Majestic

The Kings' often-tortured trail to the Stanley Cup was 45 years long but infinitely longer measured in the amount of frustration, bad trades and painful losses they and their fans endured. They couldn't win the Cup when they had Wayne Gretzky, the game's greatest player, in their lineup. They couldn't win it with the fading veterans they acquired at the price of first-round draft picks in their early years, when owner Jack Kent Cooke ruled with an iron hand. They built and rebuilt their roster endlessly, shifting strategy too often for any plan to take root.

NEW YORK - On a cramped stage at the Cherry Lane Theatre, a historic off-Broadway venue tucked away on one of the quaintest streets in the West Village, Vanessa Redgrave is offering her costar Jesse Eisenberg an education not even the world's finest drama school could provide. Eisenberg, an actor best known for his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg in the film "The Social Network," happens to be a budding dramatist. His new play, "The Revisionist," is one of the scarcest tickets in New York right now, thanks to Redgrave, who is making an American stage appearance away from the bright lights of Broadway (though rumor has it the show may be heading there)

Your Sept. 20 story, "Madonna's Pilgrimage Throws Israel Into a Tizzy," mentions basilicas, shrines and temples, but fails to mention the hundreds of majestic mosques that gracefully define the Holy Land's skyline. Nasir Jiwa Garden Grove

The Los Angeles City Council is poised to consider a measure that would in effect prevent elephants from performing in traveling shows and exhibitions in the city. It's hardly unusual for the council to sound off on any issue under the sun, but in this case, the proposal before it underscores a growing appreciation for the world's largest and most majestic land mammal. It deserves to be approved, and should prompt serious reflection on humanity's relationship with these noble animals.

My brother Walt and I were standing at sunrise on the edge of Capitol Reef, Utah. We had visited Arches, Canyonlands and were on our way to Bryce and Zion, which offered us the Narrows -- the most majestic hike of peace you can do with a kindred soul. Steven Gadecki Culver City

Warning of potential injury and death, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a flurry of recalls of baby-related merchandise, including high chairs with falling seats, cribs that can cause suffocation and toys that pose a choking hazard. About 643,000 Evenflo Envision high chairs and 90,000 Evenflo Majestic high chairs were recalled Thursday because plastic fasteners and metal screws can fall out and allow the seat back to fall backward or detach, said Scott Wolfson, a commission spokesman.

No one wields the business end of a poison pen with quite the flair of movie critic Kenneth Turan. A recent destructive example of this tendency can be found within his screed passing as film criticism of "The Majestic" ("No Surprises at the End, or Anywhere Else," Dec. 21). Turan isn't content merely to pan it; he excoriates and humiliates its creators. Curiously enough, I too saw a film by the same title, also starring Jim Carrey, but "The Majestic" I saw was a gentle, heartfelt reflection on a time and a sense of ideals I believe a great many people long for. To paraphrase writer Manuel Puig, "movies ... help you hope."

I can't believe Margaret Sheridan left out the beautiful, nostalgic, not to mention delicious food and atmosphere of the Hotel Bela Vista in her article ("In Macao, Portuguese on the Side," June 8). It has eight or nine rooms magnificently decorated, a staircase majestic, and all in all is a place fit for royalty. Its lovely veranda, looking out to the sea, is my favorite place to eat. JULIA SKYLAR North Hollywood

Re "Ode to the Dandelion, Jilted Flower of Spring" [Feb. 24]: I have always been a lover of wildflowers, and my alma mater, the University of Rochester in New York state, has a school song honoring "the dandelion yellow, its colors rich and mellow." When I was a student there in the 1930s, its campus heath, along the banks of the Genesee River, was a majestic example of the beauties of that plant. I am grateful for your reminder. Margaret Houghton Lake Forest

Safety officials announced a recall of 24,000 cribs and warned parents against putting their babies to bed with pillows and other soft bedding that could suffocate them. The Indonesian-made cribs, imported by Munire Furniture Inc., have improper brackets that don't allow their mattresses to be fully lowered. This could allow children inside the crib to crawl over the railing and fall. The recall includes the company's Majestic Curved Top, Majestic Flat Top, Essex, Brighton/Sussex and Captiva cribs with various model numbers.

The Coast Guard said Monday it was searching for two crew members of the HMS Bounty, a three-masted tall ship that appeared in two Hollywood movies, after Hurricane Sandy sank the vessel in storm-churned waters off the coast of North Carolina. Fourteen were rescued. The Bounty began taking on water Sunday and lost power about 90 miles off Hatteras, N.C. The Coast Guard said it was using a C-130 Hercules aircraft and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to search the area for the two who were missing.

