"Hollywood legends never die, they just become … ghosts"

. . . Or at least that's what some believe.

Reported ghost sightings of celebrities at their old homes or former haunts date to the silent era. That spirited chapter of Hollywood continues today on websites, in books such as "Ghosts of Hollywood" by Marla Brooks and Jeff Dwyer's "Ghost Hunter's Guide to Los Angeles," and countless paranormal investigation series on cable television, including SyFy's "Ghost Hunters" and Biography's "Celebrity Ghost Stories," which features stars talking about their close encounters of a spirited kind



Montgomery Clift

The four-time Oscar-nominated actor, who died in 1966 at age 45, stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt during the production of "From Here to Eternity," the Oscar-winning best picture for 1953. He must have enjoyed the digs, because he still is staying there, according to paranormal investigators.

Clift rented Room 928 for three months in 1952 and was known to pace up and down the hallway reciting his lines and also practicing the bugle for his role as the ill-fated Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt in the adaptation of James Jones' novel. Some guests say they have heard the sound of a bugle in the hallway; other visitors staying on the ninth floor have gone so far as to check out in the middle of the night, complaining of loud noises emanating from Clift's room — the really eerie thing was that no one was staying in Clift's room on those occasions.




Marilyn Monroe

The sex symbol, who died tragically in 1962 at age 36 of an overdose of sleeping pills, also tends to make "appearances" in multiple locations, including frequent visits to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where the ghost of many a star has been said to appear. Monroe's reflection has often been reported appearing in a full-length mirror that used to grace her cabana, Suite 246. The mirror is now near the elevators in the historical hotel's lower level. And fans believe that a ghost floating above her crypt at Westwood Memorial Park belongs to her.



Rudolph Valentino

The Italian-born silent heartthrob of 1921's "The Sheik" and 1926's "Son of the Sheik" died at age 31 in New York City on Aug. 23, 1926. Though his career was short-lived, his afterlife has endured for 85 years. In fact, according to Hollywood ghost lore, Valentino is one of the busiest spirits in Hollywood; even the ghost of his beloved Great Dane, Kabar, who died three years after his master, has been known to lick hands of those who pass his grave at the L.A. Pet Memorial Park in Calabasas.

Valentino supposedly haunted his Beverly Hills mansion, Falcon Lair, which was bulldozed in 2006. According to ex-wife Natacha Rambova, who maintained that she was in contact with him in the afterlife, Valentino refused to believe he was dead, so he wouldn't leave the premises, visiting the corridors, his bedroom and his stables. Veteran actor Harry Carey claimed to have come into contact with Valentino's ghost after he bought the mansion.

His ghost also supposedly has appeared at a vintage Hollywood apartment complex named Valentino Place that was the site of a speak-easy the actor frequented. Other locations where the ghost of Valentino has been "spotted" include a beach house in Oxnard that was his home during the filming of "The Sheik," a room at the Santa Maria Inn on the Central Coast and the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood.

Valentino is buried in a crypt at Hollywood Forever, and his ghost supposedly has been spotted next door at Paramount, where the actor used to work. According to reports by security guards and others on the lot, Valentino "visits" the studio dressed all in white in his "Sheik" costume.

Remember when the only "special effects" was talent ???

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

On Climate Change

London Bridge's 40th year

How can a bridge built in 1831 be turning 40? It's a bit of a trick question. The bridge is London Bridge on this side of the pond, and the 40th hoopla marks the year it was brought from England and carefully re-created in the Arizona desert.

If you've never seen it, now might be a good time to take a gander. The waterfront London Bridge Resort in Lake Havasu City marks the landmark's 40th year.

Mellah of Tazart

Karl Gerber of Los Angeles visited Morocco in 2007, venturing off the beaten path to explore Mellah of Tazart, a ghost town about 250 miles south of Marrakesh. The town was abandoned after the region dried up.

"historic village"

The historic center of Craco was first developed between the 9th and 10th centuries B.C., and the tall watchtower that hovers above this rocky village was built in 1000 A.D. The village has been abandoned since 1991, when a landslide forced out its remaining residents.

