Entertainment is a leisure activity consisting of an event and an audience that views the event and participates. This participation can be subtle, as in Theatres: Film, Opera or stageshows, or Orchestral symphony concerts wherein the applause due the performance or performing artists would be bad manners. In contrast, the sports entertainment industry feeds off audience participation— who can imagine the strange event attending a pro-wrestling bout, basketball or baseball game without cheering or booing the participants would experentially being happy.

The industry that provides entertainment is called the entertainment industry, and one distinction between what is meant by the term is the voluntary participation of the party being entertained, which may be passive (Opera) or active (Frantic shoot-em-up computer games) and the whole gamut of industry supported diversions in between (Baseball, Concerts, Football, Books, Television, film , striptease, and events like Karaoke).

Recreation, play, reading, and art appreciation may in some instances be confused with entertainment, but the difference is elementary—entertainments take two or more— even if one of the participants is a programmer for the obsolescent Amiga computer system who now happens to be deceased. Without the 'performance' of the artist and the participation of the viewer the event would and could not occur.

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NYT > Home & Garden

The Versailles of the North
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:43:31 -0000
A garden of 14 acres has stirred controversy in worlds as diverse as the English gardening establishment, the British Parliament and the press.
Home Is Where the Head Is
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:30:13 -0000
An architectural designer in Texas uses an exhaustive psychological and aesthetic compatibility exercise for would-be home builders, in a process he calls emotional architecture.
In the Garden: It Eats CO2 for Breakfast
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:06:53 -0000
The proliferation of poison ivy has created a business opportunity for horticulturists who help people get rid of the itchy vine.
Who Lives There: A House That Was the Ladies’ Parlor for a Church
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:06:55 -0000
Set back from President Street in Carroll Gardens is a small Romanesque Revival building that gets a lot of attention from Brooklynites.
Shopping With Kelly Wearstler: Shopping for Hard-to-Find Design Books With Kelly Wearstler
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:05:23 -0000
Kelly Wearstler, who designs resorts, residences and home furnishings and accessories, browsed her favorite design bookstore in Los Angeles for ideas and inspiration.
The Fix: Venting the House to Keep It Safe
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:44:46 -0000
A surprising number of appliances in the home need to be vented to the outside to get rid of toxic fumes.

L.A. Times - Home & Garden

An India-styled garden where Old Delhi meets the Valley
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
A Canoga Park backyard is a calm meditation on its owner's Indian roots. PAVAN BHATIA is relaxing poolside, watching son Neil swimming in the light of a summer moon. After a long commute from downtown Los Angeles, she finds that her backyard refuge in Canoga Park provides some much-needed peace -- "a retreat from the hustle and bustle," she says.
Rimrock Ranch fuses urban design with the rugged high desert
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Architect Lloyd Russell created the home, near Palm Springs, as an escape for musician and surf wear entrepreneur Jim Austin. HERE IN the high desert north of Palm Springs, the tranquillity may be inspirational, but the elements can be harsh. Coping with 100-plus heat one month, flurries of snow in another can prove tough for residents in the cramped, wooden homes typical of the area -- some left from when this enclave was built as a film set for the westerns of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
With the Adirondack chair, necessity was the mother of invention
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
A Massachusetts aristocrat saw a quick solution to a lack of lawn chairs while vacationing in New York's Adirondack Mountains more than 100 years ago. DESIGNED more than 100 years ago, the Adirondack chair has become an emblem of American summer -- a symbol of the country's simpler virtues, "just like Mom and apple pie," says Craig Gilborn, former director of the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.
Want a floating stairway? Check building code first
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
In Los Angeles, code requires a handrail or wall on either side of a platform rising 30 inches or more. And yes, that includes stairs. OH, THOSE heavenly floating stairs. They seem to levitate on their own, with no railing to mar the effect.
Vanity Vanities from Dilettante
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
His Majesty and Her Majesty crown mirrors from Elena Coleman and Libby Kountzman The Vanity Vanities are from Dilettante , a new collaboration between Southern California Institute of Architecture graduates Elena Coleman and Libby Kountzman. Their intricate crowned-glass mirrors are cut with water jets and laser-etched with quotes from Christopher Marlowe or Shakespeare. Available in two sizes ($800 and $1,200). Show , 1722 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 644-1960; and Innersection, 1111 S. Grand Ave., Unit 104, Los Angeles, (213) 763-8800. www.dilettante-ca.com .
Patricia Urquiola's carpets update traditional Sardinian motifs
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700
With the popularity of Greek flokatis, Berber tribal graphics from Morocco and other ethnic rugs, it's hardly surprising that Patricia Urquiola has launched her first carpet collection.

Christian Science Monitor | The Home Forum

Redemption
A poem
'Jingle-belling' in China
Chinese students learning English catch the Christmas spirit as they sing carols to college classmates and staff.
Where did that Christmas song come from?
For kids: The stories behind three popular Christmas songs.
Today's Article on Christian Science: 'Meekness will receive him'
A Christian Science perspective on daily life.

Denver Post: Lifestyle

Fit to a tee
editor@denverpost.com () Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:08:16 -0600
A couple of local golf-wear companies get the thumb's up in Golf For Women's July/August issue.
Authenticity a priority for the other Obama
sbrown@denverpost.com (By Suzanne S. Brown and Dana Coffield / The Denver Post) Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:57:38 -0600
Michelle Obama is as committed to her young daughters as she is to her husband's presidential aspirations.
Fine food and fine art
editor@denverpost.com (The Denver Post) Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:51:20 -0600
Room to Grow: Boulder County Farmers' Markets is again hosting Fine Arts and Crafts Fairs this year.

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