Googie Architecture

Pann's Restaurant & Coffee Shop, on La Tijera Boulevard in Los Angeles, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. With its tilted roof, neon sign, large windows, plants and exposed stone walls inside and out, Pann's is a popular filming location, appearing in "Pulp Fiction," "XXX" and "Bewitched."
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

The National Museum of Crime and Punishment

Washington, D.C.

America's fascination with crime will take a new turn Friday -- opening day for the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.

In film classics such as "Little Caesar" and "Dial M for Murder" and today's TV staples of "CSI" and "Law & Order," crime has long been glorified. This new museum seeks to downplay the fame given to criminals and spotlight law enforcement's investigative work.

The 28,000-square-foot facility, in the revitalized Penn Quarter section of the capital not far from the National Mall, also will be the new home of the popular Fox television show "America's Most Wanted."

At least once a month, host John Walsh will film the show in a basement studio that also will house the call-in center where viewers submit tips on suspects highlighted in the weekly episodes. Museum visitors can explore the studio and have their children fingerprinted and photographed for free.

The museum is designed to educate the public on the punishments criminals face and the work that goes into catching the bad guys, Walsh said. "Yes, you'll see some fascinating criminals, but you'll see the real heroes," he said.

A history of American crime leads visitors through the winding hallway with information on crime and punishment in several time periods. Visitors can place their head and arms in colonial stocks, participate in a Wild West shootout and flip through mug shots of infamous criminals.

Beyond the historical galleries, visitors can view the bullet-riddled car from the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde (shown above)," try to fool a lie detector, participate in a police lineup and attempt to escape from prison.

A replica of legendary gangster Al Capone's cell at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is re-created down to the crack in the ceiling and the peeling paint on the walls. The gallery also contains several other cells with artifacts on display, including crafts made by inmates at Louisiana's Angola state prison.

Another gallery, an exhibit on the death penalty, holds scale models of a gas chamber, an electric chair and a guillotine.

Hurricane Katrina Photos

"The Swingin' Years"

A musical expression called "Rock n' Roll" was just developing in 1956 when Chuck Cecil started a radio show, calling it "Swingin' Years." The idea was to perpetuate the memory of swing music by Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, The Dorseys, Artie Shaw, Guy Lombardo, Count Basie... original records 1935 to 1955. 49 years later, Cecil is still spinning yarns and the 78 r.p.m. records.

The "Swingin' Years" is heard each Saturday and Sunday morning, from 6am to 9am on KJAZZ 88.1 FM. The Swingn' Years is produced in the home of Edna and Chuck Cecil.

New Stadium in 2011

An artists rendition released May 16, 2008 shows what a new retractable roof will look after its completion at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium in 2011. The stadium is home to the CFL's BC Lions and will also become the new home of the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team. The stadium will also be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
REUTERS/HO/BC Government

"Watch the Birdie"

China's Lin Dan plays a shot against Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei during the semifinal of the Thomas Cup badminton championships in Jakarta May 16, 2008.
REUTERS/Crack Palinggi (INDONESIA)

"Give Me a Hand"

Jeremy Thrush (top R) of the Hurricanes beats Troy Flavell (L) of the Blues to the ball during the Super 14 rugby match at Eden Park in Auckland May 16, 2008. The Blues won the match 19-17.

REUTERS/Nigel Marple (NEW ZEALAND)

"The Eye of the Beholder"

Andy Irons of Hawaii rides a wave during the fourth round of the Billabong Pro surfing tournament on the legendary reef break in Tehaupoo, Tahiti, May 15, 2008.
REUTERS/Joseba Etxaburu (FRENCH POLYNESIA)

Angelino Heights: A tour of homes from another era

Seven classic Victorian and Craftsman homes in Angelino Heights, the first L.A. suburb in 1886, will welcome visitors this weekend. The restored private residences on and around Carroll Avenue will be open for the rare tour Saturday and Sunday. The event is being held in conjunction with the 2008 centennial celebration of the late artist and author Leo Politi, whose work will be on display at the Craftsman-style house where he lived in the neighborhood. Here’s a peek inside two houses that will be open for the self-guided walking tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the ticket table in the 1300 block of Carroll Avenue. http://www.ahtrolley.org/events.html

Opening Tomorrow

An 'absolutely excellent' flight high above the Alps

BEX, SWITZERLAND -- A Swiss pilot strapped on a jet-powered wing and leaped from a plane Wednesday for the first public demonstration of the homemade device, turning figure-eights and soaring high above the Alps. Yves Rossy's performance capped five years of training and many more years of dreaming.

