Roll

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

No, wait, don't turn the page. Yes, I'll admit it. This is yet another column on Tuesday's election in Los Angeles, the race half the city doesn't care about and the other half hasn't heard about, but DO NOT turn the page. OK, I'll give you $5 to read this. All right, make it $10. Would you stay with me for $20 if I promise Randy Newman's going to make a cameo? Sure, you've got your reasons for tuning out. Some of you think Wendy Garcetti and Eric Greuel are the same person, so it doesn't matter which of them is the next mayor.

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.

In exactly one week, Los Angeles will wake up with a newly elected mayor. The lucky leader of 4 million restless campers with cracked sidewalks could be Wendy Greuel, the business-suited Valley kid who worked for Mayor Tom Bradley and President Clinton and would be the first female mayor in city history. Or it could be Eric Garcetti, who seems to have done everything in his 42 years except pitch for the Dodgers and kayak to Borneo, and whose adopted daughter may one day celebrate both a bat mitzvah and a quinceañera . Last week, I wrote about a Greuel visit to Tolliver's barbershop in South Los Angeles, where she was relaxed and sharp in front of a crowd that thinks she's the one. Today I'll report on my outing with her opponent, who, like Greuel, helped create some of the city's problems but now promises to deliver peace and prosperity to one and all. L.A. ELECTIONS 2013: Sign up for our email newsletter When Garcetti walked into a Westwood Village pizza parlor late Monday night, he was not recognized until after he'd selected artichokes, olives, onions and peppers as toppings.

Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the most confounding. Last year, right before Easter, I blogged about how to make a perfect hard-boiled egg. Basic? Yes. Popular? Very. This seemingly simple task received tens of thousands of page views. And, it seemed, almost as many complaints: "But how do you peel them?" Mea culpa. while my method ensures that hard-boiled eggs are never overdone (at last: the cure for the dreaded copper-green ring!), it also can make them harder to shell, because perfectly cooked eggs turn out to be stickier than ones that have been overcooked.

Use this Pilates roll-down exercise to stretch and strengthen your core muscles. Leaning against a flat wall to perform the move helps you hold and maintain a C-curve shape to your spine. Grasp a light dumbbell in each hand and stand with your back against the wall. Your shoulders and hips should touch the wall. Walk your feet forward, bend your knees slightly and firmly press your back into the wall. Let your arms hang below your shoulders. Tuck your chin in toward your throat and begin to roll down until just your lower back and the back of your pelvis remain in contact with the wall.

Enjoy some of the city's best neighborhood destinations on foot, skates or a bike without the threat or hassle of traffic during the next CicLAvia. CicLAvia's newest car-free, fun-filled route will take participants through MacArthur Park, Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, Chinatown and more. Various locations. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun. Free. (213) 365-0605. http://www.ciclavia.org.

Men interested in a permanent form of birth control are turning to an unlikely source for medical advice - "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" correspondent Jason Jones, who televised his vasectomy on Thursday night's program. As Jones describes it, he went to the doctor after suffering for five years from a mysterious malady that caused him to feel lethargic, gain weight and hear voices at night. The stunning diagnosis: "You have children. " And the condition was contagious, Jones explained: "Tragically, through unprotected intercourse, I had spread children to my wife," fellow "Daily Show" correspondent Samantha Bee . “Similar to herpes, you are stuck with children for the rest of you life.” The children the couple already had could not be “cured,” Jones said, but the simple procedure could prevent future “outbreaks.” So he went to Dr. David M. Weiner (yes, that's his real name)

at Dallas 121, Houston 103: Jason Terry scored 24 points, Erick Dampier had 14 points and 20 rebounds and the Mavericks overcame a 17-point deficit. Orlando 93, at Charlotte 81: Dwight Howard had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Vince Carter scored 15 points in his return from a sprained ankle for the Magic. at Miami 90, Washington 76: Dwyane Wade scored 41 points and the Heat remained in first place in the Southeast Division. Gilbert Arenas finished with 21 points, eight assists and 12 turnovers for the Wizards.

‘Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life' ‘A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us (with Bitchin' Soundtrack)' Steve Almond Random House: 240 pp., $23

The Champions League final will feature two German teams for the first time after visiting Bayern Munich completed a surprising 7-0 rout of Barcelona. Playing with a big cushion after a 4-0 win in the first leg at home last week, Bayern beat Barcelona, 3-0, in the second leg Wednesday night on goals by Arjen Robben in the 48th minute and Thomas Mueller in the 76th around Gerard Pique's own goal in the 72nd. Bayern, which relaxed when it saw injured Lionel Messi wasn't in Barcelona's starting lineup, is in the final for the third time in four years and will play Borussia Dortmund at London's Wembley Stadium on May 25. "I think it is a terrific performance, it is a little bit of history," Robben said.

