By Nita Lelyveld, Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES — Just the other day, I went out and observed people mingling en masse. I watched a crowd of tourists in the forecourt of what I still call Mann’s Chinese place their hands, as they’ve always done, into the much-touched cement handprints of stars. I watched shoppers crowd around tables and fondle the shiny iPhones and MacBooks on display at the