Iquique

Iquique (pronounced Ee-kee-keh) is a commercial hub with a big port serving northern Chile and Bolivia; its beaches have a reputation for being Chile’s best. If arriving from the Andean High Plateau the traveler may be worried about the weather by the ocean, especially during the winter; however, the area’s weather is mild during the entire year. Moreover, also the wild sun radiation on the plateau disappears once the seashore is reached.

The "wickedest town in the West"

BODIE, Calif. — Goodby God, I'm going to Bodie. --From 1881 diary of little girl moving with her parents to the"wickedest town in the West."

Howling winds bellowed down the mountain into town, flapping shingles on weathered homes and stores, tugging at walls and windows with fierce force, hurling dust through empty streets.

Nobody was home. Nobody but a park ranger is ever home in Bodie, abandoned since the 1930s.

Above the town, on Bodie Bluff, the wind had a different sound, a gusty sonorous whine mixed with the unceasing hum of three drilling rigs.

It is the discordant noise from the drilling rigs and the sight of mining equipment and trucks on the hill hovering over Old Bodie that has many people upset.

Ironically, fears are being voiced that this remote Mono County ghost town may be damaged or devastated by the very thing that created it--gold mining--and by the very family that fought to save it for posterity. Click on the heading above for more.

"montaña rusa"

PortAventura theme park in Spain plans to debut a record-setting $35-million mountain climbing-themed roller coaster in spring 2012 featuring a series of camelback hills, pitch-black tunnels and a water element.

The roller coaster, or "montaña rusa" in Spanish, is expected to be named after the mythical Tibetan kingdom of Shambhala, according to Roller Coaster Database.

Some things are eternal . . .

God might be dead, but the Great Pumpkin will live forever. That’s one of many important life-lessons you learn from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the iconic Peanuts Halloween special in which Linus preaches his suspicious belief system to a community of big-headed skeptics. There is a lot to love about this special — the jazzy score, the gorgeously minimal animation, the lengthy tangent in which Snoopy play-acts a World War I melodrama (complete with an extended piano sequence that can only be described as Lynchian). But there’s one thing thing that sets Great Pumpkin apart from all other Halloween specials: It never tries to be scary. There are no spooky monsters, no shocks, nothing to make you afraid of the dark. There’s just a little boy, alone in a pumpkin patch, trying to fight away the creeping suspicion that humanity is actually alone in the universe. Actually, now that we think about it, that’s really scary. Join us as we read entirely too much into the story of a boy and his best friend: a pumpkin who doesn’t exist.

"Top Secret"

SEA SHADOW was built in the mid-1980s by Lockheed in the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1) in Redwood City, CA. The vehicle is 160-ft. long, 70-ft. wide, displaces 560 tons and has a draft of 14 ft. It has a maximum speed of approximately 13 knots and is powered by a twin screw diesel electronic drive. The ship has a maximum speed of 14 knots and is capable of operating in Sea State 5 (extremely rough) conditions. The vehicle cost approximately $50 million to build and the total test program was approximately $195 million over roughly 10 years. It was owned by the Navy and operated by LMSC personnel.

On 11 April 1993 Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. and the US Navy began daylight testing of SEA SHADOW off the coast of Southern California - the first time the craft was revealed to the public. Prior to that, all ship testing had been conducted at night, with the SEA SHADOW returning to the Hughes Mining Barge prior to daylight.

a “ham-and-Swiss-cheese sandwich of white-bread Modernism with a filling of L.A. funk"

No one may have asked architect Stephen Kanner if he designed the whimsically skewed Harvard Apartments to annoy the neighbors, but after nearly 20 years, the 14-unit building punched with odd windows in Koreatown is doing just that.

“We all dislike it,” says Craig Lander, right, standing with a gaggle of his neighbors at the building next door, a 1937 structure called the French Chateau, which fronts James M. Wood Boulevard. Encircled by the French Chateau's balustrades, ornamental parapets, bay windows and soaring turrets, Lander says his neighbors call the 1992 Harvard Apartments “the Swiss cheese building.” He adds that the Harvard doesn’t complement the area’s other structures.

“Maybe if it was painted one solid color, like gray,” Lander says, “it would be more attractive.”

Architecture writer Leon Whiteson differed in his 1993 Times article, calling the Harvard Apartments “an act of sheer delight.” He termed the design a “vivid fusion of seriousness and lightness.”

