Feature

The Daily Pilot is looking for students to participate in a back-to-school feature in which 10 Newport-Mesa kids -- two from each of the four public high schools and two from Sage Hill -- will get free SAT training. To take part in the feature, e-mail us an essay about yourself and your academic achievements to o7dailypilot@latimes.comf7. The deadline is Friday. Students chosen for the feature will be asked to agree to be interviewed for a front-page story and to write weekly essays about their experiences.

GLENDALE -- The following is a selection of upcoming television programming of local interest. This week's episode of the "Larry Zarian Forum" will feature Glendale News-Press City Editor David Silva. Zarian and Silva will discuss Silva's weekly column, changes at the News-Press, and other issues. The live call-in show is from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday on Charter Communications Channel 26. To ask a question during the show, call 547-3668. The guest on this week's episode of "Wanda's Cafe" will be Mayor Gus Gomez.

Soccer showcase to feature area standouts Several area boys' soccer players will be featured in a high school all-star showcase March 7 at La Canada High. The match -- which is for seniors only -- will be at noon, and one of the two teams will be coached by Glendale High's Edgar Manvelyan. The other squad will be coached by Arcadia High's Ed Burke. Manvelyan's team will feature Glendale's Billy Torres, Eduardo Forero and Karapet Manukyan. He will also have the services of Crescenta Valley's Nigel Orozco, Hoover's David Morraquin, La Canada's A.J. Wickersham and Flintridge Prep's Eddie Li.

Tim Willert GLENDALE -- The following is a selection of programming of local interest: This week's episode of the "Larry Zarian Forum" will feature Susan Kussman, co-chairwoman of the campaign to recall Mayor Gus Gomez, and Albert Abkarian, a Glendale attorney who opposes the recall. Kussman and Abkarian, a member of the Citizens' Memorial Advisory Committee, will debate the merits of the recall and discuss the American flag controversy that sparked the recall drive.

Glendale has come a long way from the days when the head of the American Nazi Party lived in town, and an unofficial curfew kept people of color off the streets at night. Today, the city is a richly diverse community that includes Latinos, Armenians, Asians and African Americans, as well as whites. And nothing showcases that diversity better than Unity Fest, the fourth-annual, city-sponsored event that will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday in Verdugo Park, 1621 Canada Blvd.

St. Luke's of the Mountains Anglican Church invites the Crescenta Valley community to attend its first ever faith-based motion picture premiere of director David de Vos' first feature length theatrical feature entitled "The Theory of Everything". The free screening will be held this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the church, 2563 Foothill Blvd., at Rosemont Avenue. The film, which is produced by David and Stephanie de Vos, is appropriate for children ages 10 and older. For more information, call Mary Rowinski, church administrator, at 248-3639.

Feature film activity on the streets of Los Angeles rebounded in the first quarter of this year, but the gains were offset by a continued falloff in television shoots in the region. Location filming for movies generated 1,019 production days in the first quarter, up 16% over the same period a year ago as the city and county benefited from several smaller movies, including Millennium Films' "Lovelace," starring Amanda Seyfried and James Franco in a story about the late porn star Linda Lovelace.

Send DATEBOOK items to Glendale News-Press, 221 N. Brand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Glendale, CA 91203 or fax to (818) 241-1975. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. THURSDAY The Downtown Burbank outdoor concert series will feature live music every Thursday in July and August. The festivities kick-off at 6 p.m. on the AMC Walkway at Palm Avenue and San Fernando Boulevard with free swing and salsa lessons. The bands will perform at 7 p.m. Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums will play this week.

Fans of Hong Kong movies expect great fights, beautiful cinematography and charismatic performers, but Peter Ho-sun Chan's "Dragon" is one of the first HK movies in years to experiment with a touch of nonstandard narrative storytelling. Donnie Yen - who replaced Jet Li as the preeminent HK martial arts actor after the latter slowed down - plays Jin-xi, a simple small-town papermaker circa 1917. When two thugs attack a neighbor, the timid Jin-xi bravely joins the fray and manages to kill the bad guys, seemingly through good luck.

