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Show DAILY D2 Sharing hotel room with nephew is OK DEAR MISS MANNERS wife is training a marathon. She's very athletic, a beautiful woman and a mother of five who keeps herself fit through J tV running. She is planning on competing in a marathon out of town, and going with her sister and her sister's two adult children. Our children will still be in school, so I will be staying home. What my wife has proposed is that in order to save money, she would share a hotel room with her sister and her sister's two children. My concern is that one of these grown children is a male. I wouldn't call myself a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but I believe that it is improper for my wife to share a hotel room with an adult male, even if he is her nephew. My wife tells me that if she can't share the costs of the hotel, she won't be able to live Judith Martin Miss Manners hope that she wins the marathon? DEAR MISS MANNERS A friend of mine once did a quite large, lovely watercolor of me, recently sent by her surviving husband. I really like the picture but feel it's somewhat unseemly to display a portrait of myself in my own home. If I had a spouse or children, I could justify its presence by her dream of running a marareasoning it's there for them thon. "And besides," she says, to look at. Alas, no such luck.. "he's my nephew .... " Are there any rules or traditions about displaying likenessMy argument is that he es of one's self? I'm thinking may be her nephew, but he's I might be able to rationalize still a grown man. Do you that it's there to keep my dog have any suggestions? GENTLE READER Yes: that company when I'm at work. GENTLE READER Not bad. you tell her that you love and Or you could explain that you admire her, wish her luck, assure her that everything at value it as a reminder of your home will be fine, and ask her late friend. But you do not actually need to give your love to her relaan explanation. You asked tives. Meanwhile, you have given Miss Manners about displayMiss Manners an unpleasing "likenesses," but the traditional rule made a finicky ant time of it, trying to think distinction between paintings, what you imagine could be which can be displayed in improper. the public rooms, and photoIt can't be what the neighbors will think, because graphs, which belong in the private.ones. Artistic photogthey will be in a hotel with transient neighbors. And raphers are welcome to object. it is surely not that please! you think your nephew might Readers may write to Miss Manners at MissManners be overcome with incestuous lust for his aunt, despite the1 unitedmedia.com, or via presence of his mother and postal mail at United Media, 200 Madison Ave., siser, or that your hitherto blameless wife will betray you 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Miss Manners 's and your children because of the proximity of her nephew, newest book is "No Vulgar Hotel: The Desire and not to mention her sister and her niece. Pursuit of Venice," written So why don't we both stop under her real name, Judith thinking along these lines and Martin. d V- rjt. Rhythm Tim Blake Nelson left and Edward Norton 'The Incredible Hulk. " : & Friday, June 11 2008 Hearst Continued from Dl The 127 a ere estate goes well beyond the notion of sprawling, with 110,000 square feet of buildings, surrounded by terraces, vibrant gardens, classic f 1 M sculptures and views that span I at least 50 miles of coastline. Enchanted Hill is so expansive it takes four tours, at 1 12 hours each, to see everything. If you don't have time for all of them, take the Evening Tour" (offered Fridays and Saturdays during select months), which offers snippets from the daytime tours. Trie estate rolls back in time, with docents dressing in 1930s attire, as the sun sets over San Simeon Bay. Among the most remarkable sights are the last mf strains of daylight from the open walkway of "The Cloisters" guest rooms. Even after eight hours on the hill, you still walk away wondering if you've really Hearst Castle seen it all. With more than Castle in the sky; Hearst Castle is visible over heavy fog in San Simeon, Calif. 22,000 artifacts and intricate details sweeping from the Persian rugs to the carved and from his movie-sta- r ceilings, taking a girlfriend, second trip through the same Marion Davies. On the theater room reveals something overscreen downstairs, a newsreel looked the first time. he produced includes his apI Getting there: Hearst Castle is located at 750 Hearst It's easy to see how guests peal to "buy American," while Castle Road in San Simeon off Highway 1. Park at the invited here 80 years ago could only a hundred feet away, his visitors center, where you can purchase or pick up tickets contractors installed imported overstay their welcome. and catch the bus to the castle. When I told my mom about Italian tile in the indoor Roman When to visit: Tours start daily at 8:20 a.m. (closed my impending trip, she smiled. "You realize you're jaded," she Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day). Peak aside, it's deseason runs May t. 15. said. tails such as those Italian tiles True enough; I spent seven made of 224tarat gold mixed I Tours; California State Parks offers five tour options. with years of my childhood traipsdeep blue Venetian glass Tours 1 through 4 cost $24 each for adults, $12 for chilthat make Hearst Castle a ing through Europe while offdren ages and for season during peak $20$10 marvel without precedence. living in England and