HANOI (AP) ― Close your eyes in the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter and you will experience two sensations. The first is the earsplitting cacophony of conversation, cars, clamor and chaos. The second is the realization that closing your eyes for very long in such a crowded place can be unwise, unless you enjoy being jostled, bumped, hustled, shouted at, or maybe even knocked down.Such is the Vietna

Travel Feb. 11, 2011

LAS VEGAS ― One of the hottest tickets in Las Vegas isn’t Cher or Celine, Blue Man Group or Cirque de Soleil. It’s a day trip to a gravel lot filled with scrap metal, miles from the Strip.There, on North Las Vegas Boulevard, surrounded by a chain-link fence, is the latest incarnation of the legendary Las Vegas neon “boneyard.” It’s the kind of place where great signs of long-gone casinos and bars,

Travel Feb. 11, 2011

WALNUT CREEK, California ― It sits on the plate, looking like a perfectly cooked, sunny side-up egg ― except the yolk tastes like spiced carrots and the white is made from coconut milk, with a side of sodium alginate and calcium chloride.This edible trompe l’oeil is not some practical joke. The faux egg is a perfect example of molecular gastronomy, the esoteric culinary trend associated with such

Food Feb. 11, 2011

PARIS (AP) ― Andree Chedid, an Egyptian-born French poet and writer known for giving lyrical expression to everyday experiences and celebrating cultural diversity, has died, her publisher said.She was 90.Chedid died in Sunday in Paris, where she settled after the end of World War II, the Flammarion publishing house said.The prolific Cairo-born writer of Lebanese descent wrote volumes of poetry, no

Books Feb. 8, 2011

PARIS (AP) ― Like an enterprising Andy Warhol of the 16th century, German Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder produced multiple paintings of the same subject, churning out strikingly similar versions of his trademark soft-edged nudes and angel-faced Madonnas.This penchant for repetition did nothing for Cranach’s reputation, and for centuries he was overshadowed by another giant of German ar

Performance Feb. 8, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Montana ― I’ve always wanted a grand piano. Not because I play but because I adore those decorating-magazine tableaus of beautifully framed photos sitting atop a piano.That would certainly solve a problem for me: I don’t have a lot of space to display pictures around the house. So how can I show off my favorite photos of Grandma, the hubby and the dogs ― other than posting them on Fac

Arts & Design Feb. 7, 2011

Winter is not good to our skin. The wind chaps. The dry air wicks. The combination blows us into the arms of the billion-dollar cosmeceutical industry, which awaits with pricey over-the-counter potions and serums promising to undo the season’s damage.But these companies often promise much more than simple moisturizing. Their products can, according to their advertising, “help to boost oxygen micro

Arts & Design Feb. 7, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS ― Jody Buell thought she was falling in love, but she fell for someone who didn’t exist.The Burnsville, Minniapolis, woman didn’t catch on to the scam until she had spent more than $10,000 on her online admirer.Instead of sinking into despair, however, Buell decided to get even.For the past two years, she has been helping other fraud victims get advice, support and fellowship from an o

Arts & Design Feb. 7, 2011

TROMSOE, Norway (AP) ― In the arms race now gripping the travel industry, there is almost nothing cruise ships will not do to tempt new customers.Some boast of climbing walls, ice skating rinks and water parks.Others offer endless bingo, salsa, yoga or gambling. Travelers can go clubbing all night, have their bodies scrubbed with precious oils, or attend culture and history lectures by Ivy League

Travel Jan. 28, 2011

At home in soggy Seattle I’m a lackadaisical gardener, yet visiting Kauai has turned me into a garden-loving tourist.Kauai, like its sister Hawaiian islands, is a botanical bonanza. Bathed in the island’s natural steroids of endless sunshine and warm-rain cloudbursts, plants flourish. Wandering through one botanical garden I gaped at a croton, a broad-leaved tropical plant, that towered over my he

Travel Jan. 28, 2011

LONDON (AP) ― He had a reputation as a literary recluse, but a trove of previously unseen letters written by J.D. Salinger to a British friend reveals a sociable man who took bus trips to Niagara Falls, ate fast-food hamburgers, enjoyed watching tennis and claimed always to be writing new work.The 50 letters and four postcards have been donated to a British university, which made them public Thurs

Books Jan. 27, 2011