August 28, 2005

BREAKFAST at the Morin Hotel in Hue was a game of Russian roulette. As my husband, Tad, and I sat sipping Vietnamese coffee in the courtyard, nuts from the bang trees above us dropped like bombs onto the stone patio. I asked our waiter, Dinh, a slender young man, if they ever hit people. ''Yes,'' he said, pointing to his forearm and shoulder with a shrug. ''One broke a table.'' If you're not left unconscious, the Morin's terrace can be quite pleasant, a refuge from the choking summer heat and the buzz of motor scooters in central Hue. Small birds with bright yellow beaks -- called chim sao -- hop around, scavenging food from your table.

UNTIL this year, filling a natural gas car was a hit-or-miss proposition. Pumps were hard to find, and many were available only to fleets operated by municipalities, utilities and other companies. Now a home-fueling appliance called the Phill lets owners tap the gas lines that feed their homes. Here are questions and answers about home fueling: Q. How do you fill up at home? A. The Phill delivers natural gas from your line and compresses it (from a quarter-pound per square inch to about 3,600 p.s.i.) into the tank of your natural gas car. The Phil mounts to a wall -- it is about three feet high and a foot wide and weighs 95 pounds, and is made by Fuelmaker of Toronto. (Honda owns 20 percent of Fuelmaker.) It takes about eight hours to fill the tank of a Honda Civic GX. Q. What's does the appliance cost? A. A Phill is $3,400, plus installation expense of $500 to $1,000, but in Southern California the South Coast Air Quality Management District provides a $2,000 rebate. Honda also leases the unit for $34 to $79 a month. The federal government provides a $2,000 tax deduction for natural gas cars (as well as for hybrids), with a more generous tax credit to take effect next year. Also, some states and municipalities offer their own incentives. New York State recently extended a credit for up to half of the cost of installing any alternative-energy refueling station. Q. Does natural gas save you money? A. The equivalent of a gallon of gasoline is now $1.27 in Southern California. The electricity to operate a Phill for eight hours is about 50 cents in Orange County, where regular-grade gasoline is nearly $3 a gallon. Home fueling is now exempt from federal and state highway taxes, though that may change. Q. Is natural gas dangerous? A. Phill does not store gas, so fueling is quite safe. Studies by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found the system to be no more dangerous than any household appliance that uses natural gas. Q. If I don't fill up at home, can I find a station? A. There are natural gas pumps in many urban areas, though access to some is restricted. For instance, there are 61 within 100 miles of New York City, and about half can be used by the public. Lists and maps of stations are at www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/. More information about the Phill is at www.fuelmaker.com.

HERE are two lessons that MTV can salvage from its widely disparaged coverage of Live 8: First, any broadcast of a global benefit concert, however well-intended, will suffer if you cut away too soon from a Pink Floyd reunion. Second, when you've shortchanged your audience, it sometimes pays to make public amends. When the MTV executive Van Toffler returned from his weekend trip to Live 8's London stage, he found the network awash in complaints about its hectic, rapid-fire treatment of the international event. So he began working the phones. After two days of talking to concert organizers and performers, he extended an olive branch to MTV's audience: 10 commercial-free hours of Live 8 would be shown on MTV and VH1 the next weekend.

Shadowy Hamas Leader Threatens Israel and Abbas One of Israel's most-wanted men, the Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif, issued a video in which he warns the Palestinian Authority not to try to confiscate Hamas's weapons and promises Israelis that ''all of Palestine will become a hell'' for them. PAGE 11 Base Closing Panel Finishes A federal commission wrapped up its review of the Defense Department's plan to close and consolidate domestic military bases. If its plan is approved by President Bush and Congress, more than 20 major bases will close over the next six years and there will be a major reshuffling of Air National Guard units. PAGE 19 Tipping New Jersey's Court For all the attention being paid to the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. on the federal level, New Jersey's next governor will have to replace two retiring Supreme Court justices on the seven-member state panel. Three others will face reappointment after their first seven years on the court. PAGE 23 Where's That Hedge Fund? People who invested money with the Bayou Group, a hedge-fund firm in Connecticut, are dying to find out what has happened to their money. But their phone calls to the firm are going unanswered, and some are fearing the worst. SUNDAY BUSINESS Six-String Revolutionary Charles R. Cross has written a biography of Jimi Hendrix that puts a new focus on his childhood, revealing a lifelong psychic wound that left him seeking the love and stability he never got as a boy. BOOK REVIEW Arguing Baseball A theological dispute is shaking the national pastime. Is it a game of soft and fuzzy intuition, or of cold hard data? WEEK IN REVIEW College Football Preview The spread offense catches on, and Southern California -- led by quarterback Matt Leinart, right -- faces challenges as it seeks a third consecutive national title. With looks at other contenders and the season's top players. SPORTSSUNDAY T: Women's Fashion From dark, sexy tops and dresses with a Victorian flair to dazzling prints, The New York Times Style Magazine showcases the best for fall.

Brokers who coordinate buyouts of rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments represent unique niche in New York City real estate; employed by residential landlords and developers, brokers work to find 'price tag' at which tenant will leave apartment, which can range from cash buy-out to promise of relocation to better apartment at same rent, ownership of condominium or percentage of profit when vacated unit is sold; photos (M)