MusiCares to salute Barbra Streisand

The Recording Academy has chosen Barbra Streisand as its MusiCares person of the year in conjunction with the 2011 Grammy Awards and will salute her musical and philanthropic achievements Feb. 11 with an all-star fundraising dinner and concert featuring Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Kristin Chenoweth and others.

Along with such pop, jazz and Broadway veterans, the event also will bring in a new generation of singers, with appearances by cast members from Fox TV's hit series "Glee," including Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Darren Criss. Eight-time Grammy-winner Streisand also will perform at the close of the program.

Previous MusiCares honorees include Bennett, Wonder, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Brian Wilson, Bono, Bonnie Raitt, Luciano Pavarotti and Neil Young. Proceeds from the annual event benefit various MusiCares programs for musicians in need.

—Randy Lewis

"silence is music for me"

Friday evening, as Christmas lights glittered outside the window of his Central Park hotel suite, Andrea Bocelli was doing his best to explain himself in English. At his side was gracious Italian translator Maria Galetta, ready to help out. But the singer remained determined to find the right words himself.

Ten years ago, at a peak of his international stardom, Bocelli wrote an ingratiating memoir. He frankly described his blindness, the pains and prejudices he confronted as a kid, and the years he scraped by as a piano singer in bars and clubs in his native Tuscany. Why had he called his book "The Music of Silence"?

Bocelli, 52, furrowed his brow and leaned forward. He was unshaven and wearing a white-knit sweater, open at the neck. He had a day off from his Christmas tour, which arrives Friday at Staples Center, and had the look of a perennial performer glad to be free for a moment from his tailored suits and image. A seriousness took hold.

"First, silence is part of music," he said slowly in English. "In the scores, the pauses are very important. Second, because in our society, what we really miss is the silence. We live in a society full of big sounds, big confusion, big mess, you know? Everywhere there is music, in the elevator, in the restaurant, in the cars, at theaters. Cars, they make noise, the engines. There's no place where we can feel the peace of silence. For this reason I discovered that silence is music for me."

Stephen Kanner exhibit at L. A.'s Architecture and Design Museum

In Los Angeles Stephen Kanner’s Canyon View Office/Guesthouse project from 2004 seemingly blends into its woodsy environment.

(Photo by John Linden)

Realistic masks a reality

In October, a young Chinese man who wanted asylum in Canada disguised himself as an elderly white man, using an SPFX mask, and slipped past airport security in Hong Kong, He was taken into custody in Vancouver.

(Canada Border Services / Reuters)

Parades of Light

An unperturbed Santa Claus floats along during the 99th annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade in 2007. Boat parades dot the coast this month.

(Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times / December 12, 2007)

"Osama-like terrorist fuels thriller's plot"

OK, so apart from those genuinely saintly souls sent by Providence as examples to the rest of us, is there anyone with a pulse in this country who wouldn't like to see Osama bin Laden dead? Should he yet fall into our hands, even this writer — an implacable opponent of capital punishment — sees no reason to take the evil SOB alive.

That's the animating fantasy at the heart of Tom Clancy's sprawling but propulsive new thriller, "Dead or Alive," his 15th novel since he exploded like a cluster bomb onto bestseller lists with "The Hunt for Red October" in 1984. In recent years, his equally sprawling $100-million book, film and game empire has come to rely increasingly on "collaborators," one of whom — Grant Blackwood, a veteran of Clive Cussler's similar operation — is credited here. Still, this latest book, like the most interesting of Clancy's work, has a tendency to both pander to popular fantasy (in this case, revenge) and, simultaneously, to play against it with hard-headed insights into the real world of military and intelligence operations. It's a fruitful tension that lends his books a quirky, appealing unpredictability that sometimes can survive even the author's eye-rolling politics.

Click on the heading above for the full review by Tim Rutten.

"Birds of America" -- the $10 million book

' Naturalist John James Audubon's "Birds of America" sold at auction in London on Tuesday for $10 million, making it the world's most expensive book.

The book, which was sold by the auction house Sotheby's, was purchased by an anonymous telephone bidder.

"Birds of America" is oversize — more than 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide — with 435 illustrations. When first published in 1827, the images were printed in black and white and then hand-colored by specialists. The combination of accuracy and artistry make Audubon's work unique.