The Kings' often-tortured trail to the Stanley Cup was 45 years long but infinitely longer measured in the amount of frustration, bad trades and painful losses they and their fans endured. They couldn't win the Cup when they had Wayne Gretzky, the game's greatest player, in their lineup. They couldn't win it with the fading veterans they acquired at the price of first-round draft picks in their early years, when owner Jack Kent Cooke ruled with an iron hand. They built and rebuilt their roster endlessly, shifting strategy too often for any plan to take root.

  A century-old law allowing up to 15-year prison sentences for those offending Thailand'sKing Bhumibol Adulyadej has sparked controversy and calls for change as its use has increased. Many who support the lese-majeste statute say it is necessary to uphold the dignity of a king they portray as enlightened and selfless, transcending raucous, corruption-prone Thai politics. Others say the 1908 law meaning "injured majesty," with ancient roots that made it a crime to offend a reigning monarch, undercuts free expression and has no place in modern times.

Four a.m. is a terrible time of day, too late for night owls, too early for early risers. The exception is 4 a.m. at Borobudur, waiting for the sun to rise over the Kedu Plain in central Java with 504 figures of Buddha. The temple is one of three great religious sites in Southeast Asia, but it's older and more esoteric than Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was begun in the 8th century by the Sailendras, a dynasty of Buddhist kings who ruled central Java for almost 200 years until their power waned and the temple was abandoned.

Northwestern U.S. and Canada The Northwestern U.S. and Canada are veined with 10 unique roadways and four connecting trails along what has become known as the Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies. If you're intent on doing one of these drives, you can start at such gateway cities as Spokane, Wash., Salt Lake City; Boise, Idaho; Billings, Mont; Denver; or Calgary, Canada; and rent a car, SUV, RV or motorcycle to explore the nearest drive. Among them: The 400-mile Montana Scenic Loop reveals the majesty of Glacier National Park.

Developers of a new NFL stadium on a hilly strip of land in the City of Industry are sketching out plans for a second high-profile use for the venue: World Cup soccer. Architects for Majestic Realty Co. said Monday they were tweaking the design of the stadium to incorporate field measurements and bleacher configurations based on guidelines from World Cup organizer FIFA, which wants a width of 68 meters (75 yards). The news came amid possible competition from sports and entertainment powerhouse AEG, which is deciding whether to build a stadium in downtown Los Angeles to lure an NFL franchise.

In Southern California, property development is a full-contact sport, and nobody plays the game with quite the brio of Industry-based Majestic Realty Co. Its chairman and CEO, Ed Roski Jr., is an ex-Marine who turned the successful commercial real estate brokerage that his father founded into one of the nation's biggest industrial property developers, making himself a billionaire in the process. Along with Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz, Roski developed Staples Center and the successful L.A. Live project that adjoins it. He retains a minority interest in both the Lakers and the Kings.

I love Anaheim in August. What a splendid place to be. Yes, my tan is perfect and the whole world is in love. But, wait, what is this ugly mess below? I watch in horror as second base becomes second nature to opposing baserunners. I witness the once-sturdy Angel pitching staff's ERA balloon like Terry Forster's waistline at Christmas dinner. I wince at a dazzling display of passed balls, dropped third strikes, and majestic home runs. Yes, it's August '87 in Anaheim. My true love and I sip pina coladas in the warm bleacher sun. She tells me she loves me. Yet, I can't help thinking: I wonder what Bob Boone is doing today.

Most independent filmmakers are lucky if they can get their movies in theaters. Unless, of course, they happen to own the theater. So it goes for Bigfoot Entertainment, which recently bought the Majestic Crest, a Los Angeles landmark founded in 1941 by Frances Seymour Fonda, wife of actor Henry Fonda and mother of Peter and Jane. Bigfoot, a Venice, Calif., company that produces and distributes independent films, TV programs and reality shows for the international marketplace, last month acquired the 460-seat theater in Westwood for about $4 million.

It is an unfortunate coincidence of geography that this lush region of wild rivers, grassy tundra and windy sea is home to two competing treasures of almost unimaginable value: the world's largest sockeye salmon run, supporting a fishery worth $440 million a year; and in the hills behind it, a massive deposit of copper, molybdemum and gold worth at least $300 billion. With that much money at stake, preventing the construction of what could be the largest open-pit mine in North America — at headwaters above Bristol Bay — seems an impossible task.