the status of a dramatic verity, was born out of seeing "Build," Michael Golamco's new indie-spirited play at the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. Set in the not-too-distant future, the work revolves around a depressed video game designer holed up in his Palo Alto home tangled in his bedclothes. The robe is the tipoff that this character, a walled-off engineering genius name Kip (Thomas Sadoski)

Gather round, 21st century dramatists. Here's a little addendum to your playwriting handbook: Protagonists in bathrobes are not your friend. This insight, hereby given the status of a dramatic verity, was born out of seeing "Build," Michael Golamco's new indie-spirited play at the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. Set in the not-too-distant future, the work revolves around a depressed video game designer holed up in his Palo Alto home tangled in his bedclothes. The robe is the tipoff that this character, a walled-off engineering genius name Kip (Thomas Sadoski)

The star trotted toward a small pad in the middle of the 80-foot stage and stopped on his mark. "Look at the camera!" veteran animal trainer Steve Martin commanded. Like a true pro, Shadow, a gray wolf who has made appearances on HBO's "True Blood" series, turned his head and fixed his piercing yellow eyes at the camera operator. "Good boy," another trainer said, tossing him a morsel of meat. PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments The shot was among several animal scenes filmed on the giant green-screen stage at Hollywood Center Studios last week, where a leopard, a lion, a monkey, an elephant and even two grizzly bears from Frasier Park performed simple tasks on the empty stage as a film crew captured their movements, snarls, roars and grunts.

Michelle Dusserre, a 1984 Olympian, and Yolanda Mavity and Joyce Wilborn, 1985 U.S. national team members, will compete in the Kids in Perfect Shape (KIPS) gymnastics invitational, beginning at 10 a.m. today at Chapman College in Orange. Eighteen teams from across the country will compete at Class 1 and Elite levels. The finals will begin at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Less than two months after sunglass maker Greg Arnette retired, capping a string of defections from Arnette Optic Illusions Inc., his son has co-founded a business making sunglasses and snow goggles. Sunglass designer Kip Arnette, 29, and Bruce Beach, 34, Arnette Optic's former chief operating officer, are now co-presidents of Electric Visual Evolution in San Clemente. Mike Carter, 28, who was a marketing manager at Arnette, has become Electric's marketing director.

Kip Winger, formerly of the group Winger, will perform an intimate acoustic set of material from his first solo album, "The Conversation Seems Like a Dream," at 8 p.m. on June 25 at Borders Books and Music in Westwood, 1360 Westwood Blvd. Winger will also answer questions from the audience. Information: (310) 475-3444.

KIP Inc. in Murrieta has been awarded a $1.36-million contract from Ventura County to repair the Ondulando Drain in Ventura. The project is designed to relieve flooding at the intersection of Via Baja and Via Arroyo, lower the annual maintenance cost and stop bank erosion along the existing right of way. Work on the project, which will stretch about 100 feet from where the drain meets Harmon Barranca to the Via Arroyo and Via Baja intersection, is scheduled to begin today and continue until Aug.

UCLA kicker Kip Smith, who struggled through an injury-marred season, said he will transfer after the winter quarter. Smith, who is from Broomfield, Colo., said he will look to play closer to his family. "My dad has been sick, so I want to be closer to home," Smith said. "The only school I've talked with so far is Colorado State. " Smith, who was a redshirt freshman last season, tore quadriceps muscle in his leg early in the season and did not kick after the second game.

Remember last year's New Year's resolution to lose that cocktail tummy? Yeah, that one. Well, we're plowing into the holiday season all over again and you've still got that cute little pot. Help is on the way in the form of a series of "fresh & skinny" cocktails served at the Yard House. Head mixologist Kip Snider shares a recipe for his tasty Juniper Fusion, which clocks in at somewhere between 115 and 170 calories. It's light in flavor as well: Cucumbers and strawberries enhance crisp gin that is spiked with tart lemon and lime juice.