"This flight was absolutely excellent," the former fighter pilot and extreme-sports enthusiast said after touching down on an airfield near the eastern shore of Lake Geneva. Rossy, 48, had stepped out of a Swiss-built Pilatus Porter aircraft at 7,500 feet and unfolded the rigid 8-foot wing strapped to his back before jumping.

Passing from free fall to a gentle glide, Rossy, clad in a heat-resistant suit, triggered four jet turbines and accelerated to 186 mph, about 65 mph faster than a falling sky-diver.

The crowd below gasped and cheered.

So far, Rossy and his sponsors, including the Swiss watch company Hublot, have poured more than $285,000 into building the device.

Steering with his body, Rossy dived, turned and rose again, performing what appeared to be effortless loops. After one last wave to the crowd, he executed a perfect 360-degree roll. Later he said, "That was to impress the girls."

Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House sells for $16.84 million

The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, designed by Richard Neutra in 1946, was bought by an undisclosed buyer for $16.84 million, including the purchase premium, on Tuesday as part of Christie's Post-War & Contemporary Art auction in New York. Although the winning bid was at the low end of the $15 million to $25 million estimate, the Kaufmann property (above) still commanded the highest price of the American modernist houses recently sold as architectural collectibles. In 2003, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House was sold in a Sotheby's auction for $7.5 million. In 2006, Wright auctioned Pierre Koenig's Case Study House No. 21 for nearly $3.2 million. The five-bedroom Kaufmann House on 2.1 acres was first immortalized in a 1947 Julius Shulman image taken poolside at dusk. The home was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., a Pittsburgh department store owner who hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build the iconic Fallingwater in 1935 in Pennsylvania. Kaufmann died in 1955 and the Palm Springs property changed hands (Barry Manilow once called it home) and underwent tacky renovations. In 1992, architectural historian Beth Edwards Harris and her then-husband, Brent Harris, purchased the home for $1.5 million and retained the L.A. architecture firm Marmol Radziner & Associates, whose meticulous restoration stayed true to Neutra's original design.

The Four-Wheeled Outlaw

It looks like a motorcycle. It sounds like a motorcycle. And it is a motorcycle. Sort of.

GG Motorrad Technik's new GG Quadster is actually a four-wheeled BMW K1200S -- only its body's been replaced with a double-wide backside and front end.

The Quadster is like a centaur, with the heart of a motorcycle and the suspension of a car. It uses the same fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, inline four-cylinder motor as the 2008 K1200S. It's just set inside a billet aluminum chassis and suspended on four tires using a Formula 1-style, race car-inspired double A-arm and premium coil-over shocks. A high-end ATV for the street, it's unlike anything else on the road.

Unfortunately, the chance of seeing the GG Quadster on a California street anytime soon is like that of seeing a centaur. The state of California follows federal policy, which defines a motorcycle as having no more than three wheels. That makes the Swiss quadricycle unregisterable here.

According to the California Highway Patrol, riding an unregistered vehicle such as the Quadster on the street is grounds for a pullover and possibly an impound. The Department of Motor Vehicles, however, says it's more likely to prompt a ticket; it's punishable with a $150 fine for the first offense, $250 for the second and $1,000 or 90 days of imprisonment for the third violation within a single year.

That's a lot of trouble and a lot of dough for the average Joe. But it isn't average Joes who are purchasing the new $65,500 GG Quadster. So far, there are two buyers: Michael Jordan, who lives in Illinois where a Quad has already been registered, and a wealthy San Diego businessman.

2008 Saturn Astra XR: Call it Euro brash

The new Saturn Astra -- comes in three- and five-door models. This three-door model in up-level XR trim, equipped with optional leather seats ($745), an upgraded audio system ($595) and 18-inch alloy wheels ($495) slathered with fantastic Dunlop summer performance tires. Delivered, our test car priced out at $20,330.

