Mask

As soon as he could, Kobe Bryant ditched the plastic mask. He couldn't right away. Bryant needed it to protect his broken nose and relieve pain after suffering a concussion during the 2012 NBA All-Star game. Even if he scored 342 points through 11 games while wearing the gear, Bryant sounded eager to ditch it after describing wearing the mask as "like a sauna on my face. " Bryant then joked he would donate it to "see if anybody is dumb enough to buy that sweaty mask. " Well, there's been 48 so-called "dumb" Bryant fans who have placed bids on eBay . The current bidding sits at $3,250 with five days remaining, and 100% of the proceeds will go toward the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation's efforts to reduce homelessness in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON - So what do you give to the leader of the free world? If you're German Chancellor Angela Merkel, you might hint that Obama could work on his putting. Merkel presented an estimated $1,400 in putting gear, including a pair of Kramski putters (complete with head covers) and the book “The Kramski Putt Philosophy.” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appealed to Obama's other favorite sport with a basketball signed by the 2010-2011 Toronto Raptors, a team that finished the season with a 22-60 record - including a 1-3 record against Obama's Chicago Bulls.

An ancient limestone mask thought to be 9,000 years old will go on sale at a Christie's auction in June. The rare piece, from the Middle East, represents what is believed to be the oldest item ever offered by the auction house. The mask dates from the Neolithic period, around the seventh millennium B.C., according to Christie's. The piece is 9 inches long and comes from the Judean desert in Israel, which stretches east from Jerusalem to the Jordan River. The auction house said it remains unclear what the mask was originally used for. It was probably not practical for wearing because of the weight of the limestone, and so might have been used for decoration or as a death mask.

Re "French auction defies tribe," April 13 In reporting on the travesty of the French auction of objects sacred to the Hopi people, whose masks embody ancestors, why would The Times tell readers that the Hopi tribe keeps them "out of public view and consider it sacrilegious even for pictures of the objects to be shown," and then publish photographs of four of the masks to accompany the article? How do you justify your disrespect? Allen F. Roberts Los Angeles ALSO: Letters: Picking up after the slobs Letters: Tragedy won't stop Boston Letters: What ails the Republican Party

Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Lakers guard Kobe Bryant will wear a black protective mask Tuesday night against Detroit, ditching the clear one he used in his first three games after sustaining a broken nose. Bryant played well with the clear one, which will still be on hand if he decides to go back to it. He averaged 34 points and shot 54.3% in three games since taking a hard foul from Miami guard Dwyane Wade in the All-Star Game. Bryant went with the new mask after trying out another new one because, as a team official said simply, "it felt good.

On the court, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul remain mad men. They talk trash. Their competitive motors run. Their chippiness persists. Now the two have become masked men. Bryant has worn a plastic mask for the last seven games, including the Lakers' 97-94 win Sunday over the Boston Celtics, after Miami guard Dwyane Wade delivered a hard foul that broke Bryant's nose, giving him a concussion and causing neck pain. Paul wore a plastic mask for the first time in the Clippers' 97-93 loss to the Golden State Warriors two days after suffering a nasal fracture against San Antonio.

Chris Paul had never worn a protective mask until warmups Sunday, just hours before the Clippers faced Golden State. In fact, he didn't even know he'd need it until Saturday, when X-rays revealed that he'd suffered a nasal fracture in the first quarter of Friday's win against San Antonio when he was hit in the face by Spurs swingman Danny Green . During his team's 97-93 loss to the Warriors, Paul was hit on the nose several...

I agree with Dr. Peter Dure-Smith regarding the spread of germs aloft ("A Problem in the Air," Letters, April 16). I would like to see the airlines address this problem. However, we can't just wait for the airlines. We need to help ourselves. Because we were flying to Europe shortly after I had suffered with bronchitis and pneumonia, my husband went down to the drugstore and purchased a mask to wear aloft. What a difference! I was able to sleep on the plane because my nasal passages did not dry out, and I was well throughout the trip.

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. -- An unemployed woman who said she was desperate for money has been arrested on charges she robbed an Oklahoma McDonald's with a white stretch girdle wrapped around her face as a makeshift mask. Authorities said 51-year-old Sharon Lain of Midwest City admitted to being the underwear-masked bandit who made off with the contents of a cash drawer from the fast-food restaurant around 3 a.m. Tuesday. A surveillance video captured the woman on tape and was broadcast on local television, prompting several tips that led police to a condemned home on Wednesday night where Lain was found living, said Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes.

WASHINGTON — As economic data points have gone recently, last week's unemployment report was good news: 163,000 net jobs created in July, exceeding analysts' expectations. But such broad statistics don't tell the whole story, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Monday. They mask the struggles of average Americans in an economic recovery still straining to gain traction. "Even though some key aggregate metrics — including consumer spending, disposable income, household net worth and debt service payments — have moved in the direction of recovery, it is clear that many individuals and households continue to struggle with difficult economic and financial conditions," Bernanke said in a prerecorded video speech for a Massachusetts conference.