Architect Kanner said his client asked for a “building that was more than just another box.” Kanner said he delivered a “ham-and-Swiss-cheese sandwich of white-bread Modernism with a filling of L.A. funk."

Kanner, who died last year at age 54 from pancreatic cancer, bemoaned “the incredible sameness” of clients and architecture and “vanilla firms where profits are everything.” Many agreed, and the Harvard Apartments won awards, including the Distinguished Building Honor Award from the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

"the historic Russian State Academic Bolshoi Theatre reopened"

After six years of a painstaking $700-million-plus restoration that was plagued by financial scandals, the historic Russian State Academic Bolshoi Theatre reopened Friday with a gala concert attended by politicians and celebrities from all over the world.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the gala, which was broadcast live on a screen outside the theater, on Russian television, the Internet and in movie theaters in 36 countries. Top Russian and foreign opera and ballet stars, including Violeta Urmana, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Natalie Dessay, performed in the two-hour long concert. The exterior of the theater was elaborately illuminated in different designs.

"Welcome to My Nightmare"

Boa constrictor snakes, black widowspiders, guillotine decapitations, electrifying electrocutions, sadistic insane asylums. Welcome toAlice Cooper's walk-through nightmare. The "Alice Cooper: Welcome to my Nightmare" maze at Halloween Horror Nights 2011 turns the shock-rocker's songs, characters and theatrical concerts into a walk-through haunted attraction.

The maze takes visitors through the abandoned home and recurring nightmares of Steven, a semi-autobiographical character in Alice Cooper songs.

A horror movie-style soundtrack will feature a mash-up of tunes from the Alice Cooper songbook, including the 1975 concept album "Welcome to My Nightmare."

Looking for a new generation of readers

Cash registers should be whirring happily this holiday season with sales of Apple's iPad, Amazon's Kindle Fire and other computer tablets. If the wave of buyers behave anything like those who went before, they'll be spending a lot of time on their new gadgets following the news.

But how best to capture, and profit from, the latest digital phenomenon? Most news companies have placed their bets on building customized tablet applications. Remold your content, produce catchy tablet-specific features and a new generation of readers and advertisers will follow. Or so the theory goes.

Above: The Philadelphia Media Network's Arnova 10 G2 tablet computer. (Akira Suwa, MCT / September 12, 2011)

Sushil Kumar wins big !!!

Sushil Kumar, 27, left, is presented with his approximately $1-million prize by Indian actor and game-show host Amitabh Bachchan on the Indian version of the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" television quiz in Mumbai this week.

(AFP/Getty Images / October 28, 2011)

"125th anniversary"

The United States celebrated the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty on Friday with the naturalization of 125 new citizens from 46 nations, a ceremony of unity that temporarily put aside the political and geographical changes associated with the contentious issue of immigration.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar kicked off the daylong celebration with a speech praising immigrants for bringing diversity to the nation, thus strengthening it. Other scheduled highlights included hooking up Internet webcams on the statue to let viewers gaze out from Liberty island onto New York Harbor, a salute from a small flotilla of boats and, later, a fireworks display.

"Along the Sierra Nevada's famed Trail of 100 Giants"

Along the Sierra Nevada's famed Trail of 100 Giants, the mammoth sequoia had stood sentry since King Arthur's knights gathered at the Round Table.

It witnessed the arrival of the first European settlers and the flurry of miners in search of gold. The onset of the Medieval Warm Period and the passing of the Little Ice Age. It stood, unperturbed, through the Great War and the one that followed.

Then a month ago, as a handful of amazed tourists looked on, it toppled — crushing a bridge over a small stream and blocking the path.

Now, the U.S. Forest Service must decide what to do.

Slice a big hole in the 300-foot-long roadblock? Go around it? Over it? Under it?

When you're dealing with a 1,500-year-old sequoia in a national monument, the questions aren't just logistical. They're environmental, emotive and potentially legal.

Officials closed the popular tourist trail, cleared the debris and solicited ideas from the public on how to deal with the fallen giant — actually two trees fused at the base.

Among the 30 or so suggestions: Reroute the trail. Tunnel under the trunks. Carve steps and build a bridge over them. Sell what would be one heck of a lot of firewood.

"the nation’s newest weather satellite"

A Delta 2 rocket climbed into incredibly clear skies above Vandenberg Air Force Base early Friday, carrying the nation’s newest weather satellite to orbit along with hopes that this won’t be the last launch for the workhorse space booster.