"Nest of Spies"

Based on a long-running French spy character who actually predates James Bond, "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" is a loving spoof of Cold War espionage thrillers, done with a spot-on re-creation of the look, sound and feel of a genuine 1950s Technicolor production. Men wear sharp suits, the women wear slinky dresses and everyone can dance the mambo reasonably well.

The film, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, counts as its No. 1 asset an impeccable sense of where to draw the line, always letting its eyebrow arch only just enough. Thankfully, Jean Dujardin plays the lead character more as a rakish Inspector Clouseau bumbler than a sexed-up Austin Powers libertine, so instead of the fart jokes and gay panic (well, there's still a little gay panic), "OSS 117" pushes its subtextual irony to skewer the cultural imperialism that was always lurking beneath the surface of thrillers from the Cold War era. Light and fun, if also a little slight, "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies" is like a pleasant sorbet to wash away the aftertaste of the pre-summer clunkers.

Mark Olsen

"OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies." Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes. In French with English subtitles. At Landmark's Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A., (310) 281-8223.

"Speed Racer" provides drama

Of his approach to “Speed Racer,” actor Matthew Fox says: “You have to believe, and then your belief in it will be contagious.”

Watch for an exhibition to be opening near you

The legendary George Barris, who has designed cars for more than 1,000 films and television projects, is showcasing many of his creations -- including the Batmobile, the Munsters' Koach (pictured above), the Beverly Hillbillies' car, the Love Bug, General Lee from "The Dukes of Hazzard" and the cars from "Starsky and Hutch" and "Vanishing Point".

Andre: You'll always be a Hall of Famer in my heart

Andre Dawson, the slender slugger with the cannon arm will be on the ballot again in 2009, and his entry to Baseball's Hall of Fame will be determined by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Dawson's highest percentage of votes received was 65.9 percent in 2008. During Ryne Sandberg's induction speech at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2005, he mentioned former teammates he respected because they played the game right. Dawson was high on that list.

"No player in baseball history worked harder, suffered more or did it better than Andre Dawson," Sandberg said of the rifle-armed outfielder known as "The Hawk." "He's the best I've ever seen.

"I watched him win an MVP for a last-place team in 1987 [with the Cubs], and it was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen in baseball," Sandberg said. "He did it the right way, the natural way, and he did it in the field and on the bases and in every way, and I hope he will stand up here someday."

In 21 big-league seasons, beginning in 1976 with the Montreal Expos, Dawson batted .279 with 438 home runs, 1,591 RBIs and stole 314 bases. Dawson was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1977 and won the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 1987, his first season with the Chicago Cubs, when he hit .287 and led the league with 49 home runs and 137 RBIs.

Dawson joined the Cubs in an unusual way. After nine years in Montreal, he wanted to find a team that played on grass, unlike the artificial turf at Olympic Stadium. He approached the Cubs and general manager Dallas Green with a fill-in-the-blank contract. Dawson signed on March 9, 1987, for a base salary of $500,000 with $250,000 in incentives if he made the All-Star team, started in the All-Star Game and won the NL MVP. He did all three.

It was one of the best bargains in baseball.

Special Note: Thank you, Andre, it has been such a pleasure to watch you play with that "burning intensity" that thrilled Cub fans everywhere. We will always have a special place for you in our hearts. Every year I've watched all the Cubs games on WGN TV and whenever my beloved Cubbies were in a jam and needed that hit to score a run there was no one that I would rather see advancing to the plate than "the hawk." You are a solid gold Hall of Famer.

Chicago Legend: "Mr. Cub"

On this day in 1970, Ernie Banks hit his 500th career home run off Pat Jarvis in the Chicago Cubs 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field.

Courage as shown through the lens of the camera

Joseph S. Miko, a former cameraman whose extensive footage of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was smuggled out of Budapest and is considered a significant piece of the documentary record of the historic national uprising against Soviet oppression, has died. He was 87.

Some of the footage that Miko shot of the massive crowds of demonstrators and fighting in the streets of Budapest was shown on "The 20th Century," a CBS documentary series narrated by Walter Cronkite. More than four decades later, Miko and his footage were featured in a segment of the four-part History Channel special "Caught on Film."

Miko's footage, which he stored in his garage for decades before donating 177 minutes' worth to the Hungarian National Film Archive in 1993, has also been used in the recent documentaries"Freedom's Fury" and "Torn From the Flag."