Marina Del Rey

When Joe Borst bought a run-down 1952 house in Marina del Rey, he and girlfriend Maria Torres hoped to transform the 1,200-square-foot cookie-cutter plan into something that felt larger, more open and modern - a tall order given the limited budget. The couple could afford to renovate the house but not to expand it, so the mission became to rethink the floor plan - to leave the perimeter of the house intact, adjust how the existing space was used and make the most of the house's backyard.

Few of us have deep pockets anymore (and most of us never had them at all). If Nebbiolo is your game, you can still find some bargains in Piedmont, most notably the Barbaresco normale from the best little cooperative in Italy, Produttori del Barbaresco. The members have inherited some distinguished vineyards or rows of vines in the Piedmontese hill town. Produttori single-vineyard bottlings are a good value for the quality, but nothing beats their normal bottling for price/quality ratio.

Re "L.A. to order all pot shops closed," July 25 A drug is being sold in our great city that results in thousands of deaths each year and is a root cause of homelessness, mental illness, lost jobs and a host of different crimes. And get this: The drug is available for purchase by anyone over 21 in restaurants and stores in nearly every neighborhood. I trust that the city will now use its overstretched resources to attack the vendors of alcohol. It won't waste its crime-fighting establishment's time on attacking pot stores and re-creating a criminal class of pot salespeople, will it?

Re "Blame the sinner, not capitalism," Opinion, July 10 Jonah Goldberg has hit the nail on the head. We do need to hold the sinners accountable for their bad deeds. Now that Goldberg has diagnosed the illness, I would like to hear how he suggests we cure the patient, which is the electorate's failure to punish venal officials, the government's failure to punish the sinner and civil society's failure to police malice and buffoonery. Should we reintroduce public shame for these bad actors?

The dating scene can be a jungle filled with suspense, pitfalls and strange species. Apprehensive women warn each other, "Watch out - there are so many creepy guys!" But while some men deserve that description, in my experience creepiness is not a gender-specific trait. A few years ago, I was living in Beverly Hills when the conclusion of a long-term relationship put me back into dating circulation. I encountered, in my own personal journey through the personals, a wide range of unique - and sometimes odd - women.

Re "For many women, sports are sideshow," July 10 As John McEnroe famously said, "You cannot be serious. " A study of 19 subjects concluded that women watch sports merely as a way to connect with their husbands? Oh, those poor passive dears with no control of the remote and nothing better to do. I'll have to run this by my friend Kim, with whom I owned season tickets to the Kings for seven years and who got up at the crack of dawn to watch the finals of Wimbledon. Or Mary, whose Sunday worship of the Packers rivals my own for the Patriots.

In between competitions at Muscle Beach on Wednesday, Heidi Anderson's fiance tried to get her to eat lunch. But each time she reached for a bite of boiled chicken, she was interrupted by another stranger who wanted a photo. Beachergoers who flocked to the Venice Boardwalk to celebrate Independence Day couldn't resist the exceptionally tanned and toned Anderson, who wore nothing but a turquoise bikini and a gold toe ring. Anderson, a Palm Springs hairdresser, happily indulged them, flexing her arms and flashing a smile.

Whether it's an indication of better times or just patriotic fervor, several communities that scrubbed their July 4 fireworks displays in recent years are bringing their shows back when dusk falls Wednesday. Night skies will be popping over Marina del Rey and South El Monte, for instance, as both shows return after taking a hiatus last year. The majority of the displays in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, and Riverside counties are free or nearly free. If you're looking for a more elaborate affair, shows in Hollywood, Pasadena, Long Beach and Newport Beach are bringing more frills and ticket prices to match.

First published on Aug. 28, 2011. Revised and expanded in early 2012. We'll call the movie "Three Beaches and an Airport. " It'll star Hugh Grant as a buttoned-up business traveler who is separated from his job, money and luggage at LAX, then befriended by a team of wise-cracking Olympic volleyballers who introduce him to the sun-baked, wave-splashed piers and brew pubs of L.A.'s South Bay. In no time, he soars to entrepreneurial success, leading...

Re "Testing a candidate," Editorial, May 29 I have not made a decision as to who I support in the election for district attorney of Los Angeles County, but I find it incredible that The Times continues to recommend Jackie Lacey for the job in light of the explanations she's given for her questionable testimony before the commission investigating anti-union activity by the present leadership of the district attorney's office. After all, she might develop a "blood sugar" problem (her explanation for her inconsistent testimony)