WORDS AND IMAGES : Going Ape : A remastered video version of “King Kong” can provide awesome rainy-day entertainment.

A little chilly, a little blustery, occasionally overcast and rainy or crisp starry nights. Our version of winter. A time to turn up the heat, activate the fireplace and pop a video into the VCR.

Sixty years after its original release, Turner Home Entertainment has produced a digitally remastered video version of “King Kong.” What a film. The special effects are still awesome. Kong, more than 50 feet tall on the screen, was actually a composite of six 18-inch puppets, one 8-foot hand and a 20-foot head manipulated with levers and compressed air. The Kong video is available in black and white, a color enhanced version, and a 60th anniversary limited collector’s edition is offered through February, 1993.

“King Kong” is probably too scary for very little kids, but they will be enchanted by “Waiting for Santa,” a video featuring Barney the Dinosaur produced by Glastonbury Press of Ojai. Another locally produced video on the market is “Chipper’s Christmas Adventure,” created by singer/composer Greg Jackson and author John Hambrick for Regal Books of Ventura.

*

Talk radio (to which I am addicted) is an involving activity that triggers an emotional response based on the talk-meister’s spin on the issues. But we can also enjoy theater of the mind and a different experience by tuning in to KCRW/National Public Radio. KCRW’s weekly program, “Literary Evenings at the Met,” will feature a series of readings including John Cheever’s “Christmas is a Season for the Poor” at 7 p.m. Saturday. Truman Capote’s poignant autobiographical story, “A Christmas Memory,” will be performed at 7 p.m. Sunday. And Michael Silverblatt, host of the weekly “Bookworm” show, will interview Camille Paglia, author of “Sex, Art and American Culture” at 2 p.m. Monday. KCRW is heard in Ventura County on 89.1 FM. To receive a monthly program guide and supporter information, call (310) 450-5183.

*

An hour of music and poetry for youngsters, ages 8 and up, will be presented by Susan Chapin and Mel Bloom at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Ojai Library, 111 E. Ojai Ave.

*

The Prueter Library in Port Hueneme has organized a series of holiday programs for the community. At 10 a.m. Wednesday, Gene West will preside over Toy Story Time and share his handmade wooden toys with children 3 years old and up. Next Thursday at 3:30 p.m. two short films, “Christmas Tree” and “The Night Before Christmas” will be shown in the library. For a full schedule of events. Call Diane or Mark at 486-5460.

*

There are daily used book sales at the Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road and the Newbury Park Library, 2331 Borchard Road. Books are for sale during regular library hours.