Meridian

The kid from Binghamton, N.Y., who spent 50 cents a week buying art supplies at Babcock's hardware store and fantasized about being a commercial artist is grown up now. Although Walter Alex Smyk never became the commercial artist of his dreams, the urge to find an outlet for his creative expression still burns fiercely--even as a millionaire developer.

THE first page of Chet Raymo's new book states its grand objective: " 'Walking Zero' is about the epic struggle to understand cosmic space and time." He approaches this task in signature Raymo manner -- by conceiving a modest premise that looks arbitrary, even whimsical, but turns out to be artfully composed to nurture his theme. He walks the line of zero longitude, called the prime meridian, across southeastern England. Why?

THE first page of Chet Raymo's new book states its grand objective: " 'Walking Zero' is about the epic struggle to understand cosmic space and time." He approaches this task in signature Raymo manner -- by conceiving a modest premise that looks arbitrary, even whimsical, but turns out to be artfully composed to nurture his theme. He walks the line of zero longitude, called the prime meridian, across southeastern England. Why?

The West is an exquisite corpse. "There was nothing to see in the land in the way of a flower," remarked Georgia O'Keeffe when she first saw the high desert of northern New Mexico. "There were just dry white bones." A cow's skull floating in the sky became the painter's most enduring image. But there was nothing ethereal about the boneyard. It was the ruinous outcome of Depression-era drought, made all the more lethal by overstocking and overgrazing an arid land.

Some of South Pasadena's streets are in terrible condition, particularly Huntington, Fremont and Meridian. Why not use some of their anti-Long Beach Freeway funds and repair existing surface streets? JOHN C. HALL Alhambra

My friend Bill Edmundson of South Pasadena has discovered the "missing link" that can solve the Long Beach Freeway dilemma. He says that his plan will save about half a billion dollars. Here's the scoop: Convert Meridian Avenue into a four-lane, one-way highway heading south; convert Fremont Avenue into a four-lane, one-way highway heading north. The lanes are already there. The only catch is that you'll need a bucket of paint to slop in the new arrows, and that's going to set you back $5. East-west crossings on the two highways would be blocked off except for main arteries with traffic lights.

As an American Jewish child of the 1960s, I was prompted by the synagogue bombings in Jackson and Meridian, Miss., to act on my terror and fear ("White Knights, Dark Hearts," by Jack Nelson, Jan. 10). I sent a $5 donation to the rabbi in Meridian for the synagogue's rebuilding, along with a request for the rabbi to acquaint me with a pen pal, a boy or girl my age from whom I could learn more about what it meant to be a Jew living in Mississippi. Years later, upon graduation from college, I went to Mississippi, where I was the guest of my pen pal and his family.

The Meridian Condominiums have almost everything--marble bathrooms, two health clubs, a swimming pool, a fourth-floor park of purple-leaf plum trees, and capacious high-rise homes with bay views selling for up to $1.4 million. But all-news radio? Forget it. The Meridian is hostile territory for AM radio--a fact brought home to Meridian denizen Shirl Stoller recently.

Leslie H. of Phoenix recently wrote to us with the following question: "Do ionic foot baths really remove toxins through the feet? I'm skeptical." Skeptical? You've come to the right place. Ionic foot baths are a "detoxifying" treatment that have become popular at health fairs, alternative health clinics and spas. Many companies also sell ionic foot baths online for home use. Wherever they show up, ionic foot baths follow the same basic approach to detoxification. Users stick their feet in a basin of salt water that's buzzing with a small electric charge from two submerged electrodes.

With the partial exception of Bartletts, great locally grown pears are scarce at farmers markets in Southern California, where warm winters and disease render cultivation problematic. This makes it all the more special that Al Courchesne of Frog Hollow Farm, a rock star organic fruit grower from Brentwood, Calif., an hour east of San Francisco, will make a cameo appearance the next two Wednesdays at the Santa Monica farmers market to sell his legendary Warren pears. Arguably the most delicious pear variety in the world, praised by the likes of Alice Waters, Martha Stewart Living and Oprah Winfrey, the Warren combines the best features of its ancestors, with the intensely sweet, rich, spicy flavor of Seckel, and the larger size and voluptuous juiciness of Comice.

"The 2000 Talley Estate Chardonnay. It's a small winery and doing a fantastic job. I like the richness of it, the balance of the fruit and the oak--it doesn't have too much oak or malolactic fermentation--and the nice creamy texture. [It has] lots of ripe honeydew melon or peaches, those flavors. Sometimes Chardonnays get heavy-handed and too big."

Once upon a time, there was a magical world with quaint medieval villages, wizards, dragons, epic battles and romances, but it all came to an end--on Aug. 31, 2000. That's when the plug got pulled on "Meridian 59," the first and much beloved online game where people from around the globe could meet to play out elaborate fantasy scenarios or just check in with friends, the vast majority of whom they would never meet in real life. The world of Meridian was shut down by game giant 3DO Co.

California venture capital investor Keith Joon Kim was criminally charged with insider trading in Meridian Data Inc. shares based on information he gleaned from a club for company presidents, federal authorities said Monday. In separate cases, federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Kim learned about negotiations by Quantum Corp.

Last year was a rough one for most growth-stock mutual funds, but some managed to quietly rack up gains. The Times screened Morningstar Inc.'s database (http://www.morning star.com) to find growth funds that not only performed well last year, but also have done so consistently.

This town-turned-suburb, which makes Rudyard Kipling a liar and bears a measure of blame for all the world's shrieking alarm clocks, looks innocent enough. Built around a handful of historic buildings and an immaculate grassy park, it lies 15 minutes by train from London's Charing Cross station, an hour down the River Thames by tour boat. For a Londoner or a city-weary tourist, it's an easy day trip.

Ocean Energy Inc. and United Meridian Corp. agreed to merge in a deal that would create the nation's ninth-largest oil and gas exploration company. Ocean Energy, based in Baton Rouge, La., has the majority of its holdings in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Gulf Coast. United Meridian's most promising properties are off the coast of Africa, though it also has holdings in the U.S. Gulf.

Ocean Energy Inc. and United Meridian Corp. agreed to merge in a deal that would create the nation's ninth-largest oil and gas exploration company. Ocean Energy, based in Baton Rouge, La., has the majority of its holdings in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Gulf Coast. United Meridian's most promising properties are off the coast of Africa, though it also has holdings in the U.S. Gulf.

The general manager of Meridian Foods, a Ventura-based processor of soups and vegetables, has bought the company, saving its 50 employees from possible relocation or a mass layoff. Several out-of-town firms had expressed interest in purchasing Meridian from its owner, the financially troubled California Bean Growers Assn., before general manager Henry Knaust made a successful bid.

Grim-faced despite sparkling blue skies, tens of thousands of evacuees returned to their homes across Northern California on Sunday, finding hungry pets, ruined heirlooms, sodden sofas and carpets layered with mud from floods that have devastated a huge swath of the state since New Year's Day. Wielding brooms and hoses, the flood victims spent a long day mopping up what rain-swollen rivers had wrought over the past week--and somehow found time to marvel at the kindness of those who were spared.

The general manager of Meridian Foods, a Ventura-based processor of soups and vegetables, has bought the company, saving its 50 employees from possible relocation or a mass layoff. Several out-of-town firms had expressed interest in purchasing Meridian from its owner, the financially troubled California Bean Growers Assn., before general manager Henry Knaust made a successful bid.