The 12-story-tall rocket built by United Launch Alliance lifted off at 2:48 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-2 for a $1.5 billion mission to ferry NASA’s NPOESS Preparatory Project, or NPP, satellite into space.

“The flight went terrific,” said Tim Dunn, NASA launch director. “We’ve just confirmed spacecraft separation — a lot of celebration in the control room right now — but overall a great performance of the rocket.”

"Mysterious Doctor Satan"

Mysterious Doctor Satan is a 1940 film serial named after its chief villain. Doctor Satan's main opponent is The Copperhead, a masked mystery man secretly Bob Wayne.

The serial charts the conflict between the two as Bob Wayne searches for justice and revenge while Doctor Satan completes his plans for world domination.

It was directed by the legendary directorial team of William Witney and John English. Doctor Satan is played by Edward Ciannelli and Bob Wayne by Robert Wilcox.

Governor Bronson, who raised Bob Wayne from childhood after the death of his parents, is killed at the hands of a world-domination-seeking mad scientist called Doctor Satan. Fearing that his death might be at hand,as it has been for everyone else who had opposed the Doctor, the Governor first confides in Bob with a secret about his past. Bob's father was really an outlaw in the Old West, who fought injustice while wearing a chainmail cowl and leaving small coiled copper snakes as his calling card.

Following his guardian's death, Wayne decides to adopt his outlaw father's "Copperhead" persona, donning his father's cowl. Doctor Satan, meanwhile, requires only a remote control device invented by Professor Scott to complete his army of killer robots and gain all the power and riches he desires.

The Copperhead fights Doctor Satan, rescuing the Professor and others and preventing the Doctor from completing his plot.

Duncan Renaldo "The Cisco Kid"

Legend of The Cisco Kid


"The Cisco Kid," badmen knew his name.

His gun was feared by those who played a lawless game.

His fists were fast, furious and hard as steel.

His stare was deep, dark and made badmen reel.

With his trusted companion Pancho by his side.

On his steed Diablo he would ride.

He fought the injustice and persecution of the innocent and the poor.

His goal was to see that they would suffer no more.

"The Robin Hood of the Range," he was called by his friends.

Their devotion to him would reach no end.

He was a true Mexican Caballero he knew it from the start.

Oh! how his people loved him and felt it in their heart.

You may bite the bride

When Jacqueline Seidel, top left, and Dan Lubitz, top right, decided to get married after 25 years, they wanted something different. They found it with a horror-themed wedding at Viva Las Vegas chapel, complete with flying vampires and Count Dracula as the officiant.

(Kalin Ivanov / October 26, 2011)

"Dusk-to-Dawn Horrorthon"

Horror fans and insomniacs alike should appreciate the American Cinematheque's sixth annual Dusk-to-Dawn Horrorthon, an all-night movie program complete with free snacks, giveaways, special trailers and shorts, and other surprises. The lineup includes "Pet Sematary," "Videodrome" and "Just Before Dawn." Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. 7:30 p.m. Sat.-7:30 a.m. Sun. $20.

http://www.americancinematheque.com

"new homey"

The new Trader Joe's in Montrose is scheduled to open Friday. The 14,670-square-foot store boasts more spacious aisles, higher ceilings and a trim brick-and-glass exterior but can Trader Joe's stay homey as it grows ???

(Gary Friedman, Los Angeles Times)

THE 2012 Scion iQ

THE 2012 Scion iQ stretches out just a tenth of an inch beyond 10 feet long, but it packs some slick engineering into that short space. Maybe too much slick engineering.

The iQ’s cleverness is most obvious in how Toyota engineers managed to shove seats for four passengers into a shell that’s 26.5 inches shorter than a two-door Mini Cooper. That was accomplished with neat tricks like a compact ventilation system that nestles as a single unit behind the center dash panel; the shape of the dash itself, which is recessed on the passenger side to provide a few more inches of space; front passenger seat tracks that are set forward a bit, relative to the driver’s seat, for more rear legroom; and very thin seats.

But the rear seat is tiny, best reserved for a single third passenger sprawled crossways. Even then, that passenger will be able to tolerate only short trips. And when the second-row seat is in use, only 3.5 cubic feet of cargo space remains. In fact, the rear seat is so close to the rear window that this is the first car with a back window air bag to cushion rear-passenger brainpans in a crash.

