Plates

Obsession of the moment: Hasami porcelain plates and bowls released in a new matte black finish by the Japanese design importer TGS, or Tortoise General Store, in Venice. The Hasami porcelain is beautiful in its spare simplicity and smart function. The pieces nest nicely for storage. Optional oak lids pair well with the stone bowls and can be used separately as serving trays. TGS co-owner Keiko Shinomoto says  the collection has a nice back story too: It's part of a project in the southern Japanese town of Hasami, where a pottery tradition that dates to 1599 is ailing because of -- can you guess?

After the scoreboard bulbs showing a playoff-eliminating loss were turned off at Honda Center on Sunday, more came to light Tuesday as Ducks players were processed through exit interviews. For one, the team was more banged up than advertised down the stretch. For another, veteran star Teemu Selanne might indeed be swayed to return for a 21st season because of the "unfinished business" after the first-round Stanley Cup playoffs loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Also, General Manager Bob Murray is bent on toughening his team after regular-season and playoff bullying incidents went unchecked, and admitted Tuesday that the Ducks were hamstrung late in the season by injuries.

The rise of the adjusta-bells ( adjustable kettlebelly things) … roywallack@aol.com or 949-854-1363 … Needs a GEAR kicker. The growing popularity of kettle bells, the primitive-looking bowling-balls-with-handles that deliver a great all-body workout, has given rise to similar products with more flexibility. Available now are weight-changeable kettle bells that can be customized to new fitness levels, for different family members or even during a workout — so you don't have to own more than one. Below, find four innovative ways to throw your weight around.

Staff writer Tim Hubbard takes at look at some not-so-likely assets that can help fantasy owners fill the gaps in their lineups. James Loney 1B | Tampa Bay Dodgers fans may not have noticed, or my not want to notice, how productive Loney has been for the Rays. After a mostly disappointing seven years with the Dodgers in which he averaged 10 home runs and 60 RBIs, Loney is leading the American League in hitting at .385. Loney still has low-wattage power, but he has provided solid protection for cleanup hitter Evan Longoria.

Good grip is a good thing. In daily life, you need strong hands, wrists and forearms to hold grocery bags, staircase railings, steering wheels and plenty of other things we take for granted. In athletics, your grip is the last link between you and your sport -- whether it be gymnastics or tennis or rock climbing or ping-pong. New research even says your grip is an indicator of overall body strength -- and also maybe how long you'll live. Bottom line: It pays to keep your grip strong, especially if you play hard or are older than 50, when strength wanes.

Want your kid to eat more fruits and vegetables?  Put together a more attractive plate of food, researchers at Cornell University and London Metropolitan University said Thursday. But here's the thing: The arrangement of food that's most appealing to your child may not be the one that's most appealing to you, they wrote in the journal Acta Paediatrica. In what they called a "preliminary" study, the researchers showed 23 children age 5 to 12 (and in attendence at a summer camp in Ithaca, N.Y.)

While your editorial (Dec. 14), which pointed out the number of delinquent and expired California license plates, may have had some validity, it lacked a total view of all the facts. I speak firsthand--I drove around with expired plates for six months while waiting for the Department of Motor Vehicles to process my registration renewal. I learned that delays of up to four months in the Sacramento office are common. I suspect the California Highway Police are aware of this and therefore are less than strictly enforcing the law. As a postscript, I would like to add that my registration, which took so long to process, was eventually mailed to me. Unfortunately, Sacramento used an incorrect expiration date, and I now have begun the task of setting this error straight.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans see their proposal to emblazon special Texas license plates with the Confederate flag as a way to honor veterans and educate the public. Opponents, including state lawmakers and the NAACP, see the idea as an attempt to glorify a symbol long ago co-opted by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles' nine-member board deadlocked on the issue 4-4 this year when one member was absent. After one of the board members who voted in favor of the license plates died in June, a second vote was postponed until Gov. Rick Perry appointed a replacement, a spokeswoman said.

Motorists who already feel bombarded by digital billboards, freeway advertisements and vinyl-wrapped buses say a new proposal to put ads on license plates is a bad sign. State lawmakers' flirtation with digital license plates moved another step forward Monday as the Assembly Transportation Committee voted 9-0 in favor of a feasibility study to determine if advertising revenue from millions of digital license placards would help close the state's $19.1-billion deficit. Besides bringing in revenue, electronic plates could streamline car registration procedures and quickly notify motorists of hazardous road conditions and AMBER alerts, some officials suggested.

French novelist Victor Hugo is widely quoted as saying that there is "nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come." The time for advertising and sending messages to motorists traveling along California's highways came long before I introduced SB 1453, which The Times pilloried in its July 9 editorial, "What's wrong with this picture?" Blinking, scrolling, flashing billboards already beam advertisements to passing motorists on California's freeways. Vanity and environmental license plates tell motorists who you are, what you like and where you are from.