The free giveaways made sense, handed off to all Lakers fans as they entered Staples Center. White towels to wave. The Lakers completed the symbolism by waving the white flag, throwing in the towel, whatever metaphor you chose in a season-ending 103-82 playoff loss Sunday to the San Antonio Spurs. BOX SCORE: San Antonio 103, Lakers 82 Even the fourth-quarter "We Want Phil" chants weren't very forceful as the Lakers got swept in the first round for the first time since 1967.

It's fitting that Ham &; Eggs Tavern , a new rock 'n' roll dive in downtown L.A., is practically next door to the Golden Gopher, Cedd Moses' first foray into manly historic core gentrification a decade ago. Ham &; Eggs harks back to how the downtown bar scene was just before it transformed into L.A.'s new party Babylon: underlighted, weirdly decorated and just cheap enough to get sauced on $20. Now that King Eddy has been revamped, Ham &;...

The Rolling Stones famously expressed their sympathy for the devil, and now they'll get a chance to do the same toward the NBA, as the league's basketball playoffs have shifted what was to be the opening of the band's 50 and Counting tour back a day to May 3. Other dates on the tour, now consisting of 17 dates in 10 cities through June 21, are unaffected. Tickets for the originally announced tour opener on May 2 at Staples Center in Los Angeles will be honored on the new date. Those who cannot attend on May 3 will be able to get refunds at the point of purchase.

David Chan is a third-generation Chinese American who has eaten at 6,297 different Chinese restaurants around the world. Trained as an accountant, he's kept track of every Chinese restaurant he's dined at on an Excel spreadsheet starting in the early 1980s. He grew up with few real Chinese influences. He can't speak Chinese and he has never gotten the hang of chopsticks. But each meal helped bring him that much closer to his culture -- even though he always had to ask for a fork and an English menu.  He was the focus of a Column One -- " 6,297 Chinese restaurants and hungry for more " -- which prompted numerous reader questions.

For $250,000 for a Rolls-Royce Ghost, buyers are probably expecting perfection. It certainly sounds that way on the Rolls-Royce website, where the Ghost family page says, "Nothing should distract from the pleasure of driving Ghost. Nothing does. " Except that Rolls-Royce got the wheel size wrong on 10 of the cars, which subjects them to a recall. According to the finger wagging documentation on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the cars are equipped with 20-inch rims, but 10 of the model year 2012 Ghosts have tire information labels that say they were equipped with 19-inch rims.

The newest innovation at Eagle Creek , the luggage giant, is the versatile Flip Switch Wheeled Backpack 22, great when you're on a roll or hoisting the bag up and down steps. The roomy carry-on-size bag's backpack straps and hip belt can be folded into an external zippered pocket when not needed. Or, to free up that pocket and lighten the load, the straps can be detached and stowed elsewhere. The front-panel suspension system helps with weight distribution. Considering this bag has solid wheels, sturdy rubber bumper guards, a telescoping pull handle, a slew of external and internal pockets, the 6 ½-pound weight seems something of a miracle.

Catalina Island's iconic casino, known as a concert venue for some of America's most famous Big Band orchestras, will rock to the tunes of a different era Saturday during a rock 'n' roll symposium. The event, "The British Invasion Rocks America," is being sponsored by the Catalina Island Museum , and is the opening salvo for a trio of events spotlighting '60s rock. Also in the works: an exhibit at the museum, "Gimme Some Lovin': The Spencer Davis Group," which opens Saturday and runs through Aug. 22; and a Fourth of July fireworks show and concert at the casino that will feature the Spencer Davis and the Catalina All-Stars.

Compton High School has two tennis courts, a coach and now, all the gear it can use, including rackets, balls and even shoes. What's lacking is a team. But that's beginning to change. The school started signing up prospective tennis players last week as a donation of equipment and regulation nets was being unloaded. Curious students approached the tennis court to ask what the commotion was about and left as team members with racket bags filled with gear. "Guess we play tennis now," Tatiarria Hayes, 16, joked with her best friend, Robin Butler, 15, both holding black and green bags.

In its latest effort to generate revenue, Tumblr, one of the most popular social networks among teens and young adults, is selling ads and displaying them on its mobile apps. Much like Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr said it will now show its mobile users "sponsored posts" on its Dashboard news feed. The sponsored posts are blogs that companies have paid to show up in between content posted by Tumblr bloggers. The company told Forbes in January that it was hoping to boost its revenue from $13 million last year to $100 million in 2013.