"clear potential for greatness"

I am now officially excited for this. When it was announced that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson would be teaming up for Tintin some weren’t that interested as the property isn’t that well known in the US, but with input from both Spielberg, Jackson, and writers Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) there is clear potential for greatness.

"Smoke and Mirrors"

"Smoke and Mirrors," about a man, his bunny, and lots of magic, written by and starring Albie Zelznick, opens Saturday at the Santa Monica Playhouse, 1211 Fourth St., Santa Monica. Performances, Saturdays at 7 and 10 pm. Tickets: $30. Call (800) 595-4849 or go to smokeandmirrors.me.

Newsstand surviving in digital age

Kay and Tom Nam have owned Current Events in Manhattan Beach for 13 years. The shop, located at 1140 Highland, has struggled in recent years due to the economy and digital revolution.

Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian

Our Hometown - 100 Years of Sun, Sand and Sea

Manhattan Beach, the hometown that we know and love, was officially incorporated in December 1912 and has a storied history that will be celebrated leading up to our Centennial in 2012. In its earliest days, the area was developed by several competing land companies. One major owner, George Peck, called his tracts "Shore Acres." John Merrill called his section "Manhattan Beach," after the famous resort in New York. According to another developer, Frank Daugherty, Peck and Merrill flipped a coin to determine a single name, and Manhattan Beach won.

From that time, Manhattan Beach has developed into a place that is truly special for residents and visitors alike. The beautiful beaches and year-round sunshine provide an ideal setting for the home of beach volleyball, visiting our iconic Pier, surfing or simply strolling along the strand! Beyond this beautiful ocean front, Manhattan Beach is a small, yet sophisticated, city that has it all. A city of lovely homes on tree lined streets, extraordinary schools, dining and shopping destinations to suit every taste, fine places of worship, excellent civic organizations, wonderful parks and friendly people at every turn.

"Sweeney Todd School Edition in the James Armstrong Theatre"

The South Bay Conservatory presents Sweeney Todd School Edition in the James Armstrong Theatre, Friday 10/28 at 7:30pm and Saturday, 10/29 at 2pm and 7:30pm.

Tickets are $17/$15.

Call the box office at 310-781-7171.

REDONDO BEACH PIER & INTERNATIONAL BOARDWALK

A favorite location for dining, snacking over the ocean or just walking through the shops and buying souvenires, the Redondo Beach Pier is a popular local and tourist attraction. Sport fishing from the end of the pier is a popular event and there is no fishing license requirement. In the summer there are weekly concerts and special events. Just North of the Pier is the famous International Boardwalk with the Largest Amusement Center on the Coast which includes the Fun Fish Market Restaurant, Fish Markets, shops, eateries and gift shops line the International boardwalk and the area connects the Pier with the harbor.

Coming to Redondo Beach

Pictured is a rendering of what Harbor Drive in Redondo Beach might look like with a new bike path. City Council adopted the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan and the Vitality City Livability Plan last week.

(image courtesy of Healthways Blue Zones Vitality City and Todd Clements)

German Epic

The American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood celebrated its 89th birthday Tuesday evening with a rare gift: the Los Angeles premiere of the recently restored version of Ernst Lubitsch's 1922 German epic, "The Loves of Pharaoh." Robert Israel conducted a 16-piece orchestra playing the original score by renowned opera composer Eduard Künneke.

"one of the best stealth-action games ever made"

Hyperbole can be venomous to a review's credibility. Any insightful merit which a video game critique may possess seemingly goes out the window as soon as the reviewer starts dropping bombs like "best game ever" or "literally mindblowing" or "it will birth you anew in its magnificence." Perhaps it is because we've all heard these phrases -- save for that last one -- so many times that they've lost their currency with us.

Rest assured, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that Batman: Arkham Asylum is unquestionably the best licensed game I've ever played. At the end of the day, however, that's a fairly low hurdle to clear -- it better reflects the game's quality to say it's one of the best stealth-action games ever made.

(Review by Griffin McElroy)

"Where in the World is Matt Lauer?"

NEW YORK - Matt Lauer, above, is adding to his frequent-flier miles.

