Lawn

Some men see lawn chairs in the sky and ask, "Why?" Some, though, imagine attaching the chairs to hundreds of balloons, strapping themselves in the seat, donning oxygen masks and flying straight over Baghdad. Kent Couch, who runs a gas station in Bend, Ore., is such a man. Couch boarded a flight to the Middle East on Thursday, setting out on an adventure that involves becoming the first lawn chair balloonist to traverse the now-more-or-less peaceful skies over Iraq -- and raise money for Iraqi children.

Salary nonsense Re "Mayor's ex-aide still on payroll," Oct. 29 It's nice to see that our illustrious mayor has his priorities in order by allowing his former chief of staff to draw his $194,000 salary even though someone else has been hired to replace him. The ex-staffer is being compensated for installing security fences around Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's city-owned mansion and improving the city's golf courses, among other things....

The Occupy movement came to Los Angeles aiming for Wall Street titans, but farmers market vendors are the first to take a real hit. Two weeks ago, about 40 vendors who sell on the City Hall lawn every Thursday were forced off the property after protesters refused to remove their city of tents. The mini-businesses — produce farmers, popcorn poppers, flower sellers — were abruptly moved by city officials to a new and less visible location across Main Street. Since that relocation, profits have plummeted, vendors have pulled out and shoppers have become scarce.

Grass isn't greener Re "L.A.'s occupation could grow," Oct. 20 So, it will cost $400,000 to replace the lawn around City Hall? If Department of Recreation and Parks General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri calls the city's Department of Water and Power, perhaps he can wangle a deal to get the $1 per square foot that the DWP pays a resident to remove a lawn. Surely in this age in which residents are encouraged to replace water-hungry lawns with xeriscaping, the city of L.A. could do the same.

The cost of repairing the increasing damage to the City Hall lawn where hundreds of Occupy L.A. protesters are camped out is becoming an issue for Los Angeles officials even as the protesters make plans to expand their demonstration to other downtown city property. The city has already incurred $45,000 in costs related to the demonstration, officials said, including thousands of dollars in overtime pay for General Services police. Eight Los Angeles Police Department officers have also been deployed full-time to monitor the protest.

I pitched a tent Monday night in a neighborhood of the angry, the disaffected and the disillusioned. "Are you aware that the sprinklers come on at night?" a fellow camper asked as I drove my tent stakes into the ground. I wasn't, but hey, a little personal discomfort is the price of revolution, right? The media haven't known quite what to make of the demonstrators who've taken to the streets in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere. The occupiers have been knocked for not having a clear message, and they've been called the tea party of the left.

An estate in Holmby Hills once owned by Frank Sinatra is on the market at $23.5 million. On more than two acres, the gated house is surrounded by expanses of lawn and mature trees. A large courtyard sits at the center of the hacienda-style home, built in 1936. There are seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 8,631 square feet of living space. Sinatra, who died in 1998 at 82, won an Oscar for his supporting role in "From Here to Eternity" (1953) and entertained generations of music fans with hits including "My Way" and "Come Fly With Me. " Public records show the property sold last year for $18.5 million.

Pasadena Pops What: "Marvin Does Broadway" Where: Lawn adjacent to the Rose Bowl, Pasadena When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Tickets: $25-$90 Information: (626) 793-7172 or http://www.PasadenaSymphony-Pops.org

It was as if Petra Kvitova owned Centre Court, as if she was planning to make this a habit. Kvitova, 6 feet tall and left-handed and playing in her first Wimbledon final, straightened her shoulders, bounced the ball three times and without any uncertainty went big. She blasted an ace, right in the middle of the service box past a former champion, Maria Sharapova, who had no room to react, or do anything except drop her racket and shake hands...