then season. The "Evening Tour" costs $30 for adults, $15 for You can find more Germany. I've seen where roychildren both seasons. Reservations are recommended; alty slept in Windsor Castle, images at breathtaking visit www.hearstcastle.com or call stood among the ruins of the Neuschwanstein, more page I Tour 1: The Experience Tour Parthenon and gawked at recommended for eantry at Windsor, more artistic wonder in the Sistine Chavisitors; tour includes Esplanade and gardens, the Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired fairy tales. Casa del Sol guesthouse and five ground-floo- r pel and more authenticity in When you've "seen the real almost any historic building in rooms of Casa Grande, the maiii house; also includes National Geographic's deal, how can an imitation film, "Hearst Castle: Europe. What you won't find is a blending of styles and culture compare? Building the Dream." For starters, none of those that know no boundaries. I Tour 2: Casa Grande explores the main house had William Randolph Hearst. Hearst took what he loved including the upper floors' library, guest rooms and Here was a man who took about every country and eiHearst's private suite; also includes the kitchen. the struggling San Francisco ther replicated it, or bought it. Examiner and launched a includes the unfinished I Tour 3: Casa Grande North Here, Spanish Colonial meets Greek Revival, Italian Renaisnorth terrace, Casa del Monte guesthouse, publishing empire. Despite his wealth, a park docent explains, north wing of the main house and a short film about the sance, classic Mediterranean Hearst had great contempt for and everything in between, home's construction. the "idle rich," believing that sometimes without an inch of offered April through OctoI Tour 4: The Garden Tour all people should do something separation. ber; includes the hidden terrace, Neptune Pool dressing with themselves and their Nowhere is that more presof overview del the and Casa rooms, gardens grounds, wealth. ent than in the refectory. In Mar guesthouse and main house's wine cellar. For his part, Hearst tried to each corner of the long dining room stand 15th century monthe style and art he I Tour 5: Evening Tour offered Friday and Saturday Euencountered on a and September-Decembe- r astery choir stalls. The import(adevenings March-Mad ed ceiling is from ropean tour he took at age 10 ditional nights during holidays, check online); includes Beneath it with his mother. northeastern Italy. in Tours from and 2 docents dress period 1, 4; highlights Inspiration discovered as a hang Palio race banners from attire; also includes newsreel footage in Casa Grande's boy simmered for more than Tuscany. theater; these sell out quickly. 45 years, until he broke ground Flemish tapestries adorn offered at least three I Accessibility Designed Tours on the same San Simeon hill the walls. The massive candletimes daily; call 8004444445 at least 10 days in adwhere he camped with his sticks come from Belgium, vance to schedule. the silver vase from Ireland, family as a child. Architect e Julia Morgan came on board the pieces from to build what Hearst called Spain. And the china on the "a little something," and until table, well, that belonged to his Hearst's departure in 1947 due referring to him in the present plant, Hearst replied that he mother. to ailing health, she oversaw So many different styles, didn't want to see any bare tense, as if he still roams the halls. You can" almost see him so many different cultures, construction on the much dirt, which is how 700,000 anin his private study, poring nuals came to be at the castle. but still Hearst found a way grander project. Just how grand? Try 56 over his newspapers with a red (Today, a mere 20,000 blanket to blend them seamlessly, as if bedrooms, 61 bathrooms and crayon. Or hear him encourag- the estate.) they were made for each other. 41 fireplaces. It has an outdoor ing his guests to swim, play In some ways, his eccentrici- About the only thing that tennis or ride horses because ties were exorbitant. He had didn't quite fit on the antique pool, an indoor pool, tennis d the opulent, courts, a library with 4,000 "Sleep is like practicing for banquet table were the glass outdoor Neptune pool rebuilt one of bottles of ketchup books, a refectory that could death," he said. seat 48 for dinner, and, at one three times so he could include Hearst's weaknesses. Hearst is a character in his castle. He would a temple front. own fairy-tal- e And yet, those also seem to time, a zoo that rivaled some He was also a man of conhasten a guest's departure public ones. belong. It's a subtle statement, All of that would amount to tradictions. Unmarried guests a testament that Hearst wasn't by moving his seat at dinner closer to the massive fireplace. no more than a palatial estate who arrived with dates were trying to duplicate Europe's if not for Hearst. He would gift one of his dogs assigned sleeping quarters far cathedrals and castles and The docents make the castle to any guest who bonded with from their companions, even monuments so much as he was come alive as they recount while the the animal. When a gardener Hearst trying to create a home unlike stories of his life, sometimes asked how many flowers to slept only a sitting room away any other. hand-painte- d If you go 15-Sep- 7 first-tim- 18-roo- 10-roo- y hand-carve- silver-servic- if. dl HERALD HuesUniversal Studios star in a scene from Greek-inspire- Marvel as interesting in a business suit as he was inside the metal contraption he builds