Lulu

Bertrand Tavernier's engrossing "L.627" is about hope in a lost cause. Is hope destructive or redemptive when it has no obvious foundation?There are few answers in this film, which might be described loosely as a cop drama. But this is no Hollywood cop drama: No cars explode, there's a barely discernible body count, and these French police officers don't chase glamorous international terrorists so much as dirt-poor, immigrant junkies and drug dealers.Didier Bezace stars as Lucien Marguet, nicknamed Lulu, a man with a mission.

In New York the other night, I ran into my daughter's favorite author, Mary Pope Osborne, whose "Magic Tree House" books I've read to the child at night, and a moment later, Scott Turow, who writes legal thrillers that keep people awake all night, and David Remnick, the biographer of President Barack Obama. Bang bang bang, one heavyweight after another. Erica Jong, Jeffrey Toobin, Judy Blume. It was a rooftop party in Tribeca that I got invited to via a well-connected pal, wall-to-wall authors and agents and editors and elegant young women in little black dresses, standing, white wine in hand, looking out across the Hudson at the lights of Hoboken and Jersey City, eating shrimp and scallops and spanikopita on toothpicks, all talking at once the way New Yorkers do. I grew up on the windswept plains with my nose in a book, so I am awestruck in the presence of book people, even though I have written a couple books myself.

Weddings are changing and wedding photography education needs to change, too. This is the principle behind “Capturing Love: The Art of Lesbian and Gay Wedding Photography” by Kathryn Hamm, president of GayWeddings.com, and Thea Dodds, a veteran wedding photographer. Together, the two are on a mission to enlighten photographers on how to pose and capture same-sex weddings through their visual guide. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the authors appeared together in Baltimore at an editorial meeting for Two Bright Lights, an online publicity platform, to discuss and promote their book.

100 Years Ago* Midshipman C. D. Wilbur of the Naval Academy set a world record in the "hitch and kick" of 9 feet, 1 inch, beating the previous record by four inches. Teammate Walter Izard also set a world record of 31 4/5 seconds in the 50-yard swim. -- The Sun, June 14, 1893.* A 10-mile race between O. W. Martin's Co. sailing batteau "Lulu" and Captain Smith's canoe "Island Bird" over a course from Horn Point buoy and Lone Point was watched by hundreds of spectators. The canoe won by three miles.

On June 24, 2005, EVELYN A. GORDON of Bel Air, MD. Beloved wife of William Paul Gordon. Devoted mother of Gary P. Gordon and Cheryl Monk. Loving sister of Melvin Smith, Josephine Magaha and Lulu Grubb. Also survived by two grandchildren Jared A. Monk and Leslie A. Gordon. Services will be at the family owned Mc Comas Funeral Home, P.A., Bel Air, MD on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 at 10 A.M. Interment will be in Mountain Christian Church Cemetery, Joppa, MD. Friends may call at the funeral home in Bel Air on Monday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Those who desire may contribute to the Bel Air United Methodist Church, 21 Linwood Ave., Bel Air, MD 21014 or the American Diabetes Association MD affiliate, Inc., 3120 Timanus Lane, Suite 106, Baltimore, MD 21244.

Spent the other night at Beach Place, a multi-story complex of tropical-themed restaurants across Highway A1A from Fort Lauderdale Beach. The place has a Hooters, a casual seafood restaurant with outdoor seating named Lulu's, and a number of other youth-oriented eating and drinking spots that pander to the young and the soon-to-be-senseless. I don't know what I was doing there because the crowd obviously was well below my demographic. While young Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec marveled at the human scenery at a bar called Sloppy Joe's, I watched the North Carolina-Duke game.

HOLLYWOOD -- Laura Spencer -- who in 30 discontinuous years as a lead character on ABC's General Hospital, has gone from an ingenue to a catatonic mental patient -- is about to wake up. In grandiose soap-opera style, Laura, famously played by Genie Francis, will come out of her state of "psychomotor disassociation," to use the show's diagnosis. Laura's revival on today's episode -- and Francis' return to the show after a four-year absence -- will no doubt have repercussions for her three troubled children: Lucky is recovering from a nasty pill addiction, Lulu feels guilty about her recent abortion and Nikolas' life is being undermined by his son's psychotic nanny.

On January 15, 2005, MARIE E. (nee Abt); beloved wife of the late Leonard Rattini; surviving are three sisters and one brother, Lulu Folio, Dolores Abt, Thelma Schisler and Charles Abt. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends may gather at MILLER-DIPPEL FUNERAL HOME, INC., 6415 Belair Road, on Monday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Christian Wake Service will be held at 3 P.M. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Leo's Church, on Tuesday 10 A.M. Interment Gardens of Faith Cemetery.

On Friday March 21, 2003 JAMES E. "JIM" KISER, SR., beloved husband of Ethel M. Kiser, devoted father of James Edward Kiser Jr., John W. Kiser and the late Robert E. Kiser, brother of Bob Kiser, Lillian McSwain, Lulu Barbarey, grandfather of Dawn M. Kiser, Shanneon Koehlerschmidt and James E. Kiser, III., also survived by seven great grandchildren. Friends may call on Monday and Tuesday 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. at the Stalling Funeral Home P.A., 3111 Mountain Rd., Pasadena, MD. where funeral services will be held on Wednesday 11 A.M. Interment Glen Haven Cemetery.

tuesday A Member of the Family: Cesar Millan's Guide to a Lifetime of Fulfillment with Your Dog : by Cesar Millan and Melissa Jo Peltier (Harmony, $25.95). The Dog Whisperer offers advice for integrating your canine companion into your household. A Most Wanted Man : by John le Carre (Scribner, $28). A half-starved young Russian man in a long black overcoat is smuggled into Hamburg in the dead of night. He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse around his neck. He is a devout Muslim.