PARIS -- Dozens of Native American masks were sold at auction Friday despite objections by the Hopi tribe, which considers the items sacred, and the U.S. government. The 70 masks sold for a total of about $1.2 million after a French court approved the auction, rejecting arguments by the Hopi tribe and its supporters that the items should not be up for sale because they are “sacred figures” of their ancestors, not art. A mask called “Mother Crow” sold for about $209,000.

This post has been corrected. See below for details. The gavel came down on 70 sacred Hopi Indian masks at the Drouot auction house in Paris on Friday, generating $1.2 million for the owners and auctioneers - and anger and emotional cries from protesters who said it was a sacrilege that violated tribal rights and the Hopi religion. The Associated Press reported that the auction proceeded after a French court rejected requests from the Hopi tribe and U.S. government to stop the sale; in its ruling, the court said that U.S. laws governing the sale of Native American religious objects are not applicable in France.

Like the offset eyes on a Picasso portrait, the volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io seem to be strangely shifted, according to a study by NASA and ESA scientists. Io's clustered volcanoes seem to be lying 30 to 60 degrees eastward of where they were expected, according to a paper published this year in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The study could shed light on the internal dynamics of Jupiter's volcano-pocked moon. Io's internal heat comes from the kneading it gets from Jupiter and its fellow moons.

Various colored rolls of masking tape are great for entertaining children on long flights or drives. It sticks to most surfaces but doesn't hurt them, and it can be used for everything from tick-tack-toe to tape drawings and sculptures. Betsy Hooper San Gabriel Write an email every day to someone back home and CC yourself. It's a much better way to create a journal. Get your children to do it too. Kathleen Milnes Pacific Palisades Keep a duplicate set of phone chargers in your carry-on bag. Karen Kovach Newport Beach Take pajamas for a long international flight.

The Batman mask worn by George Clooney , the slinky Catwoman suit worn by Halle Berry and other Hollywood film items will be donated to a Smithsonian museum on Friday (today). In an afternoon ceremony in Washington, D.C. , Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer is scheduled to turn over more than 30 artifacts from 13 of his studio's films to the National Museum of American History . The pieces are dominated by superheroes but draw on a little of the studio's past, too. Among the items being donated to the Smithsonian are the overcoat worn by Bette Davis in "Now, Voyager" (1942)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Katherine Webb were hanging out poolside the other day, you know, just waiting for their turns on the high dive. Naturally, the Lakers legend was wearing a Darth Vader mask and ... Huh? You mean there's something unusual about the NBA's all-time leading scorer dressed like a "Star Wars" character spending time at the pool with a beauty queen/Sports Illustrated swimsuit model/"Inside Edition" Super Bowl correspondent/girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron?

The Batman mask worn by George Clooney , the slinky Catwoman suit worn by Halle Berry and other Hollywood film items will be donated to a Smithsonian museum on Friday (today). In an afternoon ceremony in Washington, D.C. , Warner Bros. Chairman Barry Meyer is scheduled to turn over more than 30 artifacts from 13 of his studio's films to the National Museum of American History . The pieces are dominated by superheroes but draw on a little of the studio's past, too. Among the items being donated to the Smithsonian are the overcoat worn by Bette Davis in "Now, Voyager" (1942)

Chris Paul warmed up for Sunday's game against Golden State with a very familiar accessory. A Kobe mask. Paul was hit in the face during the first quarter of Friday's game against San Antonio. A Clippers spokesman said that Paul received an X-ray on Saturday and it revealed that Paul had sustained a nasal fracture. He added that Paul will be wearing the mask for a few weeks. Paul apparently sustained the injury in the first half when he was elbowed by Spurs swingman Danny Green.

It is difficult to tell when Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe is up or down because he is so quiet. But Bledsoe acknowledged he has struggled with his confidence recently. On Sunday against the Boston Celtics, Bledsoe played as if he wasn't having any doubts in his abilities. Bledsoe tied his career high in points with 23 and field goals made at nine - he took 15 shots. He tied his season high in assists with 10, to go along with seven rebounds, in the Clippers' 106-104 loss.

BEIJING - Bad air is good news for many Chinese entrepreneurs. From gigantic domes that keep out pollution to face masks with fancy fiber filters, purifiers and even canned air, Chinese businesses are trying to find a way to market that most elusive commodity: clean air. An unprecedented wave of pollution throughout China (dubbed the "airpocalypse" or "airmageddon" by headline writers) has spawned an almost entirely new industry. The biggest ticket item is a huge dome that looks like a cross between the Biosphere and an overgrown wedding tent.