to fight bad guys. Downey's own stints in rehab added a nice nuance to the movie's boozy Continued from Dl Man," Universal releasing "The Incredible Hulk." Marvel keeps all of the profits and retains lucrative rights for toys and other merchandise based on the films. "The financial upside on a movie like 'Iron Man' or 'Incredible Hulk' is multiples of multiples of what we had in the old arrangement," said David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, a division of Marvel Entertainment Inc. "We have the power to green-ligour movies. We set our schedule. We're not reliant on a third party." A few elite franchises among them Sony's "Spider-Man- " and 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" and with its upcoming "Wolverine" spinoff remain under ht "X-Me- those studios' control. That still leaves legions of superheroes for Marvel to put on screen. Iron Man was a beloved character among fans but far from a household name to general audiences. The comic-boogods smiled on his movie adaptation, though, as all the ingredients came ' k together to create an instant Hollywood franchise. The manic charm of Robert Downey Jr. made billionaire weapons designer Tony Stark Stark. Director Jon Favreau struck an ideal balance between action and character development, resulting in one of the entries in the onslaught of comic adaptations. After a nearly $100 million opening weekend in May, "Iron Man" is closing in on $300 million, a mark previ-- ' ously reached only by the d flicks among movies. Though the Hulk was more widely known than Iron Man from the comic books and the TV series starring Bill Bixby, no one in Hollywood expects his new movie to put up those kinds of numbers. "Previews of this film have been mediocre. The buzz seems to be lacking," said Mike Hickey, an analyst who follows Marvel for Janco "Spider-Man- " comic-boo- k Partners. The Hulk has been a problem child on the The 2003 version, which starred Eric Bana as scientist Bruce Banner and featured a cartoonish Hulk hopping around in the desert, opened with a whopping $62.1 million weekend, then a record for June debuts. quintessential English dad, Henry Brown, stumbles upon him while waiting to pick up his daughter, who is returning from Continued from Dl school for the summer holidays. Brown fetches his wife, who melts at the sight leaving station when Commuting in the of the bear with the sign hanging around morning." Bond wrote the original quickly. In 10 his neck. The image came from searing memories of refugees and evacuees who days in his one room flat near the famed Portobello Road market, Bond created "A streamed through British train stations Bear Called Paddington," a tale that resobefore and after World War II, seeking nated the world over. Soon, he was able to security in safer places. Many of those children had tags hung around their necks quit his day job at the British Broadcasting with their names and destinations. Bond Corp. The Paddington books have sold recalled their vulnerability in his original more than 35 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages, including book. "That was an important part of Latin ("Ursus Nomine Paddington"). Paddington's persona." "There's something about bears which The Browns take in Paddington, giving sets them apart from the other toys," Bond him a room in the family home at safe and says of Paddington's appeal. "I think dolls idyllic 32 Windsor Gardens. Though he's a are always wondering what they're going bear, and everyone knows he's a bear, he to wear next. Bears have this quality that wanders around without anyone finding children in particular feel they can tell their that the least bit strange. Peru was chosen as his birthplace besecrets to and they won't pass them on." cause Bond thought most people in 1958 Paddington is a bear with a past. He Britain would find it very remote. Inistows away on a ship after his Aunt Lucy moves into the home for retired bears in tially, Bond considered having Paddington come from Africa, but his agent told him Lima. there were no bears there. Rumpled and tired, with little marma"A Bear Called Paddington" was soon lade, left in his suitcase, his story begins at Paddington railway station, where the followed by more than a dozen other Paddington novels and picture books. A television program spread his reach even more. At Paddington station, a bronze statue was erected in his honor. Visitors often sit near him with their lunches. Some, like Otto Sumner, 3, climb all over him and give him hugs. "I like his suitcase," Otto said. "He likes to eat marmalade sandwiches." Marmalade, not surprisingly, is a Bond favorite, too. His young fans used to send him jars, but Bond is invariably disappointed when he stops by the post office to pick up parcels full of shattered glass. He says sometimes he wished he'd picked "something more exotic, like truffles." Paddington is a respectful bear". Foreseeing his future, his Aunt Lucy teaches him English and grounds him in the virtues of good manners. Like Bond's father, Paddington tips his hat to be polite and afflicts his detractors with a withering "hard stare." Children bond with Paddington, says author Francesca Simon, because they see a creature smaller and more lost than they are. They understand what it's like to get into trouble. Plus, there's something appealing about having a secret history and a magical past. CEOTFAL A.C SYSTEM 0E D01MRS OR SAVE ON ALL HIGH EFFICIENCY AIR CLEANERS I C IAmi. Dm. 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