No dim bulb in the bunch

Charles McNulty

theater critic

Here’s a gift idea that connects recipients to the richness of the dramatic past and the boldness of the theatrical present. That allows them to become more involved in the cultural and communal life of the city. And that gets them off the couch and mingling with new people and unexpected points of view.

Beyond buying tickets for a show (always a nice idea if you’re sure of the person’s schedule), there are other ways of giving the gift of theater. And all it takes is a call to a box office.

Gift certificates are available from the Center Theatre Group and Burbank’s Colony Theatre Company, among others, redeemable for individual shows or toward a subscription. Or for about the price of a meal out for two, you can purchase for a friend or loved one an entire theater season at one of the often electric smaller spaces, such as the Actors’ Gang, A Noise Within, the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and the Blank Theatre Company.

The holiday motto: Think theatrically, act locally.

Center Theatre Group, (213) 628-2772; Colony Theatre Company, (818) 558-7000; Actors’ Gang, (310) 838-4264; A Noise Within, (818) 240-0910, Ext. 1; Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, (310) 477-2055; Blank Theatre Company, (310) 662-7734.

---

Pete Metzger

video games reviewer

New school, old school, never even been to school: It doesn’t matter. The Wii system from Nintendo has something for everyone, with its revolutionary controls and relatively low price.

What’s new school is the game The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, the deepest and most attractive installment in the classic series, and it uses the Wii remote as Link’s sword. Old school is Super Mario 64, a game that some consider the best Mario title of all, downloadable to the Wii’s Virtual Console for $10. And never been to school? Well, the Wii system’s natural, intuitive controls are so simple, even a 3-year-old can figure it out.

Nintendo Wii, $249.99, available at most games and electronics stores.

---

Ann Powers

pop music critic

After 20-plus years of getting paid for my dubious opinions about pop, I’ve learned that very often, and despite Madonna, music makes the

people disagree. So I rarely buy anyone a CD -- they might hate it. Online music subscription services are the solution.

Two I use are Rhapsody, home of the hits, and eMusic, with its eclectic archive of independent releases. (Full disclosure: I once wrote a column for eMusic.)

Rhapsody lets you stream millions of songs, from Satchmo’s “Potato Head Blues” to the new Saosin single, and its well-curated radio feature makes musical connections that delight and inform. EMusic offers hit-makers like the Ying Yang Twins, but the pleasure’s in discovering obscurities: It’s like a record store with deep catalog and great clerks.

Rhapsody.com, eMusic.com; both services start at about $10 a month.

---

Don Heckman

jazz/world music writer

Every family has at least one would-be drummer who can’t resist tapping on tabletops and playing paradiddles with silverware. The cajon is the perfect solution. In Spanish, it means “box,” and that’s pretty much what it is: a box that a player sits on and strikes with the hands, like a drum.

It probably originated as far back as the transport of slaves -- especially to Peru and Cuba -- who, deprived of native drums, played on cargo boxes. But it’s evolved into a sophisticated contemporary instrument, often made of beautifully grained wood, with a

carefully planed striking side and a sound hole, occasionally supplemented with a padded seat and cording that (as on a snare drum) allows an

amazingly wide range of percussive sounds.

Call it a drum set in a box.

Cajon, $119.95 to $279.95. Bang a Drum, 1255 S. La Brea Ave., L.A. (800) 495-1109, (323) 936-3274, www.bangadrum.com.

---

Lewis Segal

dance critic

The popularity of such network TV reality series as “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With the Stars” (not to mention the feature film “Happy Feet”) makes dance itself -- dance lessons -- the best holiday gift this year.

Studios throughout the Southland offer classes, so check out the ones in your neighborhood. However, if you’re looking for a one-stop dance marketplace, the Edge Performing Arts Center in Hollywood sells class cards providing one to 30 lessons in an array of disciplines: jazz, tap, contemporary, hip-hop, belly-dancing and ballet.

For tango, Makela Brizuela gives classes at the Electric Lodge in Venice. And tap virtuoso Steve Zee will educate your tootsies at the Dance Arts Academy (another multi-disciplinary center) in Los Angeles.

Edge Performing Arts Center, 1020 Cole Ave., fourth floor, Hollywood. $13 to $302. (323) 962-7733, www.edgepac.com.

Makela Brizuela, Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice. $15 per lesson, or $50 for four over six weeks. (310) 740-2007, www.makelatango.com.

Steve Zee, Dance Arts Academy, 731 S. La Brea Ave., L.A. $11 an hour, $36 for four hours. (323) 932-6230, www.danceartsacademy.com.

---

Booth Moore

fashion critic

The ToyWatch may just be the 21st century’s answer to the Swatch watch. They have all the design clout of a classic timepiece by Rolex, Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet except they are plastic, making them the timekeeping equivalent to the high-low chic that has swept the fashion scene now that Viktor & Rolf design for H&M;, Behnaz Sarafpour for Target and Vivienne Westwood for Nine West.

