Los Angeles Times

When Dutch filmmaker Frans Hofmeester put the video "Lotte Time Lapse: From birth to 12 in 2 min. 45" on Vimeo one week ago, he thought it might generate some interest. After all, he had been filming his daughter Lotte once a week, every week, since she was born, and by stringing those videos together and speeding them up, he had amassed an impressive time-lapse-like record of his daughter as she grew from a wide-eyed baby  into a coy girl with a penchant for flower barrettes.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Friday: Reality star and Playmate Holly Madison insures her breasts for $1 million. ( Los Angeles Times ) And she's not the only celebrity to insure body parts. ( The Hollywood Reporter ) In other playmate news, Crystal Harris is auctioning off the $90,000 engagement ring Hugh Hefner gave her. ( Us Weekly ) Ashton Kutcher tells his Twitter followers, "Don't believe the hype. " Does this mean he and Demi Moore aren't in splitsville?

Sue Herera and Maria Bartiromo are two of the best-known faces in financial journalism, a world once dominated by white men in suits. Both women, in recent interviews, expressed their thoughts on the stock market, the booming demand for business news and their ever-busier lives. Sue Herera, 41, grew up in Brentwood. Her father was a shoe wholesaler and her mother a homemaker.

In lecturing to journalism students over the years, I have pointed out that newspaper style guides have adapted  to changes in politics and society. For example, the 1976 version of the New York Times Manual of Style and Usage warned reporters not to use the word “gay” as a synonym for “homosexual” unless it appeared in a quotation  or the name of an organization. How Times have changed:  The NYT now uses the G-word without apology or distancing quotation marks.  Obviously that reflects the pervasiveness of  “gay” in popular parlance, but  that's only part of the explanation.

Cookstuff (June 17) promoted chocolate cigars as a desirable gift for dads on Father's Day. Is the Los Angeles Times naive enough to believe that all they are promoting is a cute-packaged chocolate product? This is no innocent chocolate gift. Instead it is a subtle message that cigars are an OK product for dad. The "Melt-in-Your--Mouth" headline reinforces the idea. Talk to a few families with a missing parent on Father's Day or Mother's Day because of a tobacco habit they couldn't quit.

I am writing in reference to the article about the Century Council's Parish Pledge program (Sept. 11). I appreciate the praise for the council's joining anti-drunken driving effort with the Division for Hispanic Affairs of the California Catholic Conference. But there were a few unintentional inaccuracies. First, the headline--"Anti-Alcohol Pact Promoted by Parishes." This program is not anti-alcohol, it is anti-alcohol abuse . Second, the article does not mention that the Century Council is entirely funded by some, but not all, members of the licensed beverage industry.

Stephanie Alice Booth and Palmer Neville Murray exchanged marriage vows Saturday evening at All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills. A reception followed at Los Angeles Country Club. The bride, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Otis Booth Jr. of Bel-Air, was graduated from Marlborough School and from USC where she was affiliated with Kappa Alpha Theta.

Everybody needs a little help at the holidays. Trust us, we're here for you. The Los Angeles Times has two seasonal e-books that will help you get through the next couple of months with a minimum of angst and a maximum of pleasure. The first is “The Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook” with more than 110 seasonal recipes to help you celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's. Selected from The Times' vast collection of carefully tested recipes, you'll find sumptuous dishes for every occasion.

Mike Penner, a longtime Los Angeles Times sportswriter who made headlines in 2007 when he announced that he was transsexual, has died. He was 52. Penner was pronounced dead Friday evening at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, a Los Angeles County coroner's official said. The cause of death has not been determined but was believed to be suicide. "Mike was a first-rate journalist, a valued member of our staff for 25 years, and we will miss him," Times Editor Russ Stanton said.

LOS ANGELES – May 15, 2008 – The Los Angeles Times is set to unveil " Hollywood Backlot" on Thursday, May 15th, with exclusive, on-set photography from veteran Hollywood lensman, David Strick. Strick has enjoyed unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access for over thirty years and his photos offer a rare glimpse of luminaries and bit-players in candid and sometimes outrageous settings, appealing to both casual moviegoers and filmmaking intimates alike. "David Strick's Hollywood Backlot" is the debut feature of what promises to become The Times new "Hollywood Backlot" franchise and the celebration of the visual medium will cover a wide range of films, television, music videos and commercials.