Kip Smith is going to be given every chance to be UCLA's kicker … unless someone else is better. Coach Rick Neuheisel is adamant that "we've got to keep working with him to get him to trust himself. " Yet how much trust Neuheisel will extend to Smith will depend on whether someone else— perhaps punter Jeff Locke — kicks better this week. "That will be part of a long conversation with Kip in terms on how we go forward," Neuheisel said. "We want him to win the job. " Whether he can remains to be seen.

Kip Smith said he stands on the sidelines thinking, "follow through, follow through. " Joe Roberts waits his turn with a different chant going through his head, "slow down, slow down. " This is where the UCLA kicking game is. After four seasons of the automatic Kai Forbath , the Bruins have two guys who are hearing voices — their own. "A couple days ago, I was putting too much pressure on myself, thinking, 'I've got to make them all,' " Smith said. "I finally realized I've got to relax.

The volunteer weaved through the bustling tornado relief camp with its mountains of water bottles and donated clothes, trying to reach the tall, rubicund, red-haired man, the one incongruously dapper amid the twisted metal, the one in the loafers and tie and collared dress shirt — the one who had become the city councilman representing disasterville. "Hey, Kip, I need your help. " The problem was portable toilets, overflowing. The red-faced man found a number on the side of a john and punched it in his cell.

Whether he has just made a 50-yard field goal or missed an extra-point try, Kip Smith said his confidence won't waver. "Once I kick one, I don't get too excited about it," the UCLA kicker said Monday. "When I miss one, I don't get too down. " So the redshirt freshman was predictably ho-hum after making three of four field-goal attempts Saturday during the Bruins' first spring scrimmage, alleviating concerns about the departure of decorated kicker Kai Forbath . "I wouldn't say I'd take it," Smith said after missing from 48 yards but connecting from 45, 42 and 28 yards, "but it's all right for now. " Angus McClure , UCLA's special teams coach, said Smith "has a leg up" on Jeff Locke , a junior who is sidelined by a hip injury, in the battle to replace Forbath, the Lou Groza Trophy winner last season as the nation's top kicker.

Los Alamitos officials have proposed 1992 racing dates that would shorten the current quarter horse meeting but provide quarter horse racing at Hollywood Park for the first time since 1987. The proposal was presented Monday to a California Horse Racing Board Committee. It asks for 32 weeks of quarter horse racing, 43 weeks of harness racing and three weeks of thoroughbred and quarter horse fair racing. Under the plan, quarter horse racing would end at Los Alamitos on Jan. 18 instead of Feb. 8.

UCLA kicker Kip Smith, who struggled through an injury-marred season, said he will transfer after the winter quarter. Smith, who is from Broomfield, Colo., said he will look to play closer to his family. "My dad has been sick, so I want to be closer to home," Smith said. "The only school I've talked with so far is Colorado State. " Smith, who was a redshirt freshman last season, tore quadriceps muscle in his leg early in the season and did not kick after the second game.

The kids in these photographs don't look like they belong in a museum. They're having too much fun. They gloat and grin, share secrets and show off their retainers and rock collections. "I wanted to capture them exactly as they are," says artist Kip Fulbeck. " 'If they liked soccer,' I told them, 'Bring a ball.' 'If you're a goof be a goof.' I just wanted to avoid that posed Christmas card thing." Most of all, Fulbeck wanted to give these children -- all of whom are of mixed racial heritage -- the freedom to answer the simple but potentially fraught question: "Who are you?"

If he were a basketball star instead of a statehouse staffer, he'd be Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson -- a veteran playmaker, feared by foes, his best moves unleashed just before the buzzer. But like so many Sacramento insiders, Kip Lipper plays out of the limelight, in the back corridors of the Capitol, unknown to the public whose air and water and ecological ethos he has made his specialty over the last three decades. As the environmental expert for the state Senate's ruling Democrats, Lipper has helped craft many of California's groundbreaking laws in that realm -- and become a foil for Republicans irked by what they view as regulatory excess, and by the economic fallout.