Created by designer Marco Mavilla and Chicago-based watch collector Randy Gordon, the original Crystal style ($150) comes in candy colors with diving bezels, a white or black dial and the signature clear plastic bracelet, which makes the watch light as a feather. But the Mother of Pearl Chronograph ($250) is catching on fast, now that Madonna wears one in black. And just in the time for the holidays, the Rock Candy shines with Swarovski crystals ($295).

ToyWatch, $150 to $295, at Neiman Marcus stores and www.toywatchusa.com.

---

Randy Lewis

staff writer

In the DVD “Gram Parsons -- Fallen Angel,” writer-director Gandulf Hennig traces the life and music of the country-rock pioneer, who died in 1973 at age 26, through vintage footage of Parsons interwoven with lively interviews with cohorts and admirers including Keith Richards, Emmylou Harris, Chris Hillman, Dwight Yoakam and Peter Buck. It’s an intriguing look at a vital figure in pop music who’s still not widely known but whose influence continues to be felt strongly today.

“Gram Parsons -- Fallen Angel” DVD, Rhino, $19.98.

---

Agustin Gurza

staff writer

The complete works of Joaquin Sabina were just released in Spain, and they’re the first comprehensive compendium of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the past quarter-century in the Spanish-speaking world. But this hefty collection is going to require two stockings to accommodate the pair of box sets -- “Punto ... “ and “ ... Y Seguido” -- featuring every studio and live recording of Sabina’s career, plus rare tracks and video clips. It’s a brilliant body of work on 18 CDs and two DVDs, full of wit, irreverence and poetry with an eclectic style encompassing everything from rock to flamenco. The Spaniards know how to proudly package their pop treasures. Bravo Sabina!

“Punto ... “ and “ ... Y Seguido,” 54.8 Euros (about $75), available as an import at www.zonadecompras.com.

---

Paul Brownfield

television critic

The “No Direction Home” DVD is a pretty safe bet for the determined beatnik in your life, or the Bob Dylan fanatic, assuming he/she hasn’t already seen it and owns a DVD player. Directed by Martin Scorsese, this fascinating two-disc documentary on Dylan’s 1960s emergence as a “protest” folk artist aired on PBS earlier this year, as part of its “American Masters” series. It covers familiar ground -- about the era and the man -- but doesn’t suffer for this. The rich portrait Scorsese paints using archival interviews and footage, including clips from D.A. Pennebaker’s Dylan doc “Don’t Look Back,” is of a miscreant poet-savant; it’s also an overview of the social and musical upheavals of the period (e.g. Dylan performing “Only a Pawn in Their Game” at the civil rights march on Washington). Under Scorsese’s deft hand, Dylan emerges as the genius folkie too hip for the room, writing songs the press and public are eager to turn into political statements (Dylan, of course, is seen toying with this image).

“No Direction Home” two-DVD set, Paramount Home Entertainment, $29.98.

---

Robert Lloyd

television critic

Though the DVD region-coding system, which makes discs from certain countries unplayable on players in certain other countries, affords protection to local copyright holders and content licensees, it’s no boon to consumers -- different versions of domestically released films and TV shows are often available from foreign sources, and many foreign films and series are never released here. You can overcome this cultural barrier and see what the rest of the world is watching with an all-region DVD player -- usually a modified Region 1 player, such as the Toshiba SD-3990 currently available through (though not technically from) Amazon. If that kind of after-market tinkering feels too ethically gray to you, International Electronics also makes an out-of-the-box multi-region combo TV/DVD, with a choice of 13- or 20-inch screen.

Toshiba SD-3990 Multi Region DVD Player ($69.99 via www.amazon.com as of this writing, but price will fluctuate).

International Electronics code-free TV/DVD Combo, from www.220-electronics.com (13-inch screen, $169; 20-inch screen, $249).

---

Dan Neil

automotive critic

The automotive equivalent of strippers’ Lucite platform shoes, the transparent 22-inch “Radurra” wheels offered by Forgiato guarantee a bling-

tastic, rollin’-patrollin’ peekaboo Christmas. According to inventor Doug McGoon, the wheels -- made of 2-inch-thick polycarbonate, also known as plastic -- are coated on both sides with the same abrasion-resistant material used in NHL arena glass. So if you’ve ponied up for the optional ceramic brakes for your Porsche 911 or if you’ve changed the name stamped on your Ferrari calipers to “Federline,” go big, go proud, go clear.

McGoon reports the wheels are approved by the Society of Automotive Engineering, but to me these look like the nightmare before Christmas. One reason wheels have turbine-blade spokes is to allow air to ventilate the brakes. And when your brakes get hot, will these wheels melt? That would be sticky.

Clear “Radurra” wheels, $5,000 per wheel, www.forgiato.com; expect to wait six to eight weeks. Don’t forget the Windex.

---

Kenneth Turan

film critic

“Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films” is a dazzling movie education in one compact 50-disc box. There’s not a work among the brilliant films by legendary directors such as Eisenstein, Kurosawa, Renoir, Truffaut, Bergman, Antonioni, Fellini, Hitchcock and Lean that isn’t considered one of the very best ever made. When you add in a gorgeous hardcover book, this 15-pound tribute to the peerless Janus Films distribution company is filled with images potent enough to bring back memories and create new ones. Yes, it’s expensive, but what we have here really is the stuff dreams are made of. Boxed sets come and boxed sets go, but this is one for the ages.