NBC's "Today" show said Monday it will revive its popular "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?" feature for a week starting Nov. 7. Lauer last hit the road in 2008.

Lauer has shown up in Laos, on Mount Everest, in Peru, on an oil rig, in Australia, in Istanbul and by the pyramids in Egypt, among other locations. Viewers and co-workers aren't clued in until each morning's show.

He's logged 248,166 miles in travel for the feature.

"this honor guard ceremony attracts more than 300, 000 visitors every year"

South Korean honor guard soldiers perform during training for a weekly performance at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 8, 2011. Their performances in the honor guard ceremony attract more than 300, 000 visitors every year.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Ready, Aim, Attire: The Silliest Military Uniforms Ever

These South Korean Honor Guards proudly don Crayola Crayon-inspired outfits, complete with trumpets and peacock feathers, at the Honor Guard Ceremony in the War Memorial of Korea. In the summertime, these ceremonies are held every Friday and Saturday

"Biophilia"

Björk's seventh album hits stores Tuesday as not just a collection of MP3s or a compact disc. The best way to experience "Biophilia" is to download it as a free iPad, iTouch or iPhone app, then purchase apps for the individual tunes. In this way, you not only get an animated version of evanescent songs with nature-oriented names such as "Solstice" and "Virus" but you also get a game that allows players to manipulate musical elements, a vocal-less score for esoteric karaoke nights, an essay explaining the history and meaning of each tune and, yes, lyrics. These are liner notes to the nth degree.

Leave it to Björk Gudmundsdóttir — punk-rock wild child, early-bird adapter, Icelandic imagineer — to mine the multitudinous possibilities of information-rich gadgetry and reinvent the album as a transformative transmedia experience.

The "X Factor"

The morning after "The X Factor's" American premiere last month, Simon Cowell got a call from his agent at Creative Artists Agency.

The ratings were nowhere near the monster hit Cowell himself had predicted, but the agent believed that if the 12 million or so people who turned up for the premiere kept tuning in, the show would be fine. "But if you go down by 30% tonight, you're dead," Cowell remembered his agent adding ominously.

Nearly a month later, "X Factor" still doesn't look ready to slay Cowell's old employer, "American Idol," in the TV-singing-competition grudge match. That's an important personal and professional point for Cowell, who has a famously bitter rivalry with "Idol" creator Simon Fuller. Cowell left his ultra-lucrative judging perch at that Fox hit to star in and produce the U.S. "Factor" on the same network.

But "Factor" is nevertheless off to a consistent if not spectacular start in a crowded fall marketplace, despite nettlesome interruptions from postseason baseball. A rain delay for a postseason game necessitated a last-minute scheduling switch that ended up bumping Thursday's show to Sunday. Tuesday's airing will be the last before the World Series further disrupts the schedule.

"beyond Earth’s confines"

Las Cruces, N.M., officially joined the list of the nation’s major space centers Monday when a newly completed terminal and hangar facility was turned over to British billionaire Richard Branson and his commercial space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic.

The company aims to launch paying customers beyond Earth’s confines from the new $209-million futuristic-looking facility, named Spaceport America.

"primary habitat on the sea ice"

Warmer temperatures are shrinking the Polar Bears’ primary habitat on the sea ice, making them a focal point in the debate over greenhouse gas emissions. Conservationists argue there is no way to ensure the bears’ survival unless their biggest threat -- global warming -- is attacked, perhaps thousands of miles from where the bears live.

"a chronicler of the ages"

They feature some of the nation’s most famous players, managers, owners, stadiums and even presidents. There are pictures of elephants, bears and tigers, as well as cartoons of babies and spacemen. Some graphics are Baroque, while others scream Art Deco.

The World Series program has been a chronicler of the ages, a mirror not only of baseball’s biggest stage, but also of the game’s link to the world wars, the Great Depression and the optimism of the space age.

Starting Wednesday, fans in St. Louis will get their hands on the latest in a line of programs that date to the first modern World Series, in 1903. They will spend $15 for a glossy volume of about 300 pages that is stuffed with articles about their team’s favorite players and their opponent’s. It will include seven blank scorecards — one for each game — for those who track each inning by hand.

Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

The Sage Gateshead (Gateshead, England)

Oscar Niemeyer Museum. (Curitiba, Brazil)