A much smaller, low-resolution — but entirely free — version of "Birds of America" is on view on the Audubon website, at http://web4.audubon.org/bird/BoA/BOA_index.html.

—Carolyn Kellogg

Tragedy was manslaughter

A French court on Monday found Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics guilty of manslaughter in the deaths of 113 people who perished in the crash of a New York-bound Air France Concorde jet 10 years ago, ruling that debris from a Continental plane caused the tragedy.

Continental and its mechanic improperly monitored and maintained aircraft, resulting in a piece of titanium falling from a plane onto a runway at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport a few minutes before the ill-fated Concorde took off July 25, 2000, said Judge Dominique Andreassier at a courthouse in Pontoise, northwest of Paris.

The court said it believed the roughly 16-inch piece of metal known as a wear strip punctured a tire on the Air France jet as it sped down the runway for takeoff, and that debris perforated the jet's low-lying fuel tank, causing a leak and a fire. One minute and 51 seconds after takeoff, the jet crashed into a hotel in Gonesse, north of Paris, killing 100 passengers, nine crew members and four people on the ground.

The court ordered Continental to pay the bulk of hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to Air France, relatives of victims and others involved in the case. Continental also was fined about $265,000 for "manslaughter by a legal entity and unintentional injuries." Mechanic John Taylor, who lives in Texas, was fined $2,650 and ordered to serve a 15-month suspended prison sentence. Continental and Taylor are expected to appeal the ruling.

Crosley Revolution Record Player

Some gifts are cool just because of the way they look, and the Crosley Revolution Record Player has a design to die for: sleek, portable and perfect for your crate-digging needs. Whereas before, any self-respecting vinyl lover would have to lug around a big box turntable to flea markets, used vinyl stores and the occasional sock-hop or slumber party, the Crosley Revolution's design makes it perfect for on-the-go listening — that is, as long as you keep that vinyl out of the sun.

(Retail price $149.95, http://www.crosleyradio.com)

"interwoven reserve, humor and lightly smoldering charm"

Cary Grant was the personification of the self-made man: a one-time child acrobat who had transformed himself into the sophisticated and urbane ideal of men and women throughout the world.

The career that brought him two Oscar nominations ("Penny Serenade," 1941, "None But the Lonely Heart," 1944) and finally a special Oscar in 1970 for "sheer brilliance" began with one desperately simple desire: to get out of Bristol, England.

Virtually from the beginning, when he proved a straight foil for Mae West and then caught his stride in the light comedies of the late 1930s, turning roles for Cary Grant into Cary Grant roles, he magically plied his craft, entertaining his public with interwoven reserve, humor and lightly smoldering charm.

From nasty con man in "Sylvia Scarlett" to absent-minded scientist in "Bringing Up Baby," from rough-hewn city editor in "His Girl Friday" to charming fortune hunter in "Suspicion," from cool counterspy in "Notorious" to reformed cat burglar in "To Catch a Thief," he was the enticing, civilized gentleman women dreamed of for five decades.

But there was more to Cary Grant than that, a thoughtful side that expressed itself in "None But the Lonely Heart," a somber 1944 film reminiscent of his English childhood. But Grant, too, saw the limits of what his audience wanted, and with few exceptions he gave them just that.

"I enjoyed making "None But the Lonely Heart," but it was accepted by the critics, not the public," he later said. "They wanted me to make them laugh.

"I remember this absolutely marvelous feeling when a great laugh went up at something I had done or, even better, at something I had added myself. I felt so good. All the people at that moment had forgotten all their troubles. . . . Perhaps just a twist of my head sets them off."

But he rankled at criticism that he actually played only one role—Cary Grant.

"I've often been accused by the critics of being myself on the screen," he said. "But being one's self is more difficult than you'd suppose. Anyway, who else would I be? Marlon Brando?"

— Cathleen Decker in the Los Angeles Times Dec. 1, 1986

"musical storytelling enhanced by a shadowy framework of the blues"

The list of jazz icons — those compelling figures whose star-crossed lives juxtapose innovative artistic brilliance against hazardous personal excesses — has no entry more memorable than singer Billie Holiday.

She is for many the paradigm of jazz singing, and continues to be one of the lasting figures of American pop and jazz music.

Her influence has been, for the most part, subtle and indirect. Holiday was not a scat singer in the style of Ella Fitzgerald; she was not a vocal athlete like Sarah Vaughan. Her metier was musical storytelling enhanced by a shadowy framework of the blues.

Aspects of Holiday can be found in many singers — the phrasing of Frank Sinatra, the simmering, laid-back sound of Cassandra Wilson, the singularity of Abbey Lincoln, Norah Jones, Patricia Barber and Andy Bey, the fearlessness of Sheila Jordan, the conversational manner of Karrin Allyson, the balladry of Shirley Horn, the layered musicality of San Francisco singers such as Madeline Eastman and Jackie Allen.

Some of her classics are "Miss Brown to You" and "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," along with the seminal "Strange Fruit," "God Bless the Child," "Don't Explain," "Good Morning, Heartache," "Body and Soul" and "But Not for Me."

One of her more lasting songs, a harrowing description of a lynching in the South, "Strange Fruit" offered imagery — "Black body swinging in the Southern breeze . . ." — that was disturbingly explicit, especially at a time when segregation still existed and protest music was virtually unknown.

The common wisdom about Holiday is that her singing was her life. She said it herself, and it certainly is true that the artistic density of her interpretations traces to her difficult personal journey. But there are moments in which she reveals another quality — an inner sweetness, even an innocence, that was essential to the fullness of her music, a momentary light-filled counterbalance to the darkness.

— Don Heckman in the Los Angeles Times April 3 and Oct. 31, 2005

"I coulda been a contender"

Marlon Brando, a two-time Academy Award winner, transformed the craft of acting and led peers and critics alike to hail him as the finest actor of his time.

Under the guidance of director Elia Kazan, Brando first became a star on stage — as Stanley Kowalski in the 1947 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire" — and then on screen, again as Kowalski in "Streetcar," released in 1951. He received his first Academy Award nomination for best actor for his role in "Streetcar."

Brando was nominated seven times for best actor, receiving his first Oscar for his portrayal of Terry Malloy in 1954's "On the Waterfront" and his second for Don Vito Corleone in 1972's "The Godfather." His other nominations were for "Viva Zapata!" (1952), "Julius Caesar" (1953), "Sayonara" (1957) and "Last Tango in Paris" (1973).

His eighth and last Oscar nomination was for best supporting actor in the 1989 anti-apartheid film "A Dry White Season."

From the beginning of his career, Brando voiced some of the most famous lines ever spoken in films, many of which are still part of the American lexicon.

"Streetcar" introduced the animal cry "Stell-ah!" to audiences, which Brando bellowed from the stage floor up a winding staircase. "The Godfather's" Don Corleone issued the cold threat: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."

In 1954's "On the Waterfront," Brando, who was cast as an ex-boxer-turned-mob-errand-boy, uttered perhaps the most repeated line of any American movie: "I coulda been a contender."

— Claudia Luther and Elaine Dutka in the Los Angeles Times July 3, 2004

"I am serious and don't call me Shirley"

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Despite decades spent playing sober commanders and serious captains, Leslie Nielsen insisted that he was always made for comedy. He proved it in his career's second act.

"Surely you can't be serious," an airline passenger says to Nielsen in "Airplane!," the 1980 hit that turned the actor from dramatic leading man to comic star.

"I am serious," Nielsen replies. "And don't call me Shirley."

The line was probably his most famous — and a perfect distillation of his career.

Nielsen, the dramatic lead in "Forbidden Planet" and "The Poseidon Adventure" and the bumbling detective Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" comedies, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 84.

100th anniversary "special"

The Grant Hotel, a San Diego landmark opened in 1910, and is offering a 100th anniversary package through Dec. 31.

(U.S. Grant Hotel)

"suicidal or exceedingly savvy?"

If you take stock of the Vegas landscape, it's no wonder several Las Vegas clubs are hosting "good riddance to 2010" New Year's Eve parties.

The construction cranes atop the flashy but bankrupt Fontainebleau resort, between the Sahara and the Riviera, haven't moved in months. Opposite the Riviera, plywood-covered fences try to hide the foundations for Echelon, a CityCenter wannabe whose owners have pulled the plug, at least temporarily. And at CityCenter, the multi-billion-dollar hotel/retail behemoth that debuted a year ago, the problem-plagued Harmon Hotel will not open this month as expected. Indeed, the owners have even discussed tearing it down.

Yet as Vegas seeks to close the book on 2010, the 2,995-room Cosmopolitan resort, sandwiched between CityCenter and the Bellagio, is to open its doors Dec. 15, raising this question: Are the owners suicidal or exceedingly savvy?

Believe it....Cher takes the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace with a production spectacular that leave audiences in awe.

For 90 minutes, the legendary icon performs her hits from across the decades merged with innovative staging and technology, breathtaking choreography by Doriana Sanchez and stunning costumes created by world-renowned designer Bob Mackie. Aptly titled, Cher at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the ultra-glitzy show that is as glamorous as the artist herself.

Politics can be funny -- come to think of it -- it usually is !!!

SAO PAULO (AP) — The congressman-elect may be a clown, but at least he can read and write.

The man who won more votes than any other candidate for Brazil's lower house has been cleared to take his seat because a judge has ruled he can read and write well enough to act as a congressman.

Judge Aloisio Silveira ruled on Wednesday that Francisco Silva did not lie when he signed a document swearing that he is literate.

Silva, who became famous as the clown Tiririca — "Grumpy" in Portuguese — received about 1.3 million votes in elections last October. But critics suggested he was illiterate and Silveira ruled there were discrepancies between the handwriting on Silva's application to run for Congress, on the document in which he swears he can read and write and in autographs he gave to fans.

Silveira ordered Silva to take a test in court proving he is literate, and the judge said on his sentence that the clown passed, "despite difficulties in writing."

"Betting on Magic"

"Dawn Treader” aims to draw a wider swath of ticket buyers than the darker “Prince Caspian.” Above, Georgie Henley in a scene from the latest “Narnia” film, which opens Dec. 10.

(Phil Bray, 20th Century Fox)

An inspiration with plenty of courage and lots of talent !!

Ron Santo, who was beloved in Chicago as a Cubs third baseman and broadcaster but was never was able to gain entry to baseball's Hall of Fame, died Thursday night at an Arizona hospital of complications from bladder cancer. He was 70.

Santo had overcome several debilitating injuries, including the amputation of both legs, and a lifelong battle with diabetes to continue to work as a Cubs analyst on the team's flagship radio broadcast on WGN-AM.

On the air since 1990, Santo epitomized the long-suffering Cubs fan, frequently grousing about the play on the field when things went bad, and made no apologies for his on-air cheerleading or his utter frustration over a Cubs misplay.

"I'm a fan," he explained last summer. "I can't plan what I do. I get embarrassed sometimes when I hear what I said, like, 'Oh, no, what's going on?' But it's an emotion. This is being a Cub fan."

Santo never witnessed his longtime goal of election to baseball's Hall of Fame despite career numbers that mark him as one of the game's all-time great third basemen. He had a .277 batting average over 15 major league seasons, with 342 home runs and 1,331 runs batted in.

Though Santo came close to Cooperstown enshrinement in the last decade in voting by the Veterans Committee, he always fell short.

"I'm just kind of fed up with it," Santo said after missing the cut again in 2007. "I figure, 'Hey, it's not in the cards.' "

Santo was born Feb. 25, 1940, in Seattle. He was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 18 but did not reveal his condition until years later.

He began his major league career with the Cubs in 1960, and spent one season with the cross-town White Sox in 1974.

He earned National League Gold Glove awards five straight seasons from 1964 to 1968 and was a nine-time National League All-Star. He was one of the leaders of the 1969 team that blew the division lead to the New York Mets, a season indelibly etched in Cubs' history.

Though Santo never made the Hall of Fame, his number was retired by the Cubs. He said that was equivalent to being inducted in Cooperstown. Being a Cub, and playing at Wrigley Field, meant the world to Santo.

"When I got here, two years after my senior year, I'm walking out of the corner clubhouse with Ernie Banks and there's nobody in the stands, and the feeling I had was unbelievable — walking with Ernie and walking on that grass," he said. "I felt like I was walking on air. There was an electricity and an atmosphere that I'd never experienced in my life. Any ballplayer that's ever played here can tell you about that great atmosphere, and anybody who's come here to watch a game feels the exact same way."

Helping themselves rather than the unfortunate

Relatives of Crystal Cathedral founder Robert H. Schuller and other insiders received more than $1.8 million in the year preceding the church’s bankruptcy filing in October.

(Anne Cusack, Los Angeles Times / October 23, 2010)