“50 Years of Janus Films,” $850; available for $650 at janusfilms.com.

---

Carina Chocano

film critic

Though I wouldn’t normally recommend watching movies on a 2.5-inch color screen, there are worse things a person can do while, say, waiting in line to return all the gifts you didn’t love quite as much. Not that anyone on your list would do that. The 5.5-ounce, 80-gigabyte iPod comes in black or white and measures 2.4 by 4.1 by .55 inches. Download feature films, shorts and music videos at iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes), or share your own.

80-gigabyte iPod, $349, www.apple.com.

---

Kevin Crust

staff writer

Shoeless Joe lives! If you know a baseball fan with a taste for statistics, you can turn their kitchen table into a field of dreams with the gift of APBA. It’s an old-school dice and cards simulation that’s been causing kids of all ages to forsake their homework for more than 50 years. The APBA Pro Baseball 66! Basic Game comes with the 1953 World Series teams, the Dodgers and the Yankees, but you’ll want to augment it with the 2006 cards. Historical seasons and Great Teams of the Past sets are also available.

APBA Pro Baseball 66! Basic Game, $21; 2006 cards, all 30 teams with 20-man rosters, $39.95. (800) 334-2722, www.apbagames.com/stadium.

---

Christopher Knight

art critic

When the New York School established itself as successor to the School of Paris after World War II, painters pretty much had to follow one rule: Paint abstract, or don’t be taken seriously.

The rule mostly held for two decades. During its fiercest late-1960s challenge, a Stanford student finishing his doctorate could not have known that one day he would direct the painting department at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Kirk Varnedoe died tragically young, at 57, three years ago. His stirring love affair with abstract art was the subject of the prestigious A.W. Mellon Lectures, delivered shortly before his death. Now those talks have been compiled into “Pictures of Nothing,” an eminently readable, deeply insightful book.

“Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock,” Kirk Varnedoe, Princeton University Press, 302 pp., $45.

---

Mark Swed

classical music critic

The idea of buying a Super Audio CD player that costs nearly three times the price of a top-of-the line iPod may not seem like an investment in the future -- but it is. Sure, CDs are dying, and Super Audio CD never caught on big time. But the fact is, compressed downloaded music is to SACD what fuzzy, color-bled early color television is to the latest generation of HDTV.

The new two-channel Marantz SA8001 costs a grand but sounds like a million bucks. And, at least for now, the classical SACD catalog is still steadily growing. Start with the new Esa-Pekka Salonen/Los Angeles Philharmonic recording of “The Rite of Spring,” made in the Walt Disney Concert Hall (which is a hybrid CD/SACD disc). Sit back, remove your shoes and succumb to the unique experience of permitting Stravinsky to knock your socks off.

Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player, $999.99, us.marantz.com/Products/1644.asp.

---

Lynne Heffley

staff writer

Troodon was little but brainy. Mamenchisaurus had the longest neck. Pachycephalosaurus rammed foes with his 10-inch-thick skull. Dinosaur fun facts abound in “Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs,” a pictorial feast by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart, but the wow factor is in the elaborate reptile pop-ups, engineered by Sabuda. Among the 3-D treats: a feathered archaeopteryx in flight, a massive brachiosaurus, a lunging T. rex, all jaws and claws. And smaller pop-up delights await discovery under concealing flaps. Want even toothier pop-ups? Don’t miss “Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters.”

“Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs,” Candlewick Press, $27. For ages 5 to 10 and all pop-up art fans. (800) 733-3000, www.candlewick.com.

---

S. Irene Virbila

restaurant critic

It’s the stealth barbecue -- no gas tank, bumpers or extraneous features. The black-steel basic from Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters in Santa Maria, the self-proclaimed “Barbecue Capital of the World,” features a 30-by-20-inch grill set over a rectangular firebox. And it goes where no Weber goes: up and down. A hand crank can move the grill right down to the coals. The whole thing is barely larger than the grill surface, which means it doesn’t take up a lot of deck or terrace real estate. In Santa Maria, it’s traditional to fire it up with red oak, but if you can’t find that (and I haven’t yet), mesquite works just as well.

30-by-20-inch grill, $300. Santa Maria BBQ Outfitters, 2936 Industrial Parkway, Santa Maria; (805) 347-2709; www.smbbqoutfitters.com, click on Backyard Grills link.

---

Christopher Reynolds

staff writer

And now, for the Angeleno who has everything: your own 1927 firehouse, complete with gritty brick exterior and bright red doors. The former headquarters of Engine Co. No. 17 at 710 S. Sante Fe Ave. is up for sale at $2.95 million. It’s two stories, with 8,721 square feet broken up into two upstairs live-work spaces and two ground-floor spaces and a former kitchen building in back, which held a photo studio for current owner Robert Blakeman. No pole, but there are 13 parking spaces and handball court. Retired from firefighting service in 1980.

Offered by Metro Resources Inc.

broker Steve Allwright, (213) 687-9600, Ext. 13.