Shane Carruth made an impressive debut in 2004 with "Primer," which cost $7,000 and is surely the most complexly structured time-travel film ever made. For that matter, it may be one of the most complexly structured films ever made, period. Carruth seemed to have fallen off the map shortly thereafter. Now, after nine years, his second feature, "Upstream Color," opens this week. There is no real protagonist here. Carruth opts for multiple points of view; sometimes the transitions are so sudden and the durations so short that the movie suggests an "objective" point of view.

A couple of months ago, this column ran a mildly unenthusiastic review of Shout! Factory's double-feature disc of Jackie Chan's “Crime Story” and “The Protector” ; really the best that could be said was that it was priced to move. The company's second such release is priced likewise and is much more satisfying on every level. To start with, while the earlier two features were both uncharacteristic, minor Chan entries, “Police Story” and “Police Story 2” are widely regarded as two of his best.

The cafeteria at Glendale High School was filled with problem-solving projects on Saturday as the district's Invention Convention featured creations made by elementary students that very well could end up in stores - or on QVC - sometime in the future. It was the 19th year for the event, which received 122 entries that ranged from a toothbrush that holds a variety of dental care items to a Band-Aid that keeps a cut visible while it's healing - both winning entries from fifth-graders.

Going where no man has gone before -- it could be the theme for this year's Montrose Christmas Parade, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars rover team and original “Star Trek” actor Walter Koenig serving as co-grand marshals. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and other dignitaries and officials will also be taking part in the parade along Honolulu Avenue, which starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The parade starts at Honolulu Avenue at Rosemont Avenue, and then runs east to Verdugo Road.

LA CRESCENTA - Perhaps the closest thing to an all-local cross-country meet took place Saturday at the 45th annual Staub/Barnes Invitational at Crescenta Valley Park. Seven local teams participated over two boys' and girls' races, with the majority competing in the first varsity race, which included some interesting twists. Varsity race No. 1 resembled a Pacific League meet with Crescenta Valley, Hoover, Burbank and Glendale highs racing with the Rio Hondo League's La Cañada. On the boys' side, Burbank upset CIF Southern Section Division I No. 5-ranked Crescenta Valley, 98-99, for third place led by junior Arsen Mkrtchyan, who finished 10th in 16 minutes, 16 seconds.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Practices have been vigorous for the members of the Glendale Community College women's volleyball team leading up to their season opener. Already faced with meeting two-time defending state champion L.A. Pierce in a pair of Western State Conference South Division matches and playing a difficult nonconference schedule, Glendale college Coach Yvette Ybarra said she'd like for the Vaqueros to be up to speed before they begin their season at 3 p.m. Aug. 31 against Santa Barbara City College in the Pasadena City College Quad Tournament.

COMPTON - For the first time all tournament long, the Arroyo Seco Saints baseball team appeared vulnerable and perhaps even beatable. Yet, that didn't matter. The Saints proved themselves untouchable and clinched a berth in Thursday's opening round of the Palomino League World Series by topping the San Jose Giants, 5-2, in Tuesday evening's West Zone championship at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy. The victory was the first for Arroyo Seco (32-4-1) in the West Zone finals since 2004 and proved especially satisfying since the Saints were turned away in back-to-back West Zone Finals the last two years.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - After conducting the first two years of the annual Tornadoes Baseball Camp, Joe Cotti decided to make some major changes to the event's structural layout. In the past, Cotti, Hoover High's baseball coach, shoe-horned facets from hitting to pitching to defense into a week-long session and would repeat the process for another five weeks. While it served its purpose, Cotti explored other ways to make the camp more attractive to current and future participants.

An unveiling of the first faith-based sculpture at Glendale Adventist Medical Center drew dozens of hospital officials and clergy members Wednesday afternoon. Jesus Christ sits as the focus of the bronze sculpture titled “Come Unto Me.” “He set the example of health ministry that we have dedicated ourselves to,” said Kevin Roberts, president of the hospital. Designed by Victor Issa, a 57-year-old artist based in Loveland, Colo., the entire scene, with children, women and dogs, took him more than four years to craft.