Every season, Andre Ethier seems to be bothered by something different. His thumb. His knee. His toe. His ankle. But not this season. "I think this is the healthiest I've been in four, five years and the best I've felt every day," the Dodgers outfielder said. "Something's not adding up. " Ethier began Saturday batting .235 with three home runs and 10 runs batted in. Laughing, Ethier recalled how the team's medical services director, Stan Conte , jokingly told him, "Maybe we should slam a hammer on your toe or something and ding you up. " The left-handed-hitting Ethier has historically hit right-handers far better than he has left-handers.

Privacy rights groups on Monday filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County's two major law enforcement agencies after they refused to turn over information collected by electronic license plate scanners, the suit claimed. The Los Angeles Police Department and L.A. County Sheriff's Department have made use of the plate-reading technology for several years. Typically mounted on patrol vehicles, the small cameras continuously scan license plates and check them against criminal databases in search of stolen cars and cars registered to known fugitives.

With the shortstop position being an offensive wasteland for many fantasy teams, Times staff writer Tim Hubbard identifies three players who could provide some help: Jean Segura SS | Milwaukee The young Dominican has had no problem handling major league pitching, hitting .359 through Friday, second among all shortstops. Segura, who had a 50-steal season in the low minors, has stolen seven bases and should score plenty of runs hitting in front of Ryan Braun. Jed Lowrie SS | Oakland Staying on the field had been Lowrie's biggest issue in his first five years in the majors; he has never stayed healthy enough to log 400 at-bats in any season.

Re "State misses out on license plate fees," April 19 The article reports that the state has failed to collect up to $22 million in fees for special license plates. California seems to be missing out on a much larger source of income: unregistered vehicles. State law requires motorists to register their cars in California 20 days after becoming a resident. And yet every day I see cars and trucks with expired registration stickers or license plates from other states. These scofflaws cheat the state out of registration fee revenue and may be driving cars that do not meet our environmental standards.

SACRAMENTO -- California motorists can get specialized license plates with pictures of whales, firefighters and palm trees to benefit certain state programs, but the state auditor said Thursday the state has failed to collect up to $22 million owed for the plates. In addition, state Auditor Elaine Howle found that state agencies that receive money from the special plates have not properly handled the cash. "This report concludes that the State has not collected all revenue due from special plates and has spent some of the special plate revenue on expenditures that were unallowable or unsupported,” Howle wrote to Gov. Jerry Brown.

SACRAMENTO - Californians can buy special license plates featuring pictures of whales, firefighters and palm trees, but the Department of Motor Vehicles has failed to collect up to $22 million from drivers who have them, a new audit shows. The agency appears to have undercharged some people for the plates by nearly $10.2 million, according to the study, released Thursday by state Auditor Elaine Howle. Some fees were set below the level required by the law. DMV officials said they acted "in good faith" in setting the fees, which were created by different pieces of legislation, but said they would review the matter further.

After reading Chris Dufresne's "Second Thoughts" (July 16), all I can say is, it must be awful hard these days to come up with fresh material. Attempting to pass off a page of "make-believe" personalized license plates as a newspaper column was about the lamest excuse for journalism I ever saw. What's next, Chris? Celebrity horoscopes? David Macaray Rowland Heights 2MCHCFEE: Chris Dufresne Rick Wallace Malibu Chris, any idea whose plate this is that is always hanging around sporting events?

Sandra Sandor of Lake Elsinore said she first learned that a murder suspect was sleeping in her home when she turned on the radio Thursday morning. The broadcast described the car and gave the license plate number of murder victim Denise Duerr, 21, of Garden Grove. Authorities had found Duerr's body near the Orange County-Riverside County line on Wednesday afternoon. She had been missing for two days. The radio reported that her car, with its personalized license plate CEEYA 3, still had not been recovered.

It's long been held that North America's rugged and mountainous west was formed by the movement of the undersea Farallon plate, and that the process was roughly similar to the way groceries pile up at the end of a supermarket conveyor belt.  Millions of years ago, when the lands of present-day Nevada and Utah were oceanfront properties, the Farallon tectonic plate began sliding eastward beneath the continent, dragging island chains along with...

' Food and fiction' at Muddy Leek: Starting March 20, Muddy Leek in Culver City will host Tongue and Groove 's poetry collective every third Wednesday of the month. Performances will include short fiction, personal essays, poetry, music, spoken word and more. Tickets to attend the poetry collective at Muddy Leek are $20 and include a grilled cheese and glass of wine or a beer. 8631 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 838-2281, www.muddyleek.com .   St. Supéry wine dinner at Cafe del Rey: On March 21, a wine dinner at Cafe del Rey will feature wines from Napa Valley's family-owned St. Supéry . The four-course, Mediterranean-inspired menu will include lamb meatball skewers, seared sea scallops, stewed rabbit saddle, roasted lamb chop and vanilla spiced pavlova.