"Midnight Ridazz"

The loose network of bicycle enthusiasts, rogues and hipsters known as Midnight Ridazz spends the Valentine's weekend in Slab City, the site of an abandoned World War II Navy base, playing zombies, which is the theme of this monthly bike meeting. Participants are advised to bring fat-tired bikes, fake blood, lots of water and a significant other to share in the romance and adventure of the four-day camping trip. Slab City, 770 E. Beal Road, Niland, Calif. Fri. to Mon. $5. www.midnightridazz.com.

"Films for Lovers"

Capping a weeklong series of "Films for Lovers," the Aero presents the heady, V-Day double feature of "From Here to Eternity" and "Casablanca" (above). The two black-and-white classics, of 1953 and 1942 respectively, offer much in the way of well-worn though durable tropes -- each film iconic to a fault with signature scenes of love and loss -- that have become synonymous with romance itself. Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica. 7:30 p.m. Sat. (323) 466-3456; www.americancinematheque.com.

Whom can you trust ???

The minister who didn't practice what he preached. The superstar ballplayer who wasn't content just to ingest sunflower seeds. The politician who pontificated but didn't pay his taxes. The investment manager who bilked friends out of millions.

How many more hits can we take? Beats me; ask Michael Phelps.

It can't be good for the psyche to see so many glorified figures portrayed as flawed or fraudulent characters. Makes you wonder whom you can trust, what you can trust. What, exactly, is real out there?

Sadly for some of us, this isn't our first painful lesson in disillusionment. The first came years ago. And no, I'm not talking about Santa Claus.

I'm talking about discovering that something in which you believed, even in the face of doubters, wasn't real. It was about coming to grips with the fact that this world isn't always what it seems and that you can't always trust what you see and hear.

It's called the painful truth.

Great Park to become a reality

An artist’s rendering shows the proposed Botanical Bridge area of Great Park. Officials may have a development plan by the end of June, an Irvine spokesman said.

"Down and out in Beverly Hills"

One of the most sought-after tickets in Southern California, a permit to enroll a child in the academically acclaimed Beverly Hills Unified School District, may soon disappear.

Because of a funding shift, the wealthy district's financial incentive for accepting out-of-town students will end, probably within the next two years. So, as the district prepares for the change, many Beverly Hills residents say they want its $57-million budget spent for only students who live within its boundaries.

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond was honored Friday as the MusiCares Person of the Year.

Avalon Treasure

The Iconic Casino building, an Art-Deco treasure on Catalina Island.

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." -- Galileo

The revolution was not his alone. The idea was actually an ancient one, and other scientists had embraced it along the way. But it took Galileo and the telescope he built to prove the truth to the masses: Earth is not the center of the universe.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the year Galileo turned his first crude telescope to the heavens. Through it, he observed spots on the sun and shadow patterns proving that the moon had mountains and valleys. These visible "imperfections" helped overturn thousands of years of traditional belief that everything in the heavens must be smooth, perfect and unchanging.

The United Nations has declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy, hoping to provide millions of people with the opportunity to learn more about the universe and about the discoveries of Galileo and others. This is a good thing. But astronomy is not just about science, and Galileo's revolution was not just about knowing Earth's physical place in the universe. It also was about human perspective -- our cosmic perspective -- and about how we should understand our place and purpose in the universe.

One need not be religious to see that a cosmic perspective gives some universal meaning to our lives. We may be only a tiny part of a vast universe, but we are here, and as a species, we have accomplished great things. We have created staggeringly beautiful works of art and music, we have performed acts of love and generosity that make even the most cynical among us quake with emotion, and we have developed mathematics and science that have enabled us to learn our place in the universe.

These are achievements of consequence. But the cosmic perspective also should teach us some humility, because the central lesson of Galileo's discoveries is that we humans are no more central to the universe than our planet or star. Future generations and alien civilizations may enjoy our human creations, but no one will come running to our rescue if we choose to destroy rather than to create.

Sadly, this lesson in humility seems not to have taken hold, despite the 400 years we have had to absorb it. Nearly everyone is now aware that we are not the center of the universe. But emotionally and behaviorally, our species still acts as though the whole of creation somehow revolves around each of us personally. How else can we explain tyrants and dictators? Or religious fanatics who believe that their God actually wants them to kill those who think differently? And before you let yourself off the hook, ask yourself honestly if you don't at least sometimes think that those who are poorer, sicker or otherwise less fortunate than you are also somehow a bit less central to the universe than you are.

As we think about science during the International Year of Astronomy, let's also show that we can finally absorb the lesson that we are not the center of the universe. This year, try extending a little more kindness to your fellow human beings, in recognition that we are all equally important. Try to demonstrate an understanding of the fact that we all share the same small planet by taking a better care of it. And perhaps most important, especially as we confront a time of crisis both for the economy and for international peace and security, remember that we must create our own legacy.

See's Honored

She showed up at City Hall with boxes of See’s candy to hand out, although that wasn’t why Charlene Nichols was treated Thursday like a milk chocolate cordial.

Los Angeles Cultural Heritage commissioners politely turned down her samples of milk almond, vanilla buttercream and maple walnut candies but unanimously accepted her recommendation that the original See’s chocolate factory be designated a city historic-cultural landmark.

The two-story structure at 135 N. Western Ave. hasn’t been the site of a candy box assembly line for decades, but Nichols urged that it be recognized as the birthplace of Charles Alexander See’s confectionery dynasty.

"There's a legitimate opportunity to make us part of the stimulus package" -- Stephen Martin, National Park Service

The economy was a shambles. Millions of Americans were out of work. Saying something drastic needed to be done, the newly elected president announced a massive economic stimulus package aimed at repairing the nation's sagging infrastructure and putting people back to work.

The first "emergency agency" established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which eventually put 3 million men to work in the national park system.

Yosemite National Park's Half Dome is reflected in the Merced River in this view from Sentinel Bridge. Members of the Civilian Conservation Corps replaced climbing cables on the mountain, among other projects in the park.

The Yosemite Valley can be seen from inside the Wawona Tunnel, which CCC crews constructed in 1933.

Snow covers the banks of the Merced River and the Pohono Bridge in Yosemite National Park. Citing the CCC as a model, the National Parks Conservation Assn., is pushing for the development of a National Park Service Corps. The group estimates that investing stimulus funds in parks would create roughly 50,000 jobs.

The setting sun lights the face of El Capitan, left, and of Half Dome, far right, in Yosemite National Park. There were about 600 CCC camps in various national parks during the program’s 10 years. Yosemite had more than most, with 10 encampments scattered throughout the park, from the Valley’s meadows to the high country and atop El Capitan.

Sparks rise from a roaring fire at the Lodge at Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. The rustic, rock-and-timber buildings and massive lodges constructed by highly skilled CCC artisans are now famously part of the national parks’ visual style, often referred to as “parkitecture.”

Light from a dining room at Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel glows on the snow-covered ground outside. The park’s 6,816 CCC enrollees built walls and buildings using rocks and trees. Those projects remain in the park today and help create Yosemite’s rustic look.

The rising sun casts a deep shadow on granite walls in a view from Yosemite's Cook Meadow. About 300,000 men joined the CCC in three months, which at the time was the most rapid large-scale mobilization of men the country had ever witnessed.

Jerry West and Elgin Baylor are together again

The two players who put the Los Angeles Lakers on the map are honored at the Coliseum. Elgin Baylor, left, and Jerry West pose in front of a bronze plaque at the peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, honoring their achievements when the Lakers played at the adjacent Sports Arena.

It's on to new challenges for the legendary Elton John

Elton John will close his Las Vegas Strip show, "The Red Piano," on April 22.

The show made its debut in February 2004 at the Colosseum theater at Caesars Palace. After initially signing on for 75 shows, John's engagement was extended.

The casino says the closing show will be the 241st performance. The offbeat production blends the singer's top hits with elaborate video montages created by David LaChappelle.

John's show alternates with other Colosseum headline acts, including Bette Midler and Cher. A casino spokeswoman said there was no word on a replacement.

Mabel Normand: QUEEN OF THE PIES

Mabel Normand was born November 9th, 1892 on Staten Island, New York. Mabel went to work as an actress at the Biograph Company, and Director D. W. Griffith realized that she was not just an actress, but a comedienne. Griffith wasn't keen on comedy, so he shifted the directorial duties over to Mack Sennett. Here, Sennett directed Mabel in her first comedy role, "The Diving Girl", 1911. Sennett eventually won her over, and the majority of her films were directed by Sennett. When Sennett left Biograph, he took Mabel out west with him to start his new "Keystone Studios" in the San Fernando valley of California.

If you're old enough you'll remember this SUPERSTAR

He presented the first Academy Awards -- in his office. He founded what would become USC's film school. He was the first to press his hands and feet into cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, with his wife, who was America's sweetheart. He co-founded a movie studio with Hollywood's greatest director and two of its biggest stars.

If the name Douglas Fairbanks doesn't ring a bell, that might be because he's been dead for 70 years. Or maybe it's because his greatest achievements were in silent films.

Either way, Jeffrey Vance's biography "Douglas Fairbanks" retells the story of the man who became one of Hollywood's first superstars.

A look inside Clifton's Cafeteria

The décor at Clifton’s Brookdale in Los Angeles was inspired by a Santa Cruz Mountains lodge and includes fake trees and a cabin.

A mystery portrait of Obama as a young man?

An Ojai couple bought the oil painting, which had been done by an obscure L.A. artist. But their efforts to find out if the future president was the subject have proved futile.

Scrawled on the back is a notation that says: "BARACK OBAMA (casual attire)." Strokes of teal and burgundy provide a vibrant contrast to Obama's even more colorful striped shirt, evoking a late '70s disco vibe.

Indeed, the portrait appears to be the 44th president in his early 20s, casually seated in white slacks and that mod shirt, stylishly open at the collar. Little is known about the artist, Alan Adams, other than that he worked in Los Angeles for many years and, possibly, briefly in Hawaii.

UPDATE: (Feb 7, 2009) A mystery canvas that appeared to be a portrait of Barack Obama as a young man probably will never hang in the Smithsonian.

On Friday, the daughter of late artist Alan Adams said she's certain the subject for the colorful painting was not the future president but a model who posed for a group of fine-art painters in Los Angeles.

The twentysomething man in the oil painting bears a striking resemblance to President Obama, Jennifer Adams Zobelein agreed. But the portrait was probably painted no later than 1974, when her father stopped working with the portrait group, she said.

"Let the fur fly . . . "

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has opened up a new front in its battle for the bunnies with a full-page advertisement in today's Hollywood trade paper Variety that brands fashion designer Giorgio Armani "Pinocchio Armani" for apparently breaking a promise not to use animal fur in his clothing collections.

Beneath a photo of the designer, at right, that has been altered to give him the elongated nose often associated with the fibbing marionette, is a plea to this year's Oscar-goers: "Until Mr. Armani makes good on his promise, please choose somebody else's clothes to wear to this year's Academy Awards."

"Spam Architecture" by Alex Dragulescu

"This year alone, more data will be generated than in the cumulative history of humanity," says Dan Goods. "Stuff is being collected in all sorts of interesting forms and piling up somewhere. What do we do with it?" It's an apt question for the Too Much Information Age, and to address the query, Goods and co-curator David Delgado have rounded up a collection of geek-friendly installations on display through April 12 at Pasadena Museum of California Art's "Data + Art" exhibition.

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

The success of the BBC's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" in 1979 lies in the realism, not only of character portrayal--and the acting of Alec Guinness has achieved as definitive a performance as Olivier's Richard III or Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell--but of the way in which intelligence institutions work. But the claim for realism must not be pressed too far: Le Carré has admitted that the vocabulary used was invented: babysitters, lamplighters, the Circus, the nursery, moles--though he was also amused to discover that real agents had begun to appropriate some of his vocabulary once the stories were published. Moreover, much intelligence work is bureaucratic and boring: Smiley's reflections turn the drudgery of reading files into a fascinating intellectual puzzle which, unlike the real experience, always produces significant information.

The Josef